Authors: Jessica Sorensen
The Underworld (41 page)
plan—a plan I worked very hard to create—I had to
come up with a new one.” He turned and faced me,
his hands behind his back. “But I think this plan wil
work out a lot better. And the best part is, I won’t have
to worry about my son finding you again. He’l never
find you here.” His dark eyes pierced into me. “No
one wil .”
My breathing faltered out of me, and the room was
starting to sway again. “What are you going to do to
me?” I asked, thinking about the
memoria extraho
,
and fearing he was going to use something similar to
it on me.
“Oh, I’m not going to do anything to you, Gemma,”
he said, with a wicked grin. “Except leave you here.”
“Leave me here.” I glanced at the barred up
window, wondering where here was, but al I could
see were mountains and trees and the snow that
covered them.
“Oh, yes.” He walked over to the window, dragging
his fingers along the bars. “See there is something
about the cold that preserves your energy—it’s why I
sent you to Wyoming. And keeping your energy
preserved is the most important thing right now.”
“And what about Alex’s energy,” I asked, trying to
keep my balance as a rush of wooziness whipped
through me. “How are you planning on preserving his
energy?”
This surprised him. “I see you’ve been busy. “ He
walked toward me again. “My son wil preserve the
energy himself. It was what I raised him to do. And as
long as he’s away from you, the stars energy wil be
fine.” He stopped right in front of me. “Al I have to do
is keep you from him.”
“Alex wil find me,” I told him, but I wasn’t so sure of
this myself.
Stephan considered this for a very long time, and
then I got the feeling that I was about to experience,
firsthand, a vil ain-confessing-his-evil-plan moment.
“See, here’s the thing, Gemma,” he said, his
already dark eyes shifting darker. “Even if he does
find you, it’l never work out. You two were just not
meant to be with each other.
I touched the scar on the palm of my hand.
Forem
.
“Yes, we are.”
He let out a laugh that rang though the cabin and
echoed out against the snowy mountains. “The ideas
you kids have—always wanting to be with the wrong
person.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by this. “The wrong
person?”
He stood in front of me, the two Death Walkers stil
hovering in the doorway, blocking my only way out.
“You think you’re supposed to be with someone
because you having feelings for them but trust me
Gemma, feelings are way overrated.
Wow. So that’s where Alex had gotten the quote
from.
The mention of feelings sent rage surging through
me and without even thinking I kicked Stephan in the
shin with my bare foot.
He winced, and then hit me across the face. My
ears rang like an out of control bel , and I col apsed to
the hardwood floor. He leaned over me, his eyes ful
of anger.
“You think it’s so bad what I’ve done to you. Wel , let
me let you in on a little secret. Life is way overrated—
emotions are way overrated. Even Malefiscus—which
I’m sure you know who he is by now—was at one
point weakened by his jealousy for his brother.
Although, he did turn it into something good” He
dragged his finger along the scar on his cheek.
I hated this man more than I have ever hated
anyone before. I could feel the hate burning inside me
—I could feel the hate poking at the back of my neck.
“You’re the one who’s weak.”
“Oh, am I?” He considered this. “Wel , that’s one
I’ve never heard before.” He let out an evil laugh.
“Wel , I think after awhile, you’l change your mind.
Nicholas has already taken your Foreseer power
away from you and when it eventual y returns, the
praesidium
wil take over.”
Praesidium?
I glanced around the room and
noticed that there were lavender marble-sized crystal
bal s dotting the edge of the hardwood floor.
“I’d take your power away from you completely if I
could,” Stephan added. “But I need it too much.”
“Need it for what?” I asked, my stomach winding
into a bil ion knots.
He ignored me. “The only way for you to get away
from here is on foot.” He glanced at the window. “And
even I wouldn’t try and make that walk. By the time I
return to get you, you’l be nothing more than an
emotionless soul. Being alone wil do that to
someone.”
I remembered myself in my vision; the emptiness
my eyes had held. That’s how I would turn out if I
stayed here.
No. I would not go back to that.
I started to get to my feet, not sure what I would do
when I made it up, but I needed to do something. “This
plan won’t work,” I said struggling to keep my legs
under me. “Just like your last plan didn’t.”
He’d started toward the door, but stopped and
turned around. “Even if Alex did find you, eventual y
you’d both be dead. Every time you two are close to
each other, it ignites the power. If you stay close to
each other for too long the star’s power wil fade out.
And so wil you and Alex.”
My jaw just about hit the floor, and I stood there
shocked. Alex and I would eventual y kil each other?
How was this possible? I thought about the electric
bond we shared and the Blood Promise we’d made
to be together forever. But if what Stephan had just
said was true, then did it mean that if we did stay
together forever, our forever wouldn’t be that long?
I felt sick; physical y and emotions drained, my
heart sinking in my chest.
“Like I said, Gemma, feelings are overrated.” And
with that he walked outside and shut the door behind
him.
I immediately closed my eyes and tried to summon
my Foreseer ability, but apparently Stephan had been
tel ing the truth about my ability being gone because I
felt nothing.
This couldn’t be happening.
I limped to the door, and opened it up, hoping I
wouldn’t come face-to -face with a Death Walker. But
there was nothing but miles and miles of snow. And
scattered across the miles and miles of snow—at
least as far as my eyes could see—were dots and
dots of tiny lavender crystal bal s.
I let out a scream for help, but the only thing that
returned to me was my own echo.
Jessica Sorensen lives with her husband and
three kids in the snowy mountains of Wyoming, where
she spends most of her time reading, writing, and
hanging out with her family.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42