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

go deal with the fallout and stop worrying. It’s your engagement night; you’re not allowed to worry.”

She gave a bitter laugh. “Hard not to, when a djinn sets fire to everything.”

“You know what they say—the worse the engagement, the better the marriage.”

“I thought that was the wedding.”

I shrugged. “How should I know? I’m hardly an expert.”

“Well, do you need any help? Do you want me to come with you? I’m sure Wade can—”

“Nope, it’s all good,” I interjected. “You go back to the restaurant, take Ryann and the kids home, and I’ll let you know if I need anything. Love you, sis.”

Before she could object, I jumped through the door and slammed it behind me. The engagement party might’ve ended, but my night had just begun.

Eleven

Finch

I’d had to hold my horses on questioning. Half an hour went by in the infirmary, and Tatyana and Dylan had finally left. Krieger busied himself around the place, collecting vials and medicine bags to string up for Raffe. He was still unconscious, passed out on a narrow hospital bed. Slinky coiled around him like living rope, no doubt to stop him from escaping if Kadar woke first. It rested its scaly head on Raffe’s chest, tongue flicking.

Gross…

“How’d you get it here so fast?” I perched on the opposite bed, observing the feathered snake in case it lunged for me.

Santana sighed. “He comes when I call now. I can summon him, as long as I’m in the SDC.”

“Suitably creepy.”

“He keeps Raffe calm,” Santana replied tersely. “If Kadar tries to do anything rash, he tightens his coils. Slinky’s stopped a few outbursts so far, so he stays. Don’t even think about having him thrown out.”

I raised my hands in mock surrender. “Whatever works, as long as it keeps its fangs to itself.”

“Damn straight,” she shot back.

“So, what has been happening to Raffe?” I segued smoothly into my interrogation. My concern for Raffe was genuine, though my motivations might have been slightly selfish. If the djinn were suffering, that didn’t spell good news for me. I needed the djinn.

“He hasn’t been sleeping or eating. I bring him food and he pushes it away, like seeing it makes him feel sick,” she replied. “When he’s weak, Kadar takes over, and that’s when the pain comes.”

I nodded. “That must be hard on you, dealing with all of that by yourself.”

“I’ve got Slinky’s help.” She sagged against the bed. “Thank you for helping him, by the way. I know I’m bitchy with you sometimes, but he’d be… I can’t even say it. He’d be… gone if you hadn’t stepped in. So thank you. I mean it—thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” I processed that for a moment. How often did Santana give me sincere appreciation? I wanted to absorb it, just this once. “Has either of them mentioned anything to you about where this pain and sickness is coming from?” I knew by now that it was Erebus, but I wanted to find out if Kadar had mentioned anything about the Child of Chaos to Santana.

She shot me a cold stare, her mood switching faster than lightning. “Why are you so interested? Is this some Erebus bullcrap? If it is, and you’re involved, you best believe I’ll strangle you into next year.”

“I just wanted to make sure he was okay!” I replied. It wasn’t exactly a lie.

“Again, why? What does this have to do with you? I know you’re not telling me something, and I want to know what it is.” Her tone hardened. “Is this some Erebus stuff?”

I shifted to face her. “Look, I’m concerned about Raffe and Kadar because the djinn are linked to Erebus. So, yes, in that sense, but there’s nothing seedy to me staying here with them. I want to help if I can. So, why don’t you tell me everything that you’ve seen and heard, and let’s see if we can work this out together?”

Santana glanced back at Raffe, and her shoulders relaxed. “It came out of nowhere. One day, he was fine, and then… it took hold of him, like a fast-working fever.”

“Has he spoken about Erebus before?” I pressed.

“No, that was news to me,” she said. “Maybe we should talk outside. I want to speak to you properly, but all I can think about is Raffe when I’m in here.”

I smiled. “You read my mind.” If we left the infirmary, maybe Erebus wouldn’t be able to hear what I said. Unless he had another djinn hiding in the shadows. Either way, I’d be more comfortable away from this djinn.

Together, we left and walked a fair way up the hallway before Santana halted. Her expression shifted. Gone was the quiet suspicion and sad gratitude, replaced by a firecracker’s sparking anger.

“Seriously, what’s with the secrecy, Finch? Why won’t you let anyone help you? You clearly need it—I mean, look at you! You don’t look much better than Raffe.”

“I’ve been running around—”

She put her hands on her hips. “Do you have any idea how freaked we all were when you vanished without a trace and didn’t tell anyone where you were? We thought you were dead, Finch! Harley went to pieces. She was ready to call the president and send every Earth magical and Geode in the United States to Russia to dig out your body.”

I winced. Harley hadn’t mentioned that.

Santana shook her head. “Over and over, Harley said, ‘We have to bring him home. Even if he’s dead, we have to bring him home. I have to say goodbye.’ Tobe sat with her in his arms for hours, singing to her. Nothing else calmed her down. Why do you think she got so overwhelmed by Wade’s proposal? Tobe singing probably brought it all back. She had Tatyana on standby to speak to your spirit.”

I stared at her, gobsmacked. What could anyone say to that? And she wasn’t done tearing me a new one.

“You saw what I was like tonight, when I thought I might lose Raffe. Well, Harley was exactly