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

Melody smiled reassuringly. “The magic here is powerful—it’s one of the greatest strongholds in the United States. The spirits won’t let him cross the threshold.”

“S-spirits?” Ryann’s mouth gaped. “You mean, the stories are real?”

“They sure are. Haven’t you met any yet? They’re usually so welcoming.” I glanced around, expecting Mary Foster to come screaming from the walls. She wasn’t a screamer—at least, she hadn’t been with me—but it would have made a hilarious intro. And I could have used a laugh.

“I probably should’ve mentioned that.” Melody shuffled awkwardly. “But, if none have come to say hello, then it likely means they’re not that interested in you. They don’t always involve themselves with visitors; it depends on how they’re feeling.”

Ryann looked slightly disappointed. “Oh.”

Don’t worry, there’s at least one person in this house who’s interested in you.

“Well, aren’t you going to introduce me?” Ryann cleared her throat and gestured toward Nash, who had slung one arm around Huntress’s neck. He seemed to be gaining strength from her somehow. No doubt through that Familiar bond they shared.

Nash heaved himself to his feet and walked toward Ryann. “The name’s Nash Calvert. I’m here to think about giving up some blood to help a friend of these guys, but I haven’t decided yet. So, he’s probably a friend of yours, too?”

“Oh, you mean—” Ryann started to speak, but I cut her off. I couldn’t have her give the game away unwittingly. And she had no clue what we were talking about. Time for another sterling performance from the one and only Finch Merlin.

“Raffe, yeah.” I gave her a telling look, bordering on manic. “Melody might not have had time to tell you, but we got a lead on his curse. We need Nash’s super-rare Sanguine blood to separate Raffe and Kadar, so everyone gets to live their own lives and go home happy.”

Ryann glanced at Melody, who nodded effusively, like a bobblehead. Luke added a halfhearted thumbs-up.

“You remember what I texted you?” Melody pressed, her voice strangled by the charade. She might’ve been a lot of things, but a liar wasn’t one of them. Luke was way better. He had the right amount of nonchalance… or maybe it was wooziness, considering the blow to his head. I could see the wound, now that we had no smoke and panic to contend with. A big bruise was blooming across his temple.

“About Raffe?” Ryann looked back at me.

I shrugged. “Hey, I don’t know what she texted you. I just know that I went to get Nash’s blood for Raffe, and these two Muppets showed up as the cavalry.”

Ryann’s lip twitched into a half-smile. Jiminy H. Christmas, I loved that smile. “Yeah, I remember. I must’ve gotten confused. I thought she meant Levi and Zalaam—I didn’t realize she meant Raffe and Kadar, though that makes a lot more sense now that I think about it.”

This is why I adore you. Two seconds, and she’d grasped that we were trying to skirt around the Erebus issue. She probably had no idea why, but I could tell her later, sans Nash. He didn’t need another reason to doubt me, and I’d already done a stellar job of making things screwy by telling him I was Wade Crowley.

“I thought I was here to help the Levi guy?” Nash tilted his head, and Huntress copied.

I thought fast. “You are, the younger one. There are two Levis—Leonidas and Raffe. Raffe’s our friend, and he’s the one who wants to be free. Leonidas seems quite happy shackled to his djinn, but that’s probably because his doesn’t try to kill him.” The explanation sounded stilted, but I hoped Nash wouldn’t pick up on it.

“That rings a bell.” Nash ruffled Huntress’s fur. “The Levi curse—that’s what you were telling me about, isn’t it? I think I’ve heard of it.”

“Exactly.” My palms had gone as clammy as an oiled-up blobfish. “I was telling you about it before Davin came in, hex pouches blazing. You know, the whole ‘it affects generations’ shebang.”

“And you told me you were Wade Crowley because you didn’t want me making assumptions about you?” Nash squinted, scrutinizing me. “You know, since you’re Katherine Shipton’s son.”

Ah, holy crap… Fear glided up my throat, but I swallowed it. Perhaps I was the one jumping to conclusions. Nash had, for all intents and purposes, been a hermit for the past few years. He’d said he dipped his toe into the media here and there, but what if he hadn’t heard the part about my deal with Erebus to kill my mother? Journalists had tossed around a dozen theories, and they’d never confirmed anything. And Nash hadn’t had much opportunity to shoot the Katherine breeze with random folks who did know the truth. So, maybe he genuinely had no idea that, these days, Finch and Erebus went hand in hand.

“I go by Merlin now,” I replied, keeping it cool. “But yeah, being squeezed out of that woman tends to give people the wrong impression, though I did kill her. And I didn’t want you booting us out on our asses before we had the chance to speak properly.”

“How come you know about Finch?” Melody still sounded strangled.

Nash shrugged. “I scan online magical feeds from time to time. Names of dangerous criminals, potential hunters—I learn whatever I can from the dark web, so I can make a run for it if I find anyone discussing me or my blood. I found my way onto this cult chatroom, and your name and picture popped up. That must’ve been about a year ago, but you were on a hit list because you murdered your mother. Since you’re still breathing, I’m guessing they didn’t catch up to you.”

“The Cult of Eris, you mean?” Ryann stepped in, her tone protective.

“Yeah, that’s the one.” Nash grunted. “Nasty business, but the chatroom disappeared a month later. No trace of it anywhere.”

Ryann scowled. “That’s because my sister and Wade Crowley have worked nonstop to take down the remaining