Harley Merlin 12

by Bella Forrest

  “Is something the matter, Miss Winchester?” Tobe stooped toward her. “Did they alarm you? We can look at more agreeable creatures, if you prefer.”

  “No, it’s not the satyrs.” Melody kept staring at Harley. “Is that you? Are you doing that?”

  Harley raised her eyebrows. “Doing what?”

  “Sensing me out.” Melody began to vibrate excitedly. “Oh, I can feel it! I feel what you’re feeling, like it’s right inside my brain! You’re curious about me, aren’t you? And… what’s that? Ah, you’re wary, which I suppose is natural considering what you’ve been through. But you don’t need to worry about me, I promise.”

  Harley gaped. “You’re an Empath?”

  “Same as you.” She nodded eagerly. “That’s a very strange sensation, isn’t it? Can you feel my emotions in your head, too? As if they’re yours?”

  “I can.” Harley squealed in a very un-Harley-like fashion. “You’re so excited to be here. It’s making me excited, and I’ve seen all this a thousand times. This is so cool!”

  “It’s hard to separate, isn’t it?” Melody giggled.

  “It is, but I kind of like it.” Harley rushed to Melody, and they clasped hands and began jumping around like madwomen. “I could use enthusiasm like this when I’m trying to get through a shift.”

  Melody danced a jig that Harley copied. “You can have it, whenever you want. I’ll feed it to you. I can be your Energizer bunny.”

  “I definitely need one of those.” Harley laughed as they spun. Tobe looked on, baffled. He wasn’t the only one. Luke and I stepped back and exchanged a look that said, What the hell is happening?

  “You’re nervous, too. What’s that for?” Melody stumbled to a halt. “Is it me? You don’t have to be scared of me. Finch will vouch for me. I’m here to help him—nothing to worry about.”

  Harley shook her head. “No, that’s not what I’m nervous about.”

  “And… wait… you’re in love. That’s wonderful!” Melody chirruped, flitting through emotions like a rolodex. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

  “His name is Wade. I’ll introduce you to him. He’d like you; I know he would.” Harley looked at me. “Finch, why can’t you make more friends like this?”

  I stared at her. “I’m not exactly in the market.”

  “Well, you should be!”

  Luke went into protective mode, narrowing his eyes at Tobe. “Did the satyrs do something to them?”

  “This has nothing to do with the satyrs, I am afraid,” he replied. “This is entirely their own doing. I have a wide breadth of understanding about Purge beasts, but mortal beings are more mysterious to me.”

  “Should we see more creatures?” Harley suggested to her new best pal.

  Melody squeaked. “Yes, please!”

  “Tobe, show us what you’ve got,” Harley instructed.

  “As you wish, Harley.” A throaty chuckle escaped his jaws. He led the way, giving the girls a brief history of all the critters we passed: sylphs, sprites, wraiths, will o’ the wisps, goblins, hobgoblins, every kind of goblin. Harley and Melody gazed into each box like schoolkids on a zoo trip. All Luke and I could do was steer into the skid and follow from a safe distance.

  Melody was beside herself, adding tidbits to Tobe’s knowledge. “Sylphs can be manipulated by magicals with Air abilities. They are one of the only Purge beasts linked directly to an Element. Isn’t that right, Tobe?”

  “It is, Miss Winchester. Very impressive. You have a keen interest in Purge beasts.”

  “I love them,” she agreed. “It’s mind-boggling that these beings are created by us, but we can’t predict which ones we might Purge.”

  I smirked. “I mean, some of us go all out and Purge a Child of Chaos. Putting everyone else’s efforts to shame.”

  Harley rolled her eyes. “I’m sure it was a fluke.”

  “I’ve got a question for you, Tobe.” I returned my attention to the Beast Master.

  “Of course. Ask away.”

  “How many of the Purge beasts here were captured by the Basani twins?” I couldn’t resist.

  Tobe ruffled his feathers. “The Basani twins sent perhaps one or two percent of these creatures.”

  “Ha! I knew they were bluffing.” I punched the air in satisfaction.

  “I doubt anything honest has ever left their mouths, except what the gas made them say,” Luke chimed in.

  Harley raised a hand. “Am I missing something?”

  “We’ve met them. Nothing important, just glad to confirm they were a pair of liars.” I smiled smugly.

  Only when Tobe led us to a familiar hall with one solitary box did Harley’s giddiness ebb. This box should’ve been frosted over, but it wasn’t. Black smoke twisted and turned inside, slamming against the glass. Harley went right up to it with Melody in tow and placed her nose to the pane. Immediately, the smoke stretched into the slithery form of Leviathan.

  “Harley, Harley, Harley. Long time no see,” he purred. “Anyone would think you’ve been avoiding me.”

  Harley shot a grim look at Tobe. “Who took him off ice? And how the hell is he talking to me? Aren’t these boxes meant to be soundproof?”

  “I am owed, Harley.” Leviathan swept up to the glass. “Do not keep me waiting too long. I grow impatient.”

  I hurried to my sister. Tobe wouldn’t have taken him off ice if there was a chance in hell of him escaping, but that didn’t mean Harley was safe from Leviathan. They had a deal, passed down from Echidna to her son—Leviathan would name Harley’s firstborn. It didn’t sound like a huge issue, but names were powerful. And Harley clearly didn’t appreciate the reminder.

  “My apologies, Harley. I should have warned you before entering. I had to release him for a short while in order to take Chaos samples. Dr. Krieger needed them for a personal project, and the samples could not be taken while he was frozen,” Tobe explained.

  “Taken without my permission, I might add,” Leviathan muttered.

  “You know that is untrue, Leviathan. Your permission was sought, so do not lie. Which brings me to the matter of you being able to hear him,” Tobe continued, with a sharp look at Leviathan. “Unfortunately, I had to implement an auditory spell to allow him to speak through the glass. It was Leviathan’s one condition, in return for behaving himself with the sample extraction. He likes to have himself heard.”

  Leviathan snorted against the glass, leaving two streaks of condensation. “So would you, after long stretches of being frozen into silence.”

  Harley paled. “I think I’ve had enough of Purge beasts for one day. Why don’t I show you around the SDC, Melody?”

  Clearly sensing Harley’s distress, Melody squeezed her hand. “I’d love to see what else you’ve got here.”

  “Come back soon, won’t you?” Leviathan called, as we made our way from the room.

  We’d just reached the atrium to find Levi long gone, when Remington Knightshade barreled in. He had Krieger with him, evidently to collect those Chaos samples.

  “Are we early, Tobe?” Remington stopped in front of our merry band of misfits and eyed Melody and Luke. “I thought you said to meet you at two o’clock to take more samples.”

  Remington had spent more time at the SDC this past year after finding his nephew, Dylan. The news that Remington was his uncle hadn’t gone down well with Dylan at first, but he’d warmed to him over time. Fighting a war together could do that.

  “No, you are precisely on time. I have just finished giving a brief tour to Finch and his new friends,” Tobe replied.

  “New friends?” Remington frowned.

  Melody put out her hand. “Melody Winchester. And this is Luke.”

  Remington shook her hand hesitantly. A moment later, he made a strained sound, his face pained. His fingers gripped Melody’s, refusing to let go even when she tried to pull away. “No… that’s not possible.”

  “Please let go,” Melody said, alarmed. Luke strode in and pried Remington’s hand away.


  “Touch her like that again, and you’ll regret it,” he snapped.

  “I’m sorry.” Remington blinked in confusion, his eyes sad. “It’s just… I… you’re like her. You’re like my Odette. I can feel it, coming out of you.”

  Oh, crap. I had a nasty feeling that Melody’s secret was about to tear wide open.

  Melody stepped closer to him. “You’re Remington, aren’t you?”

  “I am.”

  “You can sense what I am?” She sounded dumbfounded.

  He flinched. “Yes.”

  “How?”

  “I’m not sure. I touched your hand, and I… felt it. And in your voice and your eyes—it’s hard to put my finger on, but it’s there. I knew Odette for so long. I memorized her every nuance. She had an atmosphere about her, after she inherited the Librarian’s knowledge. You have it, too.”

  Harley turned her focus on me. “She’s the new Librarian?”

  “It wasn’t my secret to share,” I replied stiffly. Melody lifted her hand to Remington’s face, and I watched with interest while Luke actually turned green from envy.

  “She loved you so much,” Melody said. “There are so many memories of you. I’ve often thought I already knew you because of them.”

  “Memories?” Remington choked.

  Melody took her hand away. “I inherited more than Chaos knowledge from Odette when she passed. I have fragments of her memories, too. Some, toward the end, are terrible. I don’t like to dwell on them, though they creep in from time to time. But there are good moments—so many—and you’re in every one of them. They have this sort of rosy aura. It lets me feel what she was feeling when the memory was made. My goodness, she loved you. Even at the very end, in her worst memories… you were the last thing she thought of. A faint, rosy hint of you, embedded inside the terror.”

  Someone hand me the tissues… I didn’t know what to do with myself. It seemed wrong of us to listen in on this. Any hope for a normal life had been stolen from Odette when she’d become the Librarian. Librarians weren’t allowed to have relationships, per Chaos rules, but it hadn’t stopped her heart from loving Remington all the same.

  Yeah, and she’d still be alive if it wasn’t for your mother. Guilt twisted my stomach. Guilt by association of the blood running in my veins. Bitter tears trickled down my cheeks, and I wasn’t alone. Even Tobe dabbed his eyes with his paws. Remington completely broke down.

  “I miss her so much.” He gasped for air, clinging to Melody’s hands.

  Melody clung right back. “She misses you, too. During my transition into being the Librarian, I was able to communicate with her spirit for a short time—a spiritual handover of sorts. And she spoke of you often. Your love helped her face what came for her. It gave her the strength to stare into the eyes of her killers, and know she’d be at peace when it ended.”

  “I should’ve been there for her.” He sobbed, his shoulders shaking.

  “Nothing could’ve saved her. She wouldn’t want you to think like that,” Melody urged. “She knew you’d have given your own life for hers, and she was glad it wasn’t you in her place. She’s not burdened anymore. She’s at peace, I promise you.”

  Melody put her arms around Remington, and he sank into her shoulder, gripping her tight as the tears flowed. I tried not to watch, but I couldn’t help it. Looking at Remington, and hearing him, my thoughts drifted toward Ryann. What would I do to save her?

  I thought about the book I needed with a renewed sense of fear. All this time, I’d been looking to escape my deal with Erebus, when maybe the way to keep everyone safe was to do what I was told. It sucked the life out of me, sure, but maybe it was supposed to, since I doubted Erebus planned to let me survive this. But the others… they didn’t need to have that death sentence.

  Coward. My gremlins swooped in. My mother had ripped Odette’s mind out of her head, and she’d still found a way to help Harley and the others. If I just bowed my head and accepted my fate, then I would be a coward. She’d faced her killers because there’d been no escape. But I still had a shot. If I got out of my deal, maybe it’d get everyone off the hook. Erebus wouldn’t be able to use them against me anymore.

  Sometimes, love meant sacrificing everything. Sometimes, it meant taking a leap of faith. I just had to be ready to jump, and hope I was flying toward safety.

  Seven

  Finch

  Between them, Tobe and Krieger managed to put Remington back together again, like a regular Humpty Dumpty. They all had work to do—the perfect distraction for Remington after having all those old wounds reopened.

  “Will you have coffee with me tonight, Melody? I’d like to talk to you again,” Remington said while Tobe held him steady.

  “Of course,” she replied.

  Luke stepped up behind her. “I’ll be coming with you.”

  “What?” Remington looked over at Luke as if seeing him for the first time. “Yes, that’s fine. Whatever makes Melody comfortable. You must be her protector. Or are you more? Like Odette and me?”

  “He is my protector, yes, but we’re not like you and Odette,” Melody answered. “If you know Librarians, then you know the rules. I’m not allowed to have… more.”

  Luke’s brows lowered in disappointment, though she didn’t see it with him standing behind her. Remington, however, caught it. A flicker of understanding crossed his face, and it must’ve broken his heart all over again. There was only one thing worse than what he’d suffered—watching someone else go through the same thing.

  “You’re right. I know the rules all too well.” Remington sighed. “Tonight, then? You’ll come for coffee?”

  “We’ll be there,” Melody replied.

  As Remington, Tobe, and Krieger walked away, I let out a sharp whistle. “Well, that was depressing. Anyone got spare Kleenex?”

  “Poor guy,” Harley said quietly. Knowing her, she’d be thinking about her relationship with Wade and going through the same mental motions I had. Wade could be a royal pain in the ass, but I hoped they’d never be separated. He’d sort of grown on me this past year, like a nasty rash.

  “Maybe we should lighten things up?” I suggested. “How about the Aquarium? Cool monsters, but less hassle. I mean, none of them are vying to name your firstborn.”

  Harley shot me one of her best withering looks. “That’s not a bad idea, actually.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Melody chirped. It sounded forced, like her mind was elsewhere. On Odette and Remington, probably.

  We set off, leaving the Bestiary for the main body of the coven. Harley caught Luke in conversation while Melody lagged behind with me.

  “So, when did you start watching over Melody?” Harley asked.

  “About a year ago,” Luke replied.

  “Did the Winchesters employ you?”

  He nodded. “They’d heard about Odette on the news, during the posthumous medal ceremony. It got them worried, so they called me in.”

  With them distracted, I took the opportunity to have a word with Melody. “I’m heading to Waterfront Park tonight, so I’ll try and find the book while I’m there.”

  “I was about to mention that,” she whispered back. “I’ve done more research into it, which is part of the reason I insisted on coming. You’re looking for a book with a red cover and a ruby on the spine, written by Jabir ibn Hayyan. I say that, because if you go in, you’ll need to know your onions. It’s not a book many people know, so it might pique some suspicions if you don’t know much about what you’re looking for.”

  “Good to know.”

  “Say you’re a collector of rare pieces if they press you, and you should be covered,” she continued. “Don’t mention that you know what’s inside, and maybe throw in the name of a well-known rich person. Someone notable, so they don’t think you’re messing around.”

  Here’s looking at you, Daggerston. If I could get some use out of that weasel, I would.

  “What else did you find?” I pressed.

&n
bsp; She tucked herself right into my side and lowered her voice. “There’s definitely a connection between the djinn and the servants of Erebus. I managed to pluck a footnote of sorts from my head—so, you know, progress on the Librarian thing—and it implied a collaboration between the two. Not much detail, but the servants of Erebus from previous decades and centuries were known to work with djinn in order to complete specific tasks. They also helped the servants find certain people or artifacts earlier in history, since many of the spells we rely on today didn’t exist back then.”

  I dragged my arm across my forehead. The sweats had returned after Remington’s breakdown. Not the same feverish sweats Levi was going through—mine were cold and beading with anxiety, coming from the mind, not a physical illness. “So, it sounds like the djinn are Erebus’s eyes and ears? They watched his servants and helped them accomplish things that they couldn’t have done alone.”

  “That seems to be the case, yes.”

  “But we’re talking magical servants as well as djinn?” Erebus had rattled on about having other slaves, but I’d never crossed paths with another, so I had no clue who they might be or what they might look like.

  Melody nodded. “He has both, yes. And you’re in the former category.”

  “No djinn has ever helped me.” I sighed.

  “That’s the weird thing. Erebus seems to have kept you isolated for some reason. I have no doubt he’s had some of them watch you and pass on his messages, but they haven’t made contact.” She’d gone into sleuth mode. A modern-day Sherlock in a fluffy jacket.

  “But this book might shed some light on it?”

  “If my guess is right, and I’m pretty good at that sort of thing, the djinn should know the history of Erebus’s former servants. It’ll be in their collective memory. The book won’t have an exhaustive list, as it’s so old, but it might give you a way to research some of his past servants so you can see if any managed to find a loophole in the servitude bargain.” She pulled her jacket tighter, like she’d felt a sudden chill. “It’s a starting point, anyway.”