Текст книги "The Underworld"

Автор книги: Jessica Sorensen

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Chapter 25

We didn’t go to Adessa’s. Alex pointed out that it probably wasn’t safe for us to go there, since Nicholas was roaming around with a group of Death Walkers, and he knew where our little I hideout was.

Laylen and I agreed with him, and that we should probably warn Adessa and Aislin to get out of the house and somewhere safe. But since none of us had our cell phones, we had to go find a phone.

Here’s the problem. Phone booths are practically in extinction. So after roaming around the hectic streets of Vegas, searching for a phone booth, we finally gave up and entered a store to ask if we could use their phone. But people are kind of rude when it comes to letting “noncostumers” use their phones, so getting someone to let us was becoming a total project. And we were all tired. And hungry.

A great combination, let me tell you.

I was really hating Vegas at the moment.

People kept staring at us funnily too, probably because I had dried blood all over my hands and mud stuck to my clothes. Plus, Laylen had a huge blood stain on his shirt. Afraid someone was going to think we’d killed someone, we all took a second to go into a gas station bathroom and clean up a little. I washed up the best I could. I even rinsed out my hair in the sink, but there was nothing I could do about the fact that I didn’t have any shoes on.

After I finished cleaning up, I met Laylen and Alex back outside. Laylen had scrubbed down his shirt, but I could still faintly make out a small stain. Alex had run water through his hair and somehow had miraculously styled it into place.

Apparently while they’d been waiting for me to clean up, they’d come up with a plan. Well, Laylen came up with a plan, anyway. Laylen suggested to Alex to go work his “Alex charm” on the cashier girl inside the gas station, and see if he could persuade her to let us use her phone. I felt bad for the poor girl, and for a brief second I wanted to smack Alex on the back of the head for doing such a mean thing, especially because I once was in that poor girls position. But my sore bare feet and hunger pains kept me from stopping him.

So Laylen and I waited outside the gas station, which was located in a less busy, but sketchier area of Vegas, while Alex went in to work his “Alex charm” on the poor girl. And within seconds, he had the phone pressed up to his ear.

“So you’re okay, right?” Laylen asked, as we stood in front of the glass entrance doors, keeping our eyes out for any Death Walkers, vampires, man with a scar, ect.

“What, with Alex flirting with that girl,” I replied, ringing some of the left over water out of my dark brown hair. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” The expression on Laylen’s face let me know right away that that was not what he had been talking about at all, and I felt like such an idiot. “Oh, you mean with the bite,” I said, feeling stupid. “Yeah, of course I’m fine.”

“You don’t feel…” He hesitated, leaning back against the door. “Weird or anything?” I shook my head, cupping my hand over the bite marks on my wrists. “No. No weirdness.” Actually, that was a lie. During the bite-session, there was this fleeting instant where I pictured Laylen and I kissing, which was completely weird. I knew it was only the bite that had struck up the picture in my mind, but there was still a lingering feel-good sensation that the image had brought up inside me. But I knew it would wear off soon enough.

“So no weirdness, then?” He stilled seemed disbelieving.

“Besides this conversation?” I joked.

He laughed, and it felt good that I had been the one to make him laugh. Also, maybe I could take this as a sign that my people skills were improving.

I know, who would have thought, right?

“So how are you feeling?” I asked. “No weirdness with you?”

He shook his head as he absentmindedly touched his mouth on the spot where his fangs had slipped out. “I feel okay, I guess. Except my teeth feel a little strange.”

“Strange how?” I wondered.

“I don’t know…I can feel them now, up there, and it’s…I don’t know.” He touched the tip of his finger to his tooth. “I’ve never had them out before.” I gaped him. “What? You’ve never brought out your fangs before…ever?”

“Nope,” he said. “I told you I never brought them out.”

“Yeah, but when you said ‘never’ I thought you talking about hardly ever, like maybe once and awhile.”

“Nope. Never as in never.”

“So you’ve never bitten anyone before… Ever.” He shook his head. “No, you’re the first.” Wow. I stood there, taking in the heaviness of the situation. What if, because he brought them out, he changed? What if he started to become blood hungry? It would be my fault because I made him bite me. But he would’ve died if he hadn’t. Especially since Alex had been moving at the pace of a turtle, which I was hoping wasn’t done intentionally. But Alex is Alex and you can never put anything past him.

I chose to keep all of this to myself, though. There was no use letting Laylen in on my thoughts of whether or not he was going to go insane and start biting people. I was just going to have to make sure to keep an eye on him.

“Okay,” Alex announced as he stepped outside, a bell dinging as the door swung shut. “Aislin and Adessa are leaving the house now—well, Aislin is, and Adessa’s going to go stay with some friends of hers until we let her know it’s safe for her to return home.”

“And where are we going?” I asked, glancing anxiously at a large Chevy truck turning into the gas station parking lot.

“We are driving,” he answered.

“Driving?” I repeated. Driving seemed like such an amateur thing to do. “Why can’t we just have Aislin transport us? Or maybe I could get us somewhere since I can now use my Foreseer power to travel to places.”

“No.” He moved right in front of me, his bright green eyes gleaming in the neon pink glow of the flashing

“Open” sign. “We’re not transporting because there’s no way we can get to Aislin or Adessa without the fear of them being followed.”

“But I could—”

“And we’re not using your Foreseer abilities anymore until we know for sure that you know how to use them.”

“I know how to use them. I got us to the Black Dungeon perfectly fine, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but you’re tired.” He gave me an intense look, before looking away at the silent street. “I can feel it.”

I focused on the electric buzz, and it did seem very faint—a soft hum instead of fiery sparkles. “Well, so are you,” I pointed out.

“Exactly. We all are.” He looked at Laylen. “So for now, I think it would be best if we drove. It gives us a chance to rest. And besides, since our location will constantly be changing, it’ll make it harder for Nicholas to track us down. Showing up in a moving vehicle is basically impossible to do.”

“But what about when we stop?” I asked.

“We’ll make limited stops, and I won’t make the decision to stop until a few seconds beforehand,” Alex ran his hands through his very messy and not in an-intentional-done kind-of– way hair. “That way he’ll have very short notice on where we’ll be at.”

“You think that’ll work?” Laylen asked, moving away from the gas station entrance doors so a man wearing a red baseball cap could go inside.

“Honestly,” he shook his head, “I have no idea if it will, but it’s all I got right now so…”

“So, where’s this car we’re supposed to be driving?” Laylen asked. “And where are we going to be driving it to?”

“That’s for me to know.” Alex started across the gas station parking lot.

I headed after him, the gravel cutting into by bare feet. “You’re not going to tell us?” I asked, not surprised, but irritated.

He came to a stop so rapidly I just about ran straight into him. The electricity awoke from its lazy slumber, reacting excitedly.

He turned around with very serious expression on his face. “Look,” he said. “I understand it’s your nature to want to know things, but it’s best if only I know where we’re going. If Nicholas is trying to track you, it’ll be easier for him if you’re thinking about where we’re headed.”

Whether his plan made sense or not, I gave in because I didn’t have a better idea. “Okay then,” I said. “Let’s go get a car.”

Turns out Adessa had a friend who would lend us their car, or an SUV I guess I should say. The beastly thing could in no way qualify as a car. The colossal SUV—a shiny black Chevy Tahoe—had tires as tall as my legs and a lift to add even more height. I practically had to high jump into it. Then after I made it inside, I had to wait around while Alex and Laylen argued over who was going to drive the beast.

Finally, they decided that Laylen would go first since apparently he felt very wired and awake. So we pulled out of the parking garage and onto a main road of Vegas, where Alex told Laylen to drive to the freeway and head east.

As I sat there on the sticky backseat, staring out the window—at the stars of course—I couldn’t help but think about how much trouble we were in now that it seemed Nicholas was helping Stephan. With Stephan having a Foreseer on his side, it was going to make tracking us down much easier. In fact, I was surprised he hadn’t already, which made me question just what Nicholas was up to. He had me right there when he pretended to help me, so why not turn me over?

At least we were in a moving vehicle now, and if what Alex said was true then we were safe for the moment.

The longer we drove, the dimmer the florescent lights of Vegas became, until they were completely tucked away behind the sandy hills. I let out a yawn as I stared up at the sliver streams of stars, questioning my whole existence. Why was I here? I mean, if the star’s energy was being used to open the portal, then didn’t it mean I was as well? It was in me, therefore I would be responsible for the portal opening and ending the world.

Well, that was a heavy thought.

“You should get some sleep.”

I tore my eyes away from the stars and my very unsettling thoughts and found Alex watching me from the front seat.

“It’s late,” he said. “And we have a ways to go.”

“I’m not really tired,” I said, even though I yawned about ten times in the last few minutes.

“Well, you should try to get some sleep, anyway, just in case something happens.” He ran his fingers though his hair and turned away. “And I know you’re tired. I can feel it.”

This whole new “I-can-feel-your-tired-and-you-can-feel-I’m-tired” thing was weird. But I guess everything between Alex and I was a little weird so…

I rested my head against the cool, hard glass of the window, and within seconds my eyelids had drifted shut.

Bright light. Bright light everywhere.

I belonged here—I could feel. I belonged in the bright white light.

Peaceful, calm—this was my end.

The light sparkled across my skin, enveloping me in a blanket of warmth.

I’d been here before, in a vision. Nicholas had said it was my end. And as I stood here in the bright light, I knew he was right. This is where I would end up…

Forever.

My eyes shot open, and for a moment I couldn’t figure out where I was. Somewhere dark. And warm.

Then it dawned on me. I was in a car, headed to who knows where. I was also lying down on the seat, the leather pressing warmly against my cheek.

The whole light dream I had was making me freak out a little, especially because Nicholas had told me that the light vision I’d went into meant my future was dead. And now I was dreaming about it. That couldn’t be good.

From the front seats, Alex and Laylen were chatting about cars, like they were two normal guys, which I guess was a good thing—at least they weren’t fighting. But it was still strange to hear a normal conversation that didn’t center on Death Walkers, Foreseers, or the end of the world.

“No. There’s no way your GTO could beat my Camaro,” Alex was saying, sounding a little worked up. “Are you freaking kidding me with this?”

“No I’m not freaking kidding you with this,” Laylen replied calmly. “I bet you hands down that my car could take your car any day.”

“Bull,” Alex said. “You know I would win, you just won’t admit it.”

I decided that I’d rather be sleeping than listening to this. But right as I was shutting my eyes, Laylen said something that made me open them right back up.

“I’ll tell you what,” he said. “I’ll admit that you might be right, if you’ll admit that you like Gemma.”

“If I told you that then I’d be lying,” Alex said, sounding as if he meant it. “Well, at least not in the sense that you’re implying.”

Ouch, that stung.

They were silent. The only sound came from the rumble of the tires and the low hum of the song purring from the stereos speakers—“Epiphany” by Staind.

“Okay Alex,” Laylen said, in an ‘I’m-going-to-lay-it-out-for-you’ kind of way. “ I think you like her. In fact I think you always have and always will. Now whether or not you’ll admit it is your problem. All I care about is that you lay off her. You can be a real jerk to her—to everyone really, but it’s worse for her because she’s new to feeling things.”

This conversation, for some reason, was making me feel very uncomfortable. But I didn’t know how to block it out. Cover my ears? Yeah, then they’d know I was awake and listening.

“You need to shut up,” Alex said, his anger blaring in his voice. “I don’t feel that way about her. Never have, never will.”

“Yeah, because you don’t care about anything,” Laylen told him. “You never have. Well, I take that back. You use to be normal until Gemma was sent away, then you basically just shut off. Maybe you should just think about why that is? Why would you change right when she left?”

“Because everyone will hurt you if you let them in,” Alex muttered as if he was quoting someone.

“What?” Laylen asked. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing. Just drop it.” Alex turned up the volume of the music, and the conversation was dropped.

I laid there for awhile with my eyes open, pondering everything. My feelings. My mom. What Alex had said.

“Everyone will hurt you if you let them in.” I wondered if he really believed it.

I felt very strange, my emotions running all over the place, almost like the prickle was malfunctioning or something.

And maybe it was.

Maybe I was broken.

Chapter 26

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that the SUV was stopped. I sat up in the seat, wondering if we made it to wherever we were heading, or if something had happened. After blinking away my sleepy disorientation, I realized we were just at a gas station, getting gas.

Laylen was outside, pumping gas into the SUV, and Alex was nowhere in sight.

I stifled a yawn and then stretched, wondering what time it was. The sun was beating hotly from up in the sky, and the streets that bordered the gas station were bouncing with traffic. There was an old white and green Victorian house across the road that had a sign that said Isabel a’s Herb Shop. I wondered if it was the same kind of herb store as Adessa’s Someone knocked on the window, causing me to jump. Laylen smiled at me through the glass and motioned to me to open the door.

“Well, good morning sleeping beauty,” he said, after I open the door and climbed out into the sunlight.

“Sleep well?”

“Surprisingly, yes.” I stretched out my legs and arms. “How long was I out?”

“For about eight hours.”

“Eight hours?” How the heck had I slept for eight hours with everything that was going on.

“Yeah, you were really out, too.” He flashed me a grin. “Snoring and all.”

“I don’t snore,” I protested. At least I think I don’t.

He gave me another teasing smile, before sliding the debit card into the machine.

“Wow, you seem like you’re in a good mood,” I remarked with a curious tone.

He shrugged, glancing over at a tall woman with long black hair walking across the parking lot. “As good a mood as any, I guess.”

He was acting a little…off. “Are you feeling okay?” He shrugged again, rubbing his lips together, and then looked at me. “I’m fine.”

I stared at him, picking up on something. I couldn’t explain it, but after the whole first-time-biting thing, I had to worry a little. But before I could press him further, Alex strolled up, carrying a plastic bag.

“If you need to go inside for anything, then you’d better do it,” Alex told me, tossing a bag of food and drinks onto to the front seat of the SUV.

Seeing him made what he said last night replay in my head, along with the hurt feelings I felt. “Okay.” I headed inside.

“Make it quick,” Alex called after me. “We don’t want to be stopped for too long.”

I nodded, shocked he was even letting me go in by myself.

*** The gas station was fairly packed, which made my senses go on high alert, especially because I stood out like a sore thumb. My clothes were filthy, I had no shoes on, and my hair was a tangled mess—

well, at least more of a tangled mess than it usually is

–so people couldn’t help but gawk at me as I walked by them. I made my way down the candy aisle, past the drink cooler, and stepped into the restroom. I splashed my face with cold water and washed my hands. Wherever we were, the air felt humid and hot, making my skin feel gross.

I glanced up in the mirror and let out a groan at my reflection. My violet eyes. The one thing that was always going to make me stand out—deem me different. I was painfully realizing that no matter how much I wanted a normal life, it just might be impossible, and maybe I needed to start accepting that I was a star carrying, vision seeing, violet-eyed Gemma.

And that my life might not be long lived.

After my light vision, and my light dream, I had to wonder. They both might have been showing me a part of my future. The thought was scary, but I had to hold onto the fact that not everything I saw or dreamt had played out exactly as I had seen it. Things changed.

For the moment, I really needed to focus on figuring out how to get a hold of the Ira so I could go into The Underworld and save my mom. The problem was I couldn’t just walk into a store and purchase an Ira. The only person that I knew of who had one was Nicholas, and now that he might be working with Stephan, getting one from him seemed more impossible than it did before.

“Stupid faerie.” I kicked the wall, frustrated. Of course, kicking a tile wall while wearing no shoes was not the grandest idea, and I ended stubbing my toes.

“Ow.”

One of the bathroom stal doors opened up and an old lady, wearing a long green dress and tan shoes, and looking really alarmed, scurried out of the bathroom.

“Whoops,” I mumbled to myself. I guess it was time to go back anyway. Standing in a bathroom wasn’t doing me any good. And I was supposed to be hurrying.

I headed for the door, hearing one of the stal doors squeak open. Instinctively, I glanced behind me, and then stopped when I didn’t see anyone. The door was swinging, and I wondered if I scared someone else enough that they were afraid to come out.

I sighed. It was definitely time to leave. I turned around, and then stumbled backward because standing right in front of me was a very obnoxious faerie with golden eyes and sandy hair.

“Well, I have to say that this is not where I pictured us meeting up again,” Nicholas said, glancing around the Women’s Restroom. “Although it’ll do, I guess.” I backed away from him, knowing full well that I was cornered. “Stay the heck away from me.” He moved for me, a sneaky smirk spreading across his face. “You seem afraid of me Gemma.” My back hit the tiled wall. “I know why you’re here. I know you’re working with Stephan.”

“You do, do you?”

“You were at the City of Crystal with the Death Walkers,” I said heatedly. “And I heard you talking to them…how can you talk to them?”

“I can’t,” he said and I shook my head. Let the running around in circles begin.

“Yes you can,” I snapped. “I heard. And I heard you talking about capturing me for Stephan. Why would you do that? Don’t you know what he wants to do with me?”

I was hoping he would say that he did, and then we would have one of those moments where the vill ain unleashes all his evil plans.

“Why would you think I was helping Stephan? I can’t stand him as much as I can’t stand his son.” He moved in front of me, leaning in close. “And honestly, if I captured you, I’d rather keep you for myself.

There’s so much…” He sniffed me. Yes, actually sniffed me, like he was smelling a flower or something. “Power flowing off you.”

My mouth dropped. He could feel the electricity.

“Your Foreseer gift…it’s absolutely breathtaking,” he said, moving back a little.

Oh, he was talking about that power.

“That’s great,” I said, looking for a way out of here. I could try to dodge around him, but I didn’t see myself making it that far. The only thing I could think of to do was use my “breathtaking” Foreseer ability to move myself from the bathroom to the SUV. But could I do it quickly enough?

All I could do was try.

“Tell me Gemma.” Nicholas was so close to me that the flowery, rain smell that was always radiating off him was strong enough to make me almost pass out.

“Why are you so afraid of me?”

“Besides the fact that you’re working with the man who wants to hurt me?” I asked, trying to picture in my head the massive black Chevy Tahoe parked outside next to the gas pumps.

“You’ve never liked me from the first time you met me,” he remarked, in a playful way, like this was all a game to him, which it probably was.

I shrugged, still focusing on the SUV. Come on.

Come on. Come on. “I don’t know…I guess you just rubbed me the wrong way.”

He said something else. But I didn’t hear him. I was going…fading…almost there. Then I was being shoved up against the hard tiled wall of the bathroom.

The muscles on my back burned in protest, and I let out a whimper.

“Don’t even think about it,” Nicholas snapped angrily. “You’re coming with me.” Then he hit me over the head with something.

My ears rang, and my eyes shifted out of focus. I saw spots. Then I was falling toward the floor.