Harley Merlin 2: Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins Read online

  Wolfgang Krieger had the most silent footsteps in the San Diego Coven. No one ever heard him coming. Case in point, the entire Rag Team were frozen in their seats, their eyes wide with horror as they hoped he hadn’t heard anything they’d just said. Their anguish was my anguish. Damn Empathy!

  Krieger was a tall man in his mid-forties, with broad shoulders and short, slick blond hair. His eyes were a pale and clinical blue, devoid of emotion. He wore a white lab coat over his gray suit at all times, along with a pair of small, thin-rimmed glasses. For all intents and purposes, Wolfgang Krieger, originally from the Berlin Coven, seemed designed to instill fear in the hearts of his beholders.

  “Dr. Krieger, we didn’t see you there,” Astrid managed, her voice uneven.

  “You’re not supposed to, Miss Hepler,” Krieger replied flatly.

  His emotions were clear to me—sheer amusement, with an undertone of insult. He felt offended by the rumors, which he’d obviously heard, but he seemed to take great pleasure in tormenting my crew. I wasn’t one to get on the physician’s bad side before my second Reading, so I kept that little nugget to myself and watched my teammates quiver before him. Even Wade seemed wary, and that made me smile.

  “Anyway, Miss Merlin,” Krieger continued. “I believe it’s time we arrange a second Reading for you. It’s been on my to-do list for a while now, but Miss de la Barthe’s other projects have been keeping me quite busy. I do apologize for taking so long to find you.”

  Astrid’s German impression hadn’t been far off. Krieger’s accent was strong, cutting through his English like a giant clumsy knife.

  “Dr. Krieger, it’s all right. I completely understand,” I replied politely. “I suppose Adley’s work was a lot to take in?”

  I had no idea what I was talking about, since I didn’t know anything about the previous physician’s projects, but I was hoping that Krieger would tell us. He nodded.

  “Yes, the magical detector is quite an ambitious project,” he said. “Miss de la Barthe was exquisite in her field. I must give credit where it’s due.”

  My eyebrows rose. “Magical detector? Someone’s still working on that with Adley gone?”

  Krieger stilled, his forehead smooth and his gaze cold. “You know about it? It’s supposed to be top secret.”

  “I suppose it’s not top secret, since you just told us about it,” I replied with a smirk, secretly surprised that he’d actually played into my little scheme. “But don’t worry, I haven’t told people. I only overheard it myself from Alton and Tobe.”

  Krieger shook his head. “I’m either getting old, or you’re very good at getting people to reveal things they normally wouldn’t,” he replied, then smiled briefly. “But you’re right. It’s not a secret. It’s just that not many people here talk about it, mainly because Adley didn’t tell anyone about what she was doing, except Alton and Tobe. And yes, I’ve taken over the work she’s done so far.”

  “So, what’s a magical detector, exactly? I never got the details,” I said.

  “We’re trying to develop a detection technique, based on the Reading. Something simple that would allow us to identify magicals out in the human world, without their blood,” Krieger explained. “The project is still in its incipient stages, but the theories behind it are sound and rather promising.”

  “You want to have a detector handy to identify new magicals,” Wade concluded. “Without a fuss and without the humans noticing.”

  “Indeed, Mr. Crowley. Our purpose is to find the magicals before their powers manifest so the covens can bring them in and take care of them,” Krieger replied.

  That sounded like a very good idea, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but worry about how easily such a tool could be used to hunt magicals instead of helping them. If this device fell into the wrong hands, like those of Katherine or some other evil bastard looking to do harm, or even the humans if they knew about us… I didn’t even want to think about it.

  “Anyway, Miss Merlin. I will make time in my schedule over the next couple of days for your second Reading,” Krieger added. “Please make sure you’re available.”

  “Yes, sir,” I replied.

  A knot formed in my throat. It was finally happening. The second Reading. The confirmation of my Mediocrity or the debunking of it. I was definitely nervous about it. I had my work cut out for me in both scenarios. With the certainty of Mediocrity, I had to work twice as hard to get to a level where I could feel confident enough against someone like Katherine Shipton. If, however, I wasn’t a Mediocre after all, I still had to work and push myself to take on someone as deadly as my aunt. Not knowing for sure was the worst part, though.

  “And don’t worry, I’ve upgraded the Reading syringes,” Krieger said, grinning.

  “Oh. I’d forgotten about that part,” I murmured, getting the chills as I remembered the size of that monstrous metallic syringe that Adley had used to draw my blood. “Glad to hear about that, I suppose.”

  “I’ve had trouble getting some of our new magicals to sit down for a Reading,” Krieger replied. “And I’m not one to tie the youngsters down. That’s just… barbaric! I figured it was better to redesign the tool itself and make it more child-friendly.”

  Looking at him now, Krieger wasn’t creepy at all. He was actually quite sweet, and his emotions were all positive as he spoke to us. There was no deception… nothing to ring any alarm bells. The rumors were definitely ridiculous.

  “I’m sure the young magicals of the San Diego Coven are grateful for that,” I said, smiling.

  The Rag Team was still frozen, and Krieger didn’t let that slide, either. “Now you can all go back to repeating folk tales about how I boil babies in cauldrons,” he quipped, then gave me a playful wink. “And I’ll be in touch, Miss Merlin, to schedule your Reading.”

  I snorted a laugh as he walked away, overwhelmed by the face-burning embarrassment inundating me. Santana, Astrid, Raffe, Tatyana, and Dylan were all red-cheeked. Wade, on the other hand, was stifling a smirk. Mr. I’m-Right-All-The-Time.

  “So, he heard everything,” Astrid whispered.

  “He totally did,” I replied, feeling my ears get close to melting temperature.

  They needed a minute or two to recover from the shame, while I struggled to regain my composure, dealing with their sheepish emotions. Still, I was pleased we were still given assignments together as the now-notorious Rag Team, whenever delicate coven work was required. We’d done a good job during the gargoyle incidents, so why split us up?

  Alton rose from his table, leaving Imogene with Leonidas and the preceptors, and made his way toward our table. He exchanged a nod with Krieger as the physician passed by him and headed for the exit.

  “Morning, team!” Alton greeted us. “Meeting in my office in twenty minutes?”

  “Morning, Alton,” Wade replied, his brow furrowed. “Did something happen?”

  Alton put on a flat smile. “We’ll talk in twenty minutes,” he said, before returning to his table.

  That instantly put us all on edge, especially me. My nerves were already bending and stretching to new limits. I wondered if this was about Katherine Shipton.

  Maybe it was time to settle that score. I certainly looked forward to it.

  Three

  Harley

  Alton’s office was always a pleasure to be in. I would’ve loved to have such a sweet slice of the coven all to myself—provided I was ready to commit to being there for the rest of my life. I was already tempted to do it, but part of me still wasn’t ready to let go of my independence.

  Sure, the gargoyles had trashed my place, but I could just rent another apartment and remain a Neutral. Alton had already said he’d support my decision, if that were the case. But I wasn’t fully into that, either. There were perks and drawbacks, no matter what I chose to do. I just had to weigh everything carefully first.

  Santana, Wade, Raffe, Astrid, Tatyana, Dylan, and I waited patiently in front of Alton’s desk as he dug through h
is drawers for a file. Santana and Tatyana took the armchair seats, while the rest of us stood quietly with our arms crossed.

  A few minutes passed, and Alton cursed under his breath, seemingly unable to find what he was looking for, until he gasped. He shot back up and waved the manila folder around as if it were his most prized possession, beaming at us.

  “Found it!” he exclaimed, then took a seat behind his massive walnut desk. “Now, before I start, how is everyone doing?”

  We looked at each other, before Wade took the lead on that answer. “Fine, for the most part. Merlin here is studying and training. She’s also doing a decent job in the Archives. The rest of us are monitoring reports from the human world, in case anything slipped through the cracks since the gargoyle incident. So far, it’s been quiet.”

  Alton analyzed each of our expressions with a half-smile, then nodded slowly. “That’s good. It means that Astrid’s efforts came through.”

  Astrid blushed, her lips twirling into a sweet little smile, flanked by the cutest pair of dimples. I’d already learned not to let this adorable side of her fool me—Astrid was as fierce as they came, especially for a human. “My AI is automated now,” she said. “Smartie detects anything related to the incident and automatically sends alerts to my computer. From there, I analyze every line and assign magicals to deal with any issue that might require our intervention.”

  “It’s been a month, now.” Santana sighed. “It shouldn’t be a problem anymore.”

  Alton shook his head. “It’s not. But it’s better to monitor and double-check than find ourselves with our pants down, don’t you think?”

  He had a way with words. It was even funnier because of his Southern drawl. Despite his crisp suits and perfectly groomed appearance, Alton still had the spunk and humor of a bayou man, and it was one of my favorite things about him. He looked at me, his expression firm but his heart brimming with affection. Alton Waterhouse was extremely fond of me, for some reason. I figured this was as close as I would ever get to fatherly love in the coven, and I welcomed it.

  “First, I know I promised you some information on your parents, Harley,” he said, “but it took me a while to get to it. Part of me wasn’t sure I should give you everything we have, since you might not like the whole truth. But I think you’re tough enough to read through it all and make up your own mind. I trust your judgment.”

  “No problem about the delay, Alton. As you might’ve noticed, I haven’t exactly insisted,” I muttered.

  “I understand why. I suppose you don’t feel like you’re ready for the whole truth, huh?”

  I shrugged. “You could say that, yes.”

  “Well, it’s time to get ready,” he replied, then pushed the manila folder across the desk. “This is for you. All the information that I was able to gather regarding your parents and Katherine Shipton. The latter will be of particular interest to your entire team.”

  My brows furrowed and my stomach tied itself up in knots as I took the file and flipped through its pages. My heart swelled, then broke repeatedly, as I saw my mom and dad in different photos. In one of them, they were with Katherine Shipton—all three smiling like everything was right in the world. It struck me as odd, without reading the text documents enclosed in the folder.

  The physical resemblance between Katherine and my mother, Hester, was striking. The same wild green eyes, the fiery red hair, the slim figures and sharp cheekbones…

  “They were twins, Hester and Katherine Shipton,” Alton said, noticing the photograph that had captured my attention.

  My blood ran cold. “Whoa. Twins? I mean, I knew they were sisters, but twins?”

  “Not identical,” Alton replied. “But yes. Twins. You’ll find more info in there.”

  “Do we have any news about Katherine?” Wade asked, and the question prompted me to reluctantly close the file. As much as I wanted to tear through it now, we still had a briefing, based on the second folder still present on Alton’s desk. I would study it later.

  “Not exactly, but she’s part of the reason I wanted to speak with you this morning,” Alton replied. “There have been rumors, though we haven’t been able to verify any of them. Katherine Shipton is still in the wind, her location unknown. The one thing we are aware of is that she’s planning something big, and that it involves the magicals here in San Diego. That’s all we were able to understand from Finch’s vague statements, anyway,” he added, running a hand through his brown, wavy hair. “We’re worried she might be targeting those we haven’t pledged into the coven yet.”

  Shivers ran down my spine. “What makes you say that?” I asked.

  “In here, I have a list of potential new magicals,” Alton replied, then opened the second folder. He turned it around and pushed it forward so we could all see the names. “We were supposed to reach out to them, make sure they’re magicals, and bring them into the coven. Two of them went missing early this week, and we can’t find them anywhere. They’re not showing up in the human databases either. It’s like they simply vanished. Plus, there are rumors among the city’s Neutrals and the rogues passing through. There’s something brewing. Something dark.”

  “That’s not good,” I said, hearing my voice tremble.

  Gloom settled over the room, weighing heavily on my shoulders. We were all worried—none as badly as Alton, though. He felt responsible. He’d been with the coven for over three years, since Wade managed to get Halifax fired for his incompetence. Alton had been working to improve SDC since, and this clearly set him back. Additionally, he cared about magicals in general, putting his heart and soul into his work to make sure they were all protected. Personally, I disagreed with the plethora of coven regulations that suffocated this effort.

  That was just one of the reasons I was inclined to join the San Diego Coven—so I could help change some of their antiquated rules.

  “It isn’t good. Which is why I’ve decided to call the Rag Team back into action,” Alton said, looking at each of us with a twinkle in his emerald eyes. “The coven needs your help.”

  We’d been called the Rag Team when we were first assigned to cleanup after the initial gargoyle attacks—wiping the memories of witnesses, removing any magical evidence from the scene, and altering or deleting CCTV and social media footage were the extent of our responsibilities at the time. We were the underdogs. Undervalued for the most part, we ended up leading the investigation into the Bestiary sabotage in the end.

  But the name had stuck.

  “Okay. What do you need us to do?” Wade asked, taking a deep breath.

  “I’ve got one of O’Halloran’s investigative crews of security magicals looking into the disappearances, but I need you and your team to check out these other potential magicals,” Alton answered, nodding at the list. “Some of them are young, so caution and subtlety will be required. Some are closer to their teens, and thus can be more easily reasoned with. These are all individuals linked to strange phenomena, as described by human witnesses. Objects moving on their own. Fires starting out of nowhere. Water sprinklers going berserk, and so on.”

  “How do you know these kids are responsible?” I asked, checking the names on the list and their home addresses. Most of them were in the suburban areas, which I deemed preferable to mid-city magical outbursts. The residential neighborhoods were easier to manipulate, since there were fewer people whose memories required wiping or altering. I hated that part of that job, but I understood why we had to hide the existence of magicals.

  “We’ve been monitoring them from afar, through magicals infiltrated in their schools and neighborhoods, as well as through CCTV,” Alton explained. “We need you to confirm they are, indeed, magical, and talk to them about coming into the coven for protection and education.”

  “I’m pretty sure their parents can protect and educate them, if they’re adequately informed,” I replied.

  Wade shook his head. “It’s not feasible if the parents are foster humans. We have protocols for that. Und
er no circumstances can the humans be involved.”

  “That’s… insane,” I blurted out. “So, what, you want the parents, foster or natural, to willingly surrender their kids to the coven?”

  There was one thing that I wasn’t completely comfortable with. The way covens interacted with human foster parents. I knew that magicals could only be born from magical parents or at least half-human and half-magical couples. I also knew that some magicals were abandoned and slipped through the cracks of the human foster system—hence, me. But still, humans chose to take care of kids like me. To protect us from harm. To love and raise us. They deserved more than a spritz of amnesia magic.

  “They won’t remember anything,” Dylan interjected, noticing my expression. His anguish burned through me. This was quite personal for him. “Once we get there, we convince the kids to come with us and we alter the parents’ memories, until the kids are grown enough to control themselves. Then, they’re reintroduced to their parents, if they want that.”

  “This protocol applies to magicals in the foster system with human parents, though,” Alton added. “Magical parents usually don’t think twice about bringing their children into the coven. Humans aren’t emotionally or intellectually equipped to deal with such changes.”

  “Intellectually equipped? As in what, they’re too dumb to get it?” I snapped. I shifted my focus to Dylan. “Is that what they did to your mom and dad? Wiped you out of their memories?”

  “No. I was already eighteen when I was discovered,” Dylan replied. “I had some wiggle room with what I told my foster parents. They weren’t happy when I said I was sticking to a local community college, but they got over it. They don’t know what I can do, what I am.”

  I breathed out, unable to process the concept. I scowled at Alton. “And you’re okay with that? You’re okay with taking foster kids out of their homes and tossing them in the coven? Do you have any idea what we go through before we find a decent family, to then have it taken away from us?”