Wicked Omen (The Royals: Warlock Court Book 1), page 11
Beckett let out a little breath when Maze put it in his hand. “You’re giving me a card?”
“Brother, if her powers unlock during the ceremony, no one will survive that combo of magic, not even her.” He took a step back and his eyes went milky white for a moment. Once they cleared, he smiled and sighed.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Beckett shoved everything into the pockets of his leather jacket. “Um, thanks, man.” He patted Maze on the shoulder.
Logan shook his head and chuckled. “You all are terrifying the poor girl. Astrid, don’t listen to them. It’s going to be fine.”
My nervousness eased and I felt more confident walking into this. I think he just charmed me. I glanced at Beckett. “Is it going to be fine?”
“I hope so. Come on, it’s nearly midnight.” He grabbed the doorknob and twisted it open to hold the door wide-open for me.
We stepped out into the night air, and I sucked in a deep breath. The farther I got from the house, the more my nerves came back into play. Beckett led us across the path and right into the haunted woods. Shadows moved all around me and the sound of scurrying creatures filled the silence between Beckett and me. The hammering of my heart filled my ears and my breaths started to come in quick pants. Beckett held a branch out of my way so I could pass, yet I hesitated.
“Beck?”
“Yeah?” He was looking toward a small glowing in the distance.
“Nothing.” I wanted to tell him I was terrified, that I didn’t know if I could or should be doing this. I thought this might be something to celebrate, but my instincts were telling me to run. Rituals that took place in the woods under the moon at midnight seemed like a bad idea. Or at least that’s what every horror movie I’d ever seen told me. In that moment, I felt so alone, like the only person I had to turn to in the world was Tilly and I needed her here. Instead, I stood with a boy I both wanted and hated at the same time. And he looked at me like I was a nuisance, like I was a job to do and nothing more.
“Okay. Let’s keep moving. I don’t want to stand in one place in here for too long.” Fog crept across the ground toward the flickering light in the distance.
“Beckett?” I reached out and grabbed his forearm.
He stopped and craned his neck in all different directions. “Did you see something? Are you okay?”
“I’m not okay.” My heart rate skyrocketed and my hands shook. I shifted from one foot to the other. “I know I’ve been trying really hard lately and I know you need me to do this and I want to do this. What if it doesn’t work? What if I get hurt? What if I die? What if you have to shoot that thing into my heart?”
My rambling continued and I couldn’t stop it. It was projectile word vomiting that just kept coming.
Beckett placed both his hands on my cheeks. “Astrid.”
I paused. “Yes?”
His eyes locked on mine and I was sucked into the depth of his stormy ocean. We were so close his nose nearly touched mine. Electricity sizzled between us and I had the urge to close the distance between us and meld my lips to his in a kiss that would make me forget how scared I really was. I held still. His warm, clean scent flowed around me. His touch was gentle yet firm. “You can do this.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’ve been around you for only a few days and in that time I’ve seen you handle everything thrown at you. This is just another thing and I swear I will not leave your side.”
I sucked in a deep breath. “No matter what happens?”
“I swear it.” I don’t know why but, in that moment, I started to trust Beckett Dustwick.
“If anything happens to me, will you make sure Tilly and my dad know?”
“Nothing is going to happen to you, Astrid. I won’t let it.” He dropped his hands from my face and then laced his fingers with mine. “Just hold on to me until it’s your turn.”
I squeezed his hand and felt an instant connection. A comfort I needed in that moment. Without another word, he led me through the rest of the forest into an opening. I sucked in a breath and pulled back on his grip. At the center of the clearing was an altar with two stone pillars for legs and a slab of slate for the tabletop. The ground under the altar was littered with all kinds of bones. Please be animal bones. Please be animal bones. Just in front of the altar laid into the ground was a pentagram made of separate pieces of slate.
Headmaster Ridge stood behind the altar, preparing for the ritual. He looked up at us then down at our joined hands then back up again. Beckett raised his chin at him but didn’t let go on my hand. Instead, he gave it a reassuring squeeze. I’d never felt so connected to someone the way I felt connected to him at that moment. Yes, he was bossy and domineering, but he was also here with me, being my anchor.
Kitty and Kyle Kalarook stood on either side of Headmaster Ridge, both dressed in those black ceremonial robes with the hoods pulled up over the back of their heads. Each of them smirked at me, but Kitty looked at me like she had murder planned. Her eyes lingered on my hand in Beckett’s. She held a golden chalice where the stem looked like it was made from bones that wove around each other and held the gold cup part. Across from her, Kyle stood holding a book that looked like it was hundreds of years old. The binding was thick and worn in some places. It was a blood red with gold inlaid into it.
On the other side of the pentacle in the ground stood two students I’d never seen before. Behind them were people who looked like their parents. I leaned in and whispered to Beckett, “I didn’t realize this was a family thing.”
“Families can choose whether or not to be here. It’s not a big deal.”
In that moment I realized I was just like the other heirs, parentless. Headmaster Ridge cleared his throat as he adjusted his thick velvet robe. It reminded me of the hooded figures who’d attacked us at my birthday party and the night before. He motioned for the first student, a girl who looked like she was about twelve, to step into the center of the pentacle. Her parents nervously clung to each other as they looked on. But the girl seemed so confident in herself, she gave Ridge a broad smile that lit up her whole face. Tiny black braids stuck out form her head in all different directions, giving her a dark halo effect. Though everyone else was in those black robes, she wore a school bomber jacket with no emblem on it. She moved into the center of the star and waited.
Ridge snapped his fingers at Kitty. She turned and took a vial of thick dark liquid from the altar and dumped it into the cup. A devious smile spread over her face as she handed it to the small girl. The girl held the chalice in one hand and offered her other hand to Ridge. A wicked smile spread across his face as he took her hand and produced a dagger from within his robes. In one quick movement, he sliced her palm wide-open. Her lips pulled back from her teeth and she hissed in a sharp breath.
I turned to Beckett and hissed, “Seriously they’re going to cut me?”
He gave me a tight-lipped nod. My hand stared shaking and he ran his thumb over my skin in a slow, calm rhythm. Again, that sizzle passed between us and I didn’t know what to make of it.
I sighed. “Where’s the talking hat when you need one?”
His lip twitched, but he didn’t smile. Instead, he remained focused on the ritual. I turned my attention back toward it even though I didn’t want to look. The girl held her hand over the chalice and let her blood flow into the cup. Smoke poured from the cup like she held liquid ice instead of holding her own blood mixed with a potion.
I swallowed down my gag reflex. Please don’t drink it. Please don’t drink it. Annnnddddd she drank it. I pressed the back of my hand to my lips.
Ridge snapped his fingers at Kyle. Kyle jumped into action, handing him the ancient book. Ridge opened it up to a marked page. “Now, child, repeat after me.” At her nod he continued. “Blood of my blood, bone of my bone, I seek the house to call my own. By touch and sound right and deed, let my magic choose for me.”
She repeated every word perfectly. Pink smoke fell from her hands into the ground. The pentacle lit up a brilliant rose color first then each of the five points changed to a different color. The colors of the respective houses on campus. At the very tip of the star, the point lit to a fiery red representing the creators House Lockwood, supposedly like me. The one next changed to blue for the movers like Beckett’s House Dustwick. Then one lit up orange for the charmers of House Whitmore like Logan. Bright green from the psychics like Maze’s House Castalia lit up and finally the last point glowed a blackish purple color representing Cross’ House Malback, the warriors.
The girl stood with a huge smile on her face, waiting as all the points flickered on and off like Christmas lights, when finally a single point of orange glowed and stayed lit longer than all the rest. Her pink smoke rose up out of the pentacle and swirled around her upper body then centered on her back. Where a siren appeared at the center of her jacket. Her parents hugged each other, then clapped for her as she stepped out of the circle. They excitedly embraced each other as she bounced up and down.
“That didn’t seem so bad,” I whispered to Beckett. Aside from the blood drinking.
“Best one I’ve ever seen.” The flames from the torches around the area flickered and caught the hard planes of this face, casting him in serious shadows. Was he still that concerned?
Ridge clapped his hands together. “Brilliant, House Whitmore is very lucky to gain you.”
He stepped in front of the pentacle and waved for the other student to walk into the center of the star. This boy was only slightly older than the girl, maybe fourteen. His face was covered in dark freckles and unlike the little girl, he was not smiling. His dark brown hair jutted out from his head in all different directions. Both of his parents stood like stoic statues behind him. The boy looked exactly like his father, except his father was taller, and his hair was freshly combed.
His mother was very much not concerned. She pressed her hand to his back. “Let’s go, Adam, we haven’t got all night.”
Kitty walked over to him and held out a blank bomber jacket. His eyes widened as he slid his arms into it. His father gritted his teeth. “Come on, son.”
The boy glanced over his shoulder one last time before he stepped into the center of the circle. He offered his hand to Ridge and once again I was stuck by how violent he chopped at the palms of these kids. Almost like he enjoyed it. Two tears fell from the corners of Adam’s eyes.
His father grunted in the back of his throat. “For the love Adam, you’re fine.”
The boy bit his bottom lip and held his hand over the cup the same way the girl before him had. He repeated the words that Ridge said and took a deep drink of the potion. I expected the same thing to happen, for smoke to seep from his hands into the ground. Instead, he hunched over and started coughing. I took a step toward him, but Beckett pulled me back.
“Give it a second. He might be okay.”
The boy dropped to his hands and knees and began to retch. The blood drink sprayed from his mouth all over the ground. He dropped to the floor and his body went into violent convulsions. His parents finally started to show some concern.
His mother reached out toward him. “Adam!”
“Stay back, woman!” Ridge snapped. “You don’t know what the magic will do to any of you.”
White foam leaked from the corner of his mouth as he flopped around to his back. An agonizing scream ripped from his lips then his body fell limp and lifeless on the ground. A single slow long breath eased from his mouth then his chest went still and his lifeless eyes stared blankly toward the sky.
His father dropped to his knees. “No!”
Beckett and I took one look at each other before we ran into the circle. I pressed one of my hands over the other and started pumping on his chest. Ridge waved his arm for me to stop. “You must leave this circle. The magic has claimed him.”
“Shut up!” Beckett snapped at him as he pulled the needle Maze gave him from his pocket. “Astrid, hands away on the count of three.”
I nodded and kept pumping up and down, doing compressions the way they’d taught me in my CPR class back home.
He held the needle over the boy’s chest. “One . . . two . . . three.”
I pulled my hands away as Beckett shoved the needle in and pushed the plunger down. The boy shot straight up in the middle of the circle with a startled gasp. I placed my hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Sweat soaked his body and he nodded up at me. “Thank you.”
Then purple smoke seeped from his hands into the ground. My eyes widened as the point of the star representing Malback House glowed that blackish purple. It grew brighter and brighter.
“Astrid, get out!” Beckett screamed at me.
I jumped to my feet, but it was too late. The light was blinding then suddenly I was thrown ten feet across the ground as the pentacle exploded with power. I twisted through the air and my back smacked into the nearest tree. The air whooshed from my lungs as I rolled to the ground. “Ouch.”
Beckett skidded to a halt at my side. He looked down at me. “Are you all right?”
I pressed my hand to my head. I was bruised and battered but as far as I could tell no real injuries, no shooting pain, and no dizziness. “I think so.”
He reached down and pulled me to my feet in time to see Adam covered from head to toe in glowing light. The light burst from his body and he stood completely transformed. He was four inches taller, his pants were too short, and his shirt was ripped in places that didn’t fit him anymore. The freckles that’d covered his nose were gone and his hair was slicked back against his head. Somehow the jacket magically adjusted to his size and on the back of it was that three-headed hydra. His parents looked at him with wide eyes as he straightened his shoulders and faced them.
He clenched his fists at his sides. “I’m outta here.”
“Malback House?” His father looked at him with awe. “My son . . . a warrior.”
Adam just shook his head. He glanced at me and Beckett. “Thanks.” Without a word to his parents or anyone else, he took off into the woods.
“Seriously, and you all want me to go through that?” I dusted my hands off.
Ridge brushed his hand over his chest, smoothing out a wrinkle I couldn’t see. “If you want to stay in this school, then you will have to do it.”
“Astrid, I’m not sure. This could be really dangerous. We can figure out another way,” Beckett pleaded.
Was I terrified? Yes, yes, I was. But I knew this was where I belonged. That endless void I’d felt back home in New York grew smaller with each passing day. I belonged here. This ritual was unpredictable and dangerous. I’d seen one go as smooth as silk and one nearly kill a boy.
Kitty huffed. “She interfered with the last one. I don’t think she should be able to go through with hers.”
“Stuff it, Kitty.” I walked over to her, yanked the bomber jacket from her hands, and shoved my arms into it. “I am staying.”
“Astrid?” Beckett whispered as he came closer to me.
“Don’t come any closer. I don’t want you to get hurt.” I marched over to Ridge and held my palm up to him. My heart hammered in my chest. Would by body transform into something else? Would I die? Would everything go smoothly? There were so many unknowns about this ritual and I was shaken down to my bones. “Let’s do this.”
“Gladly.” He gave me a shark-like grin and struck.
The blade sank into my hand, slicing the skin. The cut burned and stung from my palm all the way down my arm. I wanted to yank my hand back, but I didn’t. I held it there. Blood dripped from my hand down my arm.
Kitty clutched the cup close to her chest instead of handing it to me. She pursed her lips. “Really, Headmaster Ridge, do you think this should be allowed?”
“Scared I’ll replace you as the strongest creator or do you think I’m standing in your way when it comes to other things?” I glanced from her to Beckett and back. Yeah, I know you want him. I yanked it from her grasp. It was empty. “Kitty, put the potion in it.”
She shrugged. “What? I was just making sure it was clean.”
Beckett marched to the altar and plucked up the last of the vials sitting there. He dumped it into the cup for me. “We all know the chalice returns to its clean neutral state as soon as someone drinks from it.”
I didn’t know that. “Yeah, Kitty.”
I held my gushing hand over the cup and let my blood mix with the potion. It swirled together by itself, a dark brown and my crimson red. I stood at the center of the pentacle in the ground.
Ridge held the book up once more. “Repeat after me.”
I uttered every syllable. “Blood of my blood, bone of my bone, I seek the house to call my own. By touch and sound, right and deed, let my magic choose for me.”
Bottoms up. I held the chalice to my lips and took a deep drink. The potion was thick and goopy and had the coppery taste of my own blood. I dropped the cup on the ground and fought to not gag. I shook my head, trying to get the horrid taste out of my mouth. Warmth spread from my stomach out toward my limbs and down my fingertips. Golden smoke poured from my hands, filling the clearing more than any of the other students’. The heat turned to pins and needles all over my body. My muscles tensed to the point where I couldn’t stop shaking.
“Astrid!” Beckett took a step toward me.
I held my hand out, stopping him. “Don’t move.” I didn’t want to hurt him.
His legs molded to the ground. He tried to step forward but couldn’t. I fell to my knees as both of my calves seized up into tight cramps. The kind I got in the middle of the night when I was sleeping. I curled in on my legs as the cramps traveled up to my thighs. I sucked deep, hard breaths, trying to breathe through it.
