Don’t poke a sleeping bear. “Till.” I shook her arm to get her attention. “You can’t stay.”
A flash of hurt colored her features. “You don’t want me around?”
“No, that’s not it.” I shook my head. “It’s not safe here for you. You’ve only seen a fraction of what I can do.”
“I don’t care. Give me a wand and sign me up, Harry. I’m freaking staying.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“If Beckett finds out you are here, he’s going to kill me.” I glanced at Leo, who was nodding in agreement.
Tilly glanced at Maze. “What about you, do you want to see me go?”
“No, you’re staying.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “She’s not going anywhere.”
“Maze! You can’t decide that!” This was a freaking mess.
“I already did,” he simply stated, then marched over to my desk and pulled the chair out. He dropped his big body down into it and made himself comfortable. “She stays.”
“Ha! There you have it. My happy ass is moving in.” She threw her arm over my shoulders. “Roomie.”
I sighed. “Tilly, I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to you, okay? This world is dangerous.” I lowered my voice. “I’m dangerous.”
“And that’s exactly why I know you won’t.” She dropped her arm then turned to face me. “You’ve got this. I know why you kept me in the dark. But now that I’ve seen what’s up, I’m in. Plus, you need me.”
She wasn’t lying. I felt lost in this world most of the time and in New York she was my anchor. Could she be here? “Beckett would never allow it and you can’t just walk around in cat form all the time.” I already had a demon cat in disguise. I couldn’t have a bestie like that too.
The door flew open and Beckett stood before me in nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips. Drops of water clung to his skin and his hair fell in damp tatters around his face. He held a small blanket in his hands. “Hey, Astrid, I was thinking, your cat really liked this blanket. Do you wan—” His words dropped off and his face changed from soft and warm to pissed off in an instant. “What is going on here?”
I motioned to Tilly. “Beckett, you remember Tilly from the club.”
“I remember her. What is she doing here?” He spoke through gritted teeth.
“Well, um, she kind of just showed up here.” I pulled her back behind me.
“Humans don’t just simply show up at Warwick, Astrid. How did she know where you were? Did you tell her?” He seethed, his words low and menacing. His grip tightened on the blanket in his hand. The blanket he was going to give to me for a new pet. Another pet he was going to tolerate . . . just for me.
“I swear I didn’t tell her.”
“Again, humans just don’t randomly show up.” He threw the blanket on the floor just inside the door.
“It’s not her fault,” Tilly snapped and stepped out beside me. “I got a text with an address and I followed it.”
Beckett arched his eyebrows. “A text? That just so happened to have the address of a place that remained hidden for centuries?” He rounded on Maze. “And what do you have to do with all of this?”
Maze lazed in my chair with one arm draped over the back of it and his legs spread before him. “I’m here to make sure she stays.”
“Damn it, Maze!” Beckett growled. “There is no way in this burning hell that she’s created”—he pointed his finger at me—“that Tilly is staying.”
Maze shrugged. “I’ve seen it.”
Beckett froze. “What do you mean you’ve seen it?”
“Our fates are now tied. She stays.”
Beckett dropped a vile curse and shoved his hands in his hair. When he dropped his arms, he looked at me and all the fire left his eyes. “I can’t win with you ever, can I?”
“I didn’t mean—”
“You never mean, Astrid.” He pointed to everyone in the room. “You give a shit about everyone else around you but me, the one freaking person who is trying to protect you. The one person who has done so from day one.”
“Beck—”
“I’m not finished. Maze, Leo, get out, now.” He narrowed his eyes at the two of them.
Leo nodded. “As much as I love the show . . . Astrid, text me later.” He darted out past Beckett.
Maze slowly rose to his feet. “So she stays?”
“Oh yeah, she stays.” The muscles in Beckett’s arms and torso flexed and twitched with aggression. “You got what you wanted. She’s tied to us, you’ve seen it. Now my hands are tied.”
“She won’t be.” Maze ran his eyes over Tilly. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Without another word, he walked out, leaving the three of us alone.
Beckett looked at me then ground his teeth together. “Are you happy now?”
“Look, dude, don’t blame her,” Tilly snapped.
Beckett held his hand up, silencing her. “You have no idea what you’ve done.” He spun to walk out the door but then turned back. “You know what, enough is enough. You think I’ve kept you locked away, you think you have no freedom. Did you ever stop for one second and wonder why I did any of that?”
“Beck, I—”
“I did it so you would have time to adjust to this world, so you could learn your powers without hurting yourself or anyone else. Now what are we going to do, Astrid? When the council finds out about her, what are we going to do? A freaking human in Warwick. When are you going to learn the world doesn’t revolve around you?”
“Come on, don’t be so hard on her.” Tilly stepped between me and him. The way she always did when trying to protect me.
“Screw this! You’re grounded!” Beckett motioned to the two of us. “Both of you can’t leave until I figure out what the hell to do with you.”
“Grounded?” He had to be out of his mind. “You can’t ground me!” He wasn’t my father. He had no right. I was here to help him. Sure, he was mad, but grounding me? There was no way in hell that was going to fly.
He gave a dark snicker. “I just did.” He slammed the door behind him.
Jackass!
Chapter 30
Astrid
“Grounded! He grounded me.” I turned my back to the door and faced Tilly. “Can you believe him?”
“Well, yeah, kind of.” She shrugged. “I’m not sure who the council is, but dude wants to destroy them. And I’m guessing me being here throws a wrench in that.”
“Why are you being so calm?” The door swung open and Odin strolled in and jumped up on the bed.
Tilly’s brow furrowed. “Your cat can open doors?”
I turned back and slammed the door shut once more. “You have no idea.”
“Just relax. Give him a day or two to calm down. You know, then just go in there and tell him to suck it.” Tilly flopped down on the bed and ran her fingers over Odin’s ears and under his chin.
“You don’t know. Beckett rules them all and everyone around here bows to him like he’s freaking royalty.”
“I mean, I can see why. Have you looked at the guy? He’s gorgeous. Why wouldn’t they follow?” Tilly rolled on her back and scooted up toward my headboard. She snuggled down into my pillows.
“It’s more than that. In this world the warlocks revere him because of his bloodline.” The bed dipped under my weight when I sat down on the edge.
“And apparently your bloodline as well. Otherwise you wouldn’t be living in this house and not one of the other houses.” She pulled a pillow into her lap and held it tight.
“How did you know that?”
“It’s amazing what animals can hear from a far distance.” She chuckled. “You’re important to their cause and for some reason I trust these guys you’re with. But really, though, why are they all so hot? Is there something in the water?”
I giggled. “I know, right?”
“Especially Maze. There’s something about him. He’s sexy in
a dirty hot kind of way.”
I wrinkled my nose. “That’s poking a bear you do not want to poke.”
“I wasn’t trying to poke the bear. I was trying to get the bear to poke me.” She tossed the pillow at me.
I caught it and threw it back at her. “Ew.”
“Some like it hot and some like it dirty hot. I don’t begrudge you your hottie. You don’t begrudge me my dirty hottie. He’s like Lucky Charms sinfully delicious.” Tilly reached down and picked up Odin and brought him to her lap.
“Oh my God, just stop while you’re ahead.”
“But seriously, though, your guy. He’s got it bad for you. I spent some time with him when I was a cat. You just need to figure out how to get along with him and not let him ground you like he’s your daddy.” She sat up straight. “Unless you want him to be.”
I gagged. “Don’t ever say that to me again.”
Her eyes lit up. “What? Who’s your daddy? Tall surfer boy with attitude, tan skin, and muscles for days.”
“Stop. He doesn’t respect me, you know? He treats me like a child. One moment he’s so kind to me, taking care of me. And the next he’s bossing me around like the parent I never had. I can’t figure him out.”
“Sounds like you just gotta get out from under his thumb, prove that you’re good without him. That always does it for headstrong guys. They need someone just as strong as they are. And if anyone is stronger than that dude, it’s you.”
I glanced down at Odin and back up at her. “Oh come on, back at our school you ruled everyone.”
“And yet they all steered clear of you.” She winked at me. “Now what are we gonna do about giving you some freedom?”
I bit my bottom lip. “You know, I have an idea about that.”
Chapter 31
Astrid
“What are you doing here?” Kitty leaned up against the doorframe of Lockwood House, blocking us from entering. She crossed her legs at her ankle and held her arm over the opening. “And who is that?”
“It’s Lockwood House. I don’t need an excuse to be here.” I put my hands on my hips. The sun had set, and it’d been a long day. I was tired, fed up, and nervous as hell.
“Just because you’re a Lockwood doesn’t give you the right to be here.”
The temperature already dropped so low I could see my breath. “Yeah, that’s exactly what it means.”
Tilly stepped up next to me. “Oh I see what you mean about this one. Two words: move, bitch.”
“Look at your little parakeet squawking away.” Kitty eyed Tilly. “Does that work in the human world?”
A wicked smile curved Tilly’s lips. “Why don’t you let us in and find out.”
Odin trotted up and didn’t stop when he got to Kitty. He simply jumped through what little pace she had left open. Kitty looked after him. “Where does he think he’s going?”
“Haven’t you heard? We’re moving in.” I needed to get out from under Beckett’s thumb. But I had to stay at the school for the fight to come. The freaking fight no one would tell me about. But I knew I wasn’t ready for it. As my powers grew, I felt something ominous in the air.
“You’re not moving in.” Kitty shook her head. “I’ll call my father and he will—”
“Do absolutely nothing.” I let my smoke flow from my palms.
Kitty dropped her arm and moved back into the foyer. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Wouldn’t I?” I took a step into the foyer. Black and white checkered tiles lined the floors. Two opulent staircases ran up from the center of the floor, one twisted from the left and one from the right. They met in the middle where they opened up to the second floor. A small balcony overlooked the foyer. The last time I’d been here it was in the middle of the night. Now it was barely past dinner time. Though it was dark outside, the chandelier in the center of the ceiling illuminated the room in soft lighting. It reflected off the golden railings inlayed with a snake skin print.
Tilly walked around the foyer, looking up at the ceiling and down the hallways going in all different directions. I knew if she walked straight back down the hall she’d find the kitchen. On the second floor there was a hall of portraits of all the Lockwood heirs who’d come before me and one of them would lead to a secret room. My smoke drifted over the floor, crawling along.
Kitty backed away from it. “This isn’t your house, it’s ours.”
Tilly scoffed. “Looks like you just got two new roommates.” Odin meowed from the second floor and Tilly corrected herself, “Sorry, three.”
Kyle stopped half way down the stairs. “What is going on here?”
The two of them were so similar in looks. Both with that brownish red hair, both with those green half-moon-shaped eyes. Their cheekbones were too high and their lips too thin. Kitty climbed up the steps to stand next to him. They intertwined their fingers, and each of them held out their free hands. Faded yellow smoke seeped from their hands. It was nothing like the fog I wielded. This was a drop of rain against a flooding tide.
Tilly chuckled. “Guys, come on, I’ve seen way more than that. Is it really worth challenging her?”
Kitty fired a shot of magic at Tilly. I held my hand out and my smoke rose over Tilly, shielding her from the strike.
I narrowed my eyes at Kitty. “Big mistake.”
A wave of magic rose from me. My smoke rolled toward them like a wave on the ocean. Just like that wave, it knocked into Kyle and Kitty. Their feet flew up and over their heads and they tumbled through the air. I froze them in midair, letting them hang there suspended ten feet off the ground. “Look, guys, I’ve had a very long night and this would go a lot easier if you would just relax.”
Kitty’s hair hung into her face and she squirmed against my hold. “Never.”
“Oh for the love of Pete.” I glanced over my shoulder at Tilly. “What am I going to do with this?”
“Just leave them there until morning.” She yawned. “I’m exhausted.”
“You can’t leave us here like this.” Red seeped into Kyle’s face as I spun him upside down to face me.
“I honestly don’t want to, but you guys aren’t leaving me with much of a choice.” I slugged my way up the steps with Tilly following close behind me. When I laid my fingers on the banister, the feel of the snake scale imprint felt like home against my skin and my powers vibrated in my body.
“You could always put them away.” Tilly walked around them and up the rest of the stairs. She sauntered over to the balcony overhanging the first floor.
“They’re not toys.” Though the warlock powers inside me said otherwise. When the darkness rose up, it was tempting to tease them. Instead I moved up the stairs to stand next to Tilly.
“I don’t know, they could be.” She glanced around the house. “This place is pretty nice. Which wing do we want?”
Suddenly moving in didn’t seem like such a bad idea. I glanced down the hall of portraits and knew exactly where I wanted to go. I waved my hand and sent Kitty and Kyle back to their rooms. They each flew off in different directions, spinning like mini tornados down the hall. Their hair blurred into one solid stream of color as they twisted within my magic. Their doors slammed at the same time. Behind me Kitty banged on her door over and over again, but I wasn’t about to turn around and let her out.
Tilly chuckled. “Sometimes school bullies really deserve what they get.”
“Tell me about it.” I walked down the long hallway lined with portrait after portrait of the Lockwood line. Each of them was dressed in historical clothing sitting unsmiling as they posed. Even now I still felt connected to all of them, their pictures were evidence of the ties I shared with them. I stopped just in front of the portrait of my ancestor Gregor Lockwood. The man who made sure I would be here someday, the man who wanted me to carry on our family line.
He was so young and yet he sat ramrod straight. His dark red hair was cut close to his head and fanned back from his face in soft waves. He had on a black three-piece suit,
complete with pinstriped vest and tie. His high-collared shirt looked stiff against his skin. I ran my fingers over the thick frame. At the corners were those depictions of the face of Medusa and those swirling snakes.
Tilly stood beside me and bumped me with her hip. “You have the same coloring as this guy. Pale skin, dark auburn hair, sparkling green eyes.”
“This is my ancestor Gregor Lockwood. I wish I knew him. He stood up against this evil warlock who wanted to take over the world and sacrificed himself so I could be here. So the world would be a safer place.”
“Sounds kind of badass, like someone else I know.” She wagged her eyebrows at me. “This is an amazing world, Astrid. You belong here.”
“I have to admit it’s overwhelming but pretty amazing at the same time.” I reached behind the bottom corner of the painting and pressed the button. The painting slid to the side in a pocket in the wall, revealing a set of stairs. The last time I’d been here Beckett was beside me clearing a path through a sea of spider webs for me.
Tilly craned her neck. “Are we going to sleep in a dungeon? Because I might be okay with that.”
“I’m thinking we’ll remodel.”
“Oh my God, we’re going to sleep in a chamber of secrets. This gets better and better.” Tilly motioned for me to go first.
I held my hands up and imagined what would make this hidden place so much better. My power flowed through me and I pictured candles flickering all the way down the stairs. One by one they appeared. Lining the walls each of them flickering and giving off warm light. A plush crimson carpet rose up beneath my feet and ran all the way down the stone steps. I began walking downstairs with Tilly hot on my heels. When we reached the bottom of the steps, we stood side by side in a cold damp basement. The room itself wasn’t very big and the only light coming in was from the candles I created on the stairs.
Tilly wrapped her arms around herself. “Not what I had in mind. But some carpets and space heaters and this place would be good.”
I shook my head. If I had all this power then we were going to live like gothic rock stars. I forced the room to expand to twice its size. The house groaned yet complied and moved to the way I wanted it. On the back wall an oversized fireplace sprang up. It was surrounded by a black mantel with carvings of all the things I’d seen, black-winged angels, Medusa and her sisters, magical vines, and wild animals. The fire sparked to life and crackled as the logs popped.
Wicked Wish (The Royals: Warlock Court Book 2) Page 15
