Chapter Twenty-Six

After being rescued from the hotel, I resisted the urge to hunt down Ansin and Jeni. They would be long gone by now, anyway. My only goal was to get inside Piper's house and find the chalice before it was too late.

On the plane ride from St. Thomas to San Francisco, I went over every word King had said before unceremoniously disappearing into thin air. Had he really changed his mind about allowing me to live because of Piper? Just like that? It felt too easy given how he'd tried to kill me.

Regardless of his true motives, I had to get Piper back. Losing her that way was more than enough to break me. Maybe it still would.

In the meantime, I had to convince these Seers to let me into that house.

I knew something was wrong with that place.The Seers had stayed hidden when I'd been inside, but I'd felt something watching us. A cold, heavy something.

Ten hours later, just after three in the morning, I stood on Piper's porch. I did not know what I expected, but it was not finding an unlocked door.

I let myself in and flipped on the lights in the foyer. "Hello?"

An unnatural stillness was in the air.

"I know you are here, so show yourself. Don't show yourself. I do not care." I walked down the hall and found the basement stairwell just off the laundry room near the kitchen. If the Seers were going to do something, let them. But until someone stopped me, I intended to get that chalice.

I went down the wooden staircase slowly, taking time to inspect each section. As I descended, the air grew colder, and my breath came out in puffs of steam.

"I am the fucking anti-Christ. You really do not scare me, ladies," I mumbled under my breath, running my hand under each step.

I got to the bottom step. Where the hell is it? King had said the chalice was hidden under the staircase. Perhaps he meant underneath the entire thing. "Where's a damned shovel?"

I turned my head, hoping to find one.

Standing in the middle of the room were eight women in beige-and-brown tunics. They had long dark hair except the one in the middle with streaks of silver. Their expressions were drab and their skin leathery, like they had spent too much time in the sun when alive.

I took a deep breath. "I was wrong. You are quite frightening. Now tell me where the fucking chalice is."

"You will not find it here, Draco," said the silver-haired one. "Piper took it."

Piper would have told me if she had found an ancient fucking Incan chalice. If anything, I would have seen or heard about it in her thoughts.

"We do not know where she hid it," said the woman, "but I can tell you where to find Piper."

"Piper is dead." It made my heart ache to say it, but she was.

"I repeat. Do you wish to see her?" asked the woman.

So they already knew what had happened to Piper. Of course they did. They were Seers.

"What is the catch?" King had said they would want something in return.

"You must bring me back to life with it first," said the silver-haired one.

There it was. "If I say no?" I asked.

"We will still tell you where to find Piper, but what good is a chalice you do not know how to use? The ritual is quite complicated and requires," she smiled wickedly, "certain ingredients that are difficult to obtain."

And there was the other catch. King had not told me about a ritual, and it had not crossed my mind. I figured the chalice would contain symbols or words to instruct me—nothing I could not decipher given my background.

However, if the Seer was right, I would need their help because, powerful or not, I lacked the knowledge to use my gifts. Especially on the Seer side.

The thought only fueled my bitterness. If my mother had simply tried to help me and teach me, I would not be backed into a corner like this. Fate was playing out despite my choices.

"Tell me how to find Piper." I had not made up my mind to help the Seer, but I would cross that bridge after I found Piper and she told me where the chalice went.

"She is waiting for you, Draco. In your hell."

Hell. I had a hell. Why was Piper in it? I could not comprehend how someone as good as Piper would land there.

Unless because she ended her own life.It was said that people who committed suicide went to hell. I never believed it, but if she was there, it was for a reason. But why my hell? Because of our bond? Piper and I had a powerful connection that went beyond anything in the physical world, so if I was destined for hell, perhaps that was her final destination, too.

Then it dawned on me. This had been King's plan—to get me where he thought I belonged. But why? I'd offered to let him kill me. I wanted death.

That dirty, evil son of a bitch.I had taken his powers. He'd been too weak to fight me. So instead, he showed up, trying to guilt me into leaving with him. When that didn't work, Piper jumped.

He knew I would do anything to get her back. He made her do it. He got into her head.Piper had no powers to resist him.

My anger bubbled over. The people around me had done many cruel and terrible things, but this went beyond sinister—hurting Piper to get to me. First, my own mother attempted to burn us alive, and then this.

My mind flashed to the conversation with Piper when she told me about seeing Mia. Mia had warned her that Ten Club would exploit my weakness, and that weakness would be her.

Guess I know how Ten Club mastered the fucking art of exploitation.They'd learned from their founder.

But I wasn't going to abandon Piper like they'd done to me. I would use every power I had to get her life back. With or without me.

I looked at the silver-haired woman and gave a nod. "Tell me how to get to her."

"Are you certain, Draco? Because there is no turning back after this. Hell is not a place you return from unscathed. It will be your worst nightmare brought to life."

I hesitated, thinking over every piece of this journey, including my heated conversations with Piper. She had been adamant that good could not be crushed, even by someone as powerful as me.

If she was right, and I did not come back as the same man, it would not end the world. If she was wrong, this was merely another step toward my fall into darkness.

"Show me the way to hell," I said.

The woman bowed her head. "You are already here." She pointed to the floor, where a giant hole opened. Below was Piper, strapped facedown to a stone table, bleeding from her back.