“I know what the hex is.”
My heart went from zero to sixty with that one sentence. I sucked in a breath and turned to face her. “What is it?”
“It’s complicated.” She moved to stand in front of me and wrapped one of her hands around mine.
“What’s happening to him? How do we save him? I can’t take much more of this.” I pulled my hand free from hers and returned to petting Kumi’s side, finding comfort in the rhythm of it.
“Zinnia, there is only one way I know of to save him.” She looked down at the ground, and her face paled. She swallowed hard, then looked back up at me. “You have to die.”
Chapter 32
Nova
“How long has he been like that?”
Beckett rubbed at his eyes and yawned. “Since last night.”
Tuck sat facing the corner of the cell with his back toward where Beckett and I sat. He was in his full phoenix form with his wings held tight to his body and his head pressed to the wall. Long crimson feathers jutted out from is tail and lay across the floor in a beautiful array of red hues. A small flame burned on the very last feather at the end of his tail. It flickered from red to black and back again. I knew he was struggling to fight against his curse. Every once in a while he’d shudder from head to toe and the flames in his tail would nearly go out. Yet he refused to turn around to face us.
Beckett leaned in closer to me and spoke under his breath. “He hasn’t eaten or drank anything since last night. He just keeps sitting there shuddering in pain.”
“What set him off?” I looked at his twitching feathers and listened to the pained grunts he couldn’t hold back.
“He asked me if he hurt Zin.” Beckett stabbed his hands through his beach blond hair. “And I told him the truth. It’s all my fault.”
I wrapped my arm around his shoulder. “How could you have known this would happen?”
He shook his head, and the bench creaked under the weight of our movements. “I didn’t.” He leaned forward and called out to Tuck. “Tuck, come on, man. You have to at least drink something. You can’t live like this.”
I stared at Tuck’s back, reading his soul. The desperation, the pain and the overwhelming sadness that were with in him were suffocating. I squeezed Beckett’s shoulder. “That’s just it.”
Beckett turned his head and met my eye. “What’s it?”
“Maybe he doesn’t want to live…”
Chapter 33
Zinnia
“What do you mean I have to die?” I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned up against one of the walls. Kumi rumbled a low growl. She’s lying. She just wants you dead. The little traitor.
I want to hear what she has to say. Wait for me back on the beach. I’ll be there soon.
No, you need me to stay. Kumi sat like a dog in training, planting herself at my side.
I’m not making any decisions right now, and I need a second to think. I gave her a pat on the shoulder, and she walked away with her nine tails swishing.
“Now back to me dying.” Maybe it was true, I was going to die. This was the second person to tell me in two days it was my time to go.
Ophelia shook her head. “No, you don’t have to die. Well, I mean, you kind of do if you want to save Tuck. But only for a little while.”
I held my hand up. “That makes no sense at all.”
“Look, I’ve only seen dad use this hex one other time before, and it really drained him. I didn’t think he’d do it to you. But I was so wrong because all the signs are there, and I should’ve seen in sooner. But I didn’t, and I—”
“O, breath and explain. You’re babbling.” I grabbed her shoulders and held her still.
“The hex, it’s a curse really. Tuck either has to kill you to lift it or…” She looked up at me with eyes so wide I could see my own reflection in them.
“Or?” I was hanging on her every word. I had to know exactly what I was up against.
“Or he’ll be driven to madness and eventually he will kill himself from it.”
I dropped my hands from her shoulders. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I have an idea. It’s a bad idea but an idea nonetheless.” A half-smile pulled at her lips, and in that moment, I didn’t trust her. Not one bit. Yes, she’d been good for the past few days. But that didn’t mean I trusted her with our lives.
I put my hands on my hips. “Tell me your idea.”
“Have you ever heard of the potion Sleeping Death?” I had no clue what she was talking about, but is sounded as dangerous as ever.
I shook my head. “No, never.”
“Basically, you drink the potion and it’ll give your body the illusion of death.”
“The illusion? How would that even work? You can’t just pretend to kill me and think the hex will lift. I actually have to be dead.” A shiver ran over my body, and I didn’t know if it was from the cold dungeon or the fear I felt at the prospect of actually considering this.
Ophelia bit her bottom lip and looked up at me from under her lashes. “Well, you would actually be dead. Technically speaking.”
“O, would I die or not? Stop messing around and give me details exactly how this would work.” I was only ten feet from Tuck’s cell and needed to go see him.
“It would first put you into a sleep-like trance, then your body would cool, and eventually your heart would stop.” She stepped to the side to let me pass by. “But it’s temporary, and only lasts for ten minutes. Which would be long enough for the hex to leave Tuck’s body forever.”
I trudged toward the room where his cell was. “How do you know it’ll work? I mean, has it ever been done before?”
Ophelia shook her head and shot her arm out in front of me, stopping me from turning the corner into where Tuck was being kept. “Look, I get that you don’t trust me yet, but I am telling you Tuck doesn’t have much longer until he’s completely crazed. I’ve been wracking my brain trying to think of ways to help you, and in theory, this will work and it’s the best you’ve got. I’ve spent all night in the potions lab with Cross perfecting this.”
“Hold up, you already made a potion to hypothetically kill me?” Anger flared in my chest. I hadn’t agreed to this, not even close, and she was already trying to kill me.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m just trying to help you.” She dropped her arm out of my way. “I’m doing more than anyone else.”
“Yeah, plotting to kill me is doing a lot. You and Cross, the two people who just happen to show up at school at the same time that all this goes down. The two people who have fathers in very powerful positions across enemy lines—”
Ophelia leaned in and hissed, “Let’s not forget who your father is too. That makes you my sister, and I’m sorry, but I don’t want to see my sister die or lose her soulmate. If that makes me a bad person, then so be it. At least I have a solution. What have you got?”
I sucked in a shocked breath and whispered, “Who said he was my soulmate?”
“Oh, please, like it isn’t obvious.” Ophelia rolled her eyes. “You wanted an option, I gave you one. Whether you use it or not is up to you.” She waved me past her and into Tuck’s cell.
I froze for a moment. What if what she said was true? She wanted to help save her sister, her family? Or was she just that good at playing the innocent friend? I was torn and didn’t know which way to go or what to do. All I knew was I had to see Tuck with my own two eyes and make sure he was okay.
I rounded the corner and pushed through the outer door and walked into the room where Tuck’s cell stood. In the corner sat Tuck in his phoenix form, his back to us, and he rested his head against the wall. Beckett and Nova jumped to their feet when I walked in.
I motioned to Tuck. “What’s this?”
“He’s been like this since he woke up yesterday.” Beckett looked like total crap. His eyes were glassed over and blood shot. He pressed his hand to his mouth and stifled a yawn.
I made a move
to step closer to the cell, and Beckett’s arm shot up, stopping me. “I wouldn’t if I were you.”
I looked down at his arm and back up at him. Why was everyone treating me with kid gloves? I’d survived worse than a gash and some bruises I’d gotten when taking on Tuck. “What, why not?”
“Because when I told him about what happened, he had a breakdown of shorts.” Beckett narrowed his eyes at Nova and shook his head, and Nova pressed her lips together, saying nothing.
I shoved his arm away. “What aren’t you guys telling me?”
“He grabbed his head and started screaming and shaking before he exploded into a ball of fire and came out like that.” He pointed at Tucker. “He hasn’t moved since.”
“I can tell he’s in pain. Every once in a while, he moans and twitches.” Nova shook her head. “I don’t know what else we can do for him. It’s like he’s trapped in his own mind.”
I glanced over my shoulder to where Ophelia leaned up against the wall by the door. She didn’t look up, just wrapped her arms around herself and shook her head. If I had to choose between Tuck and myself, it would be him all the time. I called out, “Tuck?”
The phoenix’s back stiffened, and he turned his head to the side. Though he was in his bird form, I would know those honey eyes anywhere. “Tuck, it’s me. Please, please just talk to me.”
The phoenix leapt to the side, transforming from bird to man. In an instant, Tuck stood at the back of his cell. His face crumbled in anguish, and he pressed his hand over his bare stomach. “I’m so sorry I hurt you.”
I shook my head and took a step toward the cell. “You didn’t hurt me.”
He squatted down and wrapped his hands around his knees. “Don’t lie to me.” He pressed his finger to his temple so hard his arm shook. “I see it here in my mind. Over and over again. I see the cut on your neck and oh god, are those my finger prints?”
“Look at me. I’m fine.” I pulled my collar higher trying to hide how close he came to killing me.
He rocked back and forth while poking himself in the temple. “I see it. It doesn’t stop.” He stabbed his hands in his hair and let his head fall onto his knees. He started murmuring to himself, “Destroy that which you hold as your dearest mate.” The words flowed out of his mouth until it blended into one long sentence and his eyes went vacant.
“Tuck, stop. I’m here. I’m fine.” I moved even closer to the cell bars.
Tuck shot to his feet and ran at the bars. His body slammed into them at full force, and he smacked his head as he reached out for me. “Come here, come here. Destroy that which you hold as your dearest mate.” His words were frantic, like a zombie going for the kill in a horror movie.
A line of blood trickled down from where he hit his forehead. Beckett wound his hand round my arm and yanked me back a few feet. “Maybe you should leave.”
“You want me to leave him like this?” I shook my head. “No, I can’t.”
“What else can we do?” Beckett stepped in front of me and held his hands at the ready. All the while, Tuck rammed his body into the bars again and again, reaching out from me.
Grayson raced into the room and took one look at Tuck and gave a low whistle. “What rabid dog bit his ass?”
“Shut up, Grayson.” I turned and faced Ophelia. “I know exactly what we’re going to do. O, go get that potion.”
Chapter 34
Nova
“You can’t seriously be considering this. Not after I told you what I saw,” I said even while I carried one end of a heavy cot out of a cell down the hall from Tuck’s and Zinnia carried the other end.
“What choice do I have?” As we turned the corner and shoved the cot through the door, Zinnia remained resolved.
“For starters, Ophelia will kill you the first chance she gets, and right now you are just lining up for it. Like a cow to the slaughter. How do you know this wasn’t Alataris’ plan the whole time? Come on, think about it. Her showing up here, with the flower and being so cool and so fun. It could all be an act.” I slammed the cot down outside Tuck’s cell.
“Just so you know, I heard everything you said,” Ophelia snapped as she walked into the room behind us with a vial of dark purple liquid in her hand. “And for the record, I’m not going to kill her.” She looked down at the potion. “Well, not so she stays dead.”
“I’m through debating this. Look at him.” Zinnia motioned toward Tuck, who paced the cell like a lion in a cage. Every so often he’d smack himself in the head and mutter that line or he’d turn and hiss in Zinnia’s direction.
“Well, don’t you think we should at least wait for the rest of the crew to be here? I’m sure they’d have something to say about this, don’t you?” I was stalling. I knew this was an epically bad idea, but at the same time I could see the logic in it, especially if it actually worked.
“Niche will stop this for sure, and the others will try to as well. I can’t risk that happening. So whoever is in this room either stays here for the long haul or you need to leave, because either way this is happening.” Zinnia plopped down on the cot and swung her legs up on the end of it. She held her hand out to Ophelia. “Give it to me.”
I stepped forward. “Wait, just a second. How is this supposed to work?”
Ophelia handed Zinnia the vial. “Once she drinks it, she will fall into a death-like sleep. Her breathing will slow and then her heart will stop.”
“For how long? I mean, can’t she get internal damage from that?” I didn’t want Zinnia to do this, I really didn’t. And I would try to convince her not to. “It’s just so risky.”
Ophelia shook her head. “Not really. The magic will protect her organs. In ten minutes, she’ll wake up as if nothing ever happened.”
“I don’t like it.” Grayson crouched down by Zinnia’s head. “It seems too good to be true. And you know what they say. If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s a bloody duck. She could kill you here and now.”
Zinnia pulled the top of the cork from the vial. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
Chapter 35
Beckett
“Beckett, time me.”
Grayson shot to his feet and moved to stand beside me. “I can’t believe you’re going along with this.”
“I’m not.” I narrowed my eyes at Ophelia. “If this doesn’t work, I’ll kill you myself. You’ve seen my power. You know I can do it.”
“Relax yourself, Malibu Ken. It’s going to work.” Ophelia moved to the foot of the cot and patted Zinnia’s leg. “I’m here for you.”
Zinnia nodded up at her and held the vial to her lips and tipped it back. The purple potion slid down her throat, and Zinnia fell back on the cot and dropped the vial on the ground. It shattered to pieces. I hit the timer on my watch. I kept my eyes locked on her. Her skin paled, and her lips turned a sickly blue. “Is it supposed to work that fast?”
Ophelia’s mouth dropped open, and her eyes bugged out of her head. “I-I don’t know.”
Nova wrapped her hand around Ophelia’s upper arm and shook her. “What do you mean you don’t know?”
Her head bobbed back and forth on her shoulders. “I mean, how could I know? I’ve never tested it before.”
“Oh, shit.” I bent down and grabbed Zinnia’s wrist and checked her slowing pulse. Her breaths became slower and slower until the last one whooshed out from between her lips and she grew so still.
Nova dropped O’s arm and started pacing. Tears streaked down her face, and she pressed her hand to her mouth. “Oh god, I knew this was a bad idea.” A sob broke past her lips, and she shook her head. Her shoulders bounced with each sob that left her. Her tears didn’t stop, and she fell to her knees beside Zinnia’s bed. Tucker fell like a brick on the floor of his cell. He flopped onto his back and lay there spread out like a starfish.
I looked down at my watch. “Five minutes.”
Tucker’s veins turned black under his pale skin, and his body convulsed. Beads of black sweat
lifted up from his skin, like rain in reverse, until it gathered into a cloud over his chest. His eyes flashed wide open just as the cloud disappeared.
“Three minutes.” My arms sook, and I couldn’t take my eyes from Zinnia’s too still body.
“Oh god, Zinnia.” Tucker shot to his feet and banged on the bars. “Let me out. Let me out now.”
Grayson raced over to the cell and yanked the metal frame open. Tuck rushed out and scrambled to the other side of Zinnia’s bed. He gathered her hand in his. “What the hell happened? She’s ice cold.”
“She killed herself.” Nova sobbed. “For you.”
“No, she didn’t!” Ophelia stomped her foot. “It’s just a spell. She’ll wake up any minute now.” Her voice wavered, and she didn’t sound as confident as she had when this all started.
Tucker’s eyes widened, and he wrapped his arms around her shoulder and hugged her to his chest, rocking her limp body. “Wake up, baby. Wake up.”
I glance down at my watch. A sheen of nervous sweat cover my body. “Two minutes.”
Tucker pulled her closer, and tears poured down his face. “No! No, you can’t die. Not now, not when we’ve gotten so far.”
I met Ophelia’s panicked gaze. “She better wake up or it’s your neck.”
“She’ll wake. Come on, Zin. My ass is riding on this.” Ophelia bounced from one foot to the other.
“Thirty seconds.” My throat was thick, and I tried to swallow around it.
Tucker held Zinnia with one arm, and with the other hand he reached up then brushed her wild midnight locks from her pale face. “Don’t leave me. Please,” he pleaded. “Come on, breathe, Zin. Just a small breath.”
I stared down at her still chest, willing it to move, willing her to wake from this fatal mistake. I glanced down at my watch. Five… four… three…She didn’t move…two…Ophelia betrayed us all…one. I dropped to my knees.
Wicked Hex (The Royals: Witch Court Book 3) Page 17