“My question is, why hasn’t Erebus tried to take Davin’s amulet himself?” Santana asked. “He must be pissed that one of his servants got away.”
Wade nodded. “I’ve been thinking the same.”
“It may well be that he can’t,” Kadar replied. “It is djinn magic, and djinn magic cannot be undone by Erebus. Although, it would not prevent Erebus from taking the amulet.”
I thought back to my time in Russia visiting the Vasilis family. Erebus had mentioned someone following us, and that he couldn’t identify them. And, since Davin kept popping up, he had to be flying under Erebus’s radar somehow.
“Could the amulet shield Davin from Erebus’s eye?” I looked at Kadar.
He grumbled thoughtfully. “There is no reason why not. Indeed, it would make a lot of sense to add that sort of defense mechanism, considering why Davin wanted the amulet. And djinn magic, as I understand, is the only magic that can hide one from Erebus.”
“Well, that explains how Davin keeps running circles around him,” I mused aloud. It made me want the amulet even more.
“I’m just going to say it—I agree with Harley. I think it’s a dumb idea.” Santana petted Slinky’s scaly head. Gross. “No encounter with Davin ends well, and he’s not going to give up that amulet easily. The djinn who created it must be somewhere in Tartarus, right? Why not look there?”
My patience with these naysayers was wearing thin. “How about this? I’ll try to find Davin and take plenty of backup when I do. Meanwhile, Kadar, can you pull some strings with the djinn folk—you know, ask around about this djinn?”
“I can’t without visiting Tartarus, which I’m not inclined to do for your sake, but I’ll ask Zalaam to enquire through the network. It may be that the djinn will answer directly, if he still lives.” Kadar’s smoke billowed, and a few wisps stung my nostrils.
I smiled, satisfied. “It’s a plan.” I cast a withering look at Santana. “Does that sit better with your sensitive sensibilities? I think I have that book, actually. One of Austen’s finest.”
“It’s slightly less stupid, if that’s what you’re asking. I don’t care about old-timey novels,” she retorted.
“I think you mean ‘classic,’ you philistine,” I countered. “Then it’s settled. Now, I need to eat before my stomach devours itself.”
Kadar chuckled. “How delectable.”
With two potential means to gain freedom—the amulet or the djinn—one of them would work… right?
“In the meantime, we’ve got to worry about Atlantis.” Harley brought me some relief by changing the subject.
“Ah, the big A.” Santana clicked her tongue.
“No, that’s Davin, and it stands for asshole,” I retorted.
She smirked. “Noted.”
“We’d just started on Atlantis when you came in. Now, the way to Atlantis is separated into parts, right?” Harley asked, putting down the book she’d been holding. “It started with Erebus getting his human form, though if he’d already been human, maybe that wouldn’t have been necessary. So, that’s probably an extra step.”
“If that’s true, the first must’ve been drawing the map to find Atlantis,” I continued on her train of thought. “Part two was the key—Nash’s blood. But his blood has to do something.”
Wade rubbed his chin. “Well, Sanguine blood is usually a spell ingredient, or a replacement ingredient.”
“Right, so Nash’s blood will play a part in the spell to get Erebus into Atlantis.” I glanced at the other two. “Which means part three is an entry spell.”
“See, we’re already ironing out the kinks.” Harley offered a meager smile.
“Yeah, except that’s where we draw a blank. What’s after the entry spell? What will we find in Atlantis?” I huffed a breath. “Is Erebus already working on the entry spell, or does he expect me to handle that?”
Harley crossed to the workbench and sank onto one of the stools. “Can we make a promise? If you get out of this, we never work with a Child of Chaos ever again. None of them. Not even Gaia.”
“Amen to that!” Santana crowed.
“Sounds good to me,” I replied, but that prospect was a very long way away.
“Where is Nash, anyway?” Harley asked.
“Winchester House, keeping the spooks company.” I shrugged. “And probably doing research or something, though research seems pointless with the tiny all-knowing elf on our team. I tried telling Ryann that, but she got on her high horse. ‘There’s no substitute for sifting through a mountain of books to find a needle in a stack of needles.’”
Harley chuckled. “She just wants to be thorough.”
“Maybe.” I leaned against the workbench, suddenly tired. “Anyway, all the research in the world won’t give us a better option. For now, I’ve got no choice but to keep doing the E-man’s bidding and move on to the next step.”
“The next step he’s told you nothing about?” Santana cut in dryly.
“Not nothing. Just next to nothing,” I corrected her. “My next mission is to find the Gateway and open it.”
Harley sighed and held her head in her hands. “That’s pretty freaking vague.”
“At least it might be the last stage in the mission.” Wade put his hands on Harley’s shoulders and squeezed gently. I sensed that he wanted to kiss her but was resisting for my sake.
I nodded. “First, we found Atlantis. Second, we got the key, which suggests some kind of spell is needed. That part may or may not be done by Erebus himself, depending on how much he wants to get his hands dirty. And third, we have to find the Gateway and open it. I mean, that might be stages three and four, but we won’t know until Erebus gets a bit more chatty.”
I shook my head. Without Erebus’s input, we were in limbo. He held all the cards.
“Just for the record, I hate that guy,” Harley growled under her breath.
I smiled. “Just for the record, so do I.”
Five
Finch
Ravenous after going in thought circles with the others, I’d swung by the Banquet Hall. Now, stuffed to bursting with the chef’s special—a triple-tier Mediterranean sandwich topped with a slathering of sweet mustard—I walked through a chalk door to the Winchester House. In the end, my appetite had disappeared, with everyone’s aversion to hunting Davin playing on my mind. But I’d forced the sandwich down regardless. After all, I didn’t know how many meals I might have left, so I had to make the most of each.
“The wanderer has returned.” Mary Foster appeared through the wall the moment I set foot in the front yard. Not being able to chalk-door right into the mansion had its drawbacks, but at least I could brace myself for the spook patrol.
“Were you watching out for me, Miss Foster?” I teased.
Though her face was perpetually gray, I could’ve sworn she blushed. “I was merely observing the sunset and happened to see you appear. I certainly was not watching out for you. I have other matters with which to occupy myself, you know.”