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

I’d poked the bear way harder than I’d intended. Lux was a cold fish most of the time, hovering somewhere between serene and frosty, and I’d never seen her lose it like this. It genuinely seemed something had snapped inside her. One too many betrayals, maybe? Or one too many lies from the being bound to her for eternity? A marriage made in hell.

“Sorry for asking,” I mumbled, shell-shocked.

“I am sure you hoped I would have answers for you, but I cannot say more at this time.” She recovered quickly, her glowing form settling down. “Nevertheless, you must be careful. If you do not serve me well, and show me due courtesy, you will end up dead, like all the other servants of Erebus.”

“What did you just say?” My heart dropped like a stone.

“I believe you heard me.” Her eyes bored into my soul. “I will call on you again when I require you. After what you have told me, I will be keeping a close eye on matters.”

“All of his servants died?” I ignored the last thing she’d said. That didn’t matter to me right now, after the bombshell she’d dropped. Erebus had evidently gotten right under her skin and made her as toxic as him. She was the one who supposedly cared about mortals, along with Gaia, and she may as well have taken a brick to the back of my head with that revelation.

Lux turned away. “Ask your friends, Raffe and Santana. They can confirm. I, on the other hand, tire of talking.”

I woke up in the grisly bathroom. Santana and Raffe stood over me, staring at me. And my cheek stung, as if someone had given me a sharp slap to try and wake me up. Judging by Mary’s furious face, Santana had been the one to do the slapping.

“Finch?” Raffe knelt. “Are you okay? You zoned out for a minute there.”

“A minute?” I looked at him, puzzled.

He nodded. “Yeah, maybe two.”

I realized time must’ve moved differently during my telepathic “call” with Lux. “Sorry about that. I always tell myself not to drink on an empty stomach, especially when there’s a lot on my mind. It must’ve gotten the better of me.”

“Are you sure that’s all it is? You were really out of it, Finch,” Santana interjected, her expression showing a hint of worry.

“Honestly, I’m fine.” I mustered a smile. “Actually, it did me some good, because there’s something I want to ask you both.”

Finally, in this crazy, roundabout way, I would get some answers.

Thirty-Eight

Raffe

Finch was anything but fine. He’d been talking one second, then blanked out the next, the cabinet beside him breaking his fall. As if someone had flipped a literal switch in his head. His eyes went vacant, his head lolled, and then he’d come back suddenly, as if nothing had happened. I wasn’t buying it. Finch had his own brand of weird, but this was different. As if it took him by surprise, too. Then again, with the pressure he was under, and Santana not exactly making things easier, who wouldn’t break?

“What did you want to ask?” I said, figuring it was better to focus on that. Finch clearly didn’t want to talk about what had happened.

“What did you find out about the servants of Erebus?” Finch cast me a thankful look, but an odd note lingered in his voice. An artificial casualness.

Santana sighed and leaned against the wall. “Raffe, you should probably take this one.”

“That bad, huh?” Again, Finch’s tone seemed… off. He laughed, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“We learned a lot, and a lot happened.” I took over, knowing I could finally get some weight off my chest. “But, before we get to the servant stuff, there’s so much you need to hear. The Storyteller was a huge help, but she is no longer with us. She amassed the djinn to take on Erebus in Tartarus, but when we all arrived, he wasn’t there. The Storyteller knew a way to separate the djinn without going through Erebus directly, and gave her life to free them. They’ll be weaker now, but they’ve all agreed that’s a small price to pay, considering the alternative.”

Finch’s mouth gaped wide open. “Are you telling me the djinn are free? Like, legitimately free?”

“I am,” I replied.

“They freed themselves?” His eyes bulged.

“They did. I’m not sure how many ways I can say it.” I offered a smile. This had to be a bit of a shock for him.

Finch shook his head, halfway between disbelief and admiration. “Son of a nutcracker! Those sneaky devils! Man, why couldn’t I have been a djinn? I’d be strutting free right now, if I was. Never in my life have I been more jealous of billowing smoke, flashy red skin, and anger-management issues.”

I lowered my gaze, only to raise it again. “But there’s more. Tartarus isn’t the way it was before. When we arrived, it was… empty. That’s literally the only way I can describe it. No darkness, no Purge beasts, nothing.”

He frowned. “What?”

“The Storyteller explained that, because Erebus took human form, Tartarus doesn’t recognize him as its creator anymore. But it does recognize the djinn and their energy. So…” I paused, hoping this might give Finch a boost. “The djinn seized it for themselves. They’re going to build a world there, and since they make the rules, they can deny Erebus entry, if he tries to get back in. At least while he’s in his human body.”

Finch’s mouth hung open. “Are you friggin’ serious?”

“Yeah, because we’d joke about something like that,” Santana interjected.

“Wait, wait, wait. You’re telling me the djinn are free, and Erebus is… locked out of his own otherworld?” A hint of a smirk formed on Finch’s lips.

“We are,” I replied. The news seemed to be having the desired effect.

He started laughing like a maniac. “Oh damn, that’s too good! Erebus finally lost something he cares about, all because of this stupid pet project! Raffster,