Grey Griffins: The Clockwork Chronicles #1: The Brimstone Key (11 page)

“What’s wrong?” Ernie asked.

“I’m a transmuter,” Robert explained, staring at his hands. “I can turn into just about anything I touch, but if everything in here is a hologram, I don’t think it’s going to work. Besides, I’m not that good with my power anyway.”

“How long have you been a changeling?”

Robert shrugged. “My whole life,” he said. “My mom had a Bounder Faerie that could transmute. The doctor said it affected her pregnancy.”

“If you’ve been a changeling that long, how come you don’t look… you know—”

“Like me?” Denton interjected. “Look, it doesn’t hurt my feelings. Besides, girls like my fur.”

“Yeah, right,” Ernie said, laughing loud enough to get Dean Nipkin’s attention.

“My mom gives me some kind of experimental inhibitor,” Robert explained. “I guess it works. What about you?”

“I’ve only been a changeling for a few months,” Ernie replied. “I got my power from a blood transfusion, and now I’m a speedster.” Ernie struck a heroic pose. “I’m thinking about starting my own superhero team. Maybe we could all team up.”

“I don’t know,” Denton said. “It sounds kind of weird.”

Robert looked interested, though. “But you’re one of the Grey Griffins. Why would you want to start a new team with someone like me?”

Before Ernie could answer, a horn sounded and the atmosphere shimmered. Soon the SIM Chamber was twisted in a whirlpool of light. An instant later, the changelings were standing in an abandoned city of crumbling concrete and steel. Some just stood there in awe, but Denton leaped to grab one of the rubber balls that dropped from the sky.

In less time than it took to blink, Ernie sped off and scooped one up before taking cover inside a Dumpster. He watched from relative safety as a heavyset boy with thick fingers and narrow eyes grabbed one of the other balls. The boy was looking for his first victim when a
puff of smoke exploded over his head. Then a rubber ball crashed into his face like a pile driver, paralyzing him on the spot.

“Smoke…” Ernie whispered.

By teleporting, Smoke could pop in and out before anyone else could react. Ernie’s only chance was to sneak up on him, and even with his super speed, that wasn’t going to be easy.

Smoke went on the attack. He zapped into view beneath a broken streetlight. Nearby, a girl with eyes that glowed a brilliant green spun around just as Smoke threw the ball at her. His aim was true, but the ball passed right through her. It bounced into the front window of an abandoned delicatessen, shattering the glass. As though it was a normal thing to do, she phased right through the wall to retrieve the ball. Then, like a ghost rising from the grave, she shot up from the street directly behind him.

“I got you!” she shouted, but Smoke disappeared through a portal before she could throw the ball.

That’s when Coach Wolfhelm released more rubber balls. In a flurry, five more changelings were knocked out of the game. There were only a few left, and like Ernie, Robert was one of them. Ernie could see the timid boy crouched in the shadows of a doorway across the street. He tried to wave him over, but Robert didn’t see him. Then Ernie spotted a girl hovering overhead. Her wings were made of magical energy that looked like stained glass, and her hair was bright pink. But just as Ernie was
about to sneak out of his hiding place to nail her with the ball, Smoke opened a portal and hit her.

“Have a nice nap, Laini!” Smoke laughed as he disappeared. Paralyzed, the winged changeling dropped like a rock. Luckily a giant mattress shimmered into view, softening her landing.

Figuring there was safety in numbers, Ernie made a dash to Robert’s hiding place. “Don’t worry,” he said, as Robert looked nervously at the ball. “I’m not going to knock you out. Actually, why don’t we team up? When we’re the last two left, we can duel it out just like those old cowboy movies that my dad likes.”

Robert nodded before turning back to look out the doorway. There was a girl with black hair standing out in the open. Her arms were folded as though she was agitated, but even though she was an easy target, nobody had knocked her out of the game yet.

“What’s her deal?” Ernie asked.

“That’s Raven Lugosi. Nobody messes with her… not even Smoke.”

“Why?”

“Because she knows everyone’s secrets,” Robert explained.

“I don’t get it,” Ernie said. “Does she read minds?”

“Look out!” Robert shouted.

Ernie turned in time to see Yi Lu racing toward them. He was running from Smoke, who was taking aim at Yi’s shoulders.

“Out of the way!” Yi cried. He was a fire elemental, and his body was shrouded in flames. He burst through the doorway and leaped over their heads, knocking Ernie and Robert to the ground. The fire singed Ernie’s helmet, but Robert’s back smoked as flames erupted across his jacket.

“Get away!” Robert shouted to the others.

“What’s happening?” Ernie called. He wanted to help, but the air around Robert already felt like a furnace.

“I must have absorbed Yi’s power, but I can’t control it!” Robert shouted. “I can’t hold myself together…”

“Emergency, evacuate!”
came Wolfhelm’s voice over the intercom. The holographic world disappeared, and the sprinkler system opened up a torrent of water.

“That’s not going to help!” Yi shouted as he leaped on top of Robert. “I have to suffocate the fire.”

Smoke rolled out from Robert’s mouth as his veins lit with volcanic fire. Ernie watched in horror as the flames grew stronger. He wanted to help, but there was nothing he could do. Just as Ernie reached the exit, Robert exploded.

The blast of heat that shot from Robert’s body had rocked the SIM Chamber, scorching the walls and melting the glass in the observation deck. Luckily most of the changelings were able to get out in time.

“Everyone is saying that Yi saved your lives,” Natalia mentioned as they rode home in the
Zephyr
. “He could have been killed.”

“I was there, Natalia. I know,” Ernie replied tersely. “Everybody thinks he’s a hero, but Yi is the one who scorched Robert with his flame. It caused a chain reaction that Robert couldn’t control. What was he supposed to do?”

“Don’t worry, Doc Trimble will fix them up,” Harley said. “They’re in good hands.”

“That’s not the point,” Ernie lamented. “People already think we’re freaks, and now they’re going to be scared of us, too. It’s not fair.”

With that, Ernie reached into his backpack and pulled out a sketchbook, signaling that he wasn’t in the mood to talk about it anymore. At the same time, a spark of light flashed, and suddenly Sprig popped into Max’s lap. She was wincing in pain. Her spiked fur was damp, and her paws were slick with mud. She looked exhausted.

“What happened to you?” Max asked.

“Iron…” she hissed. “The machines have returned, and they are hunting faeries. Collecting them and…” Her gaze roved to Ernie.

“What?” he asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“The faeries are afraid, but changelings should be as well,” Sprig replied. “You must get away…. Not safe!”

“What do you mean?” Ernie shouted, his skin alive with goose bumps. “Who is looking for me? You have to…”

There was a sudden commotion in the back of the subway car.

“I’m talking to you, freak!” someone shouted.

The Griffins turned around to see Angus McCutcheon standing in the aisle, glowering at Smoke. The changeling seemed unperturbed as he sat by himself in the back of
the subway car. His goggles were flipped up on his forehead, and he was staring straight ahead.

“Everybody knows this is my bench,” Angus barked.

Smoke didn’t even bother to blink as Angus’s face turned red. The bully reached out to grab the changeling by the arm, but all he got was a fistful of air. An instant later, Smoke reappeared, locking his arm around Angus’s neck.

“I wonder how tough you’d be if I teleported you out the window right now? Or better yet, maybe I’ll just take your head with me instead.”

Angus’s shoulders slumped, but his eyes continued to burn.

“That’s what I thought,” Smoke said. Then he pushed Angus into the bench and disappeared.

“Does anyone else think that Smoke kid is a little extreme?” Natalia ventured.

When the Griffins turned back around, Sprig was nowhere to be seen.

Logan dropped Max off at Grandma Caliburn’s house an hour later. The bodyguard hadn’t said much after hearing the news about Sprig, but he didn’t look very happy. As soon as Max had jumped out of the car, he started hunting for the Bounder. She wasn’t in his bedroom, the barn loft, or even the greenhouse where she liked to sleep now and again. He decided to distract himself with homework, but he couldn’t stop looking out his bedroom window, hoping that the spriggan would show up.

She never did.

When Grandma Caliburn came home from the market, she decided to treat Max to a night on the town. So
they got in the car and headed to the Prairie House Café down on Main Street. Max wanted to wait at home for Sprig, but he couldn’t turn down his grandmother’s invitation. It was a quiet night, and most of the tables were empty when they got there.

“I haven’t been on a date in I don’t know how long,” Grace Caliburn said with a smile. “What looks good?”

“I hear they’ve got great apple cobbler.”

“They better! It’s my recipe.” She laughed before turning back to the menu.

Down the street, a crew hammered away, boarding up the broken window above the Shoppe of Antiquities. Max had seen the police tape stretched across the back door in the alley, but the investigation had already been closed. The local paper had reported that the sheriff’s office was out of leads. There weren’t any eyewitnesses, and with so many customers over the years, dusting for prints had been useless.

“I don’t understand why someone would break in to Iver’s shop,” Grandma Caliburn remarked. “I remember a day when we didn’t even have to lock our front doors. What is this town coming to?”

Max cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Do you ever wonder if Iver is still alive?” he asked. “I mean, he packed up his whole store before he left. It was almost like he expected not to come back. And they never found his body.”

Grandma paused a moment, her eyes sad. “Max, I know it’s been hard, but you need to let this go.”

Max looked down at his menu.

“You know,” Grandma Caliburn continued after a few uncomfortable moments, “not a day goes by when I don’t wish your grandfather was still here. He was such a teaser, and the stories he could tell? Oh my.” She laughed to herself. “Yes, I miss him very much. I understand what you’re going through.”

The restaurant was starting to fill up when the waitress returned to take their orders. Max went with the meatloaf, and Grandma Caliburn selected the chicken pot pie with a side of green bean casserole.

“So tell me,” Grandma Caliburn said. “How is everything going for you and your friends at Iron Bridge?”

“It’s okay.”

“Just okay?”

Max sighed. “It’s just that there’s a kid named Angus. The Black Wolves killed his brother, and he’s blaming me for it.” Max paused before taking another sip of milk.

Grandma Caliburn placed her hand on Max’s arm. “Honey, you are
not
your father.”

“But he’s half of who I am,” Max countered. “I doubt he woke up one morning and decided he was going to destroy the world. How do I know I won’t turn out like him?”

“You have a lot to learn about your father. He wasn’t always the way you see him now.” She sipped her tea thoughtfully. “You’re handsome and charming, like he is. And both of you are very giving. I couldn’t tell you how much money your parents have donated to charities, or
how many children’s hospitals your father has commissioned in third-world countries.”

“He also divorced Mom and betrayed the Templar.”

“Before his fall, your father was the best sort of man,” she replied. “Yes, he has certainly committed some terrible acts, but I know there is good inside his heart. It might be hidden away, but it’s in there somewhere.”

“What if I make the same mistakes he made?”

“Nonsense. You might have your father’s blood flowing through your veins, but there’s more than a little bit of your grandfather in there as well. Every time I hear your laughter, I can see his face. Oh, Max, he would be
so
proud of you.”

Max played with his straw, too uncomfortable with his feelings to reply. The adventures of William Caliburn were legendary, and living up to them wouldn’t be easy.

“Children can be cruel,” Grace continued. “Trust me, in time Iron Bridge will be everything you dreamed that it could be.”

The Transformation Sciences classroom in Sendak Hall was unusually somber when Ernie entered. Laini, the girl with the pink hair and wings, was crying—and she wasn’t the only one.

Confused, Ernie took his usual seat next to Robert. They sat alone in the back of the room like lepers. Since the accident in the SIM Chamber, the only person who would talk to Robert was Ernie, and that made him a social outcast, too. Denton wouldn’t even talk to them, and he was friends with everybody.

“Did you hear the news?” Robert whispered. “They found what happened to Stephen.”

“The kid who ran away?”

“He didn’t run away,” Robert corrected. “He was kidnapped… or at least, that’s what the other kids are saying. The teachers won’t tell us anything, but apparently THOR agents found a rift echo in his dorm room.”

“A what?”

“You know, the signature that’s left behind when a portal is opened? Somebody teleported into his room and grabbed him.”

Ernie paused. “I thought portals didn’t work here?”

“Except for Smoke, they aren’t supposed to. That’s what has everyone worried.”

As the warning bell rang, Raven Lugosi ducked into the room. As usual, she was dressed like a vampire, with lug boots and a black trench coat. She didn’t talk to anyone, and no one talked to her.