Текст книги "The Promise"

Автор книги: Jessica Sorensen

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Chapter 12

(Alex)

She made me so angry sometimes. As she stood there, telling me she was going to die so she could go to the Afterlife, I wanted to trap her in my arms and lock her away until this was all over. Obviously, I couldn’t. But I really considered it. Her casual attitude toward her own life was driving me insane. I wished she could see what she really was, what others saw.

I remembered the first time I saw her at school, walking across the parking lot. She was so innocent and confused and beautiful. I almost jumped back in my car and drove home.

Sometimes I wished I’d gone through with it. Instead I toughed it out, being a total dick to her, watching her hurt with every rude word I uttered.

Still, she forgave me. Well, eventually… kind of. There were times, when I realized what was at stake, that I wanted her to hate me. It’d make things easier if she refused to let me touch her and want her in the forbidden way that I did.

I was just about to start tearing into her, banning her from going anywhere near the Afterlife, when her dad showed up out of nowhere, screaming at her like a mad man. I was confused until I saw the Death Walkers planting their ice where it didn’t belong.

With one swift movement, I slid my hand into hers and sprinted down the beach, putting as much distance between her and them as I could. But she slipped on the ice, taking out balances with her. She landed on her back, cracking her head against the ice and I fell on top of her, my body pressing into hers.

She blinked over at the ice and then back at me. “Hold on,” she whispered, enclosing her arms around my neck and drawing me close to her.

The electricity poured through us, melting the ice below our bodies. Her hair blew in my face, her eyes shut and all I could think was take me now, because it really seemed like the perfect 51

time to die.

There was a flash and the next thing I knew we were falling to another world.

When the movement stopped I was shocked.

I never thought I’d see this place again. I didn’t want to see it again. It reminded me of everything bad and everything we needed to fix. We were in the mountains, where the piece of the star crashed to earth.

“This is what you were thinking of?” I asked. “In the middle of all that chaos.” She shrugged, an awkward shrug because I was still lying on top of her. “Why would anyone come looking for us up here?”

“Yeah,” I said, pushing to my feet. “But we’re going to end up freezing to death.” I cocked an eyebrow at her. “And I thought you hated the snow.” I pulled her to her feet, brushing the snow from her head and I felt her shiver from my touch.

“I m getting used to it, I guess.” But she pulled a face as she said it and I had to hold back a laugh. She looked at me, her eyebrows dipping together. “Won’t you freeze?” She fumbled to take my jacket off.

But I fastened the zipper back up. “Keep it on,” I said, tugging the hood over her head. “I’ll be fine.”

She eyed my short-sleeve shirt. “Are you sure because —”

I cut her off there was no way I was going to let her take that jacket off. “I wonder how they ended up in your dad’s head.”

She fiddled with the zipper. “Do you think… do you think he’ll be okay with them in there?” 52

I nodded, even though I had no idea. “He’s in his own head, which means his real body is somewhere else, so I think he’s safe.” I paused, staring out at the snowy mountains. “We need a plan.”

“We have a plan. We’re going to find my mom.” She leaned back against a tree, snow drifting down from the branches. “She’s getting the information from Nicholas. She’s probably waiting for me back at the house.”

“Info about how to get into the Afterlife?” I asked, tracing the tip of my shoe against the spot where the snow never melted the spot where the star hit.

She got this really funny look on her face, like she was trying to see into my head or something. “Do you know how to get there?”

“No,” I lied casually. There was no way I was going to offer up information that would get her killed. “I have no idea.”

She frowned, like she was on to me. Then she moved away from the tree and stood in front of me, crossing her arms, attempting to act tough. “Is that the truth?”

“Yeah.” I hated lying to her, but hated the idea of her dying more.

She didn’t believe me. “I need to find my mom.”

“Are you… are you doing okay with that?”

She nodded, but the electricity shot up a level and I was pretty sure she was about to cry. I opened my arms to hug her, and then pulled back, pretending to have an itch on my arm. Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t even seem to notice. Then her gaze darted to the side, and she let out a heavy sigh. “How did you find me?” she asked nervously.

Now I was the one growing nervous, because there was no one there.

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Chapter 13

(Gemma)

He probably thought I was insane, standing there, talking to myself. But I was talking the blonde faerie with the irritating voice. Aka Nicholas, the faerie/Foreseer.

“How’d you find me?” I asked, trying to ignore the chill he brought with him. I sensed Alex tense. “It’s Nicholas,” I explained.

“And your mom?” He asked and I shook my head.

“Where is she?” I patted my pockets, hunting for a knife I didn’t have.

“She’s been detained.” His golden eyes sparkled against the faint sunlight shadowed by clouds.

“But don’t worry, I m here to help you.”

“Sure you are.” I rolled my eyes. “Because we all know that’s your number one goal in life.”

“Oh Gemma,” he said overdramatically. “Your distrust hurts me so much there aren’t even words to express how I feel.”

“Go away,” I mumbled and Alex gave me this perplexed look. “And don’t come back until you’re with my mom.”

“But I’m here to help,” he said, crossing his heart. “I promise.” Alex trampled beside me. “What’s he saying?”

Nicholas grinned and waved his hand in front of Alex’s face. “God, I hate you.” His hand moved for Alex’s hair, not quite touching it. “And that stupid hair.” 54

“He s saying he’s a moron.” I glared at Nicholas. “And I like his hair.”

“What?” Alex’s said, fixing his hair.

“Nothing.” I pointed my finger at Nicholas. “Either tell me what to do or move on.”

“Fine. My word, no sense of humor.” He sighed. “You need to come with me.”

“I can t do that,” I said. “You’re dead.”

“And you’ll soon be too,” he said. “Once you pick the way you want to die. Now, I’d probably pick something poetic, like poison from a vile. But you —”

“Pick the way I want to die!” I shouted over him, sending snow from the branches. I lowered my voice. “I’m sorry, but what?”

Alex was tugging on my hand, trying to get me to turn to him, desperate to know what was going on.

“Just a second,” I held up a finger, keeping my eyes on Nicholas. “Start explaining from the beginning.”

He yawned, feigning fatigue. “It’s kind of a long story.”

“Then give me the short version, just don’t leave out anything important.” He sank down on a rock, folding his arms. “Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess,” he started and I shot him a glare. “You asked for the short version and I’m giving it to you, this is how it starts.”

I sighed and sat down on another rock, patting the spot next to me.

“What are we doing?” Alex asked, putting space between us as he sat down.

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“We’re listening to a story,” I said. “Or at least I am.”

“Like I was saying,” Nicholas continued, annoyed. “There was a beautiful princess, who was more extraordinary than any other princess because she liked to help the world. The problem was she wasn’t very good at helping. Every time she fixed a problem, she caused another.

Until one day she caused a problem so great, it cost the lives of many innocent people.” I gulped and Alex whispered in my ear, “What’s he saying?”

“I’ll tell you when he s finished.” I motioned at Nicholas to continue. “Go on.”

“What the princess needed to realize was that to fix the problems she’d caused, she needed to save the Lost Souls of the innocent lives that were taken.”

“And how to I save these Lost Souls?” I asked, already knowing his answer, but wanting him to say it anyway.

“By going to the Afterlife and bargaining with the queen for their release.” I frowned, remembering the last queen The Queen of the underworld. “A queen? The one my mother was telling me about?”

He smirked. “Queen Helena.”

“And what’s this queen like?” I asked. “Is she as bad as The Queen of The Underworld?”

“No, she’s much worse than the Queen of The Underworld.” He grinned, amused with himself.

“So how do I get her to free these souls?” I asked. “If she’s that bad? And how do I even get to the Afterlife to begin with?”

“You get help from a Banshee,” he said simply.

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I gaped at him. “What the heck’s a Banshee?”

“It’s a woman spirit whose cry signals death,” Alex explained, dusting the snow from the rock.

“She’s also the one who carries the Lost Souls to the queen.” I let out a long breath. “So we have to find a Banshee who will help us.” Alex s forehead creased. “Why?”

I sighed and quickly explained everything Nicholas had told me.

“So do you know any Banshee’s hanging around who might be nice enough to help us out?” I asked, hopeful, but knowing the chances were low.

“Actually I do.” Snow began to flutter from the sky as he stood up. “My mother.” My head whipped in his direction and I almost fell off the rock. “Your mother’s a Banshee?

How did you… what?”

Nicholas let out a snort. “Oh, this is so comical.”

“There nothing funny about his mom being dead,” I snapped.

“Oh, I m not laughing because his mother’s dead,” he replied still grinning. “I’m laughing because she’s a Banshee.”

I shrugged. “So?”

“A Banshee is of the faerie realm,” Alex said, as if he knew exactly what the argument was about.

My expression fell. “Oh.” I paused. “How did that happen?” 57

He shrugged, kicking at the snow. “Those journals I found that night we snuck into my house, well, they talked about her dying that she feared my father was going to kill her. And that he would learn her secrets. But then she wrote she’d find a way to cross into the Afterlife and become one of the queens Soul Collectors, also known as a Banshee. That way she could still have a connection to earth and help us when the time was right. So I started poking around, asking some people and I found out its true. She’s a Banshee.” There was so much sadness in his eyes, even though he was trying to conceal it. I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to kiss away his pain, so I did. A bold move for me, but hey, it had to happen eventually.

He looked surprised and I started to jerk back, because really, it was a stupid thing to do I mean, at any moment, he and I could drop dead from the intoxication of the electric connection we shared.

But he refused to let go, pressing me closer, tasting me, feeling me, wanting me. So I let myself get carried away for a second, not caring about the star, or the world, or the fact that Nicholas was watching us like a weirdo.

Finally, it became too much and we broke away, gasping for air, eyes untamed, wanting something we could never completely have. The ice on the trees dripped, making the snow under our feet a murky puddle.

“I think I’m going to throw up,” Nicholas mumbled.

“Then throw up.” I raised my eyebrows at him. “If it was that bad to watch then you should have turned your head.”

He pulled a face. “Then you should have turned your head,” he mimicked with exaggeration.

Alex turned toward where he guessed Nicholas to be. “Hey, I got an idea, why don’t you shut it.”

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I nodded my head discretely, mouthing: behind you.

Alex shook his head, irritated, and then reached into his pocket. “This guy named Draven, who’s the Lord of the Afterlife, gave me this address. Supposedly, it’s where my mom is.” I took the paper from him and unfolded it. “Reykjavik?” My eyes elevated to him, wide and shocked. “Iceland. Your mother’s in Iceland. God, it’s good the snow’s starting to grow on me.”

“Actually it’s colder here than it is there,” he explained.

“Oh.” I folded the paper back up and handed it to him.”Okay, it’s good you got an address and everything, but how are we supposed to get to Iceland?”

He cracked his knuckles, a deep thought masking his face. “Your Foreseeing thing only works if you’ve seen the place, so maybe if you had a mental picture of how it looked, we could get there.”

“But where does the mental picture come from?” I asked. “Because all I see when I think of Iceland is a big chunk of ice.”

He contemplated this. “Maybe if we had a picture you could look at.”

“Where are we going to find one of those? The internet doesn’t work at the house.”

“We wouldn’t go to the house. It’s too dangerous.”

“What about the library?” Nicholas interrupted, stepping between us.

I stared at him strangely. “Did you just offer up something useful on your own?” He shrugged. “There’s a first for everything.”

“What’s he saying?” Alex asked, his eyes searching desperately to see him.

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“He said we should try the library…” I trialed off as Nicolas strolled away whistling. “I haven’t been to town since all hell broke loose, so I m not sure if anyone’s still running things like libraries. Although, Laylen picked up groceries from somewhere.” His eyes flitted to my neck, and I knew he was thinking about the bite. “Well, we could try it…

carefully.” Then he pointed a finger at me. “And I’m stressing the careful part.” I extended my hand, ready to take us to town. But then I stopped, turning to Nicholas. “What happens after I free the Lost Souls?”

“Then you go to the lake and sacrifice your life, just like you’re supposed to,” he said honestly.

My hand remained suspended in midair, my jaw slack.

“What’d he say?” Alex asked. “Probably nothing that has any truth to it.” I blinked until I saw spots, and then looked at him. “He said he’d tell us when we get that far.” He pressed his lips together as I reached for his hand, electricity surging from the contact, and I shut my eyes and swept us away back to Afton.

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Chapter 14

(Alex)

Icould tell she was lying. Whatever Nicholas said to her was bad. But she wasn’t ready to tell me yet.

When we landed again, we were tucked away in the alley that lined the back entrance of the library. Snow was falling from the sky, making everything a sheet of slippery white. I ran my hand across the hood covering her head, sweeping away the snowflakes. Then we hurried to the back door. There were no windows close, so I couldn’t see what was going on inside.

“You think it’s open?” she asked, bouncing up and down from the cold.

I shrugged, grasping the handle on the door. But it was locked. Of course.

“You’re skins turning blue.” Her violet eyes widened as she looked at me.

“I’m just a little cold,” I said and when she reached for the zipper of the jacket, I trapped her hand. “I’m not going to take it back. I fine. I promise.”

She got this weird look on her face and then she enclosed her hands around my wrists, her pulse slamming against her fingertips. She bit her lip as she rubbed her hands up and down my arms, creating friction, electricity, warmth.

“Better?” she asked after she’d finished.

“Sure.” My voice cracked and I rolled my eyes at myself for showing how weak her touch made me. My gaze skimmed her from head-to-toe. “What about you?” I raised my eyebrow at her, giving her a look that made her hide a blush.

“You need me to warm you up?”

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She shook her head and I turned for the entrance door, smiling at myself.

The front door ended up being locked too, even after I kicked it and shook the living daylights out of it.

She let her head fall against the wall. “Now what?”

“I don’t know.” I glanced next door at the open restaurant behind us. I guess people had to eat.

“Think they’d have a computer we can use?”

She shook her head. “Doubtful. Maybe we should just break the window.”

“The alarm would go off and draw too much attention.” Across the street, there were only houses and many of them looked as dead as a graveyard. But a few streets back, I could see the pointed roof of the school. “I think I have an idea.”

* * *

She was fidgeting anxiously with everything she could get her hands on. “I can’t believe it’s still going, you’d think they’d cancel it or something.”

“I m pretty sure hell could freeze over and school would still be mandatory.” I yanked the heavy glass door open, letting her walk in. “Hey, this is where we first met.”

“Yeah…” She bit at her nails.

“You know, I didn’t really feel the way I acted that day,” I dared utter the dangerous words.

She nodded, still preoccupied with the hall where people moved to and from class.

“They won’t even notice we’re here,” I said, trying to calm her down, because her jittering was rubbing off on me a little. “And if they do, they’ll think we’re new students or something.” 62

“I know,” she muttered and started down the hall, with her head down.

I suddenly realized what the problem was. She wasn’t scared of being caught. She was scared off being here, in the halls that had tormented her for almost four years.

I wasn’t sure what to say to her, really I didn’t think there weren’t any words that could take her ach away. So I did the only think I could think to do. I took her hand, entwining our fingers together. Her pulse was racing, but not from my touch. She clutched on, not wanting to let go.

But eventually, we’d have to.

“So this is what Iceland looks like?” She frowned at the computer screen. “I thought you said it wasn’t cold there.”

“No, I said it wasn’t as cold.” I tapped my finger at the screen. “There’s still snow.” She tilted her head to the side, examining the photo. “What do you think that little roads for?”

“I don’t know, but this is the best picture I could find,” I told her, “Plus there’s a lot of bare space around, so we don’t have to worry about anyone seeing us appear out of thin air.”

“And then what? We just roam around until we find the address? The place looks pretty big.”

“We’ll get a taxi or something.”

“Seems kind of amateur.” She pouted.

“Don t worry.” I gave her hair a playful tug. “I’m sure they’ll be plenty of times where we’ll need your wonderful Foreseer power.”

“Yeah, I guess.” She clicked the mouse on the print page button and then rolled back the chair to stand. As she waited impatiently for the printer to screen out the picture, I spotted the figure of a vaguely familiar blonde-haired girl walking toward me. Kelsey something or 63

another. Really, I didn’t get it. I didn’t know if it was just a girl thing or what, but she really seemed determined to make Gemma s life a living hell.

“Oh my God,” she exclaimed, springing up and down on her toes.

I turned my back on her, taking Gemma’s arm, and whispering, “Code red.” She stared at me like I was a lunatic.

Shaking my head, I snatched the picture from the printer and dashed for the door, towing her along with me.

“What are you doing?” She worked to keep up with me.

“We’ve been spotted,” I hissed, not wanting to draw attention.

Her violet eyes skimmed the room and then her lip twitched. I heard Kelsey yammering something, but I was already swinging through the door. Gemma didn’t follow. She froze in the doorway.

“What are you doing?” I asked, but she only stared straight ahead at the wall. Kelsey jaunted up, an evil look on her face as she narrowed her eyes at Gemma.

“Well look who —”

Gemma let the door swing shut right in her face, her nose smashing into the glass.

“Ready to go?” she asked, grazing past me as if nothing had happened.

“Yeah,” I said with surprise. “Let’s go to Iceland.”

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Chapter 15

(Gemma)

It might have been a childish thing to do. Letting the glass door hit her in the face like that, but I just wanted one moment to cause her as much pain as she caused me, during my four years of High School hell.

Of course hers ended up being physical pain, not emotional. But I was okay with that.

I studied the photo of Iceland as we made our way around the back of the school where some of the stoners liked to hide out and smoke. But it wasn’t break time, so I knew it would be vacant. Out of the view of the school yard and windows, I knew it would be safe.

But when I ducked behind the garbage can, I was caught off guard by a vampire feeding… “Mr.

Sterling?”

Alex and I exchanged baffled looks and then Alex swiped a stick from the ground. The woman vampire with auburn hair, dark skin, and a triangle mark on her neck the Mark of Malefiscus kept draining the blood from my old astronomy teacher’s neck. Alex prowled like a predator behind her and with one quick motion, rammed the stick through the vampire’s chest. Her perfect body exploded into ashes, blackening the snow where she once stood.

From behind his glasses, Mr. Sterling’s large eyes blinked uncontrollably. “What happened… I don’t…” He cupped his hand around his bleeding neck and Alex’s guided him away from the garbage can.

“Go inside and tell the nurse you were cut,” he instructed.

Mr. Sterling nodded, bewildered as he staggered for the back door of the school.

“Ready?” Alex asked, eager not to waste more time.

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I held the picture in one hand and Alex’s hand in the other. I took in the snow lining the grass, the water, the shallow hills, feeling myself there. And when I opened my eyes, I was standing in the picture, only we were on a road.

“Son of a —” Alex cursed as the nose of an airplane dipped for us. We ran, tripping across the ice, and barely missed getting taken out by a plane. We didn’t stop running until we reached the fence, the top trimmed with barbed wire.

“How do we get over?” I asked, clutching onto the metal links Alex’s eyes searched for an escape route, while my gaze fixated on what was beyond the side of the fence. A parking lot, packed with cars. And there was one a bright red one that I focused on. I slid my hand onto his arm and felt the zap as I foresaw us over to the red car.

“Well, I guess that’s one way to do it.” He tried not to smile, but the corners of his mouth threatened upward.

“So what’s next?”

“A taxi.” He weaved thru the parking lot, his shoes crunching in the snow. I scurried after him, struggling to keep up. You know, it was confusing how this Keeper’s thing worked. When I was fighting, I could be graceful. Yet, here I was walking across the snow, and my feet didn’t want to stay under me.

The entrance doors glided open and we began our search for a payphone. But finally we gave up and Alex asked a security guard if there was a phone we could use. He must have thought we were a couple of homeless people, with the dirty look he gave us.

Thankfully, he spoke English and directed us to a phone booth, where I watched people scurry back and forth for the terminals, wondering if any of them were faeries, witches, or vampires in disguise.

He hung up the phone. “Taxi’s on its way.”

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We found an empty seat and waited for the taxi to show up. Alex was jiggling his knee up and down, nervous energy effervescing through him. My skin grew hotter and I started to sweat underneath the jacket

“So are we going to ever split up again,” I asked, throwing him off guard.

He deliberated his answer gravely. “Honestly, it’d probably be better if we did.” I nodded, agreeing, yet not agreeing. “Okay. But when?”

“Since we’re here…” His eyebrow arched. “We could just wait it out and if things get too bad, then we’ll promise to go our separate ways.”

I let out a soft laugh as I turned my hand over, tracing the scar of our forever promise. “Is this just a verbal promise or do we have to cut our hands again?” Hesitantly, he took my hand, dragging his thumb down the scar. He brought my palm to his lips and brushed it with a kiss. Then he returned it to my lap and said nothing more.

I wondered how long we were going to survive each other.

The taxi ride was a long one. The air smelled of old cheese and sweaty socks, and I had to hold my breath most of the way. But that was only part of the problem. Somehow I’d forgotten how hot and intense it was when Alex and I were squished in a car together. It was like a lightning storm had erupted in a confined space, the air static charged. At least when we kissed it was a quick rush of energy, but this… it was going to be the death of us if we didn’t arrive at our destination soon.

Just when I was thinking I was going to pass out, the taxi pulled up to the curb. The slightly tilted street was outlined with two-story houses compacted together, the lamp posts illuminating the snow flurrying down from the sky. We hopped out, Alex paying the driver before he sped off.

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“Which one is it?” I asked.

Alex slid the paper out of his pocket. Then he walked up the street, glancing at each house, finally coming to a stop in front of a white one with a green roof and snow-coated shrubbery trimming the yard. “I think this is it.” He returned the paper to his pocket and swung the gate open. We walked up to the front door, my eyes wandering up the quiet street.

“Are we safe?” I asked.

“Are we ever safe?” He knocked on the door.

The only answer we got was an echo. After pounding on the door two more times, he went for the doorknob, but I swatted his hand away.

His green eyes sparkled like emeralds as he stared at me with an amused look. “Is something wrong?”

“It just seems like every time this happens every time someone doesn’t answer the door it ends badly. Like we get chased down by a crazy witch or something,” I said, remembering Aislin and mine’s little journey and how it ended with a witch and her store burning down.

“You want to wait out here, while I go in and check things out?” he asked.

“No, I don t want anyone to go in. I want the door to open and your mother to be standing there, looking happy to see you.”

His mouth sunk to a frown. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“I know.” I sighed. “But it’d be so nice, if just once, something was that easy.” But I knew better. He knew better. And he didn’t say anything else, taking his knife and creaking the door open. “Stay behind me,” he whispered and then we crept inside.

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The house was bare, the walls scorched with residue from an old fire. I wiped my hand along the burnt wallpaper and rubbed my fingers together. “It’s ash,” I said, wiping my hands on my jeans.

He looked perplexed. “It’s weird, like it burnt on the inside but not on the outside.” We stared at each other and flinched as a wail resonated through the empty house.

“What was that,” I hissed.

He swallowed hard. “I think it’s my mother.”

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