Текст книги "The Promise"

Автор книги: Jessica Sorensen

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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 15 страниц)

Chapter 30

(Alex)

It felt like I’d taken a giant step backward. I was back in the City of Crystal and honestly, I was hoping I’d never have to come back here again. Being strapped to that enormous fire ball was more painful than getting stabbed in the arm with a knife.

I’d never been a fan of the City of Crystal. The crystal walls and ceiling made it feel like I was trapped in an ice cave. Then, of course there was Dyvinius. He creeped me out. I mean, the guy knew everything; what would happen with our lives, when we would die.

I suddenly had this urge to make a right instead of a left and head over the bridge, through the silver doors, to Dyvinius and demand to know if we made it if Gemma and I would live. But instead I made a left, followed Nicholas up the crystal path, and to the door that sealed the crystal ball.

“So we’re back here again,” Laylen commented as Nicholas opened the door. “I was actually hoping we’d never have to come back.”

“Me too, man.” I stepped inside, glancing around, trying to disregard the energy flowing from the ball. “Why’s she even here?”

“Who?” Nicholas asked. “Oh, you mean your mother.”

I rolled my eyes. “Who else would I be talking about?”

Nicholas strolled up to the crystal and stared at the bodies, lifeless, chained, barely even human. “It really is a fascinating thing,” he observed. “Drain the life of humans, to feed the crystal.”

“It’s a pointless sacrifice,” I said, blinded by the blue glow. “No one needs to see what happens 136

in the future. If it hadn’t been for a Foreseer, we wouldn’t even be in this mess.” He rattled the chains tied to one of the bodies. “Oh your father would have found another way.”

“No, he wouldn’t,” I said, my eyes hunting for my mother. “Because he’d never found out about the star to begin with. It was a Foreseer that told him.”

“Hmmm…” Nicholas tapped his lip. “It really does sound kind of pointless. Perhaps one day someone will free all of them and destroy it.”

“So where s your mom?” Laylen asked, staring at the bodies implanted with tubes. He leaned forward, getting a closer look. “It’s hard to tell who they are.” I shrugged, heading to the left of the crystal. “You wanna take the right?” Laylen nodded and disappeared around the other side.

“What about me?” Nicholas yelled.

“Do whatever the hell you want.” I called over my shoulder. My eyes scanned each person, questioning if Nicholas was just full of it, or if this was just another one of his games.

When we were kids he used to pull crap like this all the time. I’d always hated when he’d visit the Keepers castle. Everything was a joke to him and he’d constantly tease Gemma. There was this one specific time where he almost convinced her to go swimming in the lake. That’s when I lost it and made a plan to get rid of him. Gemma and I had stolen the Cruciatus diamond, the Queen of The Underworld’s diamond, and when my father went looking for it, I’d blamed it on Nicholas. My father was so furious he never let Nicholas back into the castle.

And he had been holding a grudge against me ever since. But it was a mutual feeling.

I was about to give up on my searched and leave, when I thought I spotted her. It was hard to 137

tell for sure because it had been so long since I’d last seen her. Her skin was much paler, her dark hair thin, and her head hung lifelessly. I quickly yanked out the tubes and snapped the chains, supporting her weight as she slumped against me.

Her eyes opened and I knew this time without a second guess that she was my mother.

“Is it time?”

I assumed she was delusional. “I’ll get you out of here. Just hang on.” She clutched onto my arm, her hands bleeding from the tubes. “But it’s time right? Time to take Gemma to the Afterlife?”

I almost dropped her on the floor. “You know about that? How?”

“Of course I know about that,” she said weakly. “That’s what I’ve been waiting for.” Laylen came running over and flopped her other arm around his neck. Then we lead her to the front of the crystal.

“Alana,” Nicholas said, nodding his head. “Are you ready to go?” I glared at Nicholas. “How long have you known she was here?”

“Since I died.” He answered with a shrugged.

“Because that’s when you were supposed to know,” my mother said wearily. “Now can we go?”

I balanced my mom and we followed Nicholas. Her feet dragged across the crystal floor, like she was barely alive. Once we got far enough down the hallway, Nicholas took out his little traveling ball.

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He raised his eyebrows. “Do I need to ask where we’re going?”

“You already know,” my mother said. “To Gemma. Take us to Gemma.” I wasn’t sure what she knew, but I wasn’t going to pry until we were far away from faerie boy.

Laylen went through the crystal first. Then my mother took her turn and I followed, wishing that was it.

“Finally,” Nicholas said, dropping into the living room. He put the crystal away and dusted off his hands. “My work is done.”

My mother lowered herself into the couch. “Would anyone mind getting me a drink of water?” I started for the kitchen, but Laylen cut me off. “I got it. You should stay here.”

“Thanks.” I sat down on the couch, cracking my knuckles.

“Alex relax,” she said, patting my hand. “This is how it’s supposed to be.”

“Why were you down there?” I asked.

“Because it s where I was supposed to be,” she explained, cleaning some blood off her arm.

“Waiting for the day you came to find me, so I could take Gemma to the Afterlife.” I hated being out of the loop, but with this I definitely was. “But how did you know that’s what you’re supposed to do? It just doesn’t… it doesn’t make any sense to me.”

“It doesn’t have to make sense to you.” She rested back and her eyes drifted shut. “It just has to happen. It s the way it works, Alex. Everything that s happening is because of the vision.” I ran my hands through my hair and grinded my teeth. “Why does it always come back to the visions?”

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“Because it has to.” She sighed. “Visions are our pathways through life. And there had to be one told where we all ended up here, at this very moment, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”

“I have no idea what you’re trying to say,” I said. “I mean first we’re told that a vision was tampered with and Gemma needed to fix it. And now you’re saying that a vision led us all here.”

“Because it did,” she said. “There isn’t just one soul vision. If there hadn’t been another one, Gemma would have never changed Julian’s mistake.”

“So what? Some Foreseer just went and found a vision where it would all work out.”

“Kind of.” She yawned and opened her eyes.

I scratched my head. “It still doesn’t really make sense.”

“Not everything does.” She sighed. “Life is very confusing and sometimes things happen that don’t make sense.”

I eyed her over, her cut skin, her worn-out eyes. “Are you a Banshee?”

“I have to be so I could take Gemma to the Afterlife when the time was right,” she said. “I think you’ll agree with me that no Banshee is going to let anyone cross over without collecting something for themselves?”

“But why the City of Crystal?” I asked. “I mean, what the heck did you do to end up down there?”

“I didn’t do anything. I was hiding, I knew your father would never come looking for me there and no Foreseer would see me there. It was my safe place, so I could still be here when the time was right.”

“But how do you know all this?”

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“How does anyone know anything about the future?”

Foreseers. Always Foreseers.

“Okay, so answer this question.” I leaned back against the arm rest. “Why Gemma? Why does it always have to be her?”

“I already told you why,” she said impatiently. “It was all part of the vision to save the world.

She’s the one whose soul was detached, the one with the Foreseer power, the one who changed the vision back, the one who will go to the Afterlife and free the souls that died during this massacre.” She let out a breath. “Then she’ll go with you to the lake and kill the star. The portal won’t open; Stephan, Demetrius, and all the Death Walkers will be killed. And life will go on.”

“And what about me?” My voice was sharp over her casual attitude. “What’s my purpose?”

“To protect her, to carry the other half of the star, to be there for her, to be her other half.”

“But I wasn’t there for her,” I snapped. “Not when she really needed me.” I jumped to my feet, my temper fuming. “And this is such bull. You sit there and say all this like it was her destiny.

You knew, so why not just stop it.”

“Her father knew, but he’d already learned the hard way that you can’t play with life,” she said, her voice softening. “You can shift the future however you want it.”

“This isn’t fair.” I shook my head. “There’s got to be a way around it.”

“There is no other way. The portal is opening, unless the star dies.” I stopped breathing. “What?”

She stood, her legs unsteady. “Have you ever wondered why Stephan was so focused on you two, but not Aislin, Laylen and Aleesa? Because their part wasn’t as important. Malefiscus has 141

the power of the star in him too.”

I shook my head like a moron who didn’t want to believe what was right in front of his eyes.

“Alex,” she said. “There are three ways this could go. Either Stephan can bleed you two out, mix your blood with Laylen, Aislin, and Aleesa, and free everything inside that portal. Or you can run and hide, let the portal touch down, Malefiscus will be trapped, but every Death Walker that’s ever existed will come out. Or you can destroy the star, destroy Malefiscus, and destroy the portal all at once.”

“This is… this is.” I was too frustrated for words. “So what you’re basically saying is no matter what, the portal’s going to open.”

But if you destroy the star, just like Gemma saw you do, then with Malefiscus inside it there will be enough energy to end everything, including Stephan and Demetrius and every Death Walker.

“This isn’t fair.” I cursed, ready to explode.

“Alex, sometimes life isn’t. Sometimes people have to endure horrible things, while others don’t. It s just how life works. You can’t control everything.”

“That’s only part of the reason why I’m pissed off.” I was yelling now, but I didn’t really give a shit at the moment. “I’m pissed off because you sit here and talk about life and how it’s hard.

Well, tell that to Gemma, who’s never had a life. She spent most of it dead, with no memories, no emotions, no nothing. So tell me, how is that just a hard life.” She had no answer and I stormed up the stairs before she could come up with another explanation. I dropped my head against the wall. Just once, couldn’t someone please surprise me in a good way? Tell me some good news. Tell me something that wasn’t so freaking complicated.

I let out a breath and realized someone was crying. The bedroom of Marco and Sophia’s room 142

was opened and I hurried toward it, my hand edging for my knife. But it wasn’t an intruder, it was Gemma, curled in a ball, with her wings wrapped around herself.

“Gemma.” I knelt down beside her. “What are you doing?”

Her body tensed and she squirmed, trying to smear all the tears away, before she peeked out of her wings.

“Did something happen?” I glanced around at the bits of paper on the floor. “Where’s Aislin?”

“She’s stealing a witch s power.” She sat up, picking at her feathers. “I’m just waiting for her to come back.”

My eyes wandered to the pieces of paper. “What is that?”

She flicked one of the pieces. “My birth certificate.” She stood, rubbing her eyes. “Did you find your mom?”

“Yeah. She’s downstairs.”

She perked up a little. “What did she say? Does she know how to help us?” Know how to help us? Of course she did, because apparently that was what she’d been waiting around to do. “Yeah, she’s got a plan and everything.”

“Good, I’m glad someone finally does.” Her eyebrows furrowed. “Is there something else? You seem… I don’t know, a little bothered.”

I shook my head, rubbing my thumb between her brows, erasing the worry. “No, everything’s fine.” And I wasn’t lying to her. Like my mother said, my life was made to protect her. And that’s exactly what I would do, until I took my last breath.

And maybe even after that.

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Chapter 31

(Gemma)

He was acting strange. And the electricity was offbeat and it was making me offbeat. I considered asking him what was up, but knew he probably wouldn’t tell me.

We went downstairs and his mother, Alana, didn’t seem that shocked by my wings. In fact, she didn’t seem shocked about any of this. But maybe Alex had already told her everything.

Laylen was there too, both of them staring at each other from across the room, like they didn’t know what to do with themselves.

“So are you ready to go to the Afterlife,” Alana said, getting straight to the point. She looked like Alex, at least in the eyes, the same shade of bright green. “Although, we should get the wings off you first.”

“Where’s Aislin?” Alex glanced at the clock. “Shouldn’t she be here? I mean, how long does it take to steal a witch’s power?”

“She has…” I checked the time. “Nine minutes left.”

“Nine minutes?” He flopped down on the sofa. “That’s precise.” I slid down next to Laylen, putting space between Alex and myself, because his weird vibe was making me tired. “I gave her a time frame and if she not back by then, then I go looking for her.”

“Couldn’t she do it from here?” Laylen kicked his feet up on the coffee table. “There s plenty of witches outside.”

I adjusted my wings. “No, apparently, witches aren’t nice about getting their power stolen, so 144

she wanted to make sure they couldn’t track down where she lived.” Laylen bit at his lip ring. “Is she in danger? I mean, it sounds dangerous. Maybe we should go look for her.”

I looked at the clock again. “We can if she’s not back in seven minutes. That was our deal.” We all sat quietly, listening to the clock ticking.

“I hate to interrupt a good time,” Nicholas’s voice whooshed through the room. “But I’d just like to mention that you owe me my life.”

“Excuse me,” I said, my eyes searching for him. “I don’t owe you anything. And how can I hear you? I don’t have the ring on.”

“It s a Banshee thing,” Alana said with a sigh. “We have a ghostly connection and I’m channeling it through all of you.”

“But we still can’t see him?”

“Do you really want to?” Alex asked and pointed to the side of Laylen. “And he’s right there.” I felt Laylen shift toward me. “You could have mentioned that earlier.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, staring at the empty space Alex pointed at. “But why do you think I owe you your life.”

“Because Alex made a bargain in your name.” Nicholas giggled. “It was so nice of him.” I gaped at Alex. “You did what?”

“It was the only way I could get him to tell me where she was.” Alex nodded at his mother and then shot a glare in Nicholas’s direction. “You know how he is.” 145

“Okay, but how’s Gemma even supposed to do that?” Laylen asked the question I was thinking.

“Because I’m really curious.”

“She’ll make sure to include his name when she makes the bargain with Helena,” Alana chimed in, like she’d known this all along.

“So I’m going then?” I asked her. “You’re going to help me.”

“Alex.” Alana turned to him. “Give Gemma the ring back.”

He slid his hand to the side of him and hid it under his leg. “No way.”

“Alex.” Her voice was calm, but firm. “She needs the ring to enter the Afterlife.” He scoffed, almost yanking his finger off as he removed the ring. Then he slapped it down on the coffee table, where it spun like a top, finally landing on its side, the violet-gem directed at me.

I put the ring on and Nicholas appeared. He winked at me and gave a mocking wave in front of Laylen’s face.

Laylen leaned in to me. “How close is he? He’s not touching me is he? Because I’m starting to find this whole ghost thing a little creepy.”

Your fine, “I lied.”

“Bzzzz.” Nicholas murmured and Laylen flinched. “Times up.” My eyes darted to the clock and I hopped up.

“What’s wrong?” Alex was on his feet, like he was ready for battle I pointed at the clock. “Aislin’s times just ran out. I need to go find her.” 146

Alex caught me by the elbow. “Hold on a sec. You can’t just go running off, when a witch fight might be going down.”

I shook his arm off, but he wrapped his arms around me, pinning me against him. “I have to.

She might be in trouble.”

“Then I’ll go,” he said. I started to open my mouth to argue, but he covered it. “I’ll go this time.” He voice was slow pressing.

I bit at my lip, his breath warm on my neck. “You can’t get there. I have to take you.”

“I’ll take him,” Nicholas offered, raising his hand.

“Thanks. But no thanks,” I said. “You’d probably end up dropping him into the ocean or something.”

“He can take me,” Alex interrupted.

I hesitated. “Are you sure? Because I wasn’t really joking about the ocean thing.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He released me and reached for the ring. “Can I —” Poof.

I whirled, bumping my elbow into Alex. “Aislin.” I breathed relief. “You made it.” She grinned. “Of course I did.” She waggled her finger. “And I got the power. So let’s get those wings off you.” She turned to Alex. “I need you to…” Her mouth fell open. “Mom?” Alana looked like she was going to cry and she hugged Aislin tight. Then she reached around and pulled Alex in, even though he acted standoffish. I backed away with the slamming realization that I would never have this.

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“Wait a minute.” I reeled to Nicholas. “Where’s my mom?”

He didn’t have to say anything. I knew it was bad. Because when someone like Nicholas looked sad, there was no way it could be good.

Tears threatened to fall from my eyes. “She s gone, isn’t she?” He pressed his lips together, nodding, not daring to speak.

My lips trembled, the prickle surfacing and stabbing violently at my neck. I didn’t say a word, because I couldn’t. I left the room, going up to mine, and sank down onto my bed. I hugged a pillow to my chest, letting the tears stream out.

A knock sounded at my door. Before I could answer, Laylen entered. He didn’t say a word as he sank on the bed and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” I sniffed, wiping my eyes. “I know it s stupid. I mean, I already thought she was dead once.”

“I remember when my parents died,” he started after a deep breath. “It hurt so bad I didn’t know how to deal with it.” He paused. “I kept wishing for time to stop so I didn’t have to go through life without them. But it kept moving, despite all my wishing. After a while, the hurt became less painful. I won’t lie, though, it never fully goes away. There will always be pain. It just gets easier to carry.”

I nodded, tears pouring and I didn’t even try to stop them. “And how did you get to that point… where it became a little easier.”

“Time,” he said.

“But how much time?”

“As long as you need.”

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Then he stayed silent, while tears poured down my cheeks, landing on everything below me and marking it with my sorrow. I’d never see my mother again. I’d never get to know her. I’d never have memories of her that didn’t include the world ending.

She was gone.

And I had to move on somehow.

But not yet.

No, right now I needed a little more time.

Somehow I fell asleep. When I woke up I felt much lighter. Not in terms of my mourning, but in the sense that my body felt much lighter because my wings were gone. I stared back at the empty space behind me, relieved I no longer had to pack them around. My clothes were back to normal too, which was just about as lovely as the wings being gone.

“Aislin took them off while you were asleep.” His voice startled me and I bolted up, blinking against the darkness. He was sitting in the computer chair, skimming through my music. So long, Good-byeby 10 Years flowed from the speakers. “Aislin thought it might cheer you up a little if you woke up and they were gone.” He swiveled the chair. “Are you… are you okay?”

“No,” I admitted honestly. “But I don t think I’m supposed to be.” He nodded, understanding. “No, I don’t think it’s that simple is it.” I climbed out of bed, stretching my arms and legs. “I guess I should get going. I’ve got souls to save.”

“Gemma,” he started. “Maybe you should —”

“Is your mom ready?” I cut him off, wanting to free the souls that died and eliminate some of the death in the world. “And does she know how I’m getting in there? Does she just walk me to 149

a place?”

He swallowed hard, avoiding my gaze. “The Banshee in Iceland wasn’t lying about that part.

You have to be dead, so Helena will accept your entry.”

“With poison?” I asked and he clicked the computer mouse over and over again. I placed my hand on his, our skin a nip of static. “Is it with poison?”

“It is, unless you choose not to go.”

“I have to,” I said. “I already said I’ve got souls to save.”

“You don’t have to do anything.” He rotated in the chair so he was facing me and electricity surged as he placed his hands on my hips. I stepped back, but he pulled me to him. “We could leave. Just you and me. Run away and never look back.”

“And what?” I asked. “Just let the world end? Could you do that?”

“He pressed his lips together.” Could you?

“Alex.” My voice was soft as I put my hands on his shoulders. “It’s time to end this.” He moved his hands away and I turned for the door. “Are you coming?” He sighed and I heard him shift as he stood up. Then we walked out, side by side, to go take my life.

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