The Underworld (33 page)

about Laylen, like they feared he might go off the

deep end and kil us al . I, in no way, believed this

could ever be possible. And when they started talking

about leaving him behind—going someplace else

without him—I lost it.

It was late, and I was tired. The prickle had been

nagging at the back of my neck and I final y shouted,

“Would you two just shut up!” They both looked at me

with surprised expressions, which I couldn’t blame

them for—I surprised myself. I lowered my voice.

“Look, he’s not going to freak out and kil anyone,

okay? So just drop it.”

“Gemma,” Alex said, his tone letting me know I

wasn’t going to like what he was about to say. “We

can’t know for sure whether he’s dangerous or not.

He’s bitten someone now, everything has changed.”

“When he bit me, you didn’t have a problem with it,”

I pointed out.

“Oh, I had a problem with it.” A look passed over his

face like he regretted what he just said. “Look, we

have too many other problems to worry about. And

right now I think we real y just need to focus on getting

into The Underworld.”

I shook my head. “No. I won’t leave him. You two do

whatever you want, but I’m staying.”

He held my gaze, and I could see the cocky attitude

rising in him. It was something I hadn’t seen lately.

“You know you can be real y stubborn sometimes.”

I shrugged. I wasn’t going to even try to argue with

that. I knew that I was. “Stubborn or not, I’m stil not

leaving him.” I held Alex’s gaze with sheer and utter

determination, forcing myself to ignore my normal

instincts to look away—let him win.

“Fine,” Alex said. “We’l stay with him, but if anything

happens it’s on you.”

I almost laughed, because he said the same thing

to Laylen once about me.

“Fine, it’s on me.” I stood to my feet. “Now I’m going

to go check on Laylen and make sure he’s okay.”

Ignoring the dirty look Alex gave me, I left the room.

Laylen was standing out on the deck. He didn’t

even acknowledge me entering; he just stared ahead

at the ocean. I went over and stood beside him,

placing my hands on top of the decks railing as I

looked out at the ocean as wel . We stayed like that

for awhile, silent and unmoving, watching the oceans

waves.

“For the last few years,” he final y spoke. “I’ve felt so

empty. After I was turned into a vampire, everyone I

knew no longer wanted to be around me. And my

parents were gone so…I was basical y al alone.”

I nodded, knowing how he felt; knowing how it felt to

have no one; to be an outcast. To be al alone.

“I think the worse was Aislin.” He rested his elbows

on the railing, stil not looking at me. “I don’t know if

you know this or not, but she and I used to be

together.”

“She mentioned it to me once,” I told him.

A gap of silence trickled by and then he looked at

me. “You know she just left me—just up and walked

away. She never said exactly why, only that her father

wouldn’t let her see me anymore. I don’t believe that it

was just her father’s doing, though. I think it was her

choice too and that hurt even more.”

I swal owed hard, thinking about when Laylen had

been dying, and how he told me he could no longer

feel the pain of being alone anymore. I thought back to

my life and how I had spent every day alone. How

when I started to feel emotion, this alone feeling had

suddenly risen in me, like a giant gaping hole ful of

pain. I knew this was the same feeling Laylen was

describing. I could feel it right now, not as painful, but

stil there.

Tears started to sting at my eyes. “It’l be okay,” I

said, not sure if I was trying to convince him or myself.

“Wil it?” he asked, and I could see it in his eyes; the

hurt, the sadness, the pain.

I don’t know why I did what I did next. I mean I never

did it before, at least that I could remember. But

maybe that’s just it. Perhaps I couldn’t remember—at

least in the sense of remembering in the form of a

memory—but I could feel the memory inside me. I

could feel the memory through the prickle on the back

of my neck, and it guided me to Laylen, and helped

me wrap my arms around him, giving him a hug.

There was no hesitation on his part. He hugged me

right back. And we stayed that way, just two people

who understood each other; two people who knew

what it felt like to have no one. But maybe that was no

longer the case.

Maybe we had each other.

When I woke up the next morning my eyes were a

little swol en and red. After I left Laylen’s room, I went

straight back to my room and cried. Most of my tears

had been for Laylen, but some were for myself.

Strangely though, I did not feel as sad as I did last

night. Maybe Laylen’s and my little hug had fil ed up

some of my sadness. And hopeful y, it did the same

for him too.

I stil had a lot to worry about, though. Laylen for

starters stil had me concerned, along with the fact

that I was supposed to be attempting to take myself

and Alex to The Underworld this morning. The

pressure of actual y being able to pul it off was

weighing down on me like the hot, humid air. But al I

could do about it was hope it would al be okay—that

everything would go right.

So, I tried not to think about the fact that Nicholas

had said that the Ira needed the power of two

Foreseers to function as Alex and I sat in the living

room with the Ira balanced on the coffee table.

Aislin was with Laylen, out on one of the decks. She

was supposed to be keeping an eye on him while we

were gone. But after Laylen’s revelation about Aislin

abandoning him when he turned—which, may I add,

was her father’s fault—my confidence in her was low.

“Now are you sure you want to do this?” Alex asked

me, which was the same thing he asked me a

thousand times already.

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m as sure as the last time you

asked me.”

He cracked a smile, but it was a nervous smile—he

was nervous.

I was nervous. “Do you have the diamond?”

He patted the pocket of his jeans. “Yep, it’s right

here.”

“Okay, then.” I took a deep breath and reached out

for the Ira, my hand shaking with zero confidence, and

I froze. “Are you sure
you
want to do this?” I asked

him. “Because I could go alone.”

According to my vision, though, I already knew what

his answer would be.

“I’m sure,” he said, nodding. “Besides, I was there

in your vision, remember?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t mean you have to go,” I

pointed out.

“Yes, it does.” He grabbed a hold of my hand, my

fingertips buzzing electrical y. “Now let’s go.”

I took another deep breath, concentrating as I

placed my hand on the Ira. It was shocking how much

energy radiated from it. Between Alex holding my

hand, and the power flowing off the Ira, I felt like I

might burst from the energy zooming through my

body.

The first thing I saw in my mind was the lake.

Panicking, I quickly shoved the image out of my mind,

and tried to focus on the tunnel I was in during the

vision. The dirt wal s, the damp air, the darkness. I

hadn’t expected it to be easy. Maybe Alex’s touch had

given me the extra boost or something. Or maybe it

was just my unique Foreseer ability that had made it

so that when I opened my eyes we were there.

The tunnel was as dark as I remembered it being.

The damp air caused my clothes to cling to my skin.

The ceiling and wal s dripped with water, and

emptiness haunted al around.

“Do you know which way to go?” I asked Alex, stil

holding onto his hand.

He glanced up and down the tunnel. “I’m not sure…

didn’t you see where we went the last time?”

I shook my head. “No. The only reason I found the

cave where the vision took place was because

Nicholas and I had been running from a Water Faerie,

and I can’t remember which way we went…I don’t

even know if we’re in the same place.”

Alex let go of my hand and dragged his fingers

through his hair. “Okay, left or right?”

Just as he asked it, a scream rang out from down

the tunnel from our left side, sending a spasm of

shivers though my body.

“Right,” I said quickly.

He nodded, and we headed down the tunnel to our

right.

The Underworld is not a welcoming place.

Obviously. With everything I’ve told you about it, I’m

sure you ful y understand that a place where the dead

walk and torture punished souls could not be in any

way welcoming. But to be there, for real, and not in

vision form, was about as frightening as being chased

by a bunch of glowing-eyed Death Walkers, and a

man who wants to freeze over the world with ice.

As we crept down the tunnel listening to the horrific

screams that seemed to be shooting at us in every

direction, I couldn’t help but wish I could leave—run

away where it was safe and warm and scream free.

But I knew I had to be stronger than that because this

is where my mother had lived for the last fourteen

years, and I only had been here for about five minutes.

I stayed close to Alex as we walked. Before we left,

he had tucked a knife in his pocket, which brought

some sense of security, but not much. Our shoes hit

the moist dirt floor and created soft pitter patters up

and down the tunnels. Water was dripping in my hair.

But these were al mild things. The real problem

started when a white, floating figure appeared in the

tunnel, just a little ways in front of us.

“Alex,” I hissed, pointing at the Water Faerie.

He put his finger to his lips, shushing me, and kept

walking. We kept getting closer and closer to the

Water Faerie. My heart thumped louder and louder in

my chest. My legs shook, and my breathing faltered.

Then it was there, right in front of us, a ghost-like

figure of a Water Faerie. Its eyes were two empty

holes, its white fabric body trailing on the ground, and

when we passed by it, it opened its gaping-hole-of-

mouth, and let out a breathless scream. I clutched

onto Alex’s arm as the Water Faerie turned and

fol owed after us. It didn’t try to touch or communicate

with us; it just trailed behind, tormenting us with its

presence.

Then came another one, then another, and

suddenly Water Faeries were everywhere, flying

around us like freakishly large butterflies, only they

weren’t butterflies but undead fey. Pieces of them

kept swinging in my face, and I wanted to shoo them

away, but my pulsating fear stopped me from doing

so. We just kept walking and walking, further down the

dark tunnel, and I prayed to God that it was the right

way, because turning back meant we would have to

endure the faeries’ torment even longer. It was as if

they got some sick pleasure in my uneasiness,

swirling and dancing over my head—they were

probably laughing on the inside.

And just as I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, the

tunnel opened up into a room. Wel , not a room but a

cave. The cave. The rock-shaped throne was in front

of us, but the Queen wasn’t sitting in it. It was then that

I realized something was wrong. We weren’t

supposed to enter the cave ourselves, but be brought

in by a faerie. I froze and Alex tensed up beside me.

“What is it?” He gave me a quizzical look. “What’s

wrong?”

“This isn’t how it works,” I said, fear skyrocketing in

me, which seemed to be causing chaos to rise

among the Water Faeries. “We don’t come in here by

ourselves. We’re brought in by a Water Faerie.”

Someone cleared their voice from behind us and

we both turned around. It was the Queen. Her long

white hair draped down her back, and her hol ow eyes

were tinted with a spark of delight.

“Wel , it looks like I have some unexpected visitors,”

she said. “Coming here wil ingly to be tortured in my

world—let the Fey take you as they wil ? I have to say

you two are brave little souls”

This was al wrong. This was not what I had seen.