Page 61 of Wicked Warlock
Ophelia pulled a knife from her back pocket and handed it to Beckett. “Go on, do it.”
A round of protest filled the air.
“O!”
“Ophelia!”
“Seriously?”
“Come on.”
She shrugged. “Well, he didn’t take it, and now we know the ceremony worked to make him not evil weird Beckett. Now we can all move on to something more interesting. Let’s talk about vamp Astrid. Will she have super speed?”
Serrina slashed her hand through the air. “Astrid doesn’t want to be a vampire.”
She was right. I didn’t. I wanted to be me. Astrid Lockwood, queen of the occult warlocks. It was where I belonged.
Professor Charles held up her hand as if she were in a classroom and she silenced us all. “That’s not the only answer, nor is it the ideal one.”
“Well, I can’t turn Penny…” Grayson turned deadly serious. “No offense, but the turning process is grueling. When a prospective vampire is turned, there is an age limit. The older mind can’t handle the transition, if their bodies even survive it. The catalyst is still death but there are other things. Things that can’t be helped. It’s against the law for us to turn anyone over a certain age.”
Penny chuckled. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just call me old.”
“Or Penny becomes a goddess. Or as we like to call them, a Greek.” Professor Charles pulled a book from thin air and held it out toward us. “It’s possible.”
Adrienne shook her head, sending those long braids swishing around her face. “As the daughter of one of the Greeks, I can assure you that’s not how that works. You can’t just turn into one. You have to be born as one and figure out some way to do it. It’s nearly impossible.”
Professor Charles smiled at Penny. “It is possible if you’re the daughter of Zeus.”
Did she just say Zeus? Silence, dead silence hung around us. How was that even possible? At first it seemed so farfetched, but the more I thought about it the more sense it made. She was powerful, beautiful, and smart. There were so many signs of a deep power than any of us realized, and this was it.
Ophelia whooped and jumped in the air. “Are you telling me we’ve got Greek blood in our family?”
“Well, not you… but Penny does. And because Beckett is a distant descendant of hers he might too.” Professor Charles nodded in Penny’s direction. “At least in theory.
“But you don’t know that for sure.” Adrienne crossed her arms over her chest. “And if it’s not true, you’ll die for sure.”
Penny shrugged. “I was planning on that anyway.”
“What? No.” I didn’t want anyone dying for me to survive. There had to be another way. “Is there a way to find out for sure? We really don’t know? No one does.”
The wind kicked up, blowing my hair back from my face. Matteaus landed in the middle of us all, and for a moment I’d forgotten he’d been watching like a gargoyle this whole time. “Yeah, we do. It’s all true.”
Penny walked to his side and placed her hand on his arm. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I didn’t do it for you. I respected your decision.” He opened his wings, about to take off.
Penny stepped back, giving him space. “Then why?”
“I did it for him.” Like a shot, he took off straight up into the air and disappeared.
Professor Charles cleared her throat. “There is only one thing we can do. We have to go see Zeus.”
Penny arched an eyebrow. “What? Now?”
“He will know how to turn you immortal, and even I couldn’t find that out with all my books. There’s only legends and folklore. We need something concrete that will work for sure. Otherwise, Miss Lockwood will lose her life.” She blinked at me, giving me an odd look and then quickly turning away.
“Then we go now.” Beckett brushed against me, and it sent little goosebumps up and down my arms.
