by Allie Burton
The twisting tightened, tying a big knot in my center. Math was bigger, stronger, and more practiced. And don’t forget smarter. He probably had a ton of attack strategies. He rushed me with fists flying.
Automatically, I put my arms up to block my face. His blows glanced my forearms without pain. I bent at the waist, pivoted, and stepped out of the way. The move felt like long-practiced choreography. The agility and strength had just happened, coming from nowhere. The knot in my belly untwisted. It was as if I’d secured a few of their powers by hanging around with him.
He stepped back and swung his leg high. I ducked, and his leg swung over my head. His hands grabbed around my waist and he lifted me. I stretched out my body. My toes caught the seam in the mat, and I lost my balance, stumbling.
Momentum carried me forward. Toward him. We both ended in a pile. Me lying on top of him. Our bodies lined up head to toe. The scent of eucalyptus and sweat surrounded me making me dizzy. Or was that being so close to Math? His bare leg wrapped around mine. His chest moved up and down, rubbing against me. His face was so close.
I melted into him. Close enough to kiss.
His body shifted. He used his hooked leg to flip me. In seconds he’d reversed our positions. Now he laid on top of me. “I win.”
“I thought you were teaching me.” My voice sounded husky and breathless. Did he think it was from the exercise or from our proximity?
His rich, emerald eyes glazed with desire. His firm lips smoothed into a smile. “I. Am.”
He leaned in. Closer. His mouth brushed mine. A feathery-light touch igniting a strong response. My lips pursed, needing more than a touch. How could I feel so close to someone so quickly? I’d lived with the Order for years and never made a friend or a confidant. Aaron had treated me well when I’d been a child. Now, I was an unwanted nuisance or a servant. Maybe that’s why I responded to Math’s attention. Maybe that’s why I was so vulnerable.
And being vulnerable was dangerous.
Mom and I had both been vulnerable when Aaron had found us. He’d used that vulnerability against us. Mom was still vulnerable when it came to him and his Order. I’d learned not to trust him, the Order, or anyone.
Math’s mouth landed on mine again. Firming my lips, I wanted to resist and yet I didn’t. His lips moved in an enticing rhythm. A rhythm that rocked my body and soothed my soul. A rhythm that shot sparks across my skin and exploded in my gut. A rhythm that had me wanting more.
I opened my mouth, wanting another taste, a closer intimacy. My hands seared feeling as if they’d catch fire. I wrapped them around his neck.
Bzzzz. Bzzzz.
The vibration ripped through me breaking our intimate bubble. Not again. I tried to ignore the oscillating phone I’d put in my sweatpants pocket. I hadn’t wanted to leave it in my pants in the bathroom in case someone searched.
Bzzzz. Bzzzz.
The pleasurable tenseness in my muscles lagged. Whoever it was, most likely Aaron, wasn’t going to give up. I’d ignored his texts all night. It was time to see what he wanted. “Uh, I should check.”
Math’s lips frowned against mine, before he lifted himself and rolled off and onto his back next to me on the mat. His expression of dazed disappointment made me feel better because I felt the same.
I slipped the phone out of the sweatpants’ pocket, glimpsed the screen, and groaned. Just as I suspected.
Aaron.
“Everything okay?” Math’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Yeah, I…” I stood and plowed to the edge of the mat. I couldn’t tell him about Aaron. “It’s my mom.”
So not Mom.
The text read: Where the Tut are you?
I typed back: With Math as you ordered.
And yet, not at all what Aaron had ordered. My still warm body scorched higher. He hadn’t ordered me to kiss Math. To like him. Aaron also didn’t know I wasn’t his obedient soldier any longer. I was now only loyal to myself. And Mom.
Sitting up, Math’s furrowed eyebrows drew together tighter. Lines formed around his mouth. “Will your mom be mad you didn’t find her jewel?”
My phone buzzed again. New texts from Aaron. The trumpet was stolen from the Society’s headquarters during the night. Do you know anything about that?
How to answer. How to explain. How to avoid risking Mom.
Kind of. Maybe that will buy me time.
“Um.” I glanced at Math. I knew the trumpet was in this house, just not exactly where. “I haven’t told Mom yet about not finding the jewel. She’s so sick. I didn’t want to make her worse.”
Get the trumpet and bring it to me! Aaron’s demand was clear even in text form.
Pain jostled with anger in my chest. My ribs fought valiantly on the side of anger, stabbing and poking and wanting to tell him he could go straight to the Afterlife. While my lungs cushioned the blows, knowing he held Mom’s life in his hands.
I need more time. More time to figure out how to get Mom away from Aaron. More time to decide if the trumpet really could cure her and who could best help achieve that goal.
Aaron or Math?
Deep in my heart I knew Math was the answer. And yet, he was loyal to the Warriors. If he needed to choose between them and me, what would he decide?
“I can go back and search.” Math’s sweet offer alleviated my pain, relaxing the battle inside me.
He cared about me. Cared about what I thought and what I needed. Was willing to protect me and to teach me how to protect myself. Which would come in handy when dealing with Aaron.
Internal torment ratcheted up again with the guilt. I’d lied to Math about the jewel. About my quest. About my association with the Order.
My phone buzzed again. There is no more time. The trumpet is the only thing that can help your mother. She’s near death.
Near death.
The words speared, splitting my heart in two, dividing my soul. I’d known her illness was severe, but I’d hoped I could get her out of the museum and to a real doctor before her chances of surviving narrowed.
I’d waited too long. From what I learned from Math, the Order planned to use Mom not cure her. Waiting for her to get better or until I stole the right car or obtained more money had been a mistake.
My eyes pricked with tears. The urge to hurry raced inside me. “I’ve got to go.” I shoved the phone in my pocket. “My mom…”
Internally, I shattered. I was falling apart. I had to hold it together until I got to the museum. Unable to say the words, I didn’t want Math to know because he’d ask too many questions.
“Is she okay?” He stepped beside me and braced my elbow, understanding I needed support. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I…” Shaking my head, I forced my burning eyes not to leak. “I have to go see her. She’s fine. She’ll be fine.”
I hoped. And prayed.
Another thought hit. A more manipulative thought. Maybe Aaron was lying.
I sucked in a calming breath and repeated the thought, maybe Aaron was lying. I needed to find out for myself.
Math’s mouth dipped down in a concerned frown. “I’ll come with you.”
Panic spiked and came out in a scream. “No!” I clamped my mouth shut, trying to stop myself from saying anything else stupid. Him coming with me would be more dangerous. For both of us. “Mom doesn’t want me hanging around with guys. It’s better if I go by myself.”
Math couldn’t discover where I lived. He couldn’t find out the truth. Yet.
Not until I learned more about the professor and the other Warriors. Not until I trusted them a little bit more. I might trust Math, but he belonged with the Warriors. Right now, I needed to see Mom to reassure myself she could survive a little bit longer. Or that she could leave with me now. Then, I’d tell Math everything and beg for his help.
He tugged on my arm bringing my attention back to him. “You’ll come back?” His low, sweet voice had my head twirling.
“You want me to come back?” I melted, wanting
to blurt out the truth.
But I didn’t want to put him in danger either. And I didn’t want him to have to choose between me and the Warriors. I didn’t know if he’d choose me at this point.
“Of course.” His foot dug into the mat and his cheeks flamed red. “We need to analyze your residual powers.”
My heart rattled. That was the only reason he wanted me to come back, and I probably didn’t even have magical abilities. Once he realized that, he wouldn’t care about me any longer. I tugged my arm away.
He reeled back, and his gaze widened with a dawning understanding. He grabbed my hand. “I want you to come back for me.”
My heart balanced between belief and skepticism. Why had he changed gears? Because he really felt that way about me, or because he realized I was upset? Was he placating me?
“Really?” I let doubt plague my voice.
“Really.” His other hand cupped my cheek. He leaned toward me with a sparkle in his eyes.
His lips touched mine. Gentle, caring, persuasive.
My doubt evaporated and my heart puffed like a fluffy, white cloud. Even though I was frantic about Mom, my mind calmed about him. Math did like me. I didn’t have time now but when I came back, I’d tell him everything. My background, Aaron’s quest, my mom’s situation. Then, Math and his Warriors would help me figure out how to cure her.
If Aaron ever let me leave the museum.
But if he didn’t, I now knew about the secret passages. I could sneak out. I could sneak Mom out.
Chapter Fourteen
Piper
Wanting to see Mom as soon as possible, I stole another car to get to the museum. Car theft was beginning to become a habit. A bad habit. To make up for some of my guilt, I’d fill the car with gas and leave it near the same location. Right now, my concern and thoughts were centered on Mom. How frail was she? Could I help her walk out of the museum? Could I convince her to leave? Did I believe Aaron?
There was no way to sneak into the museum with full security in place and not wanting to show Aaron I knew a secret passage. Acting casual by strolling in, I hoped I didn’t run into Aaron. My plan was to see Mom and convince her to leave, telling her all I’d learned about being the vessel. I needed to convince her that Aaron was poisoning her without providing proof or mentioning Math. If the professor could analyze me, maybe he could help Mom, too. And Math was a healer.
Every hair on my body stood on alert, sensing danger. My tight muscles were ready to hide or run. Keeping close to the walls, I tread carefully and quietly trying not to appear suspicious. It was just Piper skulking through the halls similar to any other day of the week. The grotesque images on the walls took on new meaning. The secret doorways held new threats. And the massive security efforts made more sense. If they were going to sacrifice people, better to hide the effort.
I’d made it to Mom’s outer door with only a glance from one member and I took a shaky breath. I opened the door and stepped inside. Silence greeted me.
My heart clutched. “Mom?”
Hurrying through the outer area, I darted into her bedroom.
She lay curled in a fetal position on the bed. Her tiny body shivered, and she hugged herself as if cold. Her bones appeared to jut out of her skin at the elbows and knees.
My joints ached, surveying her skeletal form. My mind numbed. She appeared so much worse than one day ago.
“Glad you could join us.” The rough edge, the demanding tone, the annoyed underpinnings scratched against my skin like a key marring a car door. “Did you bring the trumpet?”
Aaron.
I hunched my shoulders and clenched my teeth. My plan to take my mother and run wasn’t going to be easy. I knew that going in, expecting resistance from Mom and Aaron. I needed to distract one and convince the other. Mom was sicker and the clock ticked. Frustration and fears exploded in a hot wave of seething anger that exploded in my roasting hands. My fingers felt as if they were on fire. I just needed a few minutes alone with Mom to see if she’d be willing to leave with me, except she looked like death itself.
Swiveling around, I confronted him. “Did you call a doctor?”
He sat in an elegant chair, drumming his long nails against the wooden arm. The sound repeated in my chest like a death drum.
I pivoted back to the bed, ignoring him, already knowing the answer. “Mom?”
Shallow breaths struggled between purple lips. Dull, dazed eyes stared blankly. She smelled of sickness and death.
“Mom.” Sharp prickles clouded my vision.
“She’s alive. Barely.” Aaron’s voice snapped. He stood and paced toward me, his designer suit showing no wrinkles. “No thanks to you.”
Gasping, I held in my temper. From what I learned he’d been poisoning her for months. I fisted my hands and forced my mouth shut. I wanted to confront him, to ask him what medicine he’d been giving Mom. But it was more important to keep my knowledge and suspicions secret.
I took hold of her hand. Her cold skin felt clammy and papery. Her hand felt light as a feather. Her fingers shaped into a claw as if already digging herself a grave. She didn’t have much time. I had to do something but getting her to go with me now was impossible. Not with Aaron standing guard. “Mom?”
She didn’t respond. Her lids fluttered closed.
“Mom!” I gripped her hand tighter and then dropped it, afraid I’d break her frail bones.
My bones felt frail, brittle, dry, about to break. I wanted to collapse in a heap next to her on the bed. She couldn’t die. If she did a part of me would die with her. And then what would happen? Would Aaron want me to be the vessel? I’d have to play along until I could escape on my own.
“But you know where the trumpet is located.” Aaron knew that I knew.
Shaking my head, I turned toward him. “No, I don’t.”
He took a step forward, so close I smelled the metallic scent of his breath. “You do.”
I swallowed. “I don’t.”
“I have spies everywhere. In the museum, at your uncle’s shop, at a certain mansion.” His face took on a maniacal expression, dark and foreboding. His eyes glinted with an all-knowing glint. “Don’t think I don’t know you have a stupid teen crush on that evil Warrior.”
My skin shivered. He’d been watching me the entire time. He knew about Math. Knowing Aaron, he’d tried to kill him. My mind agitated with indecision. If he knew about my crush, did he know about the professor’s house? Did he already know where the trumpet was hidden?
I needed to fool him. Tell him what he probably already knew, make him believe I still worked for him. The Warriors had hidden the trumpet and they’d protect it from Aaron’s people. I glanced at Mom again, sized her up. “The Warriors have the trumpet.”
“I suspected as much.” His superior tone rung in the room like he was right about everything. “Pi Day is tomorrow.”
My head swung back in his direction. My mouth must be gaping. Math had talked about Pi day. Aaron must know the secrets of the trumpet and how to cure Mom. My fear lifted slightly. “Pi Day?”
His lips quirked into a grim, ironic, gloating grin. “March fourteenth at fifteen hundred hours, nine minutes and twenty-six seconds is the celestial time of convergence. It is when the trumpet is most powerful. The optimal time for the vessel to take possession of the trumpet’s power.”
He repeated some of the same things Math had said.
I didn’t know what to believe. I knew the trumpet had powers, had sensed the magic. “And Mom?”
“Your mom will never feel pain again.” Satisfaction oozed in his voice. “Everything is set to go. The ceremonial room. The chants. The essential oils.”
My lungs squeezed, causing a wheezing sensation. Mom might become a vessel, but at least she’d be alive. The trumpet would save her. And then, once I told her how bad Aaron and the Order was, we could leave this place together.
He raised his hands in the air and dropped them. “All we need to save your Mom is Tut’s Trumpet
of Peace.”
His sentence hung in the air. Dread shredded my insides of what would happen if Mom languished here. Nothing would be done. But if I stole the trumpet…possibilities opened up. “What if I take the trumpet from the Warriors?”
His eyes narrowed, and his gaze shot daggers striking my gut. “Do you know where the Warriors are keeping the trumpet?”
The daggers hit their mark. It wasn’t the threat in his tone that had my midsection wallowing in torment. Guilt at the direction of my thoughts hit hard. Stealing the trumpet from the Warriors would be a betrayal to Math.
But if I confessed my predicament maybe he could help. I’d lie to Aaron, tell him I was going to get the trumpet for him, but instead count on Math to help. Except what if he couldn’t help? Or what if he couldn’t convince the other Warriors to agree to helping? Licking my lips, I mulled my options.
Mom moaned.
The moan sliced through me. I didn’t have time to research other possibilities and what ifs. I couldn’t take Mom out of here like this. I took a shuddering breath and said, “I can find where the Warriors have hidden the trumpet.”
I should’ve questioned why Aaron didn’t ask how I could find the instrument.
* * *
As if I was running a race with no end, my nerves were on edge. From the professor’s house to the museum and back to the professor’s house. At least this time, I didn’t have to steal a car. Aaron had given me one of the Order’s to take because he thought I’d be returning to the museum with the trumpet.
My plans were in flux.
By early afternoon, I’d parked the four-door sedan around the block and jogged to the professor’s house. Knocking on the door, I tapped my foot impatiently on the top step. I would explain everything to Math. About Mom and the Order. About Aaron and his hold over both of us. About my need for the trumpet.
Math would help me. He knew so much about the trumpet and the Order and the secret ceremony. He’d wanted me to come back.
A guy I didn’t recognize opened the door and I couldn’t stop the rock of disappointment dropping in my gut.
