Without another word, Brax loped off, leaving the scene and me behind. I wanted to scream for him to stop, to keep Elle safe with me. But I knew in my gut they were all here for me; they wanted something. But what was it?
Before I had time to puzzle it all together, an oval shimmering pool appeared only a few feet from where the skeletons tore at the Thralls. A boy with tousled blond hair stepped out of it, followed by another with dark chocolate eyes. Each of them was built like Tucker, lean and all muscles with deadly intent on their faces. I rubbed my eyes with my hands; this had to be some kind of nightmare.
The shorter one with Mahogany hair and chocolate eyes raced around, his body blending into a blur of movement. Everywhere he went, Thralls burst into smoke. He raced up behind one and shoved his hand into its back. Its spine cracked at a ninety-degree angle, and it fell to the ground. He turned toward me and smiled, his fangs extended. “Pleasure to meet you, love. Be back in a jiff.”
A jiff? I swayed on my feet. This wasn’t real. This wasn’t happening. I closed my eyes, praying it would all go away. But when I opened them back up, I was still at the center of a battle I was frozen in. Surrounded by Thralls and with Ophelia standing right next to me, there was no way I would live through this.
The blond boy rushed to Serrina’s side, all the while tossing balls of bright blue light in all directions. The moment they hit a Thrall, they exploded like mini grenades taking out one Thrall at a time.
Tucker swooped down, picking off the Thralls one by one. More emerged from the shadows, like bees swarming from a hive. The Thralls flocked everywhere. Their expressionless bodies moved like zombie soldiers rather than humans. Tuck dove toward me. Ophelia squealed and backed up a step. All around, Thralls were turning to black puffs of smoke, one after another disappearing from view. Serrina charged forward, a stream of red swirled from her hands in sparkling waves that wrapped around Ophelia. When a Thrall lunged for her, she dropped to the ground and let it dive over her. A moment later, the blond boy who just arrived threw a ball of light in its face, its head exploded off its shoulders. Then the rest of it erupted into black smoke.
“Stop!” Serrina demanded, and everyone around froze mid-battle, including Tucker and his team. She stomped her foot. “Damn it, I did it again. Beck, Grayson, Tuck, Nova, Zinna you can move.”
The full motion returned to my body. I didn’t hesitate; I lunged for Ophelia. She brought this on me, and I was pissed. I wrapped my hands around her body, ready to pick her up and toss her to the ground. My fingers dug into her skin, and I felt her go stiff against me. “How do you like it?”
“Zinnia, don’t!” Tuck dropped down a distance away from me and ran forward.
“Don’t what?” Anger like I’d never known built up into a frenzy inside of me. My hands tingled with pins and needs.
What was she doing to me? Power like I’d never known flooded through my body like a shot of adrenaline to the heart. I clutched her closer, feeling it run through my system, making me feel like I could fly. In my arms, Ophelia tilted her head back and screamed. I held on tighter, taking more of it into me. Bright light surrounded us. Is it coming from me?
I didn’t know; all I knew was I liked the feeling. The power, the excitement, the frozen burn? No! I didn’t want to stop, I wanted more. That frozen feeling crept up from my fingers into my arms.
“Tuck, stop her before she kills her!”
Was that Serrina? Why’d she sound so scared? The frozen feeling seeped into my chest, making my heart skip a beat. Pain radiated out from my body. I tried to drop my arms, but they were locked around Ophelia. I screamed, unable to bear the pain, the fear, the shock running through me. Were those her emotions or mine? I didn’t know. Blinding light flared out from me, so hot and so bright I thought it might consume us both. I wanted to drop my arms, wanted to let go of her, but I couldn’t. My body wanted to take from her, take this terror she brought to my home, the terror she brought to Elle.
Ophelia grit her teeth and bellowed. “From whence they came, they must return. The hour closes, and time has burned. In smoke and dust, I call you now to save me from this somehow!”
She dropped from my arms, disappearing into a cloud of black dust that floated to the ground. Oh god, I killed her! My body quaked from head to toe. Then it came, an eerie laugh so empty of emotion it gave me chills. It faded into the night along with my last bit of sanity.
Serrina glanced up and down the street. “Was that who I think it was?”
“Alataris.” Tuck spat the name as though it were a curse.
But I couldn’t pay attention. I’d killed someone. She’d disappeared into ash right in my arms. As though she’d never existed. I wanted to drop to my knees. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I didn’t do any of it. My body wouldn’t let me. Instead, all I did was stand there and shake.
Tuck strode up to me. He pressed his hands to my cheeks. “Breathe, Zin. Breathe.”
Was I not breathing? My lungs seized up, and I gasped. My eyes went wide and began to water.
He brushed his thumbs over my cheeks, wiping away the tears. “Shhh, don’t cry.”
Cry? I wasn’t crying, was I? But I couldn’t move my mouth to tell him so.
One by one, the Thralls turned to dust just like Ophelia, each of them collapsing into nothingness.
Tucker cursed under his breath. “So close.” He turned back toward me, meeting my eyes. “Can you move?”
I had full control over my body now, and I stumbled back. I would’ve fallen had Tuck not been there to catch me. He held me up. “I think she’s going into shock.”
“Well, I would too if I saw Thralls on my first go-round and almost killed someone.” Serrina crossed her arms over her chest.
Killed someone! Oh god, I did it. I killed someone. Tremors wracked my body even harder. I was going to lose it at any second.
Tucker gritted his teeth. “You’re not helping, Serrina.” He guided me back toward my house. My feet grabbed across the pavement with each step I took. The others followed in his wake.
She shrugged. “I’m just saying…”
“Zinnia!” The spotlights on my porch sprung to life.
Mom? She screamed from behind me. No, she couldn’t be here, couldn’t be around this. I blinked against the shock riddling my body. “Mom, don’t.” I wanted to scream, but it came out a whisper.
I heard her footsteps as she rushed toward me and shoved Tucker aside. Her tan heart-shaped face came into view. My sapphire eyes were so like hers and when she smiled, and we had the same tilt to our mouths.
Tears ran down her cheeks. “I’m here, you’re okay.”
When she pressed her hand to my cheek, I leaned into her touch. “Mom.”
“Shh, baby, I’m here. I’m going to make this all go away.”
Go away, how? I sucked in a breath. “How is this okay, Mom? None of this is okay.”
“I know. I was going to tell you.” She hesitated and pulled a handful of golden sand from her pocket.
“Tell me what?” I glanced around at the faces swarming my vision. I had questions, so many questions. Who were they really? Why were they here for me? And why did that girl, Ophelia, call me a queen?
Tucker looked down at my mother’s hand. “What is that?”
Without breaking eye contact with me, my mother snapped. “Sleep sand, Phoenix.”
She raised her hand to her bow-shaped lips and blew the sand off the tips of her fingers right into my eyes. “Shh, rest baby. It’ll all be better in the morning.”
Who blows sand into someone’s eyes? My eyelids felt so heavy that it was hard to fight against them. “How is it going to be betteeeerrr…?” My words slurred together.
I tipped back. My legs were swept out from under me, and that warm heat was pressed against my legs and shoulders once more. Comforting me, keeping me safe.
I yawned and took a deep breath. “You smell delicious.”
Tucker pressed his nose just above my ear and whi
spered, “As do you, my queen.”
Chapter 3
Tucker
Her head lulled back in my arms, that thick wavy mane of hair draped over my elbow. The moment her eyes fluttered shut, I knew she was going to hit the ground. Like a cat, she curled into my chest and pressed her hands to it. “You smell delicious.”
God, help me. I bent lower and pressed my nose to her hair and sucked in a deep breath. Peaches. “As do you, my queen.” I whispered, low enough for only her to hear.
When I straightened, I raised my face, and everyone was staring at me. I shifted from one foot to the other, and for a moment, I wanted to turn around just so they’d stop looking at me like that.
Zinnia’s mom motioned to the house behind us. “Better get her inside.”
“Ma’am, it’d be safer if we took her to Evermore Academy or Hexia where the other queens reside at night.” Hexia was the last free witch stronghold. It was the only witch kingdom not to fall under High King Alataris’s rule and the safest place for the queens to stay, besides Evermore Academy.
Though she stood before me in a white fluffy robe and big blue fuzzy slippers, when she crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at me, I fought the urge to step back. Visions of her grabbing my ear and dragging me into the house assailed me.
She tapped her foot. “Are you her mother?”
I shook my head. “Um, no?” What was she getting at?
She raised her arm and pointed at the house. “Then I suggest you get my daughter inside right now, Phoenix.”
Well, this is interesting. I hesitated. “Ma’am…I—”
She spun on her heels and began marching down her driveway. “You can call me Catherine. Now, follow me.” She paused and looked over her shoulder. “The rest of you, clean this mess up.”
The street was a disaster. The pavement was cracked and heaved in places. Skeletons still meandered around, tree limbs and branches were down and even some of the white picket fence was broken. When they all looked to me with questioning eyes, I shrugged. “Do as she says.”
Beckett took a step to follow behind me, but judging from the way Zinnia’s mom was acting, I suspected she wouldn’t want all of us in her tiny Cape Cod house.
I turned to follow her. “I’ll catch up to you guys in a little bit.”
Beckett nodded. “If you don’t text me within fifteen minutes, I’m coming in.”
“You can try.” Zinnia’s mom glanced over her shoulder, then reached for the side door and pulled it open. The hinges creaked when she swung the door wide open.
This was a whole new situation for me. I’d never dreamt I’d have to face the mother of one of the Witch Queens. Nor did I think I would have to explain why Zinnia would have to transfer to Evermore Academy. But here I was, carrying an unconscious queen into her home where I would have to talk to her mother. As I climbed the brick steps into her house, I was astounded how alike in looks Zinnia and her mother were. They both had wild black hair, except her mother’s stopped at her shoulders and was curlier. They shared heart-shaped faces, blue eyes and full, pouting lips. Yet Catherine had a sadness about her that Zinnia hadn’t yet developed.
As I passed through the doorway, I noticed the swirling paint strokes all around the door frames. They were ancient symbols used in protection spells. “I see you’ve been preparing.”
Catherine sighed, walking straight through the small kitchen to the living. “One does not have a daughter who will become a Witch Queen without trying to prepare…for anything. We’ve moved every six months for her whole life. Up until now it’s worked perfectly fine. ”
I couldn’t help but wonder if Catherine hated the fact her daughter was a queen as much as my mother hated that I was a guardian who’d now risen to be a knight. Within the five casts of witches, there was only one witch born to each cast who held great power. These witches were called queens, one for each cast. As I gazed around the house, I realized Zinnia and I came from two very different worlds. I’d grown up in a castle, hidden deep within the Volcanic Hawaiian Islands. She lived in a small house in a New Jersey suburb.
“Why not move to Hexia? Surely she would’ve been safe in the last of the witch kingdom?”
She didn’t stop walking. “If you had a daughter who was a queen in a world full of evil spies, would you trust that the people out to get her wouldn’t find her there? In a magical community. Kind of obvious, don’t you think?”
“I see your point. So, you kept her hidden all this time?”
“Exactly.”
Though the house was tiny, it was clean and neat, with light hardwood floors running from the front of it all the way to the back. Bright paintings covered each wall, all of them depictions of things I’d seen in Evermore. “Nice paintings.”
“Well, I didn’t want Zin to be completely surprised when she discovered the supernaturals.” She stopped at the foot of the stairs. “This way.”
With each step she took, the stairs creaked and groaned. I walked on my tiptoes, hoping the floor didn’t give out beneath me. Zinnia nuzzled her cheek to my chest, then let out a contented sigh. Interesting. At the top of the stairs, we turned to the right, and if Catherine hadn’t been holding the door open for me, I would’ve slammed right into it. Across the room was a tiny twin-sized bed sitting under a window. To my right was another door leading to what I presumed was a closet, and to my left was a dresser with a large mirror running the length of it. A ridiculous amount of lotions and body sprays lined the top. I tilted my head, wondering which was her favorite. It didn’t me long to find the half empty bottle called sweet peach fuzzy.
“You can put her over here.” Her mom pointed to the bed, and suddenly I noticed the bags under her eyes, the tired lines on her face and the stress that seemed to weigh her shoulders down.
I didn’t hesitate to move into the room, while her mother pulled the covers back from the bed. “How much trouble will she be in tomorrow?”
“None.”
I froze. “None? But she snuck out tonight.”
Catherine sighed. “Yes, but tomorrow she won’t remember that. And if she does, it’ll all seem like a bad dream. Can you help me get her jacket off?”
“Um, sure.” First time a mom has asked me to take her daughter’s clothes off. I lifted her to a sitting position. But Zinnia didn’t stir. Her eyes didn’t even flutter. “What’d you hit her with?”
Catherine pulled the left sleeve down Zin’s arm. “Sleeping powder I stole from the sleep trolls.”
Impressive. I shifted my hand on Zin’s back so her mom could push her jacket down her other shoulder. The warmth of her skin seeped into my touch. She was so soft, so sweet. I didn’t want to leave her side. “How’d you come by that?”
“Long story short, this isn’t the first time she’s run into trouble, and whenever she has a fitful night, I give her some to keep her calm and safe.” She tugged the rest of the sleeve off Zin’s hand and sucked in a sharp breath, then yanked Zinnia’s hand up off the bed.
There, wrapped around her wrist, was a mark I thought didn’t show up on a supernatural until much later in life. A million tiny infinity signs all connected together to surround her delicate wrist. Within each sign was a small drop of glittery silver. It was thin and could easily be hidden by a shirt or thick bracelet. But there was no denying what it meant. I suddenly felt utterly deflated. The world titled and shook like a bomb had gone off inside me. Zinnia Heart was marked to have a life mate…and it wasn’t me. It shouldn’t bother me; I was the knight assigned to protect her. Anything between us was forbidden, but there was a spark between us I rather enjoyed. Now all that was gone. I wanted her and now she would never want me. It’s better this way…yeah right. A slow ache started in my chest and spread into my stomach.
“The mark of a soulmate, oh gods no.” Catherine closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. When she opened them back up, she put Zinnia’s hand down on the bed and covered it with the blanket. She jabbed her finger into
my chest. “You, me, downstairs, now!”
She turned on her heels and walked from the room. With one last glance back at Zinnia’s beautiful face, I followed her mother down the steps. I didn’t want to leave, but what could I say? I have an unusual interest in your daughter that’s forbidden, but I can’t help it. So if you don’t mind, I’ll be staying. By the time I reached the kitchen, she was already pulling ice cream from the freezer and popping the top.
She pulled only one spoon from the drawer and dug into the pint-sized container of Chunky Monkey. “Is it you?”
“It can’t be me, ma’am. I’m a phoenix shifter. Soulmates aren’t created outside their own species.” I backed up against the counter and crossed my arms over my chest. At that very moment, I wished it wasn’t like that.
Catherine shoved a scoop of ice cream into her mouth and nodded slowly. “So it has to be one of the other knights?”
It was a possibility. Beckett was a male witch. That put him in the running to be Zinnia’s soulmate. Damn that mark and damn Beckett! I shouldn’t have been that angry… or was it jealousy? I didn’t know. Whatever it was, I didn’t like it. “I can’t be sure. There’s only one male witch who’s a knight, but he didn’t even come close to her tonight.”
Catherine tapped the spoon against her lips. “She can’t know about this, not yet.”
“How much longer do you want to keep all this from her? Her birthday is a week away. She is going to ascend soon. She’s going to be the most powerful Siphon Witch on the planet. That’s not something you can hide.” Was she in denial about her daughter?
“I know she will ascend soon, but I need a chance to explain all this to her, and right after a fight in the middle of the street where she nearly killed someone isn’t the time.” She scooped up another wad of ice cream and stuffed it into her mouth.
“No, but she needs to know about King Alataris. She needs to know how much danger she’s in.” I put my hands on my hips. I’d trained all my life to win the right to protect the Witch Queens from Alataris, and now I was standing with a woman who was making it very difficult.
Wicked Witch (The Royals: Witch Court Book 1) Page 3