Текст книги "The Underworld"

Автор книги: Jessica Sorensen

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Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 19 страниц)

Chapter 27

The next thing I was aware of was that I had a killer headache. My head was throbbing so badly I swear my skull had to be cracked. I also noticed my wrists were restrained by something cold and metal.

My eyelids whipped open. I was in an unfamiliar room, and wrapped around each of my wrists was a metal cuff, connected to a chain that extended to hooks secured into a dark green wall behind me.

Crap.

This was bad.

This was very, very bad.

The first thing I did was try to Foresee my way out of this place. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the gas station, but I wasn’t feeling it. I wasn’t feeling anything, except worry and fear, and that fact that I was in some serious trouble.

What had that crazy faerie boy done to me? Why couldn’t I use my Foreseer power? I tried again, concentrating harder, willing myself away from this place.

“There’s no use trying.” The taunting voice belonged to Nicholas.

I opened my eyes again and found him standing right in front of me. I scooted back to the wall, dragging the chains with me, the metal clinking against the hardwood floor.

“Where am I?” I asked, aiming to keep my voice steady, but failing miserably.

“My house.” He gestured around the room, which was basically bare except for a table that lined the far wall and a wooden stool perched in the corner.

“Why did you bring me here?” I asked, yanking at the chains.

“Why not?” He asked with a smile that could only be described as dangerous.

This was not good. There were so many things about being here alone with him that could be bad.

Not only because he could be handing me over to Stephan, but also because he was in control.

He squatted down on the floor so that he was eye level with me. “Tug at those chains all you want; you’re not going to get away.”

I jerked my arms again, wanting desperately to prove him wrong. But the chains were secured tightly, and yanking them was making the metal cuffs cut into my wrists.

He laughed at me, and I slid my leg out from underneath me and gave a try at kicking him. He hopped back, a flicker of fury flashing across his face, but he quickly collected himself and smiled again.

“You’re so feisty,” he said, his golden eyes glinting dangerously.

I glared at him. “Let me go.”

“Now, why would I do a stupid thing like that?” He stood up, gesturing at the floor around me. “I could keep you here forever you know—the room is surrounded by praesidium. ”

As I glanced around room, I became aware that trimming the floor were lavender crystal balls about the size of marbles. Now I didn’t know what they were, but I knew they had to be bad.

“What’s praesidium?” I asked, fearing the answer.

He gave a long pause “Well, I guess since you asked… praesidium is another kind of crystal ball Foreseers use. Only instead of channeling energy, it takes it away.”

Oh God. That’s why I couldn’t use my Foreseer power. The bad situation seemed to be getting worse.

“What are you going to do with me?” I asked, my voice cracking.

He grinned deviously. “I think the question is what am I not going to do with you?”

I tried my best to ignore my quivering nerves. “If you give me over to Stephan, you know what he’s going to do to me, right? He’s going to end the world—

everyone will die.”

“I don’t need you to explain what Stephan is planning to do. I understand, even more than you do, what he’s planning to do with you.”

“So you’re just okay with letting him kill everyone,” I said, hoping he would let some of the details slip out.

“Do you even feel anything at all?”

“I think the real question is do you feel anything.” He leaned over me, his eyes nearly glowing. “Which I think is what this whole thing is about.” My stomach rolled. He knew more than I thought he did. “Why are you doing this? Is there a reason? Or are you just plain evil?”

“Am I just plain evil?” He sounded mad. “Before you go opening your mouth and saying things you don’t understand, maybe you should consider how much you know about Stephan. Or about his precious son Alex? You trust him so much, yet he is the son of the man who has ruined your life and many others as well.”

“Did he ruin your life?” The way he said it made me wonder.

He didn’t say anything, and I thought I struck a nerve.

“What did he do to you?” I asked, keeping my voice low and swaying.

He stared at me with a look of intensity and I thought he was going to tell me, but then that playful sparkle returned to his eyes, and he backed away from me with a stupid grin on his face.

“I think I’m going to go take a walk.” He slid his hands into the pockets of his tan cargo pants. “I’d say wait here, but I don’t think you’ll be going anywhere.”

“Nicholas, please,” I begged, jerking on the chains again. “You can’t hand me over to Stephan.” But he already left.

I let out a frustrated scream, tugging on the chains with every ounce of strength I had in me, disregarding the pain of the metal cuffs cutting deeply into my skin. I tried to break free until my wrists were bleeding; until I was so exhausted that I had no strength left in me.

Until all there was left to do was wait.

What I was waiting for, I didn’t know.

Chapter 28

It seemed like hours went by. There were no windows in the room so I couldn’t tell if it was dark outside. And where exactly was I? The Kingdom of Fey or the City of Crystal—where did Nicholas live?

My wrists were sore, my head was throbbing, and I was scared and tired. I wondered what Alex and Laylen were doing. What did they do when I didn’t return to the car? Were they looking for me? Would they even know where to find me?

I’d just rested back against the wall, giving up all hope that anyone was ever going to be able to find me, when the door opened up.

My heart leapt, hoping it was Laylen. Or Alex.

Although, I couldn’t feel any electricity so I doubted that was the case.

Of course, the only person who came strolling in was Nicholas. He was carrying something in his hand, and he didn’t look happy at all.

He walked over and sat down in front of me. “Tell me, Gemma, has anyone told you anything about the fey world?”

“Umm…no?” Was this a trick question?

“Well,” he crossed his legs, “we have been around forever. Most people who know of our existence think of us a tricksters, which, most of the time, we are. But we can also be very serious, at least when it comes to our kind suffering.”

I wasn’t sure where he was going with this, so I just stared at him vacantly.

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard of him or not, but there used to be a Keeper who called himself Malefiscus,” he said.

I swallowed hard. “I might have heard his name mentioned before.”

“Good, then I don’t have to explain who he is. And I assume you know what kind of a person he was and what he did.”

I slowly nodded. “I do.”

“Well, during his time of chaos, he tortured everyone, including the Fey. And the Fey leader at that time, decided he had enough—that too many fey were dying, so he made a bargain with Malefiscus.

Leave the Fey alone, and we would owe him one favor. Malefiscus agreed and the promise was bound with a Blood Promise.”

“A Blood Promise?”

He ignored me, continuing on with his story. “Not too long after the promise was made, though, Malefiscus was caught and sentenced.” He paused.

“Everyone thought he died, and who knows, maybe he did, but his bloodline did not die with him. It carried on and now resides in a man named Stephan Avery.” He opened his hand and placed what he was holding onto the floor between us. A smooth, round stone, with a circle wrapped by an S painted on it—the Foreseers mark. “Because his bloodline carried on, so did the Fey’s promise to grant a favor. Only now the favor is owed to Stephan. No one knew of this, though, until he showed up just a few days ago, demanding his promise in the name of Malefiscus.

But he didn’t want just any member of the Fey to honor this promise. He wanted the faerie who possessed the gift of Foreseeing—he wanted me. Or more specifically he wanted me to track down a very pretty, but very tortured girl with beautiful violet eyes and a fiery personality.”

If he hadn’t mentioned the eye color, I wouldn’t have known he was talking about me because none of the other parts of his description seemed fitting.

“This was after I met you,” he continued. “After I’d taken you to Dyvinius.”

“What does he want you to do to me?” I was afraid to know the answer, especially because I was in a very vulnerable situation right now, being chained to a wall and all.

“A few things,” he said. “But in the end, it all comes down to one thing—I am supposed to bring you to him.”

I swallowed hard. “Are you going to?”

“At first I wasn’t sure. I know what Stephan is planning to do—that was made clear from the beginning.” He pressed his lips together, considering something. “But in the end, I really don’t have a choice. I am bound to a promise I cannot break.”

“Are you sure you can’t break it?” I asked, practically pleading. “Because there might be a wa—”

“No, there is no other way.” He talked over me. “If I don’t turn you over, then my people will suffer.”

“But if you do turn me over, the whole world will suffer,” I told him. “I’ve seen it.”

He gave me a mocking look. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yes,” I said confidently.

“And how can you be sure. How can you be sure of anything?”

“I…” He had a point. How could I be sure of anything?

He scooted the stone closer to me and I scooted back.

“What is that?” I asked, pointing a shaking finger at the stone.

“Something that’s going to temporarily take your Foreseer power away.”

“What!” I cried, scooting back from the stone even more. “How?”

“Don’t worry,” his voice purred. “It won’t hurt. And it’s only temporary. For the moment, Stephan needs you free of your powers, but eventually you’ll get them back.”

“Please don’t,” I begged. “You can’t give me to him.”

“I already said I don’t have a choice.” He looked livid as he rolled up the sleeve of his black shirt.

Across his arm was a mark. Not the Foreseers mark, but a different one—a red symbol traced by a black triangle.

“What is that?” I whispered, although I think deep down I already knew.

“The Mark of Malefiscus.” Nicholas practically growled. “I am forever branded with the mark of evil.

And between the Blood Promise and the mark of evil, I have to hand you over.”

“How did you—how did you get it?” I asked, trying not to shake from head-to-toe. “Are you related to Stephan?”

He shook his head. “No. Like Malefiscus, Stephan is capable of making marks, not just on himself but on other people.”

My breath caught again. If Stephan could put the mark on people…What if he’d put the mark on Alex? I wasn’t sure if I believed that or not. Yes, Alex had done some questionable things, but now…I don’t know…he went to the City of Crystal for me.

Nicholas picked up the stone and held it in front of my face, just out of my reach. “Until we meet again,” he said.

“No!” I screamed as the stone began to hum. It did not glow, though, or create smoke. It just hummed.

Louder and louder, until the humming clawed at my ear drums.

I threw my hands over my ears. “Nicholas!” I yelled.

“Please don’t do this. “

“It’s not my choice,” Nicholas shouted over the humming. Then, suddenly, his eyes were rolling back in his head. He let out a deafening scream that rang loudly through the room. The stone fell from his hands and hit the floor with a clank. The next thing I knew he was lying on the floor. He wasn’t dead—I could see his chest rising and falling with each breath—but definitely unconscious.

I stared at him, bewildered. What happened? Had the stone backfired its power on him? Then I felt a warmth against my neck. I reached up, and slipped my locket out from underneath my tank top.

“Oh my God.” My necklace. My beautiful, amazing, wonderful necklace. The stone’s magic must have taken Nicholas’s Foreseer power away from him, instead of from me.

I tucked the locket back under my shirt and immediately started searching for a way to escape. I didn’t know how long Nicholas was going to be out so I needed to hurry. What I needed was the key to the cuffs.

I inched my way over to Nicholas, as far as the chains would allow me to go, which was close enough that I could reach Nicholas’s foot. I grabbed hold of his shoe and started dragging him toward me. My word, faeries were heavy. It was like trying to pull a bag of bricks. But I managed and almost started jumping up and down when I found the key tucked away in the pocket of his pants.

“Yes,” I cried, unlocking the cuffs and then letting out a breath of freedom. I ran for the door, unsure of how far I would have to go to be able to use my Foreseer powers to get me out of here. But then a sudden thought raced through my mind that made me pause just outside the door. The Ira ball. What if it was here?”

I glanced back at Nicholas, sleeping away. How much time did I have? I wasn’t sure, but I had to try and find it. I raced back into the room, ran over to the table and threw open all the drawers. Each one was vacant.

Other than the table, this room was empty, so I ran out of it and into the next room, where I began ripping everything apart. I dumped out drawers, threw the cushions off the sofas, tossed books off the shelves, but I still couldn’t find it.

Frustrated, I kicked a small garbage can that just happened to me in my legs reach. It tipped over and something round and moss colored rolled out of it and across the floor. The Ira.

I swiped it up and stuffed it into the pocket of my shorts, which was a tricky thing to do since the thing was about the size of a softball. But I didn’t want to be touching it with my skin when I used my Foreseer ability to try and get back to Laylen and Alex.

Worried I might still be too close to the praesidium, I decided to leave the house. I looked around until I found the front door, threw it open, and ran outside. I almost ate it when my feet hit a slick surface—crystal and it was as slippery as trying to walk across an icy parking lot. I slowly made my way across it, slipping and sliding with every step I took. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and crossed my fingers that this would be far enough away.

I casted a glance back at the house, which now that I looked at it, was not a normal house, but a dome house that had been carved out of snow-white crystal.

The roof was dotted with bright red gemstones, and the tree that towered beside it had leaves that glowed like nightlights.

Just as I was closing my eyes to take off, the front door to the dome house swung open, and Nicholas stepped out.

“Gemma.” His voice echoed over the ice. “Don’t even think about leaving.” He started to run toward me, moving slowly– feebly, like the stone had drained him of most of his energy.

I shut my eyes, and quickly conjured up a mental picture of the massive SUV, hoping Laylen and Alex would still be at the gas station.

“Gemma.” Nicholas’s angry voice sounded closer.

I squeezed my eyes shut, picturing the leather backseat of the SUV and how I had been lying down on it. I heard Nicholas call out my name again, but I was already gone.

Chapter 29

I landed on my back. My eyes were open and I was staring up at the vinyl ceiling of the black SUV. I shot upright, breathing heavily as I immediately skimmed my surroundings. To my amazement, the SUV was still parked at the gas station, only now instead of being parked to the side of a gas pump it was in a parking space in front of the gas station. The sun was still shining brightly, so I must have not been gone for too long.

But where were Laylen and Alex?

Right as I thought it, I spotted them standing not too far off in front of the car. They looked like they were arguing, stern expressions set on their faces, their arms flying as the spoke heatedly.

I threw open the car door. “Hey,” I yelled and they both jumped.

As soon as they saw it was me, they ran over and hopped into the car.

“Where the heck have you been?” Alex asked, not in a rude way, but in an extremely freaked out one.

“We have to go,” Not knowing how long it would take for Nicholas’s Foreseer power to return to him, I knew we needed to get on the road fast.

Alex and Laylen looked at each other and then a few moments later the tires were spinning as we peeled out of the parking lot, leaving the gas station behind in a cloud of dust.

I think it took Alex about a minute before he started firing off questions at me. Where were you?

What happened? Why are your wrists bleeding? Are you okay? The last one threw me for a bit of a turn, but I answered each one, and made sure to include all the details about the Fey and the Blood Promise. I even took it upon myself to be the one to tell him that his father was definitely a descendent of Malefiscus. I also told him about Nicholas’s new mark.

I thought when I told Alex all of this, he would freak out. Well, I mean freak out in the sense that he would deny, deny, deny, and refuse to believe such a thing about his father. Yeah, he did change a little bit over the course of the last few days, but some of the things I told him were big.

So I was shocked when he shrugged and said, “Of course my father is a descendent of Malefiscus. I already knew that.”

Laylen’s head whipped in Alex’s direction. “What! I mean, yeah we all guessed he was, but….you knew.” Alex slumped back in the chair. “When I was little, my father would tell me stories of Malefiscus.”

“Everyone’s parents did,” Laylen pointed out as he merged the SUV into the left lane so he could pass a very slow moving minivan.

“Yeah, but my father would tell me different stories.” His jaw tightened. “Darker stories.”

“How dark of stories?” I asked, leaning forward on the console.

“Stories of how one day a descendent of Malefiscus,” he ran his fingers through his hair, letting out a stressed breath, “would bare Malefiscus’s mark.”

“Those were the kind of stories your father told you when you were little.” I stared at him, horrified. Jeez, maybe Marco and Sophia weren’t that bad.

He shrugged. “I was a little kid, so I thought it was normal. I honestly didn’t even remember his story until you mentioned your vision and how he…” He swallowed hard. “How his parents cut off his mark. I knew then that my father had to be the descendent he always told me about.”

I shook my head at him. “And you didn’t bother mentioning any of this to us because…”

“Because I don’t bother mentioning a lot of things to you.” Alex stared out the window, with his arms folded.

As I sat there thinking about Alex, and the way that he was, the thought that he might have been marked by Stephan, just like Nicholas had, crept back up into my mind.

“So did you know your father could mark people with the Mark of Malefiscus?” I asked, looking at Alex.

He shook his head. “That I didn’t.”

I rested my arms on the console and leaned forward even more, trying to get a better look at his face, so I could watch his expression when I asked the next question.

“He didn’t…I mean he didn’t mark…you, did he?” I felt horrible for asking it, but we needed to know.

He just stared at me, unblinking, not saying a word.

“Sorry, but I had to ask,” I muttered.

He kept staring at me with this serious look in his eyes. “Do you think I have the mark?”

“I don’t…a…I don’t know.” I sounded like a babbling idiot. “I don’t know what to think anymore, not with everything that’s happened.” I tried to make eye contact with Laylen so I could signal to him to help me out with this, but he was focused on the road.

“So what do you want me to do?” Alex cocked an eyebrow at me. “Strip off all my clothes and prove to you that I don’t have the Mark of Malefiscus anywhere?”

“No,” I said, and then I turned my head away and bit down on my bottom lip, hoping he couldn’t feel my increasing body temperature.

“Okay, then, I guess you’ll just have to believe me.” There was a hint of laughter in his voice.

Believe him. Was that possible? A week ago I’d have said there was absolutely no way I could believe him. But, I don’t know, things change. The idea of believing him didn’t seem as absurd as it once did.

“Well, what are we going to do now?” Laylen asked suddenly.

“We’re going to keep driving east.” Alex dropped open the glove box. “We’ll make a plan when we meet up with Aislin.”

“A plan to go to The Underworld and save my mother, right?” I said.

“If we can get the Ira back, then yes.” He started digging though the glove box and I slipped the Ira ball out of my pocket and placed it on top of the console in a Ta-da! way. He glanced over his shoulder and his eyes widened. “Where the heck did you get that?”

“I swiped it from Nicholas’s house before I left,” I said proudly.

“Nice job.” Laylen flashed me a smile through the rearview mirror.

“Impressive,” Alex added, looking very much impressed. He picked up the Ira, lifted up the lid to the middle console, and dropped the Ira down inside.

Then he returned his attention back to rummaging around in the glove box.

“What are you looking for?” I asked, flopping back against the seat.

“For this.” He pulled out a first aid kit. “Your wrists need to be cleaned up. What happened to you by the way?”

I glanced down at my semi-mutilated wrist.

“Nicholas chained me up to the wall and every time I jerked at the chain the metal cuffs cut into my skin.” Alex’s jaw tightened. He hopped over the console and into the backseat, opened up the first aid kit, and took out a roll of gauze and a bottle of peroxide.

He held out his hand. “Here, let me see one of your wrists.”

I gave him my left one first because it looked like it’d taken the worse of it. I sat there, letting him dabbed my skin with a cotton ball soaked with peroxide, and tried hard not to wince. But then the sparks tickled at my skin, and it numbed some of the pain away.

Even dressed in his worn out clothes, Alex was still as gorgeous as ever. I thought about Stephan being his father. Maybe that had contributed to why Alex was such a jerk most of the time and why he was the way he was. I thought about the younger Alex I saw and how he was so much different—so much more caring. Could it be possible that that Alex still existed?

After Alex finished cleaning my left wrist with peroxide, he asked for my other wrist. He dotted the cotton ball on my cuts, but when he was done, he didn’t wrap my wrists with gauze like I thought he would. In fact, what he did next shocked the heck out of me. He raised my wrist to his mouth, so there was only a sliver of air between his lips and my skin. Then he blew softly on my wound, causing my heart to flutter and the electricity to shimmer. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing. He switched to the other wrist, doing the same thing, and I tried not to gasp.

When he released my wrist, I opened my eyes, and found him watching me with the most intense expression on his face.

There was something different that happened between us then. I don’t know how to describe it. The prickle was there, on the back of my neck, but I couldn’t quite place my finger on what feeling was trying to emerge. I didn’t move away when he leaned toward me, even though I knew he was going to kiss me. In fact, I was more than willing to let him kiss me. I wanted him to. But then the car came to a brake-slamming stop that sent me flying forward, but Alex caught hold of me before I made it too far.

“Sorry,” Laylen apologized. “I thought I saw a deer in the road.”

I glanced around outside, but all I could see was the sage brush covering the flat land. There was nowhere for a deer to hide.

“Do you need me to drive so you can get some rest?” Alex asked.

Laylen shook his head. “No, I’m good.” He sped up the car again, and Alex bandaged each of my wrists with gauze. I didn’t pay attention to him much, though. I was too distracted by Laylen and how strange he has been acting. Ever since he bit me, he has been acting a little off. He hadn’t done anything major, like run the streets biting people, but I was still worried that something was wrong. But I didn’t want to bring it up to Alex because I figured he would be unsympathetic. But I’ll make sure to keep an eye on him.

Just in case.