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

“Sore, but I will endure.” He even sounded like his dad.

Harley smiled at him. “You’re not too shabby yourself. I guess you’ve got good genes though, with your dad being Hiro Nomura.”

Easy, Harley.

Shinsuke paled. “I’ve worked hard to be successful by myself, without my father’s help. You can’t raise yourself up beyond the label of Mediocre without intensive training and dedication. Genes play no part in it. If anything, my father’s genes did me a disservice.”

“Not a fan? It must suck, having everyone mention him whenever they meet you, huh?” I shared his pain. I’d been through enough of it myself.

“It does grate sometimes, yes,” he replied.

“Sorry,” Harley said. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“I don’t waste energy on bearing grudges or feeling wounded by others’ comments. Besides, I’ve gotten used to it over the years.” Shinsuke scooped up a forkful of omelette and put it delicately into his mouth. Everything he did was methodic. Even eating breakfast.

I glanced up to find Katherine eyeing us. Since we were the newbies, she had to. Meanwhile, her right-hand and left-hand lackeys were scowling at each other. They were arguing over something likely petty, and I couldn’t see a clear winner. Tess tended to brush him off when he got like this, like a nasty bug. Kenneth was the one with the permanent grudge. I’d love to tear out your spine and feed you to Naima’s beasts. I wondered if they’d prefer him thick-cut or crispy. They stopped a moment later, as Katherine turned away from us to shoot them both a warning look.

“How long have you been here?” Harley asked our tablemate.

Shinsuke shrugged. “A few months.”

He cast a wary glance around. It was like he was pretending to be part of the crowd, but his body language said otherwise. His actions suggested he’d prefer to leave this place and never come back. Biggest mistake of your life, huh? Same.

“You don’t like it here, do you?” Harley lowered her voice to a whisper. Clearly, she was sensing the same vibes. Only she had her Empath abilities to clarify.

Shinsuke’s eyes widened. “I’m quite content.” The words came out almost robotic. Not hard for Shinsuke, but this was even more automated than normal.

Glancing around the table, I got the impression Shinsuke might not be the only one dissatisfied by the cult. Despite the apparent happiness and tranquility, I could sense an undercurrent of tension. It hadn’t been here before, when this place was my home. Something had definitely changed. I couldn’t tell what, exactly, but I knew one thing: the core of the Apple was rotting.

After breakfast, Naima stepped down from her pedestal and took us to one side.

“Don’t tell me, there’s a secret fourth trial to get through?” I was only half joking.

She smiled. “No, there is not. In fact, it is quite the opposite. You and Volla are to have the rest of the day off to recuperate and gather your strength. Katherine is of the mindset that you have had quite enough excitement for one day and have done more than enough work to get into the cult. As such, you have been gifted with a brief respite.”

Good. I sure as hell need it.





Since we were going out of our minds in the stone hut, Harley and I took a walk around the island. I hadn’t mentioned where we were going, but she seemed willing to follow me. Keeping away from the walkways, I led her back to the opposite side of the island, to the Hexagon she hated so much. Only, this time, we weren’t going to the lookout overhead. Instead, I took her to a shadowed entrance on the ground. It was hidden behind one of Katherine’s stone titans.

The layout of this place hadn’t changed since I’d last been here, and not many people knew about this entrance. This doorway was only for those in the know, Katherine’s most trusted—namely, only me and her. For that reason, it was never guarded.

“And Katherine’s office is definitely inside here?” Harley hissed.

I smirked. “Good guess. Why else would I be bringing you here?”

“You could’ve told me there was a secret entrance.”

“Why? So you could go wandering around and get yourself caught?” I gave her a knowing smile. “This is where the good stuff happens. See, Drake Shipton had a lot of hidden tunnels and basements built into the island, and this compound. He was a paranoid bastard, but it paid off. This way, if the island is ever under attack, and there’s no time to move it elsewhere, Katherine and her minions have a safe and undetected way out. The tunnels lead right under the ocean to the mainland.”

I pushed open the heavy, rusted iron door and ushered Harley inside. Judging by the squeal of the hinges, this entrance hadn’t been used in a long time. Suits me. The doorway opened out onto a long, dark tunnel made of concrete and steel. All of the corridors in this place looked the same. It was part institution, part nuclear bunker, part military base.

We made our way through a network of dimly lit corridors, ducking into doorways at the sound of oncoming footsteps. Nobody would pay us much mind, but it served to be cautious. Drake Shipton had had a point about that.

“Holy crap,” Harley muttered as we made our way through one final corridor and came out into a wider, brighter hallway, with doors branching off at steady intervals. Cult members were walking about, some standing guard at certain doors while others hurried this way and that. Everyone looked stressed. And they had reason to be. Any slip-ups and it’d be certain death. This was the true cult.

I grabbed Harley and yanked her back into the smaller corridor as a figure emerged from the only door to my left. Hello, Mother. The room she’d just come out of was her private study. I’d seen enough people die in these hallways as a result of disappointing her.

I nodded to Katherine as she breezed past with Naima at her side. They strode down the hallway, people bowing as they passed.

As soon as they disappeared at the bottom end of the hallway, I slipped around the corner with Harley in tow and headed for the single door. Katherine’s study was never guarded because it’d be a waste of manpower. No one was stupid enough, or suicidal enough, to enter without her say-so. So, what does that make me? Besides, it needed a password, and only two people knew that password. Me and Mother dearest.

I held the handle and whispered, “Sit turpium cogitationem in chao.” Meaning, “In Chaos there is rebirth.” I’d always thought it was a weird choice, but Katherine loved a statement.

The door clicked open.

Katherine’s study had always left me in awe. Despite being underground, she’d fashioned a smaller bubble within the interdimensional pocket, crafting this place into an otherworldly room. It resembled an observatory, with a domed ceiling that looked out into a perpetual cosmos. The walls were made of gold and wood, giving off major steampunk vibes. Circular bookcases wrapped around the entire room, full to the brim with leather-bound tomes. Meanwhile, the floor was glass, with water running beneath it. There were glass panels in the walls too, poking out from between bookcases. Behind the panes, mournful Selkies, fanged water-serpents, and miniature krakens twisted and turned. Now and again, a fight would break out, but Katherine had trained them to behave. It was her very own version of the SDC’s Aquarium.

“What if they come back?” Harley whispered, as I closed the door behind us and whispered the locking spell that would keep it that way. Katherine wouldn’t be back for ages, which meant nobody was getting in.

I smiled. “They won’t. It’s eleven o’clock, which means Katherine and Naima are having their mid-morning meeting in the war room.”

“The war what?”

“Big room, opposite side of the Hexagon. It’s where they have all their who-should-we-kill-today chats. All of her most trusted soldiers will be there, which gives us a good hour to do some searching.”

Harley frowned. “So… Hester’s spirit is in here?”

“Why else would I have brought you here?”