The Detective Inspectors (The Doorknob Society Saga Book 4) (9 page)

“The First Kind killed my brother,”—Uncle Archie jabbed his finger my way—“her father. You’re damn right I’m insane. Did you sell him the Gremlin Collar?”

“Yes, alright, I sold him the collar, but it’s not as if he could actually use it to catch a Gremlin. The HVO would stop him immediately.”

Archibald raced around the desk in a second planting his face in front of Hugh’s, his voice low and threatening. “If you work against the Old Kind again, we’ll be back to pay you a final visit.”

“I un—understand,” Hugh stammered and looked from Archie to me, fear turning him paler than a ghost.

Archibald spun and exited the room and I followed after him leaving Hugh Greenstreet breathing heavily, sweating profusely, and cowering cowardly in the corner. We made our way out of the
The Dead Bolt
and back onto the street.

“What say we get that coffee now?” Uncle Archie smiled.

  I wasn’t sure what the hell just happened, and I didn’t even know where to begin. “What was that all about?”

“That was Hugh Greenstreet; he is one of a few Powerbrokers,” Uncle Archie explained as we walked off. “This isn’t school anymore, Chloe, you’re dealing with a different kind of element now. The Powerbrokers pedal information and some like Greenstreet even sell illegal devices for the right price. The Council has always allowed them free reign for two reasons; one they’re powerful and hard to stop and two, no one cared as long as they were playing for all sides.”

“With the First Kind around that’s all changed.”

“Exactly, if we let them deal with the First Kind besides us,” —Uncle Archie shook his head— “we’ll be in trouble quickly. By getting to Greenstreet now, he’ll get the word out to the other brokers that it’s not a good idea to cross the Old Kind.”

“Why bring me?”

“You felt his energy, right?”

“Yes, as soon as we walked into the room. Honestly, I was surprised he didn’t come after me.”

“He couldn’t that room we were in was his own personal dimension. He was using all his power to maintain it. Someone like me wouldn’t be able to use my abilities in there, but you could.”

I stopped in the middle of the street. “Wait, what? Why?”

“You could use your powers in his dimension because you’re a Polymorph.” He chuckled. “Plus the look on his face was priceless.”

“You know?”

“Worst kept secret in the family you being a Polymorph. Come on, coffee is this way.” He turned down another street and headed into a café with me on his heels.

“Now what?”

“Now we need to find the Gremlin Collar before they do something with it.”

“Like what?”

“A Gremlin Collar is used to capture Gremlins between portals and keep the beast under your control. They’re highly illegal, but we’ve been having issues with the HVO being stretched too thin to handle all the problems we’re been having. Plus, DS likes to handle as much in house as we can, even more so since the debacle with Mr. Jordan.”

 I kept hearing about the HVO and their problems and I was starting to think they might be a lot worse off than anyone knew. Mr. Jordan was another subject entirely. After I had ruined him and gotten him kicked out as head of DS, I’d heard rumors about him being seen around. I also wondered if he might have something to do with the First Kind.

“Has anyone seen Jordan?” I asked curious.

“No, only rumors of his whereabouts pop up now and then. He’s smart enough to stay off radar for now, if someone did find him he’d be brought before the Council.”

“That’s not all that would happen to him.” I had plans for him myself.

“He does have a nasty history with the family. But let’s talk about your training, after all it’s why you’re here.”

“Okay.”

“I know you have your mission from the Council to find Edgar Magnus, I won’t get in the way of that, but I do want to be kept in the loop. I also know you’ve seen and done more than most full-fledged DS members. But I want you to remember, you don’t know everything and you need to listen to me and learn.”

 I thought about Greenstreet and many of the other intriguing characters I had met along the way. Uncle Archie was right. I was woefully unaware of the realities of the Old Kind. That was something I was going to have to amend.

“I understand.”

“Good,” he confirmed with a strong nod.

 We both got coffees to go and walked back out to the street. I took a deep gulp and was glad to finally have something in my system after the night I had.

“So who are we looking for anyway?” I asked the coffee finally fortifying me.

“A Guilder named James Nightshade.”

Status: Why can’t my life ever be easy?

“And you know him?” Uncle Archie asked for what seemed like the fiftieth time.

“Yes.” I nodded as we stepped out of the portal and onto a small side street somewhere in London.

“Okay, well I’ll be doing the talking.”

 Three steps led up to an oversized red door and as I took each one I felt myself getting closer to my doom.

Uncle Archie knocked and stepped back, his hands sliding into his pockets. Not for comfort, his energy vibrated slightly as he tested his Doorknob.

The door swung open and I gritted my teeth seeing the woman standing before us wearing only a t-shirt. Her hair was still a mess from sleep and she looked from Uncle Archie to me. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of me.

“What do you want?” Darla seethed.

 It was a good thing that Uncle Archie was here, if he hadn’t been I would have given her a good solid punch.

“We’re here to see James Nightshade,” Uncle Archie announced with authority and she turned to face him.

“Why?”

Uncle Archie took a step toward her. “That doesn’t concern you. Get him now.”

 She took a step back and shouted, “Nightshade.” Then she looked me up and down and yelled again, “DS is here for you.”

The sound of him coming down the steps echoed out of the door and I held my breath, not at all looking forward to this moment. He came up behind Darla and slid his hand effortlessly around her waist pressing her up against him. The only thing he wore was jeans, his naked chest was trim and tight and a silver pendant on a chain rested against it. His eyes shot over me for a brief moment, and then went to rest on my uncle.

“How can I help the DS?”

“We’d like a moment,” Uncle Archie said.

“Is that so, why?”

“We have some questions for you.”

“Isn’t that nice, but if you have questions for me, why isn’t a Guilder with you?”

“The Skeleton Key Guild asked DS to look into this matter. Apparently, you’re very popular with the Guild right now and they need an impartial opinion.”

“I must have missed the text.”

“If you want I could return with a Guilder, though I doubt you’d want them knowing what you’re up too.”

 I winced. This was going to turn bad. Nightshade didn’t take well to threats.

“And just what am I up too?” Nightshade laughed and leaned casually against the doorjamb, Darla remaining plastered to his side.

“Do you really want to discuss this in front of your—” Uncle Archie gave Darla a slow perusal, and then raised an eyebrow, “
friend
.”

Score one in my book for Uncle Archie as Darla’s face turned as red as the garish lipstick she sometimes wore, and I smirked just a bit.

“Darla, go make us some coffee.” Nightshade didn’t even look at her as he said it, his eyes stayed focused on Archie.

“What’s going on?” Darla asked.

“I’ll take care of it.” He smiled and turned her around swatting her on the butt. She jumped and slapped at his shoulder and it took all my willpower not to scream at them.

“You going to be okay?” she asked over her shoulder as she walked toward the back of the living area.

He gave her a sideways glance. “I’ll take it black.”

She snorted and walked through a doorway I assumed lead into the kitchen.

“May we come in?” Uncle Archie asked.

“No.”

 “Nightshade.” His name, soft on my lips, slipped out without me thinking about it and his head gave a sharp turn, his eyes flaring with anger.

“Fine.” He spun and walked back into the house.

My breath caught in my throat when I caught sight of the scars that marked his back. One slice after another cut across his upper and lower back and I clenched my hands until my knuckles turned bright white. He’d gotten those for not betraying me to the First Kind. And now he barely remembered me.

A living room was off the foyer area and he dropped into a large armchair and placed his feet on the polished oak coffee table. Uncle Archie didn’t sit and neither did I.

Uncle Archie got straight to the point. “According to my source you purchased a Gremlin Collar.”

“What’s the world coming too when you can’t trust black market sellers,” Nightshade joked though looked as if he meant it.

“You admit buying restricted material then?” Uncle Archie asked.

“No, I never bought any such thing.” He smiled at us both with his lopsided grin.

“I would think someone like you would take this seriously,” Uncle Archie said.

“Someone like me?”

“Yes, someone no one trusts.”

 Nightshade flinched at the comment and slowly turned his eyes on me.

 I wanted to shrink and disappear. How the hell was I going to explain to him that it wasn’t me who questioned his integrity?

“Is that so?”

“There are still a lot of questions regarding your time with the First Kind.” Uncle Archie went on. “When you disregard authority, like you’re doing now, it raises concerns.”

“Uncle Archie—” His hand shot up to silence me.

 “If people have concerns about my time with the First Kind, they should have the guts to ask me themselves.”

 It was an accusation and since he kept his eyes on me ignoring Uncle Archie, it was obvious who he meant it for.

“I’m asking you,” Uncle Archie said.

“And just who are you?”

“Archibald Masters.”

Nightshade threw his head back and laughed. “Another Masters, I should have figured. Do they grow you on trees just to annoy me?”

Uncle Archie stiffened but ignored the remark. “It’s simple, Nightshade, you can bring the Gremlin Collar to me or I can take you and your girlfriend in for interrogation, and then search your place on my own.”

“You’re welcome to try, old man.”

“If that’s the way you want it.” Uncle Archie’s abilities activated and I threw my hand out grabbing his arm before he could do anything.

“Wait.” I stepped in between Uncle Archie and Nightshade who hadn’t budged from the chair. “Nightshade isn’t with the First Kind. He’s supposed to be on my team to find Edgar.”

“Chloe, we will talk about this later. He is under suspicion of collaborating with the First Kind and has purchased restricted devices.”

“Uncle Archie, trust me, I know what I’m doing.”

 His power ebbed and he removed his hands from his pockets and stepped back. “You better be right about this.” He turned from me to Nightshade. “You’re lucky she was here.”

“Actually, you are,” Nightshade replied.

“Let me have a minute,” I whispered to Uncle Archie.

“Chloe, what are you doing?”

“Please, let me talk to him.”

“I’ll be right outside.” He swept from the room.

I waited to hear the front door click, took a deep breath, and said, “What are you up to?”

“Obviously I’m working against all of you for the First Kind.” His voice dripped with sarcasm.

“This is serious, Nightshade.”

“Do you agree with him?” he asked standing, though not approaching me.

“What?”

“Do you doubt me?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you didn’t say he was wrong either.”

“I trust you.” I wanted to tell him I believed in him but there was that small part of me that couldn’t. With him not remembering me, there was no telling what damage had been done to him. I wanted to look into his eyes and see the man I knew, the one who drove me nuts, yet knew me better than anyone else in the world.

“But?”

“No buts, I trust you.”

“You’re a terrible liar, Masters.”

“So you’ve always said.”

“If you think I’m working against you why bother keeping me around. Let your Uncle take me down, if he can?”

“Your...”

 Darla pushed the door open from the kitchen and walked in holding a cup of coffee.

 “Never mind,” I said.

“You’re still here,” she sneered.

I cricked my neck and smiled at her. “Some of us have jobs to do other than being a tramp.”

 “Very cute, at least I know how to treat a man.”

 She leaned in against Nightshade and I had the strong urge to rip her head off and use it for a bowling ball, even though I didn’t bowl. “I’m sure Nightshade knows exactly what to do with someone like you.”

“Why you?” Darla’s eyes flared and I kept smiling.

“That’s enough,” Nightshade cut in.

“Did you hear what she said about me, Nightshade?”

“Yes, and I said that’s enough.”

“She’s only here to confuse you. You should have seen the way she stole your jacket and pretended like you two were close when she almost got you killed.” Darla wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed herself closer against him.

“That’s not true,” I said knowing one of these days I was going to give Darla what she deserved... a good ass-kicking.

 “She even attacked me for trying to get her to stop wearing your jacket. It was pathetic.”

That was it, I stepped across the distance between us and Nightshade brought his hand up stopping me before I got any further.

“I think it’s time you left.”

“She’s lying.”

“There seems to be a lot of that going on this morning.” He stepped forward disengaging from Darla and grabbing my elbow and pulling me from the room. He hurried me into the foyer and to the front door, opened it, and with a shove deposited me on the front stoop.

“Nightshade, you have to believe me.”

“Why? You don’t believe me.” He closed the door in my face.

Status: My day keeps getting worse.