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

got a… friend in trouble, and we need to know if he’ll be okay.” She peered over her blanket like a tortoise in its shell, rocking slightly to keep the chill away.

So you do think of him as a friend. I’d known Santana cared about Finch, deep down. And he cared about her. They fought like cat and dog, but they’d protect each other when it came down to it.

Safiya closed her eyes, though the white flames seared through her eyelids in an unsettling way. They opened shortly, and her brows knitted. “No… they do not survive his service. They all die obliging his whims and requests, one way or another.”

“Are you sure?” Santana’s voice sounded strangled.

“I am quite certain. I have scoured the history and found no evidence of a survivor of long-term service, as I imagine that is where your concern lies. Those to whom he offers limited deals live, but their services last a matter of days or weeks—they do not meet the criteria of true service,” Safiya explained sadly.

Her words punched me in the gut. If that was true, Finch was screwed. Well and truly screwed. But a doubt nagged the back of my mind. “I thought you couldn’t delve into the djinn mainframe anymore, with Erebus restricting you all. How can you be certain?”

“The other djinn are locked out of our shared knowledge, but I am not. Being of the first wave, that cannot be taken from me—I aided in its creation, as all the First did, so it is innately within me.”

That wasn’t what I’d wanted to hear. I’d wanted a shred of hope, not blunt, brutal conviction.

“Nobody has lived? Nobody?” Santana breathed, her eyes scrunching up.

“Actually, that is not exactly correct.” Safiya raised a hand and lifted a solitary finger. “I discovered one exception, but it may be of little use to you and your friend.”

Santana threw off her blanket. “Tell us anyway!”

“Very well, but don’t say I did not warn you.” Safiya sighed and lowered her hand. “The sole survivor of Erebus’s long-term servitude was a Necromancer. He saved a Marid from an abandoned lamp while on a mission for Erebus, unraveling the curse that had bound him to the object. In return, that djinn aided the Necromancer in escaping Erebus’s service.”

“A… Necromancer?” She was right. That didn’t help us much—but it meant it could be done. I needed to know more, though it was a long shot. “How did he get out of it?”

Safiya closed her eyes again, then returned a moment later. “The djinn imbued a special amulet with part of his restored magic. As you know by now, Marids are tremendously powerful in their raw form. He blended his magic with some of the Necromancer’s Chaos, binding both to the amulet. With it, the Necromancer was granted the ability to revive himself. In case you did not know, Necromancers cannot resurrect themselves. Only one can… this one.”

Santana made a strained noise, halfway between a gasp and a shriek. “It’s Davin. She’s talking about Davin.” She looked to me with panicked eyes. “Remember Marie Laveau’s church? Finch stuck a knife in Davin, and Marie’s Voodoo hounds tore the living daylights out of him. He should’ve been dead, but that asswipe came right on back. And after Harley battered seven shades of crap out of him at that shady hotel? He popped up again in Elysium, as if nothing had happened.”

My stomach churned with dread. “You’re right… Holy crap, you’re right!” Of course that snake had found a way to cheat not only death, but Erebus. He served himself, doing whatever he had to in order to survive.

“Only in death is the servant free of Erebus,” Safiya continued, her scarlet skin rippling. The wind whipped up again, as if reacting to her anxiety. “And given that, as I said, Necromancers cannot resurrect themselves… well, this individual—the Necromancer—had to manipulate a few rules to achieve it.”

“Hang on, hang on, hang on.” I raised my hands, trying to keep hold of all these dangling threads. “You said Erebus can’t intervene with djinn magic? Does that mean—”

“Erebus cannot do anything about his errant former slave.” She nodded, finishing my sentence for me. “The amulet is bound with djinn magic, as I mentioned, which makes it indestructible. At least by Erebus’s hand. Another could destroy it, perhaps, but they would find it exceedingly difficult. Anyway, it serves to shroud him from Erebus’s gaze and provides him the necessary means to move unseen.”

Santana edged closer to me and leaned against my arm. “That’s probably why Davin keeps gunning for Finch. He’s clearly got major beef with his former boss, and he’ll want to do everything he can to screw with Erebus’s plans.”

I nodded, my stomach roiling. “And since Finch is involved in those plans, he’s moved to the top of Davin’s most-wanted list—to ruin Erebus’s endgame.”

“I am sorry I have nothing more comforting to offer you.” Safiya dipped her chin to her chest, white veins pulsating beneath her red flesh.

“At least you’ve given us a clue about Davin. That’s more than Erebus did,” I replied. But would knowing Davin’s motivations really help us, or Finch? I had no idea. I needed to mull it over, see if we could coax some loophole open to aid our friend.

Unfortunately, now wasn’t the time for that kind of mulling. The elders had stopped flailing wildly and were heading back to where we sat. I felt Santana’s tension, and she likely felt mine. What answer had they come to? It took all my willpower to stay still and wait for them to speak.

“Mahmoud? What conclusion have you reached?” Safiya jumped in, her tone discreetly hopeful.

The wizened djinn sketched a bow before replying. “We have conversed at length and agree that the best course of action is to forge a collective and assert ourselves against Erebus, by going to Tartarus to confront him and sever ourselves from his power. However, we must give everyone a voice in this, considering what the