Текст книги "The Promise"

Автор книги: Jessica Sorensen

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Chapter 32

(Alex)

It hurt me to see her like that. She was hurting in ways she didn’t know how to deal with. And I didn’t know what to do. I could have gone to her myself, but I was the one who still had a mother. So I sent Laylen, even though it killed me, because I knew he could help her through it.

And now I was the one helping her to her death.

Gemma held the vile of poison between her finger and thumb, staring at the clear liquid. “So this is what’s going to kill me, without actually harming me?” My mother leaned forward from the sofa and took the vile from her fingers. “It will once Aislin seals it with the Kiss of Death.”

“It sounds like something straight out of Shakespeare,” Gemma remarked, tilting her head, studying the vile.

“Like Romeo and Juliet,” Nicholas commented. “Only let’s hope this one over here doesn’t pull a Romeo and take his own life. Then you’ll both be dead.”

“Does he really need to be here?” I asked. “It seems kind of pointless.”

“We need his help with something,” my mother said, cupping the poison in her hand.

“Help with what?” I asked. “Have you actually talked to him?”

“I’d like to point out that I’m staying,” Nicholas’s voice interrupted. “I’m not going anywhere until my life returns to me.”

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“But how am I going to get Helena to give up the Lost Souls?” Gemma asked. “Because I don’t think she’s just going to hand them over.”

“With that.” My mother taped the ring on Gemma’s finger. “That belongs to the queen.”

“The last time we tried to make a bargain with a jewel,” Gemma frowned, “it didn’t work out so well. We ended up trapped in The Underworld with a pissed off queen.”

“That won’t happen,” my mother said. “As long as you’re still tied to the human world, the queen can’t hurt you. And she’ll want that ring more than anything.” Gemma twisted the ring on her finger. “Why? What’s so special about it?” My mother s eye lit up in an inhuman way. “Because inside that rings is her soul.”

“Who’s soul?” Gemma and I asked.

“The queen’s soul,” my mom answered, stepping toward Gemma. “That’s why you can see the dead when you wear it.”

I stepped between them. “There’s one thing that is really bugging me about this,” I said.

“Actually, there’s more than one, but this is the biggest. How is she going to come back? How will she start breathing again?”

“That’s what you’re for.” My mother patted my shoulder. “You’re part of her in every way, through the promise, through the star, through your soul.”

“Soul?” Gemma gave me a confused look. “Am I missing something?”

“Oh.” My mother averted her eyes, realizing I’d never told Gemma that our souls were connected. “All you have to do is revive her when it’s time.”

“So how do I know when that is?” I asked. “Because I won’t know what’s going on down 152

there.”

Her gaze locked on a space of air. “Nicholas is going to tell you when it’s time.”

“No freakin way,” I said, wondering if being locked up in the City of Crystal had messed with her head. “You actually want to leave someone like him in charge of something like that.”

“It’s the only way,” she said. “He’s the one who can see into their world.” I crossed my arms. “Why can’t you just come back?”

She got a look in her eyes I didn’t like. “Once I cross over into the Afterlife, I can’t come back.”

“What!” I exclaimed and Gemma gasped.

“I’ve been avoiding my duties as a Banshee,” she said. “Once I turned, I got myself sentenced to the Foreseer’s crystal to keep my whereabouts hidden. But now… when I go there, Helena can make me stay if she chooses to.”

“You have to come back,” I muttered. “It’s… I…”

“I will one day.” She patted my head like I was still two-years-old. “It’s not good-bye forever.”

“There’s got to be another way,” I said, determined that there was. “Maybe Nicholas could take me to the Afterlife.”

“Only a Banshee can carry a Lost Soul to the Afterlife.” She sank down on the coffee table tucking her hair behind her ears. “And Gemma’s the one that’s going. I’ve already explained this.”

“Maybe we could find another Banshee then,” Gemma suggested, biting at her nails.

“We can’t,” I answered for my mom. “No other Banshee will bring your soul back.” 153

This was so stupid. Both of them were exactly the same, throwing their lives down like it didn’t matter, like they were worth nothing.

“Now that everyone understands their job.” My mother stood. “Should we get started?”

“You know,” Gemma said, lying on her bed, her hands overlapped across her stomach as if she was preparing her body for death. “In the dream I had the one where I died Nicholas was the one that appeared to me.”

“That’s because you secretly have the hots for me.” He rolled around in the computer chair, but without his body, it was just a chair moving on its own.

“Or maybe she just feared it’d be you,” I said, from the other side of the room because apparently the electricity would keep the poison from working. And when she actually took it, I was going to have to clear the room altogether, something I was really struggling with.

“Or maybe it’s because she can’t stop thinking about me.” The chair spun in a circle.

“Or maybe it’s because for three straight weeks you wouldn’t leave me alone,” Gemma said, her eyebrows furrowing. “I mean, you were watching me day and night, even when you shouldn’t have been.”

She pressed her lips together as Nicholas let out a laugh.

“Say whatever you want,” he said. “He can’t hurt me.”

It took me a minute to catch on. “Wait. Was he… when you say watching…”

“Yes,” Aislin said shaking the vile. “We all know Nicholas is a pervert. Now will you all shut up so I don’t mess this up? It’s important.”

I sealed my lips and leaned back against the wall.

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“Okay.” Aislin sat down at the foot of the bed. “I need complete silence.” She waited until the house was hushed. “Signa hoc venenum cum osculum vitae,” she whispered, swishing the liquid. “Servare quicumque bibit spirans. Sed signa voluntas osculum mortem et eorum cor mittimus.” The vile bubbled, morphing to a shade darker than black. “Now, that’s death.”

“Is it time to go?” My mother entered the room.

Aislin showed her the vile. “We’re all set.”

My mother nodded. Aislin ran over and hugged her. “This isn’t good-bye,” my mother whispered. “I’ll be back one day.”

Aislin pulled away, rubbing the tears from her eyes and nodding.

Then it was my turn. She pulled me into a hug and it almost popped my lungs.

I cleared my throat as I backed away. “You better come back.”

“I’ll do my best.” She turned. “Gemma, I’ll meet you there.” Then she was gone, as quick as she’d arrived, like a mere visit from a ghost.

I was sadder than I expected. A rush of emotion overcame me, making me uncomfortable. I cleared my throat hard and tried to gain composure.

“Are you ready?” Aislin asked Gemma.

Gemma nodded and took the vile from her hand. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” Aislin looked over her shoulder. “You need to go downstairs.” I pressed my lips together, stepping for the bed.

But Aislin held up her hand.

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“You can’t be near her at all. She needs to be calm.”

I locked eyes with Gemma and thought of our Forever Promise, made one dreary day, when two kids were trying to hold on to something that might never be again. And it was like she understood, like she knew what I was thinking. She touched the scar on her hand.

It was one of the hardest things, walking away, leaving that room, knowing she would breathe her last breath.

But I left, just like I was supposed to.

When I walked into the kitchen, Laylen was there messing around with the pipes under the sink.

“You’re not going to see her before she…” I trailed off, not bothering to even try to say it.

He focused on twisting a bolt. “I can’t… it’s too…”

I nodded, rolling up my sleeves. “So you need any help.”

He shrugged. “Sure.”

I reached for the wrench, feeling her slipping away as she died.

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Chapter 33

(Gemma)

Iwatched him leave, his eyes sad, his muscles tense as he forced them to move. He took the electricity with him, along with some of my soul apparently. When I returned, I’d press him for the details.

I clutched my hand around the vile, letting out a hefty sigh. “So this is it? The Kiss of Death.”

“Don’t worry,” Aislin assured me from the foot of my bed. “You’ll come back.” I knew I would. After all, I wasn’t finished with life quite yet. I’d seen what was going to happen with my future. And since I hadn’t been able to change it, as far as I was concerned, my life was over. Alex and I would go to the lake and take our own lives, along with Stephan, Demetrius, and every Death Walker on this Earth.

“I wonder how it tastes?” I examined the bottle as it bubbled. “Because it looks really gross.”

“It probably tastes gross,” Aislin said. “I’m sure death can’t taste good.”

“Well.” I raised it in the air, like I was making a toast. “Here’s to coming back to life and freeing the souls.” Then I kissed my lips to the rim, tipped it back, and swallowed. “You’re right… It doesn’t taste…”

My limbs went numb, my heart silencing. I fell back on my bed, into my soul, absorbed by the darkness of death.

When I opened my eyes, I was standing in a field, the breeze a soft lull as it skipped across the grass. Crows circled above me like death and I thought of my nightmare. Then they dove for me and I shielded my head. Their beaks clipped my hair and hands.

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“Stop it!” I cried out at the madness and they scattered like mice. I lowered my hands, breathing relief. But where was Alana?

I noticed that one crow lingered behind, soaring in loops, like it was dancing. Then it flipped directions, flapping its wings, and headed off into the unknown. I shoved my way through the tall, dry grass, making a path as I chased after the crow. With every step I took, the crow flew further and then it curved up, becoming just a spot in the sky. I trampled through the field until I broke through to grassless land. There was a house, ancient and damaged, the wood singed with traces of a fire.

I climbed up the front porch and opened the door. Suddenly, I was standing in the same house that was in Iceland, surrounded by charcoaled wall paper and a floor stained with ash.

“Hello,” I called out and the door slammed shut. I whirled, yanking at the doorknob.

“Gemma.” The sound of her voice was like fresh air.

I turned to Alana. “I wasn’t sure if I was in the right place.” She smiled, stretching her hand to me, her bright green eyes welcoming. “You’re not quite there yet, but almost.”

I took her hand and she led me up the stairs, my body strangely lighter with each stair. I felt a weight rising off my chest, one I hadn’t known I was carrying and everything started to make sense, like the pieces of the puzzle had finally connected.

“We’re going to die,” I said, calm and composed, my head clearer than ever, as if the poison I drank had been filled with knowledge. “Alex and I we have to, don t we? Otherwise, there’s no getting rid of the star or Stephan and everything that comes with him. It has to happen that way, because it’s the only way.”

“The portal will open regardless,” she said, nodding. “But the death of the star will kill it and everything in it.”

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“Is there any other way?” I wanted to make sure. “A way where I could at least save him?”

“You’d do that?” Her hair drifted across her face as she turned her head at me, astonished.

“You would save him and let yourself go?”

It was like my life flashed through me, my mind trying to reach unreachable memories. A month maybe even a week ago, I’d have said I didn’t know. But now, in my death, it was different. My eyes were finally opening from a life of blindness.

“I think so,” I said as we stopped at the top of the staircase in front of solid black door.

“Hold onto that thought for a while.” Alana gripped the doorknob. “Right now, you need to focus on the queen.”

“Because it’s not as easy as you said it was going to be,” I said, knowing there was difficulty before me.

She swung the door open. “Nothing’s ever easy, Gemma. Even in death.” And death this was. The air was so thick it suffocated the light, replacing it with a darkness so heavy I nearly buckled to the floor. The foulest smell touched my nose, like the stench of something rotting. I gagged, feeling like I was floating yet falling.

“Keep your head down and try not to look at them,” she whispered and then vanished through the doorway.

I tipped my chin down, my hair a curtain around my cheeks. I tried not to breathe the intoxicating air and that’s when I realized my need for air was gone. It’s the most fascinating thing and that’s where I fixed my attention. But then I glimpsed a bony foot in my peripheral vision and I couldn’t help it. I peeked between the slivers of space in my hair. They were like mummies, pail and frail, with no meat on their bones, eyes as hollow as their coffins. I told myself to shut my eyes, but I was too fixated on the dead. The tortured. The lost.

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“Some of the souls you’re here to save,” Alana explained over her shoulder. “But don’t look at them. It’ll upset Helena.”

Lovely. I hurried to catch up with her. “How’s it going to be harder? Is the queen going to want more than the ring?”

“No, you’ll understand soon. And Gemma, whatever you do, don’t give her that ring until you’ve sealed the promise for the freedom of the Lost Souls that were lost because of the mark.”

“Will she know what I mean when I say that?” I asked, shutting my eyes as one of the souls let out a sharp cry. “Does she know why I’m here?”

“She’s the Queen of the Afterlife,” she whispered. “Not the Ruler of the City of Crystal.” I dared another glimpse at the souls, secretly looking for one that looked like my mother, hoping I wouldn’t find her.

“She’s not here.” She ducked her head as the ceiling dipped down. “And be grateful she’s not.” We reached the end of the tunnel and I suddenly understood what Alana meant. These weren’t just Lost Souls, they were tortured souls. The room pulled at my memories of The Underworld, where the Water Faeries tormented those who were sentenced there. This place was the same; bones breaking, painful cries, as the mummy-like bodies were forced to work by men with whips and daggers.

But the difference between The Underworld and the Afterlife was that these souls weren’t evil.

They were lost.

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Chapter 34

(Alex)

“ So we fixed the sink.” Laylen leaned back against the counter and folded his arms. “Now what?”

I contemplated this, trying not to think about Gemma, upstairs lying dead in her bed. “Unless there’s something else broken, I don’t have a damn clue.”

“I’m pretty sure we only made the sink worse.” He stared at a pool of water on the floor next to his feet.

“What were we even trying to fix?” I asked, not even attempting to hide the fact that I knew zero about plumbing.

Laylen shrugged. “I don’t know, I just thought it looked funny.”

“That’s probably why we couldn’t fix it then.” I dropped down in a chair, scooting the tools out of the way, and rested my head on the table.

“So who wants to help?” Aislin asked, her cheerful voice like a knife to my ear.

“Go away,” I mumbled. “If you’re going to be cheerful.”

She prodded my side with her foot. “Stop being a downer. I need your help.”

“With what?” Laylen asked. “Wait. Let me guess. A spell.”

“With removing your Mark of Immortality.”

I raised my head, glancing at Laylen, who was staring speechlessly at Aislin.

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“You’ve figure out how?” I asked her. “When?”

She shook her head, frowning. “I’m not sure if I’m quite there yet, but I’m close enough that I want to test it.”

“On me.” Laylen raised his eyebrows.

She nodded energetically. “Then after I’ve perfected that, it’s on to the shield removing spell.

Of course, I’m not sure how I m going to figure out if that one works… well, unless I went to Stephan and used a spell on him.”

“That’s not happening. No one’s ever going to be around him again. It’s too dangerous,” I said.

“Hold on… Why didn’t anyone give up our location when you guys switched sides?”

“Because I put an interpres incantatores on us,” she said. “When you left you missed out on all the amazing things I did.” She put her hands on her hips. “I put the spell on the five of us to prevent anyone from telling an enemy our location.” She glanced at the boarded window.

“And we have a lot of enemies.”

“But why didn’t you do the spell on me.”

She raised her hand in front of her. “Non proferre verbum ad emeny.” Then she sparked silver dust all over me.

“Dammit Aislin!” I jumped to my feet, dusting off my jeans. “What was that crap?”

“That was the spell,” she said and Laylen laughed, thinking she was funny or something. “I’m getting good at this witch thing, huh?”

“Hopefully good enough to even remove the Mark of Immortality.” I brushed the last of the silvery stuff off.

“Oh, I am.” She dropped a book on the table and opened it to a marked page.

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I raised my eyebrows at her. “What’s that?”

“A spell book.” She said in a duh way.

“Sorry I’m not more up to date with my witchcraft knowledge,” I said, shoving her hand out of the way. “Bonum et malum. What is that?”

“It s the Good and Evil spell.” She turned the book, sat down, and Laylen joined us. “It separates the good from the evil.”

“But the Mark of Immortality isn’t a good thing.” Laylen covered the Mark of Immortality on his arm. “So trying to take it off Stephan? That’s bad and bad.”

“That’s not what this is.” She tapped her finger on the page. “This spell separates things that don’t go together. Like Stephan and the Mark of Immortality. Or like Laylen and his mark.”

“It seems like a long shot.” I crossed my arms on the table. “Can’t you just use the same spell you’ve been using to take off the Mark of Malefiscus?”

“Magic doesn’t work like that.” She turned the page. “Everything works according to rules.

And as a witch, I think this will do it. There’s just one tiny little problem.” I flopped my head back and sighed. “And what’s that?”

“There’s this thing about blood.” She flipped the page back. “It needs the blood of someone who’s both good and bad. So any ideas?”

I had one idea, but I wasn’t about to say it. If I’d learned anything, it was never to mention this particular person’s name in reference to something bad.

“I have an idea.” Laylen paused. “Me.”

Glad he was the one who said it.

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“You what?” Aislin asked, puzzled.

“Me, as in my blood.” He stared at the table, ashamed.

“Oh, I don’t think that’s what it means,” Aislin said, skimming the pages with her finger. “It couldn’t be…”

“Why not?” I decided to put my two cents in. “He’s a vampire and a Keeper. Good and bad, well at least the Keeper part is kind of good.”

“Alex,” Aislin started.

“No,” Laylen put his hand over hers. “I think it might work, if that’s the spell you want to try.” She blinked dazedly at his hand and I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know. I mean, I guess it might work.”

“Alright then.” I rubbed my hands together. “Let’s do it.”

“It’s more complicated than that, Alex,” she said. “We need more than just blood.”

“What else do you need?” I heaved a dramatic sigh. “Ice from an Iceberg, salt only from the sea? Or how about the toe of a faerie?”

“No, nothing like that.” She paused and then smiled skillfully. “And besides, if we needed the toe of a faerie we wouldn’t have a problem. We’ve got one upstairs.”

“That one’s a ghost.”

“But not for long.”

I hated the direction of this conversation. It forced me to think of Nicholas up there with Gemma. “So what else do we need?”

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She ran her fingers along the list of ingredients. “Honestly, the worst thing is the blood. Other than that, I probably have most of these things. And anything I don’t have can be picked up from a basic witch store.” She scooted back from the table. “I’ll go check and see what I got.”

“She’s crazy,” I muttered, shaking my head.

“She’s your sister.” Laylen muffled a laugh.

“And she’s your what?” I questioned. “Because I’m still not clear on that.” We stared each other down. He knew what I was thinking, and it was a thought that had crossed my mind more than once. Gemma and Laylen had this close connection and I was never exactly sure what it meant. Were they just friends? Or did he like her more than that?

“That s really none of your business.” He rapped his hand on the table and stood up. “I think I’ll go help Aislin.”

The stillness of the kitchen wore on me quickly. It was driving me crazy not knowing what was going on. Not knowing if everything was going smoothly.

Not knowing if she’d make it back to me.

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