by Allie Burton
Except I wasn’t normal. And neither was Math. My strong feelings for him didn’t matter in the long run. I was attracted to him, trusted him, and would ultimately betray him. It was too late to ask for his help with Mom. Time was running out. Aaron wanted the trumpet tomorrow, Pi Day, because its power would be most effective to heal.
I couldn’t risk not doing as he ordered. Couldn’t risk Mom’s life.
Not wanting to talk about my relationship with Math, I changed the subject. “How long have you and Falcon been together?”
“A few months. We recovered the Trumpet of War together.” Her blue eyes grew intense.
Math had mentioned how Falcon had recovered the bronze trumpet. “Do you have powers?”
“I received powers when I played the Trumpet of War.”
Aria had played one of the trumpets. Math and the professor had made it seem like playing either of the trumpets would be horrible. Yet here Aria was, alive, happy, and powerful. Something for me to tuck away and think about.
I didn’t know if I’d ever have the opportunity to ask more questions. “How long have you lived with your grandfather?”
“Only a few months.”
“What happened to your parents?”
“They died in a car accident.” Aria’s voice cracked. She still dealt with her grief.
Empathy flowed in my veins. I could relate. Mom wasn’t dead, although she could be soon. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m lucky to have my grandfather.” She flipped the covers over on the bed and crawled inside. “Really lucky.”
Sounded like she had a story to tell, but I wanted other information. “Where do Falcon and the other Warriors live?”
Aria glanced at the ceiling and then at me. “They have a warehouse south of Market.”
Hmmm. Math had told me the warehouse had burned down. Aria had been honest about having powers, she acted like she wanted to be friends, except she was lying about the warehouse. Could it be her way of protecting Falcon and the other warriors? She didn’t trust me.
I noticed how the warriors disappeared into the professor’s study and never came back out. A back door possibly?
“I’m tired.”
I lay down on the sleeping bag on the floor, not ready to settle in for the night. “Good night.”
“Good night, Piper.” Aria flicked out the lights.
How could it be a good night? My thoughts tumbled from one thing to the next. Since meeting with Math I hadn’t had time to think about what he and Ash believed.
That I had powers.
I definitely sensed the trumpet. And I’d always been good with mechanical things. But anything else?
My tumultuous thoughts circled until the only image I had in my head was the bent cymbal. I couldn’t deny I’d bent the metal with my hands. Super-strength?
Powers didn’t matter if I couldn’t save Mom.
Mom could die tomorrow if I didn’t steal the trumpet.
I’d seen how sick Mom was and knowing Aaron had been poisoning her to prepare her for the vessel role, he wouldn’t let her die. He had too much at stake. My lungs tightened, pulling and straining in my ribcage. My stomach churned. I wanted to heave. I planned to steal from a good person, a true warrior Math, and give the powerful instrument to evil Aaron. Because he’d use it to keep Mom alive.
Darkness descended except for the light of the moon. The clock in the room tick-tock-ticked. The house quieted and settled. The clock continued to tick-tock. The moon rose higher in the sky. Tick-tock.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
The clock counted down the minutes to the end of Mom’s life.
I couldn’t lay here and fall asleep. Not knowing the trumpet was in the house. The trumpet that could save Mom. The trumpet I could sense.
“Aria, are you asleep?” I whispered from my spot on the floor.
She didn’t answer.
Glad someone could sleep.
Taking one leg out of the sleeping bag, the churning in my tummy grew worse. Shivers crawled over my skin as I crawled toward the closed door. I clasped the doorknob and turned, then pushed the door open.
The door creaked.
I stilled, waiting for Aria to wake up. I could tell her I had to use the bathroom.
She didn’t wake up.
I slipped between the door and the frame and stood. Creeping down the hall, I hit the top step.
Creeaak.
The noise shot up my spine. I froze again. The creaking noise sounded loud to my ears. I didn’t hear any movement. The professor’s bedroom door stayed closed. The music room was empty. I tiptoed down the steps, across the living room and into the professor’s study.
I stopped at the closed door and took a deep breath. There was something about this room. It wasn’t an innocent study. The Soul Warriors kept disappearing inside. Could the trumpet be hidden inside? The churning in my stomach rose, creating a burning sensation. Stealing was the least of my worries.
I fisted my hand around the knob and opened the study door.
My shoulders sagged when I saw the normal-looking room. I’d expected something fancy or futuristic. Something proving this was the home of the Soul Warriors.
Instead, an old-fashioned, wooden desk sat in the center. Bookshelves lined the walls and were filled with books and musical memorabilia. The trumpet was not lying on the shelves or on the top of the desk.
I moved behind the desk and ran my fingers around the groove at the edge. The drawers weren’t big enough to hold the trumpet. Lifting my hand, I noticed sawdust sticking to my fingers. The professor must’ve recently done some remodeling.
Following the slight trail, I noticed footprints impressed in the carpet. Footprints that disappeared into a bookshelf. Footprints that disappeared.
My pulse points pounded, pacing toward the bookshelf. I ran my fingers over the shelves and edges. The color of the wood was stained darker. This part of the bookcase was newer. I examined the footprint in the carpet again. A curved line impressed into the carpet, too. Something had swung open.
My heart swung, too. This part of the bookshelf must open. This was where the Soul Warriors had gone. And this was most likely where the trumpet was hidden. My muscles tensed. Success was within reach, but not in hand. Nerves jittered in my belly.
Using my palm, I pressed against the edges of the section, slapping in a haphazard beat. I picked up a few knick-knacks hoping to find a hidden button and placed them back down.
Desperate, I touched every spot around the area. Nothing. What had I done to open the statue in the Society’s mansion? If I did have powers, I needed to use them now. I took a huge, calming breath and closed my eyes. Then, I reached out again and touched the panel.
The section of the bookshelf shifted. Moved. Began to swing open.
My affinity for mechanical things must’ve opened the door similar to the stoplights switching to green. Excitement cruised along my spine, but I didn’t have time to celebrate or examine at the moment.
I tensed, waiting for the big reveal. Hoping the Soul Warriors weren’t standing behind the door waiting to attack an intruder. Praying the trumpet was inside.
Inside were more cluttered shelves, a couple of musical instruments, and rods to hang clothes. No trumpet.
My muscles sagged and I collapsed against the edge of the door. It was a closet. A normal closet with office supplies and instruments and more junk.
Why would there be this much security for a stupid closet?
Huffing, I closed my eyes to think. I needed to focus and feel for the trumpet. Shaking out my body, I relaxed and tried to sense the familiar humming.
My body warmed and my veins flowed with sensations. The humming filled my soul in song. The trumpet might not be in the closet, yet it was close. Tingles spiked in my bloodstream. Keeping my eyes closed, I lifted my hand and stepped forward. The humming sensation grew louder inside of me. I kept walking. My hand hit a wall.
Dead end.
I pi
voted and put my hand in the other direction. The humming lessened. I veered in the opposite direction. Nothing.
I put my hand on the one spot of the wall where the humming was loudest and opened my eyes. The trumpet was behind this wall. If the study had a hidden closet, why couldn’t the closet have a false wall? The questions whirred in my brain. I wanted to bang on the wall to check for its hollowness. But I didn’t want to alert anyone to what I was doing.
Think. Think. Think.
I started touching everything, hoping my mechanical power would release a mechanism again. The box of paperclips, the drum on the ground, the violin on a shelf. I held my palm to the light and even wrapped my hand around one of the metal hanging rods.
Click.
Crank, crank, crank.
Mechanical noises came from behind the wall and echoed in my chest. The wall slid open similar to the bookshelf. Another secret hiding place. Another secret.
Breaths spasmed, causing lightheadedness. Placing my hand on my chest, I tried to breathe normally. I found all of this hard to believe, found believing in my own powers hard to believe. Except I was seeing it with my own eyes.
Wooden stairs led down. Emergency lights lit the path. Blowing out a deep breath, I followed.
The stairs didn’t make noise and they appeared to have been swept clean. People used these stairs—Soul Warriors.
The humming buzzed in my brain. The trumpet was down here.
I paused on the bottom step. A concrete floor covered in rugs with Egyptian designs. Brick walls hanging with local and world maps. Computers cluttered the surfaces and part of the floor. Partially-built walls divided the area.
It appeared to be a work in progress.
I stepped onto the concrete floor and peeked into the first room. The large, narrow room was lined with sleeping cots. And the cots were filled with sleeping warriors.
Warriors who wouldn’t appreciate my midnight intrusion.
Math slept on his side in the closest bed. Because of his short hair, not a strand was out of place. With his eyes closed, he appeared younger, more innocent. My heart softened at his sweetness.
He rolled onto his back. His sharp green gaze flew open. He stared at me for a second as if I were an apparition.
Sucking in a sharp breath, I took a step back, hoping he’d believe he was dreaming.
Did he dream about me? I went giddy at the thought. Then, the giddiness halted. I was on a mission to steal the trumpet and I’d been foiled. Caught red-handed.
“Are you okay?” His sleepy-tone sounded concerned, not accusatory. He didn’t immediately jump to a negative conclusion about me.
He should have.
Nerves jumped and stuttered, resembling disconnected wires. I gave a limp wave, hoping to get out of this predicament.
“I was looking for you.” The words rushed and I realized I sounded alarmed, not sexy. I slowed my speech and made it husky, trying to be flirtatious. “I was lonely and…”
“How did you find the door?” Math threw the covers back, exposing his bare torso with his well-defined abs. Abs I’d touched and a body I’d leaned into.
I licked my lips, wanting to touch him again, to be close to him. I had no right. I was going to steal from him. He’d hate me soon.
“I noticed the Warriors disappeared into the professor’s office and I—” I puffed my cheeks hoping to look embarrassed, not for spying and getting caught, but for wanting to be with Math. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come down.”
He climbed out of the cot and lumbered toward me. Taking my hand, he led me out of the sleeping quarters and closed the unpainted door. “No. No, it’s okay. Your power over mechanical things must’ve opened the door.”
Correct answer. Now if I could only find the trumpet.
“Nice pajamas.” He kissed me on the cheek, distracting me from my purpose. “I wanted to say goodnight to you when I got back. You and Aria were already in her room.”
He’d wanted to say goodnight. Maybe kiss me goodnight. And I planned to steal from him. Guilt was a dagger in my midsection, sharp and painful.
It was too late to confide in him. Aaron was a sure thing. He would cure Mom. While if I told Math, he might have to do research or consult his brothers or who knew what else. I didn’t have that kind of time.
To disguise the pain, I glanced around the main room again, trying to see more than I should. “What is this place?”
He scanned the closed door with the other sleeping warriors. “I’d planned on giving you a tour soon. This will be the new Soul Warrior headquarters.” His bare chest thrust out and the urge to touch him grew stronger. “It’s not done yet.”
“You live here?” I noted the irony. He lived in a basement like me.
“Yes.” He pointed down a dark hallway. “There will be bedrooms down the hallway, and a kitchen over there. And over there, a classroom.”
“Classroom?” Fresh paint assaulted my nose.
“Remember, besides Olivia, Xander, and Aria, the rest of us were born in a different time period. We have a lot of catching up to do on history and inventions and language.”
A grin snuck on my face remembering some of the out-of-date sayings Math had used, like groovy. I’d miss that. Miss him once I’d taken the trumpet to Aaron.
Why did Math have to be down here? Why couldn’t I have snuck in, grabbed the trumpet, and run? Nothing went as planned for me. I might get green lights on the road, but my life was a yellow caution sign.
For Mom, I needed to finish what I started. I knew the trumpet was in the basement even though I wouldn’t get the trumpet tonight. I had to find a way to get the warriors and the professor out of the house tomorrow morning. Once Mom was well, I’d convince her to leave the Order and start a new life somewhere far from here. Far from the Order and the Warriors.
I held out my hand and wandered farther into the main room, trying to focus on the trumpet without being obvious. “This is incredible.”
“We’re working on upgrades and expansion.”
Closing my eyes, I swung around trying to find the right direction. The humming grew stronger and my body vibrated. The trumpet was located toward the future classroom.
“You okay?” The edge in Math’s voice sent a warning.
I opened my eyes, placed a smile on my face, and advanced close enough to get in his personal space. Freshness and eucalyptus, and a smell uniquely him enveloped me. “You’re wonderful.” Not a lie, so it wouldn’t show on my face.
Leaning into him, I touched my mouth to his. Guilt warred with passion. Need battled desire. Duty fought with want. I swooned and I stiffened. I kissed and I coddled. I touched and I tormented. Tormented myself. I wanted his kiss and I needed to distract.
His mouth moved, pressing deeper into me. His tongue pried open my lips and danced inside.
Thrills flashed down my body and shivered across my skin. Math’s touch ignited something deep inside me. Deeper than the humming of the trumpet. Deeper than my problems. I could forget everything while he touched me because of my love.
L. O. V. E.
Each letter punched me in the chest and bruised my heart. Pain radiated outward, causing jolts of shock like newly-connected jumper cables. I loved Math. The forever kind of love. Except we wouldn’t last forever.
We’d only last as long as the night.
My bruised heart colored purple similar to a permanent tattoo. I’d never forget my love for Math, but Mom needed me. Anguish squeezed inside, screeching through my bloodstream. I kissed harder, tilted closer, tried to get as much love from Math as possible. I wrapped my arms around his back, dug my fingers into his short hair, listened for his beating heart.
A heart connecting with my own.
He gave my lips a final nip and leaned away from me. “I hate to stop, but you shouldn’t be down here.”
I swayed backwards. “Oh?”
“I promised I wouldn’t show you this place until after Tut’s two trumpets were neutralized. Y
ou need to get upstairs.” He put his arm around my shoulders and pointed me toward the stairs. “I mean, I’d love to have you stay but…”
How I’d love to stay. Stay for the moment. Stay for the night. Stay forever.
His words cushioned my hurt. He wanted me, too. Yet Mom needed me, needed the trumpet. And I needed Mom. I couldn’t let her die. Not on my watch. I might love Math, but I’d loved Mom my entire life. She needed me. Math didn’t. “No problem.”
I’d located the approximate location of the trumpet. I’d have to watch the study over the next few hours, make a plan, create a distraction.
Math studied me with an intensity that showed his intelligence and made me squirm as if he read my mind. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
“Yes.” No.
He escorted me out of the closet and study with a firm grip. “I’ve got something I have to do in the morning. I’ll see you later tomorrow.”
No, he wouldn’t. I had something to do, too. Something that would separate us forever. Knowing this, I kissed him one last time on the lips, savoring his taste and his closeness.
Melancholy streamed through my veins. My body felt heavy and sluggish. I held back my tears. “Night.”
Mom’s life would be decided tomorrow and it was up to me to give her the best possible chance to live. Even if that meant saying goodbye to the guy I loved.
Chapter Seventeen
Piper
The next morning, I paced back and forth in the living room, waiting and watching for the Soul Warriors to leave the house. Fiddling with the hem of my shirt, I folded the fabric over and under, similar to how my stomach flipped. Falcon and Xander had left, talking about buying computer equipment. Three other guys had headed out to who knows where. They seemed to have quests or errands, or other urgent demands.
Just like I did. Except I had no one with whom to discuss the demands placed on me. No one to talk about options. No one to share my doubts. I was alone.
Math had been gone before I’d woken up. My heart ached, falling into pieces as if it had been crushed. Crushed by myself. Internally. Not seeing Math before I stole from him was probably for the best.
