Wicked Hex (The Royals: Witch Court Book 3)

by Megan Montero

  “I bet.” Tears pricked at the back of my eyes, and I fought not to let them drop down my cheeks.

  Nova leaned forward and patted my hand. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, it’ll be fine. We’ll find the flower and we will save him.” I pressed my lips together, determined to do anything to save him…anything.

  “I know he was the first one of us you met. You guys have always had something special. We all know it. We’ll all do everything we can. He’s our leader, Zin. We’ll be there for him too.”

  “I know.” I brushed my hair out of my face. “Tell me more about the boiling river.” I needed a distraction before my emotions got the better of me.

  Nova smiled. “According to what my elders taught me, the spirit feeds the serpent in exchange for a peaceful afterlife.”

  “What do you mean he feeds it?” I didn’t like the sound of that at all.

  “It knocks animals and people into the water. It’s so hot that it instantly kills them.” She tucked a long strand of her white-blond hair behind her ear. “Then he brings them to the serpent so it can stay within its den. You know they say that particular serpent is a homebody. If it has to leave its nesting area…well, let’s just day vicious doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

  Note to self: don’t fall in or wake the evil sea snake.

  “That would explain why you could only get the flower here.” I turned around to see Hermes standing in the aisle. This time, he wore a brown one-piece jumper that cut off at his knees and was held together by a thick silver zipper that ran from below his stomach all the way up to his neck. He had a pair of goggles perched on top of his head. My mouth dropped open. Why was he standing here? He cleared his throat and continued. “Like I was saying, that flower can probably only grow on that particular river because it drinks boiling water and needs the steaming heat to survive.”

  “If you’re standing here, who’s flying the plane?” I leapt to my feet just as the plane started to drift downward. My body was thrown sideways. I stumbled and fell into one of the mahogany tables. I threw my arms out to catch myself, but it was too late. I hit my side on the corner of the table, then fell to the floor.

  My heart hammered in my chest as I rolled and sat up just in time to watch Hermes march toward the door in the cabin. He gave me a salute. “Happy landing.”

  Brax leapt up and reached for him. He wrapped his hand in the back of Hermes collar. “Matteaus said for us to get there alive.”

  Hermes twisted free of his grip and smiled. “I have no doubt you will.” He shoved Brax back, then wrapped his hand around the handle and yanked it, opening the door.

  Wind filled the cabin, sending my already wild hair to fly into my face. Those small black tattoos on his calves peeled away from his skin and started to flutter like wings on a humming bird. There was no way I was going to let him leave us like this. I gathered a ball of my silvery magic in my hands and threw it at his leg. Just before he leapt out of the door, it smacked into his leg, exploding one of those little wings in a puff of black feathers. I shoved to my feet and raced to the window to watch him plummet toward the ground as he spun in wild directions.

  Tabi grabbed on to my arm and yanked me around to meet her panicked face. “What should we do?”

  I glanced at all my friends as they all looked at me. This is what Tuck feels like every day. God, the pressure. I sucked in a deep breath, reaching for a calm I didn’t feel. “Does anyone know how to fly a plane?”

  They all stared at me blankly. Shit.

  “Okay.” I pressed my hand to my head. The plane dropped out from under us. My body flew up and smacked into the ceiling before hitting the ground again. I struggled up to my hands and knees and pointed toward the door. “That’s it! Beckett, make a platform.”

  “Where? It’s not big enough in here, and we’re going down.” He spun in a circle, and his eyes bulged out of his head.

  “Outside the door. We all jump, now.” I shot to my feet and grabbed Nova’s hand. “Let’s go.” I dragged her down the aisle behind me.

  The lights in the plane flashed, and the metal groaned and shook. “Becks, now.”

  He raced forward and made a blue ball of magic in his hands, he expanded it until it was a large flat disk. “He nodded at me, you ready?”

  “Ready.”

  He shoved it out the open door, and I raced forward with Nova behind me. We leapt out of the plane onto the thin blue disk. I smacked into it hard and dropped Nova’s hand. The surface was smooth like glass and hard as marble. I slid across it and off the edge. At the last second, I grabbed on with the tips of my fingers. My legs dangled thousands of feet in the air, and the wind whipped around me, knocking my body in all different directions. “Pull me up!”

  Just then, the plane arched and dove straight toward the ground. Two meaty hands wrapped around my wrist and yanked me back onto the platform. Brax held me up in front of him. “Don’t do that again, da?”

  Not like I wanted to hang thousands of feet off the side of a magical disk only seconds away from dropping to my death. I breathlessly nodded. “I won’t.”

  He pressed his lips into a thin line, then placed me on my feet next to Nova. There we were huddled together on a blue platform in the middle of the sky with gusting winds ready to knock us off. Though the sun was blinding above us, the harsh winds made it colder.

  Beckett stood off to the side, holding his hands out with his eyes closed tight. “What now?”

  When I opened my mouth to answer, I was cut off by the plane crashing into the side of a smaller mountain. It exploded into a ball of fire. Smoke billowed up from it in a cloud of what would’ve been our deaths. “Hermes,” I growled like a curse.

  “Yeah, but you hit him before he bailed on us.” Nova wrapped her arm around my shoulder and squeezed.

  “Wasn’t enough.” Not nearly enough. His name was on my shit list, and one day I’d make him pay.

  “Guys, don’t know how much longer I can hold five of us suspended in midair. We need a plan.” Sweat trickled down the sides of Beckett’s face, and his body quaked with the effort he was using to keep us afloat.

  Tabi moved to his side and wrapped her fingers in his hand. “Just ease up a bit and I can help you drift us down.”

  Tendrils of her magic seeped from her fingers in yellowy bands that flowed over the top of the platform and dropped off the edge. The wind stopped whipping from side to side and shot straight up. Tabi closed her eyes and held her hands out. “Okay, Beck. Let the wind steer us.”

  The second he did, I felt it. We went from standing on solid ground to shaking. I spread my footing and held my hands out to keep my balance. “You guys got this.”

  The platform vibrated and tilted slightly as we moved toward the ground. Fire caught on the trees surrounding the plane, and smoke covered the ground for miles. It mixed in with the steam from the forest. My heart sank. How would we know where to go now? We moved at a snail’s pace, all the while I looked around trying to figure out where exactly we were.

  Then something large smacked into the side of us, knocking the platform out from Tabi’s wind tunnel. We tilted like a seesaw, back and forth. “What was that?”

  Hermes threw one arm over the edge of the platform. “You messed with my wings. Bad idea, little girl.”

  “You tried to kill us.” I held my hands out for balance. The platform continued to waver as he repeatedly tried to throw his leg over the side and pull himself up.

  “This has to stop now,” Beckett growled.

  “I agree.” I took unsteady steps to get to Hermes.

  He smiled up at me. “I didn’t try to kill you. You’re here, aren’t you?” He reached his hand out to me. “Now help me up. Matteaus won’t like it if I tell him you shot me with magic and tried to kill me.”

  “Tried to kill you?” I narrowed my eyes at him and squatted down. “You left five teenagers in a plane to crash and die.”

  “I knew you’d live.” He shook his hand a
t me. “Grab it.”

  “Oh, I’m not worried about you, Hermes. I know you’ll live.” I kicked my leg out and connected with his chin, sending him flying back off the edge of the platform.

  “Zinnia, no!” Nova raced up beside me. “You didn’t.”

  “Everyone stop moving now!” Beckett yelled at the top of his lungs. His hands shook, and his eyes flashed wide open. “Oh, crap.”

  The magical platform disappeared beneath our feet. My stomach rose up into my chest, and we all plummeted.

  Chapter 7

  Nova

  “Is everyone okay?” I could barely catch my breath as the branch I was draped over dug into my stomach. My hair fell in a curtain over my face, blinding me to my surroundings. The smell of damp earth, leaves and woods filled my senses. The sound of a waterfall filled the air with a peaceful hum. Beads of sweat gathered on my skin. My gloves stuck to me in ways no clothing should stick, yet I couldn’t take them off.

  “Ughhhh, everything hurts.”

  I pressed up on the branch and shoved my hair from my face. “Zinnia?”

  “Yeah, it’s me.” Her voice sounded strained, like she too was tangled up.

  “Where are you?” I twisted my head around, looking in every direction on the ground.

  The branches over my head rustled. “I’m above you.”

  “Damn it.” I swung one of my legs over the limb and slowly twisted until I was straddling it. The bark scratched into the tops of my arms. “That’s better.”

  “Speak for yourself.”

  I titled my head back and back and back. There was Zinnia hanging upside down with her foot caught in a vine. Her arms dangled down beside her midnight hair.

  “Oh my god, hold on, Zin.” I glanced around and tried to scramble to my feet. I swung my legs back and pushed up while holding myself with my arms. Slowly, I came to a stand like a tightrope walker with my arms out.

  “Are you crazy? You can’t walk across a tree branch.” She jostled around. A scream broke past her lips as she dropped ten feet before she yanked to a stop.

  “Stop moving!” I held my hand up.

  “Okay, okay,” she whispered. She held her arms stiffly. “I’m not moving.”

  “Zinnia!” Beckett came to a skidding halt below the tree, followed by Brax and Tabi. They were covered in dirt and a little scratched up, but all were alive and well.

  A smile spread across my face. “Becks! Oh, thank the Creator.”

  Zinnia swung her head around. Her midnight locks swirled in a tangled mess. “Becks, is that you?”

  “Stop moving, Zin. Just stop!” He glanced around them and shoved Brax right underneath her. “Stay here.”

  “Screw this. I’m coming down. Brax, get ready.” Zinnia summoned her blade to her hand. The brilliant white light shined in her palm for only a moment, then the rounded blade formed in her hand. She wrapped her fingers around the straight end that connected the whole thing.

  My hands shook as I tiptoed across the thick branch. “No, don’t.”

  She swung her body up and swiped at the vine around her ankle. She severed only half of the thick green vine. “Damn.” She swung up again. This time, the blade went clear through and she dropped thirty feet down toward Brax’s waiting arms.

  He ran forward with his arms extended. I held my breath as she fell into him. A painful groan escaped his lips as he fell backwards with her in his grasp. They hit the ground in a twist of limbs.

  I squatted down on the branch and waited for them both to get up. Zinnia was the first to pop to her feet and brush off her hands. I cupped my hands around my mouth. “Are you insane? You could’ve died.”

  She shook her head. “We’re wasting time.”

  “Says the girl who kicked a Greek supernatural in the face. I don’t think you’re in the right mindset at the moment.” It was true. Ever since Tuck was hexed, Zinnia had been getting closer and closer to crazy town. All my life I’d been a Queen, the strongest one within the death cast, and yet I had no real connections to anyone. But ever since our last mission when Zinnia saved me from the pitfalls of my own powers, we were growing closer. I’d be damned if I lost the nearest thing I had to a best friend.

  A shimmering pool of blue magic appeared next to me. Beckett strolled through it right onto the branch next to me. I’d always been taken with his good looks. Not that I liked him, but he was gorgeous in a hot surfer with a darker edge kind of way. His ocean-blue eyes nearly matched his portal, and his dirty-blond hair was a wavy mess that fell around his tan skin. “Yeah, and if she only waited a second longer I could’ve just portalled her down instead of taking unnecessary chances.”

  I nodded my head. “That’s right.”

  “Gee, Mom and Dad, are you going to ground me now?” Zinnia stomped her foot. “Now get down here. We have to get moving!”

  Beckett extended his hand out toward me. “Shall we go?”

  I tugged my gloves higher up my arms, ensuring they were in place before I touched him. I shivered to think what would happen if I even brushed his skin against mine. “Yes, let’s.”

  I followed him through his portal. One moment I was wobbling on a branch, the next I was drifting through his pool of magic. It was one of the more violent portals I’d been through, where I felt like I was being yanked and pulled in harsh directions and spinning in rapid circles before I stepped out on the other side. I teetered on my feet for only a moment, then I found my footing on the leaf-covered ground.

  Zinnia paced back and forth in front of me. She ran her hands through her wild windblown hair, muttering to herself. “How are we going to find the flower now? No plane, no plan, no direction to go in. Damn it, Zin. Think.” She pressed her hands to her temples, looking like she was trying to hold her emotions in.

  Through this whole thing, I felt there was something more going on between her and Tuck. We all wanted to save him, but Zinnia was on the razor’s edge of going insane while trying. “Calm down. It’ll be okay.”

  She spun on her heels and faced off against me. “How exactly will it be okay?” Her sapphire eyes were wide with terror. “He is waiting for us. We’ve already wasted hours. Hours of time he’s on the verge of losing.”

  I reached out and placed my hand on her shoulder. “He is strong. I felt it. Now we have to be too.”

  Unshed tears swam in her eyes. “How are we going to find that flower now? We don’t even know where the boiling river is, or where the flower is along it.”

  Then it hit me. For years I’d seen Niche use one of the oldest witching techniques known and for years I’d never tried it. I reached out my hand toward Brax. “I need your pack now.”

  Without hesitation, he handed it over to me. The moment he let go, I tipped forward and the pack dragged my arm down to the ground. I narrowed my eyes at him. “Really?”

  “You asked for it.” Brax, our gentle giant, was hulking and massive. I should’ve known better, but I was too focused on what we needed. I squatted down and began unzipping the pack. All around me, leaves rustled. Whether it was wild animals or just the wind, I didn’t know. I opened my senses, wanting to know exactly what we were up against. The sheer amount of souls surrounding us was overwhelming. I froze. “No one make any sudden movements.”

  Zinnia looked over her shoulder. “Why. What’s happening?”

  “We are surrounded by a lot of animals, some curious, some waiting to see who will be the first to die.” To my left, a large snake slithered across the ground. Sensing a predator, it kept on moving. Up in the trees all around us, monkeys waited to steal something from us. They too held off, sensing a powerful animal.

  “Brax, they’re scared of you.” I motioned to our audience. When he pursed his lips and crossed his arms over his chest, I shrugged. “What?”

  “I’m tired of furry creatures being scared of me.” He kicked at a stone on the ground.

  “Well, this time it’s going to keep us from being hunted by some big game, so if you could please just shif
t?” I dipped my hand into the pack, searching for what I needed.

  “Maybe I don’t want to shift. Maybe I want them to like me.” Tiger stripes spread across his neck and up his arms. His teeth extended into lengthy fangs.

  “Oh, for the love…” Zinnia jabbed a finger into his chest. “You change now. We’re not here to make friends with all the poisonous creatures of the Amazon.” Then she swung her finger around toward me. “And you find what we need so we can go.”

  I tilted my head to the side. “Patience is a virtue.”

  “One I don’t have right now.” She grabbed the bag from my hands and dumped its contents onto the ground at her feet. “What are we looking for?”

  I rolled my eyes. “You know, sometimes it’s hard to like a bossy pants, and I’m looking for a pendulum.”

  “Good thing I’m not worried if I’m liked right now.” She dropped down to her knees and started rummaging through all the things Niche had packed for us.

  Fur sprung from Brax’s body and dropped to the ground. He turned into a tiger the size of a small car. He growled at Zinnia and swiped a paw at her. She spared him only a second glance. “Good kitty.”

  Again, he growled. All my life I’d been able to feel the emotions of animals. Not that I could hear them, but I could feel what they felt. And when shifters were in their animal form, the same applied, so when he turned toward me practically projecting his emotions, I couldn’t stop from snickering. “He said two words. One of them started with an F. I’ll give you one guess what the other was…”

  “Good thing I don’t speak kitten.” She looked him in the eye. “I need you to protect us, and you’re better at that in this form for now.”

  Beckett loomed over her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll get back to Tuck. You don’t have to be so harsh.”

  She shrugged him off. “I’m not being harsh. I’m telling the truth. We don’t have time to stand here and debate this.”

  She didn’t even look up at him. She just kept her eyes on the pile in front of us. Her hand darted out and snatched at something on the ground. “Found it.” She held it out toward me. “Okay, do it.”