The Doorknob Society (The Doorknob Society Saga) (31 page)

“No they won’t.” Nightshade said.

Slade and I turned to see Nightshade and Jessica standing in the doorway holding the books they’d found.

“What are you talking about?” Slade snapped.

I didn’t think the two would ever stop rubbing each other the wrong way.

“Your dad was worried about the phone call being tracked, so he figured out what to do to make sure that it didn’t happen.” Nightshade held up a book,
The Technical Specs of the Looking Glass
. He flipped through the pages until he stopped at a dog-eared page and spun it around to hand to Slade. “He figured out how to rig the machine so they couldn’t track him.”

“Damn, that’s impressive.” Slade said and eagerly began reading.

“What about the other books?” I asked and looked to Jess. I avoided looking at Nightshade, foolishly believing if I did that he would know what had happened between Slade and me. And I wasn’t about to give him anything else to comment on.

Jess walked over to me and as she handed me the other two books, she whispered, “Is everything alright with you and Slade?”

“Yeah, um I think it is.” Though I really wasn’t sure what Slade and I were at the moment.

“Are you guys fighting?”

“Disagreeing is more like it. He gets so stubborn sometimes,” I said rolling my eyes.

“You guys will work it out. You have to. You make a cute couple.”

“You and Nightshade don’t seem to argue that much.” I nodded toward Nightshade who was leaning against the opposite wall watching Michael work on the machine.

Jessica blushed a deep crimson and lowered her eyes along with her voice. “It’s nothing like that, we’re just friends.”

“But, I thought you were a couple. I mean he stayed in the room with you last night.” The words poured out of me before I could stop them and Jess turned an even deeper shade of red.

“He just wanted to make sure I was okay. He slept on the floor. We’re nothing more than good friends. James hasn’t been with anyone in a while.” She glanced at him and tears had welled in her eyes by the time she turned back to face me. “You’re lucky you found such a nice guy, cuz.”

“You haven’t called me that since we were kids?” I smiled and tried not to think about the fact that Nightshade had lead me to believe they were involved, yet another reason to want to strangle him. And that he had been able to bring my hard-nosed cousin to the edge of tears. I didn’t know which made me angrier.

“Being chased by madmen and monsters will do wonders to bring a family closer together, besides we’re the only family we’ve got.” She smiled.

I grinned.

At least not everything in the world sucked, I had reunited with my cousin and I was happy to have her back in my life. If you had told me two days ago that would happen, I would have laughed in your face.

“So what’s the deal with these books?” I glanced down at them in my hands.

“One is about the lost groups of three and the other is a really old mapmaker’s book. It’s like falling apart.” She took the decrepit thing from me. It was in total disrepair; its binding cracked and falling apart and numerous loose pages had been randomly stuffed back inside. The title was barely legible on the pockmarked and weather-beaten cover.

Origins: An Account of the Founding of the Mapmakers Union

“Any idea why your dad would want these books?” Jess attempted to fit he loose pages into the book but failed and placed them just inside the cover.

“I imagine that whatever he was looking for might be linked to them. Maybe it was an artifact of the Mapmakers. The other one I’ve got no idea.” I shook my head glancing at the two books.

“I think that about does it for modifications.” Slade wiped the sweat away from his brow and stood back from the machine.

“So now they can’t track us?” Nightshade questioned.

“If Chloe’s dad was right it should send their tracking system into a loop right back to them.”

“Make the call.” I stepped in front of everyone and stood before the oblong shaped screen.

Slade twisted one of the dials and pulled down on a lever, the gears on both sides turned and waves of energy trickled over me from the device as it powered on. The screen shifted like a drop of water in a pond; it shimmered and rippled.

It formed into the shape of a man sitting at a desk. He turned his head to face the screen and smiled and my stomach turned.

“Well, if it isn’t the infamous Ms. Masters. I should have known that you would be as much of a troublemaker as your father.” Mr. Jordan said with a sneer.

“You talked with my dad from this very room,” I said keeping my anger under control when I would have much rather have wrung the man’s scrawny neck.

“So I did, but what difference does that possibly make? Your father was drummed out of the society and no amount of grandstanding was going to get him reinstated.”

“What did he tell you?”

“It makes no difference, Chloe,” he said dismissively. “After what you’ve done, you’ll never be permitted entrance to the Society. I also will make certain that you are expelled from the Paladin Academy as well. And know that this is all because your father is a
liar
.”

“Whatever,” I said not letting him see that his stinging barbs hurt and angered me all the more. “Just tell me what he said and we’ll be done,”

“He tried to convince me that he had found an artifact of the First Kind and was willing to give it to the council. I, of course, knew he was lying, trying to find a way to be reinstated in the Society.”

“He wasn’t lying.” Did I really sound that calm? I thought by now that my anger had blazed my face red and that I had ground my teeth to nubs from attempting to control my rage.

“Ridiculous,” —he rolled his eyes and laughed— “your father was worried about the disappearance of various group members and thought himself in danger. He babbled on about secret groups and men following him. But it was nothing more than a ruse and lies to cover his ineptness.

“Only it wasn’t a lie was it? He disappeared like the others, men are following him, and now they’re after me. And we’re both in danger because you refused to help my dad, you pompous idiot. Your pride would not let you believe that he had been successful in finding what others, and no doubt yourself included, had failed to find. Or was it that if he found the artifact it would threaten your position?”

Jordan leaned closer to the screen and sneered, “He didn’t find anything!”

I moved closer to the screen wishing I could get my hands on him. “Yes, he did. He found an artifact of the First Kind!”

His face contorted in snarls and sneers and his eyes grew much too wide for his face and looked about ready to pop. “You lie just like him. Your father found nothing.
Nothing
.”

“By nothing do you mean an artifact of the Mapmakers?” I gambled hoping that the book Dad had looked at had something to do with the artifact.

“How could you know that unless... you have it, where is it?” Jordan demanded.

He had just given me leverage, bargaining power, the fool. I shrugged. “What if I do?”

“What do you want, entrance into the Doorknob Society, done. I’ll also make sure you don’t get expelled from the Paladin Academy.”

“My father?”

“I’ve no idea where he is.”

His eyes suddenly darted in a way to make me think that he wasn’t alone that there was someone else there with him off screen.

“Do you have the artifact?” he demanded once again.

He really thought I trusted him? “I’ll only bring it to the council.”

He leaned forward his face loomed large in the oblong screen much like the image one would see in the distortion mirrors in a fun house.

“No, you must bring it directly to the Doorknob Society.”

“Why?”

“That’s the deal Ms. Masters. You bring it directly to me and not the council, and I make sure you get what you want.”

A voice sounded from off screen and Jordan slammed his fist into his desk scattering papers and knocking his mug off the edge.

I plastered my face close to the screen and smiled, no doubt it looked as comical as his. “Trace didn’t work did it?”

“Do we have a deal?” he snapped.

“I’ll be in touch.” I nodded to Slade and he cut off the connection and I let out a very long sigh of relief.

“I can’t believe he’d do that. The artifact should be turned over to the council and then be presented to the Mapmakers. Why would DS even want it?” Slade shook his head in disgust.

“You made the right call, Masters.” Nightshade said with his usual grin. “The artifact is your only real bargaining chip.”

Nightshade and I thought way too much alike. “I know that.”

“And it’s probably the only thing that will keep you and your dad alive. As long as they don’t have it and think that you do, you have leverage,” Nightshade said.

“So we find it and give it to Jordan.” Slade chimed in,

Nightshade was still looking at me and damned if again we weren’t thinking the same thing. “No, he’ll double cross us the minute he has it,” I said and Nightshade’s smile grew.

“He will?” Slade said and shook his head in question.

“It’s his only smart play,” Nightshade said. “If it turns out that he didn’t help Chloe’s dad and the word gets out he’ll be done with the council. He not only needs the artifact; he needs us gone... we’re a liability.”

Slade looked from me to Nightshade and back again realizing that our thoughts and conclusions mirrored each other. And I could tell by the way his eyes narrowed that it didn’t please him.

“So we beat them to it,” Jess said walking over to stand beside James. “We use it to find Uncle Eli and then we bring it to the council before Jordan can get his hands on it.”

“We have two big problems though,” I said sitting down my legs suddenly feeling as if they wouldn’t hold me up any longer. “We don’t know where the artifact is and we don’t know where my dad is or who took him. Of course once we get past all that I’m sure we’ll be just fine.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Nightshade said, “but you’re not going to like it.”

Chapter 29

Status: And now the real fun begins.

“You’re completely insane!” Slade said shooting Nightshade a lethal look.

The two were at it again, not playing well together. I could see James’ point, though his idea was rather drastic not to mention dangerous. However it had one thing in its favor... we didn’t have any other options.

“Maybe I am, but we’re working blind here and this could solve at least one of those problems.” Nightshade used a parental tone as if explaining to a five-year-old why you look both ways when crossing the street, which certainly didn’t help.

“It’s not worth the risk!” Slade yelled and slammed his fist at the wall to emphasis his point.

“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you but that little tantrum convinced me.” Nightshade shook his head and walked out of the room, followed quickly by Jess.

“Michael,” I said softly and placed my hand on his shoulder. “Nightshade has a point.”

He looked ready to argue, then closed his eyes for a moment before nodding his head. “I know but I still don’t like it. You’ll be in danger.”

“I’m already in danger. At least this way we’ll know who’s after me.”

“
He
,” —Slade threw a wave at the door—”wants to use you as bait, doesn’t that concern you?”

“If it’s the only way to help my dad, then it doesn’t. We have no choice, no other options left unless we magically figure out where my dad hid the artifact. This was our last clue and it’s pretty much a dead end.”

“Maybe there’s another clue in the papers your dad left behind.”

He was grasping at straws and he knew it. And I knew that he was concerned more for my safety than anything else. He didn’t want to place me in anymore danger then I was already in.

“We’ve looked them over again and again, Slade. This was the last place he was seen before he disappeared. There’s nothing else in his papers. The only clue he left was for my Uncle and we have no idea where he even is at this point. We need to do something drastic and this is it.”

He pulled me close, and with no one around to see us I went easily into his arms. He hugged me tightly and I responded, my arms going around his waist and my head resting against his chest. He not only offered comfort, he offered protection.

“I’ll be close by the whole time,” he whispered.

I hugged him back content to know he’d be watching over me.

We joined Jessica and Nightshade a few minutes later and headed for the exit, our job at the library done. Nightshade’s plan was simple. He, Jess and I would head to the Diesel Factories, a way-station for travelers. James would put the word out that we had found an artifact of the Mapmakers Union and were willing to deal it for my dad’s safe return. Then we would wait for them to make their move. Slade was going to hang back in case we were caught or things went really bad.

Nightshade opened a portal to the Factories and stepped through with Jessica. He gave a quick glance over his shoulder and caught my eye as I grabbed Slade and kissed him quickly. I then rushed through the portal not wanting to look back at him afraid I would lose my nerve. The rush of power washed over me and I felt the portal slam closed behind me as I stepped out of it. If all went according to plan Slade was stepping through another portal that wasn’t very far from where we stood.

I’d heard of the Diesel Factories but had never been here. I looked up to see massive smoke stacks with what resembled an explosion of steel pipes running from it in every direction. Metal walkways stretched out with doors of every make and age spaced out evenly among them. They randomly opened and closed; people stepping in and out from different dimensions and places all over the world. Snow drifted out from one while a few doors down a man stepped out in a safari outfit.

Gears twisted and churned clunking and clinking until finally a set of spiral stairs appeared directly in front of us and leading to a door that hovered in mid-air. Stretches of road at various overhead levels ran back and forth with cars speeding along them and disappearing through large portal doors on either side. Most of the vehicles looked older like the one Nightshade had in his garage. The people busily hurrying about were dressed in various styles from different periods in history. Some wore old fashioned suits and monocles like the ones I saw in Cape May, while groups of younger kids were dressed like punks from the eighties, Mohawks and chains.