“We need to go back to my house. Davin can’t follow us there,” Melody instructed as she trailed Huntress through the ominous forest, the boughs shaking as we passed. Most of the pines were too densely foliaged, if that was a word, to even attempt a chalk door. But Huntress seemed to know where she was going.
The husky trotted across the snow, her head turning back occasionally to keep a blue eye on Nash. He kept pace as best he could, but I heard his every shallow breath. That curse was doing a number on him. All that pain, just to keep Davin at bay.
Huntress made for the nearest trunk and stopped, then nosed the wood. Melody ran to the dog and whipped out a stick of charmed chalk. I had mine, but I also had my hands full with her lover-boy. Behind us, from the cabin, I heard an almighty howl and a couple choice expletives—at least, they sounded like expletives, but they were oh-so-British: “Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks! You despicable blighter! Come back, you buggers! I am not done with you! Tossers, the lot of you!”
“Draw!” I urged, struggling to keep Luke afloat.
Melody scratched a rectangle into the trunk before whispering the Aperi Si Ostium spell. The lines fizzed and burned into the tree, creating the doorway that would get us out of Dodge. She yanked the handle and wrenched it open, leaping through first, with Huntress, Nash, Luke, and me darting in after. I brought up the rear and slammed the door the moment we were in the spooky embrace of the Winchester House. I guessed the house didn’t have the same security restrictions for Melody, with her being a Winchester and all. She’d brought us right into the belly of it.
Trembling, I dropped Luke like a sack of spuds and sank onto my haunches. Melody knelt beside him, pulling him into her lap as his eyes fluttered open in confusion. Across the hall, Nash collapsed on his backside, gasping as if he’d spent a few minutes in a sleeper hold. Huntress ran to him and began nudging his hand.
“That was close.” I tipped my head back, feeling my heart rate return to normal.
“A little too close.” Nash fixed his gaze on me. “Finch, I presume?”
I flashed an apologetic smile. “Yeah… sorry about that. People make kneejerk assumptions after they hear my name.”
“I’d be pissed if you hadn’t saved my ass back there.” Nash stretched his legs. “Did the rest of you start aging rapidly, or just me?”
“It was all of us,” Melody replied. “A rather unpleasant branch of Necromantic magic. Everyone assumes that Necromancy is for resurrection, but it can actually be used in reverse if the Necromancer is powerful.”
“Can you find anything about it in that mind palace of yours?” I asked.
Her expression hardened. “I’m researching as we speak. Nobody hurts my Luke and gets away with it.”
Davin had managed to ignite the rage of the sweetest person I’d ever encountered. Maybe Melody wasn’t all sugar and spice after all. Right now, it looked like she wouldn’t have batted an eye at sugar and spicing the life out of Davin Doncaster. Clearly, getting on the Librarian’s bad side was a very unhealthy idea. Knowledge was power, and Melody had it by the motherload.
“Finch?” A voice shivered out of a nearby corridor. My favorite voice.
My eyes shot up. “Ryann?”
Thirty-Five
Finch
“Don’t get mad.” Melody spoke first, taking me by surprise. “I asked Ryann to come after we followed you to Gatsby’s, in case we needed help. This is the safest place to be, after all. My family and I can chalk-door into here because of who we are, but nobody else can, and drama tends to… uh, follow you around. I figured I should have someone waiting in case anything got hairy.”
“That light must’ve blown out my brain, because that doesn’t make an ounce of sense,” I replied, looking between the women as Melody crossed the room to join her. Luke had opened his eyes, which probably meant he was out of the woods. Literally and figuratively.
Ryann frowned. “Which part?”
Man, it’s good to see you again. Had my gremlins still been rampaging, just one gaze at her would’ve soothed the beasties.
“Where do I begin?” I lifted a finger per point, though I only had one. “Let’s start with how you got in touch with Ryann. Nice and simple, while I wrap my head around her being here.”
“Cell phones, Finch.” Ryann smiled, eyes twinkling with relief. Was she happy to see me, too? I hoped so. She wasn’t giving me any signals to the contrary.
Melody nodded. “I swiped her number from your phone while you drew the map. You know, in case of emergency. In fact, she was the one who told us you’d gone somewhere—I didn’t want to tell you that in case you worried. Anyway, she was held up in a meeting, so she asked us to go and keep an eye on you. After you portaled, I texted her to let her know we were following you and told her to wait here for us in case things went south. Which they did.”
“No kidding.” I lowered my gaze, realizing I’d stared at Ryann too long. “But how did you even get here, Ryann? Last time I checked, you weren’t a magical.”
She smiled. “Fortunately for me, I know plenty of gifted individuals. Once Melody texted me to let me know what was going on, I got a message from her mom, giving me the directions to this place, plus instructions on how to get in once I got here. I asked a friend—don’t worry, you don’t know them—to open a mirror to the San Jose Coven for me, pretended I was on some business, and got a cab the rest of the way here. Simple.”
“Nah, seems like a lot of hassle,” I muttered. “And, though I realize how dumb it sounds after what just went down, Melody, I’m a little peeved you put me on some kind of security watch. What if you’d been… uh… seen?” I held back the E-word, with Nash listening in.
“He has a point,” Melody said. “If we hadn’t followed, Davin might not have found Nash… or you, for that matter.”
Ryann raised a hand. “Did I hear you right? Davin?”
“Oh yeah… the British Weeble wobbled back up again.” I clenched my jaw. If Davin kept invading my life, I’d end up cracking a tooth. “We barely escaped, as per usual.”
“Then I’m even happier that you’re okay.” She grazed her bottom lip with her teeth. “All of you.”
I’ll take it. I resisted the urge to pull her into a hug.
Melody sidled up to me and whispered, “I truly am sorry for not telling you, but I thought you could use a sight for sore eyes after your mission. I didn’t realize it would get that hairy, but on the bright side, there’s no safer place for Ryann.”
“Yeah, well back-pedaled there, Melody,” I replied, but I couldn’t stay mad. Those squishable cheeks were too damn adorable. And her earnest eyes spoke of eagerly sought forgiveness.
“Are you sure Davin can’t come here?” Ryann’s face darkened. Her history with him was almost as grim as mine. I hated to think about the awful things he’d done to her and the Smiths. It burned inside me, even now. Another reason on a long list of reasons to guillotine him repeatedly.
Melody smiled reassuringly. “The magic here is powerful—it’s one of the greatest strongholds in the United States. The spirits won’t let him cross the threshold.”
“S-spirits?” Ryann’s mouth gaped. “You mean, the stories are real?”
“They sure are. Haven’t you met any yet? They’re usually so welcoming.” I glanced around, expecting Mary Foster to come screaming from the walls. She wasn’t a screamer—at least, she hadn’t been with me—but it would have made a hilarious intro. And I could have used a laugh.
“I probably should’ve mentioned that.” Melody shuffled awkwardly. “But, if none have come to say hello, then it likely means they’re not that interested in you. They don’t always involve themselves with visitors; it depends on how they’re feeling.”
Ryann looked slightly disappointed. “Oh.”
Don’t worry, there’s at least one person in this house who’s interested in you.
“Well, aren’t you going to introduce me?” Ryann cleared her throat and gestured toward Nash, who
had slung one arm around Huntress’s neck. He seemed to be gaining strength from her somehow. No doubt through that Familiar bond they shared.
Nash heaved himself to his feet and walked toward Ryann. “The name’s Nash Calvert. I’m here to think about giving up some blood to help a friend of these guys, but I haven’t decided yet. So, he’s probably a friend of yours, too?”
“Oh, you mean—” Ryann started to speak, but I cut her off. I couldn’t have her give the game away unwittingly. And she had no clue what we were talking about. Time for another sterling performance from the one and only Finch Merlin.
“Raffe, yeah.” I gave her a telling look, bordering on manic. “Melody might not have had time to tell you, but we got a lead on his curse. We need Nash’s super-rare Sanguine blood to separate Raffe and Kadar, so everyone gets to live their own lives and go home happy.”
Ryann glanced at Melody, who nodded effusively, like a bobblehead. Luke added a halfhearted thumbs-up.
“You remember what I texted you?” Melody pressed, her voice strangled by the charade. She might’ve been a lot of things, but a liar wasn’t one of them. Luke was way better. He had the right amount of nonchalance… or maybe it was wooziness, considering the blow to his head. I could see the wound, now that we had no smoke and panic to contend with. A big bruise was blooming across his temple.
“About Raffe?” Ryann looked back at me.
I shrugged. “Hey, I don’t know what she texted you. I just know that I went to get Nash’s blood for Raffe, and these two Muppets showed up as the cavalry.”
Ryann’s lip twitched into a half-smile. Jiminy H. Christmas, I loved that smile. “Yeah, I remember. I must’ve gotten confused. I thought she meant Levi and Zalaam—I didn’t realize she meant Raffe and Kadar, though that makes a lot more sense now that I think about it.”
This is why I adore you. Two seconds, and she’d grasped that we were trying to skirt around the Erebus issue. She probably had no idea why, but I could tell her later, sans Nash. He didn’t need another reason to doubt me, and I’d already done a stellar job of making things screwy by telling him I was Wade Crowley.
“I thought I was here to help the Levi guy?” Nash tilted his head, and Huntress copied.
I thought fast. “You are, the younger one. There are two Levis—Leonidas and Raffe. Raffe’s our friend, and he’s the one who wants to be free. Leonidas seems quite happy shackled to his djinn, but that’s probably because his doesn’t try to kill him.” The explanation sounded stilted, but I hoped Nash wouldn’t pick up on it.
“That rings a bell.” Nash ruffled Huntress’s fur. “The Levi curse—that’s what you were telling me about, isn’t it? I think I’ve heard of it.”
“Exactly.” My palms had gone as clammy as an oiled-up blobfish. “I was telling you about it before Davin came in, hex pouches blazing. You know, the whole ‘it affects generations’ shebang.”
“And you told me you were Wade Crowley because you didn’t want me making assumptions about you?” Nash squinted, scrutinizing me. “You know, since you’re Katherine Shipton’s son.”
Ah, holy crap… Fear glided up my throat, but I swallowed it. Perhaps I was the one jumping to conclusions. Nash had, for all intents and purposes, been a hermit for the past few years. He’d said he dipped his toe into the media here and there, but what if he hadn’t heard the part about my deal with Erebus to kill my mother? Journalists had tossed around a dozen theories, and they’d never confirmed anything. And Nash hadn’t had much opportunity to shoot the Katherine breeze with random folks who did know the truth. So, maybe he genuinely had no idea that, these days, Finch and Erebus went hand in hand.
“I go by Merlin now,” I replied, keeping it cool. “But yeah, being squeezed out of that woman tends to give people the wrong impression, though I did kill her. And I didn’t want you booting us out on our asses before we had the chance to speak properly.”
“How come you know about Finch?” Melody still sounded strangled.
Nash shrugged. “I scan online magical feeds from time to time. Names of dangerous criminals, potential hunters—I learn whatever I can from the dark web, so I can make a run for it if I find anyone discussing me or my blood. I found my way onto this cult chatroom, and your name and picture popped up. That must’ve been about a year ago, but you were on a hit list because you murdered your mother. Since you’re still breathing, I’m guessing they didn’t catch up to you.”
“The Cult of Eris, you mean?” Ryann stepped in, her tone protective.
“Yeah, that’s the one.” Nash grunted. “Nasty business, but the chatroom disappeared a month later. No trace of it anywhere.”
Ryann scowled. “That’s because my sister and Wade Crowley have worked nonstop to take down the remaining members of the Cult of Eris.”
“Would the real Wade Crowley please stand up?” My joke fell flat, and Ryann gave me a cursory eyeroll for my troubles.
“Most of them are behind bars now, and the rest made deals for their freedom by giving up intel,” she continued.
“Which is probably why the chatroom disappeared,” Melody agreed. “They would’ve sensed their time was up and wanted to erase any evidence, in case they were put on trial. Plotting to kill a national hero certainly wouldn’t have done them any favors.”
I put a dramatic hand to my heart. “Melody, you’ve got to stop the flattery, or my head won’t fit through the door. I’m no hero.”
“Looks like you know something of the situation I’m in, Finch.” Nash gave me an appreciative smile, apparently letting me off the hook. “You were pursued; I was pursued. But at least I knew about it. Hey, if I’d known you then, I’d have given you a heads-up, though it looks like you got lucky in the end.”
“As if I didn’t worry enough about you,” Ryann murmured.
My insides went gooey, but I couldn’t overanalyze her comment right now. I had too many plates spinning. Davin couldn’t get into the Winchester House, which meant I could stow his plate for a moment. And I couldn’t deal with Lux until she slunk back into my life, so I could set that plate down too. Okay, so maybe I didn’t have that many plates spinning. I only had one actually up in the air. The most important one, for now: getting this curse off Nash, drawing his blood, stowing him somewhere safe, and delivering the goods to the E-man.
And if I dropped this plate, the rest would smash too.
Thirty-Six
Finch
Later that night, nestled in the creepy bosom of the Winchester House, our misfit band of merry weirdos reeled from everything that had happened. Namely, Davin, Nash, and the tangled web of lies that could strangle us at any moment. Or, rather, me.
We’d moved to the kitchen. Brighter and less oppressive in décor, it wasn’t quite as eerie as the rest of the house, despite the spirits shuffling around on a loop of servitude. Ryann stared at them, half petrified, half curious. Not surprising, since they were her first brush with ghoulies.
Luke lay on a couch by the window, in the “bar” region of the kitchen. Melody perched beside him, armed with magical potions aplenty for his head wound. Nash had sourced them from the Winchester storeroom, mixing vials and serums to speed the healing process. Ironic, considering he couldn’t do the same for himself. He’d also rustled up something for me and walked me through the method of making more Medela to keep the gremlins at bay. I hadn’t needed another dose yet, even with the added panic of Davin’s sudden arrival at the cabin. It looked like this Atlantean concoction had a lot more staying power than my old pills.
“They look cozy.” Nash tipped his bottle of cider at the sweet couch scene. I sat at the table with the wannabe lumberjack, nursing my own cider. “Anything between them? Or is it purely professional?”
I shrugged. “Beats me. Luke’s besotted with her, but… she’s like War and Peace.”
“Huh?”
“Hard to read.”
He burst out laughing, startling me so badly I almost fell off my chair. “You’re funny,
Finch. That one got me.” Huntress nuzzled his hand. “Yeah, I think I agree with you, H.”
“You talk to the dog?” I stared at the fluffy pup.
“Of course. She and I are connected, here.” He tapped his forehead. “And she thinks there’s more to Melody’s feelings than meets the eye. H thinks she’s fighting her emotions, and you know dogs—they sense emotions almost as well as Empaths.”
I frowned at Luke and Melody. Sure enough, they had a glow about them. Luke gazed adoringly into Melody’s eyes while she fixed him up, dabbing away the crusted blood with a gentle touch. All the while, she gazed down into his eyes, a contented smile on her lips. It looked as though they weren’t even aware of us anymore. They were in a bubble of their own, progressing to tentative touches—a heart-fluttering brush of the fingertips and the odd graze of Melody’s leg against Luke’s side as she shifted position.
But it stopped there. No chaste kisses, no handholding, nothing that would’ve made Nash and me stare desperately into our bottles. They might’ve been in a world of their own, but they were shackled by this world’s duties. Luke to his professional capacity as bodyguard, and Melody to her role as Librarian, which forbade romantic relationships. And if she’d seen Odette’s memories, she knew how breaking those rules could turn out—how her heart would break if anything happened to him, and that they stood to lose something real.
“It’s banned, right?” Nash brought me out of my sad thoughts.
“What?”
“Relationships for Librarians.” He picked at the bottle’s label.
I shook my head. “I reckon there are a fair few who’ve broken those rules, but they’re not here. That speaks volumes.”
“You think she’s worried about a relationship putting Luke in danger?”
Ryann entered at that moment, with bittersweet timing.
“I think anyone in love worries that they’ll end up endangering the person they love,” I said, watching her walk to the couch with an armful of bandages. “It gets worse if you have some kind of target on your back. Anyone who wants to get to you can use the person you love as leverage. That ups the risk, and Melody’s seen enough and knows enough to put anyone off.”
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