“He’s dying.” I swiped at my tears with the back of my hand. I could barely speak the words I knew were true. The second they left my lips, the world spun, and I clung even harder to Tuck. This couldn’t be the end of our story. Not now. It was too soon. We didn’t even get the chance to be more…to do more together. A light sob escaped my lips. I pressed them together harder to hold it in.
“He’s not dying, not on my watch.” Though Tucker was six-two and at least two-hundred-and-fifty pounds, Matteaus scooped him up into his arms as though he weighted nothing.
Niche came running out into the courtyard. Her fire engine red hair streamed out behind her. The lab coat I’d grown so used to seeing her in billowed out from her body with each step she took. When she got to us, her hands fluttered over Tuck, her eyes turned into round saucers behind the thick rims of her black glasses. “What happened?”
“I-I don’t know. W-we freed the dragon and she returned back to Alaska, but A-Alataris was there and they faced off. He did something to him. I don’t know.” My body shook from head to toe. Cold fear coursed through me. Please don’t die, please don’t die. Boom, boom, boom echoed around the courtyard.
“What in the actual fu….heck, is that?” Matteaus tilted his head around, looking for the source of what sounded like a battering ram against a castle door. Whack! The noise grew louder, until a door on the other side of the courtyard exploded inward, sending shards of wood flying in all directions. A feral growl came from the corner of the courtyard, where two piercing violet eyes glowed in the darkness.
Matteaus slowly turned away from the creature and whispered. “Run. Just run for that door.” He pointed down the long hall where the dorm rooms were, and that thick wooden door sat at the very end.
I didn’t know what it was, but it was the size of a small horse and I didn’t want to wait around to find out. I turned and followed right behind him. Tucker bounced in his arms as Niche kept pace beside him. When I glanced back, I stopped dead and spun on my heels.
Matteaus yelled over his shoulder. “You got a death wish?”
“No.” I shook my head and faced off against Kumi, the wolf-like creature that haunted one of the rooms in Evermore Academy. The ground rumbled under my feet as she charged out toward me. Her thick midnight fur would’ve blended in with the dark sky if it weren’t for the streaks of ocean-blue fur that marked her chest, down her legs, and the tip of each of her nine tails. I held my hand up. “Stop!”
Kumi slid to a halt like a dog on a hardwood floor. Her paws spun trying to gain traction and her body tilted sideways until she smacked into the ground and ended up lying at my feet. When she looked up at me with those wide eyes, I bent over and ran my fingers through her fur just under her ear. My panic ebbed, and the shaking in my body eased. “What are you doing?”
You needed me.
I froze. “Did you just talk to me?”
Did you just hear me in your head?
We both shared a “holy crap” look. Niche came to my side. “We have to get Tuck to the infirmary.”
Though I wanted to understand what was happening between Kumi and me, Tucker was way more important. I nodded and followed behind her, only to hear those heavy footfalls trailing close by. I wanted to stop and tell her she couldn’t come along, but right now I could only focus on one thing at a time.
Matteaus lead us down the hall where some of the dorm rooms were. Doors opened as the students popped their heads out, their brows furrowed as they took in Tucker’s limp body. Then their eyes widened, and they slammed their doors as Kumi stomped down the hallway behind us.
“She can’t come with us.” Niche pressed her hand to Tucker’s head, brushing away some of the sweat.
I can, and I will. Kumi’s words brushed through my mind so effortlessly, as though we’d been communicating this way all along.
I shook my head. “Nothing I can do about that right this second.” My only concern was for Tuck, so if a mythological creature was hell bent on coming along with us, then so be it.
Once we reached the end of the hall, there was a thick wooden door. Matteaus leaned back on one foot and with the other he kicked it wide open. The hefty black wings on his back pulsed and moved, black feathers fell to the ground as he took the stairs two at a time. I hurried behind him, pumping my arms to keep up. Kumi shoved her big body through the door, splintering the door frame.
Once we reached the top floor, Matteaus turned down a short hall and pushed through the double doors leading into the infirmary. Two identical rows of cots lined the walls on either side of the room. At the end of the aisle sat a bald-headed man with large tortoise-shell glasses perched on the end of his narrow nose. When he rose from behind his desk, his long purple robes fluttered. He raced around and pointed to the cot nearest to him. “Put him here.”
Matteaus laid him out over the white linen. Tuck fell back on the cot like a limp fish. His skin was ashen. His black shirt clung to his sweat-covered body. The doctor leaned over him and lifted his eyelid, then he snapped his fingers and a small pen light appeared. He shined it into Tucker’s eyes and gave a low grunt.
“What’s that mean? Is he going to be okay?” I stepped closer to the bed, but Matteaus clamped a hand down on my shoulder, stopping me from getting any closer. Before I could shrug his grip off, he dropped his hand.
The doctor didn’t answer my question. He simply turned toward me and pushed his glasses back up his nose. “What was done to him?”
“I-I’m not sure.” Memories of Alataris holding him up by his neck and that black smoke billowing from his lips and seeping into Tuck’s mouth, eyes and nose assailed me. I curled my hands into fists. Alataris was now on my shit list. It didn’t matter what it took, he was going down. Not just for me, but for what he did to Tuck, my mom and all of Evermore.
The door to the infirmary flew open, and the rest of our crew flooded in like a menacing tide, with Brax, our hulking tiger shifter, in the front. It was the first time I’d seen him in anything different than a black tank top and black and gray army fatigues. Yet there he stood in a huge baggy sweatshirt and sweatpants to match. He ran his hand over his crew cut blond hair. “What happened?” His Russian accent was so thick I could barely make out his words.
Before I could answer him, Kumi spun around and took up a defensive position in front of us. With her paws spread wide, she lowered her head and bared her teeth at them, a low growl rumbled deep in her chest. Kumiho was a mythological beast who until recently was held with a secured room at Evermore Academy. I’d stumbled into her room a few days ago and felt connected to her ever since. To me she was more like an oversized wolf with nine tails, to everyone else she was a legendary creature who reaped souls for fun. At least that’s what the rumors said, personally I didn’t believe them.
Brax held his arms out, stopping the others from passing him. He too bared his teeth, letting them elongate into sharp tiger points, and hissed in her direction. When he pushed his sleeves up, tiger strips appeared across his skin.
Grayson too stepped up and let his vamp fangs slide down. “Best step aside, puppy, or I’ll be taking a chunk out of you.”
“Not before I send her back to where she came from.” Beckett was ready on the other side of Brax with a ball of magic waiting to be tossed in the palm of his hand. His blond hair was sticking out in different directions and falling into his eyes, as though he’d been tossing and turning in his sleep. Dark circles hung under his teal eyes.
“Stop,” I snapped. Everyone froze in place, including Kumi. Let them pass.
She dropped down on her haunches with a moan. I don’t like the one with the fangs.
Two of them have fangs…
She glanced up at me with those bright violet eyes. Then I don’t like either of them.
I glanced from Tuck to our group coming in and back again. “We freed the dragon, and Alataris was there waiting for us.”
Grayson eyed Kumi as he raced around Brax and up past the doctor to st
and next to Tuck’s head. He too reached down and pulled one of his eyelids back. “His pupils are fixed and dilatated.” He reached down and pressed two of his fingers to the inside of Tucker’s wrist. “Pulse is faint at best, love.”
My heart sank into my stomach. “What does that mean?”
“It means he’s…well, he’s…dying.” Grayson motioned over Tuck’s body. “His injuries are extensive.”
Extensive. I wanted to vomit on the floor. This couldn’t be happening.
The doctor elbowed him aside. “Mr. Shade, will you desist doing my job and move out of the way!?”
Grayson held his hands up and took a step back, letting the doctor get closer to Tuck once again. Normally, Grayson wore pressed black pants and a button-down shirt. But now standing before me this late at night, he wore striped navy pajama pants and a long-sleeved white thermal shirt. The rest of the crew gathered around Tuck’s bed in a semi-circle, each of them in their pajamas. I didn’t know it’d be so late when we got back. Hell, I didn’t even know what day it was.
Niche stepped in front of me. “You need to tell me what you saw, exactly what you saw.”
I nodded. “Alataris, he… he wrapped his hand around Tuck’s neck and lifted him up off the ground. Then he looked like he was whispering something in his ear. Black smoke came out of his mouth and seeped into Tuck.” I pressed my hand over my throat. “Into his mouth, eyes and nose. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Niche’s face paled, and she took a step back. She pressed her fingers to her lips. “A hex…”
Her eyes widened, and she began running around the infirmary, opening cabinets and pulling out different colored stones and candles. I rushed to her side. “What can I do to help?”
Nova ran up and took the stones from Niche’s hand. “I’ll place them.” Her white-blond hair was tied in a high knot on the top of her head, and her satin pajamas hung loose from her body. “Come on, Zinnia. We have to work fast.”
I held my hands out, gathering up whatever crystals Niche gave to me. Serrina, our Queen of Desires, started gathering candles in her hands and carrying them to line them up on the windowsill. Even this late at night, her streaked blond hair looked like she’d just stepped out of a salon. As she placed each candle one by one so carefully, I wanted to yell for her to hurry up, but she took her time. Niche’s face paled as drops of sweat ran down the sides of her face. She ran to another cabinet and pulled a bottle of oil from it. She lifted her hand and snapped her fingers.
Professor Davis appeared in the cot next to Tuck’s. She had her quilt pulled up to her chin, and a soft snore drifted from her lips. Her fuzzy salt and pepper hair stuck out in tufts from under her brown velvet sleeping cap. A pitch-black cat snoozed over her legs. The cat’s nose twitched as it sucked in deep breaths, sniffing. It’s eyes drifted open ever so slightly, glimpsing at Kumi lying not even ten feet away. With a start, the cat shot straight up into the air with a hiss. Its hair stuck out in all directions. It landed on Professor Davis’ shoulder, who then shot straight up in bed. “Ah, what in the hell…?”
She tilted her head in all different directions. Her brown eyes were wide with shock. “What…where am I?”
Niche didn’t waste time. “Infirmary. Need your help. Tuck has been hexed.”
She threw the covers back and pulled the sleeves of her brown sleeping gown up. “I’ve said it before, I don’t like being summoned like that, Niche.” Her gaze landed on Tuck. “But for this, I’ll forgive you.”
Tabi, Queen of Elements, stepped forward and shot golden sparks from the tips of her fingers. “Fire!”
The candles sitting around Tuck sparked to life, sending the flames a few feet up into the air before they settled into a light flickering. The glowing light seemed to shimmer over Tabi’s wild black curls. When her hazel eyes met mine, I saw she too was in panic mode. We all were. Tuck was our leader, the one who was the picture of good within our group. Niche waved us all forward. “Every witch in this room needs to make a circle, hold hands…” She glanced over my shoulder. “Adrienne, you too. We’re going to need all the power we can get.”
Adrienne wasn’t a witch or even a queen witch, but Niche believe she could fill in for our fifth queen to help stop Alataris. Her powers were sparse at best, but I agreed with Niche, we needed all we could get. Adrienne’s tongue darted over her lips, and she looked at me with wide ebony eyes that matched her skin perfectly. When I held my hand out to her, she tossed her hip-length braids over her shoulder and moved past the line of Knights watching us. Brax and Beckett stood ten feet from Kumi with their eyes locked on her.
Grayson took up a stance at the foot of Tuck’s bed, staring down at him. “Don’t like to see our roles reversed.”
Though Grayson was the joker of our group with his dry British humor, there was no humor in his grave eyes now. He was right to worry. I could feel the pain and turmoil rolling through Tuck’s body. It sunk into my stomach, making me nauseous. I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth to stifle my gagging. I wanted to climb into bed next to him, to wrap my arms around his body and hold him close. But I couldn’t. I stood between Adrienne and Tabi, holding their hands tighter than I should. But they didn’t protest. The doctor and Professor Davis took up positions on either side of Niche. Matteaus stood further back with his arms crossed over his chest. Though his face didn’t show much, I could tell by the ticking in his jaw and the pulsing in his wings that he was concerned. His ocean eyes were locked on Tuck as if he was willing him to get better.
Niche squared her shoulders and tilted her head back. “We have to try to remove the hex from Tuck, or at least ease it.”
“Wait a second…just ease it?” I shifted from one foot to the other. “We need to break this now.”
“We’ll do our best.” Niche met each of our eyes. “We’re all going to need to do this. Open your powers up and let them flow through each other. Zinnia, focus everything you can on him, okay? And everyone repeat after me.”
I nodded and turned my gaze on Tuck. “Okay, I can do this.” I will do this.
Professor Davis cleared her throat. “Do your best, ladies. The hex has taken root. It will require a great deal of power.”
Taken root? I sucked in a deep breath and waited for Niche to speak the words.
“Black as night remove this hex from my sight. Black as night remove this hex from my sight.” When she looked at us, we all began chanting the words over and over again until they blurred together in a symphony of whispers. One syllable blended into the next, and I could feel our powers rising together.
My eyes widened when all our magic started streaming from our bodies. Golden ribbons flew from Tabi, purple streams flowed from Nova, red sparks flew from Serrina, and even my silver glittering magic. They gathered in a tornado of color above Tucker’s body. I didn’t break the circle or stop whispering the words, but I was transfixed by the power before me. As the queens of each of the five magical casts, we were the most powerful of all the witches in Evermore. Would it be enough to save Tuck?
Our powers curled together and shot into his chest. Tuck’s body bowed off the cot, his arms flailed, and his mouth opened in a silent scream. I took a step forward. “Tuck!”
“Don’t break the circle!” Niche bellowed.
I stepped back. Tabi squeezed my hand, holding me in place. I swallowed down my panic and kept on chanting. “Black as night remove this hex from my sight.”
His body lifted up off the bed, hovering two feet off of it. Our powers circled around him, illuminating him in a glowing array of colors. Black drops of sweat rose to the surface of his skin and drifted away from his body, each of them floating in mid-air.
“Professor Davis, the basin,” Niche warned.
Professor Davis didn’t move or hesitate. A copper bowl appeared on the floor at the foot of Tuck’s bed. One by one, every drop of black sweat that came from his skin flew toward the bowl, gathering there. Blinding light erupted from Tuck, blinding us all.
Tabi and Adrienne’s hands fell from mine as I ducked my head and closed my eyes.
Then there was nothing but silence. I stood straight and blinked away the dots swarming my vision. Tuck drifted back down to the bed. His veins were no longer black, and the color returned to his cheeks.
The others looked as though they were about to collapse. Tabi leaned on Nova. Each of them was hunched over and breathing heavily. Serrina stumbled back and plopped onto the cot behind her. Even Niche and Professor Davis moved away from the rest of us at a slower pace. Each of them sat down at the first empty spot they could find.
Exhaustion like I’d never felt before pulled at me. My eyelids felt heavy and began to close all on their own. Even so, I pulled the cot behind me closer to his bed and sat down. “Why isn’t he waking up?”
“Give it time. We’ll just have to wait and see if it worked.” Niche lumbered toward me, then patted my shoulder.
I’d never seen them all so drained before. They’d given everything they had to save Tuck. As I sat there on the cot next to his, I took up his hand in mine and started at his face, waiting for his eyes to open. We’d given everything we had.
I could only hope it was enough to save him.
Chapter 3
Zinnia
It wasn’t enough.
The veil of hazy sleep I was under had barely lifted when a wave of cold fear hit me so hard I shot straight up in the cot. The drops of sweat that’d gathered on my chest ran under my shirt and down my stomach. I sucked in a deep breath and brushed my wild locks back from my face. A pained whimper drew my gaze down toward Tucker. His eyes darted behind his lids, and the muscles in his body were twitching with tension. Only a fraction of color had returned to his face after we’d tried to remove the hex. His black shirt was soaked and clinging to him.
I reached out and smoothed the strands of hair back from his face. “Tuck? Tuck, you’ve got to wake up.”
Wicked Hex (The Royals: Witch Court Book 3) Page 2