Harley Merlin 12

to stop looking into Erebus,” I said. “I’ll tell you what’s been going on, but you have to promise not to keep investigating on your own.”
She peered at me cautiously. “How can I promise that if I don’t know what you’re going to tell me?”
“You just have to.” I sighed. “Please, sis. Trust me on this.”
“I can give you a conditional promise.” Why do you always have to be so stubborn?
“Unconditional, or I can’t tell you the truth,” I insisted. “Lives are at stake if you don’t. Namely, yours.”
Her gaze darkened. “Okay… then, I guess I promise.”
“Unconditionally?”
She bit the inside of her cheek. “Fine. Unconditionally.”
“Here’s the short version.” I took a breath. “Erebus is planning something huge. I don’t know what—I really don’t—but it’s big. I don’t know what Garrett and Saskia told you about the Jubilee mine, but Erebus got himself a nifty little meat suit from the Fountain of Youth hidden there, which is now drained and buried under all that rock. Now, he’s looking for Atlantis.”
“Atlantis?” she gasped. “Why Atlantis?”
“Oh, you have no idea how many times I’ve asked that question. It’s literally on repeat in my head, like I’ve been Atlantis rick-rolled.”
She gave a nervous smile. “Erebus isn’t spilling the beans?”
“Erebus never spills the beans. So, I have no idea why he’s looking for Atlantis, but I do know he’s not on the same psychotic trail as my mother. A shred of good news in a mountain of crap. He says none of this has anything to do with enslaving humanity, and, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I believe him. It seems… personal, somehow.”
“How can you be sure?” She leaned forward on her stool, no doubt having Elysium flashbacks. I could almost see the memories of Katherine’s cracking face flitting across her eyes, oozing black goop.
“The human body gives it away,” I replied. “It took him a lot of scheming to get it, and it’s giving him a few glitches. Glitches he’d already prepared for by sending me across the globe, picking up Ephemeras. If he wanted to lord it over humans, he’d have done it already. He’s still powerful enough to make it happen, so we’re not dealing with Katherine Mark 2.”
Harley’s mouth gaped like a beached fish. “So, Erebus is… human now?”
“Well, human hybrid is more accurate,” I replied. “He’s got most of the Child of Chaos juice, but he’s run into some limitations now that he’s all fleshy.”
“Is that what the Ephemeras were for?” That was the beauty of Harley—she always asked the right things.
I nodded. “I didn’t know why I was collecting them at the time, but most of the trips I took for him involved finding rare Ephemeras from ancient magicals. They’re basically like his premium unleaded, to fuel his human body and make the limitations less of a problem for him.”
“Is that where you’ve been? Searching for more Ephemeras?” She kicked her foot anxiously against the workbench.
“No, Erebus tasked me with finding Atlantis. That’s what I’ve been doing.”
She took a shaky breath. “Did you find it?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“You found it?! It’s real?” Her eyes bugged. “I mean… how did you find it? How do you even go about finding a mythical place like that? Atlantis is the biggie, right—up there with El Dorado and Shangri La, and all that legendary stuff?”
“Oh yeah, and that, my sweet sis, is a pretty long story. Let’s just say I had to go into an altered state of mind for it. A bit like Euphoria.” I wasn’t deliberately keeping the monastery from her; I just didn’t have the energy to go into detail. My body felt like lead, and the more I spoke, the more I sensed the uprising of the gremlins. Besides, the specifics didn’t matter.
She nodded in understanding. “Then we need to research Atlantis. Maybe there’s a clue somewhere.”
“No, you can’t go searching for intel on Atlantis, or Erebus. He’s already threatened the lives of everyone I love, which is why you need to listen this time and keep away from the missions he’s got me on,” I urged, my heart sinking. “It’s bad enough that Ryann is involved, and I didn’t know about that until it was too late. But as long as I keep toeing the line and everyone keeps their heads down, Erebus won’t have a reason to hurt her. I’m not planning on giving him one. However, if Erebus found out that you—the Great and Powerful Oz—were looking into him and his plans, and he thought you were trying to thwart him, he’d kill Ryann without batting an eyelid. That would give him a reason to get trigger-happy.”
“Let me get this straight—if Erebus thought I was trying to ruin his plans, and thought you were somehow involved in it because you’re my brother, he’d kill Ryann to punish you?”
“Got it in one, sis.”
Her expression shifted toward the curious. “Because she means a lot to you?”
“We’re not getting into this again,” I replied, with a subtle warning in my voice. “But that’s what he thinks, and he’s not going to change his mind about it. Right now, she’s leverage, and I don’t want her getting used against me for any reason.”
Harley’s shoulders sagged. “I’m guessing he’s not bluffing?”
“When has a Child of Chaos ever bluffed? Like I said, this job feels personal, and he’ll take it personally if he thinks someone is trying to get in his way. It’s safer for everyone if you stay out of it.” I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “I wish you could help. But you can’t. All I can offer you is the truth so you can see the danger we’re all in.”
“We know what the wrath of a Child of Chaos feels like better than anyone, right?” She gave a wry laugh, but her face hardened with worry.
“Oh yeah, and I doubt either of us wants a repeat.”
She held my gaze. “You’re sure it’s not going to affect humanity?”
“As sure as I can be, but I promise you, you’ll be