The Vision (5 page)

“Alex,” I said. “You’ve got to stop. Let me handle this—it’s what I’m supposed to do.”

Alex suddenly looked horrified. “I’m not going to let you go off alone with him.” He got up and pulled me up with him.

He took me over to the corner of the living room and lowered his voice, his eyes pressing. “Don’t forget what he did to you, just because you erased it.”

“I understand where you’re coming from—I really do, but you’ve got to stop worry about me all the time. I’m not a girl who needs to be protected by you because she has a star’s energy that will save the world. I’m a girl, with a very unique Foreseer’s gift, who needs to save the world from the star’s energy.”

Alex ran his fingers though his hair as he stared off into empty space. “How am I supposed to just stop doing something, when it’s all I want to do?”

My heart thumped insanely in my chest and, when he looked at me, I just about stopped breathing.

“Yeah, I give you two like a day before you end up killing one another,” Nicholas’ laughter-filled voice intruded our moment.

I scowled at Nicholas. “Thanks for your opinion,” I said sarcastically. “But we’ll be fine.” Although, I wasn’t sure I believed my own words.

“Sure you will,” Nicholas’ grin was mocking.

“We have a problem,” Aislin announced as she entered the room.

“Of course we do,” Alex said with an eye roll. “The world is going to end unless we fix it.”

She shook her head quickly. “No, not that problem…

You’re mom just called from a payphone and told me Laylen’s in trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” The pitch of my voice was startlingly high.

“He’s…” She trailed off, giving a wary glance at Nicholas.

“Maybe we should discuss this in private.”

“Why, he can’t go anywhere,” I pointed out, but she was still hesitant, and I found myself bursting with aggravation.

“Just say whatever it is.”

“He’s at…” She lowered her voice. “He was at the Red Dragon.”

“Please don’t tell me that’s another club,” I grimaced.

Silence and my heart sank,

“Oh, it’s a club,” Alex said. “An exclusive club for anyone and anything that has a thirst for the evil side.”

“Like the Black Dungeon?” I asked.

He shook his head. “It’s much worse.”

Oh my God, I couldn’t breathe. “But if there are vampires at this club, they might kill him because he killed Vladislav.”

“Would you two shut up!” Aislin cried, practically spitting in our faces. “I said he was at the Red Dragon, but someone we know picked him up from there.”

“Who?” I asked at the same time Alex said, “Great. Just what we need.”

I gave him a funny look. “Do you know who picked him up?”

Alex squirmed uncomfortably and tucked his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, I think might.”

“I mean, I know she lives close by here and everything,” Aislin said, looking hurt. “But I just never thought Laylen would contact her.”

“Who the heck is this ‘her’?” I wanted to know.

Aislin glanced at Alex, her eyes pushing for him to explain, but he stayed mute, as he stared down at the floor.

“It’s Stasha.” Aislin sighed. “She used to be a Keeper—

well I guess she technically still is, but she…decided she didn’t want to be part of the circle anymore.”

“Sounds like a smart girl to me,” I remarked.

“Yeah…” Her gaze flicked in Alex’s direction. “She kind of left because of him.”

“Why would she leave because of him?” I asked, noticing how much more uncomfortable Alex was getting.

Nicholas stood up and suddenly he was right next to me.

“Because she and Alex use to be
lovers
, but since he’s emotionally dead inside, he broke her heart,” he teased, pouting out his bottom lip.

I almost slapped him. I don’t know why, though. He was just telling me the truth. But the truth hurt in a way I had never felt before—the prickle was confirming it. Really, it shouldn’t bother me that Alex once had a girlfriend—hello, he’s twenty years old—but still …it was bugging the crap out of me.

Everyone had their eyes on me, watching me as if they were waiting for me to flip out. I, however, stayed cool, calm, and collected, at least on the outside.

“So what do we do?” I asked, my voice smoothing out like honey. “Do we call Laylen? Our do we need to go get him? And is this Stasha girl keeping an eye on him?” Aislin suddenly looked a bit on the jittery side. “Your mom didn’t say anything about that. She just said she found him standing outside the Red Dragon talking to Stasha, and when she went to go get him, he took off with her.”

“Is my mom heading back here?” I asked her.

Aislin looked at Alex anxiously, which puzzled him as much as it did me. “Yeah…I think she is.”

“What, you don’t know if she is?” I asked.

Aislin shook her head way too quickly. “No, she is.”

“What are you—”

“I think we should go get Laylen,” she announced over me. “I think he needs someone right now, and Stasha probably isn’t the best person for him to be around.”

“Why? What’s wrong with her?” I asked in an unintentionally rude tone.

“There’s nothing wrong with her.” Alex was watching me in a way that made me feel really vulnerable, as if he could see my jealousy written all over me. “But Aislin’s probably right. Stasha can be a little on the…unsympathetic side and that’s probably the last thing Laylen needs right now.”

“I still can’t believe halfy finally went off the deep end?” Nicholas laughed.

“He didn’t go off the deep end!” I screamed for reasons that were unknown. The prickle went insane, poking and stabbing and eating away at the back of my neck. “And it’s my fault he...wants to drink blood.”

“Why?” Nicholas asked, tapping his fingers together as if I we were discussing something scandalous. “What did you
do
?”

He was getting on my nerves, so I pinched his arm. He let out a yelp, but then grinned. “You know I swear you get feistier by the second.”

“Well, you bring it out of me,” I said snidely. He opened his mouth to say something, but I talked over him. “So how far is Stasha’s house? Close, I hope.”

“Not too far,” Aislin said, glancing at the clock on her cell phone. “Probably about a thirty-minute drive.”

“I don’t think we should all go,” Alex told Aislin. “There are a lot of us and besides, you know how she is.”

“But I don’t know how she is,” I pointed out.

He ignored me. “So should we hit the road?” We were not going back to
that
again. “You didn’t answer my question.”

He let out an aggravated sigh. “You remember when I told you that some Keepers have gifts, like Sophia’s gift of…” he trailed off, looking guilty for bringing up my soul detachment.

“Yeah, I remember.” I tried not to sound bitter.

“Well, Stasha has a gift too.” He rubbed the back of his neck tensely. “She has the gift of…death.”

“Like she kill ’s people or something?” I asked with a shiver.

“Not for fun,” Alex clarified. “She just can, you know, kill if she wants to.”

I cringed. “Everyone can kill if they want to, Alex.”

“Yeah, but not like she can,” he said. “She can kill with her touch.”

“So she can kill me if she touches me?” I asked.

“Only if she wants to.”

Well, that sounded lovely. And I had this creepy feeling she might end up wanting to.

“Oh, my God.” Aislin’s green eyes widened as she looked at us fearfully. “You don’t think that Laylen went there to drink the blood of someone Stasha killed.” Alex didn’t answer and I felt my stomach churn.

“No—No he wouldn’t,” I stuttered, but honestly I wasn’t sure. Urgency spilled through the air. “I think we should all go get him. NOW!”

Alex shook his head. “I don’t think you should go.”

“I don’t really care what you think,” I snapped. “I’m going

—Laylen needs me.”

“I’m going to see if I can go get a hold of Stasha and let her know we’re coming,” Aislin talked over us. She opened her phone and stepped into the hallway.

“You shouldn’t go.” Alex’s voice was less demanding and more begging.

“I need to,” I told him. “Laylen needs me, and this is all my fault anyway.”

“She won’t like you being there,” he mumbled, frustrated.

“Who? Stasha?” I asked curiously. “Why?”

“Because…she just won’t.” He was looking at me strangely.

The sly look on Nicholas’ face meant he was about to say something unpleasant. “He doesn’t want you there because he’s afraid Stasha will try to kill you.”

“But I haven’t done anything to her,” I grimaced.

“Oh, but you have.” He patted Alex on the back. “This one right here broke her heart.”

Alex smacked his arm away and his eyes lit up with fury.

“Keep your mouth shut.”

“Yeah, well, his breaking her heart has nothing to do with me,” I told Nicholas. “I wasn’t even there.”

“Oh but it does have to do with you.” There was a mischievous sparkle in the faeries golden eyes. “Like I said, Stasha was madly in love with him.”

“Shut the hell up,” Alex growled, clenching his hand into fists.

But Nicholas continued on unbothered. “But since he is emotionally hollow, he broke her heart of course.”

“Of course.” I rolled my eyes at him, because he was being annoying. Well, a little annoying. I had to admit it did make me feel slightly better that Alex broke her heart, not the other way around. “But that doesn’t explain why she’ll want to kill me. I didn’t make him break her heart.”

“She’ll want to kill you because she’ll see how you two look at one another.” He smirked. “Your desire for each other is ridiculously obvious.”

Why, oh why, did Nicholas get a sick twisted pleasure on making things awkward? I mean, was it a faerie thing? Or was it just him. I shifted uncomfortably and so did Alex.

“No, it’s not,” I tried to assure Nicholas, but my voice failed me.

“Yes it is—it shows in your eyes.” He touched the corner of my eye with his finger and I flinched back.

“Don’t touch her ever again,” Alex said, getting in his face.

“Alright, let’s just stop,” I said, deciding to be the peace maker. “Now I understand your concern,” I told Alex. “About your ex-girlfriend wanting to kill me or whatever, but I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Alex opened his mouth to protest, and I questioned if there was some other reason he didn’t want me to go.

Those other reasons ate away at my insides.

“I think she should go with us,” Aislin said from the hallway.

Daggers shot from Alex’s bright green eyes. “Well, no one asked for your opinion.”

“And no one asked for yours,” she snapped, shutting her cell phone. “You can go. You’re right—Laylen needs you.” She paused, looking pained. “You seem to understand him better than anyone…and he trusts you.”

It hurt her to say it, and I realized Aislin wasn’t that bad.

Sure, she has done some things in her past that weren’t that great, but, like Alex, she probably was under the control of her father.

“So, we should get going.” Aislin grabbed the car keys from off the desk. “Stasha didn’t answer her phone, so we’re just going to have to surprise them.”

“Wait? What about my mom?” I asked. “She’ll wonder where we are.”

“We’ll leave her a note,” Aislin said quickly. “Besides, I think she needed to go somewhere—to the store. She was going to the store to pick up some food.” Okay…she was acting weird. I pointed a finger at Nicholas. “Well, what are we going to do with him?” Alex rubbed his jawline as he deliberated this. “We could tie him back up in the garage.”

“Oh, that would be nice,” I said, crossing my arms. “My mom showing up and finding him tied up in the garage.” I paused. “I think we should take him. Besides, if someone shows up here, he’ll tell them everything—you know he will.” Alex knew I was right, but he still didn’t look very happy.

“Fine, he can come.”

We hid the mapping ball and locked up the house, with both locks and magical charms. Then we headed down the desolate highway, toward the next town where Stasha lived.

Night had blanketed over the land, the moon shining at its fullest. Silver and purple stars twinkled a soft lullaby, the ocean purring along with the tune.

The inside of the car was absurdly hot, due to both the humid air and the electricity. I didn’t know what it was about cars, but it brought out the heat between Alex and I.

Thankfully, he was driving and I was in the backseat, sitting next to Nicholas, who was practically like an air freshener, with how much rainy-flower scent flowed off him. I couldn’t breathe, and finally I had to roll down the window. The air pumped oxygen threw my lungs, and I breathed in its salty scent with a deep, lingering breath.

“You doing okay back there?”

I tore myself away from the window and found Alex watching me in the rearview mirror.

“Yeah, it’s just a little hot back here.” I fanned myself with my hand.

Nicholas let out a loud snore. He had dozed off the minute we pulled out of the driveway. Aislin had nodded off too, not too shortly after the town had disappeared from our view. Evidently, everyone was tired.

“It is hot in here,” he agreed.

The pale glow of the moon trickled inside the cab of the car, lighting his hands clutched tightly on the steering-wheel.

“Maybe you should roll your window down too,” I suggested, hoping to pump in some more circulation. God, what had I been thinking, climbing in here with him?

“Good idea.” He rolled down his window and a gentle breeze lulled in. It helped…a little.

“Make-up Smeared Eyes” by Automatic Loveletter hummed from the speakers, and between the soft beat of the music and the gentle breeze, I found myself getting drowsy.

I yawned, my head feeling heavy.

“Are you tired?” he asked, glancing at the bright red numbers on the clock.

“Yeah, a little.”

“You should get some rest,” he said in a soft voice. “You need to be awake when we get there.”

And suddenly I was wide awake. I leaned forward in the chair. “I don’t get it…You act like this Stasha is…like going to murder me or something.”

“No, she’s not that bad, but…” He paused. “But she has jealousy issues.”