“Oh, my dear Zinnia, the things you don’t know about men.”
She slammed her door shut behind us and rounded on me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means what’s mine is mine. Jealousy isn’t rational. It’s primal. And in Evermore, the primal rule. Just you wait and see. I promise you’ll have him soon enough.”
Zinnia rolled her eyes. “I don’t know how I get talked into this crap. But I swear if you tell anyone it’s a fake, I will drop you in a den of Alataris’ sirens and leave you there.”
Chapter 13
Zinnia
I can’t believe I agreed to this. As if we didn’t have enough going on, I decided to run a scheme with Grayson. What am I thinking? I had a list a mile long of things that needed to be done: learn to be a witch, go to Alaska, meet Taliam’s friend, save the ice dragon, save my mom, defeat Alataris, and now be Gray’s fake girlfriend. Though I had no idea who we were meeting, if it would be dangerous, how we would save the dragon, or find my mom…and defeat Alataris, because generations of witches haven’t been able to do so. Most of all I wanted to learn to control my powers and be the Siphon Witch everyone expected me to be. But somehow, we would be expected to do it all. No pressure or anything.
I gave Grayson a little shove. “I just need a minute. I’ll meet you in the courtyard.”
“You sure? It could be quite the entrance if we show up together?” He wagged his eyebrows at me.
“I think I’m good.” I shook my head.
“Suit yourself.” He turned and jetted away from me. A slight breeze ruffled my hair when he passed by me.
I leaned my back up against the wall then closed my eyes and softly banged my head up against it over and over again. What am I going to do? A light touch brushed on my shoulder and I startled.
“My dear I didn’t mean to frighten you.” Professor Davis stood beside me looking just the way she did on the first day I’d met her. Puffs of her salt and pepper hair stuck out from under a multi colored knitted hat. When she looked up at me with her round brown eyes, I suddenly felt guilty for her seeing me like this.
“Professor Davis.” I plastered a smile on to my face. “Hi.”
“Hello.” She stood with her hands folded in front of her. She wrung her fingers together and shifted from one foot to the other.
When she didn’t say anything else, I pushed a lock of hair behind my ear. “Did you want to tell me something?”
“Well I wanted to give you this.” She pulled a book from inside the folds of her dress and handed it over to me.
The cover was a hunter green and frayed at the corners. I could tell from the broken in binding that it was well loved. On the front, in golden scrolling letters it read “Spelling out Spells” I ran my fingers over it. “Thank you, so much.”
Professor Davis placed her hand on the top of the book. “It taught me well and now I think it’ll help you find your way.” She stepped in close to me. “You have a rare gift, my dear. I believe with even just a little bit of knowledge that gift will bloom.”
I pressed the book to my chest and held it tight. “This means so much.”
“You have a long road ahead of you.” She patted me on the shoulder. “Best you be prepared.”
Before I could say anything else, she gave my arm a little squeeze and wandered away from me. I quickly pulled my backpack around and slid the book inside. This was going to be a long mission and I needed all the help I could get. I sucked in a deep chilly breath and turned down the hall and headed for the courtyard were the others would be waiting for me.
Standing in the courtyard under the continual snow fall, I wondered how the hell we were going to do it all. The queens were all decked out in full winter gear. Nova wore the least with only a light jacket and a pair of jeans and white snow boots that laced all the way up to her knees. Beside her, Serrina wore a bright red puff jacket that matched her lips. The gray hat she had on her head hung to the side with a fuzzy puff ball on it. Big blond streaked curls hung down her back.
Tucker strolled up behind me and came to stand at my side. I couldn’t help but look him over. He had only his leather jacket, black jeans and combat boots. Flakes of snow dotted his dark auburn hair, and his smoldering honey eyes almost glowed against the snowy scene that was Evermore Academy.
I titled my head to the side. “Aren’t you going to be cold?”
“Phoenix.” He narrowed his eyes at Gray, then smiled. “I’m hotter.”
Grayson, the ever-doting boyfriend, stood to my other side. He too wasn’t in winter gear. Instead, he wore his traditional black suit coat with dark jeans and snow boots. I looked him up and down. “Do you have some kind of inner inferno we all don’t know about?”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure you know how hot I am.” Gray winked at me. When I glanced back to Tucker, I thought I saw the muscle in his jaw ticking. Yet his face was completely calm and impassive, as if he hadn’t heard a word Gray said.
Heat rushed to my cheeks, and I turned to face were Beckett stood in the middle of the courtyard. This whole being Gray’s girlfriend couldn’t be over soon enough. Instead, I focused my attention to the task at hand. We were all lined up in a U-shape that Beckett stood in the center of. Beside him was Tabi in a bright green snow suit. She shifted from one foot to the other, waiting for him to open the portal.
Beckett motioned for Nova to join him. “I need you to come here so I can see where we’re going.”
She nodded and took her place beside him, but then he turned to look at me. “Zinnia, can you come and transfer her vision to me?”
Say what now? I stumbled forward. “Um, I think so?”
I’d barely trained with my powers, and now I was fully expected to know them completely. I guess when we were forced into these situations, I had no other choice. I took a deep breath, feeling my powers rise inside of me. They were always there, simmering below the surface ready for me to use. I pushed them out and flexed them like a muscle. Slivery magic ran down my arms and swirled around my fingertips.
“Just don’t knock me out,” Nova snapped before turning back to Beckett.
Um, ouch! “I’ll try not to.” I reached out and placed my hand on her shoulder, my magic swirled around her. “Push your picture out toward me.”
When I opened my senses, I immediately saw the shore line where the glacier met the sea. Out in the middle of the water sat a large glacier surrounded by rough seas. The sky was a dark ominous gray, and the waves around the ice were rocking so high no ship would ever go through it. My view was from the shoreline where a pebble beach held no sunshine and each stone looked blacker than the next. The snow-covered forest rose up on all sides, and each tree limb was covered in a layer of green moss then white ice. Fog rolled between the thick tree trunks and over the rough ocean. I reached out and put my other hand on Beckett’s shoulder. My magic laced around his body in a line of silver glitter. I forced the image from my mind into his.
His back bowed for a second before he straightened his stance. “Gently, Zin.”
“Sorry.” I tugged back at the thought I was forcing into him.
He sighed. “Much better.”
He cupped his hands one over the other, then slowly expanded them outward until there was an oval-shaped blue magic ball in his hand. He expanded it until he was able to throw it like a disk to stand on its own in the center of the courtyard. I dropped my hands from their shoulders and called my magic back into myself. As the slivery streams disappeared, I took my place next to Gray. My hands shook nervously. I’d never walked through one of Beckett’s portals, crashed a car through one yes, but actually walked, no. Would it be different than the one I’d experienced at the Academy? I had no idea what to expect. I’d only ever been through the school portal, and it was the one that lead to Hexia, which looked like a pool of water and felt like walking through calming waves. But this was completely different. To me, Beckett’s portal looked more like a mirror with a smooth shimmering blue surface. I could see the scen
e Nova pictured on the other side. Did that mean it’d be like stepping through a door?
Tucker walked up next to the portal, then turned to face us all. “Right. Grayson, you’re through first. Followed by Ashryn, Serrina, Nova, Tabi, and Zinnia. Beckett and I will follow up the end.”
One by one we lined up as Tucker specified. Above, the snow began to fall even heavier, coating my jacket, hat and the long black strands of my hair that fell past my shoulders. As it came to be my turn, he reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder. When I looked up in to his honey eyes, they were liquid heat, and I felt an instant pull toward him. I wanted to lean into him. I wanted to place my hand on his stomach and tug him in for a hug. I needed him by my side right now.
As if he knew what I thought, he whispered low enough for only me to hear, “I’ll be right behind you.”
I nodded and sucked in a deep breath, then stepped into the portal. If I thought it was going to be like walking through a door…I was so wrong. The moment I put my foot through, I was sucked in, my body stretched like I was made of putty. It didn’t hurt, per se, but felt more like I was literally being put through the wringer. Dizziness overwhelmed me as my body twisted and turned, trying to find a way through this. Like a cannon ball, I shot out of the other end of the portal. My feet flew over my head, my arms pinwheeled and I smacked into the others like a bowling ball, taking them all down with me.
I groaned. “Ugh, sorryyyy.”
The wind whipped my hair across my face, blinding me. Overhead, snow fell at a steady clip, coating me before I could open my eyes. I was sprawled flat on my back with people squirming under my back. Tabi lay beneath me, laughing so hard I thought she might break something.
I crawled off of her as quickly as I could. “How could you be laughing at a time like this?”
I reached down and helped her to her feet. She sprang up quickly and dusted herself off. “Because I did the same thing.” The wind blew so hard I could barely hear her.
I prepared for Tuck to come shooting through like Tabi and I had, but when his black combat boot came through like it was no big deal and he gracefully walked up to me, I nearly rolled my eyes. Was there anything he couldn’t do?
As I gazed out over the water, a heavy fog began to roll in. The waves that pelted the shoreline subsided and smoothed to a glassy surface. The snow that’d been falling continually suddenly suspended in midair, and the wind instantly died. I reached out and poked one of the flakes with my fingers. It slowly drifted away. I’d once seen astronauts letting things float in space. Standing here now in the middle of such utter stillness, it reminded me of them.
Tucker summoned his swords to his hands. Flames shot from his shoulders all the way down to tips of his swords. “Get ready.”
One day I’d ask him how he managed to run those flames all over his body and not burn his clothing off. All of the others around me gathered their magic and unsheathed weapons. I too gathered my magic at the center of my palm, ready to protect them all. The sea parted in front of me. Two parallel walls of water stood twisting back like horizontal tornados. Within each one, the water churned and splashed. There in the dead center of those walls stood a towering man, wearing nothing but tight wetsuit pants that looked like black and blue fish scales.
Water sloshed down his body, causing his long dark hair to cling to his neck and down his shoulders. In one hand he held a trident. The gleaming silver metal spiraled up to three separate points. Within the trident, bright blue flecks of wavering sea glass sparkled with aqua-colored magic. His face was all angles, with a straight nose, sharp jawline and high cheekbones. He was compelling in a way my mind couldn’t understand.
“Damn.” Tabi whispered under her breath.
I had to agree. This man was beautiful and deadly all at the same time. Tucker immediately extinguished his swords and sent them back to wherever he summoned them from.
He stepped out in front of the group. “Greetings, Poseidon.”
My eyes widened. Poseidon! Holy hell. The Poseidon. This was a man who was so legendary even the human world knew who he was and the power he wielded.
Poseidon waved his hand to the side. “Weapons down, children.”
The magic I gathered in my hands drifted away on a breeze, without my commanding it to. The power of this guy. He twisted the trident in his hand, and a surfboard made of water rose up under his feet. He stood still as a statue as he torpedoed toward the shoreline. The muscles down his stomach and arms rippled while he kept his balance. When he reached the shore, he leapt off the board and skidded to a halt, sending pebbles flying at our feet.
He tossed his long hair over his shoulder as he approached Tucker. He held his hand out. “Tucker Brand, I saw you in the trials…impressive.”
Was I the only one who thought this was the weirdest thing ever? We were standing here talking to freaking Poseidon. Well, Tucker was.
He took Poseidon’s hand and shook it firmly. “Thank you.”
Poseidon glanced over his shoulder and looked directly at me. When I gazed into his eyes, they wavered like rough seas and changed colors from the deepest greens to the most vivid aqua all in the beat of a moment. He winked at me. “So we now have the Siphon Witch.”
I cleared my throat. “It’s nice to meet you, P-Poseidon.”
He canted his head to the side, looking me up and down. “Powerful and beautiful.” His eye roamed from Gray, to me and then to Tuck. “Very interesting.”
My eyes widened, and all speech left my body. Before I could muster up an answer, Tucker stepped to the side, blocking his view of me. “We’ve been sent here by Taliam to save his dragon.”
“You and me both.” He rolled his eyes and waved us forward. “Come on.”
“Come where?” I stepped from around Tucker and gazed out over the sea. “Into the water?”
I’d once heard that the water in Alaska grew so cold in the fall and winter months that if a person fell into it, hypothermia would set in instantly, killing whomever it was that fell in.
Poseidon looked over his shoulder and met my eye. “If you want to know why Taliam needs this dragon, then yes, into the water. Don’t worry, witch. I’ll keep you safe.”
I stepped forward into the water.
Chapter 14
Zinnia
As I followed behind Poseidon, Tucker came to my side and leaned in close to my ear. “Careful.”
I nodded my head without saying a word to him. I knew the Greeks were tricky supernaturals. Even Matteaus had mentioned how much of a pain in the ass they were to him and the other Fallen. They all claimed to be gods among men, but in reality, they were just very powerful. As I stepped forward, the water rose up over the soles of my shoes. The cold seeped into my feet, and a shiver ran over my body.
I whispered to Tuck, “I don’t know about this.”
“Just be ready for anything.”
“Not to worry. I’ve got your back,” Gray added as he took up a spot on the other side of me.
Really dude? Now? You have to add that in now? I rolled my eyes and felt the magic rise within me, ready to be used at any moment.
Once all of us stepped within the water walls, they rushed toward us, closing up quickly. “Um, Poseidon?”
“Relax, little witch.” He tossed his hand over his shoulder. The second the water was about to smack into us and send us sprawling, it slammed into an invisible barrier. It swarmed over us but never touched us. We were in some kind of air bubble.
“Now I know what the people of Atlantis must feel like.” We floated along in the rough, murky seas. I could barely make out Poseidon, who swam just in front of our bubble. The deeper we went, the more pressure I felt coming down on us. My ears popped.
Tuck stiffened beside me. “I don’t like this.”
“Me either.” I cupped my hands against the bubble, but the water was so dark it was hard to make out anything. Then the temperature dropped even more. My breaths came in white puffs of smoke.
“Tuck, can’t you heat us up?” Beckett called from just behind Nova and Serrina, who huddled together shivering.
He shook his head. “Do you really want to test the limits of the bubble and fill it up with hot air when the water temperature is well below freezing?”
Then the murky haze started to thin, the water cleared just enough that I could see through it. Tiny particles floated in front of us. The water was a deep green and the sand from the bottom of the sea slowly drifted back into place.
“There. What is that?” I pointed toward the glacier.
Only, it wasn’t what I expected a glacier to be under water. I thought it’d be like watching ice float in a glass of water, all white crystallizations and points of clear I could see through. No, something was very off about this glacier. There in the middle of it was an enormous form. Chunks of ice broke off from the glacier and floated around the bottom of it. As we came in closer, I saw he was a giant, a literal giant trapped within the ice itself. His skin was a dark green sludge color. Jagged red lightning-shaped lines ran down his arms and across his bare torso. His head was bald and block-like. His eyes were closed as though asleep, but I could see the muscles in his body twitching and moving.
Poseidon pointed to his hand where the ice was the thinnest. Another large chunk broke off, and the water rippled with power. The bubble tilted and spun.
My stomach rolled, and I pressed my hand over my mouth. “Okay, let’s not do that again.”
The giant’s head was cube-like with his grotesque square jaw jutting out past his upper lip. Something was happening, I could feel its power shifting, rising even more.
I glanced around at the others, who stood pressed against the bubble in awe. “Do you guys feel that?”
They all shook their heads. Tucker looked down at me. “Feel what?”
“We need to leave now, Tucker. Now!” I pressed against the back of the bubble and braced myself. The building power was so intense it seeped into my body, mixing with my own magic. Suddenly, the sea had a pulse, a heartbeat I could feel and control as if it were my own. My head shot up, and I gazed at the giant. His eyes flashed wide open. There were pupils or irises just pure blackness. Air bubbles the size of boulders rose from his nose.
Wicked Magic (The Royals: Witch Court Book 2) Page 8