Harley Merlin and the Cult of Eris (Harley Merlin, #6)

She smirked. “That is for you to discover.” She set the jars on the ground and disappeared back inside her Bestiary. When she returned, she held a large box in her arms.

“These trials aren’t supposed to be easy,” Tess snarked.

I frowned at the box. “Is that another creature?”

“No, this is merely the raw meat you may use to entice the beasts into behaving, though it will not be as simple as bringing a stray dog to heel. They are as likely to eat you.” She chuckled darkly and set the box down between the jars. “You have half an hour, beginning now. If you fail, you will die. Katherine will only accept the best and most powerful into the cult. The rest are merely feed for my monsters. And, while your performances in the arena were exceptional, it is not enough to secure your place among us.”

“Why kill so many good soldiers if you need an army?” I couldn’t hold the question back.

Naima nodded thoughtfully. “An excellent question. Had you arrived with exceptional ability—a rare power, perhaps—these trials would have been tailored differently. Knowing of your reputations, we are aware that you lack any such abilities. You are Elementals only, and while your abilities are very strong indeed, they are nothing that Katherine needs, per se. As such, you must endure much more difficult trials to ensure you are worthy of your place.”

“Quality over quantity, right?” I smiled, keeping up the ruse of Volla’s sharp attitude.

“Precisely.”

Tess nodded. “A lot of ordinary magicals die in these trials, but it’s all for the greater good. That is how Eris weeds out the weak, to have only the most skilled at her side. Why have an army riddled with Mediocrity?”

It made a twisted sort of sense, not that I agreed with any of it. I could only imagine the kill rate in this place, and that wasn’t including the human experiments on the far side of the island.

“Good luck.” Tess grinned at us, lifting her hands. A white light shot out, forming a time-lapse bubble around us. The last time I’d seen one of these was in New Orleans, when Papa Legba’s townhouse had started to crumble. I didn’t exactly have good memories linked to these things, and I doubted that was about to change.

“We must go, Tess.” Naima stepped toward the edge of the bubble and beckoned for Tess to join her. Together, they disappeared through the membrane to safety, leaving Finch and me alone with whatever was lurking in those jars.

“Okay, then. Beast time,” Finch said, carefully approaching the nearest jar. I walked toward the second jar and tried to catch a glimpse of the creature inside. Black smoke swirled and twisted, but I couldn’t make out a distinct shape.

“Can they see us in the time-lapse bubble?” I asked tensely.

Finch shook his head. “Definitely not in this one. It’ll be extra sturdy.”

I exhaled, unsure of whether that made me feel relieved or more nervous. At least it meant we could use all of our abilities to get these beasties tamed.

I reached for the jar and unscrewed the lid. For a moment, nothing happened. And then, a stream of black smoke poured out of the glass, growing limbs and a body, its ugly head appearing as the mist faded away. A gargoyle—my favorite. Only this one looked way nastier than any I’d encountered before, foam frothing at its wet lips, its eyes black and wild, its knotted muscles pulsating beneath its scaly skin.

To my right, another creature was forming after being released by Finch. It was way bigger than the gargoyle, with a huge body that seemed to be made from rock, its torso and arms covered in moss and lichen, while weeds sprouted from its face. A golem.

“Looks like you’ve made a friend,” Finch said, nodding at the gargoyle. It had set its sights on me before I could even ask to switch. It sniffed the air and grimaced, something dark and slimy dripping from its sharp teeth as it spread out its wings and howled.

“Yeah, they’ve got a thing for me.” I flashed him a grin before launching myself at the gargoyle.

“Must run in the blood!” Finch ducked a savage blow from the golem.

I laughed bitterly. “Why couldn’t we have been normal? Like, imagine if our parents had been lawyers and accountants.” I grappled with the gargoyle’s throat, wrapping a lasso of Telekinesis around it and yanking it halfway across the expansive bubble.

“Accountants are way worse than what we ended up with, believe me!” Finch shot back, as he sent his own lasso of Telekinesis toward the golem, swiping it off its feet. It crashed to the ground, sending a shudder through the earth that almost knocked me down, too.

I rounded on the gargoyle and drove a fireball into the back of its head. It yelped in pain and scurried away from me, breaking loose from the Telekinesis. It didn’t get far, as I shot a judder of Earth through the ground, a circle of small trees shooting up around the creature, penning it in. At least, for a moment. I’d forgotten about the wings. It howled again and burst out of the wall of trees, powering through the air toward me.

“You made it mad, Sis!” Finch chuckled as he tackled the golem, his legs dangling over the creature’s shoulders as he rode around and tried to tug its head off with his Telekinesis.

“We’re supposed to tame them, not kill them,” I reminded him as I dove out of the way of the incoming gargoyle. It screamed at me and flapped its way up into the air again, its leathery wings vibrating.

Finch pulled a face. “Killing them would be way easier.”

“But that isn’t always the answer, remember?” I feinted out of the way of another aerial attack and sent up a spiral of powerful Air. With all the work I’d been putting into controlling my abilities, my success rate with Air and Earth had gotten a lot better. The gargoyle got caught in the maelstrom, spinning around and around like a lone sock in a washing machine. It was almost comical to watch, though I was aware this thing would devour me if it had half the chance.

With my focus fixed on the gargoyle, I’d forgotten about Finch’s golem. I didn’t see it until it was right on me, pinning me to the ground with its hefty stone foot. The breath rushed out of my lungs as I fought to break free, but it had me trapped. Turning over my shoulder, I watched Finch try to wrestle with the creature and push it away from me, but he was having some trouble. Meanwhile, I’d lost my hold on the maelstrom, and the gargoyle was about to make a dart for freedom.

“A little help?” I wheezed.

“I’m trying!” he shouted back. “It’s not easy moving a million-ton golem off your back.”

“Well, it’s going to squish me if you don’t!” I felt a rush of air close to my face and turned to find the gargoyle crouched on the ground, staring at me with hungry eyes. I could have sworn it even licked its lips. Here I was, stuck under the golem’s foot with no way out, with a ravenous, wild gargoyle about ready to eat me.

Suddenly, the golem lurched forward, taking its foot off me. It staggered clumsily, kicking out at the nearest thing, which just so happened to be the gargoyle. The winged beast went flying, tumbling backward. Its sharp claws shot out, raking across the earth to slow itself down, while the golem lumbered off in the opposite direction. Finch still sat on its shoulders, tugging harder at the invisible reins of his Telekinesis in an attempt to wrangle the creature.

“Use your neurotoxin!” I shouted, dragging myself to my feet. The gargoyle was on its way back.

“What?”

“Use. Your. Toxin!”

“This rock stuff will break my Esprit!”

I rolled my eyes. “Then put it directly in its freaking mouth!”

“Nice to see your dark side peeking out.” Finch laughed, but I saw him pull his Esprit from his pocket. He reached for the golem’s mouth and pulled back as hard as he could, the monster arching and stumbling around. A moment later, Finch jabbed the tip of the blade right into the golem’s tongue.

The golem collapsed forward, unleashing a wounded groan. It hit the deck with an enormous thud that made everything shake, cracks appearing all around its fallen body as it lay still.