Tabi bumped her back. “It was nothing.”
Grayson arched his eyebrow at her. “Bang on, love. Bang on.” He shifted his stance and faced Zinnia. “And to our Siphon Queen, congrats, love, on joining the rest of us in the upper tier of Evermore Academy.” He held his hands out in front of him and clapped them for her. The others joined in.
All the time leading up to her exams I knew she’d been sick with worry. Yet she managed to study, train, and fight in the war against her father. There was nothing my soul mate couldn’t do. A wide smile spread across her face and her cheeks turned a dusty shade of pink. “Thanks, guys.” Ophelia cleared her throat in a not so subtle cough. Zinnia ducked her head and chuckled. “Right, and thank you to my sister for blowing up the room only seconds before I walked in there. You made me look good.”
Ophelia threw her hands up and shrugged. “And yet they still passed me.”
Grayson motioned to her. “Ladies and gentlemen, the enigma that is Ophelia.”
The entire group laughed and Beckett strolled up beside O and threw his arm around her shoulders the way an older brother would do to a younger sister. He dragged her back to sit beside him on one of the tables. He ruffled her hair. “Let’s not do that again.”
“No promises.” She dug her elbow into his ribs.
I didn’t want to ruin the light mood my crew seemed to be in. They were all so happy we’d gotten the sword blessed, and we were one step closer to unseating Alataris. In fact, we were the closest that any other witch court had been in centuries. But now wasn’t the time to goof off. We had to focus, keep the pressure on. I held my hands out and motioned for them to quiet down. Grayson hopped down from the table and joined Nova next to Brax and his puppy. I looked around at all of them. “I’m glad we’re all back together and Ophelia and Zin passed their exams. But now we have to think of what our next move is. How are we going to get the crown?”
Niche marched into the room with her clipboard pressed tightly to her chest and I fell silent. She pushed her thick black glasses farther up her nose. “Go out.”
My jaw dropped. “I’m sorry, what?”
She tossed her clipboard onto one of the dusty old shelves. “You all need a break. I need a break. It’s time for you to be teenagers.”
A chorus of cheers erupted, and I moved to stand beside Niche. I leaned down and whispered in her ear, “You want us to go out and party?”
She nodded up at me. “You all have been under so much stress lately. They need this. For morale purposes.”
“Morale?” We turned to face each other while the others threw out ideas of places we could go dancing in the city.
“Tuck, look around you. We have the sword. The next move is to get the crown. What do you think will happen once we get it?” She crossed her arms over her chest and waited.
“He’ll try to attack us, of course.” I knew Alataris would lose his crap if we took his crown and destroyed it. He was after all a mad king.
Niche pinched my shirt between her fingers and pulled me down closer. “I’m not naïve enough to think all of us will survive a war with the most dangerous man in Evermore. And once we get that crown . . . the war to come will be the worst in Evermore’s history.”
I looked at the faces of all my smiling friends. They were so excited to spend just a moment of time together, not thinking about the war to come. They chatted about what they would wear, where they would go, and just in general looked at ease. “I see your point.”
She placed her hand on my arm. “Tuck, sometimes team building exercises are necessary.”
“Team building?” My lip pulled up into a grin.
“Well, you can’t expect me to go out.” She shook her head in disgust. “In my mind there is literally nothing worse than a club. But hey, you’re teenagers, go have a night to yourselves. Because tomorrow we have things to do.” She gave my arm a little squeeze then walked back out the door.
Zinnia came up beside me and bumped her elbow into mine. “You guys looked pretty serious. Anything I should know about?”
I shook my head. “Nah.” I couldn’t let my mind go back to the time when I thought I lost her for good. When her lifeless body meant my existence was over.
Zinnia blinked up at me with those hypnotic sapphire eyes and her warm, sugary scent enveloped me. “Okay, in that case. If we’re going out and have no duties tonight, there is someone I want to invite who I need to see.”
“Who?”
“You’ll see.” She winked at me then walked out the door with her arm locked with Ophelia’s. “Meet you at the front gate in two hours.”
Grayson sped to my side and put his elbow on my shoulder. “Two hours to get bloody ready. What are they going on about? Not like they’re going to meet the royals.”
I chuckled. “They are the royals.”
Chapter 10
Zinnia
The bass of the blaring music pulsed against my chest. Laser lights flashed and moved around the room, giving it a pink haze. Bodies swayed to the beat of the music and I stood just beside the bar, watching Serrina, Tabi, and Nova jump around, spinning and dancing. “So let me get this straight. You disappear for weeks, never answer a text, and then call me out of the blue and expect me to show up?”
I bumped her with my hip. “Yes, because you are my sister from another mister.”
Elle tossed her blond hair over her shoulder. “Excuses, excuses.” She reached across the bar and grabbed her drink from the bartender. “You’re just lucky I love you.”
She’d been my best friend from when we were kids up until I’d learned I was a witch. Even after I became a queen, I missed her. Being with her now made me remember when things were so much simpler. When my mom was still at home, when my only worry was moving every six months. But even back then Alataris interfered with my life. “I love you too. You know that, right? No matter what happens.”
“Yeah, of course.” She swayed to the music for only a moment before she froze. “Are you okay? I mean, you’ve been gone for a while.” She leaned in closer to me. “I was worried and it seemed like no one else even remembered you. But I guess that’s what happens when you’re at school for only one day.”
In truth Niche used a spell for everyone in that school to forget us. I didn’t know why it didn’t work on Elle. “I mean, I’m pretty sure one day isn’t enough to make an impression.”
“Psh.” She rolled her eyes and began to sway to the music once more.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Mr. Come Get Me Eyes has been staring at you all night. It’s like he’s obsessed or something.” She looked from me to Tuck and back again. “But the feeling goes both ways, I see.”
I never got the chance to talk about Tuck to anyone. At first being forbidden was fun and exciting, but now I was growing tired of hiding what we were to each other. The music switched to another house beat and I took a deep sip of my drink and locked eyes with Tuck. He was hot in a way I couldn’t describe, from the messy auburn locks to his molten eyes and his sexy chiseled body that only I got to see. “Umm, yeah, it really does go both ways.”
Elle threw her head back and chuckled. “I should’ve known. I mean, the guy is fine as hell. And I don’t know what it is with the guys you hang out with, but what is up with the tattoos? Did they just get them?” Her heart-shaped face lit with mischief and she wagged her eyebrows at me. “Are you all in a gang?”
Kind of. “Oh God, no. They just like them.”
“I mean Tuck with the phoenix, that sassy Brit with the little triangles, that Beckett guy with the circle thing, and Brax with the tiger tat, I can’t decide who’s sexier.”
What was up with Elle? When we’d first met Tuck and Brax she couldn’t see the tattoos and now she could? “It is kind of difficult not to swoon once in a while. But I have to say I have my fav.”
“That’s pretty obvious. I mean, he’s so intense, like at any second he’s going to leap in front of a hail of bullets to
save your life. Aside from that, he’s pretty cool . . . for a gang member.” She winked.
“Yes, well, he’s cool enough to get us into this place.” Elle might’ve thought it was a typical New York City bar complete with flashing lights, crazy music, huge red leather couches and chairs sprawled around the room and lined up next to the bar. But what Elle didn’t see were the many different species of Evermore mixing in this very bar. In the back-corner vampires drank from silver goblets. Their lips held the deep red tinge of blood. On the dance floor elves swayed to the music like trees in the wind. Their hair was braided over their ears or they wore beanies to cover it up. Witches stood just across from us, playing with little balls of magic, which to Elle’s eyes would look like glow sticks of every color.
She clinked her glass to mine. “I’ll cheers to that.” When she looked out over the dance floor and her eyes locked on Brax, I could see the longing in them. A wistful smile played on her lips. “Is he wearing a baby carrier thing with a pug in it?”
Brax was in the middle of the dance floor with that stupid black baby carrier strapped over is broad chest. The damn thing looked more like a bra on him because of his hulking size. I nodded. “Yeah, he got that puppy a while ago. Kept it a secret for a long time. I guess he was tired of hiding it.”
“Is it weird I think it’s kind of cute?”
God, I missed her and the odd way she finds the best in everyone. Including me. She was my bestie at a time when I didn’t even know myself. I shook my head. “Nah, it’s not weird.”
Brax towered over the rest of the crowd. Our tiger shifter was massive. With his military haircut and build he looked more like he belonged in the Navy SEALs than as part of our crew. Yet when he smiled, he looked like the gentlest creature that ever walked the earth. He was surround by a flock of girls, yet he seemed taken aback by the attention, almost shy. I could see why Elle liked him. Just then he sucked in a deep breath and his head snapped up. His eyes darted around the room, searching. The hunter has caught the scent.
Elle’s eyes widened as he locked in on her. She stood frozen at my side like a deer in headlights. Brax weaved his way through the throng of girls around him and across the dance floor. When he came to stand in front of Elle, he ducked his head and kissed her on the cheek. “Hey, Elle.”
Her cheeks turned a bright red as she beamed up at him. “Hey. Long time no see.”
“Too long.” He ran his thumb over his bottom lip. His Russian accent rumbled deep in his chest. “How have you been?”
“Good, I’m good.” She glanced at me. “Aren’t I good?” She shuffled from one foot to the other then jabbed her elbow into my side.
“Ouch, yeah, she’s great.” I jabbed her back.
Elle reached out and ran her fingers over the pup’s head and back behind his ears. “You’re a cute little thing, aren’t you?
As they stood facing each other, I found it cute how much bigger he was than her. She was even shorter than me but full of life and excitement that would appeal to his shy side. Brax looked at her with wide eyes. “You’re the first person he didn’t bite when you touched him. Took Nova weeks before he’d let her do that.”
The dog’s tongue hung out of the side of his mouth and I swear he practically grinned at her. She leaned in closer. With the dog in the carrier strapped to Brax’s chest and Elle’s small stature, they were face-to-face. She pressed her nose to his. “Well, that’s because no one has woved the wittle pup like I do.”
“Yeah, I’m gonna leave you guys to it. Just gonna go check on Tuck.” I waited for either of them to say something, yet neither of them turned to look at me. “Okay, bye then.”
I ducked past Brax and wound my way through the crowd to get to Tuck on the other side of the room. Brax made it look like a breeze getting through everyone, but he was a giant and they parted for him like the Red Sea. I had to shove into people’s backs and squeeze between them. Halfway across the dance floor and I was sandwiched between a huge elf and a shifter of some sort.
Long, thin fingers wrapped around my upper arm and yanked me to the side. I jerked my arm away from the pinching grip, but the person didn’t let go. “Hey! Watch it!”
“Is that all you have to say? How about hi, Dad?” His voiced hissed in my ear.
A chill ran down my spine and I dropped the drink in my hand. The glass shattered at my feet and cold liquid saturated my leggings. “Alataris.”
He yanked me across the dance floor, bobbing and weaving like the snake that he was. I trailed behind him. This close up he looked even worse than the last time I’d seen him. He was tall and thin, with lanky arms and legs. His hair was thinning on top and stained with chunks of gray. When he turned to face me, I realized neither Ophelia nor I looked like him. His face was a long oval with a elongated straight nose, jutting cheekbones and oversized lips. A shadow of scruff covered his jaw and halfway up his cheeks. He wore a slim-fit suit that’d seen better days. I couldn’t decide if it was retro or just old and crappy. The crown I was soon to steal was precariously perched on his head and tilted to the side. His fingers dug even harder into my arm when he came up against a wall of people. My pulse skyrocketed in my chest and I pulled back on my arm. “Get away from me!”
This time he let me go. He spun around to face me. “Is that any way to speak to your father?”
In one hand I gathered my magic and in the other I summoned my blade. “DNA does not make you a father. It makes you a donor.”
He pressed his hand to his chest and clucked his tongue. “Such hurtful things you say.”
I took a small step back from him and held my hands at the ready for a fight. “What do you want?”
The music came to a screeching halt. The people on the dance floor practically trampled each other as they rushed for the door. The laser lights stopped flashing and all that came on were the spotlights in the middle of the dance floor. What the hell is this? A show? Alataris stood with one hand on his hip and the other held out to the side the way a gentleman would’ve done a hundred years ago. “Simply to issue a warning.”
Tucker strolled out to my side. He tossed a ball of fire up and caught it, up and down, up and down. He looked so calm, cool, and collected. “Consider us warned. Now leave.”
The other knights and queens gathered around the edge of the dance floor surrounding him. Elle tried to shove past Brax, but he held her back. “Zin, who the hell is this? And why is he playing with fire and why are you glittering like a Christmas tree?”
“Nobody and I’ll explain later.” I never took my eyes off him. If he was here it was for a reason and I needed to know what that was.
Alataris casually strolled to the side. “I wouldn’t say I’m no one, daughter.”
Tuck and I moved right along with him, always keeping our guards. Elle squealed. “Oh my God, that’s your dad?”
“Not now, Elle.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “I wouldn’t consider this psychopath my father.”
Ophelia marched out onto the dance floor to stand on Tucker’s other side. “But I would.”
“Ah, so the disappointment of my children has decided to show her face. Pity really.” Alataris gave a humorless chuckle.
“Pity I didn’t die when you tried to kill me, you mean.” She pulled two vials from the inside of her blazer. She held one in each hand and shook them around. “Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll give better than I got.”
“Holy crap, you have a sister!” Elle screamed at me. “After you kick this jerk’s ass, we are going to have a serious sit-down you and I.”
“Count on it.” I narrowed my eyes at the crown sitting on his head. Mine.
Alataris stopped moving. “You know had I been a wiser man I would’ve seen your mother’s intention to run away with you. But alas I was too late. But I see myself in you. Your ambition to take the throne and be queen of all of Evermore is commendable. But it will not work. I will never relent.”
I threw my magic out toward him and felt the first hit of his po
wer. It was deliciously strong and gave me even more energy. I took a step toward him. “Neither will I.” I shoved more power out toward him and began siphoning what I could.
Alataris staggered toward me then dropped to one knee. “I would expect nothing less. But know this.” He gritted his teeth and sucked in a breath. He looked up at me with those blank obsidian eyes. “I will kill every one of your friends. You will watch them die and then when you can take no more, I may let you live . . . for a short time. Unless you take my offer.”
I stepped up closer to him. The crown was only a few feet away. If I dove for it, I might be able to yank it off . . . before he plunged a sword in my chest or drained me dry. He had a purpose here. I had to know what it was. “Offer?” I arched my eyebrow at him.
“Join me, be by my side, and you will have a seat on the counsel that governs Evermore. You will have all the influence in the world. Join me and I will spare your friends so long as they pledge their loyalty to me.” His other knee hit the ground. “For the sake of all that is holy, relent in siphoning my power, girl!”
I tilted my head to the side and looked down my nose at him. “No.” With my one hand I pulled as much power from him as I could and with the other I gathered a ball of magic that grew bigger with each passing second. It glowed a deep burnt orange color, with streaks of black smoke within it.
“No, you won’t join me, or no, you won’t relent?” He leaned back on his heels and sucked in deep breaths as though he’d run up a flight of stairs.
“Both.” I shrugged. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t use this on you right now and put you out of your misery?”
“Because, girl, you don’t have it in you to be a killer. Keep in mind if you kill me you kill you mother!” He sprung to his feet, breaking my siphon connection. With both his hands extended like claws toward me, he lunged forward. Tuck threw the fire ball at him, but he just absorbed it. It faded into nothing an inch from his skin. An array of magic bombarded him, yet nothing broke through to touch him.
Wicked Queen (The Royals: Witch Court Book 5) Page 7