Текст книги "The Underworld"

Автор книги: Jessica Sorensen

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“No,” I told him firmly. “I won’t. There’s no reason for you to go up there alone. And besides, even if I stay down here, it doesn’t mean I’m going to be safe.” He shook his head, and I suddenly felt the prickle. I was sure what emotion was trying to surface, but a voice inside my head whispered, take the knife. So I did, quickly snatching it out of his hand.

“I’m not staying here,” I said, moving the knife behind my back. “You’re still weak from being in the City of Crystal, and I can help.”

He looked surprised by my sudden take charge attitude. But then he just looked pissed.

“Let’s go.” I tried to sound confident, but I was scared, and it showed through my voice.

Despite my lack of confidence, Alex climbed up the ladder, and I followed, wondering what would be waiting for us outside.

Chapter 22

After we climbed out of the hiding spot and slid down the hill, I gave the knife back to Alex because, let’s face it, I was no Keeper.

Another shriek rang through the forest, and out in the open it sounded louder and more terrifying.

“If you’re scared, then you can go back in there,” Alex told me, his voice urging—begging me to please go back.

I eyed him over. His skin was so pale. The little holes dotting across his body looked like they had to hurt. He also had shadows under his eyes, and although he did look a bit better than when we’d first found him in the City of Crystal, he still wasn’t his strong, normal self. And the voltage of electricity flowing off of him was still so muffled.

“No, I’m going with you,” I told him. “You need my help. You’re not strong enough yet.”

“I’m fine,” he snapped. “I don’t need your help.”

“Yeah, you do.” My voice shook a little, but I stood firm. “I can feel that you’re not okay.” He held my gaze powerfully, like he thought if he stared at me for long enough, I’d back down. And you know what, a week or so ago I might have, but today I wasn’t. It was like I had this adrenaline pouring through me—this inner strength.

“Fine, come with me then.” He pointed his finger at me. “But I swear to God, Gemma, if anything happens

–”

“I know, I know. Run. Hide. Save myself.” His mouth quirked and an amused smile started to show, but then another shriek filled the air, and we ran into the trees.

Most people wouldn’t run toward a shrieking monster that could quite possibly end up freezing you to your death. And normally we did run. But this was a different situation because Laylen could be in some serious trouble. The further we dipped into the forest without seeing Laylen, the more concerned I became.

My gut was telling me something was wrong with Laylen, and that maybe this was a trap. And yes, the thought did cross my mind that Alex might be a part of it.

I almost turned back.

But then another shriek reverberated through the forest, and I thought of Laylen, and how the Death Walker might be trying to hurt him.

Then came the fog. It moved across the forest’s damp ground like a snake, icing everything in its path.

Alex stopped as the fog reached our ankles, staring down at the ground, while holding his knife out in front of him. “Stay by me,” he whispered and I nodded.

The fog gradually seeped through my damp clothes and onto my skin, chilling my body to the shivers. I clenched my jaw tight to keep from chattering.

I’ve had nightmares of being chased by Death Walkers in a forest that have come true. And here I was again, in a forest with Death Walkers, only I wasn’t being chased.

Not yet anyway.

Alex scooted us behind the trunk of a very large oak tree and put a finger to his lips. We stood as still as people in paintings, and that’s when I heard it. A voice. A very familiar voice that I was absolutely sure belonged to a half-faerie, half-Foreseer, who might be working for the dark side.

“I can’t believe this,” Nicholas was saying. “I can’t believe she managed to drag all of us into the present time.”

I looked at Alex, and I knew he was thinking the same thing; that I’d brought Nicholas and the Death Walkers here with us. But if that were so then where had they been hiding.

“Well, it would have been a lot better if she hadn’t dropped us in the middle of the lake,” Nicholas said irritably.

Who the heck was he talking to? Himself?

Alex must have been thinking the same thing, because he took a cautious peek around the tree trunk. When he moved back, he looked completely mystified.

Who is it, I mouthed.

He shook his head and shrugged. Huh, so maybe faerie boy was talking to himself.

“I know, but where are they?” Nicholas asked, and the more he spoke, the more I wondered if he had lost his mind or something.

Another shriek rattled the air and shook at the trees, causing leaves to break off their branches and float to the ground.

“Would you stop doing that!” Nicholas exclaimed.

My eyes widened. Was he talking to the Death Walkers? No, that wasn’t possible…was it?

“Well, stop smelling the blood then!” Nicholas’s voice cut sharply through the forest.

Blood?Blood! Oh, no, please, please, don’t let the blood he’s referring to belong to Laylen.

“He tried to attack me first” Nicholas snapped. “It was self-defense. Besides, you would have frozen him to death anyway.”

There was a pause where all I could hear was my heart thumping erratically.

“So what if he created Laylen,” Nicholas said, annoyed. “Creating another vampire isn’t that hard.” Vampire. Vampire. Oh my God, they were talking about Laylen.

Without even thinking about what I was doing, I started to move around the tree, but Alex grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into him. He shook his head, and I glared at him, trying to wiggle my way free without making too much noise. He intensified his grip

–apparently some of his strength returned to him—

and met my gaze, his eye begging me to stop.

It hurt. It actually physically hurt to stay behind that tree and know Laylen was injured, while Nicholas chatted away.

“I’m not messing around,” Nicholas insisted. “I know what has to be done.” Another pause. “I know, but it might be a little difficult to find her. She’s very powerful and getting more powerful by the day. She can do things normal Foreseers can’t.” A shriek, and then,

“Fine. Let’s go back to the City of Crystal, and I’ll see if I can get an exact location on her.” There was a swoosh, and then silence.

Alex peered around the corner of the tree trunk, before letting me go. And then we were sprinting though the lingering fog that was starting to tint my skin a bluish-purple. But at the moment I didn’t care.

All I cared about was that Laylen was laying on the ground, on top of the scattered leaves and twigs, with a stick stabbed into his chest, blood covering his shirt.

I’d never felt anything like it before. Panic, rage, fear—it all crushed through me.

Alex muttered something incoherently as he bent down to Laylen’s lifeless body.

“He’s not—he’s not,” I was on the verge of tears,

“dead, is he?”

Alex examined the stick poking out of Laylen’s chest. Being a huge science fiction freak, I’d read enough vampire books to know that a stake through the heart meant death for a vampire.

The stick was so close to his heart.

“He’s not dead,” Alex finally said, putting his hands on top of the stick. “Not yet anyway.”

“Not yet anyway,” I repeated, horrified. “Does that mean he’s going to die?”

“Not if we can get him some…” Alex yanked out the stick, and I tried not to gasp at the sight of the very large hole in Laylen’s chest or at the blood that was pouring out of it. Alex pressed his hand onto the wound, putting pressure on it.

“Get him some what?” I asked, fully freaking out. “Is there a cure?”

Alex avoided my eyes as he said, “”Yeah, blood.”

“He has to bite someone?” I asked, remembering the first day I had met Laylen and he had told me he never brought out his fangs.

Alex hesitated, and I could see it in his eyes, “No, he needs another vampires blood.”

“Is that the only kind of blood that will work?” I asked.

He nodded, and even though I didn’t believe him, I took a deep breath, placed a hand on Laylen’s cold arm, and then shut my eyes, hoping I was strong enough to take us back, since what I could do with my extraordinary Foreseer ability was still a huge question mark.

“Take us to the Black Dungeon,” Alex told me.

Keeping my eyes shut, I replied, “Why there?”

“Because there’ll be vampires all over.” I nodded, thinking how Laylen wasn’t supposed to go near vampires, but feared if he didn’t, he would die. I pictured the all ey, damp, scary, and covered with garbage. I envisioned the bright red door, and the flap at the top. I saw all three of us there.

I tried my hardest to focus on the details I’d seen when I was there, and when Alex took hold of my hand, I felt a surge of electricity, and the weakness I’d been feeling left me. I knew I’d get us there.

I had to.

Chapter 23

I didn’t have to open my eyes to know I’d gotten us to the right place. The smell of garbage and musty air gave away our location.

I opened my eyes and saw Alex was kneeling on the ground beside me, still holding my hand, his other hand on Laylen’s wound. It was the smoothest travel I’d ever pulled off and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

“Okay, I’m going to go inside and get someone who’ll help—hopefully someone who doesn’t know Laylen was responsible for Vladislav’s death. ” Alex took my hand and placed it on top of his hand that was covering the hole in Laylen’s chest. “Put pressure on it, okay.”

I nodded, and he moved his hand away. Very quickly I replaced it with mine. The blood seeped warmly against my fingers, and Laylen’s skin felt colder than it usually did.

“Hurry,” I called out to Alex as he started for the bright red door. “Wait,” I suddenly called out. “Can you go in looking like that?”

Alex stopped and gave a glance down at his shirtless chest. “Gemma, I don’t think it’s really going to matter whether I’m dressed appropriately or not.”

“Yeah, but it’s going to matter if that’s showing.” I pointed at the Keepers mark tattooing the side of his ribcage.

“Crap,”” he said. Then without saying another word, he took off in the opposite direction.

“Alex,” I hissed. “Where are you going?” He didn’t answer as he vanished around the corner.

I sat there, with my hand pressed to Laylen’s bleeding chest, listening to dogs howl in the distance.

The sky was beginning to shift from a bright blue to a pale pink as the sun ascended behind the shallow hills of the desert. Night was almost here, the air was getting colder, and I was freaking out. What if someone showed up—someone bad and I couldn’t protect Laylen? There were so many risks, and I was concerned that if Alex asked the wrong vampire—one that knew what Laylen had done to Vladislav—we would be in some serious trouble.

And maybe that’s why I did what I did. But honestly, I wasn’t sure what the exact reason was. But it really didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I gave Laylen a soft shake to see if I could get him to open his eyes.

“Laylen,” I whispered, keeping my hand pressed to his chest as I leaned over him. “Laylen, can you hear me.”

His eyes stayed closed.

“Laylen, if you can hear me, I need to know something.”

still nothing.

“I need to know if there’s another way to save you, without having to get a vampire involved.” I took a shaky breath, tears stinging at my eyes. “Alex said there wasn’t, but I don’t believe him. Please wake up…please.”

My heart was splitting in two. I watched to see if Laylen’s chest was rising and falling, but it was too dark to tell.

“Laylen,” I said, a little too loud, and Laylen’s eyes shot open. I gasped as he sucked in a breath of air.

“Oh my God.” Tears streamed down my cheeks.

“You’re awake.”

He nodded slowly, letting out a few coughs.

“Are you okay?” I asked, wiping my tears away.

He shook his head weakly. “I can’t feel it anymore.”

“Can’t feel what?” I asked softly.

“The pain.”

“From the wound?”

He shook his head. “From being alone.” I almost burst into sobs, but I held it back. I needed to be the strong one. “It’ll be okay. Alex is going to get help.”

“I don’t think….” His eyes fell shut again.

“Laylen,” I panicked. “Don’t close your eyes.” He shook his head and said nothing.

“Laylen,” I said. “Is there another way to cure you?” I knew I might have been searching for something that didn’t exist, but when I asked Alex the same question I swear he had been lying when he told me no. And in many of the vampire-themed books I read, human blood worked as a cure.

“Laylen.” I kept my voice calm, but demanding.

“Open your eyes. You have to open your eyes.” Slowly, his eyelids lifted open. His bright blue eyes were glazed over, and I wondered if he was even there.

“Can you hear me?” I asked.

He nodded lethargically.

His blood soaked my fingers—time was running out. “Can you tell me if there’s another way to save you?” I asked. “Besides vampires’ blood?” He blinked a few times, his eyes coming into focus.

“No, there’s not.”

“Are you sure.”

He hesitated.

“Laylen,” I said in a gentle voice. “Does human blood work too?”

He didn’t answer right away, but when he did, his voice was frail. “I can’t…I can’t do it.”

“If it will save you...” I took a deep breath. “Please just do it, okay. Don’t leave me here alone.” Whoa.

Where did that come from?

We stared at each other, and this moment passed between us—this moment of understanding. We both knew that our time was running out—that his time was running out. Alex still hadn’t returned, and he still had to track down a vampire who wouldn’t know what Laylen had done to Vladislav.

He let out a cough, before nodding. “Alright, I’ll do it.”

“Okay,” I repeated nervously. “Where do you want to…um...”

“On your wrist,” he answered for me. “It’s easier that way, at least from what I’ve been told.” Keeping my hand on his wound, I gave him my other hand. He took hold of it, his skin ice-cold, and through the looseness in his grip I could tell he was weak. Then, with a look of horror, he opened his mouth, letting out a whimper as his fangs descended.

I held his gaze so he wouldn’t think I was afraid of him.

But I was afraid. Not so much afraid of getting bit—

well, maybe just a little. But I was more afraid of losing him.

As his sharp vampire fangs sunk into my wrist, a rush of adrenaline and a million other things whipped through me, just like when Vladislav had bit me. But there were also different feelings there—things I’d never felt before.

I tried not to blink.

I tried not to look away.

I stayed with him.

Chapter 24

Minutes later, after the buzzing, humming, and so much other stuff had worn out of my body and my mind, Laylen and I both lay, yes, on the smelly ground of the all eyway, and stared up at the stars.

He drunk just enough of my blood for the wound in his chest to seal itself shut. Then he pulled away, putting his fangs back where they belonged. The only evidence that anything had happened was the two little bite marks spotting my wrist. Well, that and Laylen’s guilt for biting me. I could tell that he felt guilty, which made me feel guilty for telling him to bite me. But that was okay. I would deal with my guilt as long as it meant he was alive.

The sky was a midnight black now, the glow of the Vegas lights shimmering across it in various colors.

Car horns and roaring engines flooded the air.

“Why do you think Nicholas is helping Stephan?” I asked Laylen, staring at the crescent moon.

“I’m not sure,” Laylen replied, his eyes glued to the sky. “I do know one thing, though. The next time I see him, he better run.”

I casted a glance at him. The pale glimmer of the moon lit up the pain in his eyes. “Hopefully, we don’t ever see him again.”

“I highly doubt it’ll be the last time we see the faerie,” Laylen muttered, his jaw set tight.

He was probably right. Nicholas had an act for randomly popping up.

“But I just don’t get it,” I said. “It seems like he’s been helping Stephan for awhile, yet he was there at Adessa’s for all those days and never gave away our location? Why would he do that?”

“I think we’ll never be able to understand why Nicholas does what he does.” Laylen said. “What I think we need to do is focus on getting your mom back, just like we were planning. I just have this feeling she knows things that we don’t.”

I was abruptly reminded of something Nicholas had said back in the woods; that Stephan had created Laylen. Stephan had been the cause behind Laylen’s vampirism. But why would Stephan need to create a vampire? Why not just go get one of the many premade ones that were wandering around. Did it have to do with the star?

I decided not to tell Laylen that Stephan was the cause behind him being a vampire. Don’t freak out on me, though. I am going to tell him. I owed him the truth, no matter what—he always did the same for me. But I was going to let him get over biting me first, because he wasn’t handling it very well. In fact, he hadn’t made eye contact with me since he had done it.

“Are you…okay?” I asked him. “I mean with…biting me?”

He winced, and then sat up, staring in front of him at the side of the brick building that had been decorated with florescent green spray paint. “I think I should be the one asking if you’re okay.”

I sat up way too quickly, giving myself a head rush. I pressed my hand to my head. “I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me. I told you to do it.” Finally, he looked at me. “Yeah, but you’re the one who’s going to be tied to me now. You can’t erase the connection I just made with you. It’ll be there forever.”

“And that’s okay.” I pulled a few bits and piece of rock and dirt out of my hair. “It wasn’t okay with Vladislav, but with you it is.” I didn’t mean for it to come out how it sounded, considering the feeling we both knew I felt when he bit me.

There was this awkward moment, where we were both really uncomfortable. And because of that, I didn’t notice Alex walking up, nor did I notice the sparks until he was right in front of us.

“You’re alright.” Alex now had on a shirt and a pair of shoes that looked a little tattered, like he’d bought them from a second hand store. “How—what happened?

Laylen and I jumped to our feet, like we were guilty of committing some heinous crime. Which we so weren’t. With as long as it took for Alex to get a shirt to cover up his Keeper mark, Laylen probably would have never made it.

“We weren’t doing anything,” I said quickly, making me seem guilty.

Alex furrowed his eyebrows at me. “I never said you were. I was just asking why Laylen’s okay.”

“Oh.” I gave Laylen a what-should-we-do look. He shook his head and shrugged, like he had no idea what to tell Alex either. I tucked my arms behind me to hide the bite marks on my wrist. “Um…would you believe me if I said he just healed on his own?” Laylen let out a tired sigh, distracting me so I didn’t react quickly enough when Alex seized a hold of my arm and pulled it out from behind me. The two little bite marks marked my skin like a Scarlet G for guilty.

Only I was not guilty of anything.

“What the hell,” he said, struggling to stay composed. He looked at Laylen heatedly. “You bit her?”

“I made him bite me,” I said, pulling my arm away from him.

“I was going to get help.” He was furious.

“He was dying,” I said simply, but firmly. “And it was the only thing I could think of to do.”

“I—How would you even know that would work?” he asked, working to keep himself contained.

I shrugged. “I had a hunch. Besides, you should have said it would work in the first place, instead of saying we had to go track down another vampire, which just wasted time. And it would have been more of a risk for Laylen if you brought back a vampire who knew about him killing Vladislav.” My voice was ringing angrily, and I was breathing heavy. I was mad.

A different kind of mad then I’d ever been. I was mad for someone else. I was mad at Alex for risking Laylen’s life like that. And I was mad at Nicholas for almost taking Laylen’s life. The prickle was going insane. I saw red, and suddenly I gave Alex a shove. It didn’t really do anything to him; it just caused him to take an unsteady step back. But it shocked the heck out of everyone, including myself.

“Gemma,” Laylen said, his eyes wide with shock.

“It’s okay. I’m okay. Everything’s okay.” I blinked a few times, blinking my way out of my raging state. “Sorry, but he needs to stop lying.” I waited for Alex to freak out on me in normal Alex style. But all he said was, “Let’s get out of here.” Then he turned away from us and headed down the all ey.

Laylen and I traded curious glances, and then we followed after him.