Witches rushed around the cots, binding wounds with thick white bandages and administering potions to heal those who were injured in the attack. The worst part wasn’t the blood or gaping wounds. It was looking at the faces of the small children who sat next to their unconscious parents that killed me. They shouldn’t have to endure this, not while I was a Knight.
Zinnia pressed her hand to my forearm. “Tuck, we have to go to Grayson.”
When did I stop moving? “Right, okay.”
She nodded and followed behind Niche toward the portal. Niche called over her shoulder. “We have to get him to the school. They can do nothing for him here.”
Zinnia quickened her pace. “He’ll be okay. He has to be.”
Everything about Zinnia was perfection, from her wild midnight hair down to her beat-up combat boots. It was more than the mark on my wrist, the soulmate mark which I lied to her about, that drew me to her. If Niche ever found out Zinnia and I were bonded together, she’d have to send me away from her. I’d lose everything I’d worked all my life for. I’d trained to become a Knight to save Evermore. Looking around Hexia, I knew they needed me now more than ever. But as much as Evermore needed me was as much as I needed to be near Zinnia.
Niche came to a shimmering doorway that looked like a blue pool standing on its side. She ran to stand beside it and waved us through. Zinnia hesitated just short of the portal looking up at me with wide eyes.
I came up beside her. “What’s wrong?”
She didn’t look at me, just stared at the opening. “I’ve, um, never seen anyone pass away before.”
I placed my hand on her shoulder. “And you won’t today.”
When she peeked up at me from under her thick dark eyelashes, her sapphire eyes sparkled with hope. “But Niche said —”
“That he was dying, not that he was dead.” I reached forward and wrapped my hand around hers then gave it a small squeeze. “So now we stop it.”
Her eyes widened. “Stop death? I’ve heard of people get brought back from the brink of death all the time. But what can I do?”
“Yes, they do.” I dropped her hand then waved her through and whispered, “And together we can do anything.”
She stiffened beside me, seeming shocked by my words. When she peeked up at me once more, a spark of hope twinkled in her eyes and her lips pulled up in a smile for only a second. She threw back her shoulders and stepped through.
I followed right behind her. I’d ventured into all different kinds of portals some were like stepping through a door and others were jarring, dizzying and violent. This one was the ladder, my body spun and twisted in all different directions feeling like it was going to be pulled apart and put back together all at the same time. Just in front of me I could see Zinnia’s arms and legs flailing. Her dark hair streamed out behind her and then she disappeared through a pin prick of light. Before it became too much, I dropped closer and closer to the exit. When I stepped through on the other side I sucked in a shocked breath.
There in all his fallen glory stood Matteaus leaning up against the wall opposite me. His black wings were spread out against the stone wall taking up at least fourteen feet maybe more. He pressed a small cherry apple to his lips then with one bite he ate half of it. When he tilted his head back and looked down his nose at me a half smile tugged at his lips. “You look like crap.”
“I feel like crap.” I shrugged and moved to stand next to Zinnia who had yet to speak.
“So, you guys did get attacked by Alataris?” He said it so casually like he were asking if it was raining. Another bite, this time juice sprayed over his fingers.
“Yeah.” I put my hands on my hips waiting to see if we were done talking or not.
“Any injuries?” Again, he didn’t move from where he leaned so relaxed, so casual.
“Grayson Shade is on his way back, so we can get him to the infirmary.”
Matteaus shoved from the wall. “Grayson Shade the vampire from the House of Shade?” He rolled his eyes. “You kids never make this easy on me, do ya?”
Zinnia’s head snapped up. “What do you mean?”
“Never you mind that. Tuck, you make sure that baby vamp is okay otherwise you’ll be coming with me to The House of Shade to talk to that family. And trust me, you do not want to do that.”
“Why not?” I glanced over my shoulder to look at the portal, at any moment Beckett and Brax would come through with Grayson in tow.
“Would you want to deal with an elite force of vampire…” He sucked in a breath and shook his head. “Never mind, just see to it that he gets better.”
As the leader of the Knights and queens it was my job to protect them all, I knew it, he knew it. But I guess he needed to hear the words out loud. “I’ll see to it. Did the other queens make it back?”
Matteaus nodded. “Came in about ten minutes ago. I sent them to their dorms to rest.”
Before I could say anything, Beckett walked from the portal. His arms were straight down at his sides and his hands were wrapped around two wooden handles. I spun and backed up against the stone wall. Beckett met my eye and shook is head. “It’s not good.”
As he kept moving forward the gurney stretched on with a thick canvas wrapped around each of the wooden handles. Gray lay on top of it unconscious and covered in injuries I couldn’t wrap my mind around. Beckett kept walking until Brax came through holding the other side.
Behind Brax Ashryn stumbled forward looking more exhausted than ever. Her sandy brown hair fell into her sweat soaked face. Dark purple circles hung heavy below her forest green eyes. She had Adrienne’s arm draped over her shoulder, with one hand she held on to that arm and wrapped her other arm around Adrienne’s waist practically carrying her.
A few days ago, Adrienne had tried to take the place of the fifth witch cast to help Zinnia during her ascension, it hadn’t gone well, and she was still recovering. I rushed forward with my hands out about to take Adrienne’s other arm when Ashryn stopped me. “She’s just tired. I’ve got this. Help Gray.”
Niche stomped through the portal, her back was ramrod straight and her hair fanned out in all directions. She motioned for me to get moving. “Go just go.”
The moment Zinnia got a glimpse of Gray, she rushed to his side. Even I had to admit he looked awful. His normally pale skin held a sickly yellow color. Sweat soaked from his forehead into his hair, making his chocolate locks look matted, not his normal perfectly slicked-back style. Even the color had leeched from his lips completely. The bandages around his torso were soaked in crimson. The stain slowly spread out from his chest and down toward the gurney. The sheets beneath him were caked in dried blood, indicating this wasn’t the first time he’d bled out.
With Zinnia on one side and me on the other we hustled up the stairs from the basement of the Academy. The moment we were in the main corridor the other students stopped in their tracks to watch our little injured parade. I waved my arm. “Move aside.”
They parted and pressed themselves against both sides of the hallway. The hallways were dim in the early evening. In Hexia it’d be after midnight, but here it was only about six and the halls were packed. Behind me I heard Matteaus snap at Niche. “Really Niche? This vampire. Do you have any idea the wrath—”
“I’m well aware. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a student to save.”
“Did you just dismiss me?” His voice was deep and astonished.
“Indeed.” Her heels clicked on the cobblestone floor with each step she took. But I no longer heard Matteaus’ thundering footfalls accompanying hers.
Over head tiny pixies buzzed around. They were no bigger than my thumb and looked completely unassuming, cute even. With long white hair and childlike faces, it was hard not to fall for them. But they had a nasty tendency to bite, even worse than that. They loved to gossip and carry messages from student to student. Even now, I heard each of them whispering about Grayson Shade being on the verge of death.
I glanced over my sho
ulder to see Matteaus swatting at them like gnats. “Not another bloody word about this to anyone.” His voice boomed down the hall. “Gossip mongers!”
If I wasn’t so worried about Gray I would’ve laughed. We turned down the hall and a white swinging door came into view. Beckett planted his boot in the middle of it and kicked it wide open. On both sides of the long rectangular room sat cots. The harsh over-head lighting reflected off of the white marble floors. At the back of the room sat a single desk with an older man behind it.
Round tortoiseshell glasses sat in the middle of his hook nose. His mouth rounded into a shocked O when he saw the group of us flooding into the room. He quickly shot to his feet and came from around his desk to meet us in the middle of the room. He motioned to the cot beside him. “Put him down here.”
Beckett and Brax quickly laid him out on the white sheets. Then stepped away. I’d never seen them both so shaken. Becket held his hands folded in front of him. Brax, our gentle giant, shifted from one foot to the other running his hand back and forth over his crew cut hair. Zinnia moved to stand beside the bed her eyes were round with shock and her pale skin was ghost like.
Niche pushed to the front of us all and addressed the doctor . “I am Niche and this is—"
“I know who you are, Mentor to the Witch Court.” His eyes ran over us. “I know who you all are.”
“Very well.” Niche shucked in a breath. “What we need—”
“I beg your pardon what I need to treat this young vampire is for all of you to leave.” He walked up next to Grayson and bent over him then pressed his hand to Gray’s forehead.
Niche glanced from the doctor to the rest of us and back again. “Everyone back to their dorms to rest, we will be in contact shortly.”
I turned to walk out the door but before I could make it even one step Niche called, “Not you Tuck.”
Chapter 3
Tucker
The doctor straightened his stance. “Everyone and I meant everyone.”
“I appreciate the position you’re in.” Niche put her hands on her hips. “But get to work now, Doc. We are staying.”
“Very well. And it’s Doctor Thermomopolishe.”
“Right, Doc it is.” Niche hovered over his shoulder as he examined Grayson. Zinnia rose and walked to the other side of the room to give them privacy, I turned and followed her.
“Tuck, do you think.” Her voice grew thick, she cleared her throat. “Do you think, he’ll be alright?”
I’d lied to her about so many things already I didn’t want to lie to her about this. “I honestly don’t know.”
The Doctor lifted the bandages from Gray’s torso and reached inside probing them. He lifted his other hand and snapped his fingers. Bottles, fresh bandages, and medical equipment floated across the room toward the doctor . One by one he plucked the necessary equipment from the air as if his magic was a surgical nurse.
Gray’s eyes shot wide open and his whole body curled in on itself. A scream broke past his lips. The doctor shook his head then dropped the bandages back into place and pulled Niche away into the far corner of the room. They whispered hurried words to one another.
Zinnia moved closer to me and placed her hand on my arm. Electricity shot through my body. I sucked in a deep breath trying to calm my racing heart. Her sweet vanilla scent surrounded me. “What do you think they’re saying?”
“I’m not sure.” We’d both been through so much over the past few days and at this point I’d had enough. I stormed over to his bed and waved Niche forward. “Why is he still bleeding like that?”
The doctor stepped up beside her. His pink cheeks were oily, as if he’d been standing there all night sweating. The lights reflected off of his bald head. “We can’t stop the bleeding. This is some kind of old siren magic I haven’t seen before. It’s very dark. His skin won’t mend together the way a vampire's should. According to Niche the healers at Hexia were trying for quite some time. They are among the best in the world.”
Zinnia grabbed up Grayson’s hand and held it between hers. “Alataris.” She growled his name like a curse.
I knew she and I were thinking the same thing. There was no way a siren on her own could do this to Gray, but with the help of Alataris’ black magic, anything was possible. “It was him.”
Zinnia squeezed his hand. “Gray, can you hear me?”
He peeked open his eyes. “Hello, love.” His voice came out a weak low whisper.
“How you holding up?” When she looked down at him, her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
“Oh, it’s not all that bad really.” This was the thickest I’d ever heard his British accent. A rattling cough broke past his lips. Drops of blood sprayed from his mouth. “Don’t look at me like that. Been in worst spots than this. I’ll be right as rain, just you see.”
I motioned toward his bed. “He needs more blood. At the rate he’s losing it, we’ve got to replenish him.”
The doctor nodded. “Yes, Niche said they have been, but they were running out and he’s still not healing. I have some here and I will give it to him. Whether or not it helps only time will tell.”
Only time will tell? Not good enough. “Do we even have time?”
“That I can’t tell you.” He shifted from one foot to the other.
When I started this journey at the trials, I knew it was possible for one or all of us to die. But I hadn’t suspected Gray to be the first one to go. Now, standing here before him as he knocked on death’s door, I knew I couldn’t lose one from my crew, not a single witch or Knight. This cycle had to be different from all the others before us. For a millennium, five Witch Queens would rise from the five witch casts to fight against Alataris. The Knights of Evermore would join them in their battle. Each one was marked by fate. For a millennium, they’d lost, and each time the cycle would start again. Doomed to be repeated until one day Alataris’ tyrannical rule came to an end. This time would be different.
I stepped forward to stand at the foot of his bed, determined to see him healed. I wouldn’t lose Gray or anyone else. “Then use magic.” I jabbed my finger in his direction. “Heal him!”
The doctor wavered from head to toe. His deep purple coat rippled with each of his movements. “They have been using magic. B-but it’s not strong enough to heal wounds of this nature.”
I gritted my teeth. “Then get me another healer who can.”
The doctor swallowed and took a step back. His eyes bulged out of his head. “Mr. Brand this is a school you can’t just order the staff around like this.”
“Watch me.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
A soft chuckle drifted up from Grayson. “Don’t bark at him, Tuck. You’ll scaring the poor bloke.”
Zinnia arched an eyebrow at me, then gave me a half-smile. “I think he already has.”
Heat flooded my cheeks. I cleared my throat and glanced toward the doctor . “Sorry, Doc.”
He adjusted his glasses. “It’s not a problem.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back on my heels. “There has to be something we can do. He’s a leech for god sake. Give him a ton of blood and he should heal up.”
“Oh, I think the tweetie bird would miss me if I bit it.” Gray’s eyes drifted closed for a long moment before he opened them again and gave me a wilted smile.
“We have tried. Nothing is strong enough to fight off this magic.” The doctor pulled a folded cloth from inside his robes and dabbed it across Grayson’s sweat-soaked forehead.
“Nothing but me.” Zinnia whispered.
I froze on the spot. “What’d you say?”
“He should drink my blood. I have the most magic, and it could fight against Alataris’ hold.” She held her wrist out over Grayson’s mouth. “Drink me.”
I threw my hands out. “Hey whoa, wait just a sec. You don’t know if that’s going to help him. The magic from the old siphon stone could very well be too powerful.”
Grayson barely held his hand up. “W
ait a minute. I’m not biting her wrist.”
“You’re right.” Zinnia threw her hair over her shoulder, exposing her neck. “It’ll be faster this way.”
They were talking as if I hadn’t spoken at all. I wanted Grayson healed as soon as possible but not at the cost of Zinnia. It didn’t matter that I didn’t want to see his fangs in her…not one bit…not at all…I’m good with it…kind of…
Niche stepped in closer to Gray. “It just might work.” She waved the doctor forward. “What do you think?”
“I think it is possible and certainly couldn’t hurt.” The doctor motioned over the side of Zinnia’s neck, and the dirt and grime lifted away from her skin. He’s cleaning her neck for him to bite her? My stomach rolled. This wasn’t happening.
I nearly leapt forward and shoved Zinnia away from him. I didn’t want another guy sinking anything into her…let alone his fangs. Yet there she sat with her long graceful neck exposed for the taking. I could feel Niche’s eyes on me, watching my every reaction. I was torn between wanting to save my friend and keeping my soulmate safe. But with Niche studying me, I had to lock myself down.
I stood still as stone, trying to think of a way to make this easier. “What if you did it by IV?”
“The problem with IV is we might lose her magic or the potency of her blood.” The doctor shook his head. “No, it has to be like this.”
Grayson wrinkled his nose. “From the flesh?”
No, not her flesh! I wanted to stop him. My mind raced with any other way of making this happen. I pressed my lips into a thin line.
Niche shrugged. “Or you could die. Your choice…”
“That’s cold.” Grayson’s face fell into a mask of pain. He pressed his hand over his midsection, then winced and groaned.
Zinnia leaned over Gray. “Can you sit up?”
He sucked in panting breaths and shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
Wicked Magic (The Royals: Witch Court Book 2) Page 2