She froze with the vial close to her mouth. She pressed it down to her chest. “Beckett, is it? This is the only way.”
“No.” I shook my head. “There’s always another way. You can’t do this.”
Catherina looked down at the vial in her hands. “If I die, then the soul mate connection will take Alataris down with me. The life of one to save many makes sense.”
“And what about Zinnia?” I took a step closer. “You think she wants this for you? To have an evil father and a mother who . . . kills herself?”
Catherine swiped at another tear. “If it means saving Evermore from him, then she will understand.”
“No.” I took another step closer to her. “Zinnia will not understand this. She won’t forgive you for this. The queens were born into this life to take down Alataris. It is not your destiny to do that. It’s not your destiny to die today.”
The vial shook in her hands. “There is no other way.”
“You haven’t given us enough time to figure it out. That’s all we need. More time.” With every word I spoke I got closer and closer.
“More time? How much longer do you want me to wait? Until he actually succeeds in releasing Lucifer? You have no idea what that will do to the world and I won’t let my daughter live like that. I won’t let anyone live like that.” She lifted her arm, about to put the glass to her lips.
I jumped at her, tackling her to the ground. The vial flew from her fingers and shattered on the floor. She slapped at my arms. “No, why? Why did you do this?”
As I stood up, I pulled her to her feet with me. “Because I know of another way. It’s old, dark warlock magic. Not something I would try on anyone else. But desperate times . . .”
Catherine looked up at me with hope in her watery eyes. “Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”
Bad . . . bad idea Becks. This kind of warlock magic was something I tried to avoid at all costs. I ground my teeth together. “I’m going to need some friends. And there’s just one other person we need to get permission from to do this.”
Catherine nodded. “Zinnia.”
Chapter 28
Zinnia
“Let me get this straight. You want to put my mom in a coffin?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
Beckett and Cross stood before me. The two of them had dragged me away from something important Tuck was about to talk to me about. They dragged me all the way to the forbidden wing of the school. Where no other students would venture because of the spirit who lingered here. Just across the hall was the room where Tuck and I had been turned into Titans. Now we stood in a much smaller room that looked like it was a professor’s office. On one wall there was a bookshelf half empty, with old books covered in dust. On the other end of the room was a small desk. The walls were barren and sad looking. The smell of the damp stone and a bit of mold tainted the air.
Beckett nodded. “But not like she’s dead or anything. This spell will preserve her in her current state as she is now. Even if something happens to Alataris. Think of it as a mummified time capsule.”
I didn’t want to lock my mother away, to never see her again, knowing she lay in a coffin, trapped. “I can’t just let her lie there for eternity.”
My mother grabbed both of my hands in hers. “Honey, Alataris can’t go on like this for much longer. For the love of Pete . . . he tried to summon Lucifer. At some point he’s going to do something you all can’t stop. Then what happens to Evermore, to the rest of the world?”
My insides churned with sadness. I wanted to throw up and cry all at the same time. A cold sweat broke out over my skin. “I don’t want to say goodbye to you, Mom. Not yet.”
“This isn’t goodbye. It’s just I’ll see you later. That way you can focus on saving Evermore and then when everything is safe you can search for a solution for me.” She placed her hand on my cheek. “I thought I was going to die. I was ready to die.” She glanced at Beckett. “But someone offered me another solution. If all I have to do is sleep for a little while, then I’m willing to make that sacrifice. I was willing to do a lot more.”
I threw my arms around her neck and pulled her close. I wanted to remember how she smelled of Dove soap and how it felt to have her hold me. I buried my face into her neck. “I’m so sorry I failed you. I thought we’d find a solution by now.”
“My girl, you could never fail me.” She pulled back and brushed the strands of hair out of my face. “I am so proud of what you’ve become. You’ve stood up to your father and I have been holding you back from doing what you were born to do. Now you won’t have to worry about me. I’ll just go to sleep and then when you’re ready, when you find a way to break the soul mate tie, I’ll be waiting.”
Alataris had taken her away from me for weeks and now he was about to tear her from my life yet again. But I knew this was the only solution we had left. “I’m so sorry, Mom.”
“I’m only sorry I won’t be there to watch you kick his ass.” She pressed a quick kiss to my cheek and stepped away. “Okay, we can’t stand here and cry all day. Let’s do this.”
She put on a brave face, and I knew she gave me a half smile trying to show confidence. But when I looked into her eyes, I knew she was scared . . . so was I. Beckett looked from Cross to me. “This is a complicated spell. It’s dark magic. Stuff they don’t teach at Evermore.”
“Okay, well, where’d you learn it?” If we were going to put my mom into a magically induced coma, then I’d be damned if I wasn’t going to be involved.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, but let’s just say Evermore isn’t the first magic Academy I’ve attended.” Beckett shifted from one foot to the other. “There’s a darker side to everything, Zinnia. But it’s not something I want to talk about in detail.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. “This is my mother we’re talking about, so details are needed.”
Cross, who’d been silent up until now, placed his hand on Beckett’s shoulder and stepped up next to him. “Warwick Academy, that’s where we learned it. It’s a warlock Academy and let’s just say death magic is readily taught there. Nothing dark is off-limits and while I love how up and up Evermore is, they just don’t teach stuff like this here. Putting someone to sleep through the ages isn’t exactly good. If used against the wrong witch, it could keep them like that for eternity.”
I threw my hands up. “No, absolutely not. We’re talking actual death. Like kill her and keep her like that?”
“Not exactly. We’re talking about preserving the body and trapping the soul in it until the spell can be broken. Technically, she can’t die, but she also can’t live. If I were an evil warlock, I’d say it’s the harshest punishment anyone could endure. If it’s not done right, it could be quite painful.”
“Has anyone ever told you, you suck at making people feel better?” I started pacing back and forth. “Well, if we’re going to do this and it involves death magic and spells, then we’re going to need the best of both worlds.”
Chapter 29
Zinnia
“This, this right here is insane.” Nova juggled five large books in her arms as she stormed past me. She slammed them down on one of the desks up against the wall and puffs of dust floated up from the tabletop. She rested her elbow on the stack. “It’s also kind of brilliant, and dangerous, and dark as hell . . . I kind of like it.”
The Kumi agrees with all the pale death girl has said. Kumi lounged on the floor at my feet.
We were back in our abandoned room with the pentacle inlaid on the floor. Ophelia stood on the other side of the room with twenty different vials laid out in front of her. She mixed two, then swirled them together. Her cheek had fully healed now, and she was back to her dynamic self. She had her hair piled into a messy bun on top of her head. Pink and purple powders smudged her face and white T-shirt. She was so slight the T-shirt swallowed her whole. She held the vial up to her eyes, examining it. A growl passed through her lips and she threw the vial into the
wall. It shattered and fell to the ground in a heap of brown goop and glass. She rubbed both of her hands over her face and screamed into her palms. “Sure, you all think this is badass, it’s so cool, but you have no idea what goes into this potion. What if I mess this up? What if it goes wrong? I’m not ready for this.”
I like the angry one she smells like a snack. Kumi rolled to her back and licked her chops.
You cannot eat my sister! I repeat my sister is off limits.
You’re no fun. What if I just lick her a little? She looked up at me with hopeful violet eyes.
Ugh fine. But no biting.
She started pacing, firing off the names of ingredients over and over again. I knew exactly how she felt. This wasn’t something to be taken lightly. Especially when it came to my mom. Kumi moved to her side and licked her every time she walked by. “Zinnia what is with your dog? She never liked me before. Now she can’t get enough.”
“Just ignore her.” Enough with the licking. I walked over to Ophelia and leaned my hip against the desk. “Anything I can help with?”
Ugh, but she’s delicious, she tastes like ice cream Kumi dropped to the floor in a dramatic huff. She folded her paw and rested her head on them.
Ophelia spun around to face me. Her eyes were wide and her pale skin was flush with nerves. “Zinnia, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, this isn’t like the sleeping death potion. This, what we’re making, is some serious shit. Her soul will be trapped in her un-aging body. She’ll literally be stuck in time. It’s not like she’s going to be woken up in like an hour. We’re talking a long time. Until we find a way to sever the tie. And if I mess this up and she wakes up before we find a way to break the bond . . . she will share Alataris’ fate, no matter what that is.”
She wasn’t saying anything I hadn’t thought of. This was dangerous in ways we all couldn’t possibly understand. “If you have an alternative to this, then I’m open to it.”
“You don’t understand.” Ophelia glanced around, making sure no one else was listening. She leaned in and whispered to me, “I love her too. In the castle she treated me like a daughter. I-I can’t lose that. She’s the only mother I’ve ever known.”
“I . . .” The words caught in my throat. I swallowed them down. “I understand. She’s the best mom there is. But you’re wrong about something.”
She looked up at me with wide eyes. “What’s that?”
“She’s not the only person you have.” I placed my hand on her shoulder. “And I believe in you. You can do this.”
She wound her fingers together and cracked her knuckles. “Okay, okay, I can do this.” She turned back to the vials on the desk. “I just have to modify the ingredients slightly and it’ll work.”
“You sure?” I needed this to go perfectly. Everything had to line up for this to work. Even now the guys were securing a space to keep my mom safe.
Ophelia nodded, then sucked in a deep breath. “I’ll get it right.”
I pulled her into a hug and held her tight. “I know you will.”
She squirmed out of my hold and looked at me like I just stepped on her cat. “Okay, that’s too emotional. Now back away. Honestly sisterly fights I’m all in for, but a hug like that. Blah, I don’t like all the feels.” She motioned for me to move away from her table. “Now that you’ve made it awkward, you have to back away.”
On the other side of the room Nova chuckled. “Better come over here, Zinnia, we have some things we need to discuss.”
“Yeah, go over there, you stage five clinger. Honestly who does that?” Ophelia winked at me then turned back to her table.
Nova opened a heavy book and sat it on the table. She pointed toward the markings on the page. “Beckett gave me this book to go through to help with the spell and I think I’ve got it down now. Actually, I know I’ve got it down, but there’s two things.”
I looked over at the old runes on the page. Even reading them now I felt the dark power of each of them prickle the back of my mind. There were notes scribbled up and down the margins and in every space available on the page. I ran my finger over them. “Are these Beckett’s notes or is this just a book he got from someone else?”
“I’m pretty sure they’re his.” She motioned to a symbol that looked like U but finished out with horns and an arrow curving down from the bottom of it. “This symbol represents the sign for infinite pain. It’s a cursed rune that’ll drive its victim insane until they eventually end their pain in one way or another. And he drew it.”
“What are you saying?” I had too much on my plate to worry about where Beckett’s loyalties lay. I knew Becks. He’s done so much for all of us and now he was about to help my mom.
“I trust Beckett with my life and your mother’s, but he’s been hiding things from us. He has a past we don’t know or understand. He’s loyal to us and the cause, but, Zin, this stuff isn’t for the faint of heart.” She flipped to the next page where a coffin lay in the middle of a pentacle. “This is what we need for your mom. But it’s sacrificial magic.”
I raised my eyebrows. “As in I’ll have to kill a goat or something? Because I am not killing a goat or anything else.”
A light chuckle rumbled in Nova’s chest. “No, this isn’t some kind of bad movie you see on Hulu. But it does require a blood tie of some sort. As in the barrier around the coffin will have to be blessed with blood. Powerful blood.”
I pressed my lips together. “I’ll do what’s necessary.”
“Good, I thought you’d say that. Now the next problem. This spell is designed to be a punishment. Trapping its victims for an eternity in their own lonely mind.”
“I can’t subject my mom to that. She didn’t do anything wrong to suffer like that even if it means she’ll survive. She won’t come out of it like she is now. What can we do?”
Nova pulled her white blond hair into a knot on top of her head. “Well, there’s only one thing I can think of and you might not like it.”
“I don’t like any of this, so you might as well do it.” There were so many obstacles in our way, so many reasons why this wouldn’t work. With every bit of information I got, the more unsure I grew. But what other choice did I have? Let my mom die because she was tricked into completing the soul mate bond with Alataris? No.
“In that case. I’ll be right back.” The ground opened up beneath her feet and she fell into a hole and disappeared. It closed up over her as if she was never there.
“Where the hell did she go?” I spun in a circle.
“Oh yeah, she does that a lot now.” Ophelia waved my words away. “She’ll be back.”
Just then the door swung open and Tuck walked into the room, followed by Beckett and Cross. When my eyes met his molten honey gaze, the tension I’d felt in my stomach eased. I needed him now more than ever. His strength would get me through. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. He held me close and kissed the top of my head. “Are you sure about this?”
“Done hiding your gooey love fest, I see.” Ophelia rolled her eyes. “Spare me, would you?”
I laid my ear against his chest and listened to the beat of his heart. “I’m sure . . . we have no other choice.”
Beckett cleared his throat. “We’re ready.”
I nodded against Tuck’s chest. “Okay.” I pulled back and looked up at him. “Can I just have a minute?”
“Sure.” He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and motioned for Ophelia and Beckett to follow him.
Ophelia held a vial of blood red liquid up. “Good thing I just finished.”
One by one they left me alone in our abandoned room. The door creaked shut behind Beckett, and I hesitated only a moment before I sucked in a deep, shaking breath. Tears streamed down my face and my throat closed around a silent sob. I had to be strong for my mother, but I didn’t know if I could. I squatted down and wrapped my arms around myself. I was getting too much air and not enough at the same time. I gasped around my silent sobs. My chest felt li
ke it was being torn open. I can’t do this. I can’t do this. She was my mother. I needed her more than anything. Flashes of the way she used to hold me when I was sick, the way she kissed my knees every time I scraped them, the way she danced in the kitchen when she thought no one else was watching ran through my mind.
Her smile lit up a room every time she walked into it and I didn’t know if or when I would see that again. I tilted my head back and looked up at the ceiling. Please, Creator, let this work. I need my mom.
Tears burned down my cheeks and I didn’t know how I was going to make them stop or how I was going to catch my breath. I needed to be strong for her, for her final moments with me. I had to let her know it was all going to be okay. I staggered to my feet and swiped the back of my hand over my cheeks. I ran my hands through my hair, knowing everyone would see I’d been crying. Ugly crying. My eyes already felt swollen and puffy. The door creaked open.
“Hey, Zin, I just wanted to—” Beckett froze mid step.
I didn’t have the strength to hold it in, the strength I needed to get through this. My knees gave out and he caught me. He pulled me in for a hug.
“I came back to tell you I will not rest until I find a way to help your mom. I swear it. I will do anything. You have my word.”
I nodded up at him. “I know you will. Thank you.” I stepped back from him. “That means a lot.”
“No, you don’t understand.” He reached out and grabbed my hand. “No one should have to be without their mother. Mothers are important. I would know. I make this bond here and now. I vow that what you’re about to lose will be found. By deed by right I will fight devout in my saying and in my doing. You have my word, my loyalty, and my solemn oath we are bound.”
Bright white light burned between our hands and in a flash it was gone, but I felt . . . better? A glimmer of hope that it would all be okay. “What did you do?”
Wicked Queen (The Royals: Witch Court Book 5) Page 15
