“Oh, God, are you okay, Taty?!” She dropped to her knees next to me.
I nodded. “I… Yeah, for the most part. What the hell happened to you?”
“Mr. Heller happened,” she managed, then looked up at Maria. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Heller, I had to knock him out. Kenneth did something to him.”
Maria was shell-shocked, holding the pan and simply paralyzed.
“Did it involve a Latin chant?” I asked, regaining my breath.
“Yes! Where did Kenneth go?” Astrid replied, fearfully looking around.
“He’s gone. He ran off,” I said, and pointed at Dylan. “He did the same to Dylan. We need to tie them both down. I’m not sure conking them on the head stopped the hex.”
Astrid fumbled through my jacket pockets and fished my phone out. “Mine got broken, sorry,” she murmured, then dialed a coven emergency number that she’d already memorized by now. This wasn’t her first rodeo.
“Maria, are you okay?” I raised my voice. It was enough to pull her back to reality.
She looked down at me. “No. But I’ll live.” She sighed and put the pan down.
“Okay. Good. Now, listen to me,” I said firmly. “Do you have any cable ties in the house? Or really strong tape or rope? Or all of the above?”
She nodded.
“Hi, Astrid here. I need a cleanup crew and a containment unit at 14 Groveland Drive,” Astrid said to whoever picked up on the other end of the line. “Yeah, we’ve got a magical spill. A rogue warlock on the loose, too. Kenneth Willow, seventeen. Yes. One of our own and one of the parents were hexed. Okay, we’ll wait.”
“Yeah, in the garage,” Maria said, answering my question.
“Okay, Maria, I need you to get all of them in here,” I replied.
“All of them?” she asked.
Astrid put the phone down, then grabbed a kitchen towel and came back to my side to wipe the blood from my face. I could feel it trickling down the top of my head. I’d gotten thrown around like a rag doll, after all.
“Yes, Maria. We need to tie your husband and my friend down before they come to.” I sighed.
“Well, this is a mess,” Astrid quipped.
“Yeah, I didn’t think fostering would be so difficult,” Maria mumbled as she walked out of the kitchen.
I felt sorry for her. But I was much more concerned about Dylan at this point. Whatever that hex was, it wasn’t going to go away with plain head trauma. My stomach churned and my heart hurt. What would it take to get our Dylan back?
Most importantly, I knew for a fact that we were dealing with a whole new kind of trouble here. Those Ryder twins weren’t just impersonating Social Services or coven staff. They were flat out recruiting young magicals and trying to take them away from us.
Their tactics made me wonder, though. There was a methodical approach here, and it differed from one family to another. If they were drawing magicals to the dark side, they were employing some very personalized strategies.
In Kenneth Willow’s case, their approach had worked.
Ten
Harley
We all met back at the coven inside the Bestiary.
After we heard what happened to Dylan and Damian Heller, we were told to return from our field assignments. A cleanup team was already handling their house and Mrs. Heller. The other half of our Rag Team was transporting Dylan and Damian, who were temporarily contained and in need of urgent cure. They were too unstable to be kept in the infirmary, so Tobe was waiting for us in the Bestiary, next to two large glass boxes with brass edges and charmed locks, similar to those he used to restrain the monsters.
The Bestiary was still a thing of wonder for me, despite the horrors it housed. It was a giant egg-shaped hall with thousands of glass boxes in various sizes, positioned on different levels, which were connected by narrow sets of stairs. A central stem occupied the middle of the Bestiary, a metallic structure with a myriad of cables, linked to each of the boxes. That was how the Bestiary drew its energy from the monsters, before redistributing it wirelessly to all the covens around the world.
Wade, Santana, Raffe, and I were the first ones to arrive, rushing past the glass boxes as we made our way to Tobe. I always had to tilt my head back to look at Tobe—the Beast Master, the only monster with a conscience. Despite coming out of a witch’s Purge, his kind nature made him quite an asset, and he was subsequently put in charge of the Bestiary. Also, he was tall. As in, ridiculously tall. His lion head was adorned with a rich and luscious amber mane, his arms were feathered, and he had talons for feet. Other than that, he was as nice and normal as the rest of us. Sort of.
“Tatyana and some security magicals are coming in now with Dylan and Damian Heller,” Tobe said as we reached him.
Adrenaline was already rushing through me, making my heart pound like a very angry drum. None of us had seen it coming. No one had expected to find a magical kid with an Esprit, corrupted by strangers and full-on psycho. The coven had had trouble bringing magicals in before, but nothing like this—not magicals who already knew ancient Latin curses. That was new.
The boxes that Tobe had prepared were big enough to hold two adults, with about forty square feet of floorspace.
“I take it we’re treating them like monsters?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“We don’t know exactly what curse was used on them, and they’re acting like beasts,” Wade replied and gave Tobe a polite nod. “Thanks for this, Tobe.”
“They won’t turn into black smoke, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Tobe said to me, smiling. Or at least it looked as though he was smiling. That lion face wasn’t always easy to read.
The doors opened in the distance, followed by a rush of footsteps and growls.
“What happened, exactly?” Tobe asked.
Wade exhaled deeply. “We’re not sure. Tatyana, Dylan, and Astrid were visiting the Hellers, making sure their foster kid, Kenneth Willow, was indeed a magical.”
“Turns out he’s definitely a magical, and then some!” I added.
“He attacked Tatyana and his foster mom first. Dylan intervened and—” Wade tried to explain, until Tatyana cut him off.
“He put a curse on Dylan,” she said, panting as she dragged Dylan in by one of the ropes used to secure him.
I held my breath at the sight of him. Something was definitely wrong—his eyes were glowing a bright yellow, and tiny red veins had burst around them, spreading across his cheeks, temples, and forehead. His hands were tied behind his back with tape, rope, and cable ties, and so were his legs. He was growling and squirming, baring his teeth at Tatyana as she maintained her firm grip. Her strength was impressive, though adrenaline probably played a part.
Tobe then took over and threw him in the glass box. Dylan immediately tried to dive out, but Tobe slammed the glass door in his face and put the charmed lock on.
“There. He’s secured,” he said.
Astrid came in next, accompanied by two security magicals who brought Damian Heller in. Kenneth’s dad was in a similar state, with yellow eyes and red veins, snarling and growling and desperate to free himself. They put him in the second box, and Tobe closed it up with another charmed lock.
One quick look at Tatyana and Astrid, and I knew they’d put up quite the fight. They had cuts and bruises on their faces, and Tatyana was holding her side, grimacing from the pain. They were both scared and angry. I could feel it so intensely, it made my blood boil.
“Are you two okay?” I asked them.
They both nodded. “Yeah, just a little sore,” Astrid replied, and continued flipping through her Smartie tablet. “I just got clearance from Alton for the nationwide database. I’m looking for the Ryder twins there.”
“Tatyana, you don’t look so good. You should go see Krieger,” Tobe suggested, his concern weighing on my heart.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll go after we fix them,” she said, nodding at Damian and Dylan.
They were stuck in those glass boxes, roaring an
d ramming their shoulders into the walls, trying to get out. Of course, all their efforts were futile. These were Bestiary boxes, designed to keep actual monsters in. A couple of hexed people didn’t stand a chance.
The security magicals left, while Tobe produced a pack of medical wipes from his feathers. The guy had lots of useful things stashed in his winged arms, including the Bestiary keys. I’d always wondered what else he kept in there…
“At least clean yourselves up a little before you get to Krieger. We can’t risk infections,” he said.
He gave a handful of wipes to Tatyana, and I took a few from the pack and proceeded to gently dab some of the cuts on Astrid’s face.
“Thank you,” she murmured, smiling softly, then resumed her database search while I kept cleaning her wounds.
“Okay, run us through what happened,” Wade said, looking at Tatyana, who, in turn, had trouble taking her eyes off Dylan. There was so much heartache beneath that calm façade, it hurt me deeply.
Tatyana explained their arrival at the Hellers’ place, followed by her conversation with Maria in the kitchen, until Kenneth appeared and attacked her and Maria.
“So, his behavioral change has to do with the Ryder twins, according to his mom,” Wade concluded, frowning.
“I’m not so sure. I think he was always difficult and prone to trouble—at least that’s what I got from Maria. But they said something to him, about a new world, about serving the future Child of Chaos, that kind of stuff. They turned him against the coven. Kenneth was never going to come in willingly. Whatever the twins and Katherine Shipton are planning, he’s definitely involved,” Tatyana replied. “They just got to him before we did. The parents didn’t know anything about us or the coven, though. They only talked to Kenneth, in private. It was right after their meeting that Kenneth went full psycho on the parents.”
“They’re using different strategies on these families,” I said, my voice trembling. “With the kids it’s more complicated. But a teenager like Kenneth… It was probably easier to draw him into whatever they’re scheming.”
“Oh, absolutely.” Tatyana sighed, running a hand through her blonde hair. “I’m still not getting this whole Children of Chaos thing, though. How does Katherine plan to do that? And what does she need magical kids for?”
Astrid shrugged. “I gave Smartie a search using the ‘Child of Chaos’ term, but there’s nothing consistent coming through. I’ll keep looking, but so far there’s nothing on how to become one.”
“As for the young magicals, Katherine probably needs some muscle for her own private army, who knows?” I said, trying to measure my breathing.
“What happened with Dylan? And Damian?” Wade asked.
Tatyana hesitated, and her grief hit me right in the solar plexus. Despite that, she continued to explain everything in detail.
“What curse did Kenneth use?” Tobe replied, keeping his eyes on Dylan.
Damian was getting tired, but Dylan was still squirming in his restraints while slamming his shoulder into the glass box. It felt horrible to see them like this, and the helplessness we all felt was quite difficult for me to handle. I hadn’t experienced such grief and frustration since the gargoyle incident.
“Magicis, ecce ego bestia tua,” Tatyana repeated the hex words.
“That’s forbidden magic!” Tobe gasped. “Good grief, how did that boy get his hands on such a spell? It’s illegal!”
“I know,” Tatyana replied. “It’s a very ugly mystery.”
Alton arrived, concern etched into his expression. “Maybe the Ryder twins gave it to him.”
I was relieved to see Alton. There was something about his presence that seemed to have a calming effect on my senses, sometimes. It had to do with his tranquil nature. He never caved in, always searching for the solution, rather than allowing himself to be consumed by the problem.
I sensed his sorrow as he looked at Dylan, then Damian.
“Oh, it’s definitely related to the Ryder twins,” Astrid interjected, her eyes wide as she stared at the screen. She’d found something. “Emily and Emmett Ryder, born May 1, 1988, in Rio Grande, Texas. No records of their parents, but they were in the foster system for a while, before they were picked up by the Houston Coven.”
“Wait, your mom’s the director there, isn’t she?” I asked Wade.
He nodded. “Yes. I’ll call her later and find out if she knows anything. Not every archive in the covens was transferred into the magical population’s electronic database. There’ll be hard copies somewhere.”
The magical population’s electronic database was different from our library archives, which had been secured in their hard copy formats after a hacking incident, according to Wade. The electronic database contained all our information, much like the US government’s records—only ours came with the results of our Readings and various tailored reports, depending on whether there were suspicious or criminal activities involved. Astrid could even put the equivalent of a BOLO out for the Ryders, and I knew it was literally the next item on her to-do list. All the US covens had access to the electronic database, and, sometimes, information from there was shared with non-US covens, if needed.
“What else can you tell us about them?” Alton replied, looking at Astrid.
She swiped across the tablet screen, her brow furrowed as she skimmed the information. “They weren’t in the Houston Coven for long. They were kicked out for antisocial behavior. They’d been warned repeatedly. They were both transferred to the Phoenix Coven, but they just caused more trouble there, and some humans got hurt in the process. Someone in the Phoenix Coven took pity on them, from what I can see, because they had them moved to the Albuquerque Coven, instead of penalizing them. But they were just as bad there. They kept stirring up trouble between the magicals, mostly, pitting them against one another.”
“That doesn’t speak in their favor,” Alton muttered, crossing his arms. “I’ll reach out to Phoenix and Albuquerque for more records, then.”
“It doesn’t end well,” Astrid replied. “They were kicked out of Albuquerque, too, but they were separated. Emmett was supposed to go to Miami, and Emily was transferred to Seattle.”
“Opposite sides of the country,” I said. “They probably figured they wouldn’t cause as much trouble if they were kept apart.”
“And they didn’t want to jail them, either,” Alton concluded. “I suppose there were only misdemeanors.”
“Humans getting hurt is a misdemeanor?” I asked, clearly skeptical.
Alton nodded. “They mostly got only scratches. We consider it a misdemeanor if there’s no proof of intent to harm humans. They were most likely accidental collateral damage, and I presume their memories were wiped.”
“There was a lot of circumstantial evidence, too,” Astrid explained. “As per coven regulations, they were entitled to a defense attorney, and the ones they had in each situation were well paid and very good at their jobs. In some cases, they made it out to be the other magicals’ fault, portraying the Ryders as the real victims, being bullied and whatnot.”
That, to me, smelled extremely fishy. “Hold on. Foster system magicals got their hands on good legal defense? That costs money. Right?”
Alton nodded. “Yes. It’s one of the best-paid jobs in our world, actually. Our legal system is similar to that of the humans, and we litigate pretty much everything on the criminal spectrum. I think the covens will have all the court transcripts for each case. I’ll check with them, maybe find out who their solicitors were.”
“Either way, they never made it to Miami or Seattle,” Astrid said. “They vanished. Fell off the radar completely. They just… slipped through the cracks, I think. Look, these are their most recent photos,” she added, showing us the tablet screen.
I committed their faces to memory. They were attractive and young, in their mid-twenties at the time. The similarities were there—the black hair and brown, almond-shaped eyes, oval faces and slim noses. Emily had the long hair, t
hough, while Emmett’s was short. It didn’t make sense to me, since Linda had given us a different description.
There was mischief twinkling in their eyes, but nothing that screamed “sociopath” or “criminal.” They smiled at the camera, as if they knew what was going to happen next. As if they knew they were never going to make it to Seattle or Miami.
“The Travis couple described them as in their early twenties, though,” Tatyana said. “They’re in their late twenties, according to their files.”
“They probably still look very young for their age. It’s not uncommon,” Alton replied.
“Oh, yeah, with a good skin routine and proper moisturizer, you can cheat time for a few decades,” Astrid said.
My heart was filled with affection—all bright and warm and fuzzy. It took me a few seconds to identify it as Alton’s, as he fondly watched Astrid swipe through her files. She’d been with the coven for three years now, almost the same as Alton. Bonds were bound to happen, and I, like the others on my Rag Team, didn’t know much about Alton’s personal life, other than the fact that he was married to Isabel Monroe—whom I’d recently found out about. She was a magical, too, though she didn’t do much work for them. She was on the Fleet Science Center’s board of directors and collaborated with some local charities. I also knew that she and Alton didn’t have kids. Maybe we were the kids.
“I’ll refine my system search with this new info and the images as parameters,” Astrid added. “I’ll check every CCTV and social media post from the San Diego area. They’re bound to pop up somewhere, at some point. Smartie’s facial recognition software is sharp.”
“In the meantime, we’ve got a little bit of work cut out for us,” Alton said, glancing at Dylan and Damian again. “I know this curse. It’s called the Curse of the Magical Beast. It brings out the most feral side of us, witches and warlocks in particular. It works on humans, too, but, as you can see, Damian is already worn out. Dylan, on the other hand…”
Harley Merlin 2: Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins Page 10
