Текст книги "The Underworld"

Автор книги: Jessica Sorensen

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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 19 страниц)

Chapter 9

I’m not sure what went wrong. But something was definitely wrong. All I could see was light, everywhere.

Bright and blinding, stinging at my eyes. For a split second, I thought somehow I’d sent myself to the sun or something.

But it wasn’t hot or anything. In fact, it kind of made me feel sparkly, almost like whenever Alex touched me. It wasn’t making me panic or anything. In fact, I felt peaceful and calm.

I started to move through the light. “Where am I?” I whispered.

“You’re in your future,” someone said from behind me.

I spun around and squinted through the light. My nostrils were instantly hit by the smell of lilacs, rain, and forest. And I knew, even though I couldn’t see him, that there was a faerie standing out there in the light.

“Nicholas,” I called out. “Where are you?” He didn’t answer, but I could feel him next to me, his warmth radiating from his body.

What is this place?” I asked, turning around in circles, searching for him.

“I already told you it’s your future,” his voice purred in my ear.

I jumped to the side, startled by how close he was to me. “My future…How do you know it’s my future.”

“Because I do.”

“But how…” I glanced around, trying to see something—anything—but was blinded in return.

“How can this be my future? There’s nothing here.”

“Is that what you see?” Nicholas’s voice encircled me. “Nothing.”

I’d always been cautious around Nicholas. When I had gone into the vision with him, I had been careful not to let him know what I saw. But now…There was something off about this particular vision. I could feel it. I just felt…

I just felt too peaceful.

A feeling which I’d never felt before. Yet there was no prickle to help me acknowledge it. I just knew what it was.

“I see light,” I told him, my voice soft. “It’s everywhere.”

“Are you sure that’s all you see?” He whispered in my ear.

This time I didn’t flinch away. “Yes.”

“Well, then.”

“Well then what?”

There was a pause. “Then I guess that means your future’s dead.”

Dead. Dead. Before I could dig into the details of why he had said this—or if he meant that I would be dead soon—I felt his hand touch my arm.

“Let’s go back,” he said. “I have some business to take care of with Alex.”

Which was exactly what this was all about—taking care of business. But Nicholas was never supposed to show up in my vision. And I was never supposed to go into a vision so…heavy and severe. I was supposed to keep it simple. But if what Nicholas said was true, then I fail miserably.

For now, though, as hard as it was going to be, I was going to have to push this vision out of my mind so I could take Nicholas and myself back to Adessa’s.

So I did, shutting my eyes so tightly; wishing I could forget what I had seen—or what I didn’t see maybe I should say—but also wanting to keep the peaceful feeling with me.

“Alright,” I said. “Let’s go back.”

When I reopened my eyes, there was no bright light, the only light was coming from the chandelier on the ceiling. Dark blue walls surround me, and black and white checkerboard tile made up the floor beneath my feet. I was sitting in the velvet purple sofa with Alex on one side of me, and Laylen on the other.

The crystal ball was no longer in my sight because Nicholas was standing in front of me, blocking it from my view.

His sandy blonde hair swept over his forehead, his golden eyes were locked on me, and his hand still rested on my arm. The navy blue t-shirt he was wearing made the Foreseers mark on his wrist visible.

“What the—” Alex shouted, leaping to his feet as he took in the sight of Nicholas and I. He swatted Nicholas’s hand off of my arm. “Why did you…How…”

“He showed up in the vision,” I explained quickly.

“Instead of here.”

“But that’s not allowed,” Alex said, his bright green eyes burning with rage. “Foreseers are not allowed to go into another Foreseers vision without permission.”

“Maybe I did have permission,” Nicholas said with a sly smile. “How do you know for sure that I didn’t?” He looked at me, and I could feel trouble boiling.

“Besides, I think it was a good thing I showed up there, so I could explain to Gemma what she was seeing.”

Alex gave me a so-what’s-going-on look, in which I responded with an eye roll and a don’t-worry-about-it shake of my head. I didn’t think this was the appropriate time to bring up that Nicholas had just told me my future was dead. Besides just because he said it, didn’t mean it was true.

“So is there a reason why you let her use the crystal ball again,” Nicholas asked, dropping down on the sofa across from us and kicking his feet up on the apothecary table. “Or did she just decide to do it all on her own and let you suffer for it.” He paused, his golden eyes glinting wickedly. “Personally, I’d love to think it was the latter.”

“Well, it wasn’t the latter,” Alex said, irritated. “It was for a good reason.”

“And what reason would that be?” Nicholas asked with a sparkle of amusement in his eyes.

Alex hesitated and sat back down on the sofa beside me. “The reason she did it is because I needed to talk to you about…about a way to get into…The Underworld by using the Ira crystal ball.” I looked at Nicholas, but his expression was blank, giving me no idea what he was thinking

“You think an Ira will take you to The Underworld.” He let out a laugh. “I’ve never heard of a more ridiculous thing.”

“I know it can be done.” Alex’s face reddened with anger. “So cough it up—where can we get one.” Nicholas pressed his lips together, holding back a grin. “Like I said, I have no idea what you’re talking about—I’ve never heard of such a thing before.” Laylen and Alex exchanged this strange look that I couldn’t interpret. Then they both jumped to their feet and charged at Nicholas, Laylen taking out the apothecary table with him. They each grabbed one of Nicholas’s arms, tipping over the sofa as they dragged him over the back of it. Then they shoved him against the wall so violently that it made me wince.

What in the world? Had they planned this while I was gone? What happened to their wanting to beat the crap out of each other thing?

I got to my feet and made my way over to them.

“Now like I said,” Alex practically growled at him.

“We know an Ira can take us to The Underworld, so just tell us where we can get one and how to use it?”

“I don’t kn—” Nicholas started to say, but Alex pushed on him harder. “Okay. Okay. I might know where to get one.”

“And you’ll tell us where.” Alex’s tone was firm.

Nicholas glanced at everyone and then this look passed over his face and all I could think was, great, what does he want.

“I think if I do, I should at least get something out of it.” His eyes landed on me, and I took a step back.

“Something I want.”

I took another step back as the three guys all looked at me.

Alex shook his head. “No. No way. You’re not having anything that comes from her.”

“Then I won’t help,” he said simply.

Alex waited a second, and then shoved Nicholas against the wall again. “Think of something else.” Neither one of them looked as if they were going to back down, and when Laylen glanced at me, I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands. I’ve already been bitten by a vampire, so why not see what faerie boy wanted to add to my Stipulation list.

“What do you want?” I asked, walking toward him.

Alex shook his head. “Don’t.”

I ignored him. “What do you want?”

A devious smile rose on Nicholas’s face. “A kiss.” Ugh. “Really? That’s all you want, and then you’ll just hand over the Ira and tell us how to use it so we can get into The Underworld.” I was having a hard time believing that a kiss from me—Freaky Girl With Violet Eyes Who Couldn’t Feel—was going to seal the deal.

But Nicholas was a weirdo so…

He nodded, his smile so impish I wanted to slap it right off of his face. And then that’s when I felt it—the prickle, releasing a new kind of confidence I never felt before. In fact, I felt kind of strong.

“Okay, then,” I said. “I’ll do it.”

Alex looked at me with anger blazing in his eyes.

“No.”

“You’re paying your dues for this,” I said, taking a deep breath. “This is mine.”

“You act like it’s such a bad thing,” Nicholas said with a smirk. “But deep down I think you know it really isn’t.”

I shot him a glare and then, with a wave of my hand, told Alex to, “Let him go.”

Alex did not take his eyes off of me as he gave Nicholas one more hard shove against the wall before letting him go. Laylen let go of him as well and Nicholas rubbed his arm where Alex had been holding him.

“God, you Keepers think violence is the key to everything,” Nicholas remarked.

“And you faeries think tricking people into doing things is the key to everything,” Alex bit back.

“You’re right,” Nicholas said, his golden eyes locking onto me. “We do.”

I scowled at him. “Let’s just get this over with.” He stepped toward me, never taking his eyes off of me, and it took a lot of effort on my part not to back away from him. Laylen walked toward the doorway, looking really uncomfortable with the situation. And that was okay. The less people watching this painful scene, the better. Because kissing a half-faerie—the only other guy I’ve kissed besides Alex—in front of Laylen and Alex was absolutely mortifying. I wished they would just leave the room, but instead Laylen leaned back against the trim of the doorway, folded his arms across his chest, and stared out into the foyer. And Alex…well, he went over and punched a hole into the wall.

I shook my head and took a deep breath as Nicholas leaned in.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the kiss. Honestly, I expected a little more than what happened. I mean, it wasn’t like Nicholas was hard on the eyes or anything, just a little weird and annoying. But as his lips brushed against mine, all I felt was…nothing. I felt absolutely nothing. In fact, it made me feel empty, like it was all wrong, and I needed to fix it somehow.

Weird.

I let Nicholas finish his one-sided kiss and then he pulled away, licking his lips.

“Okay,” I said, jumping right down to business.

“Now get us the crystal and show us how to use it.” Nicholas considered this with a sly look on his face.

“The thing is there’s a slight problem with your plan.

Yeah, the Ira can take you into The Underworld, without having to go through the whole process of being dragged down into the lake by the Water Fey.

However, it also takes a very strong Foreseer to channel enough energy to use the Ira crystal. And I’m not that powerful yet.”

“So where can we find a Foreseer who has enough power,” I asked, trying to stay calm, something which Alex wasn’t trying to do—I could tell by the look on his face.

“You can’t,” Nicholas said. “At least probably not one that will actually help you do it.” He paused. “See the thing with Foreseers is that not a whole lot of people like us because we can practically see anything—good or bad. We can go to places where most can’t go, like The Underworld. And so when we do show up in The Underworld unannounced, it pisses the Queen off. And no one likes being around a pissed off Queen, especially a Queen who likes to torture people so her Water Faeries can feed off of the fear. So most Foreseers are unwilling to help another Foreseer go there.”

I felt like I was being choked. “Are you sure there’s absolutely no one that will.”

He shook his head. “Nope. There’s not.” Okay, now I was pissed. He just tricked me into believing there was a way just so I would kiss him.

Stupid faerie. “You know what? I think I’ll let Alex and Laylen take over from where they left off before the kiss.”

“Great,” Alex said, looking a little too happy about it. He along with Laylen started to corner Nicholas again.

“Okay, Okay,” Nicholas said, surrendering with his hands out in front of him “There might be a way…but it will take some time.”

“How much time?” Alex asked, still moving for him.

“A few weeks, maybe a few months,” Nicholas said with his back up against the wall. “It really all depends on Gemma.”

“On me.” I pointed at myself. “Why would it depend on me?”

“Well, I think if there were two Foreseers, then we might have enough power to use an Ira to go into The Underworld.”

Alex and I exchanged a look, and then Alex said to Nicholas, “How sure are you that it’ll work.”

“If she trains enough and builds up her power, then it should work,” Nicholas said looking—for once—like he was telling the truth.

Alex glanced at Laylen and Laylen shrugged. “It’s your call.”

Alex looked back at Nicholas. “You’ll train her here.” It wasn’t a question.

He nodded. “I’ll bring the Ira ball back with me after I’ve dropped you off at the City of Crystal to make good on the promise you broke to Dyvinius—

something I can’t get you out of, even if I wanted to.

Which I don’t.”

“Fine,” Alex agreed. “Take me to the City of Crystal to pay my debt. And while I’m gone, you’ll get Gemma ready to use the Ira.”

“Alright,” Nicholas said and slipped from his pocket the ruby-filled crystal ball that would take Alex and him to the City of Crystal. “Let’s go then.” He balanced the ball in the palm of his hand and held it out in front of Alex.

“Just one second before we take off” Alex said to Nicholas. Then he turned to me, giving me this strangest look ever.

“What?” I asked, confused.

still looking at me weirdly, he leaned in toward me.

I wasn’t sure what he was going to do at first—kiss me? Yeah, that thought flashed through my head until I realized that he was heading for my ear not my lips.

“Make sure and be careful around Nicholas.” His breath was electric against my ear, and I had to try very hard not to gasp. “Faeries are tricky. He’ll twist things around and try to confuse you if you’re not careful.”

So you’re a faerie, too, I thought, but aloud I said,

“Okay, I will.”

“And whatever you do, don’t take the necklace off,” Alex added, before stepping away from me. He went back over to Nicholas, who was waiting impatiently with the ruby-filled crystal ball in his hand. “And Nicholas,” Alex said, his hand extended toward the ball, but not touching it yet.

What?” Nicholas’s tone was mildly tolerant.

“I want you to remember one thing,” Alex said, his voice sharper than I’d ever heard. “Try anything, and I mean anything like what you just pulled with Gemma while I’m gone and you’ll have to deal with two very powerful witches and a vampire who are more than willing to protect her.”

“Whatever,” Nicholas said, but looked a little worried.

Alex didn’t say anything else. He placed his hand on the crystal ball, and in a blink-of-a-second later he was gone.

Chapter 10

Why did Alex make me feel this way? Why was he the only guy who could steal my breath away?

Make my knees weak? Yet, at the same time, drive me absolutely insane?

After Alex and Nicholas took off to The City of Crystal, I was left with this horrid feeling of loneliness in the pit of my stomach; loneliness that always seemed to show up whenever Alex left me. I felt cursed by this feeling that tied me to a guy who had lied, been rude, and tried to control me. But for now, I guess I was bound to it, until I could figure out what was causing this electric bond between us.

Something that I was hoping my mother might know about.

As Laylen and I sat on the purple velvet sofa, waiting for Nicholas to return, I decided to tell him what I’d seen in the vision—see if he knew anything about a vision filled with bright light.

But after I’d finished explaining to him what I’d seen, Laylen looked about as puzzled as I felt.

“I have no idea what that could mean,” Laylen said, sweeping his blue tipped bangs out of his eyes. “A bright light—that’s all you saw?”

I nodded. “And then Nicholas showed up and when I told him what I was seeing, he said my future was dead.”

Laylen’s face twisted with confusion. “I have no idea, Gemma. I really don’t. But…I really wouldn’t worry about it too much. I mean, there’s a chance that Nicholas could have been messing with your head.” I nodded, but I still felt uneasy. I tried to think of something else, but all my brain wanted to do was think about Alex. Stupid brain. And it wouldn’t stop, it just kept going and going until…I remembered.

Alex.

Alex and I.

My memories were flashing back to me. Not all of them, but some. Alex and I picking flowers in a field; watching other Keepers practice sword fighting; playing, having fun, smiling.

“Gemma what’s wrong?” Laylen’s voice was only a glitch in my head.

My voice was soft, barely audible. “I can remember some stuff…about my childhood…about Alex and I being friends.”

“You remember? Like actually remember?” I nodded. “They’re real memories. And I can feel how I felt when I was there.”

“Hurry, try to remember other things too,” Laylen said encouragingly. “See if you can remember what happened before they took your emotions away—if anything was said that might tell us what Stephan is really planning to do with the star.”

“Okay.” I closed my eyes, concentrating on my thoughts that were floating back to me. The feelings I’d felt during them, the prickle making the connection.

But no memories contained Stephan. Just Alex. Alex and I. Alex…

My eyes shot open, and for a moment, I just stood there, unable to react because…well, because it had happened again. I’d made myself go into a vision. God, what did I look like to Laylen? Was I just sitting there with my eyes closed? Or had I fell out of the chair and onto the floor?

I shook my head. This was getting out of hand. If I didn’t figure out how to control this power of mine, one day I was going to slip into a vision at the worse time possible. Like say when I was driving or something.

I shook my head. That was a scary thought.

Deciding I should focus on the vision, I pushed that thought aside. I was standing in a forest thick with trees, where I caught a glimpse of the tip of a grey stone castle peaking through spaces between the trees. I knew I had to be the forest that surrounded the lake—the lake that was the entrance to The Underworld.

It was bright outside, the sky a clear blue. As I started to move through the trees, heading for the castle, I wondered what I was supposed to see.

Perhaps something with Stephan? Although, I sure hoped it wasn’t the vision of my mother being forced into The Underworld. I had seen that more times than I ever wanted to.

But as a cool breeze swept through my hair and kissed at my cheeks, the impulse to head to the castle drifted away, and I found myself suddenly heading in the opposite direction, deeper into the forest.

I walked for what seemed like forever, my legs practically moving on their own, maneuvering me effortlessly passed bushes, trees, and tipped over tree trunks. I swear it was like I knew where I was going without really knowing. If that made any sense.

As I’d just started to wonder just how far my legs were planning to take me, I came to a stop in front of a steep hill. I stared up at it skeptically, taking in its loose dirt and the steep incline. How the heck was I supposed to climb up it?

But I wasn’t supposed to climb up it. That’s what my thoughts were telling me. So instead, I moved to the side, walking at the bottom of the hill, searching for…

well, I wasn’t sure. But I hoped I’d know when I saw it.

After awhile, I began to get frustrated at the fact that this vision seemed pointless. I mean why hadn’t I seen anyone? And why did it feel like I had to put together a puzzle in order to understand the meaning of the vision? This had never happened before—usually I just watched the vision. So why was it different now?

Before I could conjure up an answer for these questions, I spotted something. A bush, budding with violet flowers at the foot of the hill. Violet flowers…

hmm, it was ringing a bell.

I walked up to the bush and picked one of the violet flowers. The smell was intoxicating and caused my memories to spin in my head, little images of the countless times that I’d picked these flowers when I was a child. It also brought up a memory of this bush and that there was something behind it.

Yes, behind it.

I squatted down and examined behind the bush, letting my fingers dig through the damp soil as I inched my way up the steep side of the hill and around to the back of the bush.

My jaw dropped. A small hole had been dug into the hill. It was hidden by the violet bush so well that I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t been looking for it. I grabbed a hold of the branches of the bush, the thorns cutting at the palms of my hands as I hoisted myself up to where I could see down into the dark hole. There was a ladder that lead to…well I couldn’t tell —I could only see a dirt floor. But there was a light on, glowing faintly from somewhere inside.

I took a deep breath and lowered my feet down to the top step of the ladder. Another deep breath and I started to climb down, my hands sweating against the cool metal. When my feet reached the floor, I immediately spun around. I wasn’t going to lie, but I half expected a Death Walker to pop out and grab me. But no. What was there was probably more surprising than finding a Death Walker.

I was standing in a hollowed out room, the floors and walls made of dirt. There was an old wooden table pressed up against the back wall where a candle burned, the orange glow of the flame lighting up the tiny dirt room. Next to the table was a blue metal trunk, and right in front of trunk was me. Well, the younger me anyway, sitting on the dirt floor. Small, and around four years old, my violet eyes giving away that it was indeed me. Sitting across from me was a little boy with dark brown hair and bright green eyes.

Alex. I knew that now—my memories were able to make the connection.

“So what do you thinks going to happen?” Little Gemma asked. “After they take me away?” Little Alex shook his head. “I don’t know…”

“Do you think we’ll ever see each other again?” Little Gemma asked, her violet eyes wide with fear.

He nodded. “I promise we will, no matter what they say.”

She looked terrified, tears bubbling up at the corner of her eyes, and I could actually feel her fear, worry, and sadness inside me, as if we’d connected. “Do you think Marco and Sophia will be nice to me?”

“How could they not?” Little Alex said. “No one could ever be mean to you.”

Okay, well, that was the biggest bunch of crap I’d ever heard. But I think he actually meant it.

If only he knew.

As I stood there watching this peaceful scene between the younger Alex and I, I couldn’t help but think how grown up we were acting for being so young. And look at us now, arguing all the time, lying to one another. It made this moment—although peaceful—almost painful to watch, because I knew that right after this happened everything would change. This Alex and Gemma would be no more.

“I have an idea,” Alex said, pulling a small, silver pocket knife out of his pocket “How about you and I become blood brothers.”

Little Gemma scowled at him. “I’m not a boy.” Alex laughed. “Okay, how about blood friends?” The tears in her eyes escaped down her cheeks.

“What do I have to do to become one?”

“I’ll make a little cut on my hand and on yours and then we press them together and make a promise, okay?”

She looked wary. “Will it hurt?”

“Only for a minute.”

She wiped the tears away from her cheeks and looked at Alex with confidence. “Okay, let’s do it.” She gave her hand to Alex and he carefully made a small cut in the palm of her hand. She winced ever so slightly, but didn’t put up a fuss. I glanced down at my hand, looking closer at the palm of it, and sure enough, right in the center there was a trace of a very thin, small white scar. Strange…I’d never noticed it before.

Alex made a small cut in his palm and then he raised his hand out in front of him. “Okay, put yours up to mine.”

She did, and they pressed their palms together.

“Forem,” Alex said. “Now you say it.” She took a deep breath. “Forem.” Alex dropped his hand and so did she. “There, that’s all it takes.”

“But what does forem mean,” Little Gemma asked.

“It means—”

Someone yelled from above. It was too muffled to understand exactly what the person yelled, but the deepness of the voice told me it belonged to a man.

The children’s eyes went round, and Alex jumped to his feet. “We have to go,” he said, holding out his hand to help little Gemma to her feet.

“Do you think you’re dad will be mad at us,” little Gemma asked, panicking. “for us disappearing?”

“I don’t know…” Alex sounded scared. “Let’s just hurry up, okay.”

Little Gemma, all big eyed and sad, nodded. Then she glanced around at the little hideout, taking one last look as if she knew she’d never return. “Okay.” They climbed up the ladder, and I followed up after them. I stepped out from the behind the violet bush just in time to see Stephan waving his finger violently as he scolded Alex and me for wandering off. Then he marched them back through the trees, toward the castle. I didn’t follow. I didn’t want to see what happened next. I couldn’t watch my soul get ripped away. I couldn’t watch the little girl with the sad violet eyes be no more. So I sat down on the ground and shut my eyes, waiting to be yanked away.