Page 29 of Wicked Warlock
Penny abruptly rose to her feet and opened a portal right next to her. “I have to go.”
Before I could even ask her when she got that ability, she was gone.
Beckett scowled in her direction. “That was weird.”
Zinnia ran her hands through her hair and groaned. Silvery magic twinkled within the strands. “Okay, first, Astrid go get checked out with Niche. Then we’re going to have to figure out a way to get Nova back.” Zinnia looked to Tuck. “She can’t stay there forever. Plus, I have a feeling we’re going to need her for the walls.”
Alarms went off in the back of my mind. “Wait, you haven’t gotten the walls back up yet?”
“Does that mean we died for nothing in Unseelie? We had more time,” Beckett snapped, a little harsher than I’d heard him before.
“Are you okay?” I whispered low enough for only him to hear.
“Yeah, fine.” His words slipped from his lips like he was on autopilot.
Zinnia hung her head and sighed. “We can’t even find the spell that Alataris used to put them up in the first place.”
“That means that Nylore can get back in anytime he wants. We have to find that spell now.” I could already feel my panic begin to rise. Flashes of that endless army ran through my mind.
Zinnia groaned. “And to top it all off, the council got away.”
“They… what? They’re not dead?” Beckett’s voice was low and cold and sent a chill down my spine.
Zinnia shook her head. “No.”
“Okay. One thing at a time. Triage-style.” I shrugged and exhaustion tugged on me. “What else can we—”
A loud snapping sound filled the air, and one by one, all of the queens and heirs began to disappear. I turned and reached for Beckett, but it was too late. I felt my body being jerked away from everything and everyone… What the hell is happening now?
Chapter 11
Cross
“What in the actual hell?” One second, I was sitting in the middle of the courtyard at the school, and in the next, I was standing in the middle of an opulent foyer that I had no desire to be standing in. Power seeped from this place, and it was the kind of power that was harsh and oppressive. The kind of power that rules us all.
The Fallen compound… shiiiiittttt.
Aidenuli stood behind the fountain at the center of the foyer holding Tilly by the scruff of her neck. Her eyes were wild, glowing a bright green. She hissed and scratched at his arm, baring her little fangs and lashing out with her sharp little claws. Blood coated her fingers and splashed across the oversized trench coat she stole from Maze.
“Tilly.” Astrid took a step toward her. Beckett wrapped his arm round her shoulders and yanked her back in line next to Zinnia and Tuck. Astrid growled at Maze, “You promised to watch her.”
“She escaped,” he growled back.
Grayson stepped in closer to Maze as neon green magic began to seep from his hands. “You want to be rethinking that, mate. You won’t help her if you’re dead.”
Six other of the Fallen stood in the foyer with various indications of raging pissed off on their faces. There was not a smile in sight. Their hulking black wings pulsed and twitched, but they themselves didn’t move a muscle. Their bodies were strapped with weapons from head to toe. Black leather pants and combat boots seemed to be a uniform for each of them. Mika stood just beside the fountain at the center of the foyer. He didn’t smile or show his normal playfulness. He just shook his head as if telling all of us we were screwed. On the other side of the fountain stood Kadeion, the only female Fallen. Her long dark hair fell in a long side braid, and she rested her hand on the hilt of the knife she wore on her hip. The muscle in her jaw ticked, and she looked like she was debating on a murderous war path through us all.
I tried to look away from the others. From Taliam with his silvery hair, and Drew with his eyes that mirrored his stormy tempter.
Ophelia leaned toward Tristan. “He smells like the blade of a knife. Warm metal.”
“Hey.” I grabbed her arm and yanked her back next to me. “Pull it together.”
She shook her head. “I can’t help it. The smell… it’s intoxicating.”
“Woman, do you want me to die?”
“No?” Her brows furrowed in confusion.
