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

She chuckled. “Ah, Finch. Believe it or not, I’ve missed you.”

“Yeah? I doubt that. You tried to have me killed, remember?” I peered over her shoulder at the aquariums and wondered if I could break them and distract Katherine. There were a bunch of amphibious monsters in there that wouldn’t have minded a taste of her.

“Don’t you want to know how I knew? I bet you’re dying to.”

I glowered at her. “Even if I don’t, you’re going to tell me anyway.” Moving away from the tanks, I fixed my eyes on a large plant pot on the back shelf. With my hands under the table, I sent out fine tendrils and lashed them around the base. One swift knock to the back of the head and I’d be able to buy myself some time.

“To see the look on your precious little face? Absolutely.” She grinned like a maniac. “I figured out it was you the moment you mentioned the Gemini device. A silly move, even for you. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together based on that. Only two people knew about that device, and they’re harder to come by than you’d think. Plus, those two people were under strict instructions to keep that failure to themselves. They wouldn’t have mentioned it to you, under any circumstances. It all started making sense. Coincidental, is it not, that you happened to stumble across Naima and grab her attention? And that all these doors happened to be open? I confess, I should’ve figured it out sooner. I guess I’ve gone soft.”

I snorted. “You’re about as soft as a block of granite.” The plant pot edged forward.

“Anyway, I should’ve known it was you when you sold Tess out like that. You were merciless, just the way Momma taught you.” She chuckled to herself. “And I know a lot more than you think. I knew Garrett Kyteler was feeding the SDC information from the National Council. So, if the SDC knew about Azarius, then so did Harley. That girl can’t help herself. What can I say? She’s obsessed with me.” She took out her phone, her fingers dancing across the screen. I didn’t know who she was messaging or what she was saying, but I knew it couldn’t be good.

I didn’t know whether to be shocked or disappointed. We’d come so far, only to end up like this. Maybe I should’ve stayed in my cell.

“You were born merciless. You killed Adley just to get back at me, because you thought she’d somehow bend my loyalty. If you’d left her alone, I probably wouldn’t even be here. She had nothing to do with this! You murdered her, in cold blood, and for what? To prove you could? Because I loved her more than you? Which sick part of your Freudian brand of crazy is it, huh?” I brought the plant pot to the very lip of the shelf, trying to keep Katherine distracted before I struck. Not that I didn’t mean what I was saying. I meant every word.

She rolled her eyes. “You’re not still pouting over that, are you?”

“You were born cold. You were born without a heart. Funny thing is, you left me with one—I guess I got that from Daddy Merlin, right? Ironic, isn’t it, that the man you hated the most in this world gave me the one thing you couldn’t? A freaking conscience!” I snapped. “When you murdered her, you made me see how much I loved her. How much my heart had felt, and how much it wanted to feel. You tore it to shreds, Katherine. You brought me to this!” I dragged the pot off the shelf, aiming for her head.

She shot her hand back, the plant pot exploding. “What were you going to do, Finch? Brain me?” She chuckled. “You know how I hate being interrupted while I’m soliloquizing, and I was just coming up with something good. Now, where was I? Oh yes—Harley. Little Volla is going to have her head on the chopping block. Naturally, I’ll make you watch. I’ve still got that Sal Vínna spell around here somewhere. I might make an obedient son out of you yet. Plus, it’ll be so much easier this time. Two people to kill instead of… I don’t even know, I lost count after the first few.”

I stared at Katherine as if I could somehow melt her flesh from her body, just by glowering hard enough. “You leave her out of this.” The words slipped out before I could stop them.

She sneered. “Ah, so you’re the one who’s really gone soft?”

“Shut up.”

“Wow, snappy retort. I guess you didn’t gain the gift of banter from me, either,” she muttered, casually eyeing her phone for a moment. “Now, come on, take off that stupid disguise. I’d like to look my son in the eyes. My beloved boy. Apple of my eye. Fruit of my loins.”

I shifted into my real body, not for her sake but for my own. With all this anger bubbling inside me, it was getting hard to manage the Pieter Mazinov disguise.

“There he is! How handsome!” She laughed coldly.

I smirked. “You might know who I am, but it doesn’t matter now. You’re too late. That little mind of yours that you pride yourself on was too slow. Harley has Hester’s spirit by now. She’ll have escaped, and you’ll never get that spirit back.”

Katherine grinned. “Naima already knows about our runaway and has dispatched teams to intervene. Although, the spirits of All Hallows’ Eve will probably be more useful right now. So, if you’re talking about the tunnels, the ghosts know who their mistress is. They’ll bring her here so I can kill her, and she’ll be out of my hair for good. Wouldn’t that be nice? I could do with some peace and quiet. Plus, this way, I’ll never have to hear about a Merlin ever again. Bliss.”

I balled my hands into fists. “I thought you needed Harley. You wouldn’t kill her. You’re all talk.”

“I don’t want her dead, per se, but there are plenty of things far worse than death, Finch. And I’ll get to killing her, eventually. Just thinking about it gives me a buzz. I almost killed her the last time we met, which was a bit of an impulse on my part. But I’ve gone back to my original plan, now. There’s so much power in that girl. It’s tantalizing.” She licked her lips. “She’ll be perfect for me, when the time comes.”

“Looks like you just want her dead to me. Another notch on your weird old bedpost of death.”

She pulled a face. “Terrible metaphor, Finch. Come on, you can do better than that. Anyway, the fact of the matter is, I want you to come back to the cult. Yes, I tried to kill you. Yes, I had your sap of a girlfriend killed. And yes, you’re probably a bit peeved. But focus on the bigger picture here. Whether you like it or not, I will win. It’s up to you which side you want to be on when that happens.”

“Are you out of your freaking mind?” I hissed. Of course she was. She always had been. My body was itching to hurl something at her, to inflict as much pain as possible on her. I didn’t care if she thought she’d win. There was no way we’d let her. Even if I died here, Harley already had the spirit. I was certain of it. And, once it was released, Katherine would be laughing on the other side of her face.

“What if I could offer you something you couldn’t refuse?”

I snorted. “Unlikely.”

“How about Adley, back from the dead?”

I gaped at her. “Wh-What?”

“If you come back to my side and promise to be loyal, I’ll bring Adley back from the dead. I’m in the process of recruiting a shiny new Necromancer—a good one, at that. Very powerful. If you come back to me, we can get Adley’s body from the spot where she’s buried and bring her right back. Given the way she died, they’ll have put an anti-decomposition spell on her, in case they need to exhume her for any reason. She’ll be fresh as a daisy, but she won’t be pushing them up anymore. You can have her back. Promise I won’t get jealous.” She grinned. “All you have to do is say the word, and you don’t have to hurt anymore. You can put that heart you’re so proud of right back together again.”