The Underworld (13 page)

He frowned. “But he didn’t have you try.”

I sighed. “Look, I’l be okay. I’ve gone in and out of

visions on my own before. Some without using a

crystal bal .”

“What?” Laylen said, at the exact same time Alex

shot me a pointed look.

“You can go into a vision without a crystal bal ?”

Laylen asked, his bright blue eyes wide in

amazement.

“Alright, let’s get this done and over with,” Alex said,

before I could answer. It was funny, but I was realizing

that Alex was doing the same thing with Laylen as he

did so often with me—dodged the truth and

answering questions.

Alex let go of my hand, and I took a deep breath

and reached for the crystal. Then I was surrounded by

nothing but light.

I’m not sure what went wrong. But something was

definitely wrong. Al 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 smel 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 cal ed 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 al you see?” He whispered in

my ear.

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

“Wel , then.”

“Wel 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 al 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 wal s 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 bal 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 stil

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 al owed,” Alex said, his bright green

eyes burning with rage. “Foreseers are not al owed 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 rol 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

bal 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 al on

her own and let you suffer for it.” He paused, his

golden eyes glinting wickedly. “Personal y, I’d love to

think it was the latter.”

“Wel , 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 bal .”

I looked at Nicholas, but his expression was blank,

giving me no idea what he was thinking

“You think an Ira wil 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 wal 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 practical y growled at him.

“We know an Ira can take us to The Underworld, so

just tel 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’l tel us where.” Alex’s tone was firm.

Nicholas glanced at everyone and then this look

passed over his face and al 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 al

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 wal 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. “Real y? That’s al you want, and then you’l just

hand over the Ira and tel 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’l 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 real y

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 wal before

letting him go. Laylen let go of him as wel 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 real y 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…wel , he went over and punched a

hole into the wal .

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, al I felt was…nothing. I felt absolutely

nothing. In fact, it made me feel empty, like it was al

wrong, and I needed to fix it somehow.

Weird.

I let Nicholas finish his one-sided kiss and then he

pul ed 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 tel by the look on his

face.

“You can’t,” Nicholas said. “At least probably not

one that wil actual y help you do it.” He paused. “See