Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

PIPER

T he boulders hovering over my head disappeared into dust and rained down around me like falling snow. They all moved toward me like a wave. I held my hands up and my blood magic swirled around me, protecting me from whatever they decided to do next. I would make them all see reason, whether or not they wanted to. They hesitated, staring at my swirling magic. But the one that seemed to be at the center of it all, the girl with the wild black hair and bright eyes, seemed to be directing this madness.

She held her hand up and some of my power drifted toward her. It touched her skin and suddenly turned to silvery magic, and she absorbed it. Her eyes widened and a shiver went down her spine. "Whoa."

The guy next to her extinguished his flames and grabbed on to her elbow, seeming to steady her. His eyes roamed over her delicate features, looking for signs of trouble. So much concern for her behind one look. "Are you alright?"

"What a hit." She smirked at me while eyeing me with interest. "I think I'm going to like you."

"I think that's weird to say after the welcome I just got." I slowly dropped my hands and let my power drift back inside me where that well sat deep in my stomach.

"You're a powerful vampire that hopped over our walls and set off an alarm. How else were we supposed to approach you?" She arched her eyebrow at me as if saying maybe think about what you just said .

"Fair point." I sighed and shrugged. "But in my defense, this whole vampire thing is brand-new to me and I had no place else to go. Plus, I did knock, and I am desperate for your help at this point."

"I think you came to the right place." She moved in closer and extended her hand toward me. I took it. "I'm Zinnia."

"You're a witch? A Witch Queen? Because that's who I'm looking for." Power oozed off her like it was her natural aura, and I hoped she would be the one to help us. There was something so calm and capable about her that would make anyone think she was a queen.

"Yes, I think I'm who you're looking for." She turned to the guy next to her with all the flame powers he showed before. "This is Tucker. He's a phoenix, and the redhead over there is Astrid, Queen of Manifestation, and the blond guy beside her is Beckett, a general badass warlock."

My eyes widened and I gave them a little wave. "Piper. Just Piper the vampire."

It felt weird to introduce myself that way, but how else could I describe myself in this world? Hi, I'm Grayson's progeny, but also soulmate, but also sometimes feral, but also on a mission to save the guy I love . None of that seemed appropriate. But really, who the hell knew what was appropriate under these circumstances?

A woman dropped down from the opposite wall as though it was just like taking a step down from a small platform and not a great height. She held a bow and arrow casually at her side and pointed to the ground. She plucked at the string while staring at me. "You're lucky I didn't shoot you."

"Or are you lucky I didn't catch you trying to shoot me?"My instincts and senses were even stronger than I knew. I could see things flying at me from a mile away now. It was odd but so very welcome.

Her lips twitched like she was trying to hide a smile. She tucked a lock of her long, sandy blond hair behind her ear and my eyes widened at the tiny points. Her eyes met mine and I found her unwavering gaze to almost be unnerving. "She can stay."

"Um, thanks?" I wasn't planning on leaving without their help.

"Come on, let's get out of the cold and go somewhere we can talk." Zinnia motioned to a hallway behind me. "The Academy is pretty empty right now because of the holiday, but you never know who might be listening."

"That would be great." I turned to walk toward the hall but paused at the shattered fountain. "Am I going to get in trouble for destruction of property?"

Tucker sighed and kicked at a stray piece of stone on the ground at his feet. "No, but we are."

Water shot straight up into the air and sprayed in all different directions. It misted over us and the frozen grass. The redheaded woman, Astrid, stood just beside the shattered fountain, looking down at all the pieces. The water misted her hair, making those auburn waves seem even darker. "Not if I have something to do about it."

She held her hands up and gold glittering magic swirled around her before drifting over the grass like a creeping fog. The pieces of the fountain all lifted from the ground and floated in a million different directions. One by one, they all moved to fit together like puzzle pieces. Her magic flowed over the jagged edges, sealing them together like nothing had ever happened. Bright light shined from them and suddenly the whole fountain was back together perfectly. The sound of trickling water filled the quiet courtyard.

Tucker patted her on the shoulder as he passed by. "We really could've used you a few months ago. Matteaus would've loved for us to be able to clean up our own mess."

"Yes, but I'm here now." She winked and they started to follow him into the hallway. "He'll never know."

"Oh, he'll know." Tuck chuckled. "He just might not be as pissed."

I stood there for a moment, staring at the fountain and looking for a crack or something. But there was nothing. My jaw dropped and Zinnia gave a light chuckle. "Magic. I know, right?"

"It's very impressive." She turned toward where the others had gone, and I fell into step with her. "So, you're the head queen? What's your power like?"

She gave a light chuckle. "You don't beat around the bush, do you? I can see why Gray would like you."

"I'm not sure the rest of his family sees it that way. But deep down I always thought we fit. You know?" From the moment I'd met Grayson, I knew there would be something between us. I tried to fight it and clearly so did he. But the universe had other plans. Finding out he was my soulmate only solidified the course of action I needed to take now.

She nodded and gazed at Tucker's back. "I know exactly what you mean."

"That's why I came here. I need the Witch Queens to help me, and I'm hoping that's you?"

"I guess you'd say I'm the Queen Witch, yes. My father was the High King of the Witches."She shrugged like it didn't matter.

"Oh, a princess first then." I chuckled. "He must be proud to have you as a daughter."

"I don't think so. He's dead." Her words were so emotionless, like his death was a matter of fact and not an emotional thing at all. But then again, I of all people knew how parents could suck.

Way to put your foot in your mouth, Piper . I didn't know what else to say but to offer my condolences. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. I killed him. Well, me, Tuck, and my sister, Ophelia." She waved me forward as my steps slowed. It was the shock of all the information she just blurted out like it was nothing that made me stumble. How was killing your parent okay in this world?

I tried to go for the only thing I could think of. "Ophelia is your sister? I've met her. Did you know?"

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Have you?"

"At the vampire castle." I nodded. "I kind of liked her."

"It's hard not to like the lovable psychopath. And I would say I'm surprised she was there, but somehow I'm really not. Our relationship with the vampires has always been limited until Grayson began to bridge the gap, so O being there is kind of very Ophelia."

"And you and she . . . killed your father?" What the hell was I walking into? And who the hell was I asking to get help from?

She smirked and gave me a sideways look. "You know your face kind of has subtitles, right?"

I tried to smooth my features and hide my shock. "I'm sorry. I just wasn't ready for murder."

She chuckled. "Well, don't tell my sister that. She'll be very disappointed in you. But my father was an evil man who used his powers to hurt the witches. He was a siphon witch, like me. I can take power from others and use it as my own. He took too much and used it for his own gains. A lot of good witches died under his rule. I was pretty much born to stop him, along with the other queens."

"Ohhh, hence your ability to take mine?" I followed her down the hall and we turned and went down a set of long, winding stairs. Cool, damp air seeped through the thick stone walls. It was only slightly warmer here than outside. But as we descended lower into the castle, it became warmer.

"Yours was like tasting blood and power at the same time." We walked down another long hallway. "What is your power exactly?"

"If I'm being honest, I'm new at this and my power is new to me, sooooo your guess is as good as mine. So far, I can control others' actions, but it's fleeting and whatever that magic was with the water before." I don't know why I felt so comfortable with her. But she had a calm, cool way about her that made me feel calmer in return, even if they had just attacked me and admitted to murder. In the world of witches and vampires, someone was bound to get killed.

She stopped before a thick wooden door and motioned to it. "This is where we stop."

I hesitated to open it. "What's in there?"

"This is our war room. We all meet here when there's a problem in the world of Evermore and we have to solve it." She stepped around me and opened it, letting the door swing wide. "And we're going to fix whatever happened because Gray is one of our own."

I followed her into the room and just stood there as all eyes swung toward me. There was one long table in the center of the room with a map of the world spread out over it. Red pins were stuck into different locations. It looked the way it would if someone was marking off all the places they'd traveled before. There were other tables pushed against the walls with random chairs spread throughout the room. A dusting of white sand was sprinkled on the floor, and the smell of sun and sweat lingered in the air.

I looked across from me, and there sat a guy with midnight hair down to his chin and glowing green eyes. Tarot cards swirled above his head, and I froze on the spot. Green smoke seeped from his fingers and churned with the cards. When he looked at me, his eyes went from milky-white to glowing green and back again. A tiny woman sat perched on the table beside him. She kicked her legs, letting them swing back and forth. She held a bag of chips in one hand and divvied them up between the two of them. One for her, a bunch for him.

When my eyes locked on her, I did a double take. There was something so familiar about her, something I couldn't put my finger on, but I'd seen her before, somewhere. The haunting feeling of déjà vu swam in my mind. "I know you."

"Yup." She nodded and her blond curls bounced with her movement. Crunch, crunch, crunch . The bag of chips crinkled as she yanked out more food.

I walked farther into the room. It was eerie how familiar she looked, like something from a dream or nightmare. Those dark eyes, that huge black trench coat, and those long blond curls, yet the memory escaped me from where exactly I knew her. "But I can't place where from?"

"I'm Tilly. This is Maze." She motioned between the two of them, then she brushed her fingers over her dark jeans and dusted the crumbs off her hands. She took a deep breath and met my eye. "Listen, I was only slightly demon-possessed when I kind of attacked you. But really, I was just hungry. I wasn't actually going to kill you or anything."

Then it hit me. The memories all rushed back. The night I was walking home from work to meet Dice. How scared and alone I felt. She hunted me. She chased me. She caught me. I nearly died that night from my injuries. It was catastrophic. "You're the one . . . you're the one who attacked me and put me in the hospital."

Astrid stepped in closer to her as though trying to protect her. She leaned in close to Tilly and I could tell there was a bond between the two of them, like Dice and me. If Dice nearly killed someone, I'd defend her with my last breath. Astrid lifted her chin and met my eye. "She wasn't herself."

"Yeah, I heard that, demon possession?" This world was far beyond anything I could think of. But Tilly wasn't attacking me now, and hell, I'd been feral for a time. I could only imagine the things I'd done against my will. So maybe demon possession was a bit like being feral? If that was the case, then I was in no position to judge, and a tiny bit of grace was in order. "So you attacked me because you were part demon?"

Tilly nodded. "Yep, demon-possessed. Plus, I was so hungry, and you had food. But I apologize."

"Food is always the answer." Maze reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of chips and shoved them into his mouth. Then he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a brown paper bag with tiny stains on it. He turned it over on the table next to him, and the second he did, a one-eyed black cat charged into the room.

Maze put his arms onthe table and surrounded the pile of tiny pizza rolls. "Back off. They're mine."

The cat leapt up on his knee and stared at him. They did this for long moments as if it were a test of wills to see who would win. Tilly sighed and rolled her eyes. She reached into the pile of pizza rolls and snagged one. Maze looked like he was about to whine at her, but she blew on it and tossed it to the cat. "Honestly, you two."

I was fascinated by the display. Maze stuck his tongue out at the cat and the thing turned around and stuck his tail up in the air and hopped off his knee with a little victory dance on the way out the door. He paused next to me and blinked his one eye as though winking at me.

Tilly cleared her throat. "I mean, I really am sorry now."

I shook myself and reminded myself we were in the middle of a conversation. "Yes, of course, apology accepted. Are you still demon-possessed or are we good? Should I worry you're gonna try to do that again?"

"Pshh, like I'd attack a super powerful vampire. I'm not stupid, Piper." She said my name as if I were already a close friend. Her voice was almost teasing, as though this was water under the bridge already.

I tried to go with her approach and just accept it. "I mean yeah, I guess it's cool now? I survived . . ."

Barely.

She looked me up and down. "Yeah, but not much longer after that."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks."

"Vampire-Piper fits you." She winked. "And will continue to fit you."

"What?" My brow furrowed in confusion. What the hell was she talking about now? Will continue to fit me?

Maze sighed. "The rules, cupcake. The rules."

She sighed. "I knowwwww. Don't tell people what we see . . . blah, blah, blah."

Astrid sighed. "Ignore their creep asses. They speak in riddles a lot."

Zinnia motioned for me to sit at one of the chairs at the table with the big map on it. "I know it took you a lot to come here, and we all love Grayson and want to help. So just let us know everything you can, and we will figure out what to do next."

She was so calm on the outside, and I did not feel that way on the inside at all. Coming here was a last resort, and now that I was here, my nerves were starting to settle in and it was overwhelming to even be here in this room with all of them. There was so much power, so much magic. I could see why Grayson would hang around to ally with these people, but also for the sake of pure curiosity. Sure, vampires had blood magic but it was nothing like this. Nothing like the power all these people wheeled. It only made me realize just how brilliant he was to try and bring our worlds together.

The woman who tried to trap me with her yellow streaming power strolled into the room. She narrowed her eyes as she took a seat across from me. I wanted to say something like hey nice power or thanks for not killing me , but it didn't seem like the right time.

Zinnia motioned to her. "This is Tabi, our Queen of Elements."

"Nice to meet you." I gave her a wave. "I mean, nice to meet you again."

"Nice to meet you too." But the words almost seemed pulled from her.

Then another woman with model looks and long, streaked blond hair came in behind her. Zinnia nodded to her. "And Serrina, our Queen of Desires."

"Desires? Wow. I bet you know some shit." I slapped my hand over my mouth. I couldn't imagine knowing people's desires or making them feel desire for things. It was almost too hypnotic of a power to think about. "I'm sorry. Sometimes the words get from my brain to my mouth before my filter can stop them, and they've gotten a lot faster now that I'm a vampire."

"No worries." She gave me a secret smile. She was so beautiful it was difficult to look away. I'd never seen a person who actually looked like their power. "And yes, yes I do know a lot of shit. And right now, you're a bundle of nerves who just wants us to help you. It's almost desperate."

"Not to sound cliché, but I am desperate." The others all fell silent as I spoke. "Grayson fell to a curse that, from my understanding, was placed on his family ages ago. And no one in the vampire world knows how to break it."

They sucked in a collective breath and silence fell heavily. The blond guy, Beckett, was the first to speak. "Are you sure? It's not bloodlust or something else?"

"I'm sure." When they all just looked around at each other with sad faces, I got the feeling there was an unspoken conversation going on that I didn't know about. Their sadness was palpable but calm somehow. There was no outrage or shock in the room. It was as though they'd been prepared for this news. Was that why they dropped their guard so quickly in the courtyard? They expected me?

"Why don't any of you look surprised about this?" Their eyes darted but no one answered. "Are you all psychic or something? You saw this coming?"

Maze tossed a pizza roll into his mouth and spoke as he chewed. "Nah, only I can see what's coming."

"And he very annoyingly keeps it to himself," Beckett snapped in Maze's direction.

Maze shrugged. " You live with this madness and tell me how that goes for you."

Beckett opened his mouth to say something, but Tuck cleared his throat, stopping them all from talking. He turned toward me once they all fell silent. "Grayson came to us a few days ago, told us about the curse, and asked for our help."

My jaw dropped and I shook my head. "He did what ?"

"He knew he was falling, Piper." Zinnia hung her head and her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. When she looked back up at me, I saw the pain she felt at losing a friend to something like this. She hated it almost as much as I did. "He wanted to see what we could do to help."

"And?" I held my breath. "Did you? I mean, were you able to find anything that could help?"

I held my breath, hoping against all odds that they'd found something that might ease this torture. Something that might bring him back to me.

"We're working on it." She nodded toward a stack of books in the corner of the room. "But we've found nothing so far."

I tried not to show my disappointment. They were his friends, and I knew they'd do anything they could to help. I just wished there was a solution at our fingertips rather than buried in an obscure book somewhere.

"What do the symptoms look like?" Tabi sat forward and rested her arms on the table.

Her words drew me from my thoughts. "He's stronger than ever, crazed, like it could be bloodlust but it's not. He's even slightly bigger. He moves so fast it's hard to keep up with him."

Tucker's hand balled into a fist on the table. "Is he lucid at all? Is he talking or is he a mindless animal?"

I thought back to the moments he looked at me with all the anguish in the world. Or when he told me to run from him. "I know it sounds crazy, but he's in there. I know he is. There are moments where . . . I don't know. Moments where I swear he knows what's happening."

"Then first thing is first: we need to figure out how to break this curse once and for all." Zinnia was all command and attention. I could see the sadness in her face, but I could also see the determination to fix this shit. "Beckett, can you get Ophelia? I think we're going to need her for this."

"NO!" Maze, Tilly, and I said at the same time.

Zinnia looked to the three of us, and I pressed my lips together. I wasn't ready to tell them all that I'd sent my best friend, who was a human, to live with their murder happy friend.

Maze locked eyes on me, then turned to Zinnia. "She's handling business for me."

Zinnia glanced at the three of us. "Ominous."

"I always find it best not to ask questions," Beckett interjected. "We'll get the answers later."

Maze nodded and held the bag of chips over his mouth and dumped the crumbs in, then he threw two more pizza rolls in on top of the crumbs. "Precisely."

When she looked like she was going to question me next, I had to stop her before she got the words out. My mind scrambled to give them something else to focus on. "Besides, we have bigger problems. Atlas, Grayson's best friend, is going to hunt him down and kill him."

"WHAT?"

"Why?"

"How?"

"That's insane."

Their words all rushed out at once and I gave a heavy sigh. "It's some kind of messed up vow he made. Grayson made him promise that if he fell to the curse, then Atlas would put him out of his misery and kill him. It's a matter of honor to Atlas. And I can't lie, Atlas is pretty much a legendary assassin among the vampires."

"Not just the vampires." Beckett stepped in closer to the table and leaned over to rest his elbows on it. "If that guy wants you dead, you're as good as gone. He's like death himself."

"Who's like death?" Another guy walked into the room and the others all went quiet. "I didn't realize we were having a meeting."

"We were trying to let you rest." Beckett walked over to him and clapped him on the shoulder, then guided him toward the table with the others.

The guy had longer shaggy blond hair, a five o'clock shadow, and circles under his eyes. His eyes were so dark they were nearly black and they looked haunted. He gave me a half-smile that seemed to almost pain him. "Hey, I'm Logan."

"Hey, I'm Piper." I gave him a little nod, but I felt the power rolling off him. It was so enticing, like I wanted to listen to whatever he said, but at the same time so dark and twisted.I couldn't help but wonder what the hell happened to him that brought him such inner turmoil that it practically spilled out of him. The others clearly gave him a wide berth.

We all stood silent for a moment, then Logan gave a humorless chuckle. "So, you were saying someone is like death?"

"Atlas, Grayson's best friend. He's hunting him and I knocked him out for a bit, but he'll be awake soon, and when he is he's going to be pissed. We have to get to Grayson before he does."

Logan chuckled. "How exactly do you knock out death?"

"Umm." They all stared at me. "Pin him down and give him enough sedatives to knock out an elephant and pray it works?" They all laughed and shook their heads as though this were acceptable. "He was asking for it."

"I bet he was. If we could capture Grayson, it would help to get a feel for the curse and what it's doing." Zinnia glanced around at the rest of us. "Because so far Adrienne and Niche haven't found what this curse is, or who cast it, or how it works. There's like no record of it in any of our books."

"I'm sorry, who are Niche and Adrienne?" I glanced around the room feeling like I missed someone.

"They're not in the room at the moment. But Niche is our trainer, kind of like a guide to help us along the way. She's super brilliant. And Adrienne is one of our Guardians. She helps protect us. As a daughter of Athena, she's also crazy smart and knows more about Evermore and how it all works than any of us." Zinnia waved her hand over the map. "She's been working with us since the beginning."

"Hold up. Athena as in the Greek God Athena? That's like a real thing?"

Astrid shook her head and sighed. "Man, when Gray gets better, imma give him such a hard time about that lack of knowledge he gave you."

It wasn't my fault I didn't know. "I'm sorry?"

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that. But there is so much to learn about how everything works in Evermore, and it's overwhelming unless someone explains it all. Try to think about it like a hierarchy. At the top you've got The Fallen. They pretty much rule all of Evermore, which is every supernatural creature in the world, then right below them you've got the Greeks. They love to think of themselves as gods, but really they're just wicked powerful supernaturals who for a time made humans believe they were gods."

Beckett nodded. "And got into a shit ton of trouble for it too. That's why we have to keep our world a secret."

"Right, okay. Got it." I mentally took notes.

Astrid continued. "Then you've got all the other supernaturals of our world. The royals, like the Witch Queens and Vampire King, all answer to The Fallen and are responsible for their subjects."

"It's actually pretty clean if you think about it," Zinnia added. "But we all have a purpose. And to get us back on track right now, our purpose is to capture Grayson, and we all know what that means."

A collective sigh filled the room and Zinnia's was among them. "Beckett, if you would please get Kylian here."

His lips twisted up into a shit-eating smile. "With pleasure."

He opened his hand and blue magic swirled all around him. He held it out and an oval shape began to take form, and my eyes widened. I thought mirror travel was weird. This was so much weirder. A swirling blue vortex appeared out of thin air. Beckett twisted his hand to the side and blue smoke poured from his hands and twisted the oval shape to hover high above the ground and face down toward the floor while being plastered on the ceiling. The magic swirled and twisted violently, and there was a collective cringe in the room.

"So violent," Astrid chided him. "He's going to puke."

"Wouldn't that be the point." Beckett wagged his eyebrows. "A bit of humbling for his cocky ass."

A huge guy fell through the portal. His arms pinwheeled and his body twisted mid-flight. He dropped to the ground, landing on his arms and the tips of his toes as if he were getting ready to do a push-up. His head snapped up and his dark hair flew back from his face. When he looked at me, his green crystal eyes flashed with annoyance. He sprang to his feet so fast he was a blur.

"You fucking rang?" Red smoke seeped from his fingers, and he seemed to take up the whole room.

A moment later a twin-sized mattress fell through the portal and landed on the floor with a loud thunk . Beckett lifted his hand and that blue smoke all filtered back to him. "Damn it."

There on top of the small bed was an even smaller woman with tiny green scales on her temple that ran down her neck and over her shoulder. Her head was a mess of short black hair and a single long braid that ran down the side. She was huddled on the bed wrapped in a blanket with pillows tucked all around her as though she made a nest for herself. She didn't open her eyes for even one second. She just continued to sleep. I didn't think I'd ever seen someone sleep so soundly in my life. I stared down at her, getting the hint that she was not from here.

When no one explained the sleeping women on the mattress, I tilted my head. "And this is?"

"Soto," Tuck, Beckett, and Kylian answered at the same time.

I tilted my head to the side to study her better. "That's it?"

"Yeah, that's it. She's my friend and that's all you need to know." Kylian turned to Zinnia, cutting off any other questions I might've had. He gave her a dark look. "What am I doing here, witch?"

"We need you to find Grayson." Zinnia got right to the point and matched his sharp tone.

He crossed his arms over his chest and took a few steps back to lean against one of the tables. "So, the leech needs me now. Why should I help?"

I was about to tell him if he wanted to keep his throat in his neck he would help. I wasn't against threatening, bullying, or even harming anyone to get Gray the help he needed. But Zinnia narrowed her eyes at him, and I knew she was going to get her way on this. "Because you live here, eat here, and generally are a nuisance all for free, and if you go home, you'll be thrown into a prison that you won't get out of. You have no place else to go, and you get to stay out of the kindness of our hearts. I'm not in the habit of my kindness not being returned, so you can either help or I will match energies with yours."

"Fair enough." He turned toward me with those uncanny eyes full of interest. "And who are you?"

"Piper."

His lips pulled up into a smirk. "Ahhh, Piper, we finally meet."

He licked his lips and looked me up and down with a satisfied smirk on his face that I wanted to slap off. I lifted my chin and hardened my gaze. "Yes, we do."

"You are a cute little leech. Well worth a curse if you ask me."

"You two know each other?" Tuck glanced from Kylian to me.

"We've had business," Kylian answered with a vague tone in his voice.

"What kind of business?" Tucker pressed.

Kylian shrugged. "The kind that's none of yours."

I didn't need him spilling our little deal about Dice. I was grateful for how he got her to safety, or at least with Ophelia, though I had no idea how safe that was. "Can you help us or not?"

He chuckled and winked at me. "Yeah, I can help you, little leech. But I don't need a whole contingent following me around to do it. I can catch one vampire myself. It's nothing I can't handle on my own."

"He's stronger than any vampire you've ever seen." I walked over to a metal chair in the corner of the room and picked it up. With my bare hands, I crumpled it into a tiny ball the size of a can of soda. "You're gonna want me with you."

Kylian's eyes widened, and he shoved away from the table and gave me a nod of approval. "Fine, then let the hunt begin."