The Impossible Engineers (The Doorknob Society Saga Book 2) Read online

  “Jasper, please leave,” Faith said, her voice just above a whisper.

  “No, I won’t leave and what are you doing anyway? Hanging out with your new friends?” The snark in his voice was unmistakable.

  “Please don’t do this.” Her voice trembled as if nervous or fearful.

  “Why not? Is your new boyfriend in there and you don’t want me making a scene?” He got louder and definitely more obnoxious as he spoke.

  I couldn’t take anymore of this annoying buffoon so I cut in, “Look I don’t know who you are, but she asked you to leave. So leave!”

  He turned lose his venom on me. “Was I talking to you? Is this any of your business?”

  “Watch your tone with me, pal.”

  “I know who you are and I don’t care and I don’t scare easy. Faith, you’re coming with me.” He swung the gate open and walked toward her.

  I stepped in front of her and put my hand up. “Buddy, I am giving you one and only one chance to get the hell out of here.” This jerk might not have been a First Kind but I didn’t like the way he talked to Faith or me. I heard the door open behind me and someone stepped out.

  “What’s going on?”

  I smirked when I heard Slade’s voice behind me.

  “So is this the new boyfriend then?” Jasper yelled pointing at Slade.

  “Please, Jasper, just leave me alone,” Faith pleaded.

  “You heard her, pal, time to scat.” I waved him away like an irritating child you didn’t want around and his face turned bright red.

  “Shut up you bi...”

  He never got to finish the sentence. He rushed at me yelling like the insane lunatic that he was and I reacted. I swung hard and punched him square in the face.

  He stumbled back, stunned and blinking. “You hit me.”

  “And I’ll do it again if you don’t get the hell out of here.”

  Slade stepped forward and stood beside me. “You heard her get lost, now.” He punched his hands together to emphasize his warning, which I must admit was rather impressive with how large and intimidating Slade can be.

  “So that’s how it is, Faith, got your new friends fighting for you? This isn’t over.” Jasper yelled but still hadn’t moved.

  “Leave.” Slade took a step closer to Jasper and he shuddered, but didn’t move.

  “No, she,” —Jasper pointed at me— “assaulted me and I’m going to call the HVO and report it. So don’t think you can intimidate me.”

  “Get off my property right now or I’ll kick your sorry-ass off it.” Nightshade’s threatening voice sliced through the air of tension.

  I looked back to see him standing in the door way, his eyes narrowed and fixed much too intensely on Jasper. Something in his potent stare sent a shiver up my spine. I turned my head and wasn’t surprised to see that it had the same effect on the crazed idiot, who proved just how insane he was when he spoke

  “I won’t.” His voice cracked and he tried to stare down Nightshade.

  The hair on the back of my neck stood on edge as a surge of power wrapped around me. I looked just in time to see Nightshade raising his arm, tendrils of crimson energy swirled around him like a maelstrom and he pointed at Jasper. They snaked out and I heard a whimper come from the idiot as he spun around and tripped through the gate in his rush to leave. He slapped into the sidewalk with a nasty crack, then scrambled to his feet and ran off.

  When I looked back Nightshade had already disappeared into the house and Faith was standing behind me, tears streaming down her face. I reached, out placing my hand on her shoulder and giving her my best attempt at a smile. I was so bad at dealing with people when they cry, but I couldn’t stand there and ignore her.

  “You okay?” Apparently that was the wrong question as it caused her to erupt into tears, grab me, and hug me as she continued crying. I patted her on the back and tried to console her as best I could.

  “Let’s get inside,” Slade said and ushered us both into the house.

  I brought Faith over to the couch and got her to sit, though she continued to cry. Nightshade was sitting at the island bar that opened onto his living room. Slade went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water and brought it to Faith who attempted to smile but failed as she took it from him.

  “So who’s Miss Happy?” Nightshade pointed to Faith.

  “Nightshade!” I yelled. But what did I expect, he wasn’t exactly Mr. Sensitive proven by the way he dismissed me with a shrug.

  “It’s okay.” Faith wiped away the last of her tears and took a deep, calming breath. “I’m so sorry; this is all my fault.”

  “I’d say it was the fault of the idiot outside,” Nightshade smirked.

  Wow, something pertinent and not snarky from him. I was impressed, though I wouldn’t let Nightshade know that. “I think we all agree on that.”

  “Jasper is my ex,” Faith explained, “though he doesn’t want to admit we’re not together anymore. He keeps following me and causing trouble.”

  “Well he chose the wrong bunch to mess with this time.” I smiled hoping to reassure her.

  “Somehow I doubt he thought he would be getting punched in the face and eating pavement.” Slade laughed.

  “You should report him to the HVO,” I suggested, sitting on the couch beside Faith.

  “I know I should, but I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

  “I think you’re past that point,” I said.

  “You’re right.” Faith smiled and looked around at each of us. “I’m sorry for all the trouble.”

  “No problem, this group is used to trouble.” Nightshade said.

  I gave a quick glance around the room. “Speaking of which, where are Jess and Edgar?”

  “Jess is shopping with your grandmother and then coming over and Edgar sent a text to say that he’d be here soon,” Nightshade said.

  “You have plans, I should get going.” Faith stood ready to leave.

  “Why don’t you stick around for a while, just in case the idiot is still hanging around,” Nightshade offered.

  “Thanks so much.” Faith smiled at Nightshade and walked over to him. “Do you have some place I could freshen up?”

  “This way.” Nightshade pointed down the hall and followed his finger showing her the way. Faith drifted up beside him, her smile never wavering and her hand sliding slowly across his shoulder.

  My stomach jumped when she touched him and my jaw tightened.

  Slade dropped on the couch beside me and I slid closer, resting up against him. He draped his arm around my shoulders, leaned down and kissed me on my forehead.

  “You two are so cute that it’s disgusting,” Nightshade said as he entered the room.

  “You wish you were this happy?” Slade retorted with a smug grin.

  “Yeah, Slade, I’m pining to be with a neurotic girl who tries to get me killed on a regular basis. Wait a minute— I already have that— minus the perks, wonderful.” He laughed and sat down opposite us.

  “Where are your parents anyway?” I asked changing the subject before the feigned humor turned nasty.

  “Let’s see Dad is still dead and Mom is in Paris with husband number three.”

  So much for me making a simple subject change, I mean honestly, when am I going to learn?

  “What are we going to do about her?” Slade kept his voice low as he pointed down the hall where Faith had gone.

  “I don’t want to kick her out after what just happened. She can hang around for now and we can put off our discussion until later.” Both guys nodded in agreement as Faith stepped back into the room.

  “I hope I’m not ruining any plans?”

  “Not at all. We were just going to watch a movie.” Nightshade smiled and waved her over to sit beside him. She smiled and sat way too close to him. I raised a brow thinking that wasn’t going to go over well with Jess when she got here.

  We spent the next few minutes arguing over what to order for dinner when Nightshade finally
gave in and we ordered Chinese takeout from Wu Fang’s. He rolled off the couch and made the call as we flipped through his movie collection trying to find something that we could all watch without groaning.

  “Hi all, I’m already to dive in and fight the forces of evil,” Edgar announced as he walked into the house. He stopped in midstride and stared at Faith as if she was a three- headed monster. “Who are you and why are you here?”

  “Um, hi, I’m Faith, Chloe’s friend.” She smiled and I had to hand it to Edgar as he never fails to say exactly what’s on his mind.

  “Chloe, we’re bringing friends now, no one told me? I could have invited Val.” He scrunched his eyebrows into a v shape and glared at me as if I had made some terrible mistake.

  “It was a last minute thing. Faith is on my defense team with DS.”

  “Good I was afraid I was going to have to watch what I said all night and that’s hard enough to do around Val, let alone a newbie.” He waved at her and went to the kitchen and began raiding the fridge for a drink.

  “Don’t mind Edgar, he’s a Mapmaker and we don’t let him talk to other people much,” Nightshade joked and Faith laughed as he returned to sit beside her on the couch.

  I watched as her hand casually brushed against his leg and I clenched my jaw. I couldn’t wait for Jess to show up. And I didn’t wait long. I heard the door creak open and Jess walked in. This was one time I was happy that she made a fashion statement with the way she dressed, which was at all times; perfect, stunning, gorgeous. She swung her eye-popping blue Prada bag off her shoulder and onto the couch beside Slade, sent him and me a quick smile, then looked around the room for Nightshade. Her eyes widen just a bit when she caught sight of Faith sitting next to Nightshade and she remained calmer than I expected.

  “Did you guys order yet?” She turned to me with a forced smile.

  “Yes, I got you some sesame noodles.” I smiled back at her, though mine came naturally.

  “Thanks, Cuz, and who is our newest member?”

  “That’s Faith, she’s here because of Chloe,” Edgar answered as he wandered in from the kitchen, drink in hand.

  Jess’ eyes lit up as she looked at me and even though she kept smiling, I had the distinct feeling that she wanted to murder me.

  “That’s not entirely true,” Nightshade said and explained what had happened with Faith’s old boyfriend.

  “That’s terrible,” Jess said, sitting on the arm of the couch where Slade and I sat.

  “I feel horrible about it,” — Faith smiled meekly— “I don’t want to ruin your guys’ night.”

  “You’re not ruining anything,” Nightshade reassured her, patting her on the leg. The doorbell rang and Nightshade popped up and ran to grab our takeout.

  Jess moved across the room with the speed of a lioness ready to pounce and protect her mate. She slid into Nightshade’s seat, smiled at Faith and reached out to give her shoulder a sympathetic rub.

  “We always take care of our own.” Jess smiled sweetly, but didn’t move to get up when Nightshade returned with the food. I knew exactly what she was doing, though I wasn’t sure anyone else did, but I was damn proud of her protecting her turf.

  Nightshade put out the food and we all dug in and talked while we ate. It turned into an almost normal night as we sat around and discussed school and life in general. I was glad we were all together and was annoyed at myself for being so busy that I hadn’t made time to get together with my friends. I was even happy Nightshade was around. Before we knew it a few hours had passed and we were just lounging around and laughing.

  “I should probably get home,” Faith said after checking the time on her phone.

  “It is getting late.” Edgar didn’t even lift his head from the map he was working on.

  “I’ll take you through a portal just in case your ex is hanging around,” Nightshade offered and stood.

  Jess’ eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and she stared in my direction.

  “That’s a good idea, Slade, why don’t you go with them?” I elbowed Slade in the side and he jumped.

  “Uh, okay.” He looked confused but wisely didn’t say anything.

  “You don’t have to do that?” Faith smiled and paid little attention to Slade, her eyes locked on Nightshade.

  “It’s not a problem,” Nightshade said and pulled his key from his pocket.

  I grabbed Slade’s arm and pulled him back to me, giving him a quick kiss. He wore a pleased grin as we parted and I kept him close, my arm wrapped around his waist. “Don’t leave them alone,” I whispered in his ear and he looked at me oddly but nodded.

  Nightshade rolled his eyes at us. “If you two love-birds are done I’d like to get going.”

  Faith stepped right next to him and slid her arm through his, never taking her eyes off him. Nightshade regarded her with interest for a moment and when Slade joined them, he opened a portal and they all walked through together.

  When the portal slammed closed behind them, I turned to Jess. Her mask of pleasantness had vanished replaced by a flushed face so red that I thought steam would sprout from the top of her head, not to mention the tight set of her mouth.

  “Who does that little witch think she is?” Her voice was thick with anger.

  “That was Faith, you really need to keep up, Jess.” Edgar said, never taking his eyes off his map, so he never saw the pillow coming that Jess whipped at him. It caught him unaware, knocking him backwards off his chair.

  Jess stormed out of the room as Edgar yanked the pillow off himself and scrambled to his feet. He looked bewildered at me. “What did I say?”

  “Never mind, Edgar.” I walked out of the room after Jess. She had gone up the stairs to the steeple room at the top of the old church. I’d never been up there before but I followed after her.

  Jess was sitting on one of the plush chairs that dotted the room. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and she was staring out the many windows that circled the converted room.

  “I’m sorry,” I offered as I slid into one of the chairs.

  “It’s my fault not yours.”

  “What are you talking about? I brought her with me.”

  “I can’t bring myself to tell Nightshade that I care about him. Every time I think about saying it something stops me. Then I see that girl all over him and it drives me nuts. Maybe I’m crazy, fooling myself into thinking that there could be something between us.” She laughed at the thought.

  “You’re not crazy and Nightshade isn’t the easiest guy to talk with.” I thought of all the times I had talked with him, some easy, some not. And how it had seemed as if he had been the only person who had ever understood me and how at other times... I wanted to strangle the life out of him.

  “But I should be able to tell him this shouldn’t I? I mean every single time I think I can do it, I find another reason not to. I’m such a coward.”

  “You’re not a coward and it’ll happen, trust me.” I reached out and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. But there was a part of me that hoped it didn’t. I wanted Jess to be happy but something about the thought of her and Nightshade together made me uneasy. I chalked it up to wanting to protect my cousin.

  “I can’t think about this right now,” —Jess shook her head— “let’s just work on what we came here for.” Jess stood, retrieved a set of bags from the far side of the room, dragging them to the center. She sat down cross-legged beside them.

  “Are those what I think they are?”

  “Yes, after what happened to Lauren, Nightshade didn’t want to look at her stuff so he put everything up here and left it untouched.”

  I crossed the room quickly and sat down beside her. “So this is everything she had with her that night?”

  Jess nodded. “From what I understand, she shoved everything she had into these bags knowing Nightshade was on the way to get her. If she left behind any clues as to what the First Kind was after, then they would be in here.” Jess grabbed the zipper of one and slid
it open.

  Chapter 6

  Status: I learn a few secrets and have a ton of new questions.

  The first bag was filled with clothes and just normal junk that you bring on an extended trip. I yanked another bag open and it was filled with books and papers. I hefted out a stack and handed it to Jess and grabbed another for myself.

  The first few books were on the history of the Societies, the books old and worn. I flipped the cover of one open and found the print date, October 1898. I pushed it aside and picked up a thin black book with a ribbon holding it closed. I moved it aside and opened the book. A quick examination told me it was a journal and the handwriting was decidedly girly. It had to be Lauren’s.

  “Jess.” She turned to look at what I found. Her eyes went wide when she saw it.

  “That’s Lauren’s handwriting.”

  “It has to be her journal.” I flipped through the pages giving the entire book another quick look. All the pages were filled except for the last few.

  “What do we do?” Jess asked.

  “Go to the last entry.” I skimmed to the back of the book, happy that she had included dates. “June of last year.”

  “That’s when she was working for the council,” Jess said. “What does it say?”

  The handwriting was clear and steady, easily readable. I took a deep breath and began to read the last words of Lauren Harkness.

  June 5th

  We did it. We were able to authenticate the find. We had a breakthrough last night after a marathon session of trying to activate the Chronicle. It’s over twenty pages that haven’t been seen in over two thousand years. This is going to be the greatest discovery in the history of the Societies. The pages themselves are imbued with power like nothing I have ever felt.

  The pages all pertain to the Artifacts just like we thought they did. From what I have been able to glean from the pages each Society had an artifact that they hid away. The Societies felt that the Artifacts were too powerful to be used responsibly and so they worked together to hide them in hopes of keeping the peace. This confirms some of our oldest legends, though these pages go even further. They describe each artifact, their purposes and give detail instructions on how to use each one.