“No one has ever broken a soul mate tie before. If it could be done easily, then it would’ve been. As it is now, we’ve got the best minds in Evermore on it.” I spun around and swung my staff at her legs.
She jumped over it, then twisted to the side and swung hers at my back. I flipped backward, letting it fly just below me, and held my staff up, blocking her next attempt at my face. She growled in frustration. “I just wish there was something more I could do.”
We crossed our sticks and smacked into each other. Our mouths were a breath away from each other. A smile tugged at her lips and she lifted her foot, stepped on my knee, and flipped herself backward. She landed on her feet silently like a cat. My eyes widened. “When did you learn that?”
She spun the staff in her hands like a baton. “A little something Ophelia and I have been working on.”
A round of applause and whistles filled the room. I froze on the spot. For a moment I’d forgotten we weren’t alone. Zinnia’s cheeks flamed bright red and she brushed the wild pieces of her hair out of her face. Grayson stood off to the side, tossing his throwing stars at a target on the wall. “Glad I didn’t nip off outside. I would’ve missed that. Bloody hell, love, for a moment I thought you lot were going to have a snog then you used him as a wall. Way to use those charms of yours.”
Zinnia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay.” When the others started to gather closer around her, she waved them off. “Thanks, guys.”
Over the past few weeks she’d become every bit the formidable queen she was born to be. Her powers were under control. She could fight in hand-to-hand combat and she was the toughest witch I’d ever met. Yet this thing with her mother was breaking her down from the inside out.
Ophelia moved to stand by her side. “Look, there was something we all wanted to talk to you about.”
“So big deal she did a back flip.” Patty Bowerguard along with her two pea-brained minions walked into the training room. She held a small basket in the crook of her elbow filled with envelops. Her yellow-blond hair was pulled into a puffy curly ponytail on the top of her head. She wore a navy plaid skirt with matching cardigan. Minion number one, a plain girl with an oversized forehead and boring brown hair, held a clipboard and pen. She wore nearly the same outfit as Patty except hers was pink. Minion number two, another average-looking girl with stringy blond hair that hung down by the sides of her head, carried three purses, all identical.
“What do you want, Patty?” Zinnia moved away from the group and toward our intruders. She spun the staff in her hands and I knew she was contemplating smacking her with it.
Patty reached into the basket and pulled out an envelope. “My sweet sixteen is coming up. Mommy and Daddy are holding the best party here in the city. I thought I might invite one or two of you seeing how it’s going to be a once in a lifetime event.”
I shook my head. “We’ve got more important things to do than your birthday party.”
Patty made a show of looking Zinnia up and down. “I know you have to work with the riffraff, but I think you all could spare a moment.”
“What the hell is your problem with me?” Zinnia marched up to her. “Ever since I got here you’ve been a complete jerk.”
Patty didn’t bat and eyelash. She looked down her nose at Zinnia. “Maybe I don’t like witches with filthy bloodlines. You claim to be good, yet you’re tied to Alataris and that thing over there.” She pointed toward Ophelia. “What’s to like really?”
“That’s it.” Zinnia held her staff over her head, about to give Patty a good whack.
“Zin! Don’t! She’s not worth it.” I walked over to her and placed my hand on her weapon and gently pushed it down.
Serrina crossed her arms over her chest and popped her hip. “Just so we’re clear. Not a single one of us will be at the party. You got it?”
“Pity, you could’ve been one of my guests of honor, Serrina. You are after all one of the most popular girls in school.” Patty ran her hand over her hair. “Second only to me.”
Zinnia tightened her grip on the staff, then shoved it into my hand. She smiled up at me. A cold, calculating smile that sent a chill down my spine. “You know what? You’re right. She isn’t worth the physical effort.” She stepped around me and held her hands up. “Hop along and find your way. Hop along and turn from blue to gray. Covered in slime and warts it’s time for the toad inside to find its place. It’s time for you to show us your real face.”
Patty screamed and crumpled into the ground in a billow of green smoke. The two minions rushed for the door, but Serrina blew across her hand, filling their noses with red magic. “I think you two love frogs. In fact, I think you two worship frogs.”
The two girls slowly turned around and fell to their knees beside Patty. They started to pet her head and coo at her the way they might coo at a baby. Zinnia walked over, high fived Serrina, and chuckled. “Fitting, I think.”
Serrina nodded. “Definitely.”
“Zin, you can’t just go around turning people into frogs.” Even though I thought it was hilarious I knew Niche would flip out about it and so would Matteaus if he ever returned back to school.
“I mean, I am a witch, so why not?”
I gave her a sour look.
She shrugged. “Oh, come on. It’ll wear off . . . eventually.” She winked at me then turned back to Ophelia. “What were you saying before we were interrupted?”
Ophelia’s smile dropped from her face. “We know you’ve been worrying about your mom, and we think we might have a plan.” She motioned to the door on the other side of the training facility. “Come with me.”
Chapter 22
Zinnia
I followed Ophelia through the door on the opposite side of the training room. All this time I thought it was a closet . . . I was wrong. She stepped down on a wide flight of stars. It reminded me of the stairs leading down to the subways in the city. The stair were covered in dirt. Muddy boot prints covered each one. Even the handrails were covered in thick red clay-like mud. I didn’t touch it as I climbed down. The rest of the crew followed closely behind the two of us. “Where are we going?”
“Just come on.” Ophelia pointed to a torch on the wall. “Tuck. Please.”
“What am I, the resident light guy?” He flicked his wrist and the torch ignited. Flames traveled down a shelf in the wall that flowed all the way down the hallway.
“This castle is creepy as hell sometimes.” The dark stone walls glinted with damp moisture. It smelled like an old basement, earthy with a hint of cement.
“Only sometimes?” Ophelia walked down the hall like she’d been there a thousand times before. The hall dead ended in a cul-de-sac shape. The flaming shelf lit the area bright enough to showcase a hunk of clay the size of a human lying on a thick piece of plywood on top of a chest high table. Ophelia motioned to the hunk of clay. “Surprise!”
I glanced around at the others, trying not to seem ungrateful. “Yayyyyy, you guys got me . . . mud?”
“Dude, don’t tell me you don’t know what this is.” Ophelia slapped her hand on the clay. “Well, what does it look like?”
I stepped in closer to it and in the dim light I could make out the shape of a face and body. Almost like one of those ancient tombs I saw in a book back when I went to a regular high school. “An ancient tomb?”
Nova strolled up beside Ophelia. “It’s a Golem.”
“A what?” I suddenly felt so far behind in my witchy classes.
“A Golem.” Nova rubbed her hand over the dark red clay. “It’s a clay figure that can be brought to life by an infusion of magic.”
“Okayyyyy?” I still wasn’t following what they were getting at.
Nova licked her lips and kept running her hands over the clay. “If you siphon the magical tie your mother has with Alataris and put it into this golem, we just might be able to break it. The catch is that once the magic is in the Golem you’ll have to kill it.”
Excitement ran through my system. I
wanted this to work. I needed this to work. I’d do whatever I had to, to make this work. “Okay, no problem. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“The only problem with that is . . . the Golem will look exactly like your mom.” Ophelia glanced from me at the clay and back again.
Tucker shook his head. “She doesn’t have to do it. I can do it for her.”
Nova shook her head. “No, if we want it to have the most effect, then the one who puts the magic into the Golem should be the one to kill it.”
I ground my teeth together. “I’ll do it. Go get my mom.”
I paced back and forth on the stone floor. The rest of our crew had gone, leaving only Tuck and me alone with the Golem. I shook my hands out. “I can do this. I can do this.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Tuck reached out and placed his hand on my shoulder, stopping me from pacing.
I turned to face him. I felt jittery all over. I bounced on the balls of my feet. “Yeah, I think so. I mean, I can do this, right? Like I’m capable of doing this, right?”
“Zinnia.” He placed both his hands on the sides of my face and pulled me in close to him. He pressed his lips to mine. Electricity shot through my system, followed by a feeling of utter calm. His lips were firm against mine, making my toes curl in my boots. When he pulled away, I sucked in a deep breath. His lip pulled up into that half cocky grin I loved so much. “You got this.”
“You’re right. I do have this.” I nodded, then threw my arms around him. “Thank you.”
When I pressed my head to his chest, the beating of his heart sounded in my ears. I closed my eyes, letting the world fall away, and just concentrated on the sound of his heart. Deep breath in and deep breath out. The warmth of his skin seeped into me, comforting me. He brushed his hand through my hair. “I’m here, always.”
The door at the top of the stairs creaked open and I took a small step back from Tuck. A heavy sigh filled my chest. “I’m getting really tired of hiding what we are.”
“You and me both.” He moved to stand at the head of the Golem.
Two sets of soft footsteps made their way down the long hall. “Zinnia?”
“I’m here, Mom.” Every time she walked into a room I fought the urge to throw myself into her arms. I didn’t think I’d ever see her again and yet here we stood in the basement of the school, trying to save her before I faced Alataris.
She motioned to the clay slab and the wooden chair we set up next to it. “What’s all this?”
I looked at Ophelia for help. She cleared her throat. “Catherine, we’re going to try and siphon the soul mate tie out of you and put it into the Golem. Then when we destroy the Golem, we think your soul mate tie will be destroyed with the Golem . . . hopefully.”
When my mother looked me in the eyes, I saw the sadness she felt, the desperation to live, and even the disappointment of feeling like she wouldn’t. I wanted to take that away. I wanted to give her hope of a future free of my father. “Mom, we have to try this.”
She walked over to me and placed her hand on my cheek. “Okay, honey.” Sadness, so much sadness rolled off of her. She quietly sat down in the chair and waited, looking up at me with those big blue eyes of hers.
Please let this work, please. I looked at the ceiling, trying to send a silent prayer. I moved to stand between my mom and the Golem. My hands shook as I held them up. Creator, I need this to work. I opened my senses, letting my magic free. I shoved it into my mother’s chest, searching out the connection that bound her to Alataris. Silver magic flowed from my hand into her chest. She arched her back and clawed at the wooden chair. I focused my magic on the Golem.
I searched out the dark ties in her chest. They wound like vines over and around her heart. Threading through her whole body in every single vein. I latched onto it, drawing out the soul mate bond, yanking it from her. With every bit of my siphon power I pulled that magic from her body. My mother’s screams pierced my ears. I pulled my magic back, not wanting to hurt her any more. She shook her head and spoke through gritted teeth. “No, no, don’t stop.”
Sweat poured off her and she quaked from head to toe. Tears poured down my face.
“Mom, I’m so sorry.” I threw my head back and screamed as I yanked the last of the soul mate connection from her and shoved it into the Golem.
I looked down at her wrist and watched as the circle that represented her soul mate mark slowly disappeared. The Golem melted into my mother’s form, with the same chocolate hair, heart-shaped face, and even the same jeans she wore, complete with white T-shirt. My mom slumped over in her seat as the soul mate ring formed around the Golem’s wrist.
The clay creature sat straight up on the slab. “Zinnia?”
I froze. Ice ran through my veins. It sounded exactly like my mother. I took a small step back. “No. I-I can’t do this.”
“Honey, what’s wrong?” It reached out toward me. Her face was a mask of distress, the same concern my mother always showed me. I glanced at my real mother, knocked out in the chair. The skin around her wrist was bleeding and dripping into a small puddle on to the floor.
I swiped at the tears on my cheek. “Tuck, I can’t.”
He shoved his sword into my hand and pressed his fingers over mine to wrap around the hilt. “You can.”
The Golem climbed off the table and opened her arms to me. “Zinnia, come here. I love you just the same as I love him, my beautiful husband. Oh, you can’t imagine how much I love him.”
I held the sword up. “I’m so sorry.”
“For what, honey?” The Golem tilted her head to the side the same way my mother did when she asked me something.
“For this!” I shoved the sword into the Golem. It cut through its chest like cutting through butter.
The Golem fell to its knees with the sword protruding from its chest. “Why? But why? All I ever did was love you.”
She looked so much like my mother, she spoke like her, smelled like her. “I am so sorry, Mom. So sorry.”
The Golem crumbled to the ground, slowly melting into a pile of clay. Her features fell until there was nothing left, nothing at all. I dropped to my knees, sucking in deep gasping breaths. Tuck crouched down behind me and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me back into his chest. “Shhh, you’re okay. You’re okay.”
I grabbed onto his sleeves, holding him closer. “Did it work?”
Ophelia squatted down next to the clay and gave it a poke. “It might have.”
My mother tumbled from the chair onto the ground. Her back arched, her legs curled in on themselves and her eyes rolled into her head. Convulsions wracked her from head to toe.
I scrambled from Tuck’s grasp over to her. I pulled her into my lap. “What’s happening?”
Silver sparkles rose up from the clay blob like a tornado. It shot right into my mother’s chest. A blood-curdling scream ripped from her lips. I shook my head. “No! No, this had to work.”
Blood flowed from the gaping wound on her wrist and what little skin was left there mended back together and then it appeared just as it had been before, with her soul mate mark. My mother’s eyes fluttered open as she looked up at me dazed and exhausted. “It didn’t work, did it?”
I pressed my forehead to hers and held her close. “We will find another way.”
She sucked in a deep breath and wrapped her arms around me. “There is no other way. You have to prepare yourself . . . I’m going to die.”
Chapter 23
Zinnia
I yanked my door shut behind me and jammed my key in the lock. I turned it to the side until the tumbler caught and I knew my dorm room was secure. Niche pulled on my arm, tugging me down the hall toward the courtyard. “We have to hurry. I’m getting some alarming reports from Time Square.”
I pulled back on my arm. My mother was locked in my room alone. After we’d failed with the Golem yesterday, my mother took it so hard. I needed to be there for her to help her overcome this. “Niche, I can’t. My mother . . . she’s .
. . not good.”
“Zinnia, I don’t think you understand. Alataris is in Time Square about to expose everything, expose Evermore. Could you imagine what the humans would do if they found out about all this?” She motioned to the students running down the hall and the pixies flying through the air.
A burst of warmth covered my skin, his dark earthy smell filled my nose, and a sense of comfort overcame my body. “I got this, Niche. I’ll meet you and the others in the courtyard.”
She glanced down at me and then back up at Tuck towering behind me. “Fine, I’ll meet you there in five minutes.” She hurried down the hall with her bright red hair flying out behind her.
“Are you okay?” His voice was warm and wrapped around me like a cool breeze on a warm day.
“Truthfully, no. My mom didn’t take the failure of the Golem well and now she’s just quietly resigned herself to dying. She needs me, Tuck, and I want to be there for her.” I sucked in a deep breath. “And honestly I don’t know if I can take Alataris down knowing my mother will go with him. There has to be another way.”
He placed his hands on my shoulders. “Of course there is. What’s magic without the loop holes that go with it? Look, if you want to stay here with your mom, I understand. The rest of us will go and take care of whatever trouble Alataris is stirring up.”
I was torn between wanting to help my mother and needing to be there for my crew. This was the life I was born into and my mother knew it. I was a queen and a queen didn’t back down in the face of challenges like this one. If I was going to help my mother, it would be by also facing my father. I shook my head. “No, I’ll go. This all has to end. We will figure out a way to save my mother even if it means imprisoning my father for the rest of his life.”
Tuck pressed a kiss to my forehead. “That’s my girl. Let’s go.” He wound his fingers with mine and tugged me toward the courtyard.
Wicked Queen (The Royals: Witch Court Book 5) Page 12