Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. I hadn’t noticed the noise of the clock before today, but now, each annoying click echoed in my head, reminding me I was almost out of time.
I dressed in black jeans, a black halter top and a black leather jacket. Yeah, I felt badass. If I was going to restore the veil in the next twenty-four hours, my jammies and zombie slippers weren’t going to cut it. As I laced up my black boots, Zane walked into the room.
He blinked. “Wow, you look…”
“Ready to kick some serious hallow ass?” I supplied.
“Uh-huh, that about sums it up.”
Together we left the safety of my bedroom. Downstairs, the entryway was bustling with excited and restless energy. Everyone was tired of sitting around; they were ready for action, ready to restore the universe’s balance. There was a shift in the air since the veil dropped, and because reapers were so in tune with death, our awareness was sharper. It made them antsy.
Crash was leaning against the wall, an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips.
Zane gave Crash a slit-eyed, dangerous smile. “Let me guess, oral fixation?”
Crash remained bored. “There are worse fixations to have.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
We were going to get nowhere if we started this again. “Guys! Focus.” My voice rasped. “Let’s split up into groups of two.” Seemed simple. Zach and Crash weren’t thrilled with their pairing, but they were going to have to make do. Just in case, I sent Declan with them as a mediator to make sure they stayed on track. Zach wasn’t as hot-headed as his brother. If anyone could deal with Crash’s rude behavior, it was the easy-going Hunter.
Parker divvied the estate into sections, assigning one to each group. If anyone found something suspicious, they were to text 911 before doing anything else. It was agreed we would inspect any possibilities together as we couldn’t afford any careless mistakes.
No one knew anything about the relic other than it might be able to close the veil. We had no clue what it looked like, if it could be dangerous, or how to activate the ancient device. That was too many unknown factors in my book, and I wasn’t willing to jeopardize the life of anyone in the group. Together we would assess the relic. Seven heads were better than two.
I looked over my shoulder one last time at Parker, my brain still processing the monumental change in his life. I wanted to protect him from all this, and I doubted that feeling would ever go away. The further I tried to keep him from this world, the deeper he immersed himself in it. Maybe it was fate. Didn’t matter, he got what he wanted. I only hoped it made him happy. His happiness meant a lot to me.
“He’ll be okay,” Zane said, sensing my worry.
I huffed, my feet dragging over the grass. “Will he though? Will any of us?” I countered, sounding like a negative Nancy.
“I don’t have all the answers. Sometimes you have got to trust everything will work out, even when all hope seems lost.” He slid a hand to the small of my back, helping me up an incline. “Besides, he’s with Zoe. Have you seen what she can do with a whip?”
I laughed. “I have. It’s frightening. You always say the right thing.”
“Remember that after we’ve been married for ten years.”
I sighed, glad that at least TJ was tucked safely in the manor, oblivious to the scavenger hunt just outside his window. We walked the southeast corner of the lot, closest to where the beach bordered the property. “Any ideas what we should be looking for?”
“Something old, out of the ordinary, and utterly foreign. Trust me, you’ll know when you see it.”
“Wonderful.”
“If this thing has power and a connection to the banshee line, it’s possible you might be able to feel it,” he suggested.
Oh, I was getting a feeling all right, but it had nothing to do with the relic and everything do with my distracting, drool-worthy husband. His arm occasionally brushed against mine as we walked, making me forget why we were outside and not between the sheets. “When this whole saving the world business is over, you and I are going on a proper honeymoon,” I said as my eyes searched the ground.
Zane grinned. “Just name the time and place.”
An hour went by and with it our sunlight. There had been only one false text from the three stooges. Larry, Curly, and Moe, aka Crash, Zach, and Declan had found a mysterious looking urn, turned out it was just an ordinary flowerpot and nothing supernatural.
I gazed out over the courtyard, the breeze ruffling my hair and clothes. We’d been over this part of the yard time and time again. “This is useless,” I complained.
There was a long silence before Zane answered. “Maybe, but so is doing nothing. At least we’re trying.”
I thought about earth fading away bit by bit, dying at the hands of the hallows. “I just hope it’s enough.”
“Don’t tell me you’re giving up?”
A sharp wind hissed off the coast, making me shiver. “I never give up.” I let my gaze wander. “Look at this. How can I close my eyes and pretend the world is okay when people are dying?”
“If this doesn’t work, we’ll find another way.”
Will we? In time? He was so confident. I wanted some of that self-assurance to rub off on me. Each second my resolve weakened, making my stomach twist and my hope diminish.
The remaining groups trickled back to the courtyard, waiting for direction, uplifting words of wisdom, or a new plan. I had none of the above.
“Where’s Crash?” Zane prompted.
The devil himself miraculously morphed, with a smirk on his lips.
Any other time and place, Zane would have knocked that cockiness off Crash’s face.
Parker scratched the back of his neck. “We’ve been around this place ten times, searching from border to border, and we’ve found jack shit.”
Crash shot Zane a sideways glance. “What now, big shot? We’re no closer than when we started.”
“Makes me wonder if the relic is nothing but a farce or a distraction,” Zane spoke up, firing accusation daggers at Crash.
“Stop,” I whispered, my lip trembling. A burst of emotions assaulted me, tears of frustration threatening to spill.
Zane’s eyes thawed when he looked at me. “I’m sorry. Maybe we need a break.”
“No,” I sniffed, wiping my nose and surveying the grounds. “It’s out here. We’re just not looking in the right spot.” I refused to give up.
Zane sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “If you say so, princess.”
Even though I was as tired and discouraged as the rest of them, something in the darkness pushed me. “One more sweep, and if we don’t find anything, we’ll call it a night,” I conceded.
“Sounds like fun,” Crash said grimly.
Zane eyes glared furiously, looking like he was going to blow a gasket. “You don’t have to be here, you know. I don’t recall inviting you. If you got a problem, leave.”
“Too bad, Death Scythe,” Crash smirked in a way that only ever infuriated. “I live for this kind of drama. Tormenting you in the process is the icing on the cake.”
“Fine,” Zane growled. “Stay out of my way, and if you double cross her, you won’t live long enough to feel a second of satisfaction.”
I leaned against a big old oak, shaking my head, thinking maybe I should just let them duke it out. What the— I jumped forward off the trunk with a yelp. The tree had…zapped me? I turned around and scowled at the wide trunk.
“What is it?” Zane asked, coming to stand behind me.
“I don’t know, probably nothing,” I said, rubbing the back of my shoulder. “But I think this tree just shocked me.”
All eyes flashed to me, beaming the same look. Hope.
“I wonder,” Zane breathed, putting his hands on the big old tree at the heart of the courtyard. “Could it be?”
I felt silly, waiting for something to happen. It was a tree. A very tall, ancient tree. “Do you feel anything?” I asked, cradling my arm against my chest. It pulsed with a strange tingle, almost like when your fingers fell asleep.
“Give me your hand,” he instructed.
My immediate reaction was to say no and give him my are-you-cray-cray glower. The idea of subjecting myself to another bolt of tree mojo wasn’t the least bit appealing. Hesitating, I curled my fingers with his while he still had his palm flattened against the trunk. There it was, the electric sting radiating down my arm. Zane’s eyes widened. “This has got to be it.”
I unfurled my fingers from his. “If this tree zaps me one more time, I’m going to chop it down and use it for fire wood,” I said frowning.
“That wouldn’t be wise,” Crash said, eyes sweeping up the length of the trunk. “I doubt you could if you tried. This isn’t just a tree, but a capsule. It is protecting something.”
When did I ever do anything wise? And we all knew what that something was. “How do we get it out?” Zoe asked, not getting too close. Parker was at her side, inspecting the tree like we’d all lost our minds.
“It’s obvious. Princess here has to work her magic.” Crash touched the bark, running his fingers along the bumpy texture, testing to see its effects. “It’s nothing more than an ordinary tree for the rest of us.”
“As much as it pains me to agree with douchebag, he’s right,” Zane said.
The idea of having to touch the thing again filled me with dread. I didn’t like subjecting myself to the voltaic jolts, and would prefer to avoid singing the hair on my arms. “Why does it always have to be me?” I grumbled, regarding the tree with scorn. A brisk breeze blew in from the north, cooling my face and causing the leaves to rustle. Because I’d never uncovered a relic before, I didn’t know where to start. Did I blast it with banshee sonar or hit it with a glowy ball of light?
None of those seemed appropriate. I needed to get to the root of the tree. I sunk to my knees at the base of the giant oak, fighting the urge to wince like a little girl for fear of being shocked. There was no time for fear anymore. The world was getting dark, and I had to do this, for I could no longer ignore the throbbing in my gut. Trouble was coming, and it was getting close. I could pick up faint traces of death. Hallows.
We were on borrowed time.
Closing my eyes, I reached out with my power, letting it rise up around me like a force field. With caution, I dug my fingers into the ground where thick roots were slightly exposed, and let my power seep into the deep cracks of the dry earth, wrapping around the tree at its hub.
A shudder went through the tree, shaking the branches over my head. Leaves tinged with the beginning colors of fall rained down on me. The air smelled of fall, damp grass and earth. To my great relief, there were no more tiny bolts of current.
I opened my eyes as a cool mist coiled around me. My skin was glowing in a hazing white. It hadn’t occurred to me before how quiet and calm the atmosphere had been, but as I pushed to my feet, the whisper of my friends traveled through the wind. Leaves crinkled under my feet as I stood under the great oak. I blinked. A small outline of a narrow door was etched along the trunk.
“Congratulations, princess,” Zane murmured. “I think you’ve done the impossible. You might have just saved the world from utter darkness.” It creaked open as Zane gave it a push. The old wood groaned as it lifted.
A hush descended upon us. The interior of the trunk glowed softly and had a sweet musky smell, like a dusty trunk in the attic filled with your dead great-great aunt’s perfume bottles. But there, nestled deep within the tree was what we’d been searching for. The relic.
Boom-shacka-lacka!
I wanted to do a happy dance, arms flailing and screaming like a goat, but I managed to squash the urge and smiled instead, the biggest, brightest grin.
Inside, the relic pulsed with a soft amber radiance, as if sunlight had been captured and bottled. It reminded me of a scepter the kings and queens used to carry, decorated with vines trailing up the handle. The carved head of the scepter encompassed a clear glass ball that at the top came to a needle prick point.
A halo of awe filled the courtyard as we all gaped. “It’s beautiful,” I murmured, reaching out, the glow washing over my face. Mesmerized by its ancient and otherworldly refinement, it aroused something inside me, beckoning me.
“Princess don’t,” Zane warned, reacting quickly and pulling my arm away before I could touch it. “Not until we know it’s safe,” he reasoned.
“And how do you plan to determine that?” I asked, unable to take my eyes off the relic. I swear it sang to me, a song as luring as a siren’s.
“There’s an inscription.” Crash said, eyes glittering as he moved to get a closer peek. He too seemed to be in some sort of trance, but as my eyes narrowed, I saw what he was talking about. There were indeed markings carved elegantly up one side of the handle, and like nothing I’d ever seen before. Enthralling scroll and swirly shapes that obviously meant something. A warning? An instruction manual?
Again, I had the urge to trail my finger over the etchings. “What does it say?”
“Parker,” Crash said, stepping back. “You got some kind of ancient reaper decoder in one of those books you always got your nose in?”
“Right in my back pocket,” Parker answered dryly.
Zoe shoved Crash in the shoulder. “Don’t be such a jerk.”
“I was being serious,” he mumbled, as if any of us believed him.
“How do we know this tree isn’t a booby trap?” Parker asked, shrinking back away from the tree.
Zoe gave him a reassuring smile, linking her fingers with his. “I’ve got killer reflexes. I’ll make sure you don’t get swept up in a net or peppered with arrows.”
Crash snorted.
“So we think it’s safe?” Parker again prodded the million dollar question. “It did shock Piper when she touched.”
Zane sent Parker a look. “There’s only one way to find out.”
Declan, my stealthy shadow, stepped forward. “Maybe someone other than Piper should extract the device.” He was so military in his thought process.
I shook my head. “No, it has to be me,” I proclaimed. A tiny seed of hope flickered inside amongst all the mounting anxiety and fear. Maybe I could do this, really save the world. All I had to do was take hold of the relic and activated it. I had managed to reveal without a hitch, here’s to hoping using it won’t be any different.
Story of my life. Things never go smoothly.
Parker wasn’t having it. “I have a nasty feeling about this.”
I patted his chest. “I’ll be fine.” Not mentioning that the nasty feeling he was talking about was an ambush of hallows headed straight here. I sensed them. They were moving quick, threatened by the relic. I had to get my hands on it. Now.
With no expectation and a fire under my butt, I stuck my arm into the little door, half expecting there to be an intense heat. As my fingers grazed the top, sliding to the handle, an arctic chill amplified through my arm, up my shoulder, until my entire body was encompassed in cold that made the air in my chest crisp. In my hand, the scepter flared, a golden aura shooting up the staff and over my face. Holy macaroni. I felt a sudden dizzy spell.
“I told you it was real,” Crash said, with a small degree of victory in his voice.
Zane said something in response, but I didn’t catch it, because the ground began to twirl beneath me, and another wave of dizziness made my head spin. I fought the darkness threatening to take me into oblivion.
It wasn’t Zane’s voice that kept me from going over the edge. Nope, it was Heath’s.