by Allie Burton
“Have fun.” Olivia took Xander’s hand and they headed into a room that appeared to be a study and closed the door.
“Do Olivia and Xander live here?”
Math and his friends seemed to have free rein of the professor’s house. They were comfortable and at home. Something I’d never felt at the museum. I’d had access to the living quarters, but wasn’t allowed in the museum by myself and never knew about the secret ceremonial room Math had discovered. Restricted access and restricted love.
“The professor is a friend of the Soul Warriors.” Math’s answer wasn’t really an answer.
“Do the Soul Warriors use this house as a base?”
I was curious about their group and how they thought of each other as brothers, even though there were obviously girls in the group. Plus, information was always important to have. I didn’t plan to sell out the Soul Warriors unless I could use the intelligence to save Mom.
“We used to have a warehouse base. It was burned down in a fire set by rogue cops. Olivia almost died.” Math raised his fisted hands, blocking his face. “Hold your arms like this.”
Maybe if I cooperated and learned this Sebbekah, he’d share more information.
“Do you have to stay in the house unless you’re on an errand?” That was one of Aaron’s many rules. I’d never been out of the museum for this long before.
“Of course not. Take this position.” Talking, Math demonstrated. “We come and go as we please.”
My spirits flew, imagining having that kind of freedom.
“Is the professor in charge?” I copied his motions, waving my arms back and forth in a blocking move.
“Do this.” Math punched forward with his fist. “Olivia’s in charge. She and Xander rescued us. Remember, stone shabtis?”
“Really?” I couldn’t stop the comment. Olivia seemed friendly and nice. How did she control the group of warriors?
“I’m going to come at you and I want you to make this move.” Math showed an evasive tactic where he pivoted his body and bent low. “Ready?’
My stomach twisted, waiting for his attack. “Yes.”
Not really. I kept running the moves he’d taught in my head. Block, evade, run.
The twisting tightened, tying a big knot in my center. He was bigger, stronger, and more practiced.
Math rushed me with fists flying.
Automatically, I put my arms up to block my face. His blows glanced my forearms without pain. I bent at the waist, pivoted, and stepped out of the way. The move felt like long-practiced choreography. The agility and strength had just happened. From nowhere.
The knot in my belly untwisted. It was as if I’d secured a few of Math’s powers by being with him.
He stepped back and swung his leg high. I ducked and his leg swung over my head. His hands grabbed around my waist and he lifted me. I stretched out my body. My toes caught the seam in the mat and I lost my balance, stumbling.
Momentum carried me forward. Toward Math.
We both ended in a pile. Me lying on top of him. Our bodies lined up head to toe.
The scent of eucalyptus and sweat surrounded me making me dizzy. Or was that being so close to Math? His bare leg wrapped around mine. His chest moved up and down, rubbing against me. His face was so close.
I melted into him. Close enough to kiss.
His body shifted. He used his hooked leg to flip me. In seconds he’d reversed our positions. Now he lay on top of me. “I win.”
“I thought you were teaching me.” My voice sounded husky and breathless. Did he think it was from the exercise or from our proximity?
His rich, emerald eyes glazed with desire. His firm lips smoothed into a smile. “I. Am.”
He leaned in. Closer. His mouth brushed mine. A feathery-light touch igniting a strong response.
My lips pursed, needing more than a touch. How could I feel so close to someone so quickly?
I’d lived with the Order for years and never made a friend or a confidant. I was an unwanted nuisance or a servant. Maybe that’s why I responded to Math’s attention. Maybe that’s why I was so vulnerable.
And being vulnerable was dangerous.
His mouth landed on mine again. His lips moved in an enticing rhythm. A rhythm that rocked my body and soothed my soul. A rhythm that shot sparks across my skin and exploded in my gut. A rhythm that had me wanting more.
I opened my mouth, wanting another taste, a closer intimacy.
Bzzzz. Bzzzz.
The vibration ripped through me breaking our intimate bubble. Not again. I tried to ignore the oscillating phone.
Bzzzz. Bzzzz.
The pleasurable tenseness in my muscles lagged. Whoever it was, most likely Aaron, wasn’t going to give up. I’d ignored his texts all night. It was time to see what he wanted so I had time to think about how to respond. “Uh, I should check.”
His lips frowned against mine, before he lifted himself and rolled off and onto his back, next to me on the mat. His expression of dazed disappointment made me feel better because I felt the same.
I slipped the phone out of the sweat pants’ pocket I’d put it in when changing clothes, glimpsed the screen and groaned. Just as I suspected.
Aaron.
“Everything okay?” Math’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Yeah, I…” I stood and plowed to the edge of the mat. I couldn’t tell Math about Aaron. “It’s my mom.”
So not Mom.
The text read: Where the Tut are you?
I typed back: With Math as you ordered.
And yet, not at all what Aaron had ordered. My still-warm body scorched higher. He hadn’t ordered me to kiss Math. To like him.
Aaron also didn’t know I didn’t plan to be his obedient soldier. I was now only loyal to myself. And Mom.
Sitting up, Math’s furrowed eyebrows drew together tighter. Lines formed around his mouth. “Is your mom mad you didn’t find her jewel?”
My phone buzzed again. New texts from Aaron. The trumpet was stolen from the Society’s headquarters during the night. Do you know anything about that?
How to answer. How to explain. How to avoid risking Mom.
Kind of. Maybe that will buy me time.
“Um.” I glanced at Math. I knew the trumpet was in this house, just not exactly where. “I haven’t told Mom yet about not finding the jewel. She’s so sick. I didn’t want to make her worse.”
Get the trumpet and bring it to me! Aaron’s demand was clear even in text form.
Pain jostled with anger in my chest. My ribs fought valiantly on the side of anger, stabbing and poking and wanting to tell Aaron he could go straight to the Afterlife. While my lungs cushioned the blows, knowing Aaron held Mom’s life in his hands.
I need more time. More time to figure out how to get Mom away from Aaron. More time to decide if the trumpet really could cure Mom and who could best help me achieve that goal.
Aaron or Math?
“I can go back and search.” Math’s sweet offer alleviated my pain, relaxing the battle inside me.
He cared about me. Cared about what I thought and what I needed. Was willing to protect me and to teach me how to protect myself. Which would come in handy when dealing with Aaron.
Internal torment ratcheted up again with the guilt. I’d lied to Math about the jewel. About my quest. About my association with the Order.
My phone buzzed again. There is no more time. The trumpet is the only thing that can help your mother. She’s near death.
Near death.
The words speared, splitting my heart in two, dividing my soul. I’d known her illness was severe, but I’d hoped I could get her out of the museum and to a real doctor before her chances of surviving narrowed.
I’d waited too long.
My eyes pricked with tears. The urge to hurry raced inside me. “I’ve got to go.” I shoved the phone in my sweat pants’ pocket. “My mom…”
Internally, I shattered. I was falling apart. I had to hold it together un
til I got to the museum. Unable to say the words, I didn’t want Math to know because he’d ask too many questions.
“Is she okay?” He stepped beside me and braced my elbow, understanding I needed support. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I…” Shaking my head, I forced my burning eyes not to leak. “I have to go see her. She’s fine. She’ll be fine.”
I hoped. And prayed.
His mouth dipped down in a concerned frown. He examined me. “I’ll come with you.”
Panic spiked and came out in a scream. “No!” I clamped my mouth shut, trying to stop myself from saying anything else stupid. Him coming with me would be more dangerous. For both of us. “Mom doesn’t want me hanging around with guys. It’s better if I go by myself.”
Math couldn’t discover where I lived. He couldn’t find out the truth. Yet.
I’d tell him soon. Right now, I needed to see Mom to reassure myself she could survive another day or two. Or that she could leave with me now. Then, I’d tell Math everything and beg for his help.
He tugged on my arm bringing my attention back to him. “You’ll come back?” His low, sweet voice had my head swirling.
I swooned, my bones melting at his touch. He liked me and wanted to continue seeing me. “You want me to come back?”
“Of course.” His foot dug into the mat and his cheeks flamed red. “We need to analyze your residual magic.”
Pain pricked my chest and rattled my heart. That was the only reason he wanted me to come back, and I probably didn’t even have magical abilities. Once he realized that, would he not care about me any longer? I tugged my arm away.
He reeled back and his gaze widened with a dawning understanding. He grabbed my hand. “I want you to come back for me.”
My heart balanced between belief and skepticism. Why had he changed gears? Because he really felt that way about me, or because he realized I was upset? Was he placating me?
“Really?” I let doubt plague my voice.
“Really.” His other hand cupped my cheek. He leaned toward me with a sparkle in his eyes.
His lips touched mine. Gentle, caring, persuasive.
My doubt evaporated like fog on a sunny-happy day. My heart puffed like a fluffy, white cloud. My mind calmed. Math did like me. When I came back, I’d tell him everything. My background, Aaron’s quest, my mom’s situation. Then, he and his Soul Warriors would help me figure out how to cure Mom.
If Aaron let me return to the Soul Warriors.
Chapter Fourteen
Piper
Wanting to see Mom as soon as possible, I stole another car to get to the museum. Car theft was beginning to become a habit. A bad habit. To make up for some of my guilt, I’d fill the car with gas and leave it near the same location.
Right now, my concern and thoughts were centered on Mom. How frail was she? Could I help her walk out of the museum? Could I convince her to leave?
There was no way to sneak into the museum with full security in place. Acting casual, I hoped I didn’t run into Aaron. My plan was to see Mom and convince her to leave with me. If the professor could analyze me, maybe he could help Mom, too. And Math was a healer.
Every hair on my body stood on alert, sensing danger. My tight muscles were ready to hide or run. Keeping close to the walls, I tread carefully and quietly trying not to appear suspicious. It was just Piper skulking through the halls similar to any other day of the week.
I’d made it to Mom’s outer door with only a glance from one member. Success soared through my veins. I opened the door and stepped inside. Silence greeted me.
My heart clutched. “Mom?”
Hurrying through the outer area, I darted into her bedroom.
She lay curled in a fetal position on the bed. Her tiny body shivered and she hugged herself as if cold. Her bones appeared to jut out of her skin at the elbows and knees.
My joints ached, surveying her skeletal form. My mind numbed.
“Glad you could join us.” The rough-edge, the demanding-tone, the annoyed-underpinnings scratched against my skin similar to a key marring a car door. “Did you bring the trumpet?”
Aaron.
I hunched my shoulders and clenched my teeth. My plan to take my mother and run was a complete disaster. I wouldn’t be able to get back to Math and the professor, wouldn’t be able to share my problems with them, wouldn’t be able to get help for Mom. The clock was ticking and I was a bomb about to go off. All the frustration and fears exploded in a hot wave of seething anger.
Swiveling around, I confronted him. “Did you call a doctor?”
He sat in an elegant chair, drumming his long nails against the wooden arm. The sound repeated in my chest like a death drum.
I pivoted back to the bed, ignoring Aaron, already knowing the answer. “Mom?”
Shallow breaths struggled between purple lips. Dull, dazed eyes stared blankly. She smelled of sickness.
“Mom.” Sharp prickles clouded my vision.
“She’s alive. Barely.” Aaron’s voice snapped. He stood and paced toward me, his designer suit showing no wrinkles. “No thanks to you.”
Gasping, I held in my temper. How could he blame me? From what I learned, he might’ve been poisoning her for months. I fisted my hands and forced my mouth shut. I wanted to confront him, to ask him what medicine he’d been giving Mom. It was more important to keep my knowledge and suspicions secret.
I took hold of Mom’s hand. Her cold skin felt clammy and papery. Her hand felt light as a feather. Her fingers shaped into a claw as if already digging herself a grave.
She didn’t have much time. I had to do something, but getting her to go with me now was impossible. Not with Aaron standing guard. “Mom?”
She didn’t respond. Her lids fluttered closed.
“Mom!” I gripped her hand tighter and then dropped it, afraid I’d break her frail bones.
My bones felt frail, brittle, dry, about to break. I wanted to collapse in a heap next to her on the bed. She couldn’t die.
“What did you mean by you kind of knew where the trumpet is located?” Aaron tried to imitate my voice.
The attempt made me nauseous. What I was about to tell him made me feel even more sick. I glanced at Mom again, sized him up. “The Soul Warriors have the trumpet.”
“I suspected as much.” Aaron’s superior tone rung in the room like he was right about everything. “Pi Day is tomorrow.”
My head swung back in his direction. My mouth must be gaping. Math had talked about Pi day. Aaron must know the secrets of the trumpet and how to cure Mom. “Pi Day?”
Aaron’s lips quirked into a grim, ironic, gloating grin. “March fourteenth at fifteen hundred hours, nine minutes and twenty-six seconds is the celestial time of convergence. It is when the trumpet is most powerful. The optimal time for the vessel to take possession of the trumpet’s power.”
He repeated some of the same things Math had said.
I didn’t know what to believe. I knew the trumpet had powers, had sensed the magic. “And Mom?”
“Your mom will never feel pain again.” Satisfaction oozed in his voice. “Everything is set to go. The ceremonial room. The chants. The essential oils.”
My lungs squeezed, causing a wheezing sensation. Mom might become a vessel, but she’d be alive. The trumpet would save Mom. She’d become powerful, maybe giving Aaron orders. And if I begged her, we could leave this place later.
He raised his hands in the air and dropped them. “All we need to save your Mom is Tut’s Trumpet of Peace.”
His sentence hung in the air. Dread shredded my insides of what would happen if Mom languished here. Nothing would be done. But if I stole the trumpet…possibilities opened up. “What if I take the trumpet from the Soul Warriors?”
His eyes narrowed and his gaze shot daggers striking my gut. “Do you know where the trumpet is?”
The daggers hit their mark. It wasn’t the threat in Aaron’s tone that had my midsection wallowing in torment. Guilt at t
he direction of my thoughts hit hard. Stealing the trumpet from the Soul Warriors would be a betrayal to Math.
If I confessed to Math my predicament maybe he could help. Or maybe he’d give me the trumpet. Except what if he couldn’t help? Or what if he didn’t want to help? Licking my lips, I mulled my options.
Mom moaned.
The moan sliced through me. I didn’t have time to research other possibilities and what ifs. I couldn’t take Mom out of here. I took a shuddering breath and said, “I can find the trumpet.”
* * *
As if I was running a race with no end, my nerves were on edge. From the professor’s house to the museum and back to the professor’s house. At least this time, I didn’t have to steal a car. Aaron had given me one of the Order’s to take because he thought I’d be returning to the museum with the trumpet.
My plans were in flux.
By early afternoon, I’d parked the four-door sedan around the block and jogged to the professor’s house. Knocking on the door, I tapped my foot impatiently on the top step. I would explain everything to Math. About Mom and the Order. About Aaron and his hold over both of us. About my need for the trumpet.
Math would help me. He knew so much about the trumpet and the Order and the secret ceremony.
Aria answered the door and I couldn’t stop the disappointment swirling through me. “Where’s Math?”
“Hello to you, too.” She opened the door wider and let me inside. “Math isn’t here.”
My heart stopped and then picked up its pace. Hope slipped away. I had less than twenty-four hours to save Mom. Every second counted.
“Where is he?” The question sounded ruder than I’d intended.
“Out.” Aria slammed the door shut.
The beating moved to my head, bonging the time similar to a countdown clock. Mom didn’t have much time. And I didn’t have time for the niceties or to explain to Aria. “When will he be back?”
“I don’t know.” Aria studied me. “Math said you should talk to Ash when you arrived. He’s in the music room upstairs.”
I didn’t want to talk to Ash. I didn’t trust him. I wanted to talk to Math. “Why?”
“I don’t know.” She whirled and flounced toward the kitchen, her short skirt swinging back and forth with her movement.
