Wicked Omen (The Royals: Warlock Court Book 1), page 5
I fell into step beside him as we walked down a long, opulent hallway. The dark hardwood floors matched the woodwork running up the walls. Even in the middle of the day the hallway was dim and lit only by sporadic small chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. “This place is kind of creepy.”
“Your black walls will fit in perfectly.” He turned down another hall and we passed multiple bedrooms. Some of the doors were open and some were not. The only difference was each of these had a distinctive personality to them.
“I thought you only moved in last night.” I peeked into one room with walls as black as mine and a huge bed with a thick purple blanket. The walls were covered in movie and music posters. Vials of all different shapes and sizes littered the furniture. Garbage bags full of clothing of all styles lined one of the walls.
Beckett cleared his throat to get my attention. He waved me toward the stairs. “Much like you, the others have already made themselves at home.”
I didn’t know why, but it sounded like an insult, like I had some kind of control over what I’d done. “I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s fine.” It sounded like anything but fine. When he turned down the stairs, my eyes went wide. They opened up into a grand foyer, complete with twenty-foot-high ceilings. Two oversized dark wooden double doors gave the entryway a gothic feeling. To my left and right were sitting rooms that mirrored each other in size and each had a fireplace at the end of it. I grew up in the high life in New York and this place reeked of old money. Very, very old money. The flames in the fireplace flickered and sparked and the warmth of the room seeped into me.
Classic tuft chesterfield couches lined the room. Their leather had that antique worn in look yet seemed inviting. On either side of the fireplaces stood floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined with enough books to fill a library. Small tables were stationed throughout each room where books or papers could be laid. It reminded me of pictures of old sitting rooms in England. The expensive furniture, the ornate tables, and the fireplaces. At any moment I half expected a butler to bring tea and biscuits.
A boy I’d never seen before sat in one of those chairs with a book in hand. He looked up the moment my feet hit the landing. A wide smile spread across his face and he closed the book then rose to his feet with his hand extended out toward me. “Hi, I’m Logan.”
Logan reminded me of some of the guys I went to school with. He had his blond hair cut short to his head, big brown eyes, and was dressed in khaki pants and a button-down shirt. He was cute in a boy next door kind of way. Not like Beckett, who had an edge to him, a darkness that drew girls in like flies to honey. I took Logan’s offered hand. “I’m Astrid. Pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise.” He took his hand back and shoved it into his pocket. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet you last night, but I was a little tied up here. With, um, council business.”
Beckett arched his eyebrow at him. “Later.”
Logan pressed his lips together. “Of course.” He motioned toward the back of the house. “Breakfast?”
Beckett rolled his eyes. “Come on, I bet the others are in there. Especially Maze.”
We walked past the stairs and headed straight toward the back of the house. Another long hallway and we were standing in a kitchen the size of my penthouse. At the center of it all was an oversized island. It was laid with baskets of muffins, bagels, and pastries. Cross, Maze, and Ophelia all sat there with plates full of food. They were laughing and joking the same way I did with Tilly. When I came into view, they all stopped talking. I gave them an awkward wave.
Beckett walked past me and pulled up a stool next to Cross. He motioned to the other stool at the head of the table. “Well, don’t just stand there, sit.”
Bossy ass. I marched over to the island and took a seat. I folded my arms and rested them on the cool marble counter. Beckett flicked his wrist and blue smoke drifted over the table and under a plate of muffins. The muffins lifted up and floated over to me. It stayed there, hovering just near my face. I wrinkled my nose at them. I didn’t feel like eating or sitting here having breakfast like this was a normal day and they were normal people. The muffins were freaking floating…that wasn’t even close to normal.
“Good to see you’ve finally accepted the magic. Now if only you could bring yourself to choke down some food before you pass out.” Beckett plucked up a bagel from the plate in front of him and spread butter all over it.
“I don’t pass out,” I lied.
“Liar.”
Ugh, insufferable. I didn’t want the stupid muffin anyway. I wanted his cinnamon raisin bagel with all that butter. Beckett opened his mouth to take another bite and the bagel disappeared. His teeth snapped shut as he bit through the air. It reappeared in my hand and I smiled up at him, turned the bagel to the side he hadn’t bitten, and I took a mouthful. The bagel was warm and buttery and when it hit my stomach, it finally settled. I held it up. “Now I won’t pass out.”
The others burst out into fits of laughter. Beckett narrowed his eyes at me as he reached for another bagel. He slowly buttered it and made a show of taking another bite. We all sat in silence, none of us talking, no one breaking the awkwardness. My mouth became dry and all I wanted was a hot cup of tea and a water. Gold smoke drifted from my hands. Everyone shoved away from the table as my cup of tea and water materialized right in front of me. I raised my eyebrows yet said nothing as I reached for my tea. It was hot with just a little bit of milk and some sugar, the way I liked it.
The others all slowly took their seats. I blew over the top of my cup. “Right, like you all have a reason to be scared of me.”
Beckett dropped his bagel onto his plate with a loud clank. He got up and marched over to the coffee pot, grabbed a mug from the cupboard, and poured himself a cup. Steam rose from the top of it and drifted just under his face. “Actually they do.”
I nearly spat my tea out. “Yeah right.”
He took a sip and walked back over to sit down. “Why do you think we came to get you last night?”
“I’ve been asking myself that same question. Why me exactly?”
Maze, who’d been watching us like he was watching a tennis match, finally spoke up, “Because you’re the fifth line and we need the fifth line.”
“What does that even mean?” I took another sip, trying to remain calm and rational. That was our deal. I listened and then I could go home. Aidenuli’s words from last night floated through my mind. I would have to accept this or not.
Ophelia, who was rocking the Wednesday Addams look complete with black dress that had a white collar and thick black braids down the side of her head, placed her hand on Maze’s shoulder. “I got this.” She turned to me and smiled. “You’re a wizard, Harry.”
Beckett groaned. “O, please. There’s a war coming, Astrid. That’s what’s happening.”
Logan walked into the room and took a seat beside me. “Way to be gentle about it, dude.”
“I didn’t see anything in the news about a war.” This was hilarious. They thought there was some kind of war coming and I was supposed to be a help to that? Me? Just over five feet tall, no fighting experience, no war strategy specialist, me? Yeah right.
“Ugh, humans,” Beckett snapped. “They always think the world revolves around them. There is a whole part of the world you all don’t know about.”
“Do enlighten the stupid human at the table then.” I wanted to throw my bagel at him. I wasn’t stupid and I wasn’t naïve. I lived in New York. I’d seen the best the city had to offer and the worst.
“First of all, you aren’t human. You’re a warlock. Second of all, I doubt you’ve ever heard of Evermore.” He arched his eyebrow at me.
“If I am what you say I am then how come I don’t feel like an evil old man out to dominate middle earth?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Snap. I knew we’d be friends.” Ophelia shook her head and took another bite of her muffin. “Middle earth, that shit is funny.”
Beckett sat forward. “How do I put this? All the monsters you’ve ever heard of are real. Vampires, witches, warlocks, shifters, Greek gods . . . they all exist in Evermore and now you’re a part of that.”
Laughter burst past my lips. “You all are on some other kind of drugs.”
“Then how do you explain your newfound bagel stealing powers?” He arched his eyebrow at me like he’d beaten me somehow.
I shrugged. “I always steal bagels from guys who are jerks to me.”
“Ugh, Ophelia, try to talk some sense into her, would you.” He motioned from me to her and back again.
“Forgive me if I’m wrong here, but if what you’re saying is true, then why would I believe the person who killed two men in front of me last night?” I grabbed up the bagel and took another bite and looked down my nose at him, knowing he couldn’t fight that logic. I glanced at Ophelia. “No offense.”
She paused with the muffin at her lips. She looked up at the ceiling as though she was thinking. “None taken, although I’m pretty sure they were only mostly dead, not all dead.”
“Ugh. This isn’t working.” Beckett tossed an orb into the center of the kitchen where it grew and expanded into an oval doorway. When he stood straight, his chair skidded across the floor. He marched over to the portal and walked through it.
“What did I say?” I was pleased with myself. It wasn’t every day that you got to frustrate your kidnapper as much as he frustrated you. Although I suspected what they were saying was true. I mean, I couldn’t explain my bagel snatching abilities or magically perfect tea.
Logan swiveled around on his stool. “I do believe he’s gone for reinforcements.” Out of all the people I’d met in Beckett’s crew, Logan seemed the most calm and down to earth. He wasn’t dressed all in black or laced with weapons. He was clean-cut and didn’t get annoyed at me for existing.
Ten minutes passed, then five more, yet the blue portal didn’t close. I half expected for him to show up with books, a wand, and a snowy owl of my own. But then he walked back through and held his hand up. Delicate glove covered fingers reached through the portal and dropped down into his waiting hand. Beckett gently pulled her forward and a gothic-looking girl walked through. Her hair was white blond and hung down to her hips. Her gloves ran all the way up to her elbows and though it was November, she only wore a light sweater with holes cut all over it and a pair of tight black jeans. Her onyx eyes were surrounded by dark black eyeliner and when she was fully through the portal a wide smile spread across her lips.
“O!”
Ophelia jumped up from her seat and ran over to the girl. “Nova!” They wrapped their arms around one another like they hadn’t seen each other in ages.
Beckett walked over to one of the stools on the other side of the island and pulled it out for her. “Here you are, Nova. Would you like anything to eat or drink?”
So polite to her and he didn’t even use his smoke stuff to hog tie her and throw her in a car. Nova strolled over to the stool and took her seat. “Thanks, I’ll just help myself.”
She reached across the table to the muffins that sat in front of me. When she looked up and made eye contact with me, she gave me a tentative smile. “Hi, I’m Nova.”
I gave her a tight-lipped smile. “Astrid.”
She pulled a blueberry muffin from the basket and broke a big piece of it off and popped it into her mouth. “Nice to meet you.”
Logan sat stiff as a board next to me with a huge smirk plastered on his face. If I had to choose a word for it, I’d say he was starstruck. Beckett walked back over to the portal and held his hand up once more. Another girl came through the portal. This one was so different than Nova. She was clad in a bright red turtleneck, black leggings, and red combat boots. Her hair fanned out around her face in wild curls, and golden shimmering makeup highlighted her high cheekbones and perfectly shaped eyebrows. The gold of her makeup gave her mocha skin and hazel eyes an exotic and alluring affect. Again, Beckett pulled the stool next to Nova out for her.
“Tabi.” Maze breathed with awe in his voice. “It’s nice to finally meet you in person, my queen.”
Queen? What the hell is going on here?
She held her hand up and giggled. “Tabi, just Tabi is cool.”
Nova grabbed the basket and handed it to her. “Look, chocolate chip, your favorite.”
“Ohhhh, don’t mind if I do.” She grabbed one up. “Do you guys have any orange juice?”
Orange juice, the girl wants orange juice. Gold smoke drifted from my hand up and over the table and a glass of orange juice appeared right in front of her. Her eyes widened for a split second before she grabbed up the glass and held it to her lips.
“Thanks, that’s pretty awesome. Must come in handy.”
“Um, yeah, I guess.” I couldn’t control it. How awesome was that? One second I was transforming bedrooms and the next I was making juice. I was a regular old Susie homemaker over here.
Then another girl walked through and patted Beckett on the cheek. My jaw dropped. She was beyond beautiful, like model beautiful. With long streaked blond hair, full red ruby lips, and a perfect body. She wore a graphic T-shirt that clung to her every curve. Across the center of it read Hawkins AV club and a tight pair of leather leggings. Her hand lingered on his face for a little too long and I swear he leaned into it.
She dropped her hand and walked by him then sat down on Nova’s other side. Here I was sitting at the head of the table with Beckett opposite me and these queens on my left. To my right was Logan, Ophelia, Cross, and Maze. What was this, his haram? They all looked at him like they love him.
Logan nearly fell out of his seat. “Serrina, how are you?”
“I’m good.” She held her hand to her lips then blew him a kiss. Ribbons of sparkling red drifted from her hand and smacked him right on the cheek. “How are you?”
He sighed and looked at her with big doe-like eyes. “Great, I’m just great.”
While this had been so much fun, all I wanted to do was go back to my room and start to pack. Or did I have to pack? I rose to my feet. “It’s been nice meeting you all—”
“I don’t believe our bargain is complete, so I suggest you sit down.” Beckett motioned to the forest outside the window. “Unless you can figure out how to walk all the way back to civilization.”
Everyone at the table swung their gaze my way and I slowly sat back down and narrowed my eyes at him. “Fine.” I motioned for him to get on with it.
“These lovely ladies are four out of the five Witch Queens of Evermore. Tabi queen of elements, Nova queen of death, and Serrina queen of desires. And Ophelia you already met. She’s the queen of spells and potions.”
They all gave me small waves but didn’t say anything.
“Nova, since you are the calmest one at the table, could you please explain—”
“Hold up a second, you all are queens. Like actual royalty?” I nearly dropped my tea into my lap.
Nova shook her head. “No, a queen witch is the most powerful witch of her cast. There are five casts of witches in Evermore. Each of us represents one of them. There’s only one real royal queen and she’s not here. But we are all in the court that rules the witching part of Evermore.”
It took me a second to process all this. Witches were real! “So you’re telling me it’s all real? Witches, vampires, warlocks, shifters . . . everything?”
They all nodded. I sucked in a deep breath. All my life I felt I wasn’t destined to live like a socialite, but this? Going into a whole new world seemed unbelievable but also too good to be true. “Okay, let’s say everything you’re saying is true. If you all have everything under control, then why do you need me? Like what makes me so important that you had to steal me from my birthday party?”
Ophelia bit her bottom lip. “Truthfully, the warlock world and the witch world are two different things. Which we are trying to unite into one. Warlocks, well, let’s just say they’d like to resist the Witch Queen Zinnia. But if Evermore is going to survive what’s to come, then we all need to unite under her rule.”
Beckett shoved his hands into his hair. “Which hasn’t been done in hundreds of years. And we need all five family lines of all five warlock casts to do it. Up until now, until you, we only had four. Warlocks aren’t like the witches. We’re ruled by the heads of each bloodline. The witch queens can be born anywhere at any point in time. But the warlocks, well, they’re all about the original founding lines. If we rise up together, then they will follow.”
“I don’t get it. Are you telling me I’m some kind of missing bloodline? And what exactly does that mean for you guys?” This was all so crazy, like something out of a fairy tale, yet here I was sitting in the middle of it in modern time. It excited yet terrified me. I couldn’t explain the magic coming from my hands, or how they all did things. But I’d seen it with my own two eyes, performed it with my own two hands. There was no denying this world, only whether or not I belonged here.
Cross cleared his throat. “It means we can challenge the interim warlock council and take our rightful places, just like the witch queens have done. I’m not sure if you understand, but generally speaking warlocks tend to dabble in dark magic and up until recently they followed the rule of an evil king. Now that he’s gone there’s a power vacuum and anyone with a little bit more powers than the others is rising up to take over. We”—he motioned to everyone sitting at the table—“we intend to unite the witches and warlocks once more. Not just for them but for the world.”
A nervous laugh escaped my lips. “You guys make this all sound so serious. Life or death kind of serious.” When they all fell silent, I didn’t know what to say.
Nova cleared her throat. “Plain and simple, we need you, Astrid.”
“How do you even know I’m the one you’re looking for?” Just because I got my room together and pulled a few tricks didn’t make me this fifth line.
