Wicked Curse (The Royals: Warlock Court Book 4)

by Megan Montero

  Everyone chuckled, and Grayson chucked me under the chin. He wrinkled his nose. “Not one for taking blood from the flesh. Only on very special occasions.”

  Tucker groaned, and little flames danced down his arm as he threw it over Zinnia’s shoulder, pulling her closer. “Don’t remind me.”

  Brax, who was like a silent tower of menace the whole time, lifted his finger. “I need to make sure I’m in control of my shifting. In another world, it might not be possible.”

  Adrienne sighed and said, “Daughter of a Greek; not sure I should leave. I’m always better in the library with Niche, anyways.”

  Beckett nodded like he was taking mental notes. Those blond locks fell into his eyes, and I wanted so badly to push them out of his face. I could feel the tension rolling off him. This was a big decision to make. We weren’t just going across the other side of the world, we were leaving ours. Like Matteaus said, it could be a one-way trip. “You guys, I’m going. I’m the leader, I’m the most powerful, and I have the most magic.”

  “Um, say what now?” I chuckled. Was he powerful? Yes. Was I just as powerful? Oh, hell yes.

  Beckett chuckled. “I mean, I have you.”

  What a different tune from just a few days ago. Who says an old dog can’t learn new tricks?

  “Then it’s settled. Beckett, Astrid, Nova, and I will go. The rest will stay here and help get the walls back up.” Ashryn turned toward Tabi. “We’re going to need your help to get us to Windelos.”

  “Why can’t I just portal there?” Beckett shrugged.

  Ashryn’s eyes grew deadly serious. “Elven magic is a different monster that your warlock powers will not understand.”

  “I think I can work something out.” Tabi tilted her head to the side and gave her a wink.

  “Maze, you’ve been real quiet this whole time.” The guy was as still as a statue, standing next to the lone window in the sitting room. His fingers curled into fists at his sides. “I want to go, but you know I can’t. I can’t leave her.”

  Zinnia glanced from him to the door and back again. “Her who?”

  The muscle in his jaw ticked. “My soulmate.”

  Whether or not I wanted to admit it, I was kind of relieved that he would stay here with her… when I knew I couldn’t. “We understand.”

  Zinnia rose to her feet. “It’s settled. Hold onto your asses, people, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. Beckett, I better be seeing all of you in three days. With our Logan.”

  It wasn’t a hug goodbye, but a demand that we all arrive safely back from our journey. Beckett shifted from one foot to the other. “Yes, my queen.”

  She chuckled. “Now, if you could please send us back, we’ve got things to do. Cross and Ophelia, stick around for a little while. Keep an eye on the council and see if you can dig up anything in Alataris’ books to help us.”

  Ophelia gave her a salute. “You got it, sis.”

  Beckett opened his blue swirling portal for them in the middle of the foyer. Zinnia, Tuck, the guardians, all vanished, one after the other. As Serrina walked by Ashryn, she didn’t say a word. She simply brushed her hand down her arm, and in the one moment, I saw the flicker of emotion behind Ashryn’s cold eyes and the heat in Serrina’s cheeks. Interesting. Very interesting.

  Once they were gone, Beckett clapped his hands together. “Okay, we need to get ready.”

  “You need to get ready. Not me.” Maze shifted from one foot too the other. His card flew from his pocket right to his palm. He grabbed them and shoved them back in. He shook his head and turned to storm out of the room toward the hallway, muttering, “If it worked for him, then it’ll work for me.”

  “What does that mean?” What the hell was he talking about?

  “Shit!” Beckett’s eyes widened, and he took off after him. “Tilly, he means Tilly.”

  “Damn it!” Here we go…

  Chapter 9

  Maze

  I knew they were all trailing behind me, and I didn’t care. My visions weren’t working, I couldn’t concentrate, and I needed to—now more than ever. There was only one person in this world who could help me, and she was unconscious in a hospital bed. Not knowing if or when she would wake up was going to drive me to madness… if I wasn’t already there.

  When I hit the kitchen, I shoved open the door to the hospital room and stormed through. They would be right behind me, and I would let no one, not even them, stop me right now. I turned on my heels and shoved the door closed in Astrid’s face. Magic poured from my hands, filling up the wall and blocking the door. It swirled and danced over the wall like a thick fog over water. I opened my jacket, and my cards burst from the inner pocket. They swirled over my head, each of them announcing their presence in my mind.

  I am The High Priestess, my wisdom can be yours…

  I am Death, new beginnings...

  I am The Devil, beware of my temptation...

  I am The Chariot, driven to victory...

  I am The Emperor, when I command, they obey…

  This one. I grabbed the Emperor and threw it at the wall. A wave of power exploded over it, adding another layer of protection to my barrier. I would do this, and the cards would fall where they will.

  “Maze?”

  Niche’s voice came from just behind me, and before she could think or move, I grabbed a card from above my head and tossed it her way. Those long red ribbons streamed from The Hanged Man card, wrapping and binding her against the wall on the opposite side of the room. The clipboard fell from her hands and clattered to the floor. Her big thick glasses slid down her nose and hung tilted off her face. Strands of her fiery hair fell into her face, and her white lab coat wrinkled under the ribbons holding her. She knocked into the shelves, toppling over the vials.

  “Sorry, not sorry.” I marched over to Tilly’s bedside.

  The neon green of my power gave the room a glow that caught on her pale skin. I’d given her the ability to live, but was this living? No. She wasn’t awake, wasn’t my sunflower in the darkness, and without her, that was all I saw… darkness

  “MAZE!” Astrid’s voice carried through the magic covering the wall. “Open the door, Maze.”

  I glanced up at her catching her eye through the wall of windows and shook my head. “Can’t.”

  She pounded on it with her fist. “I swear, I will knock down this whole house!”

  I didn’t have time to argue with her. I was going to do this, was determined to do this. A flash of golden light poured though the wall. It made the shape of a perfectly square door, as though someone had taken a blowtorch to it. The wall opened in that square shape, and Astrid stepped through. Golden power swirled around her hands and seeped to the floor.

  “Maze, stop.” She flicked her wrist, and the wall went back into place just as Beckett, Cross, and Ophelia ran into the room and up to the wall of windows.

  Beckett pounded on the door. “Come on, Maze, don’t do this again.”

  “I don’t have a choice!” My voice rose with alarm. There was nothing left here for me without her. She wasn’t waking, just staying like this. This beautiful deadly version of the Tilly I used to know. I didn’t care how I got her back, I just wanted her. I wanted to give her that second chance at life. To give us a second chance.

  “Maze,” Astrid took a step toward me, “what are you doing?”

  I held up my hand, letting my power seep from them. “Don’t try and stop me. I will fight you, even if I don’t want to.”

  “I’m not stopping you yet.” She arched her eyebrow at me. “But make no mistake, that is my best friend, my sister, lying there, and you had better start talking, or I will stop you.”

  We stood there, dead-eyeing each other. In truth, I knew that Tilly loved Astrid, and if I hurt her, she would never forgive me, but something had to be done. Cross and Ophelia pounded and kicked at the door, trying to get in. No one would get past that barrier, no one but Astrid and her unlimited power.

  “We have to get in there,
” Cross barked.

  “I know, I know.” Ophelia’s face lit up like a firecracker, and she took off toward the armory room just next to the kitchen. A moment later, she came back holding something round in her hand. She held it up to Cross. “This will do it.”

  He dove forward and wrapped both his hands around her hand, clasping it tightly. His golden eyes widened. “Where did you find a grenade?”

  “In the little compartment where you have things you don’t want me to play with.” She beamed. “This will take down the wall for sure.”

  “Cross,” Beckett warned.

  “I got this.” Cross looked back down at Ophelia. “How did you get in my safe—you know what? Never mind. We can’t use this; we could kill someone.”

  Ophelia paused and bit her bottom lip. “This is a ‘think before I act’ situation?”

  “Exactly.” He pulled the grenade from her hand. “We don’t want to kill our friends.”

  Good guy, Cross, I’d rather not have shrapnel in my back. I’d jump in front of a train for Tilly. A grenade would be the same.

  Beckett knocked on the wall. “Astrid, want to let me in before our friends do something stupid?”

  Without ever taking her eyes off me, she threw back her hand and made the same doorway for him. He stepped through and moved to her side. He too glared at me, and I hesitated for a bare second.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” I snapped. I placed my hand on Tilly’s forehead, hoping those deep chocolate eyes would open for me.

  “Well, why don’t you tell me what the hell is going on in here?” Beckett glanced from Astrid to me and back again.

  Astrid tossed those auburn locks over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at me. “That’s what I’m waiting for Maze to tell me.”

  I took a small step away from Tilly. If I was going to take on the both of them, then so be it. But she wouldn’t be collateral damage. “I’m going to save her.”

  “How?” Beckett’s blue smoke twisted around his fingers, and he squared his shoulders. When I said nothing, the muscle in his jaw ticked. “Mazerial, how?”

  I ground my teeth together. “You don’t understand. I can’t see!” I slapped the side of my head. “It’s like there’s this hole in my chest, and I can’t breathe until she’s okay. You don’t know! I need her to be okay, and you won’t stop me from making sure she’s okay.”

  “I’m not trying to stop you.” He spoke so calmly.

  Like my soulmate wasn’t on the line. Like my own life wasn’t on the line. I wanted to punch him in his perfect face. Everything about Beckett was perfect—from his blond hair to his blue eyes to his powers. There was no mess inside him, not like me. People feared me, ran from me, yet Tilly, she taunted my inner beast with no sign of fear. And the beast freaking loved it. “You have no idea about anything.”

  Astrid threw up her hands. “Well, maybe if you talked to people about what was going on with you, people could help you before you put demon blood into a human, and I don’t know, get us all killed.”

  A grunt of frustration left my lips. They never understood, no one ever did. “I can’t tell people what I see in my visions. That’s not how it works. You ask any psychic—it just leads to more problems. Case in point: I told Beckett what I saw for the summit, and once I told him, the whole vision changed, effectively ruining everything.”

  “I have always respected your visions until you started kidnapping people and holding them for crimes they didn’t commit yet… because that’s also against the law for psychics.” The muscle in Beckett’s jaw ticked the way it always did when he was annoyed. “Talk to us. Come on, man. This is Astrid’s sister we’re talking about. She has rights here too.”

  Astrid shifted from one foot to the other. “Did you ever stop to think that maybe you were the trigger for Hugh Nolan to try to kill us? What other reason would he have had to kill us before that?”

  I froze, the wind knocked from my lungs. I had thought of that, but I’d never heard the words spoken out loud. Usually when I act on my visions when they’re happening, it works out well… but I’d never tried to stop one, and in doing so become the catalyst. And now my soulmate, the love of my life, lay in a hospital bed because of it. I ground my teeth together and smothered the magic seeping from my hand into a fist.

  “I know damn well, and now I’m going to fix it.”

  Beckett moved to stand on the other side of Tilly’s bed. He met my eyes and shook his head. “We’re in too deep on this one. This has nothing to do with visions; this is your decision. You brought us here, now you need to talk. What the hell kind of idea is going on in your head?”

  Astrid sauntered to Beckett’s side. “Is this even a good idea?”

  I shoved away from the bedside and began to pace back and forth. Their eyes followed my every step, and the words tumbled from my mouth. Truth was, I didn’t want to fight them, but I would if I had to. But if I didn’t, it would save me time. “Good idea? Of course it’s a good idea. She’s my soulmate; anything between us has to work, otherwise life just isn’t worth it. If I bond my soul to hers, then I can give her the strength she needs to wake up and survive. It doesn’t matter what kind of blood runs through her system. I can be strong enough for the both of us. I can’t leave her like this. I can’t live without her. If it can work for you two, it’ll work for us.”

  Astrid’s jaw dropped. “But Maze, If she dies, you’ll die too. You understand that, right?”

  “Then so be it.” I shrugged. There was nothing else but her.

  “You won’t share the same bond. All the risk is yours. If she dies, you die. If you die, she’ll be perfectly fine. The things you’ll feel will be more intense on your end. It’s not something to do lightly.” Beckett slid Astrid a sideways glance.

  Astrid turned to face him fully. Her hand shot out, and she smacked him on the shoulder. “You pretty much signed your own death warrant. Don’t ever do something like that again.”

  Beckett chuckled. “I only have one soulmate, sooooooo, don’t die again.”

  If they knew what it was like, then they had to have known how I felt. I’d beg if I had to. “I did this to her. Let me try to save her.”

  “How do we know that she won’t wake up on her own?” Astrid’s eyes roamed over Tilly’s still form.

  A muffled sound came from the corner of the room. I’d forgotten that I’d tied up Niche. I held out my hand, recalling The Hanged Man card that held her suspended. The red ribbons all snapped back into the card, and it flew into my pocket, along with the rest of the cards. Niche dropped to the ground and straightened her coat. She shoved those thick black glasses up her nose. She pressed her lips into a tight line as she picked up her clipboard from the floor. She marched over to me, swung that clipboard, and whacked me across the back of the head with it.

  It made a thunk sound and stung just a little. I hunched my shoulders and rubbed at the back of my head. “Mistakes were made.”

  “I have been here watching your soulmate for days, and that is how you repay me?” She huffed and held the clipboard close to her chest. I didn’t know what to say. She tapped her foot. “Well?”

  I’d never been scolded before, not even as a child. But this moment might’ve felt like that, if I had actually known what a scolding was. “Well what?”

  “What have you got to say for yourself?” she snapped.

  “I’m sorry? But I’m not that sorry,” I answered truthfully. “Have to save her. She should be awake by now. You and I both know it.”

  Niche sighed. “I’m going to give it to you straight. If she was of magical descent, then yes, I would say she should be. But she’s human, or was human; we just don’t know how all the magic and demon blood will affect her. She may never wake up.”

  My heart jumped up into my throat and I wanted to vomit. A ball of emotions formed in my throat. “She’s going to stay like this?”

  “I’d say it’s a high likelihood, yes,” she said, matter-of-factly, like it
didn’t matter. Like Tilly wasn’t the sun and stars.

  I turned back to Beckett and Astrid. “We have no other choice. You have to see that now.”

  Unshed tears glimmered in Astrid’s emerald eyes. “I think he’s right.”

  “I don’t want to lose you, man,” Beckett whispered. “But for Tilly—I understand why you have to try.”

  Of all people, he should understand. “Then we agree?”

  I held my breath, waiting. A fight with the three of them would be damn near impossible to win, but I’d do it, and there would be hell to pay. I would stop at nothing to have Tilly by my side once more.

  They all shared a look, and Astrid cleared her throat. “Do it.”

  Relief washed over me. There would be no fighting here today… maybe tomorrow. But for now, I would have my Tilly with me—in this life or the next. My hands shook with nerves. This had to work… it had to. I threw out my hand and recalled the magic that blocked the door.

  “A little privacy.”

  Niche headed right for the door. Beckett held his hand toward Astrid. “We’ll wait outside.”

  Tears spilled over her cheeks. “Bring her back to us, Maze.”

  “You know I will.”

  Chapter 10

  Maze

  The sound of her beating heart filled my ears. That steady drum gave me something to focus on, to hold on to. Come on, my girl. We can do this. Be strong for me. After this, things would never be the same. I was the walking dead without her anyway. The others all stood in the kitchen, and although the wall was glass, I knew this was as much space as they would give me. At least they weren’t standing over me watching. Work, please, God, work… and if it doesn’t… take me with her…

  I drew in a deep breath to steady my nerves. My vision hit me like a freight train. Six will fall…six will fall…six will fall…

  I shook my head forcing the thought away. My vision weren’t clear right now and if I was going to start to figure them out, I needed her. I opened my jacket and called upon the one card I’d never used, not once since my powers began to show themselves. It was the only pristine one in the entire deck. The rest were worn at the corners and well loved. But this card, no, it was the only one I dared not touch until now, and who never spoke to me. Yet when I called to it with my mind, it answered without hesitation, flying to my fingertips like a magnet finding its matching piece.