The Mapmakers Union (The Doorknob Society Saga Book 3) (27 page)

I took my phone out and sent out a quick text while I ran downstairs and raided the fridge for some added energy. I found day old Chinese take out and ate some noodles as fast as I could.

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out and smiled. Perfect, I hurried to the front door, yanked it open, and ran out letting the door slam behind me. I hoofed it down the block as fast as my legs would carry me, my fingers flying over my phone sending out a flurry of texts. I might not have all my friends with me, but this time I was sure as hell going to let them know what I was up too.

The Cape Beanery was packed and I zigzagged through the occupied bistro tables out front, then entered the shop to see Val shifting nervously where she stood behind the counter. As soon as she saw me she begged off to a co-worker, came around the counter, and hugged me so tightly I thought she’d squeeze me to death.

“Are you okay?” Her voice cracked as she as she spoke and I patted her back reassuringly, happy to see her. “I was so worried about you. The medics refused to let me go with you to the hospital.”

“It’s okay.” I eased her back to arm’s length and waved my hand in front of me sort of like my dad does when he’s about to do an illusion in his magic act. “See all fine.”

“What the hell is going on?”

 I did a quick recap leaving out more than I told her, but she got the gist anyway.

“And that’s where we’re at.” My brain finally connected with my nose that had been getting whiff after whiff of coffee and I realized that it had been quite some time since I had a one and damn if I wasn’t jonesing for one right now.

“Jess and Slade?”

“I texted them but neither has gotten back to me. Jess is stuck trying to avoid me since her mentor is hunting me and as for Slade, I don’t think he’s interested in helping me right now.”

“Well it’s up to us then,” Val said seriously.

“I want to get to Edgar, but the truth is I have no idea how to get to the Mapmakers dimension.” I shrugged and wondered if I might be able to sneak a quick coffee.

“I think I do.”

Val’s comment couldn’t have shocked me more then a punch to the face. “What?”

 Val yanked off her apron and walked to the counter tossing it over the edge, grabbed two cups filling them with coffee, and then walked back to me handing me one.

“Follow me.”

 I took a deep drink and walked in step with Val as we marched out of the Beanery and back down Mission Way. We passed my house and made our way to hers a few places down. She was a woman possessed and pushed the front door open with a flourish and we walked in.

“Valerie, is that you?” Her mother walked out from the kitchen, her latest power suit cutting a smart figure. “Why aren’t you at work?” She looked on disapprovingly.

“Not now, Mom.” She attempted to walk past her mother and upstairs but her mother stepped in front of her.

“I don’t think so, dear, you get yourself back to work right now. You need to make sure you have enough money to pay for your education because your father and I aren’t going to pay for it.”

Val’s mom had always been rough on her ever since we were little. There were many times I felt sorry for her for what her parents put her through.

“You know what, Mom? I don’t care what the hell you and Dad pay for. I’ve been saving to get out of this house since I was five and if you think you can tell me what to do anymore your sadly mistaken. Now get the hell out of my way before I move you out of my way.”

I’d never in my life heard Val talk to anyone like that let alone her mother. I stood quietly behind her trying to blend in with the wall.

“You wouldn’t dare,” her mother sneered.

Val plastered her face only an inch or two in front of her mom’s. Her cheeks burned bright red and her voice grew louder with every word. “You’ve made me take Tae Kwon Do for ten years, Mom. I’d love a chance to use it.” Her mother quickly stepped out of the way and Val stormed past her up to her room. I followed behind as her mother glared at us as if we were some alien creatures.

“Val, that was amazing,” I said as we entered her room and she crossed to her bed and kneeled down beside it.

“It’s all true. My parents could care less about me and what I do. They’ve dictated rather than encouraged me my whole life. And love? Hell, I don’t even think they know the meaning. The only time I’ve ever felt cared for or safe was when I was with you guys.” Her voice cracked as she pulled something out from under the bed.

“Val.” I walked over to her and placed my hand on her shoulder “You’re always welcome at my house.”

“Thanks, after that scene I think I’ll need a place to sleep from now on.” I knelt beside her and she rested her head on my shoulder.

“Now what do you have there?”

Val lifted up a satchel that I immediately recognized as Edgar’s. I grabbed it, pulled it open and shoving my hand in I felt around. Sure enough it was filled with maps and all his tools for mapmaking.

“How come you have this?”

“Edgar came to me before you two left and switched his bag out saying he needed the space to carry something very powerful and didn’t know how it would affect his equipment so he wanted me to keep it safe.” She bit her lip and I hoped she realized just how much it meant for Edgar to have left his most prized possessions in her care. From the look on her face, I imagined she did.

“This is great.” I shuffled around in the bag and pulled out a handful of maps.

“Will this help you find the Mapmakers?”

“I hope so.” I unrolled the first map and gave it a once over. It was the interior of the Infinity Library. I tucked it away and tried another, this process taking some time as I went through each of Edgar’s maps attempting to find the correct one.

Then I opened one of the Paladin Academy and as I was about to put it away I noticed a curious mark on the Legend. I stared at it and saw that there was a small circle with a quill inside of it and around its edges were symbols... the marks of the Mapmakers.

“That’s it.” I smiled to myself and Val looked over my shoulder trying to figure out what I was talking about.

“What?”

“The symbols contain the coordinates for the Mapmakers dimension. They’re using it as a point of reference hidden within the Legend. I can use that to find their dimension and get to Edgar.”

“Let’s do it then,” Val said standing up.

I shook my head. “You can’t come, Val.”

“Why not?”

“It’s against the rules.”

“You mean like you breaking into their dimension to save Edgar or all the other stuff you guys do that you don’t tell me about. No—not this—time, I am not staying behind. He’s my boyfriend and I’m going with you and that’s final.”

I wanted to argue with her but she was right about everything.

“Val,” I pleaded.

“No, I’ve seen what you all deal with, I’m well aware of the dangers and I’m willing to take the risk. I’m not being left behind this time.”

 I took a deep breath and tried to think of an argument that would work and realized there wasn’t one. If someone was trying to keep me from helping Nightshade or Slade it wouldn’t matter, I would still do it... just like I was about to do for Edgar.”

“Okay, you win you can come with me.”

“Good, then let’s go get my boyfriend.”

Status: Here we go again.

“Wow, that was crazy,” Val said loudly as she leaned over, her hands on her knees taking deep breaths.

I closed the portal behind us and looked around surveying our situation. We were on a cobblestone pathway that wrapped around a series of hedgerows. I had no idea what was on the other side, but I imagined that in there somewhere were animal topiaries that could be animated to chase us down. It wouldn’t be the first time it happened to me.

“Val, keep it down,” I urged in a whisper as I gripped my doorknob tightly and considered activating it just in case.

“Oh, right, sorry.” She stood upright, her voice low.

“Let’s follow the path and make sure to be on the lookout for guards.”

Val nodded and gave thumbs up as we walked down the path passed the massive hedges.

It took us fifteen minutes before the cobblestone path broke off into two directions, one leading into another series of hedges and the other to what appeared an open field.

“Which way?” Val asked.

“I’m sick of bushes, this way.” I pointed to the open area and started up the incline. We crested the top of it and looked down on an open field that carried on as far as the eye could see. In all directions there were different mazes some of hedgerows, others of stone, and then those made of metal. People strolled casually throughout each of them. My shoulders drooped burden by what appeared a near impossible task. We might have made it here, but I had no idea how to find Edgar.

“Confusing isn’t it?” I spun to find Jeremiah standing beside us. He was one of the leaders of the Mapmakers and I hadn’t seen him since I had first discovered the Legend over a year ago.

“Um, yeah it is.”

“It’s always that way when you first come here, though it gets easier with each visit until you finally start to see the patterns behind the dimension.”

“Who is that?” Val whispered after leaning in close to me and I nudged her to be quiet.

“I assume you came for Edgar? Or are you here to turn yourself in for the theft of the Legend?” He didn’t say it accusingly; he sounded almost amused.

“I’m here for Edgar; he didn’t do anything wrong.”

“So a character witness in his trial then, though I imagine the jury won’t look well on the fact that you were supposedly his accomplice in the theft.”

“I won’t let him take the fall for this; it’s the First Kind’s fault. We never meant to steal the Legend. We needed to use it, but then the First Kind showed up, thanks to Faith.” I nearly spit out the last part.

“There are many who want to expel Edgar from the Union, others would prefer to see him go to prison, and then there is the matter of you.”

“What about me?”

“The Mapmakers Union has always been neutral in disputes between the other Societies. However, due to this debacle I was forced to call off the truce between the Mapmakers Union and DS. Many of our members blame you for that.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“Honestly, I was planning on looking for an alternative to all of my options and you having shown up here, has just given me one.” He smiled.

“How so?”

His smile grew quite wide. “I’m going to let you break Edgar out so that I don’t have to go through with this sham trial, and then you are going to get me back the Legend.”

“Oh, is that all?” I asked, though I was willing to take whatever I could get to free Edgar.

“I was there when you returned the Legend to our Society. If you had wanted it for yourself, you would have never informed us that you had found it.  You did the right thing then and I believe you will do so again. Plus, I would hate to lose Edgar from the Union. He’s a genius and I expect extraordinary things from him.”

“There is something else.” I didn’t want to keep anything from Jeremiah that could hurt the Mapmakers.

“What?”

“The First Kind is coming for Edgar. They need him to activate and use the Legend for them.”

His hand slid over his chin and his eyes narrowed in concentration. “You think they would dare to come here and attack us?”

 “There isn’t anything they won’t try or any person they won’t use to help them accomplish their goals.”

“Then we need to hurry, follow me.”

Jeremiah started off down a winding path and Val and I trailed directly behind him. We came upon one of the numerous mazes and he stopped at a stone wall. He lifted his finger to trace a symbol on the wall and the stones shifted to the side.

A guard stood on the other side and stepped forward, Jeremiah waved him off. We stepped past the stone wall into a corridor with a rug underfoot. The walls were old fashioned mahogany panels polished to a shine. A series of windows ran along one side of the hallway with a clear view of the area where we had just been.

“This is the Union Hall isn’t it?” I’d heard of this place from Edgar. It was similar to DS’s Manor or the Wheel of the Impossible Engineers.

“It is and I believe it’s the first time a normal human has ever been here.” He glanced at Val who blushed deep red.

We turned a corner and came face to face with two guards who stood on either side of a doorway.

“Sir.” They saluted in unison.

“Visitors, they have my permission.” Jeremiah waved them aside and the guards moved, and then he pushed the door open. We stepped through and there was Edgar sitting with his elbows braced on his knees and his chin resting against clenched fists. He glanced up, but before I could say anything a flash of bobbing curls ran passed me to land in his lap.

“Edgar,” Val squealed throwing her arms around him. He was just as quick to wrap his arms around her, smiling broadly and his eyes growing wide. He glanced back and forth between Jeremiah and me in disbelief.

“How?”

“Your friends came to bust you out,” Jeremiah chuckled and crossed the room to the window “If you’re right, Chloe, it means that they could be here anytime, you three need to get out of here now. I will have the guards replaced in a five minutes with people loyal to me and won’t notice you leaving. In the meantime, I need to get defenses in order.”

“What’s happening?” Edgar asked between endless hugs and kisses from Val.

“The First Kind needs you to be able to use the Legend... they’re coming for you.”

“They’re going to attack the Union Hall?” Edgar asked shocked at the news.

I nodded.  

“I can’t leave,” Edgar insisted.

“What?” My jaw dropped.

“I can’t abandon the Union when they’re about to be attacked.”

“That’s very noble of you, Edgar.” Jeremiah stepped over to him placing a firm hand on his shoulder. “But that presents a larger problem. It is you they are after and we must protect you. The audacity of the First Kind to dare attack the Hall is one thing, but for them to be able to use the Legend freely is unthinkable.”

“Edgar, we have to get you out of here,” Val said wrapping her arm around his neck as if she never intended to let him go.