When no one answered, she rolled her eyes. “Okay then.” She took two steps and made a move to sit at the first available table, but one of the other students placed their books in the spot. Ophelia paused, then moved to the next table where a girl with frizzy red hair dropped her backpack on the chair. “My partner is on their way.”
I glanced at Zinnia and could see the concern in her eyes. I shook my head. “No, she has to figure this out on her own.”
“It’s not like you and I don’t know what it’s like to be an outsider in a new school. Besides, you keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right?”
Whether or not she meant it, I did indeed know what it was like when it came to being a new girl in a school full of people who already knew each other. It didn’t help that we were all considered queens and stood out at a time when everyone in our grade was also trying to stand out. As the Queen of Death, people avoided me. Well, all except Zinnia. I wasn’t even too close to Serrina, the Queen of Desires, or Tabi, the Queen of Elements. Sure, we all liked each other and got along, but it wasn’t until Zin arrived that I felt I fit in with someone.
I nodded. “Right.”
I sighed and pulled my backpack off of the seat next to me. “O, over here.”
Ophelia’s head snapped up, and a small smile spread across her lips. She wound her way through the lab tables and stood before us. “Um, thanks. It’s a tough crowd in here.”
Patty, who sat in the front of the room, turned around and narrowed her eyes. “Your father either killed or enslaves some of their families. I wouldn’t expect a warm welcome. Who knows what kind of blood runs in your veins?”
“Careful, or I’ll make sure there’s a bruise on your other cheek to match the one I gave you yesterday.” She dropped down into the seat next to me and shrugged off Patty like anything the girl said didn’t matter. If I wasn’t so suspicious of her, I would high-five her. She pulled a pack of chips out of her bag and popped them open, shoving a handful into her mouth. “What’d I miss?”
Zinnia shifted in her seat. “Nothing. That’s a cute outfit. I don’t recognize any of it.”
“Oh, yeah. Some of the other queens gave me the clothes they don’t need. Like three garbage bags full. I think the skirt is Tabitha’s and the jacket is Serrina’s.”
“Wow, I’m glad they’re pitching in.” Zinnia looked at me with wide eyes.
“I might’ve mentioned to them that we needed some extra clothes for O. She did help Tuck, after all. It was the least we could do.” I still don’t trust you. But I wasn’t a complete jerk. I didn’t know if I could trust her or not. But if we were nice to her, maybe she’d slip up or hell, even give us some good intel on her father. She didn’t seem like she was in a hurry to get back to him. Why was that?
“So Zin, back to what you were saying.”
She waved my comment away. “It’s nothing. We can talk about it later.”
It wasn’t nothing. There was something wrong with Tuck, and I wanted to help her figure it out. But I guess talking about it in class was not a good option. Searching for anything to say, I changed the subject to the task at hand. I turned back to Ophelia. “Professor Davis is kind of a hard-ass in this class. If you need my notes, I’ll let you borrow them.”
Ophelia pulled a piece of paper from her bag and unfolded it. She scanned over it, looked up at the clock and back down at the paper again. “This is advanced potions, right?”
“Yeah?”
“I think I’m good.” She shoved the paper back into the bottom of her bag.
“If you say so.” I handed my notebook to Zinnia. “Here are my notes. I know you’ll probably want them for your Magtrac exams.”
Zinnia reached out and yanked them toward her. “Yeah, we can’t all be as over confident as O.”
“Hello, Queen of Potions and Spells here. It’s not over confidence. It’s just a gift.” She leaned her elbow on the table and shoved another round of chips into her mouth. The bag rustled, and I swear I could hear each chip crunching in her mouth.
Professor Davis opened the door and closed it quickly behind her. She was a rotund woman who appreciated the ancient ways of the craft, which reflected in her choice of clothing. She wore a thick brown cloak that fell from her shoulders down to the floor. Tuffs of her frizzy salt and pepper hair stuck out in all different directions. Her chubby cheeks held a rosy undertone, and when she smiled, her whole face lit up. “Now then, where were we?”
Patty raised her hand and waved it back and forth. “We were about to start a transformation potion.” She turned around and stuck her tongue out at O, then turned back to the professor. “You gave us a list of ingredients to use yesterday. Today we were going to make it.”
“Ah, yes, right then. Open your books to page 319. You’ll find a list of things there and specific directions. Now, I must warn you to follow the directions precisely or the spell will go awry, and we don’t want that, now do we?”
Ophelia looked down at her book and raised her hand. Professor Davis folded her hands in front of her and sucked in a deep breath. “Yes, Ophelia.”
“I was wondering, what is your opinion on switching the sandalwood oil with dragon scale oil?”
The professor’s eyes danced with excitement. “You know, I’ve heard it gives the potion user at least eight more hours before the transformation wears off, though I haven’t tested it out myself. Why do you ask?”
“Well, I actually found that it gives you about ten more hours, and it will change your voice to match whatever or whoever you’re transforming into.” Ophelia pointed at her book. “See here where is says add three drops of sandalwood? I usually add like five of dragon scale oil.”
Professor Davis moved over to our table and peered down at Ophelia’s book. “Fascinating. Were there any known side effects?”
“Oh, come on. You can’t be seriously taking advice from her. She’s a criminal.” Patty tossed her curly blond hair over her shoulder. “I think we should stick to the textbook.”
“And I think you should stick to minding your own business. If another student has something influential to share with the class, then I suggest we take it into consideration.” Professor Davis leaned over Ophelia’s book. “Have you used it?”
I scoffed. “Oh, yeah. I’ve seen it.”
The entire class all turned and stared at me. I shrunk down in my seat. “What I mean to say is…”
“What she means is they caught me after I used this potion,” Ophelia clarified.
“Well, then it must not have worked very well then.” Patty chuckled, and like the good little followers that they were, her two little followers laughed as well.
Zinnia scoffed. “We caught her by accident. We didn’t know it was her. Trust me.” She titled her head to the side, and a questioning look overcame her features. “Why were you in disguise?”
“Um.” O glanced around at everyone staring at her. “That’s a secret for another time.”
I’d been asking myself that same question for a long time. How was it that we ended up catching Ophelia? Was it a lucky break or a plan to get a man behind enemy lines? There were so many different things going wrong I couldn’t help but wonder if she was part of it all.
Chapter 23
Zinnia
Three hours later and I had a thorough knowledge of how to transform myself into someone else. Thorough and overwhelming. At any second my brain was going to explode from information overload, not to mention my constant worry about Tuck. I wanted to talk to Nova about it more. Hell, I wanted to call Elle, my best friend from childhood, but how did one say, “So I’m worried about my phoenix soulmate being hexed and losing his damn mind?” It wasn’t a normal conversation to have. But I needed advice on it all, my hexed soulmate, my half-sister who couldn’t be trusted, my ever-growing power, my exams, my kidnapped mother and my life-or-death fight against my father. Even thinking about it now was all just too much.
Ophelia practically sprinted f
or the door the moment class was over, and Nova had to get to her next class on the other side of campus. I’d been a sophomore in school for all of two months and this was my third schedule. When I looked down at it, I noticed there was a free period for me to take a break. Thank god. I needed a second to think to myself, and there was only one place I could think of that I wanted to go. Back to the beach I’d first met Kumi on. That classroom was somewhere near the courtyard. I opened it once and I knew I could open it again. She’d been held with in it’s enchanted walls on a beautiful beach, I wanted to go there and soak up the sun and think it all out. With that in mind, I turned down the hall ready to find her and lie in the warm sun for just a few minutes. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a set of strong hands reach out and grab Ophelia, then yank her behind a corner. I pulled my bag tighter on my shoulder and ran toward where I saw her disappear.
Before I could turn the corner, I heard her snap, “What the hell, Cross? What do you want?”
“What are you doing here, O? I thought we agreed I’d go and you’d stay.”
I peeked around the corner and spotted Ophelia with her back to the wall and Cross with one hand pressed to the wall next to her head. He leaned in so close that anyone else who would see them would think they were a couple. Cross’ dark hair fell over his gold eyes as he leaned in closer to Ophelia.
She pressed her hand to his stomach and then wound her fingers in his long-sleeved burgundy shirt. “No, you agreed. And I could ask you the same question. What have you been up to?”
A cocky half-smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “We both know your father wanted a man on the inside. Or was it a woman?”
“And we both know your father wanted it to be you.” When she glanced in my direction, I ducked back behind the corner and waited for them to start talking again.
Cross chuckled. “Maybe I’m here for my own reasons that have nothing to do with my father.” I leaned around the corner once more to watch the two of them. They were so close, so familiar.
“Oh, please, and you know I could say the same exact thing.” She smiled up at him. “Round and round we go, where this stops, we both will never know. To trust or not to trust you.”
“That is the game we always play, isn’t it?”
“It’s been a game I’ve been playing all my life.” Her voice sounded low and almost sad.
Other students passed by them, staring at two kids of the deadliest men known in Evermore. And they seemed to know each other all too well. It wasn’t a coincidence they both showed up. I knew it now, but what did they want with us?
His tongue darted over his lips. “You aren’t going to tell me, are you?”
“No. But I’ll listen if you tell me why you’re here.”
“Not a chance, sweet pea.” He sighed. “So, what’s up with this hex?”
I want to run around the corner and demand to know exactly what they knew about it. But if I did, they’d shut right up. It was better for me to remain hidden.
Ophelia shook her head. “I don’t know, but I can see there’s something up with that guy. I have an idea of what it could be, but I can’t say anything until I’m completely sure. No one trusts me as it is.”
“Not even her?” He ran his hand down her forearm for a brief second.
Ophelia shook her head. “She’s being nice enough, but the big sis is reluctant to let me in. I can’t force it. It has to come naturally. But you need to do me a favor.”
Holy crap, he knows who I am. Why keep it a secret if he knew?
When I’d first met Cross, I though he was a cool distant player, but the way he looked at Ophelia spoke volumes. Where they together? Maybe. Did they trust each other? Only part-time, it seemed. Yet here he was looking at her as if she were the only thing tethering him to this world. “Anything.”
“You need to keep an eye on him and keep him away from Zinnia.” She reached behind herself and pulled a flyer off the wall and handed it to him. “Especially tomorrow night.”
He looked down at the crumpled paper and chuckled. “The school dance. Oh, come on. You want me to be a chaperone?”
Ophelia arched her eyebrow at him. “If that’s what it takes.”
“I don’t know what’s involved in a school dance. I’ve never even been to one. Have you?”
“I’ve spent my life locked in a fortress. How would I know? Just make sure they stay apart, okay?”
He reached up and brushed his thumb down her cheek. “Maybe you want to go with me?”
Ophelia shook her head. “Not a chance, lover boy. Don’t forget I’ve seen what girls look like once you’re done with them.”
He turned his head away, and the muscle in his jaw flexed as he ground his teeth. “That was in the past. Before you.”
“And I’m sure that line worked on the girls before me.” She went up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Just make sure he stays away from Zin, okay?”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“Good.” She took a step away from him. “I have to go to class.”
Cross wrapped his hand around her wrist and tugged her back. “There are no other girls, O.”
“Sure, there aren’t.” She gently pulled free from him and blew him a kiss over her shoulder.
Before she spotted me, I turned away and walked in the opposite direction. I was sure of three things. One, Ophelia and Cross were playing a dangerous game, but whose side were they on? Two, Tucker’s hex was getting worse. And three, I needed a date and damn dress for the stupid dance I forgot about.
Chapter 24
Zinnia
“Hey, Zinnia. Where are you going?” Nova chased behind me, and her footsteps quickened at she got closer.
She placed her hand on my shoulder, stopping me. I spun around, feeling completely out of control. Everything was coming at me from every angle. I sucked in a deep breath. “I’m leaving.”
“What do you mean you’re leaving?” We stood at the front gate to the school. The double doors were a thick metal with an oversized lock in the middle of them.
“I’m going shopping. I’m done going on quests, fighting spells and evil kings. For just one hour I want to be a normal teenager and look for a dress for a stupid dance. And then I will come back and do all that, but just for an hour I need to not think.”
Nova nodded her head. “I know what you mean, and if it were any other day, I’d say let’s go, but we can’t today.”
I stomped my foot. “Why not?”
“It’s Alataris. He’s been spotted around the city. No one is sure what he’s doing, but Niche sent me to find you and make sure you report for your scheduled training. She doesn’t want us to engage him until we figure out what he’s up to.”
“Of course, of course he ruins yet another aspect of my life.” I spun on my heels and began marching toward the training room. The courtyard was buzzing with students setting up for the dance. Lights were being hung in long strands, and a dance floor was going down in pieces in front of the fountain. The pixies that flew overhead were buzzing more than usual. They hovered around my head and buzzed around my body. Their tiny whispers were barely discernable, but I did hear two names: Tucker and Patty.
Nova’s eyes widened, and we hurried toward the training center. My heart raced as I hurried toward the double doors. When I got to the doors, Nova threw them open and I marched into the center. There in the corner stood Tuck. He leaned up against the wall, smiling and laughing. So different than the Tuck I saw last night, the one who asked me to help him figure out what happened to him. No, this Tucker was carefree. Patty Bowerguard stood in front of him, bouncing and giggling. At his side, Cross too was carefree and chuckling as though the two of them had some kind of hidden secret joke I wasn’t a part of.
I strolled up to them and put on my best smile. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing really.” Tuck peered over at Cross and elbowed him playfully. “Right?”
Cross titled his head back against the
wall and looked down at me with those glowing gold eyes. “Patty and Tuck are going to the dance together, isn’t that right?”
Tuck nodded and smiled. When his onyx eyes met mine, I knew my Tuck wasn’t in there. This had to be the hex, why else would he take a vial girl like her? I knew he wasn’t himself, but I couldn’t help from feeling a little hurt and possibly jealous.
Patty cackled and sneered at me. “I’m looking forward to it. Are you going with anyone, Zinnia, or are you flying solo?” When I didn’t answer, she pursed her lips and tisked. “Aww, you don’t have a date, how sad for you.”
If I had been Ophelia, I would’ve cracked her across her face. But I wasn’t Ophelia. I was me, and I would maintain control…for now. I reached out and tugged at Tuck’s sleeve. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”
“Um, yeah, sure.” He moved away from the wall ever so sluggishly, and when he turned to face me, it looked like he was stifling the urge to roll his eyes. This isn’t Tuck, it’s some a-hole form of Tuck. Who I didn’t like very much at the moment. But most of all I was worried. This wasn’t him, he would never do this to me. But what could I say to anyone? “Tuck isn’t okay because he won’t take me to the dance.” Is sounded as stupid in my head as it would out loud.
On the other side of the training room, the others started to file in. Tabi grabbed up her long golden whip and began practicing with it. The cracking of it echoed off the gym walls. Grayson ran from one end of the training room to the other. His vampire speed sent a light breeze through the room that ruffled my hair. Though Nova was close by, I could tell even while swinging a sword she was listening.
Wicked Hex (The Royals: Witch Court Book 3) Page 13
