Текст книги "The Promise"
Автор книги: Jessica Sorensen
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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 15 страниц)
Chapter 42
(Alex)
We never left the floor, not wanting to move, afraid the candle might burn out with the slightest shift of our bodies. I kissed her until her eyes shut, until she finally fell asleep in my arms, breathing softly, dreaming of dreams I hoped were good.
The song switched to Spill Canvas’s Lullaby, as the last of the wick struggled to stay lit. I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off it as it slowly lost the last of its light. How could we just die?
Forget my life, it didn’t matter without her beside me. How could I let her die? How could this moment be her one and only moment where she knew something was real? This wasn’t how this was supposed to work out. There had to be more.
It was like an epiphany had slapped me across the head and woke me up from a trance. The answer had been staring me in the face for the last few days. My mother had said it; that everything happened for a reason.
She was right.
I slowly rolled over and stood to my feet, watching the candle die. My skin erupted with heat and I knew I had to move fast. I bent down, giving her one last kiss on the cheek and she breathed from the sparks, but didn’t wake.
“Ego amare,” I whispered, the realest words I’d ever spoken. And then I was gone. Returning to the one place that had seemed like such a pointless journey.
Now it was more important than anything.
“I need your help,” I announced to Aislin as I entered the living room.
She was lolling on the couch, her feet kicked up on Laylen’s lap and she smiled teasingly. “Did 200
you two have fun up there?”
“Shut up,” I said. “Could you just come with me for a minute? There’s something I need to ask you.” My eyes roamed to Laylen. “Alone.”
She sighed, got up from the couch, and followed me into the kitchen. “So what’s up now? You need me to conjure a spell? Because I’m already working on one in case you’ve forgotten. A big one.”
“I need you to take me somewhere.” I let out a breath, preparing for her reaction. “I need you to take me to Iceland.”
“W-what?” she stammered. “Iceland? Why? Shouldn’t we be coming up with a plan to save you two? I mean, tomorrow is the day.”
“I know,” I said. “And that’s why.”
“So you know how to do it?” she asked hopeful. “How to save both of you from dying?” I took her by the shoulders, looking her directly in the eyes. “Yeah, but I don’t save myself.”
“No.” She shook her head madly. “You can’t do that Alex. Don’t be stupid.”
“I’m not being stupid,” I said. “I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to.”
“No, you’re trying to be a hero,” she snapped. “A stupid hero.”
“Aislin, you’ll be okay. You’ve got Laylen and Gemma and mom won’t be gone forever.”
“But why does it always have to be you.” Tears were flooding her cheeks.
“It’s never been me, Aislin.” I let my hands fall to my side. “She’s the one that spent most of her life unemotional, with a broken soul. She has no memories of her childhood, no really happy 201
memories that don’t have some kind of burden attached to them. She’s been tormented by the Death Walkers. By our father. Nothing about her life is fair.” She blinked back the tears. “I know, but yours hasn’t been that fair either, none of our lives have been easy.”
“And that’s why we need to stop all this,” I said. “So no one has to suffer anymore.”
“Are you sure there s not another way, though? Where no one has to die, except the bad guys?”
I shook my head. “Mom told me that the portal’s going to open up no matter what and the only way to seal it back is for the star to die, is for us to die.” She gasped, clutching onto the edge of the counter. “Why didn’t you say so? How can you keep things like this from me?”
“What would have been the point of telling you early?” I asked. “It’s going to happen no matter what. But I think I know a way to save Gemma.”
“But why can’t both of you be saved?”
“Because I can’t be. What I’m doing… one of us has to die.” Her breathing was ragged as she sucked back tears. “I’ll take you, but I’m not taking you to your death, am I? You’re coming back right?”
“Yeah, I’m coming back” I said. “And then tomorrow we finish this. You’re going to have to get that shield spell working.”
“That’s the problem.” She frowned, tears still dripping from her eyes. “I thought maybe when I stole the witch’s power it would give me enough power to remove it. But it didn’t.” 202
I paused, contemplating. “I think I know something that might work. But I need to go to Iceland first, okay. This needs to be taken care of.”
Our mom had been right when she’d said it always was Gemma. Because, if I could make this work, Gemma was the one who was going to live.
* * *
“I need you to do me favor,” I said to Laylen from the living room doorway.
He turned his head from the TV, looking at me oddly. “The last time you asked me to do you a favor, you left.”
“I’m leaving, but I’ll be back,” I said. “I need you to keep an eye on her. I need you to make a Blood Promise with me that you’ll always keep an eye on her, no matter what happens.”
“Why?” He questioned.
“Because.” I rubbed the back of my neck tensely. “It’s just important, okay?” Nodding, he stood up and I switched out my knife. I sliced my palm the one without the scar of the Blood Promise. Then I tossed the knife to him and he cut his own, his lip twitching at the blood.
“You okay there man?” I asked, cupping my hand.
“Yeah, I’m good.” He chucked the knife on the table. “So, can I just point out, that this is kind of awkward?”
“It always is,” I said and then we pressed our hands together and it was super awkward.
“So what’s the magic words this time?” he asked with a twitch in his hand.
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“Ego spondeo vos ut haud res quis gemma curam et custodiam eam iniuriam,” I said quietly, wishing I was on the other side of this promise.
He took a breath, suddenly understanding. “Ego spondeo vos ut haud res quis gemma curam et custodiam eam iniuriam.”
We broke our hands away and I wiped mine on the side of my jeans. “Okay, we good?”
“We’re good.” He dabbed his hand on his shirt.
“Am I walking in on something I’m not supposed to?” Nicholas was leaning against the wall, with a mocking expression, back to his normal self.
“You need to leave.” I grabbed the collar of his shirt and shoved him out of the room toward the front door.
“Hey, this isn’t your house,” he argued, trying to plant his feet firmly against the floor.
“Yeah, but I’m eliminating all risk factors right now.” I opened the front door. “And you’re one of them.”
“What? You don t trust me?” He faked offence.
“Nope.” I nudged the screen door open with my foot. “Now go.” He stepped out onto the porch, tripping over the threshold. “Is this a temporary thing?”
“I hope not,” I said, giving him another shove. “But that’s no longer my decision.” Then I slammed the door in his face, glad to see the faerie go.
Aislin stepped behind me, tears in her eyes and a reluctant frown on her face. “Are you ready to go?”
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“Yep.” I said. “Take me to Iceland.”
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Chapter 43
(Gemma)
“ It will be alright,” he whispered, brushing my hair back. “I’ll always save you.”
“But I don t want you to save me,” I said. “I want to save you.”
“It can’t be that way.” The ice crackled over his voice.
“It can if I want it to be,” I said my hair blowing in the wind. “It has to be me. It just has to.”
“No, it doesn’t.” He leaned close, tracing his finger along my cheekbone. “It never has to be you again. I’ll always save you Gemma, just like I promised.”
I shook my head, holding onto him as the Death Walkers descended from the trees. Their eyes lit with fire. Stephan stood in the middle, his cloak billowing behind him. “Please don’t leave me.”
The wind howled against my words. Ice laced my breath. My bones chilled.
“I have to,” he said. “This is how it was supposed to be.”
“No.” I shook my head. “This isn’t how our story goes this isn’t how I saw it.”
“Everything happens for a reason,” he said. “Even this.”
Then he pulled me against him.
“Don’t let me go,” I whispered.
But as the electricity sparkled, freeing itself from us, we slipped to the earth, our bodies breaking.
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Only one of us survived.
When I opened my eyes, I felt hollow and numb. My room was dark. Alex was gone. All the amazing feelings I’d had when I drifted to sleep, had evaporated.
I got to my feet, stumbled across my room, and cracked open the door. The house was silent, except for the sound of the TV. I stepped into the hall and padded down the stairs, finding only one person.
A tall vampire sat with his legs kicked up on the table. He turned his head as if he sensed me.
“I was wondering when you were going to wake up.”
Outside, the sky was dark, stars twinkling a song I almost knew. “What time is it? And where is everyone?”
“They took off somewhere.” He shrugged me off. “They wanted to have some brother and sister good-bye or something.”
I slumped down on the couch. “But they’re coming back, right?”
“Yeah.” His eyes were on the TV screen. “They’ll be back.”
“You sure?” I asked, crossing my arms. “Or are you just telling me that?” He met my eyes and they were full of truth. “Yeah, Gemma. They’re coming back.” I sighed with relief. “So Alex is finally accepting this, then?”
“What?” Laylen said. “You two dying? I’m not so sure.”
“If he’s saying good-bye than I’m sure that means he’s accepted it.” I paused. “Has Aislin removed Stephan’s Mark of Immortality yet? How’s that even supposed to work?” 207
His face sank as if he just realized there was a problem. “You know what? I have no freaking idea.”
God, this was stupid. I couldn’t just rely on the fact that I knew everything would worked out.
We still had to get there. And I didn’t see the part where Aislin removed the mark and the shield.
“What are you thinking?” Laylen asked, like he knew my mind was brewing up a plan.
I tapped my fingers on the arm rest, hating to do it, but unable to think of another way. “I think I need to see one more vision.”
He frowned and rested his arm across the top of the chair. “Why? I thought you weren’t into that anymore?”
“I’m not.” I bit at my thumb nail. “But I need to find out how Aislin takes Stephan down.”
“Are you sure?” he asked. “Because I know how you’ve felt about visions lately.”
“I’m sure.” I lied down on the sofa, propping my feet onto his lap. Then I took a deep breath.
“Just stay here while I go, okay?”
“Whatever you want.” He patted my legs. “And I’m always here for you. You know that.”
“One last Foreseer hoorah.” I shut my eyes, picturing Stephan, the Mark of Immortality on his arm, and an invisible shield protecting his body. I let my mind go, pushing past the boundaries of the normal human mind.
And then I was there.
I was standing at the Keeper’s Castle in front of the stairway. I’d been here before, but it had changed. There was ice spider webbing the ceiling and the banister. The floor was a layer of snow, the footprints of heavy traffic stamped through it. My shoes crunched as I moved to the 208
window and drew back the curtain. There we were, Alex and I, holding hands, far across the lake. This was it. This had to be it.
Voices fluttered from the back room and I walked up the hall, my heart knocking, not because I’d see Stephan or the Death Walkers. But because this was it. This was the end.
The door was shut and I shoved it open. A cold air chilled my skin and bones. The fireplace was lifeless. The rug that spread the floor was cracked with ice as a group of Death Walkers paused, listening to Stephan rant.
“This is the day,” he said, his black cloak trialing the floor as he paced it with his hands behind his back. “This is the day when we all reunite.”
The Death Walkers eyes glowed, their corpse-like hands clapped as they shrieked.
“The problem is, you have failed me,” he said. “You haven’t given me the star. And now all I have left is a useless portal. I can’t free Malefiscus. Do you know what that means?”
“But we have Death Walkers.” The voice moved over my shoulder and I shuddered.
Demetrius strolled up to Stephan. He wore the same black cloak. Standing side by side, Demetrius was taller, his black hair longer, but the both carried evil in their eyes.
“We don’t need Malefiscus anymore,” Demetrius said. “You can create marks. You and I can rule the world.”
Stephan’s eyes were cold as he traced his finger along his scar. “Do you not remember what this represents? Are you forgetting where we came from?”
Demetrius flinched. “I’m not forgetting, but we don’t have the star and we can’t free him without it. But we have the portal and there are enough Death Walkers to freeze over the world.” He lowered his voice. “We can still do this. We can still control everything.” 209
Stephan slammed his fist against the mantel. “He’s in our blood he’s the one who started this all. Don’t forget where we came from.”
“And we’re the ones who are going to end it.” Demetrius swished back his cloak. “Years and years you’ve sacrificed your life protecting a world that does nothing but cause more problems. But if we do this, we can control the faeries, the witches, the vampires everyone.
Forever.”
Stephan clenched his jaw. “We were supposed to free him. It was what we were born to do.” He touched the scar again. “It’s why we have these.”
I backed against the wall as more Death Walkers packed themselves into the room, choking the air away.
“No, it’s not time yet,” Stephan growled at the Death Walkers. “Stop asking me that same stupid question.”
Wow. He was really cracking under the pressure. I liked it.
He picked up the Sword of Immortality and ran his finger along the jagged blade. I thought he was going to stab one of them again as he strode for the nearest Death Walker.
“Breathe on this,” he instructed, holding the sword in front of a Death Walker’s mouth.
The Death Walker huffed and a mist puffed from its lips, blowing the Chill of Death on the blade. Then Stephan cracked it against the chair, shattering it into a thousand unusable pieces.
“No more threats,” he muttered and returned to the fireplace. “Well, let’s go then.” It was like an orb when it first appeared, a bright blue ball that built in the center of the room.
I glanced around, wondering who was doing it. The ball moved for Stephan and he buckled back, bumping his arm against the bricks of the fireplace.
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“What is that!” He barked, leaning his head back as the orb bounced for him. “Which one of you is doing this?”
“I am.” Aislin materialized in the center of the ice army and she wasn’t alone. Laylen towered beside her, holding her hand for support.
Stephan grinned wickedly. “Has my daughter finally come to reunite with me… are you afraid of what’s coming?”
“Nope,” she said, lifting her hands and the orb raised with it. “But you should be.” Then she thrust her hands forward and the orb exploded with shimmer, growing bigger and bigger, sealing around Stephan, Laylen, and herself. The Death Walkers charged, but their bodies bounced against the orb, some slamming to the floor and other’s shrieking.
Demetrius stood by the door, uncaring, a true evil side-kick.
“You can’t kill me.” Stephan’s voice simmered through the translucent wall and he showed Aislin his Mark of Immortality. “No one can.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” She leaned forward and cupped her hand around her mouth like she was telling him a secret. “Because you’re going to die today.” He laughed, the sound bubbling through the orb. “No one can kill me, especially you.”
“I know.” She told him confidently. “But I didn’t say I was going to kill you, did I?” Her hands sparkled. A swirl of light, bright colors vaulted upward. “Scutum aufero recipiam.” I inched toward the orb and quickly tried to memorize every word she spoke.
Nothing happened and Stephan tipped back his head, laughing wickedly. “I’m unimpressed Aislin. And a little disappointed. I would have hoped my own daughter would be able to do better than this. Guess I set my expectations too high.”
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“Or your arrogance too high,” Laylen said and then rammed headfirst into Stephan’s gut. Their bodies cracked as they hit the floor and Laylen took a swing at Stephan’s face. But Stephan blocked it and reached for his boot, yanking out a knife.
I gasped, running for them, but then slid to a stop, forgetting I couldn’t touch them.
Aislin rushed for them and stabbed a knife into Stephan’s wrist, right in the center of his Mark of Immortality. “Accipe bonum industria a!” Aislin faltered as she took out a small vile from her pocket and dumped the liquid on Stephan’s arm, mixing it in his open wound.
Stephan elbowed Laylen and freed his hand, giving Aislin a hard slap across her cheek. She soared backward, her body knocking against the wall of the orb. Laylen sank his teeth into Stephan’s arm and he retaliated with a kick to the stomach. The sphere started to spark, fading in and out.
“Laylen,” Aislin screamed, crawling for him. “It’s time to go! Now!” She extended her hand and Laylen ran. But Stephan snatched hold of his leg and he tripped to the floor. He slammed Stephan’s head with the heel of his boot, clawing for Aislin.
If they didn’t get Stephan off, he’d transport with them. I flipped out, wondering if I was going to witness the end of one of their lives.
The orb abruptly burst with a loud thunder like a massive ocean wave rolling for land. The floor dusted with light and sparkles. One last kick from Laylen and his shoe collided with Stephan’s face.
Instinctively, he jerked back, clutching his bleeding nose and lips. Laylen zipped over to Aislin and right as the Death Walkers reached the line of danger, they disappeared, going back to their lives.
“Dammit!” Stephan cried, slamming his fist against the floor. “It’s gone!” 212
“What is?” Demetrius asked, still leaning motionless against the doorway.
Stephan’s eyes burned in his direction, blood streaming down his face. “My shield!” He glanced at his arm. “And my Mark of Immortality.”
“You can put it back on,” he said. “So relax. It s almost time.” A ringing filled the room. Stephan retrieved his phone from his cloak. He stared at the screen before wiping the blood from his face. Then he answered it.
“What.” He snarled into the receiver. A voice chattered from the other end and Stephan’s face took on anger mixed with excitement. Unexpectedly he shattered the phone against the icy ground and stampeded for the door.
“What is it?” Demetrius scooted out of the way.
“Our stars waiting for us,” he said and then grinned as he rushed for the outside.
Demetrius followed, a fog of ice blustering against my skin as the Death Walkers flocked after them, their yellow eyes glinting.
All of them were ready to kill Alex and me.
When the room emptied, I dropped down to the floor, my heart aching because I knew what was happening outside. I stayed there for a while. I couldn’t get my legs to cooperate, so I let them lay lifelessly in front of me as I watched the ice melt and puddle in the quiet room. The air began to warm and my body thawed. I didn’t want to go. But I knew I had to.
Eventually, I willed myself up and took one last glance back. I could have went to the window and seen the damage outside, but I didn’t want to.
When I woke up in the living room, I was lying on the couch, my feet still on Laylen as he stared at me worriedly.
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“What’s wrong?” I sat up, looking around for danger lurking in the corners.
“You were… what happened?” he asked.
“I saw what Aislin did,” I said, realizing I’d been crying and I dried my tears.
“Did we win?” He looked at me with hope in his eyes “Does she remove the shield and the mark?”
I nodded. “And so do you.”
He pressed his lips together, wanting to say more. His blue eyes looked brighter somehow, maybe because they weren’t burden with the mark.
“Are they back yet?” I slid my legs off his lap, but he held them down. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.” He played with his lip ring. “Would you… could you explain to me why you have to die? Because I don t get it. If we removed his mark, then we can take him down.”
“But we can’t take down everything else,” I told him. “Alana told me something while I was in the Afterlife. She said that everything was supposed to happen this way. And that the star had to die because if it lives, the portal will open. Malefiscus is part of the star and it connects the portal to us. He can’t walk free without the blood of the rest of you guys, but the portal opening up will do enough damage to the world. And we I can’t let it open.”
“I wished things were different,” he mumbled, eyebrows furrowing. “I wish I could have done things different.”
I didn’t say anything, not completely agreeing with him. Yes, I wished most of my life had been different. But there were a few things I wouldn’t change.
A bang shook the floor and I jumped to my feet, searching for a knife.
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“Sophia’s still down there,” Laylen unnecessarily explained and pulled me back down.
“I know,” I said, glancing over my shoulder at the kitchen. “Could you do me a favor?”
“Anything you want, Gemma.”
“Could you free Sophia?” I asked. “After all this is over. Don’t just leave her down there.” He titled his head to the side, his blue-tipped bangs falling across his forehead. “You don’t hate her for what she did to you?”
I considered my answer carefully. “I don’t hate her, but I don’t really like her either. It’s kind of strange, I guess because I know all those years her mind wasn’t her own. But all the pain she caused is still fresh in my mind. She’s my grandmother though, and I don’t want her locked underneath the house forever.”
He fidgeted with his lip ring, perplexed in his own thoughts. “Gemma, how do you know for sure that you won’t be around for this? How do you know you’re going to die and Alex’s isn’t?” I leaned in, lowering my voice. “Can you keep a secret?”
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