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

Remington, and hearing him, my thoughts drifted toward Ryann. What would I do to save her?

I thought about the book I needed with a renewed sense of fear. All this time, I’d been looking to escape my deal with Erebus, when maybe the way to keep everyone safe was to do what I was told. It sucked the life out of me, sure, but maybe it was supposed to, since I doubted Erebus planned to let me survive this. But the others… they didn’t need to have that death sentence.

Coward. My gremlins swooped in. My mother had ripped Odette’s mind out of her head, and she’d still found a way to help Harley and the others. If I just bowed my head and accepted my fate, then I would be a coward. She’d faced her killers because there’d been no escape. But I still had a shot. If I got out of my deal, maybe it’d get everyone off the hook. Erebus wouldn’t be able to use them against me anymore.

Sometimes, love meant sacrificing everything. Sometimes, it meant taking a leap of faith. I just had to be ready to jump, and hope I was flying toward safety.

Seven

Finch

Between them, Tobe and Krieger managed to put Remington back together again, like a regular Humpty Dumpty. They all had work to do—the perfect distraction for Remington after having all those old wounds reopened.

“Will you have coffee with me tonight, Melody? I’d like to talk to you again,” Remington said while Tobe held him steady.

“Of course,” she replied.

Luke stepped up behind her. “I’ll be coming with you.”

“What?” Remington looked over at Luke as if seeing him for the first time. “Yes, that’s fine. Whatever makes Melody comfortable. You must be her protector. Or are you more? Like Odette and me?”

“He is my protector, yes, but we’re not like you and Odette,” Melody answered. “If you know Librarians, then you know the rules. I’m not allowed to have… more.”

Luke’s brows lowered in disappointment, though she didn’t see it with him standing behind her. Remington, however, caught it. A flicker of understanding crossed his face, and it must’ve broken his heart all over again. There was only one thing worse than what he’d suffered—watching someone else go through the same thing.

“You’re right. I know the rules all too well.” Remington sighed. “Tonight, then? You’ll come for coffee?”

“We’ll be there,” Melody replied.

As Remington, Tobe, and Krieger walked away, I let out a sharp whistle. “Well, that was depressing. Anyone got spare Kleenex?”

“Poor guy,” Harley said quietly. Knowing her, she’d be thinking about her relationship with Wade and going through the same mental motions I had. Wade could be a royal pain in the ass, but I hoped they’d never be separated. He’d sort of grown on me this past year, like a nasty rash.

“Maybe we should lighten things up?” I suggested. “How about the Aquarium? Cool monsters, but less hassle. I mean, none of them are vying to name your firstborn.”

Harley shot me one of her best withering looks. “That’s not a bad idea, actually.”

“Sounds good to me,” Melody chirped. It sounded forced, like her mind was elsewhere. On Odette and Remington, probably.

We set off, leaving the Bestiary for the main body of the coven. Harley caught Luke in conversation while Melody lagged behind with me.

“So, when did you start watching over Melody?” Harley asked.

“About a year ago,” Luke replied.

“Did the Winchesters employ you?”

He nodded. “They’d heard about Odette on the news, during the posthumous medal ceremony. It got them worried, so they called me in.”

With them distracted, I took the opportunity to have a word with Melody. “I’m heading to Waterfront Park tonight, so I’ll try and find the book while I’m there.”

“I was about to mention that,” she whispered back. “I’ve done more research into it, which is part of the reason I insisted on coming. You’re looking for a book with a red cover and a ruby on the spine, written by Jabir ibn Hayyan. I say that, because if you go in, you’ll need to know your onions. It’s not a book many people know, so it might pique some suspicions if you don’t know much about what you’re looking for.”

“Good to know.”

“Say you’re a collector of rare pieces if they press you, and you should be covered,” she continued. “Don’t mention that you know what’s inside, and maybe throw in the name of a well-known rich person. Someone notable, so they don’t think you’re messing around.”

Here’s looking at you, Daggerston. If I could get some use out of that weasel, I would.

“What else did you find?” I pressed.

She tucked herself right into my side and lowered her voice. “There’s definitely a connection between the djinn and the servants of Erebus. I managed to pluck a footnote of sorts from my head—so, you know, progress on the Librarian thing—and it implied a collaboration between the two. Not much detail, but the servants of Erebus from previous decades and centuries were known to work with djinn in order to complete specific tasks. They also helped the servants find certain people or artifacts earlier in history, since many of the spells we rely on today didn’t exist back then.”

I dragged my arm across my forehead. The sweats had returned after Remington’s breakdown. Not the same feverish sweats Levi was going through—mine were cold and beading with anxiety, coming from the mind, not a physical illness. “So, it sounds like the djinn are Erebus’s eyes and ears? They watched his servants and helped them accomplish things that they couldn’t have done alone.”

“That seems to be the case, yes.”

“But we’re talking magical servants as well as djinn?” Erebus had rattled on about having other slaves, but I’d never crossed paths with another, so I had no clue who they might be or what they might look like.

Melody nodded. “He has both, yes. And you’re in the former category.”

“No djinn has ever helped me.” I sighed.

“That’s the weird thing. Erebus seems