Harley Merlin 12

by Bella Forrest

  Jacob toyed with his shirt sleeves, looking as uncomfortable as I felt. “But… aren’t you a bit young? No offense, I think it’s cool, and I’m mega-pleased for you both, but I couldn’t imagine getting married at your age.”

  Wade smiled. “After all we’ve been through, I think it’s added about a decade to our real ages.”

  Harley kissed his cheek. “And we’re already partners in work and in life and in love, so it just felt… natural to take the next step. You know, make it official. Believe me, I didn’t think I’d get married this young either, but when you find the right person, and it feels right, then it doesn’t make sense to wait.”

  “Precisely.” Wade gazed at her as if he held his entire world in his arms.

  “Personally, it makes me want to gouge my eyes out, and maybe rip out my ear canals while I’m at it. Or your tongues, to cease this sickening sweetness.” Raffe’s eyes snapped up from his drink, glowing red. “We are at dinner, after all, and I could use a little tongue hors d’oeuvre to start me off. I’m ravenous.”

  What the—! Raffe had vacated the building, and Kadar had seized control.

  “You think this is the time for an engagement? You think anyone cares about your pathetic human rituals?” Kadar slammed his fists on the table, smoke billowing from his shoulders. “If you used your eyes for something other than gawping at each other, maybe you’d see that one of your own is in pain! I ought to rip you all to shreds and use your entrails as a veil.”

  “Kadar!” Santana put her hand on his arm. “Take it easy. Focus on me. Just look at me and listen to me and try to calm down. I know you’re in pain. I know Raffe hasn’t been sleeping, and you’re both tired.”

  Kadar glared at the table. “And what have you done about it? Nothing! Your voice is like razorblades.”

  “Kadar, stop.” Santana grasped his face and forced him to look at her. “You don’t get to speak to my friends like that. I know you’re hurting, and I have been helping you. So calm your ass down. I’ll use my Orishas—you know I will.”

  Kadar twisted his mouth into a scowl. “And I’ll send them running.”

  “What’s going on?” Harley peered at the raging djinn, his billowing smoke thickening as his skin flushed scarlet. Realization hit me like a bitch-slap: Raffe’s sullenness and Kadar’s apparent pain had something to do with Erebus. I just knew it.

  Santana cast her a strained look. “He’s been like this for a while. I don’t know why, and neither Raffe nor Kadar can tell me. Honestly, I don’t think they know what’s happening.”

  “Not that you care about me,” Kadar spat. “You only think about your precious Raffe, but he and I are a package deal, sweetheart. He hurts, I hurt. He doesn’t sleep, I don’t sleep. He loses it, I lose it.”

  “Yeah, well, don’t go losing it, pal.” Dylan gripped Kadar’s wrist.

  Ah, you shouldn’t have done that.

  “Unhand me!” Kadar roared. Heads turned throughout the restaurant.

  “Kadar, listen to Santana,” Wade cut in, hands raised.

  Kadar sneered. “She’s about as useful as the rest of you measly flesh-bags. She can’t help me. If this could be fixed, I would’ve done it myself. I have more power in my left eyeball than you all have in your entire bodies.”

  “It’s Erebus, isn’t it?” I found my voice.

  Kadar’s eyes flashed. “Don’t speak to me of that wretch!”

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” I replied. “Since the djinn draw their power from Erebus, there’s only one person to blame.” And Erebus had a jazzy new human body, which restricted his power. I hadn’t realized until now that his limitations would affect the djinn.

  Garrett, Ryann, and Saskia gasped in unison. They knew about Erebus and his human body. Harley did too, now, but she seemed to be a little slower to slot the pieces together.

  “When did this start, Kadar?” I asked.

  “None of your business,” Kadar rasped.

  Santana looked at me desperately. “It started a few weeks ago.”

  “Right after the Jubilee mine collapse?”

  “Y-yes… around then,” she stammered, keeping a firm hold on Kadar. The timelines fit. Erebus got his body, and the djinn went nuts. Cause and effect. But I couldn’t tell the others about the Erebus part—not yet. Enough people knew, and I wouldn’t drag the rest in. I’d owed Harley answers, but I didn’t owe the rest of the Muppet Babies. They were out of it, and I planned to keep it that way.

  “Enough of your incessant chattering! Every word you speak pains me! If I have to listen to another sound, I will kill you all and strip your bones bare!” Kadar slammed his fists into the table again, harder this time. The wood split on impact, and fire surged from the cracks, sending up licking flames. Everyone ducked for cover. The other diners screamed as the waiters rushed to find fire extinguishers and yelled for anyone with Water abilities to come and help out, since this was a magical restaurant.

  In the mayhem, Kadar leapt onto the table and ran through the blaze. Wade tried to trap him behind the flame wall with a burst of Fire, while Dylan dove for Kadar’s ankles. Wade got a swift punch in the jaw, and Dylan took a sharp kick to the face for their trouble. Kadar darted out the door.

  So much for a happy engagement.

  Ten

  Finch

  “Ryann, stay with Saskia and Jacob.” I jumped up to tear after the Hellboy wannabe. Erebus had Kadar’s panties in a bunch, and he needed to be stopped before he did any more damage. I hated to think of the size of the bill for this table, and we hadn’t even ordered entrées.

  “But—” Ryann started to object, until Harley cut her off.

  “It’s safer if you stay here.”

  Tatyana nodded. “You too, Saskia.”

  “It’s your funeral,” Saskia said sullenly, but we had no time for teenage sulking.

  The Muppet Babies and I sprinted from the restaurant. Kadar’s trail proved easy to follow. Huddles of frightened magicals littered the walkways of Waterfront Park, staring in the direction the grumpy little fireball had gone. We raced through and burst into the warm night air. If any humans saw him, we’d be up crap creek without a paddle. Laws surrounding mind-wiping without permission had gotten a little hazy, and calling in a cleanup crew would mean reams of red tape.

  “Where is he?” I stopped on the edge of the street and glanced up and down the road.

  A roar pierced the night, sending a shiver up my spine. My eyes lifted skyward, and I spotted a figure on the rooftop opposite. I ran across the road and made for the fire escape. Using a lasso of Telekinesis, I wrapped the tendril around the first metal platform and hoisted myself up. Harley was close behind, though she briefly paused to help the others while I pressed on.

  By the time I reached the roof, my throat burned and my lungs were gasping for air. I’d mostly recovered from Blanche’s ice wall, but I still had a few bruises that made breathing trickier than it should have been.

  Kadar stood on the roof’s edge, hunched over like a gargoyle. He roared again, his growl filled with pain. I didn’t need to be an Empath to sense the guy’s agony.

  “Kadar.” I lifted my hands, appeasing.

  His head twisted toward me. “It hurts! I want to rip out my insides. Anything to make it stop. I have to make it stop!”

  “And throwing yourself over the roof won’t do that. It’ll end up with Raffe splattered and you slowly decaying inside a dead body,” I reasoned. “You’ll have to suffer through all of that, and what comes after.”

  “You don’t understand,” Kadar snarled. “I can’t take it anymore!”

  “Then make me understand.” I stepped closer. From this distance, I’d have a split second, maybe less, to throw a lasso of Telekinesis if he decided to jump.

  “As if you could.” He buckled over, wrapping his arms around his stomach.

  I edged closer, trying to up my chances of a successful catch. “I’m a servant of Erebus, too. I might understand more than you think.�
�

  “Not the way I am.” He unleashed another roar that shook the building. “He’s killing me.”

  Santana reached my side. “Tell us what’s going on, Kadar, so we can help.”

  “There’s nothing you can do.” He turned to her, red eyes glinting. “Only death or Erebus can end this torture. And Erebus no longer listens.”

  Everything happened in a blur. One moment, Kadar stood on the edge of the roof. The next—he’d hurled himself off.

  My hands reacted instinctively, tendrils of Telekinesis rocketing over the edge. They touched something solid, and I yanked back hard. Kadar flew upward, landing on his back.

  “NO!” he bellowed, fighting the tendrils. I gripped tighter, using them to hold him down. Santana and Tatyana rushed past and skidded to their knees beside him. Santana’s Orishas exploded out of her, while Tatyana’s eyes glowed white, calling on the nearby spirits. Blue and white sparks collided, the Orishas working with the spirits to immobilize Kadar. They sank into his body, taking temporary control.

  Still gripping the Telekinesis strands, I walked up to him. He’d stilled, though his ruby eyes stared upward, scarlet tears trickling down his face. They flitted toward me as I neared.

  “Why did you do that?” he hissed. “I don’t want to live anymore. I can’t live with this. The pain, the emptiness, the dread. It’s like slowly dying and not being able to stop it. I’d rather make it quick, for both our sakes—Raffe’s and mine.”

  My gremlins jostled inside my head. He and I were in similar positions, for different reasons. “Because you have people who care—people who want to see you fight this. People who’ll stop at nothing to make sure you see another day. If you’d ended your life tonight, you’d have broken Santana’s heart, and everyone else’s.”

  “They don’t care for me.” The blood-red tears stained his cheeks. “They only care about Raffe. And I was doing this for both of us. He’s in as much pain as I am. He doesn’t want to go on, either.”

  “No. We know you, Kadar. We know you as well as Raffe. And we don’t want to bury you,” I said. Santana took hold of his hands, visibly fighting to keep herself together.

  “It’s true,” she whispered. “I love Raffe, but you’re part of him. A part he can’t live without, and a part I can’t live without. Why do you think I’ve stayed up with you all night when Raffe passed out cold and you’ve been at your worst? Why do you think I’ve had Slinky wrap himself around you to keep you safe? It’s not just for Raffe… it’s for you, too. So don’t do that again. Please.”

  “All you’ve done is prolong our torture.” Kadar shook violently as the Orishas and the spirits tried to calm him. His djinn energy was clearly having a bad reaction to the spiritual influx. “All you’ve done is bring… more… pain.”

  “Then tell us how to fix you,” Santana begged.

  Kadar gazed at her with a sad smile. “That’s just it, señorita. We don’t… know how.”

  His eyes rolled back as the red glow faded, along with the scarlet sheen of his skin. The smoke stopped billowing, and his body went limp. He’d passed out, taking Raffe with him into oblivion.

  “That was a close shave.” I exhaled, keeping the tendrils around him just in case.

  Santana leaned forward and buried her face in his chest, while Tatyana released the spirits and returned to her usual, non-glowing self. The rest of the Muppet Babies approached, taking in the mayhem with solemn expressions. This probably hadn’t been the night Harley and Wade expected. I hated that Kadar had ruined their evening, but I hated his agony more.

  Erebus’s signature was scrawled all over this mess. That level of suffering… I couldn’t comprehend it. Through all my mental struggles, there’d only been a handful of times when I’d thought about… well, what Kadar had almost done. It took a mind that had reached complete hopelessness to take that jump. A total belief that there was nothing left to live for, that death beat any pain you were going through.

  “Don’t you dare do that again. Don’t you dare leave me.” Santana grasped Raffe’s shirt, her tears leaving damp spots on the fabric. “I don’t want to be without either of you.”

  Make a joke. Lighten the mood. Do something! I banished the impulse. Even in my fractured state of mind, I knew this was no time for humor. Kadar really had meant to kill himself. All because of Erebus. Erebus or death; he’d said so himself. And that understanding took a weird toll on my brain. Paranoia gave a roundhouse to the old gray matter, out of nowhere. What if Erebus was watching me through the djinn’s eyes, at this very moment? What if he suspected I was up to something? I subtly touched the book hidden under my shirt.

  “He’ll be all right, Santana.” With a shaky hand, I touched her back in attempted reassurance.

  She jolted. “What if he’s not?”

  “We’ll find a way to help him.” I kept my hand on her back. “Let’s take him to the infirmary and have Krieger give him a onceover. When he wakes up, I’ll find out exactly what’s going on with Erebus.”

  “Why? It’s not like you’re great amigos. Why would you help him?” Santana didn’t even look at me—she just smoothed Raffe’s ruffled shirt.

  Because I’m not a selfish assclown, like everyone seems to think. I resisted the urge to snark. Santana was suffering, and she needed an outlet for her grief. It hurt, sure, but I could be her emotional punching bag if she needed one, for now.

  “Because I understand the pain he’s in, to some extent,” I replied. And helping him might help me. That might’ve been backtracking on the non-selfish thing, but Raffe and Kadar might have intel on Erebus. Intel that might supplement the book I’d stolen and whatever Melody had gathered from her mind palace. One way or another, I was ending my servitude to Erebus.

  Santana eyed me strangely. “Really?”

  “Is that so hard to believe?” I said quietly.

  “No… I suppose not.”

  “Come on. Let’s get your smoldering señor back to the SDC.” I took a step back and crouched nearby, sketching a doorway with my trusty charmed chalk.

  I whispered the Aperi Si Ostium spell and opened the door.

  “How do we get him through?” Santana asked.

  Dylan appeared beside Tatyana. “I’ll help. What else are muscles for?” He scooped up Raffe like he weighed nothing and jumped through the chalk door to the infirmary, visible below. Tatyana and Santana followed him down, and I prepared to do the same. Before I could, someone tapped my shoulder.

  “Where are you running off to?” Harley furrowed her brow.

  “I need to talk to Raffe when he wakes up,” I replied.

  She nodded slowly. “E-man stuff?”

  “What else?” I rolled my eyes. “Apparently, I’ve got an unhealthy obsession with him. But you guys should stay and salvage your evening. Or at least pay the restaurant for singeing their table. Ryann and the others will be worrying about whether they’ll have to foot the bill.”

  “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that, actually.” Her tone turned even more serious.

  “About what?”

  “Ryann.” Harley fiddled with her shiny new ring. “Is there something going on between you two? I’ve noticed the looks between you, and she stayed tight-lipped about where you were. Keeping secrets like a… a girlfriend might. And you seem protective, which I’m super-grateful for, of course, but it feels… like there might be something going on. You’d tell me if there was, right?”

  I cleared my throat. “You’d be the first to know, but there’s nothing to tell. She loves Adam, and I’m a lone wolf. That’s all there is to it.”

  “You just called him Adam!”

  “Did I?” I fumbled for words. “Maybe I’m running out of serial killers. Anyway, there’s nothing going on, and I need to leave before this doorway shuts. You go deal with the fallout and stop worrying. It’s your engagement night; you’re not allowed to worry.”

  She gave a bitter laugh. “Hard not to, when a djinn sets fire to everything
.”

  “You know what they say—the worse the engagement, the better the marriage.”

  “I thought that was the wedding.”

  I shrugged. “How should I know? I’m hardly an expert.”

  “Well, do you need any help? Do you want me to come with you? I’m sure Wade can—”

  “Nope, it’s all good,” I interjected. “You go back to the restaurant, take Ryann and the kids home, and I’ll let you know if I need anything. Love you, sis.”

  Before she could object, I jumped through the door and slammed it behind me. The engagement party might’ve ended, but my night had just begun.

  Eleven

  Finch

  I’d had to hold my horses on questioning. Half an hour went by in the infirmary, and Tatyana and Dylan had finally left. Krieger busied himself around the place, collecting vials and medicine bags to string up for Raffe. He was still unconscious, passed out on a narrow hospital bed. Slinky coiled around him like living rope, no doubt to stop him from escaping if Kadar woke first. It rested its scaly head on Raffe’s chest, tongue flicking.

  Gross…

  “How’d you get it here so fast?” I perched on the opposite bed, observing the feathered snake in case it lunged for me.

  Santana sighed. “He comes when I call now. I can summon him, as long as I’m in the SDC.”

  “Suitably creepy.”

  “He keeps Raffe calm,” Santana replied tersely. “If Kadar tries to do anything rash, he tightens his coils. Slinky’s stopped a few outbursts so far, so he stays. Don’t even think about having him thrown out.”

  I raised my hands in mock surrender. “Whatever works, as long as it keeps its fangs to itself.”

  “Damn straight,” she shot back.

  “So, what has been happening to Raffe?” I segued smoothly into my interrogation. My concern for Raffe was genuine, though my motivations might have been slightly selfish. If the djinn were suffering, that didn’t spell good news for me. I needed the djinn.