Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven Read online

  “My baby!” I gasped, as Wade quickly came to and frowned at me.

  “Your baby?” he muttered.

  “Ah jeez, not you! My car! Don’t scratch my car!” I shot back.

  The gargoyle didn’t wait for Wade to get up. It rushed at him, and I knew that if I didn’t do something quick, my Daisy was going to pay the price. Fueled by fear itself, I sprinted forward and found the strength to clap my hands and do something I hadn’t done since I’d nearly destroyed the shed of my last foster home.

  The friction of my palms coming together created sparks, and the adrenaline pumping through me provided the energy I needed to generate a thin sheet of fire, which I aimed directly at the gargoyle.

  Wade froze, his eyes wide as he saw the blaze coming. Just as I’d manipulated the creature earlier with telekinesis, I employed the same arm movements to guide the fire sheet as it slipped right in front of Wade, prompting the gargoyle to come to a grinding halt, its knees scraping the asphalt.

  “Hah!” I cackled, then brought my arms back, as if pulling two ropes, and the fire sheet moved closer toward the gargoyle. The creature scrambled backward as the flames licked at its back.

  Wade jumped to his feet and ran around the beast, depositing small green crystals in a circle, before he stopped, dropped, and slapped the ground hard, muttering something. I stilled as the green crystals lit up from the inside, my fire curtain gone in a flash. Bright, greenish-white beams shot out from the gems, then became flexible and lashed around the gargoyle. The creature didn’t know what to do, scared by my fire and blinded by the strange, flashing ropes that stretched over it in a net-like pattern.

  Wade got back up, casually dusting himself off, as the now-incandescent-green ropes tightened into a trap and knocked the gargoyle down, forcing it into submission. The creature struggled and growled, but whenever it tried to stand, the incandescent ropes burned into its thick skin, far worse and deeper than any of the fires that had been thrown at it earlier.

  Only then, as I managed to catch my breath, my knees and arms shaking from both physical exertion and shock, did perfectly reasonable questions start knocking the air out of my lungs.

  What was that trap? How did it work? How could light be bent like that? How come Wade could use fire the way he did? Did it come from those rings on his fingers? How did he know what a gargoyle was? Why had the creature tried to attack the guy? Where had it come from?

  Of the many darting through my head at this point, I figured I deserved answers at least to these questions. I shifted my focus to Wade, understanding right then and there that (a) I wasn’t the only one with peculiar abilities, and that (b) he clearly had the answers I needed.

  Answers that I’d been looking for since I was seven years old and first noticed how different I was from everybody else.

  Chapter Four

  “What is going on here?” I asked, my voice trembling with a mixture of concern and confusion.

  On one hand, I felt a sense of relief in knowing that I wasn’t the only one who could do what I did. After years of keeping my abilities to myself, out of fear of being labeled a freak or, worse, locked in a cage and dissected in some government facility, it was oddly refreshing to see someone else as weird as me.

  On the other hand, this incident opened up a whole new can of worms, one drenched in questions I’d stopped asking many years back. Given my crappy childhood, I was never naïve enough to dream of some magical family waiting for me somewhere, in a faraway land. My abilities didn’t come with an instruction manual, so I had to do my best with trial and error.

  Five minutes after he’d managed to subdue the gargoyle underneath that strange, incandescent net, Wade didn’t seem too interested in my presence. He circled the beast several times and took notes in a small pocket journal.

  He stopped, then looked up at me.

  “I told you to keep him here,” Wade muttered.

  “Huh?” I frowned, then quickly remembered the guy we’d just basically rescued.

  I looked over my shoulder, watching the guy limp away.

  “You. Stop,” Wade called out, and raised his hand. The rings on his fingers lit up once more, this time blue, as he gestured to the guy to turn around and come back.

  I held my breath as the man was compelled to do as he’d been asked. Judging by the horrified look on his face, he had no other choice. His body was no longer under his control.

  “What… What are you doing to me?” he mumbled, his lips trembling with fear.

  “Relax, I’m not going to hurt you,” Wade replied, then motioned for the guy to sit down, which he inadvertently did. “Just stay there until I get to you.”

  He then made a couple more notes in his pocket journal, while giving me the occasional glance. Was I being mentioned in there? What was his deal?

  “Dude. Seriously. What’s happening here?” I asked again, raising my voice. His gaze found mine, and suddenly I felt genuinely irritated—that was his emotion, not mine. I annoyed him.

  Really? I’m the annoying one in this scenario?

  “You’re very impatient. Not a good sign,” he said, then put the journal back inside his jacket pocket. He walked over to the Jeep with its bent hood, producing a set of keys from another pocket. He opened the trunk and pulled out a Mason jar, narrowing his eyes as he looked at it for a couple of seconds.

  He shook his head, then took another, larger jar out and walked back to the gargoyle, which had been forced to calm down, unable to free itself from the incandescent net. I took a couple of steps forward, getting closer so I could take a better look at the green crystals. They weren’t fixed on the asphalt in any way, and yet they served as anchors for the luminescent ropes. No matter how hard the creature tried, the crystals didn’t budge. This was one too many shades of weird, way past what I could do.

  “What are these?” I asked, pointing at the crystals. I figured I could start small, as far as my many questions for him were concerned. Not that he’d been particularly responsive to anything so far.

  “Put this down there, by the gargoyle’s head. Take the lid off,” he replied, bringing the Mason jar over, then handing it to me. “What do they look like to you?”

  I glanced at the rescued guy for a second—he was still sitting on the edge of the road, trembling as he stared at us, and muttering to himself. I couldn’t hear him, but, putting myself in his shoes, I imagined he was asking all the gods in the universe and beyond why he was stuck here with us. Poor guy. Wish I had an answer for you.

  “Crystals, I guess.” I shrugged, then placed the jar by the gargoyle’s head and held on to the lid. The creature looked up at me, revealing its hideously huge fangs. It was difficult to properly quantify the amount of uneasiness I felt in its presence, but, given its physical restraints, I took comfort in the fact that it couldn’t hurt me anymore.

  “You are correct.” Wade nodded, his green eyes measuring me from head to toe. His inquisitive expression made me feel way too self-conscious, but I could at least sense that his irritation was starting to subside. Instead, curiosity took over. He was trying to figure me out.

  “Care to elaborate, at least? It’s not every day that I bump into a freakin’ gargoyle and a dude shooting fire from his fingers,” I retorted, resting my hands on my hips.

  The pain in my ankle reminded me that I’d sprained it earlier, and that I was still wearing a black cocktail dress, stilettos, and my grungy leather jacket on top. I probably looked like I’d just come out of a high-end thrift store. Nevertheless, I couldn’t worry about my appearance, not with all the questions I had for this guy. Even out in the street, the air between us felt electrified, charged with intense energies that were well beyond my control.

  Whatever I’d felt inside the casino in his presence was back, making my skin tingle.

  “They’re called entrapment stones,” he replied, then sighed and nodded at the jar. “And that’s a monster holder.”

  “For the… monster.” I pointed at the g
argoyle, basically voicing the conclusion to myself.

  “You’re quick.” Wade purposely examined me again. “Not bad for… What are you supposed to be, a barfly?”

  Ugh, the sarcasm, the arrogance. I could smack him.

  “A casino employee,” I retorted, gritting my teeth.

  “That’s what they call you these days. Okay. Now, step back,” he said. “I need to put this bad boy away.”

  “I take it this isn’t your first rodeo,” I noted dryly.

  “Of course not. Although, it is odd for this to happen in such a public space,” Wade replied, concern drawing shadows between his eyebrows. “Gargoyles are never this brazen.”

  I nodded slowly and moved back. Compliance seemed like a better tool to employ if I wanted any answers out of him. He raised his hands over the beast, his rings lighting up red this time. His lips moved as the gargoyle growled and twitched, then instantly disintegrated in a puff of black smoke. The incandescent net also vanished, as if the light simply went out, leaving behind twelve green crystals.

  A gasp left my throat as the jar glowed red, sucking the black smoke inside.

  “Now, put the lid on tight,” he added.

  I did as instructed, then picked up the jar, staring at its contents. This was getting weirder with each moment.

  “How… How does this work?” I mumbled, then watched Wade as he collected the crystals and stuffed them in his other jacket pocket.

  “Gargoyles are, as you so eloquently put it, monsters,” Wade replied. “However, they’re not the regular fleshy monsters you read about in books. Judging by how confused you seem, I’m going to go ahead and assume you’ve never heard of witches, warlocks, or Purges.”

  “Wait, are you telling me that witches and warlocks are real?” I asked, suddenly understanding the magnitude of his statement. I’d heard the terms, of course, although mostly from books and movies. The thought that I might be one had crossed my mind, but with no specific literature to explain exactly how I was able to do the things I could do, it had stayed just that—a thought.

  “You can’t tell me you’re surprised, based on your abilities.” He sighed, seemingly bored with my obtuseness. But he wasn’t bored at all. The tingling sensation in my throat and limbs was excitement, a curiosity—not just his, though. Some of it was mine. I wasn’t alone in this.

  “Not exactly. I’ve just never had a term for it.” I shook my head slowly. “How is this possible?”

  “That’s a long story, and I strongly recommend that we clear this area before the rest of the casino employees and customers come out,” Wade replied.

  “Hold on,” I said, stepping back before he could take the jar from my hands. “So, what you did… what you do… it’s all magic? Actual magic? Like, wands and all?”

  “Give me that.” Wade snatched the jar back, then strode to his Jeep. I didn’t leave his side, watching him put the item in a duffel bag inside the trunk and then walk over to the guy sitting on the other side of the narrow, dimly lit street. “Yes, actual magic. No wands, though. This isn’t a children’s book. This is the real world.”

  “So, what, you use rings? Did your witchy ancestors consider wands to be a fashion faux pas, or what?” I shot back.

  “Hold that thought,” Wade replied, then shifted his focus to the guy, motioning for him to stand up. The man was about as tall as Wade, but much thinner—though I was willing to bet he had sweated out about ten pounds just from tonight’s events.

  Wade snapped his fingers in front of the man’s face as his rings lit up blue. “You. What’s your name?”

  “Jamie,” the guy replied absently, a blue glimmer blooming in his eyes.

  “Jamie, what were you doing out here tonight?” Wade asked.

  Jamie blinked slowly a couple of times, then responded: “I had drinks with some friends. I was walking home.”

  “Okay, this is what happened, Jamie. You came out of the bar, where you had drinks with some friends. You were walking home, when two men tried to rob you. You don’t remember their faces, but you got roughed up a little bit. You hit back and ran away. You’re safe now. They’re gone. There’s nothing for you to be afraid of. You didn’t see anything else. You didn’t experience anything else. When you wake up tomorrow, tonight will seem like a distant memory, and you will be at peace. Everything will be okay, Jamie. Obliviscor memoriam.”

  Jamie’s eyes shone bright blue for a second, then returned to his natural shade of brown. He took a deep breath, then rubbed his face, as if just waking up from a deep sleep, while Wade put his hands behind his back, the light in his rings gone.

  “What… What happened?” Jamie asked. The horror that had been blaring out of him and right into me was gone. Instead, there was confusion, with a tinge of shame, typical of the drunken man who’d lost his way. Whatever Wade had just done to him, it was a lot like hypnotic suggestion, from what I could tell.

  “I don’t know, mate.” Wade shrugged, feigning disinterest. “You must be drunk or something. Why don’t you go home? You’re freaking my girlfriend out.”

  “Huh?” I mumbled, barely catching his lie, as Jamie stared at me.

  “I am so sorry.” Jamie frowned, then walked away, and vanished behind the corner into the main street.

  “Your girlfriend?” I glared at Wade, my cheeks on fire.

  “Part of the job. We lie, we deceive, we protect their ignorance at any cost,” Wade replied, then turned back and walked over to his car.

  “Wait, we?”

  “You didn’t think it was just the two of us, did you?”

  “Come on, man, you’ve got to give me something more than half-answers and rhetorical questions!” I exclaimed, and caught him by his arm. The muscles beneath the soft fabric of his jacket were rock hard, and I found it hard to let go, even when he stopped and turned around to face me again. “Obviously, I have no idea what I am, what you are, or why there was a gargoyle out in the middle of the freaking city, hunting for dinner! You’re the first person I’ve met who can do… stuff.”

  He breathed out, his shoulders dropping, and looked at me for a while, then swiped through his phone.

  “Why did you hypnotize him? How did you hypnotize him?” I resumed my line of questioning.

  “Humans can’t know who we are and what we can do. It’ll put both us and them in danger, for reasons that cannot be explained in the parking lot of a casino,” Wade replied bluntly. “He’s better off thinking he got mugged, believe me. I’ve got a cleanup crew to handle CCTV and other loose ends. As for the how part—here.”

  He took out a business card and handed it to me.

  “What’s this?” I asked, turning it over to find his name, phone number, and organization beautifully written in swirly, embossed golden lettering. “Wade Crowley… San Diego Coven. Coven? Seriously? There are covens?”

  “I like how you’re able to answer your own questions if I let you think,” he said, and my throat burned the moment he raised his eyebrow again.

  “What’s this?” I shot back, my teeth gritting. My patience had abandoned me completely.

  “Here’s how it’s going to go from here on out,” he replied, all traces of sarcasm gone. “You are a witch. I am a warlock. Magic, Harley, is real.”

  “Wait, you know my name?” I gasped, my eyes widening to the point where I feared I’d feel them pop out of their orbits. He cocked his head to one side, amused that I’d even asked such a question.

  Warlock, remember? The dude probably knows your blood type, too!

  “Go on,” I whispered, suddenly regretful that I’d interrupted him. Questions were good, but too many could deter him from giving me answers I now desperately needed.

  “I belong to the San Diego Coven, and you need to come in soon and introduce yourself to us,” Wade continued. “Witches and wizards rarely fare well on their own. We require the protection, the privileges, and the rules of a coven in order to survive and to thrive. Whatever answers you need, the coven has them
, as long as you pledge your allegiance to us.”

  “Hold on—allegiance?”

  It was my turn to raise both eyebrows at him. I was just getting used to my independence. There was no way in hell I was getting myself tied down to anyone or anything.

  “Loyalty. Now that you’ve been discovered, you cannot hide anymore. I will have to report your existence to the coven,” Wade replied.

  “Can’t you pretend that we never met?”

  “Don’t you want answers?”

  “Can’t you give them to me?” I asked, torn between my general wariness of the unknowns presented by a coven’s existence, and my need to understand myself and my abilities.

  “You want your cake, and you want to eat it, too, giving nothing in return?” Wade smirked. “That’s a tad naïve.”

  “So, what, I just walk into your magical coven, recite some pledge of allegiance, and poof! I’m yours to do with as you please?” I retorted, crossing my arms over my chest. His raised eyebrow made me go over what I’d just said, and I resisted the urge to smack myself for not thinking prior to speaking. “You know what I meant!”

  “I do, but that’s not how this works. You have powers, Harley. And with power comes a responsibility, as cheesy as that may sound. The coven doesn’t just offer answers. You’ll learn more about yourself. They’ll teach you how to develop and control your abilities. You’ll become part of a family.”

  I didn’t have an answer. Just more questions, a growing pit in my stomach, and the feeling that I could be getting myself into a heap of trouble. Ever since I was a little girl, I had serious issues with authority. I simply could never stand being told what to do, and whom to obey.

  My recent stride into adulthood had been an absolute blessing; I no longer had to get anyone’s permission to do whatever I wanted. I followed the rule of law, I paid my taxes, and I kept my abilities to myself because that’s what helped me survive. I didn’t need a coven telling me what I could and couldn’t do.