Chapter 10
“Gemma, can you hear me?” Aislin asks, concern lacing her tone. “Open your eyes, please. You’re freaking me out.”
“Go away,” I mutter. My head spins like a whirlwind and my neck burns like liquid fire. “Please, just go away.”
“I can’t,” Aislin says. “Not until I know you’re okay.”
“I’m okay.” I sliver my eyelids open. Tall grass swathes my head, water soaks my shoes, and the blue sky taunts me with its cheeriness.
“It’s not the end of the world.” She bends down, her golden brown hair veiling our heads. “You hated your Foreseer power anyway.”
I sit up, my fingers refusing to leave my neck. “If someone took your Wicca power, would you be upset?”
“But you haven’t used it in a while,” she points out. “Well, except for today.”
“It’s the only thing that could free my dad,” I complain.
She dusts off her white shirt, which is still buttoned unevenly. “I know.”
I slip my black and purple sneaker off and dump the pebbles and water from it. My feet are within reach of the lake’s waves. Twigs and leaves cake my hair. I pluck a crusty leaf out and flick it to the dirt.
“I’m sorry,” I apologize. “I’m just upset. It was right within my grasp and now it’s gone. And my dad’s still stuck in the Room of Forbidden.”
“We’ll figure something out,” she vows. “We always do.”
I nod, but don’t believe her. We can’t figure out everything and were bound to run into an unfixable problem. “We should get back to the house.” I sway to my feet, tipsy from whatever Dyvinius did to me. I sweep my hair to the side, looking over my shoulder, and spot the fiery ring of the Keeper’s mark.
“It’s gone,” she states solemnly. “Your Foreseer mark isn’t there anymore. I checked.”
I sketch my thumb over the star tattooing my wrist. I’m sad my Foreseer mark is gone, but grateful the star’s still inked on my skin. “We should get back to the house.”
She agrees and we trudge over the shallow hill, away from the lake and to the castle. The cars are parked in the driveway, the hoods are down, and Laylen is missing. The front door’s cracked and smashed flower pots splinter across the steps.
My shoes crush the fragments of glass. “Is it me or does something seem a little off?”
“It’s not just you.” A shimmer of gold conceals her palm as she charges her power. She inches the door open and we enter cautiously. Aislin sneaks a small knife from her purse sitting on the foyer table. She gives it to me, her hands still glowing. Voices flow from the library. We creep past the stairs and down the hallway. I take the lead, the knife upturned. When we arrive, I want to turn back and hide in my room forever. I’ve met Stasha only once, and it was enough. Stasha is Alex’s ex-girlfriend, who happens to possess the power of death. With a simple touch, she can kill. I know because she tried it on me. But it backfired and she only ended up temporarily scarring my hands.
She sits in one of the leather chairs. Black gloves cloak her hands and she wears a bright blue dress that matches her eyes. She flips her blonde hair, flirting with Alex, who is seated in the chair across from her. He’s grinning and his green eyes glint with something that makes my blood burn.
Laylen spots us and leaps up from the table, causing Stasha and Alex’s eyes to dart to us.
Sasha’s lips expand into a malicious smile. “Well, look who we have here.”
Laylen holds up his hands. “I did not let her in. In fact, I tried to shove her down the steps and slam the door in her face.”
Which means Alex is the guilty party. It also explains the broken flower pots on the front steps.
Alex’s eyes are guarded as he sizes up my forthcoming reaction. I tell myself it’s the Lost Soul toying with me, not him. Jealousy devours me, but I stay calm.
“I don’t have time for this. I have bigger things to worry about.” I turn my back on them and walk away, even though it kills me.
“Go check on her,” I hear Aislin say and footsteps chase after me.
“I’m fine,” I tell Laylen before he catches up. “I just need to go lie down and clear my head.”
He walks at my pace, hands tucked in the pockets of his black jeans. “Fine I’ll go with you. I need a nap anyway.”
We trot up the stairs and hide out in my room. The temperature is stifling and I crack a window, letting the cool air in. “I really am fine.” I flop down on my four-post bed. “I don’t need to be babysat.”
He drops down on the bed and overlaps his hands behind his head. “He’s not himself. You have to look at it like that.”
“I know.” I roll to my side, fluff a purple throw pillow, and rest my head on it. “That’s not why I’m upset. Well that’s not the entire reason I’m upset.”
A pause. “Gemma… where’s your Foreseer mark?” His fingers brush the back of my neck.
“Things didn’t go as planned.” I take a deep breath, forcing back the sting in my eyes, and give him a recap of the last few hours. When I’m finished, I turn back over.
He watches me with sympathy. “I’m sorry. I know how much you wanted to free your dad.” Laylen’s parents died a long time ago, due to Stephan and his murderous plan to end the world. Laylen understands pain better than most people. “We’ll find a way. We always do.”
“That’s exactly what Aislin said.” I force a small smile. “And maybe we will.”
“We will.” He pats my back supportively. “But first, we need to get that damn Lost Soul out of Alex. He’s annoying as hell.”
“What’s the best way to create an emotional outburst?” I ask.
We deliberate an answer, listening to the rapid flapping of a hummingbird’s wings just outside the window.
I shoot upright and smack my forehead with the heel of my hand. “I’m so stupid. Why didn’t I think of this right when Nicholas said it?”
Laylen watches me pace the room with determination. “Care to share what your brilliant mind’s thinking?”
I halt in the middle of the room. “Death.”
His mouth sinks to a dubious frown. “Look Gemma, I know you saved him once before, but I don’t think killing him is a good idea. He might not come back this time.”
“He’s not the one who’s going to die.” My gaze coasts to the window where the lake shimmers across the land. “I am.”