Page 41 of Wicked Thirst
Astrid sighed. “Ignore their creep asses. They speak in riddles a lot.”
Zinnia motioned for me to sit at one of the chairs at the table with the big map on it. “I know it took you a lot to come here, and we all love Grayson and want to help. So just let us know everything you can, and we will figure out what to do next.”
She was so calm on the outside, and I did not feel that way on the inside at all. Coming here was a last resort, and now that I was here, my nerves were starting to settle in and it was overwhelming to even be here in this room with all of them. There was so much power, so much magic. I could see why Grayson would hang around to ally with these people, but also for the sake of pure curiosity. Sure, vampires had blood magic but it was nothing like this. Nothing like the power all these people wheeled. It only made me realize just how brilliant he was to try and bring our worlds together.
The woman who tried to trap me with her yellow streaming power strolled into the room. She narrowed her eyes as she took a seat across from me. I wanted to say something like hey nice power or thanks for not killing me, but it didn’t seem like the right time.
Zinnia motioned to her. “This is Tabi, our Queen of Elements.”
“Nice to meet you.” I gave her a wave. “I mean, nice to meet you again.”
“Nice to meet you too.” But the words almost seemed pulled from her.
Then another woman with model looks and long, streaked blond hair came in behind her. Zinnia nodded to her. “And Serrina, our Queen of Desires.”
“Desires? Wow. I bet you know some shit.” I slapped my hand over my mouth. I couldn’t imagine knowing people’s desires or making them feel desire for things. It was almost too hypnotic of a power to think about. “I’m sorry. Sometimes the words get from my brain to my mouth before my filter can stop them, and they’ve gotten a lot faster now that I’m a vampire.”
“No worries.” She gave me a secret smile. She was so beautiful it was difficult to look away. I’d never seen a person who actually looked like their power. “And yes, yes I do know a lot of shit. And right now, you’re a bundle of nerves who just wants us to help you. It’s almost desperate.”
“Not to sound cliché, but I am desperate.” The others all fell silent as I spoke. “Grayson fell to a curse that, from my understanding, was placed on his family ages ago. And no one in the vampire world knows how to break it.”
They sucked in a collective breath and silence fell heavily. The blond guy, Beckett, was the first to speak. “Are you sure? It’s not bloodlust or something else?”
“I’m sure.” When they all just looked around at each other with sad faces, I got the feeling there was an unspoken conversation going on that I didn’t know about. Their sadness was palpable but calm somehow. There was no outrage or shock in the room. It was as though they’d been prepared for this news. Was that why they dropped their guard so quickly in the courtyard? They expected me?
“Why don’t any of you look surprised about this?” Their eyes darted but no one answered. “Are you all psychic or something? You saw this coming?”
Maze tossed a pizza roll into his mouth and spoke as he chewed. “Nah, only I can see what’s coming.”
“And he very annoyingly keeps it to himself,” Beckett snapped in Maze’s direction.
Maze shrugged. “You live with this madness and tell me how that goes for you.”
Beckett opened his mouth to say something, but Tuck cleared his throat, stopping them all from talking. He turned toward me once they all fell silent. “Grayson came to us a few days ago, told us about the curse, and asked for our help.”
My jaw dropped and I shook my head. “He did what?”
“He knew he was falling, Piper.” Zinnia hung her head and her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. When she looked back up at me, I saw the pain she felt at losing a friend to something like this. She hated it almost as much as I did. “He wanted to see what we could do to help.”
“And?” I held my breath. “Did you? I mean, were you able to find anything that could help?”
I held my breath, hoping against all odds that they’d found something that might ease this torture. Something that might bring him back to me.
“We’re working on it.” She nodded toward a stack of books in the corner of the room. “But we’ve found nothing so far.”
I tried not to show my disappointment. They were his friends, and I knew they’d do anything they could to help. I just wished there was a solution at our fingertips rather than buried in an obscure book somewhere.
“What do the symptoms look like?” Tabi sat forward and rested her arms on the table.
Her words drew me from my thoughts. “He’s stronger than ever, crazed, like it could be bloodlust but it’s not. He’s even slightly bigger. He moves so fast it’s hard to keep up with him.”
Tucker’s hand balled into a fist on the table. “Is he lucid at all? Is he talking or is he a mindless animal?”
I thought back to the moments he looked at me with all the anguish in the world. Or when he told me to run from him. “I know it sounds crazy, but he’s in there. I know he is. There are moments where . . . I don’t know. Moments where I swear he knows what’s happening.”
“Then first thing is first: we need to figure out how to break this curse once and for all.” Zinnia was all command and attention. I could see the sadness in her face, but I could also see the determination to fix this shit. “Beckett, can you get Ophelia? I think we’re going to need her for this.”
“NO!” Maze, Tilly, and I said at the same time.
