“Ever heard of an emotional exorcism?” Aislin raises the syringe with a proud smile on her face.
Gemma snickers. “I’m not a demon or a spirit. You’re going to have to do better than that.” She lifts her hips and starts nipping her teeth in my direction.
Aislin’s eyes widen as she looks at me in horror. “Wow. She’s really mean.”
“She’s not Gemma,” I remind her, and then stick out my hand, noting my palms are a little bit damp with sweat. I’m nervous, another emotion I’m not accustom to.
Aislin is reluctant to hand over the syringe, eyeballing it with hesitancy as she holds it in her hand. “Are you absolutely sure about this?” she asks.
“I have to do it,” I say because it’s all I can say. No, I don’t want to do it, but sometimes that’s how life works.
Tears fall from Aislin’s eyes as she hands the syringe over. “I might not be able to bring you back… If you completely go through with it and if I can’t... then you’ll be… you’ll be…”
“Dead,” I finish for her, my fingers wrapping around the syringe. “I understand the consequences, let’s just hope it doesn’t go that far.”
Still crying, Aislin backs into the corner, hugging her arms around herself as tears stream down her cheeks. Aislin has always been a little overly dramatic in my opinion; too weepy and emotionally attached to people. I’ve never really understood it until now; why some people can affect you more than others.
“Are you insane?” Gemma laughs maliciously as she takes in the sight of the syringe in my hand when I turn around and face her. “You think that will kill me?”
I shake my head, grasping the syringe tightly in my hand. “No. I know it won’t kill you because I’m not going to use it on you.” With a deep breath, I bite off the cap on the needle and spit it onto the floor. Then I aim the needle at his chest. “It’s going to kill me.”
Something sparks inside her eyes, like fire, blazing intensely. “You won’t do it. Humans fear death more than anything.”
I inch the needle closer to my chest until the tip is poking the fabric of my shirt. “Not this human, and I think the real Gemma knows me enough to know that’s the truth.”
“The real Gemma is dead,” she snarls. “So this is just a wasted effort.
“Well, if that’s true, then I guess I’m about to find out,” I say, hating that my voice is a little unsteady.
“I’m calling your bluff.” She arches her eyebrows challengingly, but I can see the anxiousness hidden beneath her confidence. “You don’t have it in you to go through with it.”
“You think so, huh?” My hand trembles as I summon another breath, then giving myself no time to back out, I sink the needle into his skin. Blood pools out and my heart hammers in my chest. Just one push of the end and death will be injected into my body. I’m more terrified than I thought I would be, but mainly because I fear I’ll never see Gemma again; that she’ll be left unprotected in the world and something will happen to her.
“Say you care for me,” I demand, getting close to her, wanting to evoke emotion out of her. “Tell me not to do it.”
She shakes her head swiftly. “Never.”
I put my thumb on the end of the syringe, ready to push. “Then I guess this is good-bye.” Shit. I can’t believe I’m about to go through with this, and all I can do is hope that Aislin can bring me back.
“Then do it,” she says as she presses her lips together and waits.
Sparks are going crazy between us, full force, either feeding off my emotions or hers. I’m hoping hers, for the sake of making this sacrifice worth it.
“Get ready, Aislin,” I say with my eyes locked on Gemma. Then, summoning a shaky breath, I push the end of the syringe with my thumb.
Aislin lets out a hysterical weep. “Alex! Stop!”
But it’s too late. The medicine is injected into my body and courses through my veins; potent, liquid fire that burns and boils my blood. I can’t think. Hear. See anything. My breath is leaving me. I can no longer feel my heart beating. I’m about to die. Images flood my head, one’s I’m familiar with, ones I’ve never seen before.
Gemma and I. Our hideout. Violet flowers she used to pick for me all the time. Dancing in a field with her. Kissing her, touching her. Love. Blood Promise. Blood-bonded eternally. Forever.
Someone screams at the top of their lungs. “Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop. It’s me. It’s Gemma. Alex, stop!”
“Gemma…” I wrench the needle out of my heart, blood drizzling through my shirt. I’m panting, skin pale, dying. I heard her voice—I heard Gemma—which means it worked. It had to have worked. And now I’m dying, leaving her. “Damn it…” My breath slips away, and as my heart takes its last beat, I collapse to the floor.
Epilogue
(Gemma)