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

“Now, you two.” She shot a look at us. “I want you in my study in fifteen minutes, so I can make sure Tess is put away in a Bestiary box and doesn’t try any of her shock tricks again. And give me that jar, or I’ll have your hands for wall ornaments.”

She breezed toward us and tore the jar out of Finch’s hands, striding over to an empty case on the far side of the room. There, she slammed it into the case and closed her eyes, whispering a spell that made the box light up with fierce red light. With that done, she stormed out of the room, leaving us to wonder what we’d gotten ourselves into. Now, we risked losing my mother’s spirit forever, unable to do a damned thing to stop Katherine before she used Hester to complete the third ritual.

“I hope you’ve got a clever way out of this, too,” I hissed at Finch.

He shook his head. “Nope.”

Great… That’s just great.





Thirty-Four





Harley





With the library closed, my mom’s spirit safely inside the locked box, and the guards restored to their positions, Finch and I had been frog-marched to Katherine’s office so we could await her return. The injured ones had gone to the infirmary to get their frazzled skin seen to, while others had taken their place, all along the hallway. Fortunately for us, however, the guards who’d escorted us here seemed preoccupied with what had just happened, the three of them clustered a short distance away, speaking in scared whispers.

“Do you think she’ll really kill Henry and Jenna?” one asked.

Another shrugged. “Of course she will. They allowed themselves to be compromised.”

Meanwhile, I gaped at Finch. “So you’re telling me there might have been a way out of that library this whole time, and you didn’t think to mention it the moment we had my mother’s spirit?” He’d just told me about the secret door he’d caught sight of, though a little too late for it to be any use.

He shrugged. “I’m telling you now, aren’t I?”

“And what good is that?”

“Well, now we have a way out, even with all this added security. We can use it to escape when we snatch your mom’s spirit again. Anyway, it wasn’t like I saw it as soon as we got in. It was a last-minute spot.”

“Yeah, provided we make it out of this meeting in one piece. What do you think the chances of that are?”

He smiled. “Fifty-fifty?”

“You’re an idiot.”

“Oh, come on, what are you so worried about? We’ve got our alibis covered. Those guards will attest to what we say. I can’t say the same for Tess. As soon as we leave this meeting, we can get back into the library through that secret door and take the jar. It’s not just an exit, Sis—doors go both ways.”

I paused. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Now who’s the idiot? I just have to find out where the entrance is. Katherine once said something about ‘looking for Lux’ to find it, but I don’t know what that means. Not that I won’t figure it out.” The smugness was radiating off him, no Empathy needed. Glancing at him, I had to smile. If what he said was true, and he really knew the way back into the library through that second door, then we were closer to victory than I’d thought. This was the break we needed, and with Katherine distracted by Tess, it might be the perfect timing, too. Not that I felt good about it. I didn’t want Tess to suffer like this. If we’d had more time, I would’ve tried to save her, but I didn’t know if that was even a possibility now.

“We haven’t won yet,” I reminded him. “And can we not just talk about Tess like that? She’s going to die because of your trick with the replay thing. Like, really die. In a horrible, horrible way. This isn’t a casual threat.”

He shrugged, visibly chastened. “But we can see the finish line, right?”

“Come on, let’s just get through this and try not to get ourselves killed. And remember what Tess is giving up for us… because of us. Okay?”

“Killjoy.”

We put on solemn expressions as Katherine rounded the corner, sweeping past us into the office. The door slammed behind her, leaving us confused. Were we supposed to just go in? Finch made the first move, knocking and waiting for her to reply, the two of us sharing one last, conspiratorial look before we entered the lion’s den.

“Come in,” Katherine called.

Gathering every ounce of courage I had left, I pushed through the door and into Katherine’s study. She sat behind the expansive desk, flipping casually through a stack of large books with covers made out of a material that resembled human skin.

“What do you think, Volla—death by flaying to the bone and making her eat what comes off, or death by cellular disintegration, killing her one cell at a time? They’re both time consuming, but that is what I promised. I can’t let Tess down now, can I?” She chuckled darkly. My stomach churned.

Every scrap of Katherine’s former anger appeared to have dissipated, leaving the composed Katherine we were used to. Her left hand glowed as she scanned it over the pages, revealing hidden words and symbols.

“Whichever you prefer,” I replied, forcing my voice to stay calm.

“You’ll get splinters if you sit on the fence, Volla,” she tutted, looking up. “But I can’t knock your punctuality. Sit.”

We did as she asked, looking like naughty schoolkids who’d been brought into the principal’s office. Only, with much higher stakes.

“Now, tell me what you were doing in the library. I know you weren’t just trying to apprehend Tess. Before she was locked away in one of my personal Bestiary boxes, she insisted that the two of you were up to no good. I’m inclined to believe her, given how desperate she was. Traitor or not, I sensed it was prudent to listen.” She smiled. “Plus, you’re new. I’m always suspicious of newbies. Call it an occupational quirk.”

I didn’t know what to say. My mouth had clammed up. Fortunately, Finch took the lead and leaned forward in his chair.

“I already knew that Tess was the traitor, Eris.” At least he was sticking to the script on this one. We’d figured, before coming here, that it was best to stay as close to the truth as possible, without the obvious discrepancies. “We were passing the library on our way to the war room, when we heard a commotion inside. The door was open, so we went in, and we found two collapsed guards and Tess heading for the door with that jar in her hands. I took it from her and was trying to put it back, when she turned on us and told us all that stuff about you.”

He was improvising, and I didn’t know if I liked it.

“When we saw Tess with the jar, that was it. We knew what she was up to, and we had to stop her so she wouldn’t have the chance to ruin your plans,” Finch continued. “The rest is history.”

Katherine smiled, but there was something deeply unsettling about it. “About that trick you pulled with the replay—very clever. Did they teach you that in Russia?”

Finch nodded. “Our parents were eager for us to learn how to defend ourselves. We learned from ex-Russian secret magical services.”

She shrugged, apparently satisfied. “I suppose deception is in your nature.”

“I only use those skills if I need to, Eris,” Finch replied.

“Yes, I suppose you do.” That smile crept onto her lips again, sending a shiver through me. “I happen to like spells like that. They’re so much more satisfying than voice recorders or polygraph tests. I can get on board with most technology, but I find these modern cell phones fairly distasteful, making everyone into zombies. ‘Pics or it didn’t happen,’ that sort of vile thing. Once I’ve achieved my goal, I’ll see them banned. Make people actually sit up and take notice of the world around them. Then, they might see what they’ve been missing while they’ve been staring at their screens. Maybe I’ll post one picture, to let them know that it did happen, on the day their world ends.”