Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

DICE

" L ook, don't get me wrong, I love Christmas with you guys, but it's time for me to get to Piper. I mean, all the knives were awesome presents . . . if I want to . . . you know . . . slice and dice things." I followed Ophelia as she danced down the halls of her castle and sprinkled glitter over the dark stone floors.

"Or people," she pointed out as she danced around with all the joy an elf in the North Pole would muster in Santa's workshop. Kylian dropped me here days ago, and at first I found this strange castle creepy. Ophelia was terrifying and I thought Cross might kill me in my sleep. Since then, I'd grown to love the cold gothic decor. I even liked Ophelia, and maybe she was slowly becoming one of my most favorite psychopaths. I'd gotten to the point where I was pretty sure Cross would not kill me in my sleep . . . almost sure.

Ophelia's long hair was loose around her shoulders and flowed and bounced with each of her moves. I'd grown used to seeing her in her black dress or sweaters strapped with weapons. But today she wore red and white-striped leggings and a bright-red shirt with Christmas lights on it that were set to light at random. Even her shoes had little bells on them. Every time she moved there was a little tinkering sound like a cat with a bell on its neck. For a moment I wondered if we could make this a permanent solution to a long-term problem. I never knew where she was, and she snuck up on me like a cat most days. Little bells would fix that real quick.

I cleared my throat and agreed. "Right, orrrrr slicing and dicing people. They're lovely and I?—"

"—I know, right? I gave you only the good ones . . . pre-sharpened." She paused and winked at me like pre-sharpened knives were the best things ever. A wide smirk spread across her face, and she turned to start strolling away from me once more. "They never make them sharp enough. You have to do it yourself if you want a clean slice."

Okay . Why was I getting so used to these kinds of conversations after only a few days? The thing with Ophelia was she'd give the world to any of her friends at any point in time. She'd offer up their enemies on a silver platter . . . or just their heads. But Ophelia did everything on Ophelia's timetable. Somehow, I had to convince her to move on my timetable and get me off this island and to Piper. "And I am so grateful for that, and I'm sorry I could only put together a handmade thing, but there are no stores on this island?—"

She spun around to face me, and a fistful of glitter flew from her hand and landed on my shirt. Or the black T-shirt I'd been given . When Kylian dropped me here I had only the clothing on my back. What an asshole move that was . She tilted her head to the side and looked at the glitter mess. "Don't knock my present. You made it for me with your bare hands. That's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."

"Thanks." Cross grumbled below his breath. He was perched at the edge of the little platform where the empty throne sat. Dark strands of his hair fell over his eyes and into his face, but I still felt his eyes lingering on the two of us, like he couldn't stop watching her. Even I had to admit it was intense being in the same room with the two of them. Their quiet connection was nearly palpable. She moved, he moved. His eyes never left her, even when he was pretending to be preoccupied with other things.

"I mean, I thought a strangle wire seemed like something you'd like, but don't you think it's time for me to leave?"I'd made the damn thing out of spare wire I'd found lying around and two small, thick pieces of wood for handles on each end. Sure, I'd taken the time to carve the wood with funny faces because why wouldn't someone laugh at a funny tree face when strangling the life from someone?

"Leave?" Her brow furrowed as she turned and walked away from me. "Nope. Don't think so."

I followed her as she sauntered around the throne room, or as I liked to think of it now: the hall of Christmas trees, where she's lined the walls with dozens of them all decorated a different way. It was like the Christmas store blew up in here and threw up on all the trees. It would be fun, and I couldn't wait to tell Piper about my time here, but I had to go. It was time for me to get to her. Deep in the pit of my stomach, I knew she wasn't okay and that she needed me.

"Look, I know you don't get it, but I feel like she needs me."

"Oh, I get it." Ophelia nodded. "And she definitely does."

Cross chuckled from his perch on the stairs leading up to the throne. A crossbow sat beside him while he sharpened the points of his arrows on a stone. It would've looked like a peaceful thing to do if I didn't know that those arrows were meant to actually kill someone and not target practice. "Yeah, Maze with his creepy shit wasn't the most comforting. Blood on the streets! Blood on the streets! He's my friend, but he is one disturbing fucker."

I shook my head and ran my hands through my hair. Visions of that freaky fucker ran through my head all day long with his milky-white eyes and swirling neon power. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on edge. When I'd met Maze the first time, I thought they were common Salem psychics, but he was so much more. They'd led me to Piper once before, but this time it seemed they were totally against me finding her. Or at least Maze's visions were.

"No, it wasn't comforting at all, which is why I need to go there."

"Which is why you're not going." She walked over to a tree and sprinkled some glittering dust on it, and it grew three feet taller and fuller. Some of the decorations popped and fell to the floor, but she shrugged and seemed to like the broken glass ornaments littering the floor.

"What? Why?"I didn't want to sound like I was whining or frustrated. But the truth was that being trapped here was frustrating as hell. I hated being stuck here. The only benefit was the heat.

"Piper put me in charge of your little mortal ass, which means your mortal ass is going to stay put in the cushy castle . . . Jeeze. You should've lived here with my dad, then you'd appreciate how cushy it is now and want to stay." She glanced over her shoulder at me. "Bit ungrateful if you ask me."

"If one of your twenty-eight besties was in trouble, you'd be there in a heartbeat." I hoped if I appealed to the loyalty she showed to others, I might be able to convince her to do one of those crazy portal things and get me to Piper.

"Twenty-nine." She plucked a small dagger ornament from a tree and held it up toward the light.

I hesitated, feeling like I'd gotten lost in the conversation. "I'm sorry, twenty-nine what?"

"Besties." She turned and met my gaze with her own huge dark eyes. "You're number twenty-nine."

For some reason, that warmed me from the inside out. I pressed my hands to my chest and smiled at her. The only other friend I'd ever had was Piper. If I was being honest, I liked Ophelia. "Aww, I'm flattered."

She wrinkled her nose and moved to another tree. "Don't get emotional on me or you're off the list. I don't do tears."

"I wasn't crying." I glanced back at Cross, wondering if he was watching this wild exchange.

"In any case, the universe provides with all these friends, and it is quite exhausting," she said. "I never deny what the universe sends me, but honestly, you're kind of worse than a goldfish."

All Cross did was chuckle and shake his head.

I was so confused. "How am I worse than a goldfish?"

"At least if you put goldfish in a nice place, feed them, keep them in the water, they just keep on swimming and living. You insist on going to get yourself killed, and it makes the job of best friend so much more taxing."

Like I was planning on getting myself killed? "I feel like you could understand wanting to help a best friend."

"Anyways, about Piper."Ophelia sighed and turned to face me once more. "The answer is no . You're like a defenseless baby deer to the rest of the things in our world . . . in Piper's world. It'd be like shooting fish in the lake to kill you off."

"You mean barrel," Cross called from where he sat.

"Right. Barrel. Anyways, easily dead, easily killed, totally murderable, like an easy practice kill."When she looked at me with those round dark eyes, it was hard not to think of her as innocent. Yet here she was telling me how killable I really was. It wasn't that I didn't believe her, it was that I didn't want to. If I was so easily killed in this new world of Piper's, then how was she also not in the same amount of danger?

"There's such thing as a practice kill?" I shook my head and held my hand up stopping her before she could answer. "Don't answer that."

"Look, twenty-nine, I don't want to see you trip over your feet and die." She turned to Cross. "They die that easily, right?"

He paused in his arrow-sharpening and brushed his hair from his face. He arched his eyebrow at her. "Mortals?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

He snapped his fingers. "Like that."

"I really don't know how parents let you out of the house like that, all not prepared to die to defend yourself." She paused as if thinking. "Feels like bad parenting to me."

"You think either of us knows anything about parenting?" Cross gave a dark chuckle. "With our parents?"

Ophelia nodded at him. "Good point. I mean, I had to help kill my dad . . . and your dad . . . and threaten your mom."

I watched this exchange between the two of them like it was a tennis match. My brain was not catching up to what she was saying. She killed her dad? And his dad? But the two of them acted like it was no big deal. I couldn't help but wonder if I'd actually dodged a bullet not having any parents at all, especially if these two got rid of the ones they already had.

Cross pulled a knife from behind his back and started sharpening it on his stone. "But you didn't kill Zinnia's mom, so bonus points."

Ophelia nodded. "Yeah, I like her. She's kind of like a second mom."

He scoffed. "To all of us. You think when she had Zin she thought to herself, imma end up with like a dozen other kids and hope none of them die or kill the wrong person ?"

"She has to think that, right?" Ophelia bit her bottom lip as though deep in thought. She turned back toward me. "At least she was good at toughening up Zin. Your parents sucked. They kept you so . . . delicate."

"I don't have parents." I held my hands up and shrugged. When I was younger, it bothered me that no one chose me. I wondered what was wrong with me that not a single couple wanted me as part of their family, and I so desperately wanted a family. But the moment Piper and I decided to hang out, I knew we'd be the family both of us needed.

"Oh, lucky you." She shrugged and turned back toward the tree, searching for an empty spot. There were none. "Your survival skills are seriously lacking though."

She wasn't going to change her mind, and neither was I. There was only one thing I could do to get out of here and to Piper. "Fine, then, train me."

Her face lit up like I gave her the best Christmas present in the world. Cross jumped to his feet and shook his head. "Oh no, you don't know what you're asking."

"Yes, I do." I crossed my arms over my chest. If I was ever going to get off this island, I had to prove I could walk in their world.

"See, she knows." Ophelia beamed at him.

"You really don't, but at least she'll have potions to heal you."He backed away and turned toward the hallway. He took off sprinting down the hall, his magic seeping out behind him.

"Heal me?" My brow furrowed in confusion. "Where's he going?"

"To get the potions for healing, duh." Ophelia rolled her eyes at me.

Nervousness ran through my body. "Seriously? Like, he was serious about that?"

Ophelia's arm shot out and a knife sailed end over end right toward me. It grazed the side of my cheek and thunked into a tree behind me. I felt the sharp sting of the cut on my face, and when I pressed my fingers to it, warm liquid covered my hand and ran down the side of my face. I slapped my hand to my cheek, feeling the warmth of my own blood on my skin. "You cut me."

"Pain will teach you. And that's how you'll learn." Her face turned serious.

Cross ran back into the room holding two handfuls of potion vials. "Damn it, O. You could've waited until I got them."

She motioned to my face. "It's barely a scratch."

She pulled another knife that'd been hidden somewhere on her body that I couldn't see . Shit . I might've gone too far but there was no going back now. I wiped my sleeve over my cheek, trying to brush the blood away. Piper, here I come. "Well, bring it on."