I rested my hand on Wade’s shoulder. “What does it matter if they lead their own investigation, Wade? As long as we find the kids, it isn’t important who goes where, or who uses what information. This is a team effort, but if they want to split into their own faction, let them. It might be easier for us to search the city without them distracting us with LA Coven procedure.” I hoped they could hear the salty note in my voice.
“Harley’s right,” Tatyana agreed. “We can cover more ground if we split up.”
“Yeah, and if they don’t want to hear the leads Astrid has, that’s fine by us,” Dylan added, casting a subtle look at Tatyana. I didn’t know what was going on between the two of them—the all-American football star and the stunning Russian ice queen—but their emotions were easy enough to read. A growing attachment sizzled between them as they stood side by side.
Channing smirked. “Glad some of you can see some sense. It’s Basic Investigation 101—divide and conquer. It would appear that your fearless leader lacks basic competency.”
“Watch your mouth,” Raffe snapped, in a voice that didn’t sound entirely like his own. He’d been so silent I’d almost forgotten he was there.
Captain Buzzcut snorted. “This coven should have trained you all better. Don’t blame me for your own inadequacies.”
Raffe scowled. “Don’t try me, Channing.”
“Why? You don’t look so tough to me.”
“Looks can be deceiving.” A sinister flash of scarlet darted across Raffe’s eyes for a moment. Channing’s expression changed, his brow furrowing in a worried frown.
“Let’s all just calm down, shall we?” Stella stepped in. “We’ll go our way, you’ll go yours, and we’ll reconvene each evening to discuss what we’ve found. How does that sound to everyone?”
“Sounds like the best idea to come out of anyone’s mouth since we came into this room,” Santana said brightly. Her voice sounded oddly strained. Her concern for Raffe bubbled beneath the surface. He worried her, to the very core of her being—the worry of a woman in love, who didn’t want to see that love come to any harm.
Jeez, is everyone hitting on everyone in our little group? Dylan was making goo-goo eyes at Tatyana, and she was clearly feeling it, though she was too cool to let on. Raffe and Santana were vibing off each other. Garrett and Santana used to date. And Wade and I… well, I wasn’t even going to crack open that particular can of worms. Sheesh, we’re like rats in a barrel.
“I agree. Looks like we have a plan. So, I suggest we hop to it before we lose any more of the day,” I said, pushing all those thoughts of romance away.
Instead, I focused on the missing kids. Micah Cranston, in particular. I hated to admit it, but he was the kid I was most eager to find. I’d put him in the middle of this mess by insisting he stay with the foster parents who loved him. That was a rare thing to find, and I’d wanted him to have that chance at life—the chance to have a real family who cared deeply for him. Channing was right: I’d let my emotions cloud my judgment, and it had caused nothing but heartache. Micah’s foster parents were dead, and that dream had died with them. All we could offer him now was the coven.
I’ll make amends for my mistake, Micah. You might never forgive me, but I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe from harm.
Speaking of powers, I desperately wished I could have full access to mine. Even the display during the pledge had been a mere fraction of my potential, and right now we needed all the strength we could muster. If we ran into Katherine or any of her cronies along the way, we’d have to break out the big guns. Only, my secret weapons were squashed by this dumb Suppressor inside me.
I’d been meaning to talk to Dr. Krieger again about the surgery required to get the thing out of me, but rumor had drifted through the halls that he was sick. Each time I’d gone to the infirmary, the doors had been locked or one of the nurses had turned me away. Whether he’d been taken ill with an ordinary or a magical disease, I wasn’t sure, but an ill physician wasn’t a good sign for any coven.
Especially not one teetering on the brink of the terrifying unknown.
Five
Santana
These stone-faced pendejos were really starting to piss me off, coming in here and giving out orders like they owned the damn place. The dude, Channing, looked like he’d been puffed up with a bike pump. I guessed it was true what folks said about steroids frazzling guys’ brains—he had the personality of a rock. Plus, judging by the outline of his ridiculously tight pants, that wasn’t the only old wives’ tale about steroids that was ringing true.
Meanwhile, Stella couldn’t have been more obvious if she’d tried, staring at Wade like he was a tasty snack. She might as well have been licking her lips. Wade and Harley were dancing around their love-hate relationship like two snakes intertwining, but I wasn’t about to have some sexy newcomer with a bob and a tight outfit snatch him out from under her. Not that you’ll ever get under her if you keep acting like a prize jackass, Wade Crowley. I’ve seen snails make their move faster than you.
“So, can we decide on when we’re heading out and then do just that?” I asked. “I’m feeling a little claustrophobic with all this testosterone flying around.”
Channing shot me a stern look, but I didn’t care. Truth be told, it wasn’t the peacocking that was bothering me. My body ached down to my very bones, and my eyes felt like lead weights. The perfect ingredients for a snappish, intolerant Santana. I figured the events of the past few weeks were finally taking their toll. Plus, sleep had been an elusive mistress of late, taunting me with a sultry dance of oblivion, only to leave me hanging. I’d had enough of staring up at my ceiling every night, listening to my Orishas whispering about their past and my future. They loved to chat and offer words of wisdom, regaling me nonstop, but it was a killer when my mind was already distracted. The major downside of the Santeria life.
“Let’s meet by the magnolia trees at dusk and run an evening patrol. See if any rats creep out as the sun goes down,” Wade suggested. “Astrid, will that be enough time for you to pool everything we have together and put it all on Smartie?”
She nodded. “Should be plenty of time. Do you want me to send a copy of what I have to you, Channing?”
He looked taken aback, which pleased me greatly. “That would be most efficient, thank you.”
“Cool, so we’ll all meet at the magnolia trees in three hours,” I reiterated, fighting with the rising irritation that slithered through my veins. “The invitation’s still open to you guys, if you feel like you can swallow your pride and join us. If not, good luck with everything. You’ll need it.”
Harley and Tatyana cast me stunned stares, which I duly shrugged off. So what if I seem a little… unwelcoming? If these snooty soldier-types can’t play nice, they don’t deserve the nice treatment. Simple as that. Not to mention the fact that I had no reason to trust these guys. I rarely trusted new people, in general, but after all the crazy stuff that’d been going on lately, I had even less of a reason to put on a parade and welcome these rude folks. If they weren’t even going to attempt to get on our side, they could stuff their LA nonsense where the sun didn’t shine.
“Do you want to go grab a soda or something?” Raffe asked, as everyone made to leave. “There might still be some food left over from the banquet.”
I glanced at him, wishing I could say yes. “Not right now, Raffe, but definitely another time. I need to go clear my head before we head out to look for these kids. It’s all a jumble up there.” I tapped the side of my head and mustered a smile.
Wade wasn’t the only one tiptoeing around his feelings. About ten times a day, I wanted to grab Raffe by the face and smother him in kisses, but something always held me back. We’d never properly spoken about that kind of thing, and there never seemed to be a good time to bring it up. I sensed the feelings were probably mutual, but Raffe was a shy guy—the djinn was the one with all the confidence, though he didn’t get to come out too often. No, i
f anyone was going to broach the subject, I knew it would have to be me.
Raffe Levi, I adore the very bones of you. One day soon, I’m going to tell you, so brace yourself.
“Do you want some company?” he asked, after a pause. He must have wondered why I was still staring at him when I wasn’t saying a word.
I shook my head. “Sorry. I just need to be alone for a little bit. You know what mental prep can be like, and my nights have been a little too rough, so it’s extra hard to get things to come into focus.”
He frowned. “You haven’t been sleeping well?”
“Not really.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just a lot on my mind with Katherine Shipton and all this uncertainty, you know?”
He smiled. “Yeah, I know. Well, if you decide you want someone to talk to, you know where to find me.”
“Thank you, Raffe.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“What about you?” I wondered. “How are you feeling? I saw that little flash before—is Hyde behaving himself?”
Raffe laughed wearily. “Ah, you know how it is. Constant battle. The usual. He gets a little friskier whenever my dad is around. I think he feeds off my anger.”
“Anything I can do?”
“Not right now,” he replied. “Ironically, I think I might need a bit of a breather myself, to let off some steam after being in my father’s presence for more than ten minutes.”
“Meet you after for that soda?”
He grinned, though his eyes shifted strangely. “I’ll come find you.”
Exiting the Aquarium, we all parted ways. I noticed Tatyana and Dylan walking together, the sight sending a spike of excitement through my heart. I’d have to get the gossip later, once I could corner Tatyana on her own. Harley should probably be there, too, so we can interrogate her about Wade. It was tradition for a family member to lead a new coven pledge into the hall, but Wade had done it instead, given Harley’s tragic circumstances. Presumably, he’d done it without telling her about the significance of the act. The handsome devil had done it out of the goodness of his heart, and I was eager to let Harley in on the truth. Perhaps it would give them the kick up the ass that they desperately needed.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Garrett purred behind me.
I turned and gave him a sharp stare. “None of your business.”
I’d tried to forget my brief fling with Garrett, but the memory still made me bitter. He’d played me for a fool, and nobody got away with that. I wasn’t really one to hold a grudge, though. Let bygones be bygones, and all that. But I had a few nasty little spells under my belt, if he ever misbehaved again.
“You wanna go to the banquet hall for something to eat? We could have a drink.”
I laughed. “Not a chance, Garrett.”
He shrugged. “Your loss.”
“You keep telling yourself that.” I strode away from him and headed down the hallway. My legs felt heavy as they trudged along the network of corridors. I hadn’t been lying when I’d told Raffe I needed time to clear my head. Everything inside my brain felt tinged with fog.
Before long, I found myself at the vast front doors of the Bestiary. The magic of the interdimensional pocket where the coven existed never failed to render me awestruck, the way it could mold around everything and anything. Ever since San Diego had been chosen to house the Bestiary, and Alton had surprisingly accepted, this had been my favorite place to come and be at peace. Nobody else understood why I liked it so much. After all, monsters and beasts weren’t exactly soothing… but to me they were. For some reason, the Orishas quietened in there, giving me a brief respite. I adored my Orishas—they were part of me—but it was nice to have a moment to myself every now and again. A spirit-free mind.
I pushed open the giant doors and walked inside, my boots echoing on the marble floor. The guards checked my identity, before allowing me further, on the pretense of me having a meeting with Tobe. All around me, the glass boxes glinted, and wisps of shadows twisted within the misty depths. Here rested the savage product of countless magicals’ Purges—the Chaos creatures thrown up and cast out, manifested from the toxic buildup of too much powerful magic.
I glanced at the charmed padlocks, feeling out the raw energy that held these beings in place. Such a small lock, yet capable of containing enormous monsters; the juxtaposition never failed to amuse me.
After the gargoyle incident, where Finch had freed a whole bunch of the winged beasts and almost exposed the coven in the process, more people had kept their distance from the Bestiary. Not me. There were very few things in this world that scared me—Katherine Shipton being one of the rare exceptions. Nobody deserved to have that much power and influence over others. I wanted to know how she’d ended up like that, what had driven her toward megalomania. Santeria culture centered around the idea of good spirits and bad, but nobody started off their life evil. Even those who were trailed by bad spirits weren’t bad by nature. Babies and children were inherently pure.
What happened to you, Katherine, to make you such a class-A psychopath?
The idea of evil spirits prompted Raffe to pop back into my thoughts. Although he’d been born with the djinn already inside him, he hadn’t been born evil either. The djinn was part of him, yes, but it didn’t control him. Good continued to triumph over the dark. Katherine Shipton didn’t have a djinn to excuse her insane behavior. Not that we knew of, anyway.
“Santana, what a pleasant surprise.” Tobe’s soft growl snapped me right out of my heavy thoughts. “I thought you would still be in the banquet hall, celebrating Harley’s official welcome into the coven.”
I smiled as the Beast Master approached, his talons clicking on the floor. “I needed a bit of peace and quiet, away from everyone else. Insomnia is kicking my ass, and I didn’t want to end up snapping at anyone. Don’t suppose you’ve got a creature in here with some kind of sleepy breath, do you?”
Tobe chuckled, a warmth glimmering in his amber eyes. “Plenty of nightmare demons—Mara, Ogun Oru, a few Succubi, a Kanashibari or two, and a Boo-Hag tucked away at the back. All associated with sleep paralysis and inducing nightmares. Some of them will sap your energy, too, given half the chance.”
“This massive museum of monsters and not a single one that can knock me out at night?”
“There is one, but she is kept in a soundproof box in the rare section of the Bestiary,” he admitted. “She’s an Ibong Adarna. If I were to allow her to sing, she would send everyone in close proximity into a deep slumber.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.”
He grinned, baring his sharp fangs. “It wouldn’t be, if she didn’t also turn her victims to stone, once she has reached the end of her seventh song. A beautiful creature, make no mistake. But, as with many beautiful things, she carries hidden dangers. A brutal truth, learned the hard way during my long life on this earth.”
“Is that how you got to be so wise, mi bestia gentil?”
“I’ve certainly had the gift of time, in learning many lessons. For, in the end, that is all life is—a series of teachings that we may choose to accept or reject,” he replied. “Mistakes and failures are guaranteed, but it is how we choose to educate ourselves after we stumble that molds who we become.”
I chuckled. “I need to print that on a bumper sticker.”
“Selma often spoke of life’s errors as lessons. She would tell me of her own missteps so that I might use them as cautionary tales. She was, by far, my greatest teacher,” he said sadly. Selma was a long-dead, ancient witch who had manifested Tobe during a Purge. He was the only good, intelligent beast to ever come out of one.
“Do you miss her?”
“I do. I have never met her equal, in all my 1,058 years—a witch so sweet and kind.”
“Not even Imogene Whitehall?”
A purr rumbled in Tobe’s throat. “She is, perhaps, the closest in spirit to my beloved Selma, though none can replace her.”
/> “You’re good at this, you know,” I said, nudging him in his feathered arm.
“At what, Santana?”
“Putting people at ease when they need it most.” I’d often come here to seek his counsel and his comforting presence. He’d been my saving grace in this place, and I wasn’t sure what I’d do without him.
“I do what I can.”
I perched on the edge of a glass box, a small shrew-like creature appearing at the bottom, its beady eyes staring up at me in disapproval. “How have you been feeling after everything that happened with Finch and those gargoyles? It can’t have been nice, being accused like that.”
“Everything was resolved in the end, and I’m not one to bear a grudge,” Tobe replied. “The Bestiary is secure once more, and that’s all I may ask for.”
“What about all the LA snobs striding about the place like they own it? I bet they’re watching you like hawks, thanks to Leonidas.” I glanced around in case any of them were listening. A few guards wandered down the corridors farther back, but there weren’t any here.
“I can understand their concern, so I pay it no mind. We must all be on high alert, now that we know Katherine has many contingencies in place. Finch and the Ryder twins were just the beginning of her endeavors, and we must be ready for anything she may throw at us. The more people we have here, protecting the coven, the better. Having officers here puts my mind at ease that the Bestiary will not fall, under any circumstances.”
Everything about Tobe perpetuated a feeling of calm. He never raised his voice, his words always spoken in a soft, lyrical tone. He was a cool cat, and one of my favorite people. Plus, he was way cheaper than a therapist.
“They’ve given us two LA Coven agents to help find the kids,” I said.
“I sense you are none too pleased by this development?”
“They’re just so—”
“Exceedingly dull?” Tobe chuckled in the back of his throat.
Harley Merlin 3: Harley Merlin and the Stolen Magicals Page 6
