“I love it when he talks dirty.” Ophelia snatched the knife from his hand, grabbing the hilt like the thing had been lying still the whole time. She jammed the blade into the tabletop. “We’ll kill it.”
“Yes, we will,” I growled and felt myself longing for that kill. For the day I could run my sword through that thing. “First, we gotta figure out what IT is.”
“Shifter?” Maze opened his coat, and his cards flew out onto the table.
“Are you sure? What do the cards say?” My eyes locked on them as his green smoke poured over them.
Maze’s power moved over the table and seeped to the floor. The cards moved again and again, shuffling and reshuffling until they were moving so fast that I couldn’t see the pictures anymore. His body was tense, and dark smudges marred his face. He shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a mushed-up candy bar, never taking his eyes off the cards. The wrapper crinkled as he ripped it open.
“The cards are… interesting.” He glared down at them. He closed his eyes and winced. “They’re all talking at once.”
“Have you ever seen a shifter who looked like that? I mean, that wasn’t typical shifter behavior. And they don’t usually get involved in warlock business.” I crossed my arms over my chest and shook my head. “I just don’t see it.”
He peeled the wrapper from the melted chocolate and shoved half of it in his mouth. “Maybe that’s the question though. Who has something to gain from taking one of the heirs?”
“He’s right.” Astrid held out her hand, and her golden smoke flowed from her easily. A book sailed from the shelf into her waiting hands. “Whatever took him had something to gain from this. Who would want to stop the heirs? Could it be a warlock we don’t know? Are we sure Alataris is totally dead?”
Silence filled the room as if she had just dropped a bomb. We all looked at each other, then I remembered Zinnia filling him with so much power his body cracked. I remembered the swords jutting from his chest, and him falling away into nothing. “No, he’s dead.”
Ophelia nodded. “Yeah, he’s very dead. I helped. Right, he’s definitely dead?”
Tense silence hung in the air for long moments. We all sat wondering about the implications of what it would mean for the world if Alataris came back. I’d never known him but I knew enough to know that’d it be awful.
Penndolyn sunk further into the chair. “I would feel it if he was still alive.”
I let go of a breath I didn’t know I was holding. If Alataris survived Zinnia, then he would survive anything. Couldn’t be. “Right, he’s dead.”
“Good.” Astrid dropped the book onto the table and the pages fluttered. It opened to a picture of a human who didn’t look quite human. The features were exaggerated, with fuller lips, fangs for teeth, and an extended nose. “I saw something in here about an omni shifter when I was doing research before.”
“An omni shifter has the ability to shift into multiple forms, but it can’t also create a portal, which isn’t in any shifter’s power. Plus, that thing doesn’t fit the description.” Ophelia sighed. “What about another warlock or witch?”
“A manifestor could shift into other people,” Astrid pointed out. “But again, the portal thing. It’s not something we could do. Not without a spell or potion. What about a mover? Someone from Dustwick house?”
“As far as I know, I’m the only mover with portal ability. It’s one of the reasons I was the guardian. If a warlock powerful enough to do all that was around, we’d know about it. The same would go for a witch. Zinnia would know, and she’d tell us if there was a witch with those abilities, especially without a spell or potion. What about the council? My father? It could’ve been just a show.” The answer tumbled from my mouth. I knew I was grasping at straws, but we needed something more.
Maze licked the melted chocolate off the wrapper. “Don’t forget that thing was also pretending to be Damiel. Effectively playing both sides of the coin. The council is weaker without Damiel, not stronger.”
“What do the cards say?” I motioned to the ever-moving pile.
Maze slammed down his hand in the middle of them, and they all stopped, falling into a messy pile. His eyes roved over them, seeming to make sense of the mess. “They say they don’t know.”
“That’s really freaking helpful!” I snapped, harsher than I wanted to. “I just need something to go on. SOMETHING!”
“It actually is something to go on.” Maze opened his jacket, and the cards all flew back into place. “Why do you think I didn’t see it?”
“I’ve been wondering that myself.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Why didn’t you see it?”
“Because maybe, just maybe—and hear me out on this—that thing isn’t from this world.” Maze motioned to the cards. “Like a demon.”
I shook my head. “The demons aren’t involved in anything. They’ve got their own kingdoms and policies to worry about. They don’t even associate with us.”
“That is not what I’m talking about. My power, my visions, are all about our world. I would’ve seen a fire demon or water demon coming. What if it’s not of our world? Like a different dimension.” He arched an eyebrow at me.
“What are you saying? Like a demon… from Hell?” I shook my head. “No, it can’t be.”
If a Hell-spawned demon took Logan, then he might as well be dead, even if he was alive. Hell spawn were the stuff of nightmares. Astrid glanced from Maze to me and back again. “It did have horns.”
“And the eyes.” Ophelia made a fake gagging sound. “Freaky gross.”
“No.” A Hell demon was a fate worse than death. “The Fallen deal with Hell demons, not us. Not in Evermore.”
Penndolyn rested her head on her hand. She slowly blinked her eyes like she was about to fall asleep in the chair. Her voice came out low and slow. “What if they’re right? It would explain that crazy dimension he got dragged into. To me, that looked very much like Hell.”
“Then we need the Fallen, now.” This couldn’t wait. If it wasn’t a shifter, or another warlock or witch, there was no other explanation… it was a demon.
I was going to vomit. If Logan was trapped and being tortured in a Hell dimension, then he would pray for death, and I would pray for it for him too. There was no coming back from something like that, not now, not ever. My magic exploded out of me as nausea rolled in my stomach. Shelves of books fell like dominoes. Books clattered to the ground, and the room shook. I couldn’t bear the thought of Logan withstanding the kind of torture that might take place there. The things they’d do to him down there… Blue light erupted behind me before I wanted it too. The wind kicked up, and I knew where my magic was taking us.
“Beck,” Astrid’s eyes widened, “where are we going?”
I straightened my stance and motioned to the portal. “To find Matteaus.”
Chapter 4
Astrid
The blue portal glowed bright, illuminating the whole room. Penndolyn rose to her feet, and without a single word, she walked through the portal with her head held high and her long shimmering hair trailing behind her.
“I just gotta grab something.” Ophelia dashed around the room. “I’ll be quick.”
Beckett met my eyes and nodded toward the portal. “I’ll be right behind you.”
How had we gotten here? Earlier, we were going to the rally to announce our connection with Penndolyn in the hopes of having the warlock world support the heirs and not the council. Now, a council member was dead, one of the heirs was missing, and we were about to go see Matteaus, who wasn’t very pleased the last time he saw me. After I trashed my father’s apartment and drew unwanted attention to magic in New York City he really wasn’t pleased, to say the least. I swallowed down my nerves. For Logan, I would do anything.
I stepped through the portal, and blue light shimmered around me. It wasn’t like the turbulent ones I’d been through before. This was calm, like walking through water. I moved so easily through his magic that before
I knew it, I stepped out into an open courtyard. Silence hung around us, broken only by the sound of trickling water. Off to the side, just behind us, was a three-tiered fountain that held a soft glow. The sun peeked down, and the water caught the rays, giving it a dazzling effect.
The wind brushed over my skin and something long and sharp whistled by my face, scraping the top of my ear. I flinched to the side and gazed up at the fountain. Ashryn, the noble elf and one of the queen’s guardians stood on the very top of it. Her sandy hair fell around her face with wild braids threaded throughout it. When her hunter green eyes met my gaze, she arched her eyebrow and her mouth dropped into a little O shape.
A light green cloak hung from her shoulders covering her gray t-shirt and jeans. She pulled another arrow from the quiver on her back. Then she drew it across her bow and fired it straight into the sky. The arrow exploded into bright golden fireworks that rained down on the rest of us in harmless sparks. Was that some kind of signal? If so, for what?
“Incoming!” Penndolyn bellowed the words a second before the blast did. A bright glowing ball of something soared toward Penndolyn. She threw her shoulders back but didn’t move out of its path.. The magic hit her square in the chest, the resounding power knocked us both off our feet. My body was hurled back as if the damn ball had struck me and not her. I flipped backwards, my feet went over my head, and I twisted in the air. I smacked into the ground, and the wind was knocked from my lungs. What the hell?
I crawled to my feet, sucking in gasping breaths. I’d been thrown but not hurt. I dusted off my hands just as Maze walked through the portal. His eyes widened when an orb of magic smacked into his side. Maze flew back, his body twisting and hurdling through the air. A second before he hit Ashryn she jumped off the fountain landing just a few feet away from me. Maze smacked into that damn fountain like a wrecking ball. The thing crumbled around him into tiny pieces of stone. Water shot up toward the heavens, and he groaned from within the rubble.
I spun in a circle looking for anyone else I recognized, “Where are Zinnia and the other queens?”
When I looked up to the sky I saw her glowing silvery power all around the school like a forcefield and a bright flaming bird. Tucker? He was too far away to recognize. There was no sign of her or the queens.
Ashryn moved to my side. “They’re patrolling the outside of the school. I’ve sent up the warning flare for them.”
Another burst of power hit the ground next to us. Dirt and grass splashed over the side of my face. “Why haven’t they stopped attacking us then?”
“Only the queens can call them off.” her words were so calm, so direct. Like we were talking on the sidewalk and not while being fired at.
It’d only been a matter of seconds since I stepped through. We had enough problems to deal with. I didn’t need to deal with rogue soldiers on top of that. Screw this.
I stepped up in front of Penndolyn and Maze. “I got this.”
I let my power exploded out of me like a shockwave, filling the area with gold, smokey magic. A huge glassy wall rose up in front of us. Magic smacked into it, over and over again, each one hitting it and exploding to dust. I glanced toward the portal where Beckett and Cross were screaming at Ophelia to hurry up. But there was no need for them. I felt charged, ready to go, to use my power like this. A wide smile spread across my face.
My magic flowed over the entire courtyard, into the first level of the school, and up toward the second level, where more students stood ready to fire at us. I lifted each of them up off the ground, holding them there, frozen, unable to move. The little skirmish was over as fast as it began. They all hung there, unmoving, with panic on their faces.
“That’s enough.” I was here to get help for Logan. Not get attacked upon our arrival. “Where are the queens?”
The wind brushed over my face and a blur of movement streaked across the corner of my eye. “They’re on the way, Love.”
“Grayson?”
He gave me a sharp toothy smile then winked. “I knew I made an impression the first time we met.”
I held my hands still, keeping all the students suspended in midair. I didn’t need a second attack. The warlock in me relished the power that flowed.
Behind me, Maze groaned as he rose to his feet. He kicked pieces of rock from his path and dusted the debris from his jacket. “What the hell was that?”
Cross and Ophelia came charging through the portal next. Ophelia spun in a small circle. Her face fell into a scowl, with her eyebrows dropping low over her onyx eyes. “You didn’t even leave one for me?”
Cross sighed. “Isn’t this your school?”
“Right, yeah,” she nodded.
Beckett charged through next, and he glared down at Ophelia. “What the hell did you tell them in that fire message?”
“I may have left some critical information out of that.” She tapped her bottom lip. “In my defense I wrote it really quickly and must have sent it through the flames too fast.”
Beckett rounded on Maze. “And why didn’t you see this coming? Is your vision limited here too?”
He pressed his hands to his temples. “I just—I just—didn’t see.”
Since Tilly nearly died and still hasn’t woken up. Just the thought of my best friend made my heart pang. But I had to have faith that she would be okay until we got Logan back. That Niche would care for her. Tilly would’ve wanted me here. She’d be pissed if I sat at her bedside while the fate of the warlock world was in my hands. I would stay here and do this because she’d want me to, and looking at Maze, I could tell he thought the same thing. I gave him a sympathetic smile. She was my sister and his soulmate. I couldn’t imagine leaving Beckett in the same position.
Beckett glanced at me, then he turned toward Maze. He lowered his voice. “You want to go back? No one would fault you for it.”
Maze shook his head. “She would.”
He gave Maze a single nod, then his head snapped up. I followed his gaze toward a blaze of fire lighting the sky. A shadow passed over the courtyard as it flew overhead. Then it dove down toward the school, and my power surged, ready to take it out.
Beckett held out his hand toward me. “Don’t.”
I held fast, and then I saw it. A huge phoenix soared down toward us. It’s wings were a red so dark it was nearly black. Its tail was long and flowing, with fire streaming out of it. As it got closer, it pulled in its wings, flapping them lightly while its talons extended toward the ground. Then, in a flash of bright white light, the phoenix was gone, and Tucker landed on the grassy courtyard as if he was stepping down from a small porch.
His cheeks were pinkened from flight, and tiny flames lingered down his arms and back. He spun around in a small circle, taking in what I’d done. He chuckled and brushed his auburn locks back from his face. He held his hands out to his side. “Very nice.”
“Astrid, put them down,” Beckett said.
“Are they going to keep this shit up?” I didn’t have time for another attack. We had to get to Matteaus, and I did not want my ass to get thrown back again.
Streams of silver magic flowed into the courtyard dancing around each of us. Zinnia charged forward with her hands held up at her sides. On her right an oversized tiger ran beside her. Brax? And on her left a giant black wolf thing with blue markings and multiple tails growled in my direction. Silver magic swirled around her entire body. The magic stood out against her black jeans, turtleneck, and combat boots. A sword hung casually from her waist. She slowed her pace when she saw us all standing there waiting. Her sapphire eyes widened at all the students floating motionless.
“What the hell is going on here?”
Power came off of her in rolling waves. Her silvery magic flitted through her hair and over her skin. I wondered if she even noticed it anymore. She was a fearsome thing to behold, yet I still felt completely at ease around her. Because more than anything else, Zinnia was kind. She stopped just before us and motioned to the tiger.
“
I’m good, Brax. Kumi stay.” Brax prowled away from her around the courtyard while Kumi, that huge wolf-thing froze in place. A deep growl rumbled in her chest.
“Astrid, you can drop them.” Beckett motioned for me to put them down.
“Fine, but they fired the first shots.” I pulled back my power, letting the students fall back into place. They all dropped to the ground, lying there for a moment before they staggered to their feet and took up their positions once more. If looks could kill, I’d be dead several times over. It wasn’t my fault they attacked. I shrugged. “You all started it. I just finished it.”
Their scowls deepened, and Tucker chuckled even louder. “Impressive.”
“Well, yeah, of course they did. All I got was this cryptic message to—” Zinnia made air quotes “—lock it down, lock it all down.” She glared at Ophelia. “What did you expect would happen?”
We all turned toward O. She stood there, examining one of her knives like none of this was important. She glanced up, and her mouth fell into a little O shape. “What? Like I said, I might have left out some things.”
Zinnia rolled her eyes and tossed her mane of midnight hair over her shoulder. “What happened?”
“Logan’s been taken, and we need to speak to Matteaus about it.” Beckett shifted from one foot to the other. He hung his head and kicked a piece of that freaking fountain. “I should’ve known. I should’ve seen it coming…”
I didn’t want him to feel like this, to hurt so badly over something no one, not even our psychic, saw coming. “No one saw this.”
“I should have.” Maze groaned and pulled his cards from his pocket. He shuffled them over and over again. He never drew a card just kept shuffling.
“We all should have, but we didn’t and now we need to make it right.” Nervous determination overcame me and I nearly choked on it.
Wicked Curse (The Royals: Warlock Court Book 4) Page 3