Serpent Cursed (Lost Souls Series Book 2)

by Bree Moore

  As quickly as it had come, the joyful energy in the hut faded. The impact of his words sat heavily in Harper’s gut, like she’d swallowed a stone. She licked her lips. “But surely—”

  “The law may be bent, but never broken. They made their choice, as you must make yours.” Sternness faded to compassion on Chief Aguta’s face. “I have no blessing to offer you, except that of a safe return to us.”

  Harper fingered the amulet cord and tugged it over her head. It dangled from her hand between her and the chief.

  Chief Aguta waved his hand, refusing the offering. “It is yours, by birthright, and I will not keep it from you.”

  Harper’s throat closed up, and she couldn’t manage more than a nod. She put the amulet back over her head, the bone beads clicking softly.

  Quinn reached out a hand, and Chief Aguta took it. “Thank you for what you’ve given us already. I’m glad to have come.”There was nothing more to say. Harper and Quinn stood together and said goodbye to the man they were meant to call Grandfather, chief of the Tulukaruq tribe. They walked in silence back to the river where a portal spun, waiting for them.

  “We’re all in,” Tyson said as they approached. Becca and the other man, the charmer, stood beside him. Tyson’s eyes scanned Harper’s face.

  “Us too,” Harper said, granting him a fleeting smile.

  “Splendid!” Hal clapped his hands, rubbing them together.

  “Where will this take us?” Harper asked. He’d probably already told everyone else, but she didn’t like being kept in the dark.

  “For security purposes, allow me to show you. We don’t have much time. The event is due to start in a few hours, and we’ll have our work cut out for us getting you from your rugged Alaskan state to formal attire.”

  Harper glanced at Tyson with wide eyes, and he smiled. “It’s amusing to see you so caught off guard for once. You’re always so ready. For anything. Except formal attire, evidently.”

  Harper grimaced. She had never had a need for heels and fancy dresses. Never attended school dances, never dressed up for pictures. Had never gone to a wedding. Hard to fly in a dress.

  “Ladies first,” Hal gestured, and Becca stepped up. The bearded man insisted on going through immediately after, and Harper was next. She put her hand out, fingers touching the surface of the portal. It sucked at her fingers slightly, like a goldfish.

  “Nothing to fear,” Hal assured her.

  “If you like being shredded into little soul bits and flown about the universe before being reassembled at the end, sure,” Tyson joked. Something in his tone told Harper he was covering up his own unease at the prospect of portal travel.

  Harper drew her wings inside her back, returning to human form before she leaned into the portal and let it take her to its destination.

  She landed, head still spinning, on a soft, light-red carpet on the upper floor of some skyscraper. She looked out the window, trying to get her bearings, but nothing looked familiar.

  “I think it’s Salt Lake,” Becca piped up from behind. She sat with her chin in her hand in a stuffed armchair near the window.

  “I don’t see a lake,” Harper said after looking again.

  “It’s to the west. We’re in Utah. I have family further south. I came here once in the summer. Lots of museums. Neat people. For being a conservative state, they’re actually a bit more liberal here when it comes to paranormals. A lot more options.”

  Harper gave the city outside the window one last glance before taking in the room she’d landed in. Chandeliers and perfectly coordinated decor. Everything looked expensive, and most of the chairs seemed uncomfortable.

  The portal made a slight whooshing noise and Tyson came through, followed by Quinn. Hal came in last.

  “Welcome. This is simply the entry hall, you know. We have rooms in the back for dressing and makeup and the like.”

  “But why are we here? Harper blurted. She crossed her arms.

  “Of course. You want answers. We aren’t secretive here, we just believe in utilizing the best timing. The T.R.S. is holding a private recruiting event. We are convincing allies and sponsors to join the cause. Yourselves included.” He looked among them, smiling genuinely.

  “And if we find we don’t want to join?” Quinn asked.

  “You’re not prisoners. You may leave any time.” Hal’s tattoos blinked as he said the words, and his smile looked strained. “I know you must have misgivings. It’s wise to be wary these days. Imagine your efforts and abilities not being wasted and unused! We require all of our members to contribute. I won’t lie and say it’s simple or easy, like the life you might have led in the village, had you stayed. And I’m aware of the sacrifice you made there. If it’s security you’re hoping for, you should return to that wilderness refuge and be none the wiser. Being part of this change will be hard work, but worthwhile work.” His fingers came together, and his brow furrowed, emphasizing the words. “You want to do something worthwhile, don’t you? You want to see society change in your lifetime, change you can enjoy? You will find that here. Each assignment you are given within the organization will be worthy and useful, no matter how small. You’ll be appreciated. Valued. Not hidden from the world.”

  “Truly useful,” Tyson murmured.

  Hal snapped his fingers and pointed at Tyson. “Yes! Yes, that’s it.”

  Harper considered. She already felt she should leave the village and seek her parents here, but she knew that the cause itself drew her, and for some reason it made her think of Ian and what he’d said back in Petrov’s class. “If you decide to start a rebellion, count me in.” If Lilith had kept her promise, perhaps some of the paranormals at Camp Silver Lake would want to join. First she would see firsthand what it was all about.

  “If you’re going to initiate change—real change—then I’m in,” Harper said.

  Hal snapped his fingers again. “Excellent! Now, we won’t delay further. Gentlemen follow me, ladies, you’ll follow Gwenyth.”

  Before Harper could ask who Gwenyth was, a woman with a silver bun appeared out of thin air. Harper blinked. A witch? She’d never heard of one that could transport like that without a portal.

  “Hello, I’m Gwenyth. Pleased to see such lovely women to work with tonight.”

  Avaan slashed a hand through the air. “I’ll not be separated from Rebecca. You don’t know the danger you put yourselves without my influence to tame the serpent inside.”

  Hal raised his eyebrow.

  “Avaan, is there a range of some sort I need to be aware of? Because that would be nice to know,” Becca snapped.

  “We can put you all in adjacent rooms. No harm in that,” Hal assured them. The woman nodded, then joined Hal as he started down the hall. It split at the end, and the two groups went separate ways, but not far.

  Hal’s hand caught the crook of Harper’s arm. He smiled at her, then looked at Gwenyth. “Would you take Miss Becca in? I need a moment alone with Harper.” Hal’s eyes gleamed—all of them. Even the tattoos took on a pearlescent sheen in the chandelier light.

  Gwenyth inclined her head. “Of course.” She ushered Becca into the room and closed the door.

  “Let’s not block the hallway. Here will do.” Hal gestured to a door across the hall. Harper glanced in both directions and spotted Tyson with his hand on the door where the other men had gone, watching them. Someone would know where they had gone.

  “I’ll be fine,” Harper called to him. Tyson nodded and disappeared through the door. She swallowed, letting Hal shut the door. She was alone with Hal. She didn’t know what kind of paranormal he was, only that her instincts were on high alert. An unidentifiable energy swirled in the air, and her skin prickled with sweat.

  “Something follows you, Harper King. A dark influence.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Harper crossed her arms.

  Hal’s eyes flashed an electric blue color, and a pain went through Ha
rper’s hand. She gasped, opening her palm. It glowed purple. She closed it quickly, but the light leaked out between her fingers.

  “What’s that?” Hal pointed.

  “It was a mistake,” Harper admitted. “I thought I could trust a witch once. She said it would fade… It doesn’t matter. She’s forgotten all about me by now.”

  “I know this witch. I can guarantee she hasn’t forgotten you. She is merely biding her time before she uses you.”

  Harper swallowed hard. “She already did. What other purpose could she have for me?”

  “There is a battle being waged that reaches beyond this realm. She is tugging on strings that vibrate through time and space. Another reason we could use a powerful dreamwalker such as Tyson. And why we need to take care of this before it becomes a problem.”

  In a blurred instant, Hal crossed the room and towered over Harper. He seemed seven feet tall. Harper leaned back, holding her glowing hand against her chest. Hal’s hand hovered before her.

  “Your hand, please.” His voice dragged out from the depth of his chest and resonated through Harper’s frame.

  “Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

  Hal sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. “I should have known you would dig your heels in. It’s what has kept you alive this long, after all.” He stood, pacing with his hands behind his back. “There is not a word for us in your tongue. You mortals have mistaken us for cherubim and angels and other such nonsense for centuries. But you’ve missed the mark entirely.” Hal turned and his eyes glowed from within, like fiery embers.

  Harper’s heart pounded and she leaned away from the being as fire trailed down from his head, licking his frame but not burning his clothes.

  “We are the keepers of this world, and we would not see it destroyed, but other beings that feast on chaos are intent on bringing their hunger here. Lilith works for such a being, she will make it incarnate if she succeeds.” The dark, fire-engulfed being towered over Harper. Her brain was frozen between fight or flight. Her existence was meaningless, all existence futile…

  The fire went out. Hal stood before her, white suit crisp and untouched. He straightened his tie and smiled at her, but Harper couldn’t see anything human in it anymore.

  “This mark makes you hers to control whenever she might wish. I cannot rid you of it completely, but if it’s allowed to remain untouched she could use you to subvert the plans of the T.R.S.”

  “And you could stop her?”

  “Not entirely. If I insert my power into the bond and she attempts to use it to control you, I could possibly prevent her from succeeding. I would at least know she had tried, and we could keep you from doing any damage. I won’t use it to control you, I promise that. We may find other uses for it, like an infiltration of enemy lines. The orb’s curse is another issue.”

  Harper licked her lips. “I didn’t tell you about that.”

  “No. I noticed it on my own. That sort of magic isn’t reversible, but you can overcome it. The memories should return over time, and you’ll make new ones.”

  “Then you can’t do anything about it?”

  “No.” He gave her a small smile. “Let’s deal with the issue before us, shall we?”

  Harper put her trembling hand out, her palm facing up to show the pulsing slash Lilith had drawn. The air filled with a thick, crackling energy. Hal’s eyes lit up again, and a rope of twisted blue lightning shot from his eyes to Harper’s palm.

  Harper’s blood froze. A silent scream erupted from her mouth as her veins burned with cold. A dark shadow emerged from her palm and her gut wrenched as if her stomach was trying to evacuate her body. A silver orb consumed her vision. Harper held her abdomen and tried to pull away from Hal, but even her supernatural strength was child-like compared to his strength and power. A sucking sensation traveled up her arm, drawing toward her neck and piercing her skull. It passed through her heart, and the crackling energy seemed to pull her apart at the seams.

  The sensation and pain stopped abruptly. Harper slumped to the ground, panting and groaning. Her wings flared out on either side. She didn’t remember shifting.

  The door burst open. Tyson stood there, panting, dressed in a suit. Harper stared at him just before Hal swung the door shut in Tyson’s face. Tyson yelled and pounded on the door.

  Harper scrambled to her feet. “What the hell was that? Let him in!”

  “Look at your hand,” Hal said, voice steady, as if nothing had happened.

  Harper glanced down. The symbol stood out on her palm as if it had been drawn in fading ink, but the purple glow was gone. She rubbed the palm, but the mark didn’t feel like anything.

  “It worked?”

  “I believe it did.” Hal’s grin was somehow not quite human, stretching too wide without reaching his eyes which were a normal shade of brown. “And now you must get ready. Gwenyth will have my head if I keep you any longer.”

  Harper threw open the door. Tyson stood outside, breathing hard.

  “I heard you yelling,” he said. “I thought, well, I thought he was hurting you.”

  “He was helping me. I’m fine.” She felt shaky, but otherwise fine. And now Lilith couldn’t control her. But then, Tyson still didn’t know about the mark on her hand. She opened her mouth to tell him when a door clicked open across the hall.

  “There you are. There isn’t much time to get you ready, now. Hurry!” Gwenyth looked panicked.

  “You’d better go,” Tyson told her. “Are you sure you’re fine?”

  “Sure.” Harper passed him and entered the other room. The ceiling was so high, it made the room cavernous. White marble pillars lined the walls, rose and gold decor covered everything. Two dressing screens stood on opposite sides of the room. Becca emerged from behind one, adjusting her knee-length, watermelon-pink dress. Harper hoped Gwenyth didn’t expect her to wear anything as fluffy or sequined as that.

  “You should have had time for a proper bath, but you’ll have to shower now. When you’re finished, ring the bell on your dressing screen, and I’ll bring your gown.” Gwenyth didn’t wait for an answer, but pushed her behind one dressing screen and toward the enormous shower. She left, and Harper undressed, keeping her wings out. She washed them first, getting out the dirt and bits of gravel and twigs that had gotten caught in them. With those clean, she rushed over the rest of her washing and stepped out just as two dresses were flung over the dressing screen.

  “Which dress? You can pick either.”

  They were beautiful floor-length gowns, one purple, one a dark blue. Harper wrapped herself in a towel. “Uh, blue.”

  The purple one retracted.

  “You’ll find shoes and underthings on the shelf there.”

  Harper noted the items were there. “Thank you.” She dried her hair, then rushed to put the things on. Her still-damp skin made it difficult, and she fumbled with the fabric of the dress, getting tangled in the straps, but at last she emerged from behind the dressing screen, feeling somehow rumpled despite the elegant gown.

  “Turn around.” Gwenyth swirled her finger in the air. Harper obliged, eliciting gasps from the other women. “This scar… Were you in a fire?”

  “Something like that.” The wounds still ached, but Harper was grateful for what the owl women had done. Burns shouldn’t heal that fast, but hers had.

  Gwenyth’s expression smoothed. “I can get you a different dress. One that covers…that.”

  “No need.” Harper truly didn’t care what others thought when they saw the marks from her ordeal with the inhuman sorceress in the woods.

  Becca cleared her throat. “Wow. Really stunning, Harper.” There wasn’t a trace of irony in her voice. “Tyson will love it. He’s going to pass out.”

  Harper gave her a sharp look. If Tyson passed out, it would be from laughing.

  “It itches,” she said. Her hand touched her hair, the ragged edges more apparent now that it had grown out a bit
. Not much they could do for that.

  “We’ll curl your hair,” Gwenyth offered. “And makeup will take it to the next level.”

  “Harper, you have to help me convince Gwenyth to give me gloves.” Becca stood next to Harper in the mirror, a sunbeam with her contrasting blonde hair and bright pink dress. She practically glowed, while Harper stood like a shadow. “And I think my hair needs to be up.”

  “Definitely,” Gwenyth agreed. “About the hair. But the gloves are a hard no. Here, you don’t want to blend in.”

  Becca pouted and gripped the tiny silver clutch she held in her emerald-scaled hand. The bag looked suspiciously lumpy, but Harper couldn’t guess what was inside. She took in Becca’s arms, one a human flesh colored and the other a full sleeve of scales.

  “You don’t need gloves. I think the scales make you look badass,” Harper blurted.

  “Really?” Becca said. She twisted her arm, examining it.

  “Yeah. Who’s going to mess with that?”

  Becca glanced up. “It’s not frightening?”

  “That’s the point. I mean, we’re not fluffy bunnies. It’s like the warning colors on a venomous spider or poison frog.”

  “Exactly!” Gwenyth exclaimed, picking up a white sponge and dabbing cream on Harper’s face.

  Harper endured the rubbing with as much dignity as she could muster. “Gwenyth, is Hal aware… That is, does he know Tyson and I are fugitives?”

  Gwenyth waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, he’s done his research. You don’t have to worry about the authorities. We’re not exactly kosher with the law ourselves.” She laughed.

  “Yeah, what did happen after Quinn and I were taken?” Becca asked.

  “We, uh, we escaped.” Harper stammered. Her fists clenched over her dress, bunching the fabric.

  “That was enough to get you on the list, huh? I would have expected you, but Tyson? They thought he was human. But I guess if they suspected he had helped you…”

  “Violet and James died during our escape. We were blamed.” The words tumbled out of Harper’s mouth.