Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

PIPER

" M oira, are you all right?" I reached for her hand and took it into mine. I gave her fingers a light squeeze. I couldn't imagine what she must be going through. First losing her husband to this curse and then a most beloved son. I didn't know how she was even still standing.

She shook herself as if pulling herself into the present. "Yes, I-I'm fine. Just memories getting the better of me. Things I long since tried to forget."

"I can't imagine what this is like for you. And I know I'm asking a lot of you."

She shook her head and those long chocolate locks fell around her face in messy tatters. I'd never seen her so not put together. It was a bit unnerving for me. But I could see the strength she showed even now just by being here and helping. Even while Grayson was in such mortal danger. She held my hands tighter, and when her gaze met mine, I saw nothing but determination.

"This curse . . . it is a plague on us all. It takes down one after another. Vampires are meant to be immortal. We are meant to be together for eternity." Her eyes welled with unshed tears. "And now it has taken my son, which I cannot bear."

"I'm going to do everything I can. I swear it."

She pulled me closer so we were only inches apart. "I know you will, dearest, but this curse is too big for just one to handle. You need help."

I nodded. "That's why I came to you."

"I wish I were enough." She lowered her voice. "You must go to Evermore Academy and seek out the Witch Queens. I know not who they are, but Grayson has made allies there. They're very powerful and might have exactly what you need to finally break this horrid cycle."

Excitement pumped through my veins. This could be a first lead. "Where is the Academy?"

"New York City. Do be cautious and keep your wits about you. While he may be friends with the Queens, they are very dangerous and might not take kindly to you just showing up. I don't know enough about them to tell you anymore, but it takes a powerful witch to cast a curse and it'll take an even more powerful one to help you break it."

"Thank you, Moira."

"I wish I could go myself. But I am the advisor to the King of the Vampires. If I go and there is a conflict, it means we'd engage in a political mess I couldn't clean up. The witches have been in upheaval and there is a new ruler we don't know, but I want to go so badly."

"No, Moira, the King needs you here. I can go to the witches and plead our case. If they were half as fond of Gray as I am, then they will help us." I gave her hands one last squeeze and turned down the hallway.

"Piper!" she called out after me.

I whirled around. "Yes?"

"Do whatever you have to do to save him." She glanced down at her hands, breaking eye contact. "No matter what sacrifices must be made."

She looked so haunted standing there alone with the empty castle surrounding her. The silence of the hallway felt heavy between us. When she raised her eyes to look at me, all I could see was a lifetime of sadness. In another life and in another time, I could picture her with Grayson's quick wit and easy smile. But that was all gone now, and all that was left was a wife without a husband and a mother without her son.

"I will do whatever it takes. I promise." I knew I would. He was my soulmate. There wasn't anything I wouldn't do to give myself the time to kick his ass for not telling me any of this.

I hurried down the hall toward the mirrors that were set up for the party. Two guards were starting to take them down. I stepped in front of one and pressed my hand to it. I knew they wouldn't be here when I tried to come back. I wasn't familiar with the school, but I knew other places in New York City, and I would follow my instincts right to the witches. I stepped through the mirror and let its cool liquid smooth over my body. A few more steps and I stepped out of the mirror and into an oversized bathroom stall. I stood on the sink looking down at the dingy floor where toilet paper was strewn about. Some of it was left in damp wads around the bottom of the toilet.

I really need to think of better places to mirror travel to besides bathrooms. The odor was offensive and the sounds even more so. I hopped off the sink and pulled the door open.

"Hey! Did she cut the line?"

"Where'd she come from?"

"I need to go real bad! Move!" A woman rushed by me, and I snickered to myself as I passed the line of women waiting their turn. For such a busy place, I would've thought that Penn Station would've had a bigger bathroom. It was too narrow and just dark and dingy. Fluorescent lighting was a woman's worst nightmare, yet they seemed to put it everywhere.

I walked out past the police station at the half-moon desk right across from the big board showing where the trains were coming and going. The night had passed quickly and even at midday the day after Christmas the station still buzzed with activity. People were bundled in their winter hats, coats, and boots. As I walked toward the Seventh Avenue exit, I hurried past the delicious smells of the Krispy Kreme, pizza place, and Dunkin Donuts. I knew that once I'd been a vampire for a while, I'd be able to eat again. But I did not need another round of the lesson I learned before. I hurried up the stairs to the street. The wind whipped down, blowing my hair back from my face. People huddled into their coats when they hit the street.

It was nearly overwhelming with my vampire senses. Even in the middle of the day, the lights were bright, the sounds were louder, and the smell was thick in the air. If I looked to my left, Times Square blared as bright and hectic as ever. Across from the station were huge billboards that covered the fronts of the buildings. People moved in all different directions and the sounds of sirens echoed down the street. It wasn't Boston, but it was a busy city that I adored. I didn't know where I was going or what I was looking for, but I hoped my new sense would guide me to where the magic was strong enough.

I vaguely remembered what it was like to sit next to Ophelia. How the magic almost crawled over my skin. Deep down I hoped that it would also call to my own new blood magic. I closed my eyes for a moment just letting my senses be completely overwhelmed by the city and its surroundings. There was so much energy pulsing around me it was hard to tell what direction to move in. But there to my left was a glimmer of something different. Something more. I hurried in that direction, flying by people and things. As I passed the street vendors and little shops, I plucked a hat, gloves, and a scarf so I blended in better.

The closer I got to the area that called to me, the more I felt the power around it. It was like walking through a thick Boston fog. It tasted like powdered sugar on my tongue and smelled of morning dew. There was something fresh and clean that lingered in the air. I turned down another street and ran headlong toward it. My instincts carried me forward, and the world moved by so quickly I hardly knew where I was. When I stopped, I froze in front of two huge wooden doors. I gazed up at the dark building. It wasn't that it stood out, more that I could feel the power beyond the stone exterior. The top of the building looked like an old castle with turrets on the corners and stones at the top.

"Subtle. Real subtle." A building that looked like a castle which housed . . . Queens.

Not that I could say anything, I grew up without a home, and when I finally did get a fancy home, it was as a vampire in an amazing gothic castle. I knocked on the door, and it just echoed beyond the walls. For an academy, it was awfully quiet for midday. Did they leave for the holidays? I shook my head. They couldn't. I needed them now. I knocked again, this time harder. Some of the wood splintered under my knuckles but no one answered the door.

I glanced down the street, looking in one direction and then the other. No one would notice me if I moved quickly enough. I took two steps back and ran at the doors full speed. At the last moment, I planted my foot and launched myself toward the top of the wall. My arms pinwheeled and my stomach rose up into my throat. The top of the school came into view, and I dropped down and landed on top of the wall. My feet crushed into the thick stone as I dropped down into a crouch. A siren sounded and I jumped to stand.

"Shit." Breaking and entering was not my thing. "Not good, not good."

I hurried toward the edge of the wall that overlooked the interior of the school. Below was a courtyard with a light sheen of frost covering the ground. A large stone fountain with three tiers in it sat in the middle of everything. The water trickled lightly, making a pleasant sound I could barely hear over the alarm. I glanced around and still the academy seemed empty. There were only two floors and both were open and exposed the courtyard. Large columns were spread around the first and second floor. Stone archways connected the pillars, and a small half-wall made it look so picturesque. Multiple hallways ran off the courtyard leading farther into the school. I placed my hand on the wall and kicked my legs over, hopping down from the top of the wall.

A blast of magic struck me in my side as I dropped down. It felt like being hit by a sledgehammer and then blasted with fire at the same time. It sent me flying across the courtyard and I careened across the frozen grass like a tennis ball. I crashed into the fountain and the stone shattered around me. Water shot up into the air and rained down on me as I crawled from the rubble.

"What the fuck?" I shook my hands out, sending droplets of water flying in all different directions. I wiped at my eyes and blinked hard.

My blood magic rose to the forefront and a fine red mist surrounded me like a swirling vortex. Drops of water hung among the mist surrounding me. I pressed my hand to my side, and it felt so tender there I was sure some of my ribs were broken. I was lucky I'd bitten Grayson only last night, otherwise those would take me a long time to heal.

I glanced around and was faced with a woman with wild midnight hair and silvery magic whipping around her. Her eyes nearly glowed with the silver power surrounding her. Next to her was a guy with dark-red hair and a dark tattoo of a phoenix on his neck that peeked out from the top of his sweatshirt. He held a ball of fire in his hand that he tossed up and down like a baseball. A huge black dog-looking thing with a bunch of tails stood on her other side. Drops of drool fell from its mouth as it stared at me.

Another woman with long auburn hair and bright-green eyes stood on the other side of her. Golden magic hung in the air around her, except she stood there more casually and with a light smirk on her face. She let her eyes linger above my head, and I tilted my head back trying to see what she saw. A huge chunk of that fountain floated just above my head as if at any moment she could drop it and crush me from the top down. Would a vampire survive death by crushing ? I didn't want to stand here and find out. A guy with bright-blond hair stood on her other side. With his ocean eyes and tasseled hair, he reminded me of a surfer I'd seen on TV.

I narrowed my eyes at the line of them. "Well, that's a fine fucking hello."

The woman at the center with the wild hair didn't flinch. "We don't take kindly to trespassers."

"Then perhaps answering your door would stop that." I didn't have time for this. There was too much power surrounding them for them to not be exactly who I was looking for.

"You're surrounded," the guy with the ball of fire called out to me. "So I suggest you state your purpose before you find out how bad this situation can be for you."

I was already in a bad situation. I wasn't trying to make it worse. I glanced over my shoulder to find a woman with dark curls that stood out from her face staring at me. Yellow bands of magic swirled around her and bounced on the ground in my direction. They glowed so bright it gave her dark skin a golden glow. Vines shot up around me like a cage and I fought the urge to just rip them all out with my bare hands. I opened my hand, and my blood magic flew across the courtyard and wrapped around her.

Her eyes widened and I arched my eyebrows. "Stop it. I don't like being caged."

The vines withered and died around me. They turned to ash and drifted to the ground. I dropped my hold on her and nodded my head. "Thank you."

"You have one second to state your purpose here or I drop this." The redhead narrowed her eyes at me. "We'll see if vampires can survive being crushed."

I gave a heavy sigh and pulled my sleeve up. "My name is Piper. I'm Grayson Shade's soulmate . . . and I need your help."