The Detective Inspectors (The Doorknob Society Saga Book 4) (28 page)

 His mouth was urgent against mine, as if he needed to do the same, make sure it was real. I didn’t hold back, I had done enough of that ever since he had returned. Now I was exactly where I wanted to be and it appeared so was he.

He broke our kiss off and leaned his brow against mine. “I remember you.”

There was so much I wanted to say, needed to say to him after all this time, and I imagined he felt the same, but here and now was not the place. So what did I choose to say with only a few minutes to spare? “It took you long enough.”

“Always with a comment,” he said with a laugh and a shake of his head.

“That’s me.”

He brushed his lips over mine and whispered, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

He lifted me off the catwalk and kissed me again. It wasn’t as urgent as before. It was slow and gentle, as if we were discovering each other for the first time. His arms held me tightly, as if he didn’t want to let me go or perhaps he was afraid of letting me go. And I held onto him just as tightly never wanting to let him go, afraid if I did that I might lose him like the last time. He had sacrificed himself for me and I wasn’t about to see anything like that happen ever again.

I didn’t want this moment to end, but it had to and I reluctantly pushed away from him. I took a deep breath, and then let it out in one long sigh. “We have a mission to accomplish.”

“More than one.” His eyes narrowed, and I knew he was on to me.

“I have to finish this.”

“Your mother.”

 He did know me too well and how glad I was for it. “She’s got to pay for what she did to my dad.”

“I know, but first and foremost we’re here for Edgar.”

 My hand slid around his, our fingers intertwining. “Agreed, now what about this?” I held out my other hand letting the Forget Me Not roll around in my palm.

 Nightshade slipped his fingers over it cupping it in his hand and slipped it into his pocket. “I remember everything, but just in case, Gavin and I can use it later to be sure.”

“How did you do it without breaking the Forget Me Not?” I asked as we walked down the catwalk.

“When I saw you with Darker,” —his eyes glazed over as if thinking back on it— “it all came rushing back to me, and I wasn’t going to lose you like I did Lauren.”

 We came to a stop at one of the doors with an overhang. And we finally got to kiss without rain pouring down on us, though it was a quick one.

 His finger caressed my cheek. “You came for me.”

 I smiled. “I always will.”

 My mind reeled. I had been so sure that I would never get him back and now here he was with me... my Nightshade. My plan for not surviving this mission seemed a million miles away. I needed to find Edgar and get us all the hell out of here, even if it meant not getting to take care of my mother. I needed time to think.

“We’ve got a lot to talk about,” I said.

“You sure you want to talk?” He winked and I punched his shoulder.

“No, I’m really not.”

 He grabbed me and kissed me again, his lips pure pleasure. As great as his kisses were, I knew we had to stop. I pulled away from him reluctantly. “We need to find the others and get out of here.”

“You’re right, let’s do it.” He took my hand and I latched on to his. This time there was no letting go.

I opened the door and we stepped into the Tower. It took a moment to adjust to the light after having been in such darkness. We were at the uppermost level of the Tower in a large circular room. It reminded me of the Map Room in the Reliquary with lines drawn all across the floors and up the walls, except here there were Silver Stars lit along different points.

Slade and Jess sat at the opposite side of the room, their arms bound and their vessels a few feet away. They eyed me strangely and I knew something was very wrong. Nightshade must have thought the same since his hand tugged at mine bringing us to a stop. We both glanced around as if waiting for something to happen... and it did.

My mother walked out of the shadows into the middle of the room, her blue eyes bright and a smile on her lips.

My stomach turned. I had planned on dealing with her but now that I was face to face with her, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I wanted to avenge my father, but how far was I willing to go?

Nightshade squeezed my hand and just knowing he was there beside me made me feel better. He always knew what was going on in my head, even if I didn’t.

“I see you made it.” My mother nodded toward us. “And it appears your friend regained his memories.” She motioned to our hands and we both squeezed our hands tighter at the same time.

“Darker won’t be joining us,” Nightshade announced.

My mother tilted her head slightly as if considering his words for a moment. “So you finally got your revenge?”

“He got what he deserved,” Nightshade said.

“I tried to warn him that the Forget Me Not may not be able to keep hold over you. He should have left it on your person that’s the only way to guarantee someone will stay under its control. Darker never could follow instructions.”

“Where’s Edgar?” I cut in.

“Your little friend is right over there.” She pointed to another section of the room and sure enough sitting at a table hunched over and working on something was Edgar. He was scribbling furiously and his brown hair was standing on edge pointing in all different directions.

“Edgar?” I called out to him so relieved to see him.

He didn’t look up; he kept writing and called back, “I’m busy.”

“Edgar!” I yelled.

He stopped, looked up, and blinked furiously. Then he cricked his neck and a slight smile crossed his lips. “Hi guys when did you get here?”

“See he’s fine,” my mother said sounding pleased with herself.

“I told you they would come for me,” Edgar said proudly, then lowered his head and started writing again.

“Yes, you did tell me... continuously.” My mother placed two fingers to her temple and rubbed.

“What did you do to him?” I asked, though Edgar looked his normal self, at least what was normal for Edgar, I wanted to be sure.

“Nothing, your boyfriend’s little lock is still in place.” She sneered at Nightshade.

I was relieved that Nightshade’s lockout had worked so well, but something wasn’t right, I could feel it. My mother was far too calm and collected. Jess was staring at me, her eyes shifting between me and my mother as if trying to tell me something. But I didn’t know what. Slade was struggling against his bonds without success.

The room was filled with power more power than anyone person should be giving off. I extended my abilities around me and felt the flow of the power in the room. They had activated the Mapmakers Legend that much was for sure.

I caught the trail of the energy and followed it as it rounded the room. The Legend itself was in front of Edgar, he was working on it fast and furiously. Doing what, I had no idea. But he wasn’t the one using the power... it was my mother. Somehow she had tapped the power of the Legend and it was building up inside of her. This was very bad.

“This isn’t going to end well,” I said and Nightshade released my hand. I knew his intention, he would edge around the room to get closer to Slade and Jess.

“No, no it isn’t,” my mother said with a careless glance around the room.

She was beyond calm. It was almost as if she was lost in her own thoughts, the power of and Artifact completely consuming her mind. If that power wasn’t used properly, it can burn you up. If Bodie hadn’t directed the power of the Looking Glass for me, I wouldn’t be alive right now

She looked directly at me, her eyes shifting back and forth much too frequently. “You’re supposed to die here.”

She was lost in a haze, the power of the Artifact growing in her. I had a chance against her but only before she was fully in control, then I wouldn’t be able to stop her. I had to act now.

“Is that what Tower wants?” I asked bluntly.

She smiled and nodded her head. “So you finally discovered the man behind the curtain. He wanted to keep his identity from you even at the end. He said you should never know who he was, but if by chance you were to find out, you should know that he had great plans for you. He intends to put our cursed family to good use. Your death is just one possibility of what he wants from us, dear daughter.”

“Don’t call me that.” I gritted my teeth and thought of my father dying in my arms and all because of the woman who had once claimed to love him... and me.

“Why not Er... I mean Chloe. You are my daughter after all?” She searched my face as if she was having a hard time recognizing me.

“No, I stopped being your daughter when you stopped being my mother and that was a long time ago!” I shouted unable to keep control of my emotions. I’d come here for a reason... revenge and damn if it wasn’t returning full force. This woman had deserted me and killed my father. For the last few years all she had done was attack and hurt my friends and family. It needed to end today.

“Your boyfriend needs to stop now.” She grinned at me as her hand shot out to the side and a bolt of golden energy slammed Nightshade into the wall with a thunderous crash. He slid to the floor with a groan and his eyes closed.

“You bitch!” I yelled.

“What are you going to do about it, daughter?”

“This!” I ripped my hand from my hoodie pocket, pulling the Looking Glass from my dimension and activated it. The glow of the power of the Artifact surrounded me in a silvery light. My eyes went completely white as the flow of the universe coursed through my body.

“You have an Artifact?” My mother’s face contorted in rage.

“That’s right, I do. Now let’s finish this once and for all.”

Status: My mother, my enemy.

“Where did you get it?” My mother spat as we moved closer toward each other.

“Family,” I said, “something you wouldn’t understand.”

“Give it to me now,” she demanded.

“Come and get it,” I challenged with a wave of the Looking Glass.

 She lifted her hands and a torrent of golden energy sped across the distance, ready to slam into me. I didn’t even have to move, I simply thought about a shield and it rose protectively around me, deflecting the hit.

“You think you can handle this level of power? It’ll burn you alive.” Her eyes had narrowed as she stared at me and barked her words like a mad dog.

“You don’t seem to be doing so hot either.” I swung the mirror like a tennis racket and a surge of silver energy shot toward her. She sidestepped it and it tore a hole in the wall behind her.

“Playing for keeps are we?” she said considering the damage I had just done. “My turn.”

 She spun and aimed at Nightshade and screamed releasing another wave of energy. I moved fast, but a blur of motion swept past me. Nightshade’s Gremlin scooped him up dodging the blast that leveled the spot where he had been.

“Stupid beast!” she yelled, her back to me.

 I smiled and rushed forward. I swung a left and connected with the base of her skull, knocking her end over end. She rolled along the floor and I twisted the mirror toward Slade and sent out enough energy to dismantle his bonds.

“Get everyone out of here!” I yelled after him as I ran toward my mother to press my advantage. She was struggling to stand and I leapt into the air, bringing my fist down across her cheek and slamming her back to the floor. I swung the Looking Glass at her, catching her in the side. She slid across the floor, coming to a stop just before the wall.

Slade got Jess loose and she ran to Edgar, grabbing his arm and trying to drag him from the table. Her hand wrapped around his collar and was yanking him.

“I can’t go; she’s connected to the Legend. We can’t leave it,” he protested.

“Take the damn thing,” Jess yelled reaching over him to grab it. Golden sparks flew as she tried to touch it, and she pulled her hand back in pain. “Damn it.”

“It’s locked onto her,” Edgar explained.

“Can you hold it?” Jess asked.

“Being a Mapmaker yes I can, but I don’t know how far we’ll get as long as she controls it.”

“We don’t have a choice, let’s go.” Jess tugged at his collar and Edgar rolled the glowing Legend up and held it to his chest.

Slade was holding his hands up in front of the Gremlin who had draped Nightshade over his shoulder and eyed everyone warily.

“It’s okay, boy, we all need to get out of here.” Slade was talking in a soothing voice and it seemed to be working, the beast stopped baring its teeth and started to follow him.

“Chloe, we’re leaving!” Jess yelled.

“Go!” I yelled back.

“You’re coming with us,” Jess insisted.

“No time to argue, get the hell out of here now.”

Jess looked ready to argue, then stopped and nodded. She understood what I had to do.

 I continued my attack on my mom with all the power flowing through my veins, my very being. I could see why the power could consume someone, it was intoxicating.

My friends made it to the door and I was glad they didn’t look back. They did as I told them; they rushed out slamming it closed behind them. I’d thought about this moment for some time, the final showdown between me and my mother. And now here it was, time to collect all debts.

I brought my foot up for a kick to her midsection but her hand swung out catching my foot and flipping me over. She got to her feet more easily than I expected and kicked out with her own foot catching me in the chin and knocking me for a loop. I fell back hitting the ground, pain exploding up my back.

“I’m tired of your little games.” She wiped away blood from her mouth with her sleeve as she stood over me.

“Me too.” I lifted the mirror and focused all my thoughts on it, power pulsed out blowing her back with fury and sending me hurtling in the opposite direction. The Looking Glass ripped from my hands and slid away.

I struggled to my feet, the power from the Looking Glass still flowing through me. I didn’t need to physically hold it to control the power, just like my mother with the Mapmakers Legend.

The room was in tatters from the energy I had released. I looked at the holes I had blown in the walls, rain and wind swept in from outside. The table where Edgar had been sitting was now kindling.