The Detective Inspectors (The Doorknob Society Saga Book 4) (15 page)

“What the hell were you thinking?” he screamed into my ear.

I pulled the phone away so I didn’t completely lose my hearing. “I had a shot I was trying to take it.”

“Well it certainly seems like you missed it. Now our timetable is all screwed up!”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re going to have to advance all our plans since the HVO was outed with this little mishap. They’ll be on guard expecting a move from the Council.”

“I’m going to a special Council meeting tonight.”

“Why?”

“They requested my presence.”

“Who’s bringing you?”

“Uncle Archie, don’t worry I don’t think it’s a set up. He wouldn’t do that to me.”

“No but a Council meeting might just be the place the First Kind would try and take everyone out. I don’t like it.”

“I already told him I’d go and we need to find out what the Council is planning anyway.”

“True, how are you going to handle them?”

“I’ll tell them what they want to hear, and then we do it our way, on our own timetable. I don’t trust them any more than you do.”

“Good, but you still need to be careful.”

I pulled my Doorknob out and wrapped my fingers around it activating my abilities, my glowing blue energy whip dropping from it to the ground. I snapped my wrist and cracked it.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m ready.”

Status: Time to shut the Council up.

The Infinity Library was staffed with more guards than I had ever seen. The walls were lined with people from all the Societies, while the mechanical librarians created by the Impossible Engineers wheeled about the halls busy at their tasks. I had been to several Council meetings over the past two years, some for awards others not. Yet I’d never felt the level of tension that was present today.

Uncle Archie and I entered the Great Hall of the Council and stepped to one side. Along the back of the room was a raised dais with fifteen chairs, three for each Society Council member, sitting slightly behind the table were three empty chairs representing the three lost Societies. In front of the dais were two guards, one I recognized as a DS member the other was a Skeleton Key Guild member. The duty of guarding the Council in session was always filled by the HVO. I looked about the room and saw no HVO members I recognized and when I scanned the guards with my senses none of them were carrying the Silver Stars of the HVO. They had been excluded from the Council entirely.

A mechanical librarian rolled to the center of the room, its chest whirring and cracking open as a series of horns blared announcing the arrival of the Council members. People rushed in through the double doors as they began to slowly close. Once the room was closed off only Council members could open the doors and release the time lock that the entire room was kept in during session.

The spectators were loud and pushing to find a good view. The crowds were mostly broken into divisions of the Old Kind, but a few small groups mingled together. I reached out with my abilities and could sense members of every Old Kind society among them, including a few HVO members. I slid my hand into my pocket and grasped my Doorknob reflexively.

 I kept my eye on one group in particular as it began to break up. A few of them wore hoods, concealing their faces and I tried to keep my eye on them as they slipped further to the back of the room. I reached out and felt the flow of their powers around them. They were a diverse group with DS members and Guilders among them.

Uncle Archie elbowed me and I glanced at him. He shrugged his shoulders and I nodded in the direction of the group. His eyes narrowed in their direction and his hand slipped over his vessel as well.

I searched around the room looking for angles and trying to figure out our options if things went badly. I spotted Jess walking with DeAndre to stand by the Skeleton Key Guild. Slade and his father moved toward the dais and stepped to one side standing next to Mr. Miller and the other Engineers.

 Mr. Slade walked to the center of the dais and was joined by Jeremiah of the Mapmakers Union, Gregory Tower of the Skeleton Key Guild and principal of the Paladin Academy and Dante head of the Doorknob Society. They each took a seat and were joined by the junior members of the Council. The HVO seats remained empty.

“We come together at a very sobering time.” Mr. Tower spoke loudly, silencing the room. “The council has called this meeting to ascertain the standing of one of our own societies.”

Whispers shot across the room. Word had gotten out quickly about my battle with the HVO, but it had been rumors until now. I listened along with everyone, though I also continued to keep my eyes on the group hovering in the shadows. I slid past Uncle Archie and began to slowly move toward the dais to get a better line of sight on them.

“The lead Council members called on Miranda Tarwynn the head of the HVO and asked her to explain her actions with the traitor Talia Grimm.”

 Heads turned in my direction, but I kept my eyes on my target. The words still stung to hear my mother labeled a traitor, to me she was much worse than that now.

 Tower continued. “Miranda refused to meet with any of us. She informed us that the HVO now stands apart from the Old Kind. They’ve joined forces with the group who call themselves the First Kind.”

The chatter in the room exploded as people began talking amongst themselves in fear and desperation. The group I was watching moved closer together surrounding one of the members.

“Please, everyone remain calm.” Tower was losing control of the audience, fear starting to grip them. Without the HVO there would be no impartial arbiter between the Old Kind.

 The hooded figure who appeared to be the leader of the shadowy group stepped away from the others and began heading toward the dais. The figure moved swiftly and something about its movements jogged my memory. I knew that walk and stance. My fingers tightened on my knob and I pulled it out snapping out my energy whip. I wasn’t about to wait for what was to come next.

People all around me screamed and scattered as I pushed forward, my whip trailing behind me. I leapt into the air bringing it down in and arc toward the hooded figure. She jumped back, the cloak flying off of her and floating to the ground.

Faith rolled to the side as my whip shattered the tile floor in front of her. She was up quickly, her Doorknob in her hand glowing bright blue. I moved in swiftly twisting my whip in and snapping it toward her.

“Stop this!” I heard Tower shouting from behind me.

“It’s the traitor!” Someone shouted.

I tried to drown out all other noises as I focused on Faith. She was smiling and hadn’t made a move yet, but I didn’t care. She had betrayed me and had helped abduct Edgar; she was going down here and now.

I started toward her and she backed up creating an energy shield. She stopped abruptly as I came toward her and turned away from me to focus on the Council.

“I come with a message for the Old Kind.”

 Her words stopped me in my tracks and I pulled my whip back but didn’t depower it.

 “I seek an audience with the Council.”

People all around the room were talking, shouting, and pointing. Almost everyone had activated their powers and stood ready for a fight. The group that had come with Faith walked forward, pushing their hoods back and revealing themselves.

I recognized Jasper, Faith’s boyfriend and Mary a DS member who had been part of her team, the others I didn’t know.

“Do you speak for the First Kind?” Mr. Tower asked.

“I do. I’ve been sent by Talia Grimm as a representative of the First Kind.”

“Why you?” I asked.

“Talia was concerned that if we sent anyone else, you would attack them. She thought our friendship might hold your hand.” Faith turned a smile on me.

I wanted to crack my whip across her face but I knew I had to let this play out. “We were never friends.”

 “Regardless, I’m not here about you, Chloe. I come before the Council with an offer.”

“What offer?” Mr. Tower asked.

“The First Kind is willing to offer the Old Kind the same deal we have given to the HVO. If you lay down your arms and join us there will be no need for further bloodshed.”

“You want us to surrender?” Dante’s voice cut into the discussion.

“The First Kind wants to return to the original ways. If we all join together again as one group, not divided Societies, then we would be a powerful force in the universe once again. ”

“And if we say no?” Dante asked.

“Then we will destroy all of you down to the last man, woman, and child. We will leave nothing behind but your ashes.”

 The room fell dead silent except for the hum of my energy whip.

 “We already control the Artifact of the Mapmakers Union. The HVO has joined us and we will soon have their Artifact in hand as well. If you try to stand against us, you’ll all die.”

“And what makes you think we’ll even allow you to leave this hall?” Mr. Tower asked.

“If we don’t return to the First Kind, the Mapmaker Edgar Magnus will be executed, and then after him they will begin killing Old Kind until we’re returned. So if you refuse to let us go, you’ll sacrifice others,” Faith said confident that she and the others would leave without incident.

“I’m going to stop you,” I said for Faith alone to hear.

“I don’t think so, Chloe, you’ve already lost you just don’t know it yet.”

“They’ll never go for it,” I said and Faith’s grin grew wider.

“We’ll see about that, though it doesn’t really matter. We have people in every, Society so sooner or later we’ll take over each of them.”

“Before this is over you’re going to regret everything you did, I’m going to make sure of that.” My knuckles turned bright white as I clutched my Doorknob wanting to snap out my energy whip and wipe that smile off of her smug face. But I couldn’t risk anything happening to Edgar.

“The First Kind is giving you twenty four hours to accept our proposal.” Faith called out to Mr. Tower.

“They’ll have our answer,” Mr. Tower assured her as one of the junior Council members rushed toward the double doors and unsealed them.

“I hope it’s the right one.” Faith and her group walked toward the open doors, people parting to let them pass.

 All around me the Old Kind watched the boogeyman in their mists and were more than afraid, they were terrified.

 What can I say, I was never one for letting things go. “Faith!” I called out and she turned. My fist caught her jaw knocking her to the ground with a thud. The other First Kind stood stunned, until Jasper finally rushed over to her, grabbed her, and pulled her to her feet. Blood spilled from her split lip and her jaw was already swelling and showing signs of bruising.

“That’s
my
God damn answer!” I screamed and the crowd around me exploded in unison, jeering and screaming at the First Kind as they back pedaled out of the room.

People rushed around me patting me on the back and whooping in joy at seeing the big bad First Kind knocked to the ground. The Council watched me from the dais with a much more sinister eye. I pushed through the crowd to the foot of the platform.

  Mr. Tower glared down at me from under his bushy eyebrows. “What have you done?”

“What needed to be done.”

“You had no right to do that.” Slade’s father scolded as he took his seat on the Council and collapsed back in his chair, shaking his head.

“Why not?”

Mr. Slade slammed his fist onto the table. “You don’t speak for the Council!”

 “Well, someone had to say something.”

“It wasn’t your place. You have no idea how bad this could make things,” Mr. Tower chided.

I stood before the Council with Uncle Archie on my one side and Jess and Slade on the other. The room had been emptied after my aggressive farewell to the First Kind and an immediate private Council meeting had been convened. “Let me get this straight, they’re already killing Old Kind, kidnapping them not to mention using devices like Forget Me Not’s to control them, and you’re worried about how bad it could get?”

“They were willing to negotiate with us, now that’s all out the window thanks to you.” Mr. Slade pressed his fingers into his temples and rubbed vigorously.

 I stared at him dumbfounded. “You think that was a negotiation?”

“They were willing to talk?”

“You’ll excuse me if I think you’re a total moron.”

“What did you say to me?”

“You heard me, Mr. Slade, you’re a moron if you think that was a negotiation. They’re buying time that’s all.”

Mr. Slade leaned forward. “Buying time for what exactly?”

 For a moment I could clearly see the resemblance between him and his son, but talking with Mr. Slade was nothing like talking with his son. “To destroy us. You heard Faith, the First Kind is getting closer to finding the HVO Artifact. If they have the Mapmakers Artifact and the HVO one, then they could use both of them against us.”

 I rolled my eyes annoyed we were wasting time discussing this. I wanted to move on the HVO now while they still thought they had the advantage. If I got my team in place we could get into Storm Reach and get Edgar and with any luck the Mapmakers Legend and close the dimension off to the rest of the universe. But if the Council was even considering negotiating with them, then I couldn’t let them know my plans.

“I was against giving you a team of your own to help find that boy, now I’m even surer than ever that it was a mistake,” Mr. Slade yelled.

Before I could open my mouth to respond his son stepped in front of me.

 “You’re wrong, Dad, there is no talking with the First Kind.”

“Michael Slade this not the time; we will discuss this later.”

“No, Dad, we’ll discuss it now. Chloe’s right, we’re the ones who’ve been fighting against them while the Council twiddles its thumbs over what to do. Now they come here and offer us a deal and you want to consider it? They want to destroy the Old Kind and dissolve the Societies. It would mean the end of the Impossible Engineers.” Slade glanced back at me, his eyes heavy with regret as he spoke “I for one have given up too much for my Society to even consider that.”