The Underworld (14 page)

the thing with Foreseers is that not a whole lot of

people like us because we can practical y 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, especial y a Queen who likes to

torture people so her Water Faeries can feed off of

the fear. So most Foreseers are unwil ing to help

another Foreseer go there.”

I felt like I was being choked. “Are you sure there’s

absolutely no one that wil .”

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’l 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

wil take some time.”

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

“A few weeks, maybe a few months,” Nicholas said

with his back up against the wal . “It real y al depends

on Gemma.”

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

on me?”

“Wel , 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’l work.”

“If she trains enough and builds up her power, then

it should work,” Nicholas said looking—for once—like

he was tel ing the truth.

Alex glanced at Laylen and Laylen shrugged. “It’s

your cal .”

Alex looked back at Nicholas. “You’l train her
here
.”

It wasn’t a question.

He nodded. “I’l bring the Ira bal 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’l get Gemma

ready to use the
Ira
.”

“Alright,” Nicholas said and slipped from his pocket

the ruby-fil ed crystal bal that would take Alex and him

to the City of Crystal. “Let’s go then.” He balanced the

bal 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.

Stil 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’l 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 wil .”

“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-fil ed crystal bal in his hand. “And

Nicholas,” Alex said, his hand extended toward the

bal , 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 pul ed with Gemma

while I’m gone and you’l have to deal with two very

powerful witches and a vampire who are more than

wil ing to protect her.”

“Whatever,” Nicholas said, but looked a little

worried.

Alex didn’t say anything else. He placed his hand

on the crystal bal , and in a blink-of-a-second later he

was gone.

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 tel him

what I’d seen in the vision—see if he knew anything

about a vision fil ed 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 al 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 real y don’t. But…I real y 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 stil felt uneasy. I tried to think of

something else, but al 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 al 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 actual y 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 tel us what Stephan is

real y 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…wel , 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 fel 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

practical y 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 real y 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 hil . I stared up at it skeptical y, 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 tel ing me. So instead, I moved to the

side, walking at the bottom of the hil , searching for…

wel , 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—usual y 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 hil . Violet flowers…

hmm, it was ringing a bel .

I walked up to the bush and picked one of the violet

flowers. The smel 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 hil and around

to the back of the bush.

My jaw dropped. A smal hole had been dug into

the hil . It was hidden by the violet bush so wel 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…wel I couldn’t tel —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 hol owed out room, the floors

and wal s made of dirt. There was an old wooden

table pressed up against the back wal 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. Wel ,

the younger me anyway, sitting on the dirt floor. Smal ,

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’l ever see each other again?”

Little Gemma asked, her violet eyes wide with fear.

He nodded. “I promise we wil , no matter what they

say.”

She looked terrified, tears bubbling up at the corner

of her eyes, and I could actual y feel her fear, worry,

and sadness inside me, as if we’d connected. “Do