“You’ve done a great job with her. You have to have faith she’ll do the right thing.”
“Ugh, I wish you still had your gifts. It’d make this so much easier.” The stress in my mother’s voice was so thick I could cut it with a knife. But why? Was I really that bad? I’d stayed in my house under lock and key for years now. Last night was the first night I hadn’t done what she asked of me.
“Sadly, it’s gone,” she whispered. “I keep thinking the girls might show some sign of something, but no.”
“Look at the two of us. One wants her daughter to just be a normal…human. The other wants her daughters to have gifts. Fate has a funny way of doing things, doesn’t it?” My mother sniffled.
“Oh, honey, don’t cry.”
I sucked in a breath. I’d never seen my mother cry. Not once. I wanted to run down there and hug her and tell her I was normal. But I kept myself frozen in place. I held my breath, not wanting to make a sound.
My mom sucked in a small sob. “I’m trying not to. But her birthday is next week. I can’t see how any of this is going to be okay.”
“It will be. I feel it in my blood. It will be okay.”
“You don’t know what she’s up against. Last night—”
The door burst open behind me, and Elle popped her head out. “What are you doing? Zin, shower, go now.” She made a show of pulling her cell from her pocket and holding it up so I could see the time. “We are gonna be late.”
“Shit.” I darted into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I quickly started the shower to let the water warm. When I place my fingers in the stream, that’s when I saw the tattoo circling my wrist. My head was a complete fog, I didn’t remember getting a tattoo. I shoved my arm under the water and frantically scrubbed at it until the skin around it became red and raw. But the swirling mark didn’t disappear. I held it closer to my face examining the glittery silver bead that looked like they rippled like raindrops. Great. I go out one time and end up with a tattoo. My mom is going to kill me! Thank god for long-sleeved shirts. I took a step back and waited for the water to warm.
The white tiles were cool beneath my feet and sent a chill up my legs. I pressed my back up against the door, trying to process what I’d just heard. I wasn’t human? Then what was I? Something happened to me last night, whether it was what I thought I remembered or not. I had to find out. The headache that started in my temples was now running to the back of head and down my shoulders. There was only one person that I knew who could clear this whole thing up, and I needed to get to him as soon as possible…Tucker Brand.
Chapter 5
Zinnia
Deep breath in and blow it out. This is going to be fine, totally fine. You’ve done this at least a dozen time before. Wait, is it a dozen or less? I shook my head, trying to stop thinking about how many times I’d moved or done this very same thing before. Or the weird things I’d experienced last night.
I hiked my backpack up higher on my shoulder and held my head up. If there was one thing I knew about starting in a new school, it was that the other students could smell fresh blood in the water. From what Elle had told me, the girls in this school could be particularly vicious toward each other. And right now, all I needed to focus on was getting answers and getting through the day. No big deal. I can do this. I had a plan: find Tucker, corner him and question him until he cracked like an egg. It didn’t matter that he was the hottest guy I’d ever seen or that he had flecks of burgundy in his honey colored eyes. Or that I wanted to see that wicked tattoo once again.
“Hey.” Elle bumped her shoulder into mine. “Are you listening to me?”
“What? Oh, um, yeah. I heard you.” I pushed the wavy black hair out of my face.
Elle stopped dead in her track, standing just outside the glass double doors leading into the school. “Oh, really?”
Students passed us, openly staring at me as though I were a circus sideshow. I looked down at myself and wondered not for the first time if I would fit into this school. My style was anything but average, being on a budget and piecing outfits together from a thrift store was never easy. I liked to think of my style as Boho badass. Just enough prints mixed with my leather jacket and lace-up boots.
“Yeah, I was listening.”
“Then what did I say?” Elle crossed her arms and narrowed her pale green eyes at me.
Leave it to Elle to catch me when my mind was drifting. Spending all those summers together made us more like sisters than just friends. Even though we had different memories of what happened last night, I still loved her and knew whatever had occurred, it wasn’t her fault.
I squared by shoulders, meeting her eye. “To steer clear of the food in the cafeteria?”
“Ugh.” She rolled her eyes. “This is why I say you never listen to me. It’s like you have selective hearing. And when we text, it’s so much worse.”
“My bad.” I hunched away from her, giving her a twinkling smile. “I always get nervous walking into a school the first day. You know I get distracted. Plus, I’m still a little funky from last night.”
“Yeah, you might want to avoid Tucker. It was kind of bad. But let’s not worry about that now.” Elle shifted to stand at my side, then looped her arm through mine. “It’s a good thing I repeat myself just for you…all the time.”
We walked forward. Elle reached out and pulled the glass door open for us. The smell of disinfectant mingled with teenage sweat. It was the smell that seemed to carry over from every other high school. Eau d’locker room, I liked to call it. Spaced out across the ceiling were fluorescent lights, the kind that blinked on and off and made everyone look like they hadn’t spent one day in the sun over the summer. Below my feet, speckled linoleum ran down the hall in a multi-colored display of blues, green and brown that didn’t exactly go together.
Directly to my right was a wall of windows, and behind them sat three secretaries, each of them with cardigans of different colors draped around their shoulders.
I hiked my thumb toward them. “Front office?”
Elle nodded. “Yeah.” She pointed to the the other side of the hall, across from the office. “That’s the auditorium. Where they tell us not to do drugs and put on second-hand musicals for the parents.”
“Well, look what we have here.” A coy, high-pitched voice drew our attention back toward the office door. Standing before me was a a girl only a few inches taller than me. I was only five-foot-three, so that wasn’t saying much. Her clothing came straight out of a J.Crew catalog, complete with button-down shirt, skinny jeans and flats. So different than the skinny jeans, leather jacket and boots I wore. Her big blond curls gave her two more inches in height. She looked down her pig-like nose at us. “Elle Calliwell has finally made history.”
“What are you babbling about, Lisa?” Elle put her hands on her hips and arched her eyebrow. She leaned forward, appearing as though she might hit the girl.
Lisa glanced over her shoulder at two other girls waiting for her. When she turned back, the others walked up, flanking her sides. “The fact that you finally made a friend.”
They tilted their heads back and cackled in unison, as if on cue.
Elle crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, it looks like you’re making history too. For the most unoriginal”—she held her fingers up making air quotes—“popular girl to walk the earth. Gee, I wonder how many high school teen movies you watched before you came up with that line. It must have taken you hours. I hope you didn’t burn the three brain cells you have. You might not be able to pass the only class you’re capable of passing…gym.”
“Ugh, you are such a bitch, Elle.” She tossed her curls over her shoulder. “No wonder no one likes you.”
“Hey, Elle,” Brax called out to her in his deep Russian accent.
Elle waved to him, then turned her attention back to Lisa and her followers. “Oh, look. There’s someone who doesn’t like me now.”
“Whatever.” Lisa turned and looked me up and
down. “What’s your deal?”
“Excuse me?” I glanced at Brax and noted he was heading over to us, now with Tuck right beside him. My heart went wild at the sight of him, and I could have sworn Tuck rubbed at his wrist a moment before he got to us.
“You heard me. What’s your deal? You’re new, right?” Lisa, too, had noticed the guys approaching us. Her eyes locked on Tuck, and a spark of interest skittered across her face.
I wanted to shout you haven’t seen me here , so of course I’m new. But I knew she was only looking for a way to stay where she was so she could talk to Tuck and Brax. When he came up next to me, she practically preened, running her hands through her hair and straightening her sweater.
“Um, yeah. I’m new.” I nodded and glanced up at Tuck. When he looked down at me with those honey-colored eyes and pushed his hand through those dark auburn locks, I wanted to melt on the spot for him.
A smirk tugged at his lips when he looked down at me. “Hey.”
“Hi.” I shuffled from one foot to the other.
He hiked his backpack up on his shoulder. “How are you feeling?”
Heat flooded my cheeks. Did I really pass out and hallucinate like Elle said? Or was I really in the middle of a fight? Now I questioned myself. I’d always had the reoccurring dream, but was it escalating now? No. Deep in the pit of my stomach, I knew this guy had wings of fire and Brax could make himself grow and stripes would appear on his skin. Their wicked tattoos were just as visible as ever. Now they all looked at me like everything was so normal, like last night didn’t happen.
“I’m okay, all things considered.”
“I’m glad you’re okay.” Strands of his hair fell into his face, and my fingers tingled with the need to push them back for him.
“Hi, Tuck. I was just saying hello to our new student.” Lisa motioned toward me. “What was your name again?”
He didn’t take his eyes off of mine. “Her name’s Zinnia Heart.”
Lisa pressed her lips together, then narrowed her gaze at me. “I see you’ve already met.”
“Yeah, Lisa, we’re good here, so you can leave now.” Elle hiked her thumb to point down the hallway. “I believe the class for bullies is that way.”
Brax chuckled under his breath and slid a little closer to Elle. “That way, ladies.” He swept his arm to the side, giving them space to walk down the hall.
Lisa tossed her hair over her shoulder and looked back at her followers. “Let’s go, girls.” She took a few steps, then paused in front of Tuck. “I’ll see you later, Tuck.”
He shrugged. “Maybe.”
Satisfied with that answer, Lisa trotted off in the other direction. Maybe? What did maybe mean? Jealousy like I’d never known made me dig my nails into the palm of my hand. I’d only met Tucker once, now twice. I had no claim on him. Yet I felt I should.
Over the years, I’d been to so many schools that the names and faces all blurred together. But everything felt so different in this school. I already had friends, people who knew my name and stopped to say hi to me. I couldn’t just blend into the crowd like I normally did. Secretly, I didn’t know if I liked being known or not. Having friends would only make it harder when I inevitably moved…again. I turned away, heading for the main office door.
Tuck stepped into my path, blocking me from going through the door. “Where are you going?”
I pointed to the door behind him. “Um, to get my class schedule.”
When he ran his tongue over his bottom lip, wetting it, I fought the urge to move closer to him and offer him my own lips.
The muscle in his jaw flex and he leaned in closer to me. “I guess I’ll see you in class then.”
His lips tilted in that half smile I liked so much, then without another word, he turned and walked down the hall. As he walked away, I noticed all the other girls openly staring at him. But he didn’t look at them, just kept his head up and moved forward. I couldn’t understand why he’d taken any interest in me when he could have his pick. Even the way his jeans hung off his hips and his shirt molded to his body was hot from behind. Hate to see you leave, but I love to see you go. For a moment, I stood waiting for his effects to wear off. His warm scent clung to the air even after he was gone. Every time he was near me, my heart fluttered wildly, so wildly that I wondered if he could hear it reacting to him? The tension between us was palpable, and I didn’t know why.
“I’m going to go with Zin to get her schedule. I’ll catch up to you later.” Elle left Brax’s side and came to mine. She looped her arm through mine and leaned in to whisper, “What is up with you and Tucker Brand? Did something happen between you two last night that I don’t know about?”
If you call being trapped by an evil girl while fighting off zombie-like creatures something, then yes, we now have a hard-core commitment. “No, nothing happened.”
“The way he looks at you, it’s just so…intense.” Elle pushed through the office door, and a chill crept up over my skin. Why did they always have the air conditioning on in offices? To the point of freezing. No wonder all of the women working here wore cardigans.
“Yeah.”
“That’s all you can say? Yeah?” She bumped me with her hip. “There’s more to this than you’re telling me.”
Yes, last night I nearly killed a girl and he stopped me. “Not really, you know just as much as I do.”
We stood at the long main desk that ran the expanse of the office. Fliers for clubs and activities hung on the large bulletin boards on the wall opposite the desk. I stood behind two boys and waited my turn.
Elle dropped her arm from mine and turned to face me. “It’s just so weird, you know?”
“Oh, I know.” The connection between Tuck and me was very weird to me too. But if I couldn’t figure it out myself, how could I explain it to her?
When the two boys in front of us turned around, I froze, instantly recognizing them as the two who’d showed up during the fight. One was nearly the same height as Tuck, with dirty blond hair that stopped just above his chin and ice-blue eyes. His face was all sharp angles and pouty lips. He was beautiful in a surfer guy kind of way, but not as compelling as Tuck’s dark good looks.
He leaned back against the desk and smiled. “Hey.”
The words caught in my throat. If what happened last night was a dream, then how could I know him? We hadn’t met at the party. Elle jabbed her elbow into my side. I swallowed down my surprise. “Hello.”
“How are you feeling? Rough night last night?” A light chuckle rumbled in his chest.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name last night.” I didn’t have time after you stepped from thin air and exploded things.
“Oh, right. I’m Beckett Dust. This is—”
The other boy leaned back against the counter. “Grayson Shade, love. You can call me Gray. And you are?”
Beside me, Elle was vibrating with excitement. This boy was the epitome of style, and with that British accent, I could see every girl in this school tripping over themselves to get to him. He looked at me from over the top of his sunglasses. Grayson did not look like he belonged in New Jersey. There was a worldly air about him. He didn’t wear jeans like the rest of the students. He had on a pressed pair of black slacks and a burgundy v-neck t-shirt that didn’t have one wrinkle. Where Tuck’s hair was tousled and windblown, this boy’s hair was brushed back from his face in smooth strands of dark chocolate.
“I’m Zinnia.”
“Oh, Zinnia Heart.” The secretary called from just behind him. “I have your schedule right here.”
“Well, we’ll leave you to it, Zinnia Heart.” He gave me a tight-lipped smirk. A sudden flash of his long, toothy smile hit me. Last night he’s sped around at inhuman speeds, flashing sharp teeth while doing it. But what could I do? Stop them and say by the way, you exploded a bunch of people into dust last night…what are you?
Left with no other choice, I stepped up to the counter and let the two boys walked out of the office.
Elle grabbed my arm so hard her nails dug into my skin. She let out a little squeal. “Oh my god, you are having some luck with the guys this morning. Those three hardly ever talk to anyone but each other.”
The secretary cleared her throat. “Elle Calliwell, don’t you have someplace to be?”
“Yes, Mrs. Bow.” Elle gave me a sly look that said we’ll talk about this later. “I’ll see you at lunch, okay?”
“Okay.” It wouldn’t be the first time I navigated my way through a new school. But I still couldn’t help but want to have her by my side.
Mrs. Bow pulled her lime green cardigan tight around her shoulders and held my schedule out to me. The eyeshadow she caked on matched the sweater and highlighted her hazel eyes. She pulled a pen from behind her ear and pointed it at my schedule. “My, my… these are some advanced classes.”
I nodded. “Yes, they are.”
She paused, staring at me for a long moment as if waiting for me to say something else. When I didn’t, she reached under the counter and pulled out another piece of paper. “This is a map of the building. It’s fairly simple. We are in the shape of an H, not a very big campus.”
“Great, thank you.” I gathered my papers in my hand and began to turn for the door.
“If you have any problems, you can come back to the office and we will help you out.” When she smiled at me, I noticed a bit of her fluorescent pink lipstick was smudged over her teeth.
“I will, thank you.” I walked out the door and down the hall while studying my map and schedule. It wasn’t too hard to find my history class in room 143.
When I strolled into the room, I noticed most of the students had already take their seats. The teacher, Mr. Robb, stood with his back to the class and scribbled across the blackboard. He was a scraggly looking guy with tousled salt-and-pepper curls, a brown sweater vest and light yellow shirt. The class was rowdy and loud, yet Mr. Robb didn’t seem to mind. “Miss Heart, I presume.”
I nodded. “That’s me.”
Wicked Witch (The Royals: Witch Court Book 1) Page 5