The Detective Inspectors (The Doorknob Society Saga Book 4)

by Fletcher, MJ

  “Ivan, get Emory out of here,” Gavin ordered amping up his own power.

  The room was filling with so much energy that I could almost choke on it.

  “By all means, Ivan, run along. I’d much rather kill these Polymorphs,” Mom said.

  Darker circled around behind my mother, dropping his shields his power ebbed. If Mom hadn’t shown up, he would have been in real trouble. He would only need a short time to recoup, and then things would get nasty.

  Ivan hefted an unconscious Emory over his shoulder and hurried up the stairs behind us.

  “Where’s Edgar?” I stared at the woman who gave birth to me and felt only hatred.

  “Your little friend is my guest just like Nightshade was until you stole him from me.” She smiled all too sweetly and all I could see was the image of her torturing Nightshade to get to me. “By the way, how is he? Does he remember you at all?”

  Gavin moved closer and leaned in to whisper, “Chloe, we gain nothing from this fight.”

  He was right. Even if we won this go around, it wouldn’t get us closer to finding Edgar. As much as I wanted revenge for my father’s death, this wasn’t the time. I took a step back and Talia stepped forward.

  Her Skeleton Key illuminated the room as she directed a bolt of crimson energy straight at me. I flicked my wrist with little effort, my energy whip blocking the attack. But it was a ruse. She circled and was on me quickly, her hand at my throat like a vise. I brought my forearm up and tried to dislodge her but she held firm.

  Gavin tried to intervene, but Darker attacked and the two of them disappeared in a haze of crimson energy. While struggling for air, I could not believe the cold deadly look in my mother’s eyes, and a pain gripped my heart wondering if that was what my dad had seen when she had turned on him.

  I fought to dislodge her grip that was slowly squeezing the life from me, but damn if I could budge her hold. If I didn’t do something soon, it would be too late. I struggled to release my weapon, my limbs turning weak and after much effort and my sight turning foggy, I activated a portal. Mom’s eyes popped wide as she realized too late what I was doing. We both dropped like dead weight through the open portal.

  Chapter 3

  Status: Family vacation anyone?

  My feet hit sand and Mom’s fingers were jolted off my throat as we sprawled to the ground. I pushed backward with my feet and elbows putting some distance between us and regaining my breath before I scrambled to stand. My hand went for my Doorknob and found nothing. I scanned the area and spotted it laying several feet away. I sent Mom a quick glance and saw that she was doing the same, searching for her Skeleton Key and spotting it just before she turned and met my eyes.

  “It seems we’re both at a disadvantage.”

  She watched me like a cat waiting to devour a mouse. She was an idiot if she thought I’d play cat and mouse with her. I raised a clenched fist. “Speak for yourself.”

  “You don’t give up do you?”

  “My father taught me that that was not an option.” Mom’s eyes glazed over for a brief moment and the coldness fell away, yet when she blinked the ice queen quickly returned.

  “You’re as much of a fool as he was.”

  “Good, at least I take after the one parent I care about.”

  “I offered you the world. You could be with us when we achieve victory over the Old Kind.”

  “Just who are us?”

  “The First Kind of course.”

  “That’s not what I hear.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Word I’ve been hearing is that you’re the lapdog for someone bigger.”

  “And where did you hear that, your friends?” She hadn’t moved or attempted to go for her Skelton Key.

  “Actually no... yours.”

  “What?”

  “Ms. True shared that bit of news with me when she offered me the truce.”

  “Did she now?”

  Her cool exterior cracked for a moment and I could almost see her mind racing. She hadn’t known about my meeting with True and that appeared to worry her.

  “Seems like someone is leaving you out of the loop.”

  “An oversight I will resolve shortly.” She smiled, cold and confident. “Now back to our current situation, daughter. I give you credit for the escape, but it won’t help. I’ve given you too many opportunities as it is and I need this resolved.”

  “Upper management getting on you about me?” I started moving again, very slowly in the direction of my Doorknob.

  “I answer to no one!” she yelled.

  “Right, of course.”

  “Enough of this, I don’t have the time for nonsense.” With a dismissive wave of her hand at me, she looked around. The beach stretched out in front of us, waves crashing only a few yards away “Where are we?”

  Her voice wavered for a moment and I took the opportunity. “The Bahamas... our beach.” We’d come here all the time when I was young. It was one of the few family memories that always stuck with me. I could almost see myself building sand castles while Mom and Dad lounged on beach chairs.

  Mom looked around, as if searching for something. Or was that confusion? I didn’t wait to see. I jumped forward rolling along the sand and snatched up my Doorknob. My forward roll brought me to my feet and I snapped my hand out bringing my energy whip to life. I spun snaking it toward Mom, but she was gone.

  I didn’t see the bolt. It caught me so hard in the side that it sent me flipping through the air and landed me smack into the tumbling waves. I sputtered and spit out water as I struggled to stand and grimaced when my side exploded in pain.

  “Did you think bringing me here would stop me?” She rushed into the water, her Skeleton Key glowing brightly.

  She brought it around in an arc, creating an energy whip of her own and with one crack caught my shoulder. I scrambled away from her toward the beach, covering my retreat by spinning my whip to block any attacks.

  “I know you want to kill me, Talia, just like you did Dad. But that’s not going to happen; I’m going to get you first.” I snapped my whip out and nearly caught her, but she sidestepped at the last moment.

  “Finally you’ve got the killer instinct.” She smiled and it filled me with unrelenting anger. “I was starting to think you weren’t my daughter.”

  Her power rose like a mighty hand ready to lash out at me and I backed away. She was in pure fight mode— I wasn’t—my side was on fire and I knew the best thing was to get the hell out of there if I had any chance of saving Edgar.

  Naturally, I couldn’t leave without saying a few loving words. “Kiss my ass.”

  Then I quickly feigned an attack and when her shield came up, I ran toward the water. I let my whip dissolve and twisted my knob opening a portal into the waves and dove through. The water rushed in along with me as I made my escape through the opening.

  The strong current tried to devour me and I held my breath as I fought my way to the surface. I grasped for much needed air as I cleared the water before settling into an easy tread. I spied the beachfront and it didn’t take me long to recognize the familiar setting. It was a beach I frequented in Cape May.

  I yanked off my hoodie and let it float away as I turned my knob opening another portal and swam through it. I’d been chased often enough to know that one jump wasn’t going to get her off my tail. Plus, I figured it couldn’t hurt to see if Mom was still a good swimmer.

  My next stop was a beach in Italy that Dad and I had stayed at a few years back when he was touring. I kicked my boots off and continued leaving my breadcrumb trail to see how far Mom would go.

  As I ducked under a wave the faint outline of a crimson portal shimmered in the water and I swam though my own before it coalesced. I pushed ahead through two more beaches and into a river before I came up for air. Being the daughter of a magician had its benefits. I could hold my breath for close to five minutes. That was after years of practice. I doubted Mom kept up on her swimming, being
too busy with her nefarious activities, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

  I pulled myself out of the river and hurried away. My hands shivered, the waters I had swam through not exactly tropical island seas, but it had helped increase my chances of losing her.

  I could hardly feel the knob in my hands, my fingers were so numb, but I activated it one more time opening a portal home. A doorway sprang to life glowing bright blue and I pushed my Doorknob into it and turned the knob.

  “Very clever.”

  I half turned when I felt the bolt of energy hit my chest. It catapulted me through the portal and I crashed to the floor in the hallway of my house. I shook my head to clear my vision and turned to see Mom on the other side glaring at me. She hurried forward ready to enter the portal... ready to attack me in my own home.

  My Doorknob was lying on the floor just out of reach. My arms were numb from the cold and the stinging pain in my chest and side weren’t helping much either.

  “Let’s end this now,” she said more determined than ever.

  She was close to the portal entrance. In a moment she would step through and I was damned if I was going to let her get me like she did Dad. Pain or no pain, I stretched my arm out, my nails scrapping the floor as I struggled to inch closer to my knob.

  A bolt of crimson energy shot over my head and slammed into the portal, the blue outline replaced by a deep red. Footsteps rushed up from behind me and I was never so glad to see Gran come to a stop beside me. She shot me a quick are-you-alright-look and I nodded that I was okay. She walked over to the frozen portal and stood mere inches from my mother... her daughter.

  “What happened to you, Talia?” Gran’s voice was filled with sadness, disappointment, and a hint of anger.

  “I grew up,” she sneered.

  “This isn’t how I raised you and your brother.”

  “Don’t you bring up Thomas to me.” Her lips turned down at the corners at the mention of my uncle. “Mother.”

  “Why, because he wouldn’t approve of what you’re doing?”

  “My brother and our whole cursed family can go to hell!’ she yelled.

  “This isn’t you, how could you attack Chloe?”

  “I gave her a choice, she chose wrong.”

  “And Elijah, did you give him a choice as well?”

  “He betrayed me!”

  “Never, Elijah loved you. Even at the end he couldn’t bring himself to hate you.”

  “You’re a fool just like him, Mother, and you’ll end up like him... dead. I’m not protecting any of you anymore; if you stand in the way of the First Kind you’ll be destroyed.”

  “Talia.” Gran’s voice wavered and her shoulders slumped.

  “Don’t Talia me, Mother.”

  “Don’t you take that tone with me, Talia Grimm! I was tracking and capturing rogues like you long before you were born. And if you think I’m going to let you hurt my granddaughter, you’re horribly mistaken. If you come for her, be prepared to deal with me as well.”

  Mom leaned forward, her eyes narrowing as she peered through the crimson lock that prevented her from coming through the portal. “Very well, Mother, I’ll see you both soon.” She stormed away from the portal and Gran spun and dropped down beside me.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’ll survive.”

  “What the hell happened, I didn’t even know you’d left?”

  “Got a lead on Edgar I had to follow.” I placed a hand to my side, testing to see if I had broken any ribs. Luckily, it felt more like a deep bruising than anything worse.

  “I suppose the lead was good?” Gran pointed to where Mom had been.

  “It got us closer that’s for sure and thanks for the assist, Gran.”

  “Don’t worry about it, dear, let’s just make sure you’re okay.” She smiled and helped me to the couch in the living room.

  I gritted my teeth as I sat down, not so much from the physical pain—though it did hurt like hell—more from the pain I knew my gran had to be feeling having confronted her daughter that way. I suppose it was the reverse of my own situation and it hadn’t been easy for me the first time I found myself confronting a mother that had left me and now wanted me dead.

  “I know that wasn’t easy for you,” I said.

  “It wasn’t pleasant, but I also know that whoever that was; it wasn’t my daughter. She may look like her and sound like her. But my Talia would never hurt her own child let alone kill Elijah, the man she loved beyond measure. I’ve lost one child already. I’m familiar with the pain of loss, just as you are. ”

  We didn’t talk much about Uncle Thomas, Jess’s father. He’d died when we were very young along with his wife. I sometimes forgot how many people Gran had lost over the years.

  “But, Gran, it is your daughter... my mother.”

  Gran reached out and rested her hand on mine and gave a squeeze. “Chloe, as far as I am concerned your mother died the night she left our family. Whoever that woman is, she isn’t my daughter. And if she comes after you again, I will kick her ass.”

  Chapter 4

  Status: Friends and fun.

  I rolled out of bed and decided I was going to need to either get new medical insurance or I needed to be more careful. My side ached more than it had yesterday and I checked the bandages that Gran had wrapped me in last night. They were still secure but lifting my arm too high would elicit shooting pains. I considered using my new bag of Polymorph tricks to speed up the healing process, but Gavin had taught me that sometimes you needed to fight the pain and save the healing for really major problems.

  I’d spoken to Gavin while Gran had fixed me up. He and Ivan had gotten Emory out without any damage and were headed to a new hiding place. He said he’d contact me when he had something new on Edgar.

  The room hummed with energy and I didn’t even bother to look up since I recognized the power signature.

  “Hey, Jess.” I reached out pulling my dresser drawer open looking for something to wear.

  “Hey, cuz, I heard about what happened.”

  “Have to love our family. For years they keep secrets from me and now nothing is a secret.” I chuckled as I found something to wear. I was bummed about losing one of my favorite hoodies and boots during the chase, but at least I’d gotten away. If I hadn’t, I would have ended up like Dad. I pushed the thought away. I couldn’t let myself dwell on my dad’s death or I’d get upset and get caught up in the feeling of losing him all over again.

  “What’s the plan?” Jess stretched out on my bed, yawning.

  “Tired?”

  “DeAndre has me tracking almost every night; I’m working on four hours sleep.”

  DeAndre Morgan was Jess’s mentor from the Skeleton Key Guild and one of the best trackers around.

  “How’s it going?”

  “I’m learning a lot but it’s crazy busy. With everything going on with the First Kind, the Guild has us on missions more often than not. How about you, are you ready?”

  I was due to start my apprenticeship with Uncle Archie in London and I was still feeling odd about it. I wanted to learn more, but it all seemed like a sideshow to my real mission of finding Edgar.

  “I guess.” I offered noncommittally.

  “Come on, it’s going to be fun. You’ll be in London; I’ll be in Paris. We can spend weekends checking out all the cool portals and dimensional hang outs in Europe.”

  “I suppose, but right now I want to talk about my mission.” It was official, I would be the one to find and rescue Edgar. I would answer to Uncle Archie, but I would have the chance to pursue any leads and gather my own team.

  “Are you asking what I think you’re asking?” She winked at me.

  I laughed. “Yes, I want you on the team.”

  “If you hadn’t asked, I would have had to slap you.”

  “I wouldn’t want that.”

  “Who else are you going to ask?”

  “I was thinking of talking to Slade.” We hadn’t
talked much since he came to my dad’s funeral but even with all the issues between us, I still trusted him more than most.

  “Good start, anyone else?”

  “Gavin is already helping, so he’s on the team, and we need a Mapmaker and a DI, any suggestions?”

  “There’s a DI that I’ve been working with in Paris who could be helpful. I can contact him if you want.”

  “If you think he’ll fit with the team and as long as you trust him, then give him a call. That leaves a Mapmaker.”

  “I’ve got no clue on that one. Edgar is the only Mapmaker I’ve ever really been close to. Is that going to be the whole team?”

  I knew what she was asking, though I had no idea how to find Nightshade or if he would even be interested in helping me. He hadn’t returned entirely, his memories of me—us—were half forgotten. The First Kind had planted deeply rooted false memories as well... blaming me for the death of his girlfriend Laura Harkness, who had died way before I ever met him.

  “Have you tried getting in touch with Nightshade?” Jess asked.

  “I don’t know where he is. He needed space, so I gave it to him.” I pulled an old pair of boots out of the closet and tossed them at the bed. The thought that Nightshade didn’t remember me let alone us tore at my heart. I yanked out clothes not really caring what I took. All I could think about was what if Nightshade never got his memory of us back? What if he never looked at me like he had in that picture on the night of the year-end school dance? I yanked more clothes out, wishing I could yank the pain and doubts out of my heart as easily.

  “If you say so, where are we going anyway?”

  “The Beanery for some coffee, and then to meet Val. She’s settling into college and I want to surprise her and try to cheer her up. She’s so worried about Edgar and I’m right there with her.”

  “I know what you mean,” Jess said disheartened.

  Edgar was the heart of our group in so many ways. We all had our specialties but when it came down to it Edgar was the one who always pulled us back together. A few months ago when I was reeling over the loss of Nightshade, Edgar was there. He wouldn’t let me push him away and when I needed my friends to try and help Edgar, they were right there. Partly for me, but mostly because of how much he meant to all of us. Jess pulled out her phone and started texting, trying to avoid talking about him.