Chapter 34
(Alex)
So we fixed the sink.
Laylen leaned back against the counter and folded his arms.
Now what?
I contemplated this, trying not to think about Gemma, upstairs lying dead in her bed.
Unless there s something else broken, I don t have a damn clue.
I m pretty sure we only made the sink worse.
He stared at a pool of water on the floor next to his feet.
What were we even trying to fix?
I asked, not even attempting to hide the fact that I knew zero about plumbing.
Laylen shrugged.
I don t know, I just thought it looked funny.
That s probably why we couldn t fix it then.
I dropped down in a chair, scooting the tools out of the way, and rested my head on the table.
So who wants to help?
Aislin asked, her cheerful voice like a knife to my ear.
Go away,
I mumbled.
If you re going to be cheerful.
She prodded my side with her foot.
Stop being a downer. I need your help.
With what?
Laylen asked.
Wait. Let me guess. A spell.
With removing your Mark of Immortality.
I raised my head, glancing at Laylen, who was staring speechlessly at Aislin.
You ve figure out how?
I asked her.
When?
She shook her head, frowning.
I m not sure if I m quite there yet, but I m close enough that I want to test it.
On me.
Laylen raised his eyebrows.
She nodded energetically.
Then after I ve perfected that, it s on to the shield removing spell. Of course, I m not sure how I m going to figure out if that one works & well, unless I went to Stephan and used a spell on him.
That s not happening. No one s ever going to be around him again. It s too dangerous,
I said.
Hold on & Why didn t anyone give up our location when you guys switched sides?
Because I put an interpres incantatores on us,
she said.
When you left you missed out on all the amazing things I did.
She put her hands on her hips.
I put the spell on the five of us to prevent anyone from telling an enemy our location.
She glanced at the boarded window.
And we have a lot of enemies.
But why didn t you do the spell on me.
She raised her hand in front of her.
Non proferre verbum ad emeny.
Then she sparked silver dust all over me.
Dammit Aislin!
I jumped to my feet, dusting off my jeans.
What was that crap?
That was the spell,
she said and Laylen laughed, thinking she was funny or something.
I m getting good at this witch thing, huh?
Hopefully good enough to even remove the Mark of Immortality.
I brushed the last of the silvery stuff off.
Oh, I am.
She dropped a book on the table and opened it to a marked page.
I raised my eyebrows at her.
What s that?
A spell book.
She said in a duh way.
Sorry I m not more up to date with my witchcraft knowledge,
I said, shoving her hand out of the way.
Bonum et malum. What is that?
It s the Good and Evil spell.
She turned the book, sat down, and Laylen joined us.
It separates the good from the evil.
But the Mark of Immortality isn t a good thing.
Laylen covered the Mark of Immortality on his arm.
So trying to take it off Stephan? That s bad and bad.
That s not what this is.
She tapped her finger on the page.
This spell separates things that don t go together. Like Stephan and the Mark of Immortality. Or like Laylen and his mark.
It seems like a long shot.
I crossed my arms on the table.
Can t you just use the same spell you ve been using to take off the Mark of Malefiscus?
Magic doesn t work like that.
She turned the page.
Everything works according to rules. And as a witch, I think this will do it. There s just one tiny little problem.
I flopped my head back and sighed.
And what s that?
There s this thing about blood.
She flipped the page back.
It needs the blood of someone who s both good and bad. So any ideas?
I had one idea, but I wasn t about to say it. If I d learned anything, it was never to mention this particular person s name in reference to something bad.
I have an idea.
Laylen paused.
Me.
Glad he was the one who said it.
You what?
Aislin asked, puzzled.
Me, as in my blood.
He stared at the table, ashamed.
Oh, I don t think that s what it means,
Aislin said, skimming the pages with her finger.
It couldn t be &
Why not?
I decided to put my two cents in.
He s a vampire and a Keeper. Good and bad, well at least the Keeper part is kind of good.
Alex,
Aislin started.
No,
Laylen put his hand over hers.
I think it might work, if that s the spell you want to try.
She blinked dazedly at his hand and I rolled my eyes.
I don t know. I mean, I guess it might work.
Alright then.
I rubbed my hands together.
Let s do it.
It more complicated than that, Alex,
she said.
We need more than just blood.
What else do you need?
I heaved a dramatic sigh.
Ice from an Iceberg, salt only from the sea? Or how about the toe of a faerie?
No, nothing like that.
She paused and then smiled skillfully.
And besides, if we needed the toe of a faerie we wouldn t have a problem. We ve got one upstairs.
That one s a ghost.
But not for long.
I hated the direction of this conversation. It forced me to think of Nicholas up there with Gemma.
So what else do we need?
She ran her fingers along the list of ingredients.
Honestly, the worst thing is the blood. Other than that, I probably have most of these things. And anything I don t have can be picked up from a basic witch store.
She scooted back from the table.
I ll go check and see what I got.
She s crazy,
I muttered, shaking my head.
She s your sister.
Laylen muffled a laugh.
And she s your what?
I questioned.
Because I m still not clear on that.
We stared each other down. He knew what I was thinking, and it was a thought that had crossed my mind more than once. Gemma and Laylen had this close connection and I was never exactly sure what it meant. Were they just friends? Or did he like her more than that?
That s really none of your business.
He rapped his hand on the table and stood up.
I think I ll go help Aislin.
The stillness of the kitchen wore on me quickly. It was driving me crazy not knowing what was going on. Not knowing if everything was going smoothly.
Not knowing if she d make it back to me.