Warrior's Prophecy

by Allie Burton

  Disappointment weighed on his mind. He knew the missing jewel was important to Piper and her mom. Since she’d helped him find the Trumpet of Peace, he wanted to do something for her.

  Who was he kidding? He wanted to do everything for her.

  A simple smile from her lightened his mood. When she touched him, he felt on fire. And her kisses drove him mad. He groaned, knowing he had it bad.

  He’d risked everything—his anonymity, the Warriors’ secrecy, the location of the trumpet—by stopping by her uncle’s pawn shop to ask about the jewel. Uncle Louie said he’d never heard of a family jewel or knew of its presence in the trumpet’s case. The man was a practiced liar because Math didn’t notice any of the normal tells.

  Quiet footsteps paced in front of the closet, mumbling about the Magical Order of Crucis, the stolen trumpet, and cursing someone named Aaron.

  Math’s stomach wavered with the pacing. His mind automatically calculated the length of the steps by the distance between the paces. An adult male.

  He’d taken too long to search the room. The entire mansion, really. He’d wanted to rip the entire house apart so strong was his desire to do something for Piper. To show her how much he cared. He never should have come. Now, he was stuck in a closet with the very real possibility he could be caught by one of his enemies.

  An enemy that wanted the Trumpet of Peace.

  A trumpet that hadn’t been neutralized yet.

  His fault. Falcon had gotten the final item needed to reunite the two trumpets. But Math’s need to do this one thing for Piper had delayed the process.

  A text buzzed on his phone. He froze for a second, wondering if the person in the bedroom could hear. The man didn’t change his pacing.

  He checked the message from Olivia. Emergency at the professor’s house. Come now.

  The swaying in his stomach swirled like a sandstorm in the desert. His mouth went dry. Was Piper okay? He had to get back. He’d wasted too much time. He should’ve been with her.

  Pressing his ear to the door, he listened for the man. He calculated the rate of speed and the distance traveled before turning. The man should pace in front of the closet door in three…two…one.

  Bang!

  Math plowed into the door using pure brawn to blow the door off its hinges. The door slammed into the man, knocking him to the ground. Using his agility, he jumped over the door and to the window.

  “Ahh! Help!” The door lay on top of the man. His yelling would catch the attention of others in the house.

  Math heaved a quivering breath, upset with his unsuccessful mission. He had to get out of the mansion. He swept aside the curtains at the window and gripped metal bars in each of his hands. This was the direction he should’ve taken when he first heard the man.

  The man pushed the door off. “Stop!”

  Ignoring him, Math jumped onto the ledge of the window, took one last glance around the bedroom, and leapt to the ground three stories below.

  As he was flying through the air, he heard the man yell, “I’ll get you, Warrior.”

  * * *

  Math hurried to the professor’s house, trying to be discreet about using his abilities. He didn’t want the entire world to know about him. The Society man had already recognized him for what he was. A Warrior. But he couldn’t worry about the consequences now. His only thought was to get back to Piper.

  He’d texted Olivia right after the jump out the window and gotten no response.

  Barging into the house, he noticed the smell first. A greasy, burnt smell. The air clouded with a light, gray smoke, even though the windows were open, letting in a cool breeze. The professor lay on the couch. Aria and Olivia sat in chairs, a dazed expression on their faces. Falcon stood over Aria in a protective stance.

  Halting, Math appraised the situation. “What happened?”

  “Your friend set a smoke fire.” Aria sounded more hurt than accusatory, as if she’d trusted Piper, too.

  It took a second for the word friend to register. He didn’t think of Piper as a friend. He thought of her as more.

  “Where’s Piper?” His first and his last thought was for her. “Is she okay?”

  “She’s gone.” Olivia’s voice was raw. “Piper stole the Trumpet of Peace.”

  Blackness overcame him. Denial rose to his tongue. “No.”

  “We woke up from unconsciousness.” When Olivia stood, her body wavered. She stepped toward him with a dark expression.

  Concern for his friends tugged at him, yet he couldn’t stop the bit of hope. “Unconscious because of the fire?”

  “That’s not what the firemen said when they checked us out.” The professor’s worn face appeared even more tired. He spoke with quiet authority. “They arrived about the time we woke up.”

  Math shook his head violently, disbelief screaming in his brain. “No.”

  “Piper spotted the fire. I told her to get out and then yelled for the other Warriors, Aria, and Professor York. We thought Piper was already outside.” Olivia placed a hand on Math’s shoulder.

  The touch didn’t give him comfort. Everything had gone cold inside.

  “When we realized Piper wasn’t out of the house,” the professor continued the story, “we headed back inside. I heard a screeching noise and don’t remember anything else until we woke up and the firemen ran in.”

  Olivia squeezed his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Math.”

  “No.” If he kept repeating the word, maybe it would become truth. Piper wouldn’t do something so treacherous. She wouldn’t hurt his friends. Hurt him. “The trumpet. Piper didn’t know where the trumpet was hidden.”

  But she could sense it.

  Giving them one last glare, he rushed through the study and into the basement. He tore into the classroom and grabbed the box where the trumpet was hidden.

  Empty.

  The box was empty.

  Empty like his soul.

  He tipped the box upside down and shook, hoping the trumpet would appear like a simple magic trick.

  No such luck.

  His skin wanted to leap off his body. His midsection cramped. All the research and work. All the effort. Wasted.

  And Piper gone.

  Footsteps pounded down the steps. Olivia, Aria, Falcon, and Antony stood at the bottom, staring at him with dour expressions.

  “It’s gone. The Trumpet of Peace is gone.” Math’s own voice hollowed. “Piper could sense the trumpet. She must’ve taken it.”

  “That’s what we said,” Aria sounded sympathetic.

  “Piper doesn’t know about the secret basement.” Falcon’s tone rose. His mouth flattened into a thin line. “Does she?”

  “She found the basement last night.” Math felt as if a fist had wrapped around his heart and squeezed. He couldn’t breathe.

  Pinpricks of sharp torture speared him. He’d seen warning signs. Her secretiveness about her mom. Her forgetting about the important family jewel. Uncle Louie not knowing anything about a jewel. Piper being evasive last night.

  Math twisted around and opened another box. Maybe he’d gotten the boxes confused. Maybe someone else had moved the box holding the trumpet. He ripped open another box and then another. The trumpet had to be here.

  He tossed the last box large enough to hold the trumpet aside. Despair rocked his body and his brain. And he’d thought she’d felt the same connection to him. Last night, she’d said she’d been looking for him. Wanted to be with him.

  The joke was on him. She’d been searching for the trumpet.

  “Math?” Falcon gripped his shoulder. “What’re you doing?”

  “It’s not here. It’s really not here.” Bitterness flowed in Math’s veins. “Piper stole the Trumpet of Peace.”

  Repeating himself so the facts would soak in, he sank to the hard, cold floor. His brain pieced everything together. Her questions. Coming to find him last night. Purposely setting a fire. “It was a trick.”

  He’d been so stupid. So taken advantage of.
So used.

  From the start. She’d lied about why she wanted to work with him. Made up the information about the jewel. The urgent texts probably weren’t from her mother. Her mother probably wasn’t even sick.

  “What do you mean?” Olivia’s tentative voice reached out with a caring tone.

  “Piper tricked us. Tricked me.” A dagger shoved through his heart, making it explode in agony and betrayal. His brain split with anguish. He was supposed to be the smart one. “Piper stole the Trumpet of Peace and is taking it to her uncle or the Order of Crucis right now.”

  “I’ve texted everyone the information.” Olivia sat on the floor beside him. “We’ll find the trumpet and Piper.”

  “I don’t care about Piper.” The lie spewed from his angry lips. “She betrayed me.”

  “You don’t know why she did this. Maybe she had a good reason.” Olivia wanted to believe that because of her happy ending with Xander.

  Math punched his fist into the concrete floor, causing cracks to form. The pain didn’t do his fury justice. “What reason could there be?”

  For betraying his brothers. For betraying him. For betraying his love.

  His first mission, his chance to prove to the Warriors he was more than a brain, and he’d blown it. He knocked his head against the wall again and again. He needed to knock sense into himself. Girls like Piper didn’t fall for guys like him. His feelings for her had taken control of his mind.

  “It’s not your fault, Math.” Olivia patted his knee. Her touch didn’t make him feel better. “I’m the one who panicked because of smoke and insisted everyone evacuate the house.”

  He dropped his head, feeling worse. “I told Piper about how you were trapped in the warehouse fire. Told her you nearly died.” Told her insider information on how to scare their leader.

  Olivia’s hand stilled. Falcon’s mouth dropped open.

  Math’s lip curled. Disgust with himself ravaged his body. He’d never forgive himself or Piper. “I was an idiot. Piper used me and tricked me and now the Trumpet of Peace is in the hands of our enemy.”

  “You don’t know that.” Falcon’s words said one thing, his tone said something different.

  Math’s stomach turned. “Today is March fourteenth. Pi day.”

  “So?” Aria didn’t understand the significance.

  But Piper did. Because he’d told her.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Piper

  “Finally.” Aaron’s cold voice chilled my skin.

  Not the greeting I expected.

  Against my judgement, against my heart, I’d brought him the Trumpet of Peace.

  “Follow me.” He snatched the trumpet from my hot fingertips. No thank you, or great job, Piper. Not that I expected thanks or praise.

  Walking, he ran his greedy fingers over the hieroglyphic etchings confirming I’d given him the real deal.

  “How’s Mom?” My footsteps echoed hollowly on the marble floor. Each step counted down the minutes she had left for a chance at life. It was late afternoon, and the time of the Convergence was less than an hour away. “I want to see her.”

  “You will.” His relaxed tone conflicted with the news of poor health.

  “If she’s sick we should take her to the hospital. Call an ambulance.” Panic rushed my words making my demand. One last plea.

  He spared me a disparaging glance. “Your mother is sacred to the Magical Order of Crucis. She will not be defiled by modern medicine.”

  He made it sound as if her fate had already been decided. By him. That was the reason he didn’t want to take her to the hospital. Doctors would learn the truth and know she’d been poisoned, all to become Aaron’s stupid vessel.

  My own blood simmered and bubbled and brewed. My hands itched and scorched with wanting to rip the trumpet out of his hands and call an ambulance myself. I’d tried in the past only to have the paramedics turned away by the guards in the museum, them telling the paramedics it was a false call. Now, I understood it was too late for modern medicine. The trumpet had powers and I had to believe, because of his need for a vessel, he’d save Mom.

  Following behind, I held onto the belief, needing to see Mom first. “What do you need to do with the trumpet now that you have it?”

  I wanted to understand the process. Learn how the magical powers of the Trumpet of Peace could heal Mom and bring peace. At least that’s what Aaron had claimed. Math had given a completely different story.

  “The trumpet has powers bestowed by the gods of ancient Egypt. It links the vessel and helps on the journey.” Aaron had refused to give me any details when I’d asked before. He must be close to accomplishing his goals for him to be so forthcoming.

  “You said the trumpet will heal Mom.” Grim thoughts invaded my mind. I now believed in magic, but not in his control of the process.

  “Your mother will never feel pain again.” He’d said that before.

  This time I didn’t believe him. He’d already caused her pain by poisoning her. “What journey? Where?” Did Mom have to go somewhere once she was healed?

  “Don’t worry about your mom.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. The touch wasn’t comforting, it was confining, pressing me down. “She will be all powerful.”

  “And healthy? No mental agony?” This might be good for Mom. She’d stay alive with no pain. No longer tormented.

  “Yes.”

  My sacrifice of losing Math would be worth giving this gift to Mom. She’d be happy, healthy, and in control. Maybe in control enough to realize the truth about Aaron. Maybe have enough power to wrest control from the man. From all the men of the Order.

  He led me into one of the ceremonial chambers I’d always been forbidden to see. The chauvinistic Order was for men and about men. And yet, the vessel needed to be a woman.

  I paused at the door. The room was similar to the ceremonial chamber Math and I had snuck into, only smaller. A small raised platform. A speaking podium. Arched niches with statuary of scenes from the Afterlife.

  “Where are we going? Mom’s room is the other way.”

  “A bedroom is for sleeping.” He spoke as if speaking to a toddler and the tone braided against my skin.

  “Someone who is healing needs sleep.” The words screeched up my raw throat. I drew a shaky breath. A slight hope soothed my aching lungs. “Now that you have the trumpet, you can save her.”

  That was the only reason I’d stolen the trumpet. I had to believe the betrayal was worth the cost.

  “This way.” Aaron punched a code on the wall and a passage opened.

  I was beginning to think everyone hid secrets in their basements. And with the way I was raised it shouldn’t surprise me.

  “Where are we going?” I stomped my foot giving into fear and anxiety. I’d sacrificed the rest of my life for this. “How are you going to save her?”

  He stopped in the marble passageway and pivoted to face me. His scowl resembled a gargoyle or one of the ugliest gods. “Your mother faces death with dignity.” He pushed on my back to make me move forward. “You should face your mother with dignity.”

  I tripped and stumbled. Bracing my palms against the smooth, cold walls of the passageway, shock radiated outward numbing my limbs so I couldn’t move. Tears sprang to my eyes. Mom couldn’t die. He’d promised he’d help her. Turning to face him, I swiped at my tears. “You said the trumpet would save Mom.”

  “I said she’d feel no more pain and be powerful.” He shoved me forward under a columned arch. “Your mother will become an Akh.”

  Stumbling, my heart thudded. Thudded with his words and his misleading statements. Aaron wasn’t going to save Mom from death. He was going to use her, just as he’d used me to get the trumpet.

  “And since I know you’re going to ask what an Akh is,” his you’re-so-stupid tone talked down to me, “an Akh is an effective being with powers bonded to the vessel and the sacred leader.”

  I knew what an Akh was. Math had told me. Except he’d said an Akh lived a
miserable half existence.

  My brewing anger exploded. I wheeled around and slammed my hand on Aaron’s chest. My fingertips appeared to spark. “No!”

  He flew backward and fell on his butt. His head knocked against the stone wall. His shocked expression would’ve been comical if the situation wasn’t so serious. “You’ve been preparing on your own.”

  “Preparing for what?” I stomped toward him, ready to fight to get what I wanted. A healthy mother, freedom from the Order. I’d believed he wanted to save Mom, when all this time he’d been preparing her for death.

  He reached his hand up. Instead of rubbing his sore head, he pulled on a lever. A door slid open. “Grab her.”

  Cloaked men emerged from behind the door. They wore long gold necklaces and dangly bracelets. The first man clutched a thin hand around my arm. Using a defensive maneuver Math had taught me, I broke his hold and pushed against his chest. The man flew through the open door and slid across the marble floor.

  Two more men approached. I dodged, but their beefy fingers gripped my arms and legs, pinching my skin. The hurt was nothing to the terror inside. My muscles tensed, and my jaw locked. Pulsing panic gave in to knee-jerk reaction. I kicked and punched, trying to break free.

  “Bring her to her mother.” Standing, Aaron brushed himself off. “She’s got super strength, so several of you need to hold her down.”

  Super strength? My struggling stopped. Aaron had been knocked down when I pushed him, and the other man had flown across the room. Math had said I had power. Yet, I struggled trying to break free now.

  The cloaked men carried me into the Convergence Ceremonial Room—the same room Math and I had discovered the other night. The room they’d been preparing for a ceremony.

  This ceremony.

  The first altar room must’ve hidden this other more secretive room. Incense filled the space, creating smoke and an acrid smell. Other members of the Order crowded around the center platform. They wore ceremonial robes in white and maroon. Most of the men wore hoods.