Harley Merlin 12 by Bella Forrest (story books to read TXT) 📗

I hurried to my sister. Tobe wouldn’t have taken him off ice if there was a chance in hell of him escaping, but that didn’t mean Harley was safe from Leviathan. They had a deal, passed down from Echidna to her son—Leviathan would name Harley’s firstborn. It didn’t sound like a huge issue, but names were powerful. And Harley clearly didn’t appreciate the reminder.

“My apologies, Harley. I should have warned you before entering. I had to release him for a short while in order to take Chaos samples. Dr. Krieger needed them for a personal project, and the samples could not be taken while he was frozen,” Tobe explained.

“Taken without my permission, I might add,” Leviathan muttered.

“You know that is untrue, Leviathan. Your permission was sought, so do not lie. Which brings me to the matter of you being able to hear him,” Tobe continued, with a sharp look at Leviathan. “Unfortunately, I had to implement an auditory spell to allow him to speak through the glass. It was Leviathan’s one condition, in return for behaving himself with the sample extraction. He likes to have himself heard.”

Leviathan snorted against the glass, leaving two streaks of condensation. “So would you, after long stretches of being frozen into silence.”

Harley paled. “I think I’ve had enough of Purge beasts for one day. Why don’t I show you around the SDC, Melody?”

Clearly sensing Harley’s distress, Melody squeezed her hand. “I’d love to see what else you’ve got here.”

“Come back soon, won’t you?” Leviathan called, as we made our way from the room.

We’d just reached the atrium to find Levi long gone, when Remington Knightshade barreled in. He had Krieger with him, evidently to collect those Chaos samples.

“Are we early, Tobe?” Remington stopped in front of our merry band of misfits and eyed Melody and Luke. “I thought you said to meet you at two o’clock to take more samples.”

Remington had spent more time at the SDC this past year after finding his nephew, Dylan. The news that Remington was his uncle hadn’t gone down well with Dylan at first, but he’d warmed to him over time. Fighting a war together could do that.

“No, you are precisely on time. I have just finished giving a brief tour to Finch and his new friends,” Tobe replied.

“New friends?” Remington frowned.

Melody put out her hand. “Melody Winchester. And this is Luke.”

Remington shook her hand hesitantly. A moment later, he made a strained sound, his face pained. His fingers gripped Melody’s, refusing to let go even when she tried to pull away. “No… that’s not possible.”

“Please let go,” Melody said, alarmed. Luke strode in and pried Remington’s hand away.

“Touch her like that again, and you’ll regret it,” he snapped.

“I’m sorry.” Remington blinked in confusion, his eyes sad. “It’s just… I… you’re like her. You’re like my Odette. I can feel it, coming out of you.”

Oh, crap. I had a nasty feeling that Melody’s secret was about to tear wide open.

Melody stepped closer to him. “You’re Remington, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

“You can sense what I am?” She sounded dumbfounded.

He flinched. “Yes.”

“How?”

“I’m not sure. I touched your hand, and I… felt it. And in your voice and your eyes—it’s hard to put my finger on, but it’s there. I knew Odette for so long. I memorized her every nuance. She had an atmosphere about her, after she inherited the Librarian’s knowledge. You have it, too.”

Harley turned her focus on me. “She’s the new Librarian?”

“It wasn’t my secret to share,” I replied stiffly. Melody lifted her hand to Remington’s face, and I watched with interest while Luke actually turned green from envy.

“She loved you so much,” Melody said. “There are so many memories of you. I’ve often thought I already knew you because of them.”

“Memories?” Remington choked.

Melody took her hand away. “I inherited more than Chaos knowledge from Odette when she passed. I have fragments of her memories, too. Some, toward the end, are terrible. I don’t like to dwell on them, though they creep in from time to time. But there are good moments—so many—and you’re in every one of them. They have this sort of rosy aura. It lets me feel what she was feeling when the memory was made. My goodness, she loved you. Even at the very end, in her worst memories… you were the last thing she thought of. A faint, rosy hint of you, embedded inside the terror.”

Someone hand me the tissues… I didn’t know what to do with myself. It seemed wrong of us to listen in on this. Any hope for a normal life had been stolen from Odette when she’d become the Librarian. Librarians weren’t allowed to have relationships, per Chaos rules, but it hadn’t stopped her heart from loving Remington all the same.

Yeah, and she’d still be alive if it wasn’t for your mother. Guilt twisted my stomach. Guilt by association of the blood running in my veins. Bitter tears trickled down my cheeks, and I wasn’t alone. Even Tobe dabbed his eyes with his paws. Remington completely broke down.

“I miss her so much.” He gasped for air, clinging to Melody’s hands.

Melody clung right back. “She misses you, too. During my transition into being the Librarian, I was able to communicate with her spirit for a short time—a spiritual handover of sorts. And she spoke of you often. Your love helped her face what came for her. It gave her the strength to stare into the eyes of her killers, and know she’d be at peace when it ended.”

“I should’ve been there for her.” He sobbed, his shoulders shaking.

“Nothing could’ve saved her. She wouldn’t want you to think like that,” Melody urged. “She knew you’d have given your own life for hers, and she was glad it wasn’t you in her place. She’s not burdened anymore. She’s at peace, I promise you.”

Melody put her arms around Remington, and he sank into her shoulder, gripping her tight as the tears flowed. I tried not to watch, but I couldn’t help it. Looking at