Текст книги "The Promise"

Автор книги: Jessica Sorensen

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Chapter 23

(Alex)

Ihated leaving her, but there was no way I was going to let her come with me. Her violet eyes drew enough attention and now she had wings.

“How did you know about this, but I didn’t,” Aislin fought to keep up with me as I shoved my way down the crowded streets of Vegas, neon lights flashing, casino machines ringing. People were dressed in impersonator costumes, handing out leaflets, ignoring the vampires feeding in the shadows.

“I know a lot of things you don’t,” I said.

“Yeah, but I’m a witch. You’d think I’d know that there was a spell to remove the wings of a Black Angel without sending them to hell. Are you sure it’ll take two witches though?” She cast a glace around the street. “It’d probably be easier if I could just do it.”

“No you need a witch for each wing… So this is where all the vampires, fey, and witches migrate to?” I observed, changing the subject, worried if she found out how I knew about this she’d be hurt. “I guess it makes sense, going where it’s more crowded, where there are more humans.”

She shook her head, pushing a crying woman out of the way. “You could be a little bit more sympathetic you know. You don’t have to be such a jerk all the time.”

“And you didn’t have to hall a Black Angel to the house,” I said. “But you did.” Tears started to slip out and I shook my head. Aislin had always been a crier.

“Sorry.” I gave her a pat on the back. “That was me being a jerk again.” 101

“It’s okay.” She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. “You’re just stressed”

“No, I’m not.” I scanned the crowd for a witch that wasn’t marked. “Because I’m going to fix this.” Then I spotted one, not too far off, head down, black hair a veil across her face, trying to conceal her identity.

“We also have another problem.” Aislin was still chattering. “Aleesa’s still missing, and I think we should —”

I stopped, Aislin running into me. I pointed through the crowd. “There we go. I’m guessing she’s unmarked.”

When we were younger, before my mom vanished, she used to teach me all this stuff that, at the time, I’d thought was a useless bunch of information. Things like how to kill a Death Walker or where the City of Crystal was. Or how to shift a Black Angel back to human form.

Sometimes I wondered if she knew all of this was going to happen. Or maybe she just knew my father was a dick who wanted to kill the entire world and would never teach me how to protect it.

Aislin seized my arm. “Maybe I should handle this.”

“Hey,” I said. “I can be charming when I want to you know.” She frowned. “No, you just think you can.”

“I don’t think this is going to be easy no matter who goes over there,” I told her. “It might be better just to knock her out.”

Aislin narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. “That wouldn’t be very nice.”

“I’m not trying to be nice,” I said. “I’m trying to save Gemma.”

“Alright, just give me a few seconds.” Then she disappeared into the mob and marched up to 102

the terrified witch. She said something and then the witch followed her back. “She’ll help.” She smiled, pleased, because she was right and I was wrong. She raised her eyebrows at me.

“Should we get going?”

I motioned down the street. “Go ahead, lead the way.”

The witches name was Emma and her quiet, frightened demeanor on the streets was very misleading. Once she got going she wouldn’t shut up, yammering about who she was and where she came from. But she was helping us out, so I tried to keep my mouth shut and just put up with it.

When we arrived at the house, the lights were off, the air dead quiet, the front door dripping with water.

We went inside and I motioned for them to stop. “Wait here. Something seems off.” My knife was already out of my pocket, positioned in front of me as I crept up the front stairs and pushed the door open. I was greeted by air so cold, it could only mean one thing the Death Walkers had been here. I sprinted into the living room, the table, chairs, and floor frozen over.

And in the center of all of it, a Death Walker laid dead, its rotting flesh iced over by its own chill.

“Dammit.” I ran my fingers through my hair, tugging hard, as Aislin and Emma came rushing in.

“What is this?” Emma asked, panicking, backing for the door. “You said I’d be safe. What is this?”

“Oh my god.” Aislin’s jaw dropped to the floor. “They had to they had to make it out.” I pointed to the ground, at the dead Death Walker. “Yeah, but who killed that?” Before Aislin and I could react, Emma screeched and dashed out the door.

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“Should I go chase her down?” Aislin asked.

I nodded and she spun, sliding across the floor as she raced for the door and ran out into the darkness of the street.

I kicked the apothecary table across the floor and squatted down, examining the Death Walker. It had been stabbed by the one thing that could kill a Death Walker. The Sword of Immortality I could see the cut where the tip of the knife hand entered the chest. But how? My father had it.

“Where are you?” I muttered to the air, like she could hear me. I stood up, inspecting the room for anything that would lead me to her. But everything was blanketed by ice, except for the front window, which was shattered. I walked over, sticking my head out. And there it was, like a secret message. A single purple flower, lying on the sidewalk, whispering: come find me.

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Chapter 24

(Gemma)

“ You know what, I think I kind of like the wings.” Laylen smoothed his hand over the feathers as we sat on Adessa’s velvet sofa, waiting for Alex to come back with his brilliant plan to save me.

“Don’t be weird,” I joked, pulling a face at the wings.

“I’m not being weird.” He gave me a teasing smile and then his eyes widened in mocked shock.

“What if you can fly?”

“I can’t fly,” I said, but then I knitted my eyebrows together, staring at the black feathers. “Can I?”

“You should try it,” he encouraged.

I sighed back against the couch, the wings creating an uncomfortable lump behind my back.

“This sucks. I should be trying to find a way to get into the Afterlife, and instead I’m stuck here.”

“We’ll get it all fixed,” he assured me. “We always do.”

I wasn’t so sure, though. And the Iceland thing was a dead end, for God knows what reason Alex hadn’t gotten around to explaining that one yet.

“I know.” I kicked my boots up on the table, hoping my words were true.

He leaned back, resting his arms behind his head. “I can’t believe they bailed Adessa and her friend.”

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“Why?” I looked at him. “Wouldn’t you run away if you could?”

“Maybe…” He twisted at his lip ring. “Do you think maybe in another life, if we’d been born human, without marks, without all of this, we could have lived normal lives?”

“Maybe.” But even the idea of being normal seemed unreachable.

“Do you think you and I would have been friends?”

I laughed. “I think no matter what you and I will always be friends.”

“What about you and Alex? Do you think you two would have been together, if the star and the promise never existed?”

I traced the scar on my hand, thinking about where it came from, and what it meant. Then I shut my eyes, listening to my heart beat, whispering to its other half. “Yes,” I said and my words surprised him and me both.

He acted kind of uncomfortable, putting his shoes on the table, and then moving to the floor again. “Maybe one day that world will exist.”

Maybe. If I could find a way to save Alex and me, without letting Stephan win. But at the moment, it wasn’t looking very promising.

Suddenly I leapt to my feet and bolted for the door, stepping into the blackness of the night.

Confused, Laylen hurried after me, his boots thudding loudly against the floor.

“What are you doing?” he asked from the stairs.

Checking left and right, I spanned my wings out. “Seeing if I can fly. It might be my only chance.”

I flapped the giant bundle of feathers, back and forth and back and forth until the air encircled 106

me and lifted me off the ground. I didn’t go very high because I didn’t want to be spotted. But I hovered around for a while. When I planted my feet back on the ground Laylen was grinning from ear to ear.

“See, not so bad,” he said.

I curled the wings against my back. “I guess not, but it doesn’t mean I want to keep them.” We exchanged smiles, like two children hiding a secret. I plucked a violet flower out of a flower pot hanging by the front door. I spun it between my fingers, thinking of my childhood hideout.

I didn’t know who heard the crackle first. But we dove together, below the window as the sound of ice slithered through the house, chilling even the dessert air.

We breathed heavily, listening to the voices and shrieks breaking the quiet.

“Where are they!” Stephan growled. “They were supposed to be here.” I dared a peek through the frosted window.

He stood beneath the light, scar as noticeable as ever. Death Walkers surrounded him as he cussed them out and swung the Sword of Immorality in the air. He looked panicked, unlike his usual eerily calm self. Maybe this was all finally getting to him. Maybe he was starting to doubt himself.

Then I spotted a girl cowered next to him, mute and numb, her dark curly hair and yellow-eyes branding her a faerie. Aleesa.

Stephan breathed ragged and wild. “You guys failed me.”

“Oh crap,” I muttered. “Aleesa’s in there.”

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Suddenly, for no reason other than he was pissed off, Stephan stabbed a Death Walker in the chest. It let out a cry, yellow eyes glowing with fire before scorching out completely.

Laylen and I exchanged a look. “He s worried we’re going to pull this off,” he whispered.

“We’re getting close.” But then I frowned, remembering that my death was nearing. “Maybe we should help Aleesa.”

The window exploded against our ears and jagged glass landing in my hair.

“Time to go,” I said, grabbing Laylen s hand as Stephan and the Death Walkers swarmed from the door.

But when we turned, there were only more black-cloaked monsters wanting to devour us.

Stephan strode in front of me, his eyes as wicked as ever. “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” His eyes examined me, his gaze lingering on the wings. “Looks like you ran into some trouble.”

I gritted my teeth, hands clenching into fists. Laylen shifted in front of me, but I scooted my hand over to hold him back.

Stephan stared up the street. “Interesting choice to hide, especially since you’ve hid here before.” He paused, letting out an exhausted sigh. “I wished you’d just give up. It’d make my life easier. But I guess I can’t be too upset with all of this.” He gestured over his shoulder, toward the city, and what I saw on his forearm sent a shudder through my body.

The Mark of Immortality.

I shook my head. “No.”

Stephan turned his arm over. “Beautiful, isn’t it? It s amazing how good I’m getting at creating marks. Although, I might keep this one for myself. I mean, what’s the point of having the 108

power of Immortality if I’m going to share it with everyone.”

“It’s still not over,” I said. “You want to know why?” I leaned in, my voice as steady as a rock, even though my insides were trembling like an earthquake. “Because Alex and I our going to kill you.” Instantly I swung my fist into his face, startling him, and everyone else.

He clutched at his nose, buckling back. “Get her!”

Death Walkers inched in, eyes twinkling like crazed fireflies. But I flipped out my wings, taking out some of the Death Walkers in the process. I was about to take us away when I caught sight of Aleesa, stuck in the middle of the mess. I backed away, stretching my wings as far as they would go, and twirled. A group of Death Walkers dropped to the ground like dominoes. I snatched Aleesa’s hand and held on tight, even when she tried to jerk away. Then I encircled the three of us in a halo of feathers and let the crushed violet flower fall from my hand, hoping he’d figure it out. Ice frosted the tips of my wings as I took a deep breath and blinked us away.

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Chapter 25

(Gemma)

“ Ithink my wings broken,” I complained, tucking it close to my arm. “I think the Death Walker’s ice did it.”

From the safety of my old childhood hide out, Laylen inspected my wing, while Aleesa lay on the floor, unconscious. It was the only thing we could think of to keep her out of trouble until Aislin showed up.

“Does it hurt when I do this?” He softly brushed his fingers along the feathers.

“Ye-ah.” I winced.

Laylen sighed and rested back against the dirt wall. “I’m not sure, it might be broken. Let’s just hope Aislin and Alex show up soon. Although, I still don’t get why you think they’ll be able to find us.”

I shrugged, leaning back against the wall. We d pulled out a candle from the trunk and lit it, so we weren’t smothered by dark, but the shadows dancing in the light of the flame made me edgy.

“I just have a feeling.” I didn’t want to say the real reason, because I wasn’t sure Alex would catch on. But the violet flower I hoped would be a good enough message that he would think of the violet bush that conceal our childhood hideout and know where to look.

“What are we going to do?” I asked, running my finger down my Mark of Immortality. “He’s Immortal now, not even Alex and I can kill him. Poor Aleesa.” Our eyes moved to where she lay, breathing heavy, her dark hair a tangled mess.

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“I think we might have to find a safe place for her, after Aislin removes the mark.” He rubbed his skin where his Mark of Malefiscus used to be. “She’s almost like a child, you know. And things are getting too dangerous for her to be around.”

I nodded. “But where? I mean, who can we trust?”

“I’m not sure. But I’d like to point out that Alex and you are never going to die, anyway. We’re going to find another way to end this and we’ll find a way to remove the Mark of Immortality. I mean, we found a way to remove the Mark of Malefiscus, didn’t we?”

“Maybe. Somehow.” But I didn’t completely agree with him. I wasn’t sure we’d ever find another way because Alex and I dying was the original mapping of the world’s future. Altering it again was out of the question.

“Nice punch, by the way,” Laylen remarked with a proud smile. “I’ve been waiting for someone to do that to him for a long time.”

I stretched my hand. “It did feel kind of good.”

We smiled, but they were heavy smiles, burdened with death, life, and a responsibility no one should have to endure.

As more time drifted by, I started to worry that my little message to Alex was a dud. But then a puff of smoke clouded the tiny room, and two forms. Alex and Aislin appeared, blinking in disbelief. There wasn’t a candle or amethyst in Aislin’s hand, so she must have used her new little trick she learned during her brief trip over to the dark side.

My skin hummed elatedly as I jumped to my feet, but a sudden thought brought me to a halt.

“Wait. Where’s the witch?”

“Yeah…” Alex shifted uncomfortably. “We kind of ran into a problem.”

“What kind of a problem?” I itched at my wings. “You couldn’t find a witch?” 111

Aislin raised her hand and a giant red X crossed the top of it. “This kind of a problem.”

“What is that?” I swapped a worried glance with Laylen and he rose to his feet, brushing the dirt off the back of his jeans.

Alex sighed. “She’s been branded.”

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Chapter 26

(Alex)

Aislin was taking forever and I grew tired of waiting for her to return with the witch, Emma. I stuffed the flower into my pocket and started down the street. I wasn’t planning on going very far, wanting to remain close to the house in case she returned. But at the corner of the street, I noticed something odd. The Vegas lights had shut down, and smothered the city in blackness.

The lamp posts on the roads were still lit, so there was a little light, but not much.

I had this irking feeling that this might have something to do with my sister, so I hurried across the street, continuing toward the dead city. When I reached the outskirts of the main road, I knew something was going down. The mutters and chants streaming through the night had a deeper meaning than I could understand. I moved up to the side of a large steel building, pressing my back against the wall, and trying to decipher what was going on. The voices spoke Latin, murmuring words of change and entrapment. Dammit, Aislin. What did you do?

I popped my neck and cracked my knuckles, preparing myself for a fight. Then I steadily stepped out into the street. Through the throng, Aislin stood on top of a stairway that rose to a towering building. An illuminating light tied her wrists and her eyes were wide beneath the low emergency lights.

Okay, so this was a mess. I was guessing that the rope was some kind of entrapment spell. I did a quick assessment of the crowd and noticed the abundance of star and crescent moon marks. So they were witches. But what did Aislin do to piss them all off?

Then one particular witch emerged, walking up to the top of the stairs. It was a witch who thought I was dead and knew Aislin could remove the Mark of Malefiscus.

Amelia.

So she’d tracked Aislin down on her own. But why the mobbing crowd?

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“Welcome witches.” She raised her hands in the air. “I’ve gathered you here today because I’ve discovered something I want to share with you all!”

The crowd of witches clapped and shouted their hoorays and I rolled my eyes at the ridiculousness.

“Thank you. Thank you.” Amelia bowed her head like she was the Queen of the Sin City or something. Then she turned to Aislin. “This one right here has the power to remove the mark that threatens us all, that forces us to kill, forces us to spread our magic in the foulest ways.” She gave a dramatic pause. “Yet, she does nothing to help us. She doesn’t share her power or come to our aid.”

“I have other problems to deal with,” Aislin snapped, trying to free her hands.

But Amelia talked over her. “So let us strip her of her magic and forever brand her an enemy of the witch world.”

Crap. It was time for a plan. With my head tucked down, I pushed through the crowd, moving slow to draw less attention. They all were chanting, low voices mixing in with the wind. I reached the front line as Amelia lifted her hand toward the dark sky. I took off up the stairs, startling her. Aislin grinned and jumped to the side, slamming Amelia to the ground.

The crowd charged up the stairs roaring.

“What do I do?” I asked, reaching for the glowing rope, but then pausing. “How do I get it off?” Aislin shook her head. “Just run!”

We sprinted up the stairs, toward the domed entrance of the building, a crowd of angry witches throwing magic at our heels. We ducked and weaved, trying to stay out of the way of flying flames, but one nicked Aislin in the hand. The light of rope burst into flames and she was freed. She touched my arm and suddenly we were back at Adessa’s house, lying flat on our stomachs, on the icy floor.

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“So where’d do you think they went?” She pushed to her feet, scratching at the back of her hand.

I removed the flower from my pocket. “I think she took them to our old hideout.”

“The one in the forest?” She pulled a face at the lifeless Death Walker.

I nodded and put the flower away. “So can you take us there?” She grinned, smoothing down her hair. “Of course.” Then she extended her hand, but quickly pulled back. Across the top of her hand was a giant red X.

“Do I even want to know what that is?” I sighed. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another.

She rubbed at the X. “I’ve been branded. No other witch will ever work with me again.” She started to tear up.

“Relax,” I said. “At least you can still do magic.”

“Yeah, but no witch will ever work with me.” She frowned.” Which means I can’t perform the spell on Gemma.”

“And no witches will break this rule?” I asked. “I mean it’s just a mark.”

“Just a mark,” she said and I got her point. “This spell forbids witch magic to mix with my own, so it’s not because they don’t want to help me. It’s because they actually can’t.”

“Why would they do that to you?” I asked, nudging the dead Death Walker away with my foot.

“I mean, what was the point?”

“There was no point,” she said. “Those spells they were throwing were all random.”

“Alright, well I guess we’ll have to figure it out another way,” I said. “Know any witches you 115

really trust?”

“The only one I trust went into hiding,” she said. “And it’s hard to find a witch that doesn’t want to be found. Especially one as old as Adessa.”

My mental stability was cracking. I tightened my hand, ready to punch a hole in the wall.

“Alex. I can try it myself. You’re not giving my witch power any credit.” I shook my head. My mom had been very specific with her instructions on removing the wings of a Black Angel. Two lines of Wicca blood. “We’ll figure something out. But right now we need to get out of here. I need to know if she’s okay.”

Aislin nodded. “Let’s go to them.”

* * *

The look on her face, when I told her the heart-crushing news was enough to kill me.

“So I’m stuck like this?” She frowned, her violet eyes forcing back the tears as she hugged her legs. “I’m stuck a Black Angel forever? What happens when I start changing? Am I actually going to turn into one of them?”

“We’ll find a way,” I told her. “I m not going to let anything happen to you. I promise.” She nodded, tucking her wings in, one of them bent and crooked.

“What happened?” I touched the wing and she flinched in pain.

“The Death Walkers ice did it,” she said.

I arched my eyebrow. “So do you want to explain what happened with that? And why there’s a dead Death Walker lying in Adessa s living room.”

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She sighed and told me a story with the most terrible ending I’d ever heard... so far.

“I can fix it. I can remove the Mark of Immortality.” Aislin announced, before anyone could utter a word. “And I can fix her wings. I just need some time.”

“We don’t have time,” I said. “In fact, we ran out of time quite a while ago.”

“No, we haven’t.” She sucked in a deep breath. “This is what we’re going to do.” 117