Page 56 of Wicked Warlock
I hesitated, thinking for a moment. Should I feel something more? Is there something wrong with me?
Catherine rose to her feet and stepped out of the coffin. She leaned back and pressed her hands to Zinnia’s and Ophelia’s cheeks. “I’m so proud of you. You did it.”
Zinnia shook her head. “Actually, Mom, Beckett did it. He’s the one that figured out how to wake you up after Alataris died.”
“Beckett.” She smiled at me and opened her arms for me to come to her. I went to her and let her throw her arms around my neck. I automatically put my hand on her back, patting her. Yet I felt nothing more. I remembered feeling more around Catherine. Like every one of us was her kid.
Catherine pulled back and looked me up and down. “What’s going on?”
“Well, I got the crone to remove your soulmate bo—”
“No.” She interrupted my words. “I mean, what the hell is wrong with you?”
Astrid threw her hands up into the air and let them fall, hitting her thighs. “Finally, thank you.”
Chapter 28
Abby Moore
Whitmore House, Warwick Academy
The closet smelled like a boy’s locker room. Unwashed socks, shorts, and shirts littered the floor under my feet, giving me just enough cushioning to keep my steps silent. My hair got caught on the hook of a hanger and yanked my head forward. I tried to untangle myself silently. Strands of my hair ripped from my scalp, but I dared not make a sound or even a move. I dropped down to the floor and scooted back from the slatted closet door. I pulled some of the hanging clothes in front of me, hoping they would hide me.
The rapid racing of my heart made it hard for me to slow my own breathing. What if they find me? What if it happens to me too? I needed to get out of here but there was no escape. Only moments ago, screams burst from the first floor but now… now there was only silence.
The stairs creaked and I held my breath. Please don’t come in. Please don’t come in. Footsteps sounded outside the door. The wooden planks groaned with every step. The doorknob to the bedroom jiggled and I curled in tighter, pulling my knees to my chest. Oh, God, he’s coming closer. Please go away, please.
“In here.” Leo’s voice came from just on the other side of the door.
No, no, no.
The knob twisted and the door flew open. Leo marched in with one of the girls who lived on the second floor, Jill. She was nearly the same height as Leo, and used to be a quiet, shy girl before the change. Now her face curled in a sneer as she shoved a boy into the room. He was smaller than the two of them with short dark hair and eyes to match. It was his first year in the Whitmore House and he kept to himself mostly. They threw him into one of the rolling chairs that sat at the small desk against the wall. He nearly tipped out of it, but Leo caught his arms and held them pinned to the arm rests.
“Hold still.” His powers surged and the boy locked into place. Leo turned toward Jill and chuckled. “Do it.”
The girl chuckled and her eyes turned completely black. I wanted to scoot back from the door, but the closet wasn’t big enough. I was trapped, watching whatever it was that Leo had started and was doing to all of us. Jill grabbed the boy’s face and jerked back his head, then forced his mouth wide open. She too opened her mouth and black smoke shot from her mouth into his. His body convulsed and shook violently in the chair. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and turned flat black. When his body stopped convulsing, he came to a stand like nothing had happened to him.
Tears streamed down my face, and I pressed my hand over my mouth, trying to muffle the breaths. The boy stood straight up and looked to the closet. He marched over to where I was hiding and yanked open the door.
“One more for his army.”
“No!” I tried to move back but there was nowhere to go. I held up my hand, hoping that my powers would come to the forefront. “Leave me alone.”
Jill and the boy grabbed my arms, yanking me from the closet. I stumbled forward and collided with Leo’s chest. His fingers pinched my shoulders as he held me there.
“This will only hurt for a second.”
Chapter 29
Astrid
We all stood there staring at Beckett. Deep down, I knew something was wrong with him. That world, Unseelie, affected him in ways we still didn’t understand. In truth, it affected us all but Beckett more than anyone else. It messed with our powers, making them darker and stronger, but for him it was more severe. And now this, this cold, calculating version of my soulmate.
“There is something wrong with you.” I held his hand tighter. “You’re not you.”
“I feel fine.” He answered like he was on autopilot.
The others started to gather around us, and I dropped his hand and stepped back among them. “Fine is nothing. Fine is middle of the road. It’s not good and it’s not bad.”
