“It was another hex.” He didn’t seem sure.
“She told you that?”
He slammed his fists into the door. “She said it was a hex to protect me from a far larger curse. She didn’t specify after that. You don’t ask my mother prying questions. Nobody does, not even me.”
A shocking realization catapulted into my brain. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before. Finch was part Merlin, too. For Sál Vinna to work, she should have killed Finch. But she didn’t. Perhaps she couldn’t. Despite her monstrous tendencies, maybe she hadn’t had it in her to kill her own son.
I wondered why Katherine had told him he was hexed in the first place. Was that what all of this was—a way of punishing him for making her weak? Had she used the ruse as a way of manipulating him? A way of getting payback for her missed opportunity? Or a way to keep her son tied to her? Honestly, right now, I had no idea which one seemed more plausible. The only thing I knew for sure was that all this talk of a hex was a load of garbage. She’d clearly told him she’d get him out if he got caught, but the removal of the supposed “hex” was evidently part of the deal too, to get him to do her bidding.
Unless Finch isn’t my half-brother. What if Katherine had lied about that too, as a last-ditch attempt to get my father back? That kind of deceit was child’s play compared to what she’d done since, but I didn’t have the heart to investigate. Finch had done some bad things, but he’d been molded that way. Who was I to pull the rug completely out from under him, regardless of his dark streak?
“You need to accept that part of yourself, Finch. I’ve seen your medical records—there wasn’t anything weird in your blood. There weren’t any magical markers to suggest a hex.” I’d looked through his folder after he was brought here. We’d found it among Adley’s things. “If I was a betting kind of girl, I’d say it wasn’t caused by a hex at all, or any other outside influence. You are the way you are because… well, you are. No hexes, no being born under a bad sign, or a blood moon. You’re just you.” I offered a smile, though I didn’t know why. “You can’t blame anything or anyone, not even yourself. You’ve got to learn to live with your demons, quiet them down until they become easier to handle. Thinking someone can ‘fix’ you will only make it worse.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said coldly, his voice carrying an edge of sadness. “And you certainly don’t know what you’re up against.”
“I know all about Katherine’s aspirations to become a Child of Chaos. You told us most of that yourself, and we filled in the gaps. It wasn’t hard,” I replied. “We know what she’s trying to do, and we’re on to her. There’s no way she’s completing this mission. No way in hell.”
He smirked. “She’s already close to completing the first of the five rituals. When she rises, she’ll only let the worthy yield Chaos, and she will take it from those who have been gifted unjustly—from people like you.”
I grinned at him, feeling victory flow through my veins. “Oh Finch, what will your mother say?”
“You were… bluffing?”
“Hurts, doesn’t it, to be lied to?” I could see it in his face, the shocked realization that I’d pretended to know more than I did. Unintentionally, he’d revealed new information. Helpful information that could help us defeat Katherine.
“You little bitch,” he hissed, grabbing the files on Hiram and hurling them through the hatch. “When the time comes, you will have your powers stripped bare from your bones, and you’ll feel every agonizing tear as they’re taken from you. My mother will make it fair—you don’t deserve what you’ve been given.”
I shrugged. “But the world is unfair, Finch. It always has been, and it always will be. You and I know that better than anyone,” I said. “The thing is, you will always have a choice in how you react to that unfairness. I’m a forgiving kind of gal. The offer still stands. Side with your sister over your mother and leave the world as it is. Fight to protect—don’t fight to destroy.”
With a smile on my face, I closed the hatch, leaving Finch quietly seething. I gestured to Officer Arrowsmith to lock up, before heading out of Purgatory. Walking through the halls behind Arrowsmith, I felt beyond pleased with everything I’d learned about Katherine’s plan. Now, we had the knowledge of her future steps within our reach.
Plus, who doesn’t enjoy a little family bonding every now and again?
Twenty-Nine
Harley
“Hey, how come we don’t know anything about Astrid’s family?” I asked. The Rag Team had gathered in the Aquarium while we waited for our families to arrive. Well, while everyone else waited for their families to arrive. We were all smartly dressed in our official SDC uniforms, and my breast pocket was adorned with six gems—white for Air, blue for Water, green for Earth, red for Fire, dark gray for Telekinesis, and purple for Empathy. It felt weird, wearing my abilities on my chest like that, but I was kind of digging the outfit. I wondered what Shapeshifters did in this situation. I doubted they wore that particular ability as a badge of honor, as unfair as that seemed.
Wade shrugged. “She doesn’t mention them much. In fact… I don’t think she’s ever mentioned them. Does anyone know anything about them?”
“They’ve got to be human, right?” Dylan replied.
“I heard it was a powerful couple high up in the US government, who put her into Alton’s care so she wouldn’t be a kidnap risk,” Santana said. “They wanted to hide her away here for extra security.”
“Where’d you hear that from?” Wade asked, an eyebrow raised.
“The usual grapevine of juicy gossip. No idea if it’s true or not.”
“Mysterious. I like it,” Tatyana replied.
Nervous energy hummed throughout the room, everyone’s emotions going haywire with the prospect of seeing their loved ones again. Dylan was the only one who didn’t seem too worked up, but then, he was in the same boat as me. We’d both vowed to stick close to each other throughout the event, making our own version of going stag. If we had to be on our own, we were going to do it together. Besides, it riled Wade up to see us chatting secretively about it. I still got a little thrill out of it, even after Stella’s sage words of advice.
There was another reason for everyone’s anxiety. After returning from Purgatory, I’d filled the Rag Team in on the new slices of information Finch had unwittingly given me. Aside from the Family Gathering, it was all anyone could talk about. They were struggling to wrap their heads around Katherine’s intentions, though I’d stopped doubting her evil a long time ago. She was capable of anything, if it meant getting what she wanted.
“I don’t want to go around in circles, but there’s something that’s been bugging me. How would Katherine even figure out who can and can’t use magic?” Dylan asked, evidently trying to change the subject.
Wade shook his head. “It’s not the how that worries me so much. It’s the why,” he said. “It all sounds insane, if you ask me. Why would a person go to such lengths just to decide who gets to wield Chaos and who doesn’t? It’s complete madness.”
Nope, sounds about right for dear old Aunt Shipton. Probably not crazy enough, to be honest. Somehow, to me, it almost made sense, given what we’d learned about Katherine so far. She wasn’t one to pull her punches. Plus, she’d been upstaged by her twin sister for most of her life and so, in her eyes, had been treated unfairly, considering the strength of her own powers. So, I guessed she wanted to even the scales on a universal level. Make up for all those lost years of being made to feel inferior. It was one hell of a way to get her own back. Yeah, she’s clearly dealing with some issues. I doubt even Freud could figure this one out.
“I didn’t want to say anything, but I get the feeling there’s more to it than meets the eye, even with this new knowledge,” I said quietly. “Honestly, it sounds to me like Katherine has an even grander vision in mind for herself, and for this leveling. We just don’t know about it yet. We probably won’t until it smacks us in the face.”
Santana sighed. “I agree, which is why we have to cut her off before she even makes that first leap toward becoming a Child of Chaos. It has something to do with this Librarian, I know it does.”
The others nodded, confusing me. Clearly, I was out of the loop on a couple of things.
“Librarian?” I asked.
“Well, thanks to Finch, we know that there are five rituals involved in becoming a Child of Chaos,” she replied. “I discovered earlier that there’s this woman called the Librarian—a Clairvoyant—who might have some answers about those rituals and what they entail. The information I got was all pretty vague, but with that stuff and Finch’s revelation, we’ve actually got something meaty to work from.”
“Where’d you get the info?”
She shot a look at Raffe. “Uh… Raffe helped. He knows some folks who know some folks. Some friends of his dad.” She glanced at Wade, who gave a small nod. More secrets? It felt like all of us were hiding something from each other, and it made me uneasy. Even though my secret probably topped everyone else’s.
“Well, it feels good to have some leads,” I conceded, with a smile.
“We should probably head to the party before people start to wonder where we are,” Wade suggested. “We can go over this new information tomorrow. For tonight, why don’t we try to enjoy ourselves? It doesn’t happen very often. Not lately, anyway.”
I flashed him a grin. “Got your dancing shoes on, Crowley?”
“I don’t dance.”
“We’ll see about that.” I chuckled, taking his arm and leading him to the door. I paused at the threshold. “Wait, isn’t Astrid coming? I thought she’d be here by now.”