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

Jacob nodded. “I think so.”

“Okay then, let’s stop talking about it and get on with it. We’ve got a cult leader to get rid of.” I locked eyes with everyone in the group, feeling the anticipation rise through my body, setting my Chaos alight. I wished I had a crystal ball to let me know what the outcome of this was going to be, if only so I could be sure that I’d see every single face in this room when we came back. There were no assurances, but I knew my people—I knew how tough they were and how determined they were to stop Katherine dead in her tracks. We were ready for this, readier than we’d ever been. We’d spent the time since the last ritual honing our abilities, and this time, she wouldn’t get the better of us.

Jacob held the pen tightly in his hands and fed his energy into his palm, the bronzed light enveloping the object. He closed his eyes, a sheen of sweat glistening on his forehead. A moment later, a small blast of light forced his hand wide open, and the pen floated out on a wave of thrumming Chaos. It drifted up into the center of the room, hovering for a moment, before it exploded outward in a blinding blast of rushing air and vivid sparks. It disintegrated entirely, and the particles spread out, forming a weirdly uniform line. As Jacob pushed his Chaos energy toward the line of particles, a huge hole tore through the fabric of the atmosphere, creating a stable portal that, hopefully, would lead us straight to Katherine.

“Well, here goes nothing,” I murmured, casting an anxious glance at Wade. It felt so good to be back beside him again, and I prayed we’d make it through this together. After all, we had a lot of catching up to do.

I walked toward the crackling portal and stepped through, bracing myself for what we would find on the other side. Taking my lead, the rest of the Rag Team followed, with Astrid, Alton, Isadora, Louella, and Dr. Krieger watching us go with anxious eyes.





Forty-Three





Harley





I stumbled out into pitch darkness. Had I somehow gotten stuck in the portal tunnel? Gaia, this better not be you again. No time for side trips right now. I couldn’t see a single thing in front of me, but there were sounds all around me, getting closer.

“Guys?” I whispered.

“Yep, this is not a drill. It’s pitch black in here.” It was Santana’s voice, coming from just behind me.

“Watch your step,” Tatyana whispered. “I can sense something.”

I frowned. “Spirits?”

“No, not spirits exactly. It’s something else,” she replied.

The sounds got louder as I took a tentative step forward. I heard the rumble of a growl, deep in the throat of an unseen creature, followed by the snap of jaws. An undercurrent of hisses and slavering tongues peppered the louder noises, though I wasn’t sure which unnerved me the most. One thing was for sure: I’d seen this before. I’d been here before, in that dream I’d had back at the stone hut.

If Finch comes toward me with a knife, I’m going to scream.

A second later, I became aware of shapes shifting in the darkness, dangerously close to where we were standing. I couldn’t see them, but I could feel their presence, and I didn’t need any spiritual insight to know that wasn’t good.

“Any sign of Katherine?” Jacob hissed.

“I think you might have dropped us a little too far,” I replied. In the distance, I could see a barely discernible, glowing light, with figures standing in front of some kind of object—an altar.

“There are three of them,” Raffe said, his voice weird and raspy. Great, just what we need. A rabid djinn.

“Can you see who they are?” I asked, praying Raffe could keep a lid on the djinn until we got closer to Katherine.

“Katherine, Naima, and Kenneth,” he said, without a pause. I turned over my shoulder and saw two small, glowing red orbs in the darkness. The djinn was out in full force, no doubt sensing the presence of its leader, Erebus. Well, this is creepy. Combined with the unseen creatures all around us, this was getting more unnerving by the second.

“Raffe, hang on, okay?” Santana urged.

An eerie chuckle split the air. “Oh, he’s not home right now. Call back later.”

“Kadar, behave yourself.” Santana sounded worried.

“What are you afraid of? A little darkness?” The djinn chuckled again, somewhere close to me. I could feel his hot breath on my neck. Ugh.

“We need to get closer,” I said, ignoring the djinn. If this was the otherworld of his leader, then he might prove useful here. As long as he didn’t try to eat us first.

“Anyone going to mention whatever’s lurking in these shadows?” Jacob’s voice squeaked.

“We need some light.” I heard Wade’s voice beside me, the tone calming my rapidly beating heart.

I heard a crackle of energy as a fireball burst into life in Wade’s palms, his ten rings glowing. The moment it cast its light on our surroundings, the Chaos monsters in the darkness surged forward in a snarling, snapping horde of jaws and fangs and glinting eyes. For a split second, it revealed the mass of Chaos monsters that waited in the shadows. They stretched as far as the eye could see, freezing my blood in my veins with sudden terror. Evidently, the torn page that had spoken about this place had got it slightly wrong—there were no tortured souls, only a heap of these Chaos monsters.

I caught sight of a blur out of the corner of my eye as Finch lurched forward and sputtered out the glowing fireball with a wave of Telekinesis, pushing it into the darkness, where it dissipated into a star of sparks.

“Run!” Finch hissed. “We need to run!”

He brushed past me, his footsteps echoing in the black otherworld. With no other option, I raced after him, heading for the distant glow of doom. The footsteps thundering behind me let me know that the rest of the Rag Team was following suit.

I jumped in fright as a rush of air swept forward from behind me. I saw the telltale crackle of a portal and started to freak out. Had Jacob abandoned us? That wasn’t his vibe at all. Another portal opened up ahead, closer to the altar and frazzling in an alarming way, with Jacob just visible in the faraway light. I realized he was using that dangerous initiative of his again, using his portal energy to analyze the situation closer up. He was way faster than these monsters, and they didn’t stand a chance of catching him. I guessed, in this place, he could only hold the portals open for a short time, and in sharp bursts. Too quick and temperamental for all of us to pile through them.

We, on the other hand, had nothing but our legs to carry us through this nightmare world, and I could already feel the shadows pressing in on us. Unseen claws swiped at my ankles, just as they’d done in my dream, the snapping jaws way too close for comfort. I heard a yelp behind me, but I didn’t know who it had come from. I wanted to yell back and find out whether everyone was all right, but the din of the creatures had grown to a deafening volume. There were growls and roars and howls everywhere I turned, with eyes flashing in the dark.

I stumbled and fell as something snagged my leg, dragging me to the ground. The creatures swept in, their breath foul and hot on my skin, their jaws gnashing. I dragged myself to my feet and kicked outward, smacking something in the face. It whined in pain, but I knew another creature would just take its place.

“Everyone alive?” I roared.

A smattering of voices responded. Doing a quick voice-count, it sounded like everyone was still with us. Good… let’s keep going.

Meeting my mom had filled me with fresh determination and a renewed hatred for Katherine that would see me through any challenge. And this was probably going to be the hardest one I’d ever faced.