There was only about eleven of us left, and we stood in a loose group spread out and watched the crowd. I imagine this is what famous stars felt like when they walked the red carpet. Overwhelmed, shocked, and grateful for the love they’d been shown by their fans. I was grateful to be here standing among the last few Guardians, each one of them deserved a place with the Knights. I glanced up at the Jumbotron and there was my face larger than life. I didn’t smile didn’t show an ounce of emotion yet my insides rolled with excitement, nervous, and wonder. What would happen next?
She looked over her shoulder at the small group standing around me. “When I call your name please step up.”
This was it, this was actually happening. I couldn’t stop from tapping my thigh with my hand. Jittery nervous ran all over my body. Ten years of hard work and it all came down to this one moment…
“Beckett Dust.”
The high-pitched wail of young women filled the arena. Screens of ‘I love you Becks’ filled the air. When I looked over my shoulder at him I pressed my lips together fighting not to laugh. Beckett stepped up and gave a single wave, his face was a mask of indifference. Yet I could see that muscle in his jaw tick with annoyance. I raised my hands and clapped them together. Beckett had worked just as hard as I had and he deserved this. Deserved to be a Knight.
Niche snapped her fingers calling the attention back to her. “Grayson Shade.”
He threw his hands up. “Yes! That’s right ladies, that’s right.” He winked then waved as though this was the greatest show on earth and he was it’s star. We’d gotten off to a rocky start and I had to admit I didn’t like the little leech at first but his larger than life personality was growing on me. Again I clapped my hands for him and didn’t bother to hide the chuckle I felt.
“Oh please Mister Shade.” Niche rolled her eyes. “Next we have Ashryn Bowen.”
The elf didn’t smile didn’t wave, she simply gave a regal bow. Nothing more nothing less. Ashryn was an interesting choice, she’d be cold, calculating, and never let her emotions get in the way. Very much like me. Niche arched and eye brow at her. “Moving on, Brax Cotovavich.”
Bright red flooded his cheeks and he ducked his head. Then rubbed his hand over his tight crew cut hair. Talk about the giant softy. He shifted from one foot to the other and gave a single wave. “Thank you.”
Each one of them deserved the positions they were being offered. Whether they were happy about it, I didn’t know. But I was happy for all of them. As the name were dwindling down I could see the disappointment on the faces of those who hadn’t been called yet. They kicked at the ground, shuffled from one foot to the other and there was not one smile in sight from any of them.
Niche adjusted the microphone in her hand. “Adrienne Bold.”
A wide grin broke out across Adrienne’s face. She stepped next to Brax and lifted her arm to wave to the roaring crowd. “Yes. Thank you.” When she turned to wave to the other side of the arena she flung her hand straight back into his face, smacking him in the eye.
“Ohhhh.” The spectators flinched back in unison.
Brax pressed his hand to his watering eye and smiled. “I’m good.”
Adrienne only came up to his shoulder so she wrapped her arm around his waist. “I’m so sorry.”
A light chuckle escaped my lips. Off to a good start. Brax smiled down at her. “I am fine.”
Niche sighed. “Oh boy, on to the next one.” She glanced in my direction. “Last but not least I give you our lead Knight.”
This was it, I held my breath knowing she’d call my name. A sense of peace I’d never known came over me as I waited for her to say it. Call my name Niche. I sucked in a breath and held it deep in my chest…waiting.
“Tucker Brand!”
My heart spike and I didn’t bother hiding my smile. Behind me the last three competitors melted into the shadows as they walked off the area floor. Would their families be disappointed in them the way mind would have been in me if I didn’t make it. What would they return too? I didn’t know, but I hoped now they would find what they were looking for.
The deafening roar of the area astounded me. What could I do or say? I’d trained all my life for this position for this world. I gazed out finding Blackwing in the front row, clapping his hands and grinning from ear to ear. A single tear slid down his cheek and I raised my eyebrow at him. He waved me off and mouth, I’m proud of you.
My chest bowed with emotion yet I didn’t let a single one of them show. I lifted one hand and gave a single wave. I’d fulfilled my family’s expectation of becoming a Knight, now the rest was up to me. Now it was my turn to choose what would happen next. That knowledge both excited and terrified me. I now had the power to choose where this path would take me. The world was counting on me to help bring Alataris’ rule to and end. Would that happen? I didn’t know, but I was damn sure going to give him as much hell as I could.
Niche tilted the microphone in my direction. “Care to say anything?”
I shook my head…I had no words. My throat was thick with emotion, anything I could possibly say In this moment was lost to how overwhelming this all was. I felt my life path click into place. I’d been forced into this, but standing at the center of it here and now surrounded by the other six Knights something deep with in me just felt…right. Finally!
“Good, well that’s settled.” She pressed her glasses up her nose and looked out at the wild arena. “You all may go.”
Thousands of eyes turned on her in shocked silence. She held her hands up. “What? This isn’t London we don’t do the sword on the shoulder thing.”
A small pixie fluttered to the center of the area and landed on her shoulder. Her white hair draped over her face as she leaned in whispering in Niche’s ear. Her sparkling wings flutter with her every movement. Niche’s eyes went wide. “Oh right, I forgot.” She waved her hand at the group of us. “Evermore, I give you your Knights.”
A mixture of laughter, claps, whistles and cheers echoed through out the stadium. Bright lights ran over us one at a time. It was all too much for me. I’d trained to become a Knight not a celebrity. Before I could turn and walk away Niche snapped her fingers once more. “Okay now you all may go.”
She spun away from the fans and tossed the mic over her shoulder. When she faced us gave the barest hint of a smile I nearly chuckled. “Now, if you’ll all follow me.”
The arena slowly began to clear. People zoomed up the aisles like ants in an ant farm. The deafening roar was no more, only the lingering hum of conversation. I stood in the center of it all, surrounded by a group of men and women I’d be working with indefinitely. “I have to say, I’m good with the way this turned out.”
Grayson clapped me on the shoulder. “You mean with a vampire as your second-in-command?”
“You wish, baby leech.” Beckett, who stood on his other side, bumped him with his shoulder. “Need I remind you I came in second.”
“Do you know what they say about second place in Russia?” Brax stood across from me with his hands clasped behind his back and rocking from heel to toe.
Beckett shook his head. “No, what’s that? Second place means you’re the first loser?”
Brax chuckled as he shook his head. “Nyet, second place is the first one to be someone else’s bit—”
“Gentleman.” Niche interrupted. “We have a great deal to do in a very little time.”
Ashryn cleared her throat. “I agree. We do have things to tend to.”
“I can’t wait.” Adrienne clapped her hands together. A daughter of Athena would no doubt help us. I couldn’t think of a better Knight to having standing against Alataris than a Demi-Greek.
I clapped my hands together then rubbed them back and forth. “When do we get to meet the rest of the Queens?”
She hesitated a moment, biting her bottom lip nervously. “You don’t, exactly.” She turned and called over her shoulder. “Come on.”
This was a habit of hers, not answer
ing questions and then walking away. It’d be something we had to work on in the future, because as the lead Knight I was going to have all my questions answered.
“What do you mean, we don’t get to meet them?” I stomped up beside Niche while matching her stride as she wound her way down the tunnel we’d entered when the Trials started.
“It’s complicated.” She turned again and headed down a smaller hallway.
I kept pace with each of her steps. “Explain it to me.”
When she reached a small doorway she ushered us into what looked like a boardroom. On one side of the table sat Serrina, Tabitha, and Nova, three of the five Witch Queens. On the other side were six empty chairs. Niche walked to the head of the table and motioned to the empty seats. “Knights, please sit.”
With his vampire speed Grayson brushed past all of us to the first chair. “Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Knights.”
I strolled in, taking the middle seat across from the Queens. I gave a slight bow. “Your Highnesses, a pleasure.”
“You all must learn to address each other as equals.” Niche motioned to the girls sitting on the other side of the table. “Yes, they are the most powerful witches the world has seen in two hundred years. But you are the most powerful of your species as well. And if this is going to work, we need to be a team.”
“I agree.” I rubbed the stubble on my chin. “Which is why I’d like to know where the other two Queens are. There are five casts of witches, and each cast has a Queen that I am sworn to protect with my life. So I’d like to know where they are.”
The girls exchanged nervous glances. Finally Tabitha spoke up. “The fifth, Ophelia, Queen of Spells, has already fallen under King Alataris’ rule.”
Dead silence. Like a bomb went off in the room. For one of the Queens to fall so early on was not a good sign. We were already starting off on the wrong foot.
“Wait a second, the Trials are supposed to take place a week before the last Queen ascends. Are you telling me we don’t have a fifth Queen? We need all five Queens. History states—”
“Technically in the past, the trials started before the last GOOD Queen ascends. Well we hope she’s good.” Niche pushed her glasses back up her nose. “If there’s anything that history has taught us over the last five Cycles it’s that even with all five Queens on our side it will be difficult to overthrow the Witch King.”
“True, but Niche. We need a fifth Queen.” I lifted my hands motioning to the only three we had.
“That’s why I convinced the Fallen to allow us to hold the trials early this cycle, there was no use waiting for the fifth witch to ascend when we already know she’s not on our side. So we did it before the fourth witch ascends. Simple enough.”
Gray held his hand up. “Let me get this straight. Only three out of five Witch Queens have ascended and we still had the trials?”
“Precisely.” She nodded. “But the fourth will Ascend in a little over a week. So let us focus on the Siphon Witch. We have lost our fifth Queen, but the fourth may not yet be lost to us.”
My father would be appalled, he was steeped in traditions that he felt Evermore should uphold and here Niche was, changing a fundamental rule of the cycle because it just worked out better. Part of me admired her for her forward thinking, the other part of me wondered if this would work. In times past they’d followed the tradition closely only to fail in the end. Perhaps a bit of change wasn’t uncalled for.
I sat forward in my chair and folded my hands on the table. “May not? What is going on here?”
Nova swallowed and steepled her glove covered hands. “She might not know she’s a witch.”
Beckett swore under his breath. “Might not?”
“We just don’t know yet.” Nova’s white blond hair fell over she shoulder covering half her face like a curtain.
I held up my hand. “Then what are you saying? How do we even handle something like this? Stroll up to a sixteen-year-old girl and say by the way you’re probably the most powerful witch in the world, want to join our team?”
Niche pulled a group of papers off her clipboard and handed out one each.
Brax’s brow furrowed. “What is this?”
“These, my students, are your transfer papers.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
Tabitha’s hands shook as she read the paper. “But the Queens have always gone to Evermore Academy.”
Niche shook her head. “Not anymore you don’t. You’re all enrolled in high school…in New Jersey. It’s the only way for you all to build trust with the Siphon Witch.” She clapped her hands together and smiled as though this was a brilliant plan.
For the first time Ashryn face was utter shocked. Her mouth hung open and eye bulged. Her normally cool exterior cracked before my eyes. “Me? In…high…school?”
“Look, guys. I know this will be hard on all of you, but if we want to the Siphon Witch to join our side then we’re going to have to go to her home territory and wait for the right moment to tell her.” Niche put her hands on the table and leaned into them. “This has to be done.”
“Wait a second, isn’t it going to look odd that a group of nine teenagers suddenly all transfer into the school at the same time? I mean we are going to have to act like we know each other if we’re going to befriend her.”
Niche lowered her eyes and smirked to herself. “It wouldn’t appear odd if the whole school believed we’d been there for years now.”
“Say what now?” Grayson leaned forward, his face alight with interest.
“I’ve been working on a spell that’ll place you all with in the memories of the students and history of the school. According to all the people associated with that High School you all have been there for years, have been a solid group of friends for years. No one will think of you as the new kids and no will know you’re there just for the Siphon Witch.”
“That’s bloody brilliant.” Grayson nodded his head and smiled.
“Um, thank you.”
“But…but we are protected by the Fallen at Evermore Academy.” Tabitha’s eyebrows drew high over her wide round eyes. “It’s safe from Alataris there.”
The Fallen were rumored to be the oldest living beings to ever walk the Earth or Evermore. Their school would be the safest place for any supernatural. Their power was so great even the Greeks bowed to them.
Niche nodded head. “You have the Knights now.”
“No pressure,” Grayson mumbled.
“We will keep you safe.” I looked down at the already printed student ID in my hand. Great… “I guess we’re going to high school.”
I swallowed down my nerves. I was going to be in a school filled to the brim with human teenagers. If they were anything like they were on human television then this was going to be more of a challenge than I thought. I flipped the card over in my hand, studying it. “What’s her name anyways?”
Niche answered, “Zinnia, Zinnia Heart. But she goes by Zin.”
Zinnia…I didn’t know why, but the mention of her name made the phoenix on my neck smolder once more.
Chapter 14
I’ve never felt anything like the crisp fall air of New Jersey in all my life. Cindelore was always seeped in heat from the volcanic peeks it was tucked between. The sky had always been pink and covered in clouds of ash. Now I’d seen the clear sky for the first time. To say I was obsessed with looking at the stars was an understatement. Even now while I was supposed to be following up reports about an unusual amount of power in this area I kept glimpsing toward the sky. After I parked my car just outside the area we were searching we’d gotten out and started walking around to see if we could feel the kind of magic a Witch Queen might emit.
“You keep looking up at the sky like that and you’re going to miss her.” Serrina teased from just behind me.
“We’re only checking things out, I’m sure if it’s her we’ll feel it.” Tonight I’d taken Serrina, Nova, and Brax along with me. I stopped and paused at the corner of the s
treet. “Where did they say they felt it most?”
“The pack of fox shifters said they felt it around the house just down the street.” Nova pointed toward a row of old Victorian style houses.
Serrina spun in a circle. “Wait a second, isn’t this the street that house party was supposed to be on tonight?”
“Da.” Brax nodded his head.
I was not into the high school party scene. I’d been sent here to do a job and that was exactly what I was going to do. “I hadn’t planned on going to that party.”
Nova sighed. “Me either, but if she’s here I think we have to make an appearance. Did any of you get invited?”
“I did.” Serrina examined her nails. When we all looked a her with wide eyes she shrugged. “What?”
I shook my head. “Nothing, it’s nothing. Let’s just go.”
I walked down the side walk, three houses in and I felt the magic thickening. But that wasn’t the only thing going on. Loud voices laughing and yelling mingled with thumping music. I paused in front of he house with my team at my sides. “Do you feel that?”
All around the house magic as thick as soup swirled around. Serrina ran her fingers through the air as though toying with it. “Oh yeah, she’s throwing it off like beacon. You know what that means?”
“If we can find her so can Alataris.” The hair on the back of my next stood on end as I looked up at the large house. The bright full moon lit up the beige exterior of the house and reflected off of the glass panes. I needed to be in that house, I needed to find the fourth Queen before she ascended.
“I didn’t think she’d throw off so much before she ascends.” Nova turned to watch a boy stumble down the front steps and fall into the bushes. “This is going to be fun.”
Wicked Trials Page 10
