Wicked Queen (The Royals: Witch Court Book 5)

by Megan Montero

  Cross marched through the dense foliage, yet his footstep didn’t make a sound. He glanced over his shoulder at me. Looking into his eyes was like looking at a cat in the night. The moon reflected off the gold in them. He shoved his hand into his hair and pushed those chin-length black locks from his face. “I swear it.”

  Without another word Beckett turned and followed behind him. Serrina smiled at me. “I promise we will get her.” With Tabi by her side they followed Cross into the tunnel and out of sight.

  My nerves were on edge. I wanted to scream with frustration and yet I had to hold those screams in and press on. Tuck placed his hand against my cheek. “Look at me.” I turned and met his eye. “One step at a time. We will get your mom and the crown.”

  I sucked in a deep breath. “I know, I know.”

  Ophelia waved her hand for us to follow her. “Time to take daddy’s crown.”

  “And you know where it is?” I followed behind her as we climbed up the hill and passed Ashryn, who pulled a curtain of vines out of the way.

  “In theory, yes.” Ophelia ducked her head and walked into the old dug out tunnel.

  The walls were hard packed dirt, roots stuck out from every direction, tufts of grass crunched below my feet. “What do you mean in theory?”

  “Every night Alataris takes the crown off. He places it into a safe, a safe that drops down into the bowls of the castle.” She turned down another tunnel. “There was only one door I couldn’t get into within the whole castle.”

  The dirt tunnel dead ended up against a stone wall. Tuck placed his hand against it. “How do we get through?”

  “Like this.” Ophelia closed her eyes. “Power that which we seek to find, now reveal yourself and no longer hide.”

  Five of the bricks lit up bright yellow, illuminating the tunnel. Ophelia pulled a small dagger from behind her back and pressed the tip of it to her finger. “Crap, that hurts.”

  “Ew, then why’d you do it?” I stepped back.

  My heart skipped a beat as Ophelia reached up and touched the blocks, spearing a drop of her blood on each of them. “Because there’s only two of us who can get in and out. Blood was the only binding agent I knew of back then.”

  The bricks spun and folded in on themselves until a perfect round tunnel stood before us. Unlit torches were spread through the dark hallway. I peeked in. “Tuck, if you please.”

  “With pleasure.” With the flick of his hand fireballs flew from Tuck’s fingers, lighting the hall.

  Brax’s heavy hand fell on my shoulder. “I go first, da?”

  He didn’t wait for me to answer him, yet he stepped in front of me with that dog still strapped to his chest. The pup didn’t make a peep, as if it knew we were on a mission. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to focus. “Why didn’t we see the others?”

  “They went down a different path.” Ophelia pointed to a single metal door. “Now you have to focus because the crown is through there.”

  I shook my head, knowing the lives of my crew depended on me. Evermore depended on me. I had to make this happen, for everyone depending on me. “I’m focused.”

  Patience was not my virtue, especially now that we were so close to finding my mother. I was on edge. My magic flickered down my arms and in my hair. I grabbed the handle and shoved the door wide-open.

  “Zinnia, no!” Ophelia reached out, trying to stop me.

  I took one step into the room. “Oh crap!” And leapt right back out. “What the hell was that?”

  Chapter 14

  Zinnia

  Ophelia wrapped her hand around the doorknob and pressed her foot to the wall to try and keep the door shut. A thumping bang came from the other side of the door. The knob vibrated in her hands and the door shook on its hinges. “I thought the metal was going to be a problem to get through. But maybe not.”

  “What was that, O?” I shoved in beside her and wrapped my hands around hers to help hold the door closed.

  Fire flew from Tuck’s palms like a blow torch. The metal frame groaned and welded together on one side. “That’ll hold for a few minutes while we decide what needs to be done here.”

  Ophelia bend over and rested her hands on my knees. She sucked in a deep breath. “Through that door is some kind of cat-like creature Alataris captured like a bazillion years ago. The damn thing is feral. It attacks anything or anyone who walks through that door.”

  “That would’ve been good to know before I opened the door!” I stomped my foot and fought the urge to strangle her. I ground my teeth together to stop myself from saying something I might regret.

  She shrugged. “You didn’t ask.”

  “That is it!” I jumped at Ophelia, about to tackle her to the ground, when Tuck wrapped his arm around my waist and hauled me back to his side. I scrambled against him, trying to get to O. “I’m gonna smack her just a little.”

  Ophelia clapped my hands together. “Awww, is this our first sisterly fight? Let her go, Tuck. I want to experience the whole thing firsthand . . . are you gonna pull my hair?” A wide smile spread across her face.

  All the fight left me. “Seriously you want to fight with me?” I held myself still.

  “Well, I mean, yeah. Isn’t that what families do?” She glanced at Tuck. “Right?”

  “I was sent away from my family when I was like six, so I really wouldn’t know. But when we were younger, yeah, we fought.” Tuck wrapped his arm around me and gave me a little squeeze then let go. He stood back, looking at the door. “But really, though, how do we get past a feral cat thing?”

  “That throws the metallic feathers on its tail like daggers.” Ophelia looked up at the door as if she hadn’t just given us a tiny tidbit of information that would’ve been helpful earlier.

  “O, are you freaking kidding me?” I put my hands on my hips. “That is important information.”

  “I know, that’s why I just told you.”

  Creator, give me strength. “Anything else that this thing can do?”

  “Nah, it wasn’t like it was my house pet or anything.” She walked back over to the door and pressed her hand to it.

  Brax, the ever-silent giant, raised his hand. “I have an idea.”

  We all turned to him in unison. Tuck was the first to speak. “Lay it on me, big guy.”

  “Sherman and I, we go in there and chase the cat so you guys can get by it. Da?” He nodded, and his bright green eyes danced with excitement.

  I shook my head. “That’s a nice thing to say, but Sherman is so small and that cat seems really big. I wouldn’t want either of you to get hurt.”

  A huge grin came over Brax’s face. “So many things you don’t know. Watch and learn.” He unhooked the carrier on his chest and laid it on the ground. Sherman wiggled out of it. His little pug body vibrated with excitement. When he wagged his little curly tail his whole butt shook. Brax held up one finger. “Sit, Sherman.”

  The dog immediately planted its butt to the ground. Brax opened his mouth and let his teeth sharpen to tiger points. “Tuck, when I say to open the door, open it. Got it?”

  Tuck walked over the metal door and threw his flames at the corner where he welded it shut. The metal between the door and the frame dripped and ran down to the floor. Tuck pressed his shoulder to the door as the cat pummeled it. His feet slid across the hard-packed dirt and sweat ran down the sides of his face. “If you’re going to do something, do it now.”

  Brax pressed his finger to his tooth, puncturing his skin. “Stand back, queens.”

  I grabbed Ophelia and yanked her to the other side of the tunnel, which wasn’t far enough away at all. That little pup’s entire body stopped moving. Its eyes turned a bright glowing red. Brax pointed to the door. “Catch it!”

  Sherman’s head dipped once as if he was nodding. Then he ran his tongue over his teeth. Brax held his bloody finger over the dog’s mouth. A single drop hung from his fingertip about to fall. “Tuck, when I tell you to. You open that door as fast as you can.”

&n
bsp; Tuck wrapped his fist around the knob. “You have my word.”

  Brax began the count down. “Three . . .” My heart kicked into high gear.

  “Two . . .” I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I clung to Ophelia as we both watched in rapt silence.

  “One . . .” The drop fell right onto Sherman’s tongue.

  The tiny pug creature exploded into a massive version of himself. He was well over six feet tall and had to weigh a ton. He snarled and snapped his teeth at Brax. He pointed to the door and repeated his command. “Catch it.”

  Sherman charged at full speed toward Tuck. He jumped out of the way and let the door open. Sherman shoved his big body through the door, cracking the frame and the wall around it. Brax walked up to the opening. “I go with Sherman. You three get to the door on the other side of the room as fast as you can. “

  Without another word Brax dropped to the ground and melted into his tiger form. When he entered the room, his resounding growl echoed out toward us, follow by the growl of a huge beast and the hiss of a cat. The walls shook and the ground vibrated under my feet.

  I looked at the ceiling. “I hope he doesn’t feel this.”

  Ophelia chuckled. “After the ass kicking you handed to him today, there’s no way he didn’t take his sleep potion.”

  Tucker jumped across the hall and grabbed our wrists. “Time to go.”

  We raced through the open doorway and into the room. Hardwood planks covered the ground and ceiling. Wooden beams ran from the floor to the ceiling. Some were even toppled over, crisscrossing each other. The entire room was one big cat fun house. Claw marks riddled every surface. Metallic feathers jutted out from the walls and ceiling. A screeching meow sounded form the top corner of the room. It drew my eyes upward. There, perched on top of one of the beams, sat a cat the size of a Great Dane. Its body was a dark cream color that faded to black on its legs, ears, and nose. On top of its head sat what looked like a head dress of metal feathers. Each one was a rainbow of colors. Sherman stood under the cat, barking up at it, deafening barks so deep I felt them vibrate in my bones. Brax hopped up onto one of the wooden beams across from the cat.

  The feather cat locked eyes on me. Its tail shot forward and a gleaming feather flew at my face. I grabbed Ophelia’s hand and yanked her back as Tuck ducked forward. The feather blade embedded in the wall where my neck had just been. It vibrated back and forth. Brax turned and looked at me. His lips pulled back from his teeth and he twisted toward the cat, growling and snarling. He swiped his claw out at her. The cat arched its back and hissed.

  Tuck grabbed my wrist and yanked me forward. “Come on.”

  Ophelia ran in front of him. “This way.”

  The cat jumped down from the rafters, landing behind Brax and Sherman. It landed in our path in a prowling crouch. Its fangs dripped with saliva. I skidded to a halt and bumped into Ophelia’s back. She held her arms out and leaned back, blocking Tuck and me. “Don’t make a move.”

  Sherman dove straight at the cat and wrapped his oversized front paws around its midsection, tackling it to the ground. The cat’s tail swiped out toward us. I ducked below it. Again, it shot straight out, we jumped in unison. We were fifteen feet from the door on the other side of the room. It was a plain wooden door, not like the metallic one we’d just come through. I pointed to it. “There! Brax, keep the bad kitty busy.”

  Brax pounced on the cat’s tail, holding it in place. It pays to have a tiger on your side. He held the tail down to the ground. The cat hissed and screeched, fighting to get free. I shoved Ophelia in her back. “Move now, before it gets loose again.”

  We ran for the door. Ophelia grabbed the handle and shoved it wide-open. I followed quickly behind her and Tuck dove in after me. I kicked the door shut. It smacked into the frame and rattled on the hinges. I sucked in a deep breath. “Piece of cake . . . right?”

  Ophelia spun in a slow circle, seeming not to hear me. “Yeah, sure, right.” She pointed to the table behind her. “But this won’t be.”

  Chapter 15

  Tuck

  “I don’t understand what I’m looking at right now.” Crystals of all different shapes and colors lined the wall, the way they would in a deep cavern. They ranged from the deepest crimson to the purest clear. Even black jagged crystals mixed in among the rainbow of colors. Each of them glowed from within, illuminating the room. A high table sat in the middle of the room. The dark green tabletop reflected in the two vials of potion sitting on the table.

  Ophelia walked around the circular table, staring at the vials. “Fascinating.”

  Zinnia glanced at the table and the one door they came through. “Does anyone else see a problem here?”

  I spun around. “Damn it. One way in or out.”

  “Technically yes . . . and no.” Ophelia grabbed one vial and held it to her nose and sucked in a deep breath, smelling the contents. “Interesting.”

  Zinnia threw her hands up. “Can you please stop saying things like fascinating and interesting? Just tell us what is going on here.”

  Ophelia placed the vial back on the table and clapped her hands together. “Okay, so there’s only one room here, but not. The crown has to be kept right through that wall.” She pointed to the wall of crystals.

  I let my fire run down my arms and gather in my palms. “Great, so let’s burn it down and take the crown.”

  Ophelia jumped in front of me. “We can’t. Those crystals are an array of messed up. If you touch the wrong one, the alarms in the whole castle will go off. One of us needs to drink one of these vials to walk through that wall and get the crown.”

  “No, no way.” Zinnia shook her head, sending that wild hair flying. “None of us is going to drink a potion made by the one man who wants to see us dead. It’s too risky. I’ll say a spell, walk through the wall, then boom, grab the crown and we leave . . . with my mom.”

  Ophelia paced along the wall of crystals. “No, that won’t work. All spells are voided out in this room. I mean, look at these crystals.” She reached out as if she wanted to touch one then pulled her hand back. “They’re exquisite.”

  “You really need to stop complimenting our father’s work.” Zinnia walked up to the table and crossed her arms over her chest.

  A loud bang came from the other room where the cat was stored then dead silence. “I don’t know what we’re going to do here, but we need to decide quickly. If one of us is going to take that potion it’s going to be me.”

  Both of them gave me the same look of disgust. Zinnia wrinkled her nose. “Says who? It’s going to be me.”

  Ophelia nodded. “Yeah, it’s got to be her.”

  Zinnia’s head snapped to the side and she narrowed her eyes at O. “Trying to kill me so soon?”

  “No, but it’s the only logical move here. If he takes it, there’s no telling what kind of spell he’d be facing in the next room and my gut is telling me it’s a siphon spell of some kind. I mean, I did live with our father for sixteen years. I do know him pretty well.”

  Memories of Zinnia’s lifeless body assailed my mind. She was so cold, her blue lips, her closed eyes, the way her arms hung loose when I held her. But most of all I felt the pain of that loss like it was happening right now. I pressed my hand to my chest to try and rub away the ache. “This is insanity. You both are queens. We need you to win this war. Neither of you is expendable.”

  Ophelia rolled her eyes. “Who said anything about expendable? It’s a simple matter of dropping the right crystal into the right liquid, drinking it, and walking through the wall . . . and getting that crown.”

  I wanted to wring her neck. She made it all sound so easy. “And what happens if you drink the wrong potion? Then what?”

  “Then you’d die.” Ophelia waved her hand dismissively. “But I mean, come on, hello. queen of potions here. How would I not know which one would be safe to take?”

  “Well, do you know?” Hope flared in my chest. I knew it would be Zin to take it and I knew
I’d have to stand by and watch.

  Ophelia shook her head. “Not really.”

  Zinnia smacked her in the back of the head. “Not helping here, sis.”

  Ophelia rubbed the spot. “Oh man, was that our first sister beating?”

  “Far from it.” Zinnia motioned to the crystals. “Let’s get this over with.”

  What the heck? Was she so quick to jump into a difficult decision like this? We needed to stop and think before we got someone killed. “Hold up a second. We have to think this through.”

  Zinnia turned to face me head-on. I could feel the determined emotions running through her body. “We don’t have time. Brax is fighting a super cat. The others are going after my mom and it’s up to the three of us to get the crown. Now is not the time to hesitate.”

  She was right. I knew she was. “Okay, but let’s take a breath. Ophelia, what crystals do you need?”

  “Hmmmm.” She picked up the other vial and smelled it. Then she headed over to the wall of crystals. Ophelia walked back and forth in front of them like she was looking for a pair of shoes. She grabbed a small amethyst off the shelf and turned it over in her hands, examining it. She pursed her lips and shook her head then placed the crystal back where she found it. Then she grabbed up the rose quartz next to it. “This one.”

  She ran her finger over it as she went to the table and dropped the crystal in the vial. The elixir bubbled and fizzed like pink Alka-Seltzer. Ophelia grabbed up the vial and handed it to Zinnia. “One walk through walls potion coming right up.”

  I grabbed her wrist. “This needs to work better than the sleeping death potion.”

  “Duh. That was a tiny mistake. This will work.” She nodded toward Zin. “Go ahead.”

  Zinnia held the vial to her lips, about to tip it back, when Ophelia shoved her hand over it. “What just a sec.” She turned from us and grabbed up two more crystals and threw them in too. “For good measure.”