Chapter 31

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

PIPER

M y head swam as a wave of dizziness overcame me. My stomach cramped with hunger and black dots swarmed my vision. No, not now . I fought for control over myself. When I glanced down at the pearl on my necklace, it was slowly turning darker. I hunched over and pressed my fist to my stomach, hoping to subside the pain. I needed Grayson or his blood and I needed him now. I thought I had longer. I wanted longer to handle this. But here we were in the middle of the midlands of England with no prospect of ending this chase.

"What can I do?" Astrid hovered over me and rubbed my back.

"Cage me." I gritted out the words through clenched teeth. Sweat broke out over my body, and I felt my fangs start to throb.

"What? No, I can't." She kept rubbing small circles on my back.

"Put me in a cage. I don't want to hurt you or anyone else." I knelt on the ground and curled in on myself. Pain shot through my stomach and nausea rolled up my throat.

Astrid took a step back and held her hand over me. Golden magic sparkled all around me, and a large cage with thick bars surrounded me in an instant. I sucked in a deep breath as the waves of hunger slowly receded. I dropped down onto the ground and sat there for a moment just sucking in deep breaths. It would only get worse from here, and I didn't want to lose my shit in front of them. I just met them, and although we had a common goal, I wanted to keep these friendships. They all seemed so accepting of whatever was thrown at them and genuinely wanted to help.

Astrid squatted down on the other side of the bars and met my eye. "Better?"

"Yeah, for now." I leaned back and rested on my hands. I crossed my legs and groaned.

"Maybe if you rest? We've been looking for Grayson for some time." Beckett walked up behind Astrid. "It might subside if we give you a minute."

I shook my head. "No, I'm . . . thirsty."

Kylian chuckled. "Aren't we all."

"Pervert." I rolled my eyes.

"You seem okay now?" Astrid tried to offer helpfully. "I mean, should we take you back to The House of Shade?"

"We can't. We have no idea if Atlas is there or what is happening. We can't go there, not until we have Gray." I turned around in the cage, looking at the field. "Just let me think for a second. I really don't want to leave. What if Grayson shows up and we're not close enough?"

"I agree." Kylian spun in a small circle. "He's going to make a move. I feel it. I'm just not sure on the direction yet."

"How could we possibly know when he's going to do something?" Panic started to thread through my body and my breath came harder. "What if he summons more demons and it works this time?"

"Don't get worked up. That can't help." Astrid bit her bottom lip. "What if we have a warning system?"

"What do you mean?" I started to relax a little.

Astrid held her hand up. A single piece of paper lay in her palm with more of that scrawled writing across it. She glanced down at it, and it exploded into flames.

A second later, a ball of flames exploded next to Beckett. He reached up and plucked the paper from midair. "You could've just asked me."

"That's not from me." Astrid crossed her arms and smirked.

Beckett held the message up and raised his eyebrows at us. "Incoming."

He waved his hand and blue smoke poured from his fingers. A swirling portal opened up right next to him and Zinnia marched through it and out into the field. Her eyes widened when she looked at me, yet she said nothing.

"Thanks for the lift," she said, winking at Beckett.

Tuck walked out behind her. He was followed by a big guy with blond hair shaved close to his head. His eyes were bright green, almost feline-like. A tiger tattoo ran down the side of his neck and disappeared under his shirt. He was by far the biggest of the guys that hung out with Zinnia and her crew. I would have found him very intimidating if he wasn't wearing a baby carrier strapped to his chest. When I looked closer, there was a tiny pug sitting in the carrier with its legs dangling out. They swung up and down with each step he took.

"Good dog," he murmured in a thick Russian accent as he petted the top of the pug's head as he stepped out.

When he looked at me, I felt like prey for a moment, and I suddenly realized that since becoming a vampire, I never felt like prey. I never felt threatened in any way. In truth, I felt like the threat. As a human woman, I couldn't say the same thing. I'd been scared to walk the night, constantly vigilant at any point in time when I was alone. Now I was the predator and the thing to be scared of.I almost smiled at the thought.

"Do you look like that at everyone?" the big guy with the dog asked.

"Like what?"

"Like I'm a snack." He got closer to the cage. "I'm no snack. I'm Brax."

I looked him over. "I mean, you're kind of a snack."

Zinnia and Astrid both busted out into fits of laughter. Tuck and Beckett both stood there staring at them, not amused at all.

Kylian raised his eyebrows. "Now who's the perv? Pot kettle much, leech?"

I shrugged. "I'm just saying."

"No, I'm not snack," Brax protested.

Zinnia placed her hand on his shoulder. "It doesn't mean she's going to attack you. It means that you're . . . you know . . . attractive."

A wide grin spread across his face, and he ran his hand over the dog carrier in front of him. "Da, I am. But I have girlfriend."

I snickered from my spot in the cage as they all stood around me like this was not a big deal to keep a vampire in a cage so it couldn't kill them. But here we were.

Brax reached into his pocket and pulled out something wrapped in a small white towel. He shoved it between the bars, then backed away. He looked down at the ground and kicked at the dirt at his feet."Is food." His words were a deep rumble.

I was afraid to look inside the towel. "What kind of food?"

"Is rat." He shrugged.

I backed away to the other side of the cage. I scrambled to my feet and pointed at it. "Why is there a dead rat in there? Wait, it is dead, right?"

"Rat is animal no one likes." He shrugged. "Glittery vampires on movie eat animals. You will eat animal and be okay."

I shook my head. "As much as I appreciate you hunting for me, I'm going to pass."

Astrid waved her hand, and the cloth-wrapped rat disappeared. "As curious as I would be about that, I don't think rat is Piper's brand of sustenance."

"How can we help, Piper?" Zinnia moved closer to the bars. She smelled so enticing. Like a buffet, she had all different scents seeping from her body. I didn't know how or why. Perhaps it was all the different magics she wielded that made her smell like that. But it was getting to be too much.

Astrid motioned toward me. "First, I think we could ease her mind a bit when it comes to Grayson, and then we need to figure out the blood thing."

Zinnia pursed her lips and nodded. "How so?"

"I have an idea, but I need your help to make it work." She held her hands out and her glittery, golden magic exploded from her palms. It spun and wove together until it turned into a glowing white box with a black front.

"What is it?" Zinnia tilted her head from side to side studying the box.

"It's an alarm system." Astrid glanced toward me. "So we'll know if Grayson tries to summon a demon, and we'll know we have to get there before he does, which Kylian can point us to."

"You're asking a lot there, Red." Kylian sat down on the ground and pulled his sword from the halter at his hip. He picked up a rock and his magic flowed around it, turning it into a sharpening stone. He ran it over the blade in a rhythmic motion. "But I can do it."

Zinnia crossed her arms. "So what do you need from me?"

"I need you to put a bit of Grayson's essence in here." Astrid held the box out toward Zinnia.

Tuck grimaced. "And what makes you think she just has that?"

Astrid raised her eyebrows at her.

Zinnia made a sound of frustration in the back of her throat. "Sometimes I can't help it, you know? Power like that lingers in the air, and my body just kinda takes it."

"It takes it?" Tucker spoke so slowly it almost sounded disbelieving. "Zinnia."

She shrugged. "I can't help it, really."

"Anyways," Astrid cut in, catching their attention. "Just give it a little something and we'll know if Gray is doing something fucked up."

Zinnia held her hand out, and her silvery magic wrapped around the box. I watched as hints of red mist filtered in with her power and seeped into the box.

The black front lit up like a radar screen and illuminated Astrid's face. "There, now we'll know if he's up to something. Now we can work on our next problem: Piper needs to eat, and I can't just manifest up some blood. Even I have my limits."

"Can we substitute it somehow?" Zinnia went into problem-solving mode. "Oh, I know."

She pulled her phone from her pocket and hit a number, then put it on speakerphone. It rang twice before it was answered.

"Go for O."

"We need some help, O."

"Just make an anonymous call to the cops. Tell them there's a body buried there."

Zinnia did a double take at the phone. "Wait, what?"

"That way there will be an empty hole where you need it, and they've already checked the area for a body. They won't go back and check it again. Work smarter not harder, sis." She sounded like she was chewing gum. "You're welcome."

Zinnia pinched the bridge of her nose and held the phone a bit higher. "Umm . . . no, that's not why I called. I'm calling to ask if you know where we can get some blood to feed a vampire."

"Just go grab a human."

"O, no, we can't do that." Zinnia shook her head, sending those wild black waves flying around her face.

Ophelia scoffed. "Why not? Just grab a bad one who deserves it. Orrrr I could grab one and throw it into one of Beckett's portals. Oh my god. Did I just come up with a new business? Free human delivery. It's brilliant."

"I'm not delivering humans to vampires, O," Beckett called out so that she could hear.

"Listen up, cuz, no one would miss them. We'll pick the worst of the worst and send them to their fate. The vamps get a snack and the world gets rid of a terrible human. It's really a win-win." She sounded so bubbly when talking about mass murder.

"No, O." He scrubbed a hand down his face.

"Don't tell me I didn't think of ways to make you rich," she snapped back at him.

"I already am rich," he said, leaning closer to the phone and raising his voice.

"Then those are all the ideas I've got."

The phone went dead. She didn't say goodbye or any kind of warning that would suggest the conversation was over.

"That was . . . super helpful," I said.

A second later Beckett's phone rang. He didn't look at the screen before answering it. "I said I'm not transporting humans for vampire snacks, O." He paused and his eyes widened. "Oh, um, yes. Sure."

"What was that?" Astrid arched her brow at him. "It didn't sound like Ophelia."

"It wasn't." He waved his hand, and his portal opened once more.

A perfectly tailored Martin strolled through and stopped just outside the portal. He looked at me, then looked around at the others. "Oh my. I see I've arrived just in time."

I sprang to my feet and wrapped my hands around the bars in front of me. "Martin!"

He pressed his lips into a thin line as he walked through the thick grass toward my cage. Martin seemed so out of place among the rest of us. He wore a perfectly pressed navy-blue suit, a crisp white shirt, and polished brown shoes. A cross-body satchel was draped over his shoulder. He moved closer to the bars. "They've put you in a cage."

"I asked them to."

He pulled the bag from his shoulder and pushed it through the bars. "Then I've arrived just in time."

I took the bag and flipped it open. There were three bags of blood inside. My stomach tightened. I wanted to dig into them right away, but I knew what would happen if I drank the wrong blood, and I knew we didn't have time for me to lose my damn mind. "I have to be careful."

"There's a note." He pointed to a small, folded piece of paper.

I yanked it from the bag and opened it quickly. "You've got to be kidding."

‘Piper,

Though we find ourselves on opposite sides of the coin, I respect your choices as I'm sure you respect my own. Loyalty deserves loyalty in kind. You love him as I do. I don't fancy having to kill my best friend's soulmate, or worse, both of you. Do take the blood and avoid the tip of my knife.

Respectfully,

Atlas.'

"It's from Atlas." My jaw dropped, but I grabbed the first bag, eager to dig in and end my hunger pains.

"Wait." Kylian sprang to his feet. "Could be poisoned."

Martin squeaked and pressed his hand to his chest. His cheeks turned pink with annoyance. "Excuse me, I would never allow that to happen."

"Right, nerdy leech, because you look like the sort to stop a killer." Kylian gave a dark chuckle. "Errand boys don't use knives to make their deliveries."

Martin narrowed his eyes. "And yet I know everything there is to know about you, Kylian. Often referred to as the Dark Prince, wanted on multiple counts of treason, and you have several bounties on your head that I'm sure anyone would be happy to collect on." Martin straightened the sleeves of his already perfect jacket. "Perhaps I don't run around stabbing things with my little knife, but there are a thousand ways to get someone killed, and I'm efficient at nine hundred and ninety-nine of them."

Kylian jabbed a finger in his direction. "Him I like."

I couldn't wait any longer. I dug into the blood bag, sucking it down quickly. The taste was perfection on my tongue. Chocolate and red wine: the flawless combination. The moment I drank, everything receded: the pain, the dizziness, the weakness. It was gone in an instant. I moaned with how delicious it was. Before I knew it, all three bags had gone down like butter and I was full. My body felt so strong because of Grayson. But deep down the desire to find him redoubled. His flavor made me miss him with every fiber of my being.

Martin took the empty bags from me and put them back in the satchel. "Good. Now come out of there. You are not an animal."

"I got it." Astrid flicked her wrist and the cage was gone.

I hurried toward Martin and pulled him in for a hug. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me." He lowered his gaze to meet mine. "Thank Atlas. Someoneeee didn't call me personally."

"I know." I wanted to but I didn't know what kind of position he was in. The last time I'd seen Martin he was fighting with Theon and I was running after Grayson.

"You have my number." He winked and pulled a mirror from his pocket. He opened it up and placed it on the ground next to where he stood. "And on that note, I'm needed by the King."

Beckett motioned toward the portal. "Can I give you a lift home?"

"No, thank you." Martin held his hand up. "That was quite a ride, but now that I know where I'm going, I can make my way back."

Beckett chuckled. "All right. Call me if you need me. Apparently you have my number."

"Like you're hard to find, Beckett Dustwick." Martin stepped into the mirror and dropped as if he'd jumped into a pool.

I was about to relax when that damn box went off. It exploded into bright lights and loud sounds.

Astrid scooped it up and held it in her arms. "Shit, shit, shit."

I turned toward Kylian. "Where?"

He gave a harsh curse and closed his eyes. "Piccadilly Circus. No, wait . . . Westminster Bridge."

My breath caught in my throat, and I nearly choked on my panic. "If The Fallen catch him there, they'll?—"

"—Kill him." Beckett motioned to the portal he'd held open for Martin, "Let's go."

I didn't know what we were running into, but I charged forward with the others hot on my heels. Please, God, don't let him die tonight. We're so close. I sent a silent prayer to the heavens, hoping I wouldn't be too late.I jumped through the portal and ended up in pure chaos. Humans littered the streets. They were dressed up and celebrating.

I walked out onto the bridge. When I gazed across the river, the London Eye was lit up with bright colors. The buildings behind it were also brightly lit with dazzling lights. In the distance, Big Ben stood like a golden beacon against the dark night. I glanced around at the humans all milling about. There were so many . . . too many.

"What the hell is going on?"

Zinnia turned to me with wide eyes. "I forgot. No, this is bad . . . This is real bad."

I follow her gaze. "What?"

"Piper, it's New Year's Eve and we're standing right where their fireworks are going to go off . . ." she motioned toward Big Ben, ". . . in five minutes.

Kylian tapped my shoulder and pointed across the river. There behind the London eye stood Grayson. They'd closed the walkway between the Eye and building for the fireworks show, and there was Gray laughing and dancing around behind it. He bent down low and started drawing on the ground with another paintbrush.

"Oh no!" I tensed to run when from the corner of my eye I spotted Atlas standing on top of one of the cars. He held a bow and arrow and had a clear line for a kill shot at Grayson.

I grabbed Beckett's arm. "Get me there. NOW!"