The Underworld (15 page)

you think Marco and Sophia wil be nice to me?”

“How could they not?” Little Alex said. “No one

could ever be mean to you.”

Okay, wel , that was the biggest bunch of crap I’d

ever heard. But I think he actual y 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 al 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, pul ing a smal , 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’l make a little cut on my hand and on yours and

then we press them together and make a promise,

okay?”

She looked wary. “Wil 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 careful y made a

smal 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, smal white scar. Strange…I’d never noticed it

before.

Alex made a smal 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 al it takes.”

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

“It means—”

Someone yel ed from above. It was too muffled to

understand exactly what the person yel ed, 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 wil 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, al 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 fol owed 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 fol ow. 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.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very

wrong. I was stuck. Yes, stuck. Stuck inside the vision.

Not only did this have me worried, but it also made

me furious because I wanted to get back to Nicholas

and the Ira crystal bal so I could start training to save

my mom.

But nope. Instead, I was tromping through the

forest, leaves and twigs and grass crunching loudly

beneath my angry steps as I charged for the castle. I

could see the grey stone tower of it sticking up from

above the trees, like an arrow pointing to the sky, and

I kept my eyes on it as I shoved my way through the

bushes, final y stepping out of the forest with an

ungraceful stumble.

The sky had shifted a deathly grey and the wind had

begun to howl, causing the waves of the lake to roar

up against the shore and leaves to whip through the

air. Thunder boomed in the distance, and I could

almost feel the terror waiting for me inside the castle.

With a loud breath I started up the hil , trying hard

not to look at the lake, but it seemed to be cal ing me,

taunting me with its whisper. I glanced over at it, and

through the dark, murky water, I could make out faint

white figures. Water Faeries. For a split second—and

I mean, a split micro of a second—I actual y

contemplated going into the water, wondering if I did

so, if the Water Faeries would take hold of me and

drag me down to The Underworld where my mother

was trapped.

But the idea that I would even consider this freaked

me out just enough to jerk me back to reality, and I

ran.

By the time I reached the front door of the castle,

the air had gone ice-cold, and the clouds had started

to rain down. I shivered in my wet clothes as I shoved

the door open. Inside, the light was dusky, and the air

wasn’t much warmer. Extending out on each side of

me was a hal way, and in front of me was a marble

stairway curving up to the second floor. Three options

to choose from— three places I could go. But how

was I supposed to choose, when I didn’t even know

what I was looking for.

With a shaky breath, I preceded down the hal way

to my right, my feet thudding against the rocky floor as

I weaved my way further down it, feeling as though my

feet were no longer in my control, as if my brain

subconsciously knew where it was heading. I passed

by doors, not bothering to check what was behind

them, continuing to walk until the hal way hit a dead

end. There was a set of heavy doors, and that was it. I

knew without a doubt that this was where I was

supposed to go.

With a trembling hand, I reached for the handle, but

jerked back when thunder boomed from outside and

scared the living daylights out of me. I took a breath,

trying to calm my nerves, clicked the handle down and

pushed open the door.

I’d seen this room before; instantly I was aware of

that. There was a fireplace squaring the front wal , and

a Persian rug spread across the stone floor. A single

chair sat at the back of the room. This was the chair I

hid behind in one of my visions; the one where I heard

Demetrius and Stephan discussing how they had

gotten rid of my mother and how they took care of me.

There was no one in the room now, but I felt I needed

to be here, because there was something I needed to

see. But what?

Just as I thought it, a cold breeze whipped through

my body and I gasped as I realized Stephan had

walked right through me. My eyes widened. Holy crap.

No one had ever walked through me in a vision. Yeah,

I knew I was transparent to them and that I couldn’t

touch them, but actual y walking through me…and

Stephan of al people…it gave me the chil s.

Stephan strol ed up to fireplace; the bright orange

glow of the flames reflected in his dark eyes. I walked

toward him slowly, my legs shaking more and more

the closer I got.

I didn’t know what I was doing exactly, but I found

myself staring at him—the man who’d taken away my

life. His dark, soul ess eyes, the scar on his left cheek,

rough and jagged as if he’d been cut with a dul knife.

When his gaze moved away from the fire and landed

on me, I let out a gasp and quickly backed away.

His gaze did not move away from me. It locked on

me like a target, making me tremble from head to toe.

He can’t see you
, I told myself. But then I remembered

how, during the first time I had accidently slipped into

a vision—the one that had taken me to this very room

—Stephan had acted like he could sense I was there.

I started to freak. What if he knew I was here?

The door creaked open behind me, and I jumped to

the side as Sophia and a man with light hair and

brown eyes walked into the room. It was strange

seeing Sophia fourteen years younger. She

practical y looked the same, though, except with fewer

wrinkles. Her auburn hair was stil done perfectly, and

she was sporting the same 1950’s TV sitcom look;

wearing a cream colored dress with high-heeled

shoes that matched.

“Where’s the girl?” Stephan asked the man whose

name I didn’t know.

“She’s coming,” the man replied, bowing his head

as if Stephan was some kind of king or something.

“Marco is bringing her.”

So this was it. This was what I was supposed to

see—my last day as a normal little girl. Wel , normal

except for the whole carrying-a-stars-power-in-me

thing.

This was absurd. I didn’t want to see this.

I turned to leave, but the door opened again and

Marco and Little Gemma walked in. My violet eyes

were huge and I wondered from the terrified

expression on my face, if when this had al taken

place, I’d sensed something terrible was about to

happen to me.

“Here she is,” Marco said, handing me over to

Stephan.

Stephan stared down at me with what only could be

described as the most sinister look I’ve ever seen.

“Hel o, Gemma. Are you ready to go?”

Little Gemma shook her head. “No.”

“Wel too bad.” Stephan raised his eyes away from

me and looked at Sophia. “Let’s get this taken care

of.”

Seeing Marco and Sophia standing there, being a

part of al of this had me shaking with anger. Yeah, I

already knew they played a part in this, but seeing it…

It was sending me into a fit of rage.

Stephan told Little Gemma to go sit down in the

chair, and with great reluctance she obeyed. I

wondered if I ever thought about running. I wondered if

I had any idea of what was about to happen to me.

Sophia stood in front of me as she hesitantly

reached for my head. Little Gemma recoiled,

pressing herself back into the chair. She knew

something bad was about to happen. I could tel —I

could feel it in my own bones.

To my surprise, Sophia pul ed back her hand. “Are

you sure this has to be done?” She asked Stephan.

“She’s just a little girl—Jocelyn’s little girl.”

“I understand that. But even before she

disappeared, Jocelyn agreed that this must be done,”

Stephan’s voice seemed to have a hypnotic effect on

Sophia, like he had lul ed her into a calming state of

mind. “We have to do this to save the world. If Gemma

keeps…” his eyes wandered over to Little Gemma

who was listening intently. “Yes, we have to do this.

Now get it done.”

Looking extremely upset, Sophia turned back to

me, and put her hands on my head. “Just relax,

Gemma. It wil be over in a moment.”

Marco put his hand on Sophia’s shoulder,

comforting her. And I—and I mean the real foreseer-

traveling-me—stood gaping in horror at this scene.

They didn’t know. Marco and Sophia hadn’t known

what Stephan was real y planning to do. They thought

they had been doing the world good. Al those

horrible, torturous years of living with them, and their

cold and distant behavior, had al been because of

Stephan’s lies. I never thought I could hate someone

so much. But, oh yeah, I did. The rage of prickles on

my neck was letting me know that.

“Just a second,” Stephan said suddenly. He moved

toward Little Gemma and grabbed hold of a thin chain

hanging around her neck—my locket.

“Hey,” Little Gemma protested as Stephan yanked

it off of her neck, snapping the chain. “My mom gave

that to me.”

Stephan gave her a look that I’m sure had to have

sent a shiver down her spine, because it sent one

down my own. “You’l get it back just as soon as

Sophia is done.”

Liar
.

Putting her hands back on my head, Sophia

muttered something under her breath, and her hands

started to glow a bright gold. I gasped at the same

time Little Gemma gasped, and I actual y saw…I

actual y saw the life slip from her violet eyes, like a

light switch had been flipped off.

Sophia pul ed her hands away, the golden light