Wicked Hex (The Royals: Witch Court Book 3) Read online

  Wicked Hex

  The Royals: Witch Court Book 3

  Megan Montero

  For Aunt Nancy,

  You are always the nice one. Thank you for introducing me to the world of paranormal adventures and alternate universes. I wouldn’t be here today without all those nights we spent watching movies and TV shows together. XOXO all my love- Megan

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Alataris

  I folded my hands behind my back while I looked up at the sky for long moments after my eldest daughter, Zinnia, flew off with my dragon. With each breath I took, the haze of madness ebbed away. I stood sucking in deep breaths of the damp air until I could see past the rage. How could they not see I was doing this for all of witch and warlock kind? Our society would be better if they would just LISTEN to me! Deep breath in, deep breath out. At least I had her, flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood. A slow smile spread over my face. The power she wielded was so similar to my own, but so much more. I stood there until the ice mess the dragon made melted into one big puddle that seeped into my shoes.

  Dario Malback, a warlock from one of the oldest magical families in Evermore, walked out to stand beside me. “They’ve taken the dragon.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Obviously.”

  “And this displeases you?” He canted his head to the side, looking me up and down with his gold eyes that sparkled like coins. His face was covered in the kind of wrinkles only a extensive life full of scowls could make. Long black hair fell back from the widow’s peak on his forehead all the way down to the middle of his back. He pressed his thin lips into a hard line waiting for my next word. Dario and I had spent centuries together, experience alone demanded his silence while he waited for my reply.

  “On the contrary, I am very pleased.” All around me, those subjects loyal to my cause, the right cause, fell to their knees, filled with unfamiliar power she’d forced upon them. What an intriguing notion. Rather than killing the men I sent to stop her, she punished them…cruelly.

  Perhaps the apple doesn’t fall far from the rotting tree, after all. I spun on my heels and began walking back toward my castle. My patience was so very close to snapping. I could feel the churning eruption building in my chest. It burned hotter with each passing moment. At times, I feared the rage would overtake me and never let me go. But now that she was here, my Zinnia, things could be different. She could be my…heir. My one true heir. The sound of footsteps drew me from my thoughts.

  Is someone behind me? I gathered my magic in the palm of my hand, ready to kill any who dare challenge me. Dario caught up to me and met my stride. I gave him a sideways glance. “You’re still with me?”

  “I never left, sire.” His brow furrowed, and he narrowed his eyes at me. Does he think I’m going mad too? He cleared his throat. “Perhaps you could switch the men’s powers back to the body they belong in?”

  “Hmm… tell me, why would I do such a thing?” I glanced over my shoulder to where they ran around in hysterical circles, hitting each other with energy balls and some of them self-destructing.

  “I would think—”

  I stopped dead and faced him. “That is your problem, Dario. You needn’t be the one to think.” I motioned toward the men behind us. “What purpose would it serve me to have others who couldn’t stop her from taking what’s mine? Furthermore, they are weak, and I’ve no room for weakness among my ranks.” My black outs are enough.

  Dario bowed his head. “Yes, sire.”

  “Yes indeed.” I strode toward the castle once more, following the winding cobblestone path up toward the thick walls laid with stone surrounding it. At the corner of each wall stood a turret. Each one was manned by a loyal follower ready to give their life for me. The oversized wooden door slid up into the wall. The clanking of metal chains and turning of gears sounded as it rose inch by inch and stopped only high enough for me to walk through. Three strides and I was within my castle walls. Silence greeted me, and I relished every moment of it. At the town center, I stopped again, noting how not even the horses made a sound when I was near. They’d been trained well. “We’ll have to strengthen our enchantments on the island. Now that Zinnia has blood ties here, there will be no stopping her if she gets back. See it done.”

  Dario’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline, his jaw dropped, and he pressed his hand to his chest. “Me, sire?”

  “No, the other idiot standing next to me!” I threw my arms up in the air. Blackness swarmed the sides of my vision as I leaned over him, gathering my magic in my hands once more. “Must…I…spell…everything…out!?”

  Dario took a small step back yet didn’t finch away from me. “No, sire. I will strengthen the enchantments within the hour.”

  Breath in, breath out, reign it in. The black dots receded from my vision. I let the magic seep back into my body where it lay waiting for the time I would strike out. I tugged at the sleeves of my jacket and brushed my hands down my black dress pants. “Very well, but first you will accompany me to the throne room.”

  “As you wish.” He bowed at the waist and swept his arm to the side, indicating I should lead the way.

  Will he stab me in the back the moment I turn it? I pressed my finger to my lips. “After you, my friend.” I waved him forward. If anyone was going to be stabbed in the back, it would be him.

  Dario didn’t hesitate to move. He simply straightened his stance and walked through the town square into the tunnel that led into the main castle. All the while I stared at the back of his head, wondering if my long-time follower plotted against me or if I could trust his loyalty. All of this drew me to one final conclusion. I needed an heir to carry my name on, to trust. Though my own father shouldn’t have trusted me. I waved the thought away, knowing this time would be different.

  After traversing the stone spiral staircase that led to my throne room, I waited for Dario to unlock the steel door. Very few people knew about this entrance, yet it was the way I used each time I came here. The door hinges creaked open as Dario held it wide open for me. I brushed the heavy tapestry to the side and swept into the room. The smell of damp cobblestone hung in the air. Outside, the temperature was warm and humid, as all tropical islands would be, but within the walls of the castle it dropped at least fifteen degrees. At times, it seeped into my skin, chilling me to the bone.

  As I strode into my throne room, Catherine, my prisoner, jumped to her feet. My younger daughter, Ophelia, remained on the floor where she’d been sitting beside her. Plotting. They’re always plotting against me. Black dots swarmed the sides of my vision as I surged toward her. Ophelia, the daughter who was supposed to be loyal, spent more and more of her time at my prisoner’s side. “You thi
nk to plot against me?”

  Ophelia’s eyes rounded into coal colored saucers. She rose to her feet and took a step back and held her hand out. “I would never, Father.”

  I lifted my hand across my body and snapped it forward, cracking her in the cheek. The skin on the back of my hand stung from the smack. Her head snapped back, and those long black braids whipped around. When I lifted my hand for the next blow, she threw her shoulders back and met my gaze. All life drained from her features. She gave me that black dead look that she’d mastered when she was four. Fury raged from my chest out to my fingers. My body quaked from head to toe. “You will be loyal to me! Do you hear me, girl?”

  I pulled my hand back further, about to turn her other cheek as red as I had the first. Before I could land the blow, pain exploded across the side of my face. I stumbled back, clutching my face. “Who dare—?”

  “You want to hit someone? Let’s go, a-hole.” Catherine leapt in front of Ophelia and held her fists up. An angry red welt marred the side of her own face.

  I brushed the back of my fingers over my cheek. “Ah, we both know anything I do to you I’ll feel it myself.” I held my wrist up and flashed her the mark that was the bane of my existence. Oh, how I loved and hated her. “Soulmates, my love.”

  Catherine’s lips tiled into a frown as she glowered at me. “I wish I’d never completed the bonding with you.”

  Pang! What little feelings I had left were stung. “Ha! But you did.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t even know it was you! You lying, cheating snake. A glamour! You held a glamour up for months, deceitful bastard.”

  She launched herself at me. The chains around her wrists rattled as she moved. One moment she stood before me, and the next she hauled her leg back and let her knee connect with my crotch. The wind left my lungs, and pain shot up from my groin to my shoulders. My knees buckled, and I fell to the ground cupping myself.

  “Catherine, don’t!” Ophelia cried out.

  I let a slow smile spread across my lips. “Hurts, doesn’t it?”

  Catherine hunched over, sucking in deep breaths and clutching her lower stomach. “I don’t care!” She threw her hands out, and her magical golden sparks gathered in her palms.

  Ophelia rushed at her back and wrapped her arms around Catherine’s torso. “Stop. You’ll only make it worse for yourself.”

  Dario stepped out in between us. He threw his shoulders back and looked up to the ceiling. When he turned, he met my gaze for the barest of moments before holding both his hands out as if he held two stop signs. “Need I remind you both we’ve done this before and neither of you faired for the better?”

  “Tell him to keep his hands to himself and I promise I’ll do the same.” Though she spoke through clenched teeth, I continued to be drawn to her plump lips.

  “Is this agreeable to you, sire?” He turned toward me with his eyebrows raised.

  I spun on my heels and walked up the three steps leading toward my throne. “Parenting is never easy.”

  “Is that what you call it?” Catherine snapped. “You have no right to be a parent to anyone…ever.”

  I dropped into the chair, and the cushion dipped beneath me as I slouched back into the chair. The anger I’d felt only a moment ago gave way to that stinging hurt that only she could inflict upon me. “Says the woman who kept my daughter away from me for sixteen years.”

  “Precisely.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  Long ago I’d once seen a movie where a large blob-like creature chained a beautiful maiden to his own throne. I always thought it a brilliant idea. Though Catherine burned the two-piece dress I’d given her, she remained defiant and stayed in the beat-up jeans and black sweater she’d been wearing the day I took her. Her wild chocolate waves were tied into a knot on the top of her head. When she looked at me with those sapphire eyes, the same eyes our daughter had, my anger flared once more. “I can’t believe you kept her from me.”

  “Wait a second.” Ophelia glanced from me to Catherine and back again. “I have a sister?”

  Catherine narrowed her eyes at me before answering. “Half sister, yes.”

  My emotionless, coldhearted, calculating daughter’s mouth dropped wide open. “How come you never told me?”

  I shrugged and waved her comment away. “Didn’t seem important at the time.”

  “Not important! This changes eve—”

  “This changes nothing!” I shot to my feet. “The only thing it changes is who will become my heir.”

  Ophelia took a small step back. “I am your heir.”

  “Perhaps.” I shrugged and glanced down at Catherine. Her cheeks turned bright red.

  “Zinnia will never be the heir to your empire. Never.”

  I ran my fingers over my jawline. “Are you so sure about that?”

  Catherine held her chin up. “Without question.”

  “I’ve already taken her mother.” I dropped back into the throne and began to study my nails. “Let’s see how righteous she feels when I take the rest.”

  “She will never be like you.” She shook her head back and forth.

  “Oh, but my dear, she already is.” I held my hand up and let the sparkling magic gather in my palm. My eyes were affixed to the glittering swirl of energy. “Dario.”

  “Yes, your majesty?” He stepped up to the center of my court.

  “I believe your son is about Zinnia’s age?”

  Dario glanced around the room. “He is seventeen.”

  “Then I do believe it’s time for him to go to school.” I turned from the ball in my hand toward Dario.

  “He attends private lessons, sire.”

  I kicked the footrest at my feet down the steps. The golden block-like piece skidded to a halt at Dario’s feet. “And I’m telling you he will attend Evermore Academy now. The Fallen cannot turn him away, and I believe it’s time to get a man on the inside.”

  “As you wish.” Dario inclined his head. “I will make arrangements today.”

  “Ophelia dear, don’t you think we need a man on the inside?” My words seemed to draw her out of whatever shocked stupor she was in.

  The angry red welt still marred her pale cheek, yet she straightened her shoulders and gave me the cold look I’d grown so accustomed to. “Yes, Father.”

  “It doesn’t matter what you do or who you send after her. Zinnia will forever and always do what she thinks is right.” Catherine yanked at the chain around her wrist, and I felt the pinching of her skin on my own arm.

  I rubbed at my wrist. “Oh, my dear, I’m counting on it.”

  Chapter 2

  Zinnia

  “Somebody help me!” I screamed so loud the words scratched up my throat. Lights flickered on one by one, illuminating the courtyard. Each lamp chased away the shadows around me. I cradled Tuck’s head in my lap. A cold sweat broke out over his body, and his eyes had yet to open. His auburn hair drifted back from his face in a tattered mess. “Niche! I need you.”

  The veins in his arms and neck turned to a dark black that I could see through his pale skin, as though I could see the magic Alataris used against him slowly spreading through his body. The wicked phoenix tattoo on his neck pulsed an angry burning red, as though it too was trying to fight whatever Alataris had done to him. I pressed my finger to it, then yanked it back, shaking out the stinging burn. The mark around my wrist felt as though it were tied tighter than ever before cutting off the circulation and making my fingers nub and tingling. Everything in my body shifted, and a sudden sense of dread filled me. The two of us had steadily been getting closer and closer. I could feel him, his turmoil, everything he felt. Was it the soulmate bond I suspected he was going to tell me about? Or was it just my magic growing? I didn’t know.

  All at once, the muscles in his body tensed and he began seizing in my arms. “Oh, God. Tuck, hold on, just hold on.”

  I gently let his head fall to the ground and scrambled to get next to him and turn him on his side.
I’d once took a first aid class and knew that when a person seized, they could choke. Hot tears ran down my cheeks, and my hands shook as I pressed them to his back and held him there while he shook. His eyes rolled in his head as I leaned over him, holding him until the tremors stopped. I whispered in his ear, “Don’t die, Tuck. Please don’t.”

  I rocked back and forth, feeling each and every tremor as if it were my own until the very last one shuddered through him. An eased breath drifted through his lips, and his body went limp in my arms. “No!”

  My heart hammered in my chest, and my breaths came in panicked puffs. I wanted to ugly cry, the kind of cry that burned its way up my throat. The kind that left me gasping for air but was too lost to rein it in. The kind that made my whole body tremble and my bones rattle together. The kind I’d feel days later.

  This wasn’t some movie with a happily ever after. This was my life, and my happily ever after was lying at my feet fighting to breathe. Instead, I held it in, only letting the barest tears stream down my face. I swallowed around ball in my throat and focused all my attention on him.

  “What the hell is going on here?” I snapped my head up and met his eye. Matteaus stood above me with his hands crossed over his chest. At this time of night, the headmaster of Evermore Academy looked like an angel of death rather than one of the Fallen, the immoral species that ruled not only the academy but the world of Evermore. Strands of his multicolored hair fell across the sharp planes of his face, and his ocean-blue eyes were narrowed into tiny slits at me.