Grey Griffins: The Clockwork Chronicles #1: The Brimstone Key (14 page)

Max handed them over, and Monti strapped on a pair of strange multi-lens glasses. Then he pulled a book from a nearby shelf titled
The Van Wyck Guide: A Complete Guide to Round Table Cards, 1860–1920
. It was from the same set of books that Brooke had found in Baron Lundgren’s study.

Max smiled, thinking that he might finally get some answers.

“We might not find these cards in
The Van Wyck Guide
,” Monti said as he thumbed through pages filled with images of Round Table cards. “Van Wyck didn’t track custom decks.”

“How can you be sure the deck is custom?” asked Natalia.

“For starters, each of these cards is hand painted,” Monti explained. “That means one of two things—either they are original works that were used as a template for mass production, or some wealthy collector commissioned his or her own deck. Either way, they won’t be in here, but I’m fairly certain that I’ve seen this artist’s work before.”

He turned back to the book. “Ah yes, this is it,” Monti said, pointing to a collection of cards titled
The Jewel Dragons
.

“Supersonic!” Ernie proclaimed, practically drooling over the illustrations. “I’ve never seen an entire set of dragon cards before. If I had that deck, I’d be unstoppable!”

“Sure you would,” Harley said. The sarcasm wasn’t lost on Ernie.

“It looks like this particular set was released in October of 1915,” Monti explained. “The artist was Oswald Chinnery. Look there,” he said, pointing to a small squiggle that was barely perceptible. “You can see his mark on the cards from your deck. It’s the same mark in the book, so it looks like we have a match.”

“Now what?” Max asked. In the back of his mind, Max wondered whether there was a set of the
Van Wyck Guide
at the Shoppe of Antiquities. Thinking the books would come in handy, he made a mental note to check the next time he went there… if there was a next time.

“Give me a couple of days to look into it,” Monti replied, taking out a small camera before snapping several pictures of the deck. “In the meantime, it’s getting dark. Logan will kill me if I don’t have you back soon.”

The night of the academy’s Harvest Festival dance finally came. Natalia’s mother dropped her off at the Lundgren estate so the girls could get ready. Embarrassed by the minivan, Natalia waited until her mother drove away before she rang the doorbell.

Brooke answered, and the two of them rushed to her bedroom. “I think I have an outfit that you’re going to love,” she called to Natalia from a closet that was nearly as big as Natalia’s entire bedroom. A moment later she emerged holding a black collared dress with plumed sleeves in one hand, and a pair of boots that tied all the way up the knees in the other. “What do you think?”

Natalia bit her lip apprehensively. All students were expected to attend the dance, and she was completely at a loss on what to wear.

“Black is all the rage right now,” Brooke explained as she watched Natalia start to hedge. “I have the most incredible corset and a parasol that will go with this. Add a brooch, some lace gloves, and then a little eyeliner and lipstick, and I’m telling you, the boys won’t know what hit them when you walk in.”

“I don’t know,” Natalia said, looking at her pale skin in the mirror. “I’m afraid that I’m going to look like a vampire if I wear all that black. Maybe I should try something a little more conservative.”

“You worry too much about what others think,” Brooke told her. Then she paused to study Natalia’s face and hair.

The last time Natalia let her guard down with another girl, she had been hurt. Athena had turned out to be a double agent, spying on the Templar for Vlad Dracula’s Order of the Dragon. Natalia had looked up to Athena like an older sister, and when Athena had betrayed all of them, the wound had cut deep. Since then, trust hadn’t come easy. It wasn’t that Natalia didn’t want to trust Brooke, too… she just didn’t want to get burned again.

Brooke didn’t have any reservations about Natalia’s friendship. She promptly directed Natalia to sit in front of the mirrored vanity where she set to work unraveling Natalia’s braids. Then Brooke pulled Natalia’s long
tresses into a regal updo, allowing two spiraling locks to cascade against her cheeks.

“Do you see what I see?”

Natalia stared at herself in the mirror just long enough to start feeling self-conscious. “It’s not my style.”

“But it
could
be,” Brooke returned quickly. “Our secret is that girls can be a hundred different people if we want. But if it’s going to make you uncomfortable, I have something else. Just a second.” Brooke disappeared back into her closet, quickly returning with a flowing silver dress made out of taffeta and a green crushed-velvet jacket that went over the top.

Natalia took the ensemble from Brooke and held it up to the light. The jacket felt scrumptious to the touch, and the hand stitching on the dress was remarkable. “What if I get a stain on it?”

Brooke pushed Natalia toward the bathroom. “Why don’t you just go and change. We’ll let the dry cleaner worry about the stains. Now hurry up or we’re going to be late.”

A few moments later, Natalia was smiling as she admired herself in the mirror. “Max told me that your dad found out about the Round Table cards from the bunker,” she said through the bathroom door.

“Logan told him,” Brooke said. “I asked if he knew where they came from, but he wouldn’t tell me anything. Anyway, he left on business the next day, and I haven’t heard from him since.”

“Do you think he left because of the cards?”

“He’s always going somewhere.”

The bathroom door swung open, and Natalia nearly tripped over the dress.

“You look amazing,” Brooke said “Now come try these boots on.”

She handed Natalia a pair of mid-calf black boots with pointed toes and a heel. “These will give you a little boost. You won’t be as tall as Harley, but you’ll definitely get his attention.”

“What? I don’t care what Harley thinks…”

“I’m just kidding,” Brooke replied. “Now we need this,” she said, holding up a necklace that she tied around Natalia’s neck. She followed up with a touch of lip gloss and some eyeliner for good measure. Then came the goggles.

“There.” Brooke admired her work. “What do you think?”

“I don’t even recognize myself,” Natalia admitted. “And I love your outfit, too.”

Beneath a brown riding jacket, Brooke wore a white linen shirt with the cuffs hanging out from under the jacket sleeves. Her brown skirt was loosely pleated, and it met at the top of her tall leather boots. She was also wearing a pair of aviator goggles on top of her forehead.

“It’s kind of fun, isn’t it?” Brooke giggled.

“Maybe,” Natalia admitted, trying not to sound too excited. The smile gave her away, though.

“Let’s just make an appearance and then sneak out of here,” Ernie whispered as he crossed the Green Corridor with Max and Harley. “I bet we could get back to town in time to watch the jousts.”

Ernie had begged his parents to let him stay home so he could go to the Harvest Festival parade, but they wouldn’t lie to cover for him.

“I don’t like it any more than you do,” Max replied, “but they shut down the
Zephyr
. We’re stuck here, so we might as well make the best of it.”

As the boys walked down the tree-lined path, lanterns swung lazily in the cool autumn breeze as the smell
of damp leaves filled the air. The boys passed through a series of arches that led to their destination—the Menagerie.

“By the way, what the heck is a Menagerie, anyway?” Ernie asked, as the sounds of music and laughter started to get louder.

Max shrugged. “It’s kind of like a zoo.”

“This doesn’t look like a zoo to me,” Ernie replied as they passed through the expansive doors of a glass palace.

Max looked around, drinking in the splendor of the amazing room. The upper balconies were filled with exotic birds.

“Did you see that?” Harley called as he pointed at a green bird with orange feathers and a long, fan-shaped tail. “I think that’s an archaeopteryx, but that species has been extinct for millions of years.”

The archaeopteryx was only the beginning. Strange beasts roamed freely among the students. There was a pair of okapis, which looked like a cross between giraffes and zebras. Exotic monkeys with long coats the color of butterscotch swung from the branches, and Max thought he spotted an ocelot lounging in the shadows.

There were faerie creatures, too… Bluebell Bonnets, Peapod Pixies, River Sylphs, and a gaggle of gold-laying geese. Ernie even spotted a Nipper Drake, which looked like a tiny dragon, but instead of eating damsels, it preferred frogs and mice.

Then a scream rang out nearby. Max turned in time to
watch a girl grasping her hat as a magnificent parrot with a spiked tail attacked the headpiece. Someone shouted, and the bird took off, but not without the prized hat.

“Oh my gosh, do you guys smell that?” Ernie asked. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Caramel rolls… apple crisp… and rhubarb pie! Maybe this party isn’t going to be lame after all.”

Ernie bolted to the buffet, leaving Max and Harley standing there. He heaped food onto his tray, skipping the plates altogether, before he wandered off to find Ross and Todd.

“Isn’t that your changeling buddy?” Todd asked between mouthfuls as Robert walked in by himself.

“Yeah,” Ernie said. He stood and waved.

Robert slowly wound through the crowd to join them. His shoulders were slumped, and his eyes were on the ground. He looked like a sad puppy that had just gotten dropped off at the pound.

“I thought your mom was going to let you stay home tonight,” Ernie said.

“So did I,” Robert replied as he pulled off his goggles and threw them on the table. “All I want to do is go home and play video games. This is lame.”

“I know what you mean,” agreed Ernie. “Besides, someone told me that Angus wanted to stuff my head in the toilet. So if you see him, let me know.”

“He couldn’t catch you if he wanted to,” Robert pointed out.

Ernie cracked a smile. “That’s true.”

“You should get some food,” Ross suggested between mouthfuls. “It’s amazing.”

“Thanks, but I’m not very hungry,” Robert replied. Then he picked up a saltshaker, and his hand took on the properties of the crystal. Light reflected off the surface of his skin as the Toad brothers watched in awe.

“How did you do that?” Todd asked.

Robert shrugged. “I don’t know.” He put the saltshaker down, and his skin returned to its warm brown color.

“You know, we’ve been thinking,” Ross said. “Maybe we should join your superhero team, too.”

“But you guys don’t have any powers,” Ernie pointed out.

“Neither does Batman,” Todd argued.

Ernie thought about it for a minute and then shrugged. “I guess you’re right,” he admitted. “What do you think, Robert?”

“It’s fine with me.”

As the Menagerie buzzed with excitement around them, the boys entered into a deep discussion about secret headquarters, roles and responsibilities, and everything else you’d need to know if you were starting a superhero team.

Meanwhile, Max and Harley decided to get some food.

“Hey, Wolf Killer,” Dean greeted as he walked by.

“What happened to your eye?” Max asked. It was bruised and swollen shut.

Dean shrugged. “I was training with Xander, and he caught me with my guard down. It happens.”

“Look who just walked in,” Harley said, nodding to the door.

Max and Dean turned to see Honeysuckle flying in circles around Brooke and Natalia.

“What the…” was all Max could say when he caught sight of Natalia.

“So are you guys dating them?” Dean wanted to know.

Harley nearly spit his punch all over Dean’s shirt. “Are you kidding me?”

“You look amazing,” Dean said, smiling broadly as the girls walked over.

Harley elbowed him in the ribs.

“What? They do,” Dean said, absently rubbing his shaved head.

“Thank you,” Brooke offered with a curtsy. Natalia, however, simply stared at her shoes. She wasn’t used to compliments from boys.

“Well, I agree with him,” Max said, handing each of the girls a plate as Honeysuckle glared at him.

“You three look very handsome, too,” Brooke said.

Dean walked over to join his buddies while the rest of them got some food. As they walked through the buffet line, Max filled Brooke in on the conversation they had had with Monti in his lab.

“So do you think there’s any connection between the cards and those clockworks?” she asked.

“I don’t know what to think,” Max admitted. “Monti mentioned that Von Strife used to run a clockwork program here at the academy, but we haven’t been able to connect the dots.”

“Hey, isn’t that Smoke?” Harley asked as they joined Ernie, Robert, and the Toad brothers.

“Unfortunately,” Ernie grumbled. The changeling who could teleport just about anywhere was standing by himself next to a banyan tree.

“What’s his deal?” Harley wanted to know.

“There is a rumor that his parents don’t want him,” Todd explained as he chewed on a buttermilk biscuit that was dripping with butter and raspberry preserves. “Other people say that he grew up on a pirate airship somewhere in the Durban Sea.”

“Well, I heard that he might be Dean Nipkin’s nephew,” Ross added.

“I think we should ask him to join us,” Brooke announced to everyone’s surprise.

“Please tell me that was a joke,” Ernie complained. “And if it was, it wasn’t funny.”

“I bet he’s just lonely,” she argued. Brooke dabbed at the corner of her mouth with a napkin, and then she walked over to talk to Smoke.

He didn’t look very happy about it, but before long, Brooke was leading him over to their table. Robert was quick to excuse himself as the rest of the table fell silent. Smoke scowled, but he took a seat next to Brooke.