𝗪𝗔𝗜𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗘 ━━ l. valdez

xxii ━━ gathered with a coven around a sorceress' table

01. chapter twenty-two

━━━━━━━━ ( 💫 ) ━━━━━━━━

PIPER AND I CORNERED the smug princess as jason and leo went off to check out the living fur coats.

"you want them shopping for their deaths?" i demanded.

i was all for treating adults with the utmost respect, that was the way i was raised. but this lady who cheated death, no. no way. she didn't deserve an ounce of respect. it didn't matter her age.

"mmm." the princess blew dust off a display case of swords. "i'm a seer, my dears. i know all your little secrets. but we don't want to dwell on that, do we? the boys are having such fun."

leo laughed as he tried on a hat that seemed to be made from enchanted raccoon fur. its ringed tail twitched, and its little legs wiggled frantically as leo walked. jason was ogling the men's sportswear. boys interested in shopping for clothes? a definite sign they were under an evil spell.

piper glared at the princess. "who are you?"

"i told you, my dear. i'm the princess of colchis."

"where's colchis?"

the princess's expression turned a little sad. "where was colchis, you mean. my father ruled the far shores of the black sea, as far to the east as a greek ship could sail in those days. but colchis is no more—lost eons ago."

"eons?" piper asked. "how old are you?"

the princess laughed. "a lady should avoid asking or answering that question. let's just say the, ah, immigration process to enter your country took quite a while. my patron finally brought me through. she made all this possible." the princess swept her hand around the department store.

piper shifted. "your patron..."

"she died," i said accusingly. "she was brought back to life. she's nothing but a cheater. i can smell the death radiating off of her." i shot the princess a disgusted look.

"that's quite an assumption to make, dear," the princess said. "my patron only brings through those who have special talents, such as me. and really, she insists on so little—a store entrance that must be underground so she can, ah, monitor my clientele; and a favor now and then. in exchange for a new life? really, it was the best bargain i'd made in centuries."

i wanted to turn my knife into a sword again and attack, but jason called, "hey, check it out!"

from a rack labeled distressed clothing, he held up a purple t-shirt that looked as if it had been clawed by tigers.

jason frowned. "why does this look so familiar?"

"jason, it's like yours," piper said. "now we really have to leave."

i was more keen on killing the princess rather than leaving right away, but when piper said this. i almost ran out without piper, leo, and jason. the princess's voice, however, was equally as powerful as piper's, if not more...

"nonsense," the princess said. "the boys aren't done, are they? and yes, my dear. those shirts are very popular—tradeins from previous customers. it suits you."

leo picked up an orange camp half-blood tee with a hole through the middle, as if it had been hit by a javelin. next to that was a dented bronze breastplate pitted with corrosion—acid, maybe?—and a roman toga slashed to pieces and stained with something that looked disturbingly like dried blood.