Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

PIPER

W e ran through the portal and ended up in the courtyard of Evermore Academy. I hunched over and sucked in deep, heaving breaths as we stood next to the fountain. The silence of the courtyard was so different than the chaos of being in that field only moments ago. In England the sun was just rising, but back in New York it was already midday. Though it was winter, it was a perfectly clear day with the sun shining down on us. Still, it was chilly, and my breath fogged as my chest heaved with nerves.

"Did that just happen?" I spun around and looked at the others. "I mean, did we really just fight off . . . demons?"

"I don't think it's something we should mention or be proud of." Beckett glanced toward the sky, looking more paranoid by the second. The bottom half of his shirt was ripped, and I could see deep scratches over his torso. Demon slime clung to his dark jeans, making them darker and shiny in some spots.

My eyes automatically darted upwards to follow his gaze. "I wasn't feeling either of those things. I'm just kind of shocked. Never in a million years did I think demons existed."

"I mean, I knew everything existed, but If I'm being honest, I am shocked too." Astrid hunched over and rubbed at her leg where the demon had wrapped its tentacles around her and flung her around. "And sore."

"None of you are built for that kind of battle, especially not with hell demons." Kylian let his gaze roam over us as he shook his head. He ran his hand over his hair, and when he pulled his hand away, slime coated his fingers. He flicked it down toward the ground, leaving a wet wad right next to the fountain. "We're not even supposed to know they exist, let alone fight them. The Fallen won't be pleased."

"Maybe they won't know it was us?" I said while trying to keep as calm as possible. But as the question left my mouth, even I found it hard to believe that they wouldn't know it was us. These were actual fallen angels. They'd been here for thousands of years. How could they not know . . . everything?

Logan scoffed as he rubbed at the back of his head. Dried blood had gathered where he'd hit it against the tree. "Not a chance."

"So, how much trouble are we in, do you think?" As if on cue, shadows of giant wings blocked out the sun and ran across the courtyard. I tipped my head back only to see them circling and swooping over us like crows circling a dead carcass. "It can't be. We just left there."

Kylian gave a humorless chuckle and pointed at me with the tip of his sword. "We got here that fast . . . You don't think they can? They're the Fallen. The world is their oyster."

Logan gave a low, slow whistle. "We are so screwed."

Astrid held her palm up and a paper with scrolling writing appeared there. She wrapped her fingers around it, and it burst into flames. She let the ashes fall to the ground without saying a word.

The others all seemed to know what she'd just done, but I didn't see how the paper being set on fire would help us."What was that?"

"I was warning Zinnia that we're in trouble?—"

One of The Fallen suddenly dropped to the ground in front of us. The ground dented with his landing and my eyes went up . . . and up. I was used to Grayson, Atlas, and now Kylian who stood over six feet tall, but this angel was massive. He was closer to seven feet tall with wild tousled hair that had hues of brown, blond, and red streaked through it. I sucked in a breath and held it as the fallen angel in front of me glared at us with the most vivid sapphire eyes I'd ever seen. Tiny flames danced over his dark black wings, making the oily feathers appear even darker.

I took a step back and nearly collided with Kylian. He placed his hand on my lower back, holding me there. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Steady."

"I can't." My nerves were shot, I'd just fought demons and now I was facing the wrath of fallen angels. They were bigger than I expected and more dangerous looking. I'd thought angels would have some kind of bright inner light, with radiant peace. But this one only radiated power and danger. The energy around him was so strong I wanted to move away from him, but at the same time couldn't seem to stop myself from staying where I was. The swords in my hands suddenly felt heavy and out of place.

I handed them to Kylian. "Take these."

"What am I gonna do with them?"

"I don't know, get right of them?" He didn't take them back, but he grazed his finger over each blade and they turned to dust in my hands, falling to the ground around my feet.

"Matteaus—" Beckett stepped forward and began to speak, but when the angel held his hand up, Beckett slammed his mouth shut.

Steady? How could I be steady facing this . . . this Matteaus being? The power that simmered around him made my skin heat. Another fallen angel dropped down beside him, and though there was a smirk on his face, I didn't think he found any part of this funny. The smile was humorless and cold. His eyes were a dark hazel at the center that turned to the most vibrant sage-green I'd ever seen. Messy brown strands of hair fell all around his face, almost highlighting how beautiful he really was. His lips were full and shapely. He was so beautiful my jaw nearly dropped.

"I don't think he's taking commentary at this time." The beautiful angel pulled his wings in toward his back, and for a moment I found myself mesmerized by the deep-black feathers that were tipped with a green that matched his eyes.

"What Mika said." Matteaus didn't move as the others all landed around him.

Mika crossed his arms over his chest and glowered in our direction. "I, however, can only think one thing: what the actual fuck were you thinking?"

"We weren't." I hesitated. "We kind of just acted."

"You expect these young ones to think before they act?" Matteaus rolled his eyes.

"Fair point." Mika nodded in agreement with him.

How could I rebut that? We ran into the situation headlong without thinking. When I was about to apologize, four other angels all landed around him. One after another their giant wings caused gusts of wind to fill the courtyard and sent my hair flying back from my face. Their presence sent shivers up and down my spine. We were in deep shit, and all I could think was that Grayson was in even deeper.

Matteaus sighed and it came out more like a growl. "We're not all in attendance."

I thought he meant all The Fallen, and he was right, we were missing one, but I had no idea which one. But when he waved his hand and suddenly the rest of our crew was standing behind us, I got what he meant. He meant the other Witch Queens and Guardians. They were all here now: Tabi, Ashryn, Serrina, Maze, Tilly, Ophelia, a guy who looked nearly as dangerous as The Fallen, a girl with white-blonde hair and gloves up to her elbows, and also a freaking tiger. Why a tiger? The others didn't seem put off by the arrival of so many people or even a freaking tiger. I shook myself, trying not to stare, so I forced myself to face The Fallen.

Zinnia moved to the front to stand next to me with Astrid on her other side. She lowered her voice. "Thanks for the fire message."

"I tried to warn you," Astrid whispered back.

Do you think we can't hear you?

The words brushed through my mind like someone had spoken them out loud. I glanced around at the others to see if they'd also heard him. But when I looked back, they were all stoic and unmoving. Tilly hid behind Maze, pressing her body behind his until she was nearly invisible. All I could see of her tiny body was some of her wild, wavy blonde hair popping out from behind his back. Beckett inched closer to Astrid, and the backs of their hands barely touched, but it seemed like enough to soothe them for the moment. This situation was just adding to the shit storm we were already in with Grayson.

They all hear me. The voice spoke again this time with an ultimate authority that I couldn't deny even if I wanted to . Turn around, Piper.

When I snapped my head back around, one of the angels with wild black hair hanging past his shoulders stared at me with dark-purple eyes. He was slightly bigger than Matteaus and had larger muscles. A thick scar ran through his eyebrow, and when he arched it at me, it almost looked like the tip of a knife. Though it was winter, he wore a black tank top and black leather pants with heavy biker boots. I found it odd there was a pair of headphones wrapped around his neck at such a time. When he smirked at me and pointed to his temple, I knew it was he who spoke into my mind. We're here for you, Piper. You're in over your head.

Yeah, tell me about it , I thought back at him, and his eyes widened and his lip twitched as though he were fighting a smile.

He wasn't wrong. I was in way over my head—with this world, with them, with Grayson. It felt like at any second I was going to drown. I didn't think any of the other Fallen would know just how overwhelmed I felt, but this one did. It was difficult to look at him, and when I tried to turn my attention toward the others, I met eyes with the only female Fallen. I felt like her outside was such a contrast to the turmoil I felt rolling through my insides. She was calm, cool, and collected. Her hair flowed down her back in long dark waves that she braided from the crown of her head all the way down. Her eyes were sharp and observant but the stormiest gray I'd ever seen. Her tiny frame was strapped down with so many weapons that I couldn't tell which leather strap held which weapon. Knives, swords, a whip, and even throwing stars were all strapped to her. She didn't wear jewelry as accessories, she wore weapons .

"Kadeion," Matteaus held his hand out toward her, "the paper please."

She nodded her chin toward the angel next to her with a silver mohawk and a lizard perched on his neck that seemed to change colors every few seconds. "Taliam, you have the paper I gave you?"

"Right here." He pulled a folded envelope from his pocket and handed it over to Matteaus. Taliam wasn't as muscular as the others, but he was nearly just as tall. His body was all long, lean muscle. He wore ripped black jeans and a graphic T-shirt that read ‘ Feral' across the front of it.

Matteaus didn't look away from us as he took it from Talium. He opened the paper and took his time reading it. After long, silent moments, he sucked in a deep breath and began to read out loud."Dear Matteaus, I must say after weeks with this lot, I find them to be quite capable and impressive. Their magic grows daily, and as you and I have known each other for nearly all two hundred years of my life, I hope you don't mind my saying I think you will find allies within this lot as they grow. I know I have. I admire their tenacious abilities, their sense of justice, and their infallible moral codes. They are a testament to all that is good and right. Yours, Grayson." He crumpled the paper and threw it toward Taliam who caught it as though the move were planned. He sucked in a deep breath. "The Vampire wrote that to me only weeks after knowing you, Zinnia."

Her jaw dropped. "I-I had no idea."

"That's right. You all have no idea." His voice boomed in the courtyard, and I could only imagine how the students would have scurried away had school been in session at this very moment. "You are all failing him."

His words fell hard on them, but I felt them deeper in my chest. I was failing my soulmate. I knew I was. I wanted to plead my case and ask for help, but I didn't even know where to begin. "But the curse?—"

"—The curse has been in place for years and nothing has been done to end it." He crossed his arms over his chest and the muscles in his arms bulged.

Mika shook his head. "One of your own has fallen. What will you do about it?"

"Your minds are also weapons. Do not forget that," Kadeion added. Her voice was sultry and smooth with a seductive timber I did not expect.

"We are trying." The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.

Matteaus swiped his hand down his face and the movement showed just how exasperating he found this whole thing. "Try harder."

Another angel landed a moment later with a large sack in his hands. He stood next to Matteaus, and I leaned toward him, unable to stop myself. He smelled of blood and chocolate with a touch of wine. He smelled like Grayson. But he looked nothing like him with his blond hair and turquoise eyes. He handed the bag to Matteaus and moved to stand at the back of the group. Why did he smell like everything I desired?

"Thank you, Tristan."Matteaus grabbed the bottom of the sack, then turned it over, dumping the contents on the ground at his feet. Demon limbs spread across the frozen grass, and I took a step back as the twitching pieces flailed. Matteaus opened his arms, motioning to them. "And now we have DEMONS!"His voice boomed on the last word, and I flinched back. He marched toward us through the body parts, and they squished under his boots. "Summoning demons is not something we take lightly. So, tell me, why isn't Grayson here? Why isn't he contained?"

"He's stronger than we thought?" Beckett muttered as he shifted uncomfortably.

"Let me be clear, which of you knows how to summon a demon? And who taught him ?" He seethed.

"None of us," Zinnia answered. "Honestly."

Matteaus glanced over his shoulder to the one who'd spoken in my mind earlier. "Aidenuli?"

"They're not lying. They don't know." His eyes roamed over the line of us standing there.

"You are the most powerful of your kind." Matteaus glared. "He should have been caught by now."

"The curse is driving him. It's like he's listening to the voices in his head and can't ignore them." I didn't want to argue with Matteaus, but they had to know none of this was our fault. We were trying to catch him. "He's unpredictable and doing things I couldn't even imagine. When we got to that field, none of us thought we'd be facing demons. None of us wanted to, but we did so no one else would get hurt. We stopped them."

"Very well," he grumbled. Matteaus opened his arms, and the twitching limbs all caught fire. Flames burst up between us, and I moved even farther back. I felt Kylian at my back and the others closing in around my sides. Matteaus took a step forward and walked through the wall of flames. The scorching fire seemed to almost part around him. "Atlas rises in two days' time, and he will not be stopped. His vow is unbreakable."

"But he's his best friend. I don't understand why he won't just hold off on this." I could never kill Dice, not in a million years.

"Because some friends understand it's a kindness to be put out of your misery." The flames danced behind Matteaus, and I could see the others through them like flaming shadows with their dark wings. "We will not interfere. You have two days. Piper, if Grayson kills a human, I will have no choice but to kill him myself. I will not risk our redemption on the vampire, no matter how much favor he's garnered with us."

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, to beg for more time or beg them not to kill Grayson. But the clock had started. I could practically hear it ticking. In two days, Atlas would wake and he would hunt. In the meantime, Grayson was running rampant with voices in his head he couldn't resist. What if they told him to kill humans? What if he was out there right now about to do it and there was nothing I could do to stop it? Gray's neck was in the hangman's noose, and it felt as though it was being tightened around my own neck. If he died, there was no doubt in my mind I would want to die too.

"I suggest you hurry." He flapped his wings and took off toward the sky.

The flames grew higher and embers drifted up into the air, then a sharp wind whipped through the courtyard and they were extinguished in an instant, leaving no evidence of the demon limbs behind.

I hunched over and put my hands on my knees and nearly threw up right there. Zinnia ran her hand over my back in slow circles. "Breathe. I know they're a lot."

"Did no one else hear what they said?" I straightened my stance and put my hands on my hips. "Two days."

"We will find a way," she tried to reassure me, but the panic was setting in.

"And what did he mean by saying he wouldn't risk his own redemption? What does that even mean? Aren't angels supposed to help people?" It was so hard to even process what just happened.

Astrid sighed. "The Fallen fell from grace thousands of years ago. They've been trying to earn their redemption ever since."

"Redemption? They've been here ruling us for all that time . . . you'd think by now they would have."

"We don't really know how long it's been exactly or what they did to become fallen in the first place. But we do know they're fighting for something bigger ,and they're supposed to protect the humans, so if Grayson kills one, they won't have a choice in the matter . . ." Zinnia let her words trail off as the others gathered around us and formed a tight circle.

"So, I see we're all screwed again?" The girl with long white-blonde hair and black silky gloves up to her elbows crossed her arms.

"Nova!" Zinnia hurried across the little circle and pulled her in for a quick hug. "I didn't think you'd be allowed back up here so soon!"

"Apparently The Fallen's summoning trumps deals with Hades." She sighed, then opened her mouth about to say something else when the ground opened beside her and a man popped out. He was tall and slim with inky hair to his chin and bright-purple eyes. Nova pursed her lips, and when he moved to stand next to her, she kicked him in the shin.

He gritted his teeth, and the muscle in his jaw ticked. "Is that anyway to greet the person you like?"

"I'd like to punch you next time." She huffed.

He held his hand out toward her. "There's always a next time for us."

"Ew." Yet she placed her delicate, gloved fingers in his palm.

"Zinnia, always a pleasure." He inclined his head toward her, and the ground opened up beneath them. They both dropped into the hole, and it closed up over them just as quickly as it appeared.

My eyes widened but I didn't say anything. That was the least crazy thing I'd seen all day. But Tabi took pity on me and explained, "That was Nova, our Witch Queen of Death. She kind of made a deal with Hades, and now she's trapped down there until we can figure out a way to break the deal."

" That was Hades? I thought he'd be . . . bigger."

She shook her head. "No, that was his son, Liesin. They have some issues to work out."

"I'll say." She straight-up kicked him the moment he got here. Definitely issues there .

"We must be off too." Ophelia grabbed on to the guy standing next to her. He was all warm golden eyes with a could kill you in your sleep vibe. "Cross has things to do."

Before I could say anything to stop her or ask how Dice was, she reached into the pouch on her hip and threw a vial on the floor at their feet. Zinnia held her hand out. "But wait, We could really use your—" Ophelia and Cross jumped into the shimmering air the potion caused, and they were gone in seconds. The portal between us closed. Zinnia sighed. "—Help." She threw her hands up. "I just can't with that sometimes."

Ashryn turned and punched Kylian in the arm. He flinched back and rubbed at his shoulder. "What the hell was that for?"

"You're supposed to be the best." She narrowed her all-knowing sage eyes at him. "Do better."

"Thanks," he snapped back at her. "I am trying. The leech is fast and stronger than any of us anticipated."

"Perhaps I could persuade him to stop? Figure out exactly what he desires and we can use it against him?" Serrina offered, and I wanted to jump at any and all ideas they had.

Logan shook his head. "No dice. My charm didn't even make a dent on him. I might as well have tickled him, and if I'm being honest, I don't even think he knows what he himself desires. He's running on instinct and anger."

Tucker held a ball of fire in his hand, and he stood there thinking, mindlessly tossing it up and down like a baseball. "I don't think this curse has any reasoning to it. But what I can't wrap my head around is why he would summon demons and how would he know how to do that?"

"That's what I don't get. There's got to be something in his head that's driving him. But is that how a curse would work?"

Zinnia shook her head. "Not typically. Usually, the magic just does what it's meant to and that's it. It doesn't give directions on how to summon demons."

"But how do we know that knowledge isn't lingering in his mind? I mean, he's an older vampire. He might know?" I ran my hands through my hair and tugged at the strands in frustration. "Or I'm trying to apply logic where there is none. And now we're facing a crazed vamp with two lifetimes of knowledge in his head and a stupid amount of strength."

Beckett nodded. "I could barely trap him with my power. It was difficult. He's stronger than even I thought."

I wanted to say I told you so, but it didn't feel like the time or place for people who were trying to help me.

Tabi sighed and crossed her arms. "I wish there was something more I could do, but unless you want to drop him into a vat of water, or pit of vines, or fire, or bury him alive, there's not much that I think will hold him."

"As much as I love the sound of all of that, I think he's already close to madness. I don't think we want to push him any closer, and trapping him that way might do it." I couldn't even imagine doing any of those things to him. We might as well kill him if we were going to torture him like that. I turned toward Maze and Tilly. "What about you two? Look at your cards or dive into your visions. Tell us what to do."

Beckett and Logan both shifted awkwardly, running their hands over the backs of their necks as they shared a look. Maze chuckled and his eyes turned milky-white as he gazed at me with a wide smirk. "Careful what you wish for, little vampire."

"Psychics aren't really good at giving direct answers," Beckett interjected, "It's more like you have to just take what they say with a grain of salt and that's about it. Usually, however you think things will play out, it doesn't really end up that way."

"What he fails to mention is our powers can affect the outcomes if you all know too much, so we need to be precise in the information given." Tilly reached into the pocket of the oversized trench coat that she wore and pulled out a bar of chocolate and handed it to Maze without even looking at him. He dug into it as if he hadn't had a meal in three days.

"Well, we need something to go on. Because, and I don't care if I offend you, Kylian, just hunting him down without a plan of how to trap him isn't going to work."

"Ugh." He placed his hand on his chest. "I'm crushed."

"You're an ass." He didn't appear crushed at all. I looked away from him and at the others. "If there was some way to get through to Gray, I know he's in there. I've seen it. Even when we were there, he spoke my name. Though it didn't really sound like his voice."

"What'd it sound like?" Beckett leaned forward. "I wasn't close enough to hear him."

"It's hard to describe." I hesitated trying to gather my thoughts on how to describe it. "But it's like there's something in his head talking to him and for him. I don't know much about curses or magic, but something or someone is pulling the strings behind it."

"It would stand to reason." Zinnia nodded. "We just need to find out who and how it was done before he kills anyone or summons more demons."

I shook my head, thinking about what just happened. The sight would haunt me for years to come. "We walked right into a summoning."

"I can't even imagine what that was like." Zinnia wrinkled her nose. "I kind of don't want to."

Astrid pointed to her ripped pant leg. "Yeah, getting thrown around by one wasn't exactly fun."

"Neither was hacking at all that slimy crap." I just stopped myself from gagging from the memories of the smell and sights of that charred skin. Their screams would echo in my ears for a good long while. "I'm going to have nightmares about it."

Tilly shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. A lot of answers can be found in dreams."

We all turned to look at her. She winked at me. Maze wrapped his hand around her and tugged her away from the group. "Let's go, little trickster. You know what they say, loose lips sink ships."

"Yeah, but who needs a ship when you can drift off all alone?" She let him tug her away. "Besides, ships are crowded."

That crazy one-eyed black cat scampered across the courtyard and leapt up on his shoulder as they walked away.

I turned back toward Zinnia. "What did any of that mean?"

Tucker chuckled and shook his head. "I don't know. But we need to find out, and I know just where to go."