The Underworld (39 page)

having to track them al down. “

I glanced at Aislin, who was a witch and a Keeper,

and Laylen who was a vampire and a Keeper. There

was one piece missing here—a half-faerie, half-

Keeper. So who was the missing link?

My mother stared out at the ocean. “The final step

was to seal the portal with the energy of a fal en star.”

“So there was another fal en star once that two

Keepers had to carry around in them?” I asked,

glancing over at Alex. He met my eyes and the

electricity ignited. “There were two people just like

Alex and me?”

My mother tore her eyes off the ocean and shook

her head. “No. The stars energy you and Alex carry is

the same stars energy the Keepers used those

hundreds of years ago. After they sealed the portal,

they hid it away because no one knew how to destroy

it. The star was also never put in any Keepers. That’s

one of the things that I’ve never been able to figure

out. I don’t understand why Stephan split the star and

put it’s energy in you two.” She let out a heavy sigh.

“But I do know that in order for Stephan to be able to

open the portal, he needs his vampire, his witch, and

his faerie that also have Keeper’s blood in them, so

he created them. Then, he got his hands on the star,

and for some reason he put it in you and Alex.”

I felt like I had been hit by a truck. “So if he opens

the portal, then, what happens? Malefiscus is freed.”

My mother nodded. “He’l be able to enter our world

again. Every Death Walker wil come out of hiding

and even more wil come out of the portal. He controls

them because of his mark and because of his blood,

which is the same reason why Stephan has control

over them.” She paused. “Anyone who has the Mark

of Malefiscus can communicate with the Death

Walkers.”

I thought of when Nicholas had been talking to them

in the forest, and how it had sounded like a one-sided

conversation. But it had been because he was talking

to a Death Walker, and since Alex and I didn’t have

the Mark of Malefiscus we couldn’t hear anything the

Death Walker was saying.

“And along with the Death Walkers, every witch,

faerie, and vampire who are the descendents of those

who fol owed Malefiscus, during his first reign of

terror, wil be under his control if he gets out of the

portal,” my mom added in a heavy tone. “So what you

saw in the vision, Gemma, was probably the end of

what’s going to happen to the world. What you saw is

probably what came after the massacre.”

“Massacre,” I said aloud and then we al just sat

there. This was so much worse than what we original y

thought. Yes, the world would end in ice, but people

would be slaughtered first, and by witches, vampires,

and faeries.

“But I don’t get it?” I said loudly, startling everyone.

“How does Stephan know how to do al of this? And

why on December 21, 2012?”

“Because that’s when he was told it would be

possible to open the portal—a Foreseer told him. The

same Foreseer who told him he needed to create al

of you.”

“Is my father the Foreseer?” I asked, shocking both

her and everyone else.

My mother jumped up from her chair. “No, it’s not

your father!” she screamed and I hovered back in my

chair.

She stood there for a moment, her bright blue eyes

wild with rage. Then she composed herself and sunk

back down in the chair. “I’m so sorry Gemma.”

“It—it’s okay.” I said, sucking back the tears

threatening to leak out of my eyes.

She shook her head. “No it’s not.”

Aislin slowly stood up from her chair, her golden

blonde hair blowing in the wind. “I think I need to go lie

down. This is a lot to take in.”

My mother nodded, and Aislin scurried out. Laylen

hopped off the railing and fol owed after her.

My mother glanced between Alex and I. “And you

two. I have no idea why he needed to separate the

star. Or why he detached Gemma’s soul and raised

you to be emotional y shut off. It’s the one thing we

real y need to find out because I have a feeling it

might be the key to stopping it al .”

“But why did he create Aislin and Laylen?” I asked.

“I mean, I understand why he needs them, but why did

he create them? Why not just find a vampire and witch

who are also Keepers?”

“Because their kind are not easy to find,” my mother

answered. “And I think it was also so he could keep

an eye on them and make sure everything turned out

the way that he wanted.”

Suddenly, the electricity started to surge even more

than it had, almost to the point that it was suffocating

me.

“Alex, are you…okay?” I asked.

He looked at me; there was a fire in his bright

green eyes. Then he stood to his feet, threw the chair

over the deck, and stormed inside. I almost fol owed,

but then thought better of it.

I turned my attention back to my mother. “So, that’s

it, then? Stephan wil open up the portal and the world

wil end, just like I saw it?”

My mom leaned toward me and placed her hand on

top of mine. “There are always loopholes, Gemma.

You just have to find them.”

I took her words in. There were always loopholes;

you just have to find them. But what if we couldn’t find

them?

Then what?

After my mom had dropped the bombshel on us,

everyone scattered around the house. Aislin and

Laylen were in their rooms and Alex had gone

outside. My mom said she needed to lie down and

rest—she was stil recovering from being in The

Underworld for so long—but had made a request first.

She asked me to go check on Alex.

Yeah, I’m not sure she understood how terrible of

an idea that was, and I tried to explain to her that he

and I tended to argue a lot and with as upset as he

was, I would probably just make him mad. But my

mom was very insistent that I do so.

So I did, but with zero confidence that I would be

able to make him feel better.

I found Alex sitting out on the front steps, the sun

shining down on his messy brown hair. He didn’t look

up at me when I walked out, but I knew that he knew I

was there, thanks to the electricity. The electric

connection felt so different now that I knew why it was

there. In fact, it was kind of like a painful reminder of

what Stephan had done to us, and what he was

planning to do to the world.

The salty air kissed my skin as I sat down on the

cement steps beside Alex. I told myself that I could do

this—I could make him feel a little better. I had done it

for Laylen after al , when he bit the woman. But, with

Alex, it was different.

“How are you?” I asked him, which seemed like a

real y stupid question once it left my mouth. How are

you? I shook my head at myself.

Alex looked at me with the same look I would have

given myself if that were possible.

I kicked a rock with my toes. “Sorry, dumb

question.”

He took a few deep breathes and the expression

on his face softened. “No, it’s not a dumb question…I

just…I don’t know how I am.” He ran his fingers

through his hair so hard he yanked at the roots. “I feel

like I don’t know anything anymore. I mean, my whole

life has been a lie.”

I nodded, understanding how he felt completely.

“Gemma,” his voice held such uncertainty. He

watched me with his bright green eyes, which were

fil ed with the same uncertainty his voice held. “I’m

sorry…for everything.”

How was I supposed to respond to this because it

no longer seemed like I should be putting the blame

on Alex for what had happened to me?

“It’s okay,” I told him. “It’s real y not your fault.”

“It is, though,” he said, his voice cracking a little. “I

didn’t have to do what my father told me to do. I had a

choice…unlike you.”

“It’s okay,” I told him again, leaning back on my

hands. “But, can I ask you something?”

He hesitated, before nodding.

“Why did you come to my house that day? The day

my emotions were released? Was it because of the

star? Or was it something else?”

He sat there for what seemed like an eternity, just

looking at me, and I could almost see the internal

struggle he was having with whether or not he should

tel me the truth. I now knew that this was because he

had been taught to be this way, and I figured it was

going to be a hard habit for him to break. So he

startled me when he reached behind me and took my

hand in his.

“You remember how Nicholas told you about the

Blood Promise the fey made to Malefiscus, right?” He

asked, tracing his fingers across the top of my hand.

I tried not to shiver. “Yeah…I remember.”

He turned my hand over, and moved his finger

across the tiny scar on the palm of my hand. And, as

crazy as this is going to sound, I swear the faint scar

was becoming more noticeable as he touched it.

“And you remember the vision you saw when you and

me were kids, and I cut both of our hands.”

Forem
. “Yeah…but what does that have to do...” It

clicked. “Did we make a Blood Promise?”

He nodded. “We did.”

Forem
. “What kind of promise?”

“The forever kind.”

“The forever kind?” I asked. “What does that

mean?”

He cocked and eyebrow at me. “You remember the

word we said when we pressed our hands together,

right?”

I nodded. “
Forem
. But what does it mean?”

Forever,” he said, his breath shaky. “It means we’re

bonded together forever.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. I felt strange and slightly

lightheaded and a little bit breathless. I mean, he just

told me that when we were little, we made an

unbreakable promise to be together.

Forever.

It took a minute, but I final y found my voice again. “It

seems like a real y weird promise for two kids to

make,” I told him, lightly tracing my finger across the

scar on the palm of my hand.

He pressed his lips together, holding back a smile.

“That’s al you have to say after I just told you that we

made an unbreakable promise to be together

forever.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know…It just seems real y

strange to me.”

He closed his hand and then stretched it open

again. “Wel , we were strange kids.” He paused, a

smal amount of bitterness creeping into his

expression. “And now I know why.”

I chewed on my bottom lip thinking about my

childhood, and how, thanks to Stephan and Sophia’s

lovely gift of being able to detach souls from their

emotions, I could barely remember anything about it.

“Did we ever feel it?” I asked.

He gave me a funny look. “Did we ever feel what?”

“The electricity—when we were little did we ever

feel it?”

“I’m not sure…” He stared off at the quiet street in

front of us, the sun shining brightly in his eyes. “I don’t

real y think that we felt what we do now, but there was

always a connection there.”

I remembered the first time I ever laid eyes on him,

and how my gaze had found him al on its own. There

was definitely a connection—one deeper than even

the electricity went.

Alex looked at me and he had such intensity in his

bright green eyes that it made me squirm around

uncomfortably. A strange feeling passed through me

then, and I waited for the prickle to show up and tel

me what I was feeling, because whatever was going

on right now had to be something new. But the prickle

never came and as I continued to grow more

uncomfortable, I changed the subject.

“So, do you think we’l be able to fix everything?” I

asked, struggling to keep my voice even. “Do you

think we’l be able to stop the world from ending—

stop what I saw in my vision from actual y happening?

My mom said there are always loop holes? But what

loop holes would there be? I mean it doesn’t make

any… ” I trailed off because of the astonished look

Alex was giving me.

“I think you might want to at least take a breath

between your questions,” he said.

I gave him an oh-shut-up look. “But there are too

many unanswered ones. I mean, how can you be so…

calm about everything you just heard?”