Chapter Thirteen

Piper

When I rushed down the stairs, Math and two other teens had cleared the living room of furniture and rolled a large workout mat across the floor.

“Piper.” Math’s shy smile pacified my resentment of being left with the professor. “It’s time to train you in Sebekkah.”

“Se-what-uh?” I stopped at the edge of the mat.

A girl with a long, brown braid raised her hands in a defensive pose. “It’s an ancient Egyptian martial art the Warriors learn. I’m Olivia.” She handed me folded sweats and a T-shirt identical to what she wore. “For you to change into.”

“Why would I want or need to learn Seb-whatever?”

Math’s light laughter and comfortable stance showed he was happy here. “Sebekkah.”

I don’t think I’d ever been truly happy anywhere or with anyone. Except recently with him. My heart thudded. I couldn’t become attached. I’d be leaving soon.

Olivia pointed at a door down the hall. “You can change in the bathroom.”

I did feel grubby after the night at the museum and the Society’s mansion. And I needed alone time to think, to shake off the interrogation I’d just been through. I was used to being alone most of the time. Here, there were so many people coming and going. They all seemed to know about me, but I knew nothing about them. Doing whatever this was might help me gather information about the Warriors and more about Math.

It was mid-morning and I wondered if Mom was doing okay and how angry Aaron was. I’d ignored his texts. Following Olivia’s pointed finger, I found the bathroom, changed and washed up. I headed back to the living room.

Olivia and another handsome guy faced-off on the mat. Wearing shorts and a T-shirt, he ran forward and kicked his right leg at her head. She blocked and sent him flying across the room.

And I mean flying. I choked back a scream.

His body hit the wall and he slumped there for a second. Hard to believe a small girl like Olivia could do that to the muscular guy. She must have powers.

I took a step back.

“That’s Xander.” Math pointed at the guy on the ground.

Xander shook his head and jumped back on his feet. He didn’t appear to be hurt or angry. The two of them must spar all the time.

“See, it comes in handy.” Olivia hugged him. “Especially when dealing with unruly boyfriends.” Her teasing tone got the guy to smile.

Was Olivia warning me Xander was her boyfriend or hinting Math was mine? I coughed. “Really?”

Xander put his arm around Olivia’s shoulders and tucked her to his side. “Hard to believe she recently broke her leg.”

My gaze slid down her body. The way she fought and threw him across the room it was hard to believe she had a broken leg unless she’d been healed magically. My gaze flew to Math. Had he healed her? Could he heal my mom?

“Math will show you basic defensive moves to start.” Olivia sounded confident I’d learn.

Shaking my head, I took another step back. “I don’t need to learn this.”

I didn’t have super strength or agility. I wasn’t one of their Warriors. I wasn’t their enemy, either. I didn’t know what I was to them, or what I was to Math.

Confusion shifted like gears on a manual transmission. I wondered why they would teach their secrets to a complete stranger. Their magical secrets. The Warriors weren’t very smart if they trusted everyone they met.

I might not think they were evil, but I didn’t trust them. The professor seemed nice enough. Ash was a jerk. I hadn’t spent enough time with Aria, Olivia, and Xander. Really, I’d just met everyone except Math. And Math…

My heart tumbled.

Math I trusted and believed. I liked him. I mean, like-liked him. And not because he was nice. He cared about me and was concerned about my welfare. The kiss we shared sparked my engine and my body purred when we were together. Which had been pretty much constantly, since we’d met only three days ago.

He stood alongside Xander and Olivia in solidarity. The Warriors were close. I could tell by their shared communicative glances. A group I wasn’t part of. Sadness streamed through my veins, causing my shoulders to dip, wishing I could be part of this tight-knit group. Wishing to be part of any group. And yet, I knew to be safe, Mom and I had to run far away.

Math pulled me toward the mat. “Sebekkah will help you focus any powers you might possess.”

The sad and tender thoughts stopped. My gaze narrowed. This training was for them to learn what I could do. Which was probably nothing except an aptitude with machinery.

“Have fun.” Olivia took Xander’s hand and they headed into a room that appeared to be a study and closed the door.

“Do Olivia and Xander live here?”

Math and his friends seemed to have free rein of the professor’s house. They were comfortable and at home. Something I’d never felt at the museum. The all-male members either leered or jeered at me. I avoided the gathering places on ceremony days and meetings. I’d had access to the living quarters but wasn’t allowed in the museum by myself and never knew about the secret ceremonial room Math had discovered. Restricted access and restricted love.

“The professor is a friend of the Warriors.” Math’s answer wasn’t really an answer.

“Do you use this house as a base?”

I was curious about their group and how they thought of each other as brothers, even though there were obviously girls in the group. Plus, information was always important to have. I didn’t plan to sell out the Warriors unless I could use the intelligence to save Mom.

“We used to have a warehouse base. It was burned down in a fire set by rogue cops. Olivia almost died.” He raised his fisted hands, blocking his face. “Hold your arms like this.”

Maybe if I cooperated and learned this Sebbekah, he’d share more information.

“Do you have to stay in the house unless you’re on an errand?” That was one of Aaron’s many rules. I’d never been out of the museum for this long before. My nerves spiked. He was going to be pissed. But if I could cure Mom and get her away from him, I didn’t care how angry he’d be because he’d never find us.

“Of course not. Take this position.” Talking, Math demonstrated. “We come and go as we please.”

My spirits flew, imagining having that kind of freedom.

“Is the professor in charge?” I copied his motions, waving my arms back and forth in a blocking move.

“Do this.” He punched forward with his fist. “Olivia’s in charge. She and Xander rescued us. Remember, stone shabtis?”

“Really?” I couldn’t stop the comment. Olivia seemed friendly and nice. How did she control a group of male Warriors?

“I’m going to come at you, and I want you to make this move.” Math showed an evasive tactic where he pivoted his body and bent low. “Ready?’

My stomach twisted, waiting for his attack. “Yes.”

Not really. I kept running the moves he’d taught in my head. Block, evade, run. A lot like my life with Aaron.

The twisting tightened, tying a big knot in my center. Math was bigger, stronger, and more practiced. And don’t forget smarter. He probably had a ton of attack strategies. He rushed me with fists flying.

Automatically, I put my arms up to block my face. His blows glanced my forearms without pain. I bent at the waist, pivoted, and stepped out of the way. The move felt like long-practiced choreography. The agility and strength had just happened, coming from nowhere. The knot in my belly untwisted. It was as if I’d secured a few of their powers by hanging around with him.

He stepped back and swung his leg high. I ducked, and his leg swung over my head. His hands grabbed around my waist and he lifted me. I stretched out my body. My toes caught the seam in the mat, and I lost my balance, stumbling.

Momentum carried me forward. Toward him. We both ended in a pile. Me lying on top of him. Our bodies lined up head to toe. The scent of eucalyptus and sweat surrounded me making me dizzy. Or was that being so close to Math? His bare leg wrapped around mine. His chest moved up and down, rubbing against me. His face was so close.

I melted into him. Close enough to kiss.

His body shifted. He used his hooked leg to flip me. In seconds he’d reversed our positions. Now he laid on top of me. “I win.”

“I thought you were teaching me.” My voice sounded husky and breathless. Did he think it was from the exercise or from our proximity?

His rich, emerald eyes glazed with desire. His firm lips smoothed into a smile. “I. Am.”

He leaned in. Closer. His mouth brushed mine. A feathery-light touch igniting a strong response. My lips pursed, needing more than a touch. How could I feel so close to someone so quickly? I’d lived with the Order for years and never made a friend or a confidant. Aaron had treated me well when I’d been a child. Now, I was an unwanted nuisance or a servant. Maybe that’s why I responded to Math’s attention. Maybe that’s why I was so vulnerable.

And being vulnerable was dangerous.

Mom and I had both been vulnerable when Aaron had found us. He’d used that vulnerability against us. Mom was still vulnerable when it came to him and his Order. I’d learned not to trust him, the Order, or anyone.

Math’s mouth landed on mine again. Firming my lips, I wanted to resist and yet I didn’t. His lips moved in an enticing rhythm. A rhythm that rocked my body and soothed my soul. A rhythm that shot sparks across my skin and exploded in my gut. A rhythm that had me wanting more.

I opened my mouth, wanting another taste, a closer intimacy. My hands seared feeling as if they’d catch fire. I wrapped them around his neck.

Bzzzz. Bzzzz.

The vibration ripped through me breaking our intimate bubble. Not again. I tried to ignore the oscillating phone I’d put in my sweatpants pocket. I hadn’t wanted to leave it in my pants in the bathroom in case someone searched.

Bzzzz. Bzzzz.

The pleasurable tenseness in my muscles lagged. Whoever it was, most likely Aaron, wasn’t going to give up. I’d ignored his texts all night. It was time to see what he wanted. “Uh, I should check.”

Math’s lips frowned against mine, before he lifted himself and rolled off and onto his back next to me on the mat. His expression of dazed disappointment made me feel better because I felt the same.

I slipped the phone out of the sweatpants’ pocket, glimpsed the screen, and groaned. Just as I suspected.

Aaron.

“Everything okay?” Math’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah, I…” I stood and plowed to the edge of the mat. I couldn’t tell him about Aaron. “It’s my mom.”

So not Mom.

The text read: Where the Tut are you?

I typed back: With Math as you ordered.

And yet, not at all what Aaron had ordered. My still warm body scorched higher. He hadn’t ordered me to kiss Math. To like him. Aaron also didn’t know I wasn’t his obedient soldier any longer. I was now only loyal to myself. And Mom.

Sitting up, Math’s furrowed eyebrows drew together tighter. Lines formed around his mouth. “Will your mom be mad you didn’t find her jewel?”

My phone buzzed again. New texts from Aaron. The trumpet was stolen from the Society’s headquarters during the night. Do you know anything about that?

How to answer. How to explain. How to avoid risking Mom.

Kind of. Maybe that will buy me time.

“Um.” I glanced at Math. I knew the trumpet was in this house, just not exactly where. “I haven’t told Mom yet about not finding the jewel. She’s so sick. I didn’t want to make her worse.”

Get the trumpet and bring it to me! Aaron’s demand was clear even in text form.

Pain jostled with anger in my chest. My ribs fought valiantly on the side of anger, stabbing and poking and wanting to tell him he could go straight to the Afterlife. While my lungs cushioned the blows, knowing he held Mom’s life in his hands.

I need more time. More time to figure out how to get Mom away from Aaron. More time to decide if the trumpet really could cure her and who could best help achieve that goal.

Aaron or Math?

Deep in my heart I knew Math was the answer. And yet, he was loyal to the Warriors. If he needed to choose between them and me, what would he decide?

“I can go back and search.” Math’s sweet offer alleviated my pain, relaxing the battle inside me.

He cared about me. Cared about what I thought and what I needed. Was willing to protect me and to teach me how to protect myself. Which would come in handy when dealing with Aaron.

Internal torment ratcheted up again with the guilt. I’d lied to Math about the jewel. About my quest. About my association with the Order.

My phone buzzed again. There is no more time. The trumpet is the only thing that can help your mother. She’s near death.

Near death.

The words speared, splitting my heart in two, dividing my soul. I’d known her illness was severe, but I’d hoped I could get her out of the museum and to a real doctor before her chances of surviving narrowed.

I’d waited too long. From what I learned from Math, the Order planned to use Mom not cure her. Waiting for her to get better or until I stole the right car or obtained more money had been a mistake.

My eyes pricked with tears. The urge to hurry raced inside me. “I’ve got to go.” I shoved the phone in my pocket. “My mom…”

Internally, I shattered. I was falling apart. I had to hold it together until I got to the museum. Unable to say the words, I didn’t want Math to know because he’d ask too many questions.

“Is she okay?” He stepped beside me and braced my elbow, understanding I needed support. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I…” Shaking my head, I forced my burning eyes not to leak. “I have to go see her. She’s fine. She’ll be fine.”

I hoped. And prayed.

Another thought hit. A more manipulative thought. Maybe Aaron was lying.

I sucked in a calming breath and repeated the thought, maybe Aaron was lying. I needed to find out for myself.

Math’s mouth dipped down in a concerned frown. “I’ll come with you.”

Panic spiked and came out in a scream. “No!” I clamped my mouth shut, trying to stop myself from saying anything else stupid. Him coming with me would be more dangerous. For both of us. “Mom doesn’t want me hanging around with guys. It’s better if I go by myself.”

Math couldn’t discover where I lived. He couldn’t find out the truth. Yet.

Not until I learned more about the professor and the other Warriors. Not until I trusted them a little bit more. I might trust Math, but he belonged with the Warriors. Right now, I needed to see Mom to reassure myself she could survive a little bit longer. Or that she could leave with me now. Then, I’d tell Math everything and beg for his help.

He tugged on my arm bringing my attention back to him. “You’ll come back?” His low, sweet voice had my head twirling.

“You want me to come back?” I melted, wanting to blurt out the truth.

But I didn’t want to put him in danger either. And I didn’t want him to have to choose between me and the Warriors. I didn’t know if he’d choose me at this point.

“Of course.” His foot dug into the mat and his cheeks flamed red. “We need to analyze your residual powers.”

My heart rattled. That was the only reason he wanted me to come back, and I probably didn’t even have magical abilities. Once he realized that, he wouldn’t care about me any longer. I tugged my arm away.

He reeled back, and his gaze widened with a dawning understanding. He grabbed my hand. “I want you to come back for me.”

My heart balanced between belief and skepticism. Why had he changed gears? Because he really felt that way about me, or because he realized I was upset? Was he placating me?

“Really?” I let doubt plague my voice.

“Really.” His other hand cupped my cheek. He leaned toward me with a sparkle in his eyes.

His lips touched mine. Gentle, caring, persuasive.

My doubt evaporated and my heart puffed like a fluffy, white cloud. Even though I was frantic about Mom, my mind calmed about him. Math did like me. I didn’t have time now but when I came back, I’d tell him everything. My background, Aaron’s quest, my mom’s situation. Then, Math and his Warriors would help me figure out how to cure her.

If Aaron ever let me leave the museum.

But if he didn’t, I now knew about the secret passages. I could sneak out. I could sneak Mom out.