“You know, I think you’re right.” Aislin wipes the sweat from her forehead. “I never realized how useful your Foreseer power was—you control it so much better than my teleportation.”
I snort a laugh. “Not quite. In fact, I can’t even count the number of times I’ve dropped myself and someone else into a random place.” Our feet dangle over the side of the branch where the sprites continue to torture each other, oblivious to our freedom. “So, what’s the plan?”
“We can’t teleport out of here—we learned that during our last visit.” She collects her hair and twists it in a knotted bun, securing it with a bobby pin. “But there’s got to be a way to bail without having to trek through the forest.”
I pluck bits and pieces of leaves out of my hair and then comb the dirt out with my fingers. “What about Laylen? Should we make sure he isn’t here before we bail? And what about Aleesa?”
“It’s going to take forever to figure out if Laylen is here,” she remarks, her eyes skimming the ground. “We need a better way to find him besides searching and to find where Aleesa is.”
“You can’t do a Tracker Spell from here?” I question.
She shakes her head, considering. “I don’t have the stuff and there’s a slim to none chance the spell would work inside the Faerie Realm.”
“So what do we do then?” I ask.
She sighs. “I’m not sure.”
“How about nothing.” A voice answers.
The nearness of it surprises us. We shoot around pulling our legs up.
“Well, well, well,” I say snidely, before he can. “Look what the cat dragged in.”
Nicholas grins, his golden eyes mirroring in the sunlight. One hand is grasping the branch above his head, the other slack at his side. There’s something about the way he looks at us that sends an unnerving shiver through my body.
“I’d watch how you speak to me here.” He rolls his tongue across his lips.
“Why? The Fey here hate you,” I call his bluff.
“Gemma,” Aislin warns, her eyes fastened on Nicholas. “Be careful. He has more power here.”
Nicholas’ grin expands. “They may hate me here, but I’m still fey and my blood is connected to the land. Unlike yours, Gemma Lucas, ex-star, ex-Foreseer, ex-everything really, since you lost your other half and all.”
Rage burns. Without contemplation, I shove him, hoping he’ll fall. He staggers slightly, but regains his steadiness.
His lip twitches. “I warned you.” He snaps his fingers and the vines on the tree branch begin to slither, looping toward us. Aislin and I scamper in opposing directions. I hop to the nearest branch, the wood splitting as I scurry for the trunk. But before I reach it, the branch snaps completely. My legs fly out from underneath me. Plunging to the ground, my fingers desperately seek the limbs. My skin rips and my heart thuds as the ground closes in. I blink my eyes, wishing my foreseer power would return. But again, I can’t sense my power.
A hand swoops down and fingers coil around my arm. I’m jolted to the side and flipped around. With my feet secure on a branch, Nicholas crushes me against the tree and pins my arms behind my back.
“I warned you,” he breathes, enjoying himself. “But you never listen.”
Every flicker of anger I’ve felt for the faerie swarms through me like bees. “What kind of person are you? I freed you from death—convinced Annabella to release your Essence—and this is how you repay me.”
He slopes his head so it virtually touches mine. His voice is a deep rumble. “The only reason I was dead in the first place was because of you. If you would have just left me alone and found another way to change your vision, I would have never been in that car—I wouldn’t have been in the accident.”
“Okay…” He has me there. But I straighten my shoulders. “You know what? You’re right. But I don’t get it. Besides accidental stuff, I haven’t done anything to you. And I thought the essence thing made up for what I did. But it’s like you have this vendetta against me or something.”
“That snake thing was out of my control,” Nicholas whispers lowly. “The Foreseers made me do it.”
My fury simmers to curiosity. “How did you get the mark on you?”
His eyes glow with fire. “They put it on me.”
“Who did?” I inquire with interest. “The Foreseers? Because I thought the only person who could put marks on people is dead.”
“Are you sure Stephan’s dead?” Nicholas asks. I stop breathing. “Relax, I was just kidding. He’s dead. The Death Walkers are dead. But now you have other people to worry about.”
My eyes narrow. “What do you know?”
“Tsk, tsk.” He clicks his tongue at me. “I never just divulge my secrets. There’s always a price.”
“What’s the price this time?” I sigh. “A promise, an evil favor, my life?”
He places a hand over his heart. “It’s your twisted sense of humor that makes me adore you, Gemma Lucas.” He’s being genuine and it’s weird.
“What’s the price?” I repeat.
He extends his hand. “You have to come with me. There’s something I want to show you.”
I elevate my eyebrows. “What about Aislin? And Laylen? Are you going to show me where they are?”
He points a finger upward. “Aislin’s safe and sound in her cage. And when she wakes up, Luna will force her to use her magic to free her from this realm,” he says and cuts me off when my lips part to argue. “That’s something I can’t help. Luna is an Empress, way more powerful than me. What I can help you with is understanding what you’re getting yourself into with Helena.”
“And what about Laylen?” I ask. “What does Luna want with him?”
His eyebrows incline. “Laylen’s not here.”
“Damn it,” I curse, stomping my foot. “Where is he? I’d say the Banshee took him, but Aislin said she thinks the sprites killed the Banshee.”
“Banshee’s can’t die. They’re already dead,” he says and shrugs. “And you know what? Laylen’s not really my problem.”
“And I am?” I ask. “Because I wonder sometimes if you’ve been leading my solutions to you all along.”
He doesn’t respond, capturing my hand in his. I withdraw back, but he only intensifies his grip. “You want the answers it will be on my terms. You, after all, are in my world.”
Grimacing, I let him lead me down the tree. I fight not to squirm, my hand wanting to revolt from his. However, when we brink to the bottom and he places his hands on my hips to guide me down, I draw the line.
“I got it.” Dodging around him, I leap to the ground. My shoelaces are untied and the humid air dews my legs. I walk next to Nicholas, past the sprites, who eye me with their beady little eyes.
“They won’t hurt you,” Nicholas assures me. “Not when you’re with me.”
I eye him suspiciously. “You say that, but it doesn’t make sense to me. I mean, you’ve told me countless times that the fey don’t like you because you’re only half-fey.”
He smiles, ducking through a curtain of vines and cerise flowers. “That’s before I discovered who my grandmother is.”
Oh dear Jesus. “Do I dare ask?”
“I think you already know.” He sweeps his sandy hair out of his eyes.
“But she’s so…” I trail off, kicking at the grass as we walk into the forest.
“Short?” He mocks me with a curve of his eyebrow. “Do you really think that’s what she looks like?” He puts his lips next to my ear. “Fey have multiple identities.”
I fix my gaze on him. “Do you have multiple identities? Or just multiple personalities?”
“There’s that twisted sense of humor again.” He pauses, but only to taunt me. “I’m only half-fey, remember? I barely possess any of their power.”
I roll my eyes. “Yet, supposedly your grandmother’s the Empress.”
He slams to a halt, snagging the sleeve of my shirt. “Out of everyone in your little ‘click’,” he uses a
ir quotes, “I’d think you’d be the most sympathetic to my situation. The outcast that no one wants—or wanted in your case because you were lucky.”
“I—I’m…” I don’t know what to say. I huff out a breath, blowing my hair from my face. “Look, I’m sorry, okay. But you do things sometimes that,” I motion my hand between us, deliberating the right words, “drive me absolutely crazy.”
He tugs at my hair and I flinch back. “What fun would it be if I didn’t?”
I start through the trees again. “Can you please tell me what you know? Please?”
He moves like the wind, catching up with me. “You know Helena is related to Annabella? That they are sisters?”
“And that Lucinda is their sister as well,” I say, nodding.
He bends a branch out of the path and I hurry through. “Yes, but do you know about their rivalry?”
I waver my hand. “Vaguely. I recently… paid a little visit to The Underworld where Lucinda revealed this little bit of info.”
He creases his eyebrows. “You paid a visit?”
“Paid a visit—was forced against my will. It’s all the same.” I swivel around a blooming row of crimson tulips. “I don’t know why you’re surprised. Stuff like that and I go hand-in-hand.”
“But they stole you,” he says, watching me like a hawk. “Without the ash?”
“I never said there wasn’t ash,” I tell him, evading the truth because… well, because he’s himself.
He clasps the hem of my shirt, guiding me closer to him. I start to pull away when a gigantic faerie with diamond wings and sapphire eyes bursts through the trees.
“Keep walking and look straight ahead,” Nicholas directs.
I hold my breath and pick up the pace. The Fey’s massive feet smash the dirt, flattening the leaves and flowers into the ground like pancakes. The movement vibrates on my skin and I run. Finally we push through the end of the forest, into an open area bordered by tall shrubbery. In the center, a stone water fountain dances water down into a pool. It’s shaped like an angelic faerie, her head tipped down, thin wings ranging from her back.
“What was that thing?” I breathe as I stare back into the forest.
“It’s a faerie.” Nicholas shrugs. “I already told you we come in all different shapes and sizes.”
I catch my breath and sit at the edge of the fountain. “So what was—is the three Queens rivalry about?”
He joins me at the fountain and swirls the water with his fingertips. “Love.”
My jaw drops as I stutter for words. “H-huh?”
“What? You thought it was going to be something petty like power or world domination.” He laughs half-heartedly. “Not this time, Gemma. Nope, this time it’s about something deeper.”
I scratch at the star on my wrist, thinking of Alex. “So how do I play a part in their love rivalry?”
“Because you are love,” he says simply. “You and that Keeper with the stupid hair…” He taps his finger on his lips. “I forget his name.”
I elbow him. “Alex and I don’t represent love. We’re just in love. That’s all.”
His eyes grow cold. “Yes, but your little soul thing makes you a powerful representation of love.”
“But you just said it wasn’t about power.” I frown.
He shakes his head. “No, I said their rival with each other wasn’t about power, but now they’re all just pissed and want to take over the Human World. Or at least Helena does.”
“Why the Human World? What did the humans ever do to them?”
“We stole their love,” he says. “Or rather Alexander Avery did.”
“Alex had nothing to do with this!” I shout. “He—he would have told me.”
Nicholas rolls his eyes. “Not that Alex. God, do you really think someone like him could charm three very powerful faeries?”
I pull a disgusted face. “I sure hope not, especially Helena.”
He stifles a smile. “It was his great, great, great—well, I don’t know how many greats there are since it happened a heck of a long time ago. Nonetheless, it was his grandfather from a ridiculously long time ago.”
“So Alex’s grandfather stole their love?” I think of the story Alex told to Lucinda and wonder if he knew already. “From all three of the queens? How is that possible? He was a mortal man going up against immortal queens."
“Love is very powerful. You should know that.” He jabs me playfully in the ribs with his elbow. “Besides, who says they didn’t punish him?”
“Are you saying they did?”
“No one knows for sure. After he broke all their hearts, he vanished into thin air. But if I had to guess, one of them probably did something to him.”
“Well, judging by Lucinda’s reaction when Alex mentioned this story, I’m guessing it was her.”
“It’s funny Alex has the balls to bring up the story, since he’s so much like his distant grandfather,” Nicholas muses. “I mean to bind your love with three different faeries... it must really take a lot.”
“Alex didn’t bind his love to anyone but me,” I say. “So they’re nothing alike.”
“You’re right.” He presses a smirk. “He only manipulated two people; a star and death girl. Well, manipulate might be a bit of an understatement.”
I choke on the emotions bursting through my veins and slicing at my heart. “You’re full of shit.” I shove to my feet and march for the forest, not wanting to hear any more of his lies.
He darts in front of me. “You might want to hear me out before you go storming off.”
I cross my arms and back away. “No. I don’t want to hear any more lies. Alex didn’t promise anything to Stasha. I know he didn’t—wouldn’t.” But my dream echoes through my head: Our promise. I broke it.
He gives me a sympathetic pat. “It’s really cute that you believe that, but you might want to see something, before you go all defensive for someone who doesn’t deserve it.”
I suck back the tears, refusing to show weakness. “You’re lying and whatever you’re going to show me, I know it’s just more lies.” I spin on my heels and stomp away.
“I can give you your Foreseer power back,” he calls out. “And you can see it for yourself—Alex making the promise.”
I freeze, not turning around. “How?”
“You’re going to have to trust me,” he says.
I laugh sharply. “Fat chance that’ll happen.”
“Then go. Go free your lover and live happily ever after in your delusional world built on lies.”
I deliberate my options. Leave or go with him. I’m uncertain which one pulls me back; getting my Foreseer power back or the need to know that Alex is mine.
“Fine.” Lowering my arms, I face him. “How do I get my power back?”
He smiles and offers his hand. “If you want your power back, you’re going to have to come with me.”
I sigh, knowing the decision will come back and bite me in the ass. I take his hand. He retrieves a small crystal ball from his pocket. Through the glass, water bubbles and lavender ribbons pirouette.
“They’re bite-size now?” I touch the smooth glass of the crystal.
“Yep, the Foreseers are upgrading in the world.” He clutches the crystal. “Hold on tight.”
In a heartbeat, I’m gone, blowing in the wind like a helpless leaf heading to the unknown.
Chapter 17
We disembark in the middle of a field. Immediately, I jump away from him.
“A new trick of yours?” My shoes crunch the dry grass as I spin. Leafless trees soar to the clear blue sky and the lake waves the line of the sandy shore. “You brought me to the Keepers’ castle?”
He holds up a finger and takes my hand. “We’re not in current time, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He steers me past the lake and into the forest. “We’re in the past. A few years in the past actually.”
I stumble over rocks and sticks. “Does this have to do with my Foreseer’s mark or…”
“Or Alex cheating on you?” He swats low branches out of the way.
“He didn’t cheat on me,” I retort. “I knew he dated Stasha. And besides, it’s was a long time ago.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t know he made a promise that connected his soul to hers.”
I pin my lips together, inhaling through my nose. “He didn’t do that—he wouldn’t do that.”
“I can tell you don’t completely believe that,” he says. “There’s something in your voice, maybe sadness.” He swerves us to the right of a pebbly hill, concealing us behind it. “Tell me Gemma. What have you seen?”
“Nothing.” I look away at the trees, the wind blowing through my hair. I can’t focus on anything else, besides my latest dream. Alex said he broke our promise. He went with Stasha. What if he was trying to tell me something? “Is it possible I still might be seeing visions even though my power’s gone?” I meet his eyes.
“I would say no,” he says. “But with you everything works differently, or so it seems.” He traces his finger over the circle encompassing “S” on his wrist. “Why? Do you think you’ve been seeing visions?”
“I’m not sure what I’m seeing.” I attempt to slip my hand from his. “It doesn’t feel like a vision, almost like it’s really happening to me.”
“It’s a dream with Alex,” he assumes, clutching my hand.
Reluctantly, I nod. “I had it once, right after he was taken away by an unknown person. Although, I think it’s Helena who took him.”
His gaze darts around and he shakes his head once. “Not quite, but close.”
“You know who it is?” My eyes roam the trees, the sunlight spilling through the gaps in the leaves. “And what are you looking for?”
He stops near the hill and frees my hand. He points a finger at a violet bush, sheltering a small hole burrowing into the hillside.
I shake my head incredulity. “How did you know this was here?”
“That’s beside the point,” he answers, giving me a rough shove toward the hill. “Now go look. Your special secret hideout isn’t as special as you think.”
The Lost Soul (Fallen Soul Series, Book 1) Page 12
