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

“You really want to stay here, with a psychopath?” I had to put it bluntly.

“No, but that doesn’t mean your way is any better. At least here, from the inside, I might be able to help.”

I shook my head. “You saw how well that worked out for Tess. If you stay and take up her position as the mole, then Katherine will sniff you out. She’s looking for betrayers now. How long do you think you’ll have before she comes for you?” I felt a fresh sense of guilt about what had happened to Tess, and I really didn’t want that happening to Shinsuke too. Despite his blank face and mixed emotions, I knew he wanted to join us. At the very least, he didn’t want to be here anymore, and that was good enough for me.

“I know this entire organization is wrong. I’ve sensed it. And I no longer wish to be a part of it, but—”

“No buts, Shinsuke. Either you stay here and you die, or you come with us and you help.”

He dipped his head. “I would like to see my father again. And I would like to help you, but…”

“Shinsuke, get these off me!” I whirled around to see that Kenneth had woken up from his little snooze and was writhing frantically to get the Cuffs off. Not that wriggling would do him any good. He couldn’t even cast a curse with those things on. At least, I hope he can’t.

Figuring it was best not to risk it, I sent a pulse of reverse Empathy toward him, gathering up a bunch of sad emotions to feed into him. My specialty. He suddenly stopped wriggling, his face crumpling into a mask of misery. A moment later, tears were streaming out of his eyes, and his chest was heaving as he sobbed uncontrollably, like a little kid who’d had his favorite toys taken away. There was nothing he could do to stop it as he covered his face with his hands and wept like he’d never wept before, heaving out ugly, gigantic sobs that bellowed through the room.

“Hey, Finch, you were right,” I said.

He frowned. “Huh?”

“Weeping Willow wasn’t a bad nickname after all.”

He grinned. “You doubted me?”

“Isadora, can you get us out of here now?” I shifted my glance to her. “Shinsuke, it’s now or never. Are you coming with us or not?”

He still didn’t seem sure.

Finch rolled his eyes. “We haven’t got time for this. Do you want this kid back at the SDC?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Great, then he’s coming.” Finch sent out a lasso of Telekinesis and wrapped it around Shinsuke, tugging him closer. With one swift punch to the side of the head, he knocked Shinsuke unconscious, the guy lolling in Finch’s arms. “Happy?”

“Finch!” I frowned. “We need to have a talk about your tactics…”

“Sure, later. Let’s get going,” Finch said, with an anxious look toward the door.

Isadora nodded and set to work again, the bronze light twisting around her fingertips in an elegant coil. With her eyes closed, she pushed the energy outward, tearing a fresh hole in the fabric of space and time. It added a few more thread-veined cracks to the tanks, and more of Katherine’s belongings flew against the walls. The more the merrier, as far as I was concerned. I wanted her to come back here and see what had happened, and I wanted it to burn her up inside. I wanted her to hurt the way I’d hurt when I’d let my mother go. She’d walk into this room and know she’d failed, and that was going to be so freaking sweet, even if I wasn’t here to see it.

With air rushing out of the void, the edges crackling and sputtering in that worrying way, we sprinted into the portal one by one, Isadora bringing up the rear. Glancing over my shoulder, I noticed Finch snatching something off Katherine’s desk before he darted in after me. I staggered out into the familiar, clinical surroundings of the infirmary of the SDC. Never had I been so happy to see strip lighting and hospital walls. In front of us, looking slightly alarmed, sat Krieger and Jacob. They’d evidently been waiting for us to return, but it took a lot of experience to get used to seeing a portal open.

“Thank goodness!” Krieger heaved a sigh of relief.

“We thought something bad must have happened,” Jacob added, looking like he wanted to rush forward and hug us all.

As the portal snapped shut behind us, I looked around at Wade, Finch, the unconscious Shinsuke, and Isadora, and almost collapsed in hysterics. Instead, I just grinned like an idiot as a wave of relief washed over me.

“We did it. We freaking did it,” I murmured. Glancing at the others, I could tell they shared my relief and awe that we’d actually managed to pull this off.

Wade nodded, with a grin. “We did. We freaking did!”

We’d stopped Katherine from completing the third ritual, and now she had no way of getting it done. All Hallows’ Eve started in six hours, on the stroke of midnight, and we’d beaten her to the punch. We finally beat her. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t in some weird simulator.

The only one who didn’t look too happy was Finch. He seemed on edge, running a hand anxiously through his hair. He was acting like he had something to hide. Did it have to do with what he’d snatched from Katherine’s desk? I doubted it. He’d probably just taken something to annoy her. But this wasn’t the behavior of someone who’d taken some kind of petty revenge. This was the behavior of someone who felt very unsettled.

“What is it, Finch? You’re sort of killing my buzz here,” I said, as Wade and Isadora debriefed about what had gone on. Finch still had his arm around Shinsuke, who was coming around slowly, his eyes blinking open in a daze.

He frowned. “It’s just… well, Katherine was pissed when she heard you’d got your hands on Hester, but I don’t know if this is actually over. She wasn’t quite angry enough, if that makes any sense?”

“No, it doesn’t. What do you mean?”

Wade glanced up. “Something up?”

“She… She should have been livid, but she wasn’t,” Finch said. “And she kept saying she had backup plans for her backup plans. I’m starting to wonder if she had a backup plan for Hester’s spirit. Like, she’s got other options or something.” Finch looked like he might be sick. “I should’ve known it was too easy.”

Shinsuke raised a limp hand. “Finch may be right.”

“Can you explain?” I pressed.

“Well, when Katherine gave the order for me to come and fetch Finch and Wade, she did mention something about other options. She was quite smug about it. She muttered something like, ‘They think they’ve fooled me. Well, we’ll see who gets a nasty shock when midnight rolls around.’ That would suggest she has a backup plan, as Finch said.”

I could have ripped my hair out. “And you’re telling me this now?”

Shinsuke bowed his head. “I thought it was just Katherine being Katherine. When I saw you all in her office, I presumed she didn’t know how far along with the plan you were. I’m sorry.” He paused. “I may have said something sooner, had Finch not decided to resort to brute force.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said, trying to swallow the bile that was rising up my throat. He was right. If we hadn’t knocked him out, he might have been able to say something about it.

“There is one more thing.” He looked uneasy.

I leveled my gaze at him. “What?”

“I came from her private residence, when I was sent to collect Wade and Finch.” He paused uncertainly. “Well, the thing is, she had just murdered Tess. It’s one of the many reasons I’m glad I came with you.”

My stomach sank. I knew Katherine was going to do it, but that didn’t make it any easier to comprehend. One moment, Tess had been alive, and now she was dead. And we’d put her in that situation. That was never going to be easy to live with.

“What does that have to do with midnight?” Wade cut in.