chapter 33
Gemma
I’m confused, bewildered, lost. It doesn’t look like the house we left behind. The roof has caved in, the windows are boarded up, and there’s garbage and broken glass everywhere.
“God, this place turned into a mess.” Aislin kicks a can out of the way as she makes a path to the window. Gazing outside, a frown forms on her mouth. “It so quiet and bare out there… like a ghost town. I wonder if the Fey got to this place.”
“Or the Lost Souls.” I sigh, glass crunching underneath my shoes as I take in the mess. Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to grow up here, raised by my mother and father, free to experience emotion. Would I have had a good life? Gone to school? Made friends? Dated? Fallen in love? Fallen in love with Alex?
“Gemma, I hate to interrupt your thoughts, but what the hell happened?” Laylen asks. “What took you so long? I was getting worried.”
My mouth drops open a little as I turn around. Really? That’s the first thing he says after Aislin’s been gone for much longer. I give him an exaggerated, eyes widening look, nodding my head at her.
Aislin turns from the window, placing her hands on her hips as she narrows her eyes at him “Really? That’s the first thing you have to say after we’ve both been gone?” She runs her hands through her hair, combing the tangles out. There are dark circles under her eyes, her top lip is split and she’s missing one shoe. How? I have no idea.
I don’t look any better, though. There are scratches all over my arms from the branches of the trees we hiked through, my eyes feel heavy, and my jeans are torn on both knees. “Maybe we should all take a breather and get cleaned up or something,” I say, trying to ease the tension.
Laylen shifts his weight uncomfortably as Aislin continues to stare him down.
Evan moves up in front of us all, blinking the tiredness from his eyes. “Don’t you think the most important thing now is not,” he rolls his eyes, “girlfriend, boyfriend drama, or taking a breather, but figuring out what the hell just happened back there.” He points at the window, like the castle is somehow going to pop into view.
Aislin stomps over to the torn sofa and plops onto it, picking up one of the throw pillows and placing it on her lap. She absentmindedly plucks at it. “Fine, you have a point.” She glances up at Evan. “Wait, who are you?”
Evan sticks out his arm and shows her the marks on his skin. “What? You don’t remember me?”
Aislin eyes him over very closely and then a grin touches her lips. “Evan.” She jumps up and throws her arms around him, hugging him. “God, it’s been forever.”
Laylen glances at me, raising his eyebrows, and I catch a ping of jealousy in his expression. They continue to hug and finally Laylen gets annoyed enough that he moves over and pulls on Aislin, breaking up their moment.
I smile to myself because I know it’ll make Aislin happy, knowing he’s jealous. Sometimes it bothers her—Laylen and my relationship—even if we’re just friends.
She sits down on the couch and grabs the pillow again; then Laylen sits down beside her with a territorial look in his eyes. “So, what happened to you two?” he asks, and then looks at me. “You know it’s been days since you took off?”
I nod, flopping down on the sofa opposite of theirs. “Things got complicated.”
“Complicated?” Evan elevates his eyebrows. “It looked like there was a freaking war breaking out back there.” He hitches his thumb over his shoulder at the window, again pretending like we’re right by the castle.
“That’s because I think there was,” I mutter, rubbing my tired eyes.
He slips his jacket off, sighing, as he tosses it onto the cracked coffee table, then he situates himself in one of the sitting chairs just in front of the window. He kicks his feet up on the coffee table, leaning back and closing his eyes. “You guys’ world is freaking complicated. You know that?”
The three of us give overly exaggerated nods. “Yes,” we say in sync.
He shakes his head, probably wishing he didn’t get dragged into it. “So… how do we get rid of the Faeries?”
I shrug. “I have no idea.”
Laylen says, “Maybe we should try to shut the portal down.” He drapes his arm around Aislin’s shoulder, pulling her in as she frowns with a guilty look on her face. “Uh… yeah, sorry about that. I thought I had fixed that little problem… I thought I closed the portal.” She examines her nails closely, pretending to be deeply fixated on them. “Guess I was wrong.”
Laylen grabs her hand and squeezes it. “It doesn’t really matter... It is what it is. We just need to fix it. Besides, I know why you did it. You wanted to save your sister.” He looks around the room curiously. “Which, by the way, where is Aleesa?”
Tears start bubbling in Aislin’s eyes and her head falls forward. “She’s dead.”
Laylen’s eyes widen and he looks to me for confirmation. I nod and he focuses his attention back at Aislin with a heart-warming, compassionate expression on his face as he pulls her into him and lets her bury her face against his chest and cry her heart out.
Evan looks a little less compassionate. “What happened to you two?” he asks me.
Sighing I give them a quick recap about what happened over the last few days. He listens intently and when I’m finished, he gapes at me, along with Laylen.
“What’s the matter?” I ask. Sure I just told them a lot of crazy things, but it wasn’t any crazier than everything else we have—and are—going through.
“You really promised the Fey you’d return and help them fight against Luna?” Laylen stares at me with amplified eyes as he runs his hand up and down Aislin’s back while she weeps into his shirt.
“Um… yeah... Why? What’s wrong?” I glance at Evan, he looks just as horrified.
“It was a really stupid thing to do,” Evan says, shaking his head. “Really, really stupid.”
“Would someone please tell me what’s going on.” I’m beginning to panic because I can tell I’ve done something bad—something I’m going to regret.
Evan leans forward, resting his arms on his knees, his bangs hanging in his dark eyes, one of which is bruised. “Challenging the Empress is really bad. When you challenge the Empress, you fight to the death. Only one of you is going to be able to walk away.”
“But I didn’t challenge her,” I say in an off-pitched voice. “I just said I’d help them.”
Evan shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter. It’s viewed as one and the same.”
I swallow the enormous lump wedged in my throat. “Is there a way to get out of it?”
Laylen studies me as Aislin elevates her head up, blinking at me with tear-stained eyes. “There may be a way…” He considers something with his forehead creased. “Like maybe a loophole or something.”
Evan shakes his head again and reclines back in the chair. “There’s no way out of this. You made the promise to the Fey in their Kingdom, which means you’re bound to the promise. There’s no breaking it.”
I take in what he says, feeling my body crack and fall apart, the pieces breaking and scattering across the dirty floor. “So, that’s it? I have to fight Luna? Like with weapons? And then what? I either kill her or be killed?”
No one responds and I have my answer. I feel frustration bursting up inside me. I want to scream. Let it all out. I open my mouth and huff in a breath, but when I let it out, no sound comes out. Maybe that means I’m done. Done with everything. Done with fighting.
Maybe I’m giving up.