The Promise (7 page)

I asked, already knowing his answer, but wanting him to say it anyway.

By going to the Afterlife and bargaining with the queen for their release.

I frowned, remembering the last queen The Queen of the underworld.

A queen? The one my mother was telling me about?

He smirked.

Queen Helena.

And what s this queen like?

I asked.

Is she as bad as The Queen of The Underworld?

No, she s much worse than the Queen of The Underworld.

He grinned, amused with himself.

So how do I get her to free these souls?

I asked.

If she s that bad? And how do I even get to the Afterlife to begin with?

You get help from a Banshee,

he said simply.

I gaped at him.

What the heck s a Banshee?

It s a woman spirit whose cry signals death,

Alex explained, dusting the snow from the rock.

She s also the one who carries the Lost Souls to the queen.

I let out a long breath.

So we have to find a Banshee who will help us.

Alex s forehead creased.

Why?

I sighed and quickly explained everything Nicholas had told me.

So do you know any Banshee s hanging around who might be nice enough to help us out?

I asked, hopeful, but knowing the chances were low.

Actually I do.

Snow began to flutter from the sky as he stood up.

My mother.

My head whipped in his direction and I almost fell off the rock.

Your mother s a Banshee? How did you &what?

Nicholas let out a snort.

Oh, this is so comical.

There nothing funny about his mom being dead,

I snapped.

Oh, I m not laughing because his mother s dead,

he replied still grinning.

I m laughing because she s a Banshee.

I shrugged.

So?

A Banshee is of the faerie realm,

Alex said, as if he knew exactly what the argument was about.

My expression fell.

Oh.

I paused.

How did that happen?

He shrugged, kicking at the snow.

Those journals I found that night we snuck into my house, well, they talked about her dying that she feared my father was going to kill her. And that he would learn her secrets. But then she wrote she d find a way to cross into the Afterlife and become one of the queens Soul Collectors, also known as a Banshee. That way she could still have a connection to earth and help us when the time was right. So I started poking around, asking some people and I found out its true. She s a Banshee.

There was so much sadness in his eyes, even though he was trying to conceal it. I couldn t help myself. I wanted to kiss away his pain, so I did. A bold move for me, but hey, it had to happen eventually.

He looked surprised and I started to jerk back, because really, it was a stupid thing to do I mean, at any moment, he and I could drop dead from the intoxication of the electric connection we shared.

But he refused to let go, pressing me closer, tasting me, feeling me, wanting me. So I let myself get carried away for a second, not caring about the star, or the world, or the fact that Nicholas was watching us like a weirdo.

Finally, it became too much and we broke away, gasping for air, eyes untamed, wanting something we could never completely have. The ice on the trees dripped, making the snow under our feet a murky puddle.

I think I m going to throw up,

Nicholas mumbled.

Then throw up.

I raised my eyebrows at him.

If it was that bad to watch then you should have turned your head.

He pulled a face.

Then you should have turned your head,

he mimicked with exaggeration.

Alex turned toward where he guessed Nicholas to be.

Hey, I got an idea, why don t you shut it.

I nodded my head discretely, mouthing: behind you.

Alex shook his head, irritated, and then reached into his pocket.

This guy named Draven, who s the Lord of the Afterlife, gave me this address. Supposedly, it s where my mom is.

I took the paper from him and unfolded it.

Reykjavik?

My eyes elevated to him, wide and shocked.

Iceland. Your mother s in Iceland. God, it’s good the snow’s starting to grow on me.

Actually it s colder here than it is there,

he explained.

Oh.

I folded the paper back up and handed it to him.

Okay, it s good you got an address and everything, but how are we supposed to get to Iceland?

He cracked his knuckles, a deep thought masking his face.

Your Foreseeing thing only works if you ve seen the place, so maybe if you had a mental picture of how it looked, we could get there.

But where does the mental picture come from?

I asked.

Because all I see when I think of Iceland is a big chunk of ice.

He contemplated this.

Maybe if we had a picture you could look at.

Where are we going to find one of those? The internet doesn t work at the house.

We wouldn t go to the house. It s too dangerous.

What about the library?

Nicholas interrupted, stepping between us.

I stared at him strangely.

Did you just offer up something useful on your own?

He shrugged.

There s a first for everything.

What s he saying?

Alex asked, his eyes searching desperately to see him.

He said we should try the library &

I trialed off as Nicolas strolled away whistling.

I haven t been to town since all hell broke loose, so I m not sure if anyone s still running things like libraries. Although, Laylen picked up groceries from somewhere.

His eyes flitted to my neck, and I knew he was thinking about the bite.

Well, we could try it & carefully.

Then he pointed a finger at me.

And I m stressing the careful part.

I extended my hand, ready to take us to town. But then I stopped, turning to Nicholas.

What happens after I free the Lost Souls?

Then you go to the lake and sacrifice your life, just like you re supposed to,

he said honestly.

My hand remained suspended in midair, my jaw slack.

What d he say?

Alex asked.

Probably nothing that has any truth to it.

I blinked until I saw spots, and then looked at him.

He said he d tell us when we get that far.

He pressed his lips together as I reached for his hand, electricity surging from the contact, and I shut my eyes and swept us away back to Afton.

Chapter 14

(Alex)

I could tell she was lying. Whatever Nicholas said to her was bad. But she wasn t ready to tell me yet.

When we landed again, we were tucked away in the alley that lined the back entrance of the library. Snow was falling from the sky, making everything a sheet of slippery white. I ran my hand across the hood covering her head, sweeping away the snowflakes. Then we hurried to the back door. There were no windows close, so I couldn t see what was going on inside.

You think it s open?

she asked, bouncing up and down from the cold.

I shrugged, grasping the handle on the door. But it was locked. Of course.

You re skins turning blue.

Her violet eyes widened as she looked at me.

I m just a little cold,

I said and when she reached for the zipper of the jacket, I trapped her hand.

I m not going to take it back. I fine. I promise.

She got this weird look on her face and then she enclosed her hands around my wrists, her pulse slamming against her fingertips. She bit her lip as she rubbed her hands up and down my arms, creating friction, electricity, warmth.

Better?

she asked after she d finished.

Sure.

My voice cracked and I rolled my eyes at myself for showing how weak her touch made me. My gaze skimmed her from head-to-toe.

What about you?

I raised my eyebrow at her, giving her a look that made her hide a blush.

You need me to warm you up?

She shook her head and I turned for the entrance door, smiling at myself.

The front door ended up being locked too, even after I kicked it and shook the living daylights out of it.

She let her head fall against the wall.

Now what?

I don t know.

I glanced next door at the open restaurant behind us. I guess people had to eat.

Think they d have a computer we can use?

She shook her head.

Doubtful. Maybe we should just break the window.

The alarm would go off and draw too much attention.

Across the street, there were only houses and many of them looked as dead as a graveyard. But a few streets back, I could see the pointed roof of the school.

I think I have an idea.

***

She was fidgeting anxiously with everything she could get her hands on.

I can t believe it s still going you d think they d cancel it or something.

I m pretty sure hell could freeze over and school would still be mandatory.

I yanked the heavy glass door open, letting her walk in.

Hey, this is where we first met.

Yeah &

She bit at her nails.

You know, I didn t really feel the way I acted that day,

I dared utter the dangerous words.

She nodded, still preoccupied with the hall where people moved to and from class.

They won t even notice we re here,

I said, trying to calm her down, because her jittering was rubbing off on me a little.

And if they do, they ll think we re new students or something.

I know,

she muttered and started down the hall, with her head down.

I suddenly realized what the problem was. She wasn t scared of being caught. She was scared off being here, in the halls that had tormented her for almost four years.

I wasn t sure what to say to her really I didn t think there weren t any words that could take her ach away. So I did the only think I could think to do. I took her hand, entwining our fingers together. Her pulse was racing, but not from my touch. She clutched on, not wanting to let go.

But eventually, we d have to.

So this is what Iceland looks like?

She frowned at the computer screen.

I thought you said it wasn t cold there.

No, I said it wasn t as cold.

I tapped my finger at the screen.

There s still snow.

She tilted her head to the side, examining the photo.

What do you think that little roads for?

I don t know, but this is the best picture I could find,

I told her,

Plus there s a lot of bare space around, so we don t have to worry about anyone seeing us appear out of thin air.

And then what? We just roam around until we find the address? The place looks pretty big.

We ll get a taxi or something.

Seems kind of amateur.

She pouted.

Don t worry.

I gave her hair a playful tug.

I m sure they ll be plenty of times where we’ll need your wonderful Foreseer power.

Yeah, I guess.

She clicked the mouse on the print page button and then rolled back the chair to stand. As she waited impatiently for the printer to screen out the picture, I spotted the figure of a vaguely familiar blonde-haired girl walking toward me. Kelsey something or another. Really, I didn t get it. I didn t know if it was just a girl thing or what, but she really seemed determined to make Gemma s life a living hell.

Oh my God,

she exclaimed, springing up and down on her toes.

I turned my back on her, taking Gemma s arm, and whispering,

Code red.

She stared at me like I was a lunatic.

Shaking my head, I snatched the picture from the printer and dashed for the door, towing her along with me.

What are you doing?

She worked to keep up with me.

We ve been spotted,

I hissed, not wanting to draw attention.

Her violet eyes skimmed the room and then her lip twitched. I heard Kelsey yammering something, but I was already swinging through the door. Gemma didn t follow. She froze in the doorway.

What are you doing?

I asked, but she only stared straight ahead at the wall. Kelsey jaunted up, an evil look on her face as she narrowed her eyes at Gemma.

Well look who

Gemma let the door swing shut right in her face, her nose smashing into the glass.

Ready to go?

she asked, grazing past me as if nothing had happened.

Yeah,

I said with surprise.

Let s go to Iceland.

Chapter 15

(Gemma)

It might have been a childish thing to do. Letting the glass door hit her in the face like that, but I just wanted one moment to cause her as much pain as she caused me, during my four years of High School hell.