The Mapmakers Union (The Doorknob Society Saga Book 3) Read Free

picture. My phone buzzed in my ear and I clicked it without thinking.
    “How did it go?” Gavin asked.
    “Not good. I think we lost an informant.” I placed the picture on the night stand in a useless attempt to ignore it.
    “You’re right that’s not good. Any news on the other mission?”
    “I have a meeting tomorrow and think we might have a lead.” I closed my eyes pushing away the stark image of James Nightshade.
    “Perfect. Keep me in the loop.”
    “You got it boss.” I tapped my earpiece hanging up the call and stretched out on my bed. Tomorrow I had a meeting at the Reliquary and hoped to have new information. Little did my friends know I had a whole other life they knew nothing about and I intended to keep it that way.

Chapter Two
    Status: A book, a boyfriend, and problems galore.
    I stepped out into the Reliquary, this old musty place having become my second home the last few months. It was a great place to hide things, not to mention keep secrets, which I was full of lately.
    Dad, Mr. Miller of the Impossible Engineers, and DI Emory of the HVO had been giving my friends and me assignments without the knowledge of the Societies. Not that I cared for the Old Kind all that much, they were only slightly better than the First Kind in my opinion.
    I had yet to tell anyone that I was a Polymorph, which is a fancy way of saying that my abilities aren’t limited to those of the Doorknob Society. I can also do feats of Impossible Engineering and I’m working with my mentor on much more than that.
    “Hey, Chloe.” Edgar came over by me, his goggles shoved up into his black hair that was forever disheveled.
    “Hi Edgar, thanks for the help last night.” I smiled and patted his shoulder.
    “Jess told me my plan worked, that’s great. I figured we might be able to dump him in the ocean and confuse his tracking by having another person portal you out.” He grinned from ear to ear.
    “It worked perfectly.”
    “Great, Jess also mentioned that she tried to talk with you.” He titled his head and gave me an Edgar look, meaning it was difficult to get annoyed at him.
    “Not you too,” I sighed.
    “Sorry, Val would kill me if I didn’t try.” He shrugged and I knew he wasn’t kidding. Val was many things but forgiving was not one of them.
    “I’ll let her know you tried talking to me.” I laughed and punched his shoulder in understanding.
    “Thanks.” Edgar smiled and walked to one of the many tables and plopped down and started going over his maps. My stomach churned as more portals opened and Jess entered the room along with Mr. Miller and behind him Slade.
    I scowled at Slade and walked out of the room. He and I hadn’t spoken for months. I couldn’t bring myself to speak with him after he had shown more concern for the artifact than for me. I stood in the hallway and looked out of one of the many windows and shook my head. Who knew what dimension the structure was currently residing in? The building shifted itself every few hours so that only people who knew its signature could find it.
    “Chloe?” Slade’s voice broke my concentration and I turned to face him. For once he wasn’t using his puppy dog eyes on me which actually made me happy.
    “What do you want?” I sneered.
    “I just want to talk.” He stepped toward me and I backed up. He closed his eyes and sighed and took a step backward.
    “Well, then talk.”
    “I’m sorry.” He opened his eyes and looked directly at me.
    “Okay fine.” I wasn’t giving him anything. I had no sympathy for him; I was angry and hurt.
    “Chloe, I screwed up, I know that. I was stupid.” His voice cracked as he spoke and I knew he was really trying, but I still didn’t intend to give an inch.
    “You left me; you walked away and didn’t even think twice about it. But Nightshade did.” I seethed.
    “I know and it’s my fault it was Nightshade who died and not me, I understand that now.” He lowered his head and let out a deep