Chapter 17
We disembark in the middle of a field. Immediately, I jump away from him.
“A new trick of yours?” My shoes crunch the dry grass as I spin. Leafless trees soar to the clear blue sky and the lake waves the line of the sandy shore. “You brought me to the Keepers’ castle?”
He holds up a finger and takes my hand. “We’re not in current time, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He steers me past the lake and into the forest. “We’re in the past. A few years in the past actually.”
I stumble over rocks and sticks. “Does this have to do with my Foreseer’s mark or…”
“Or Alex cheating on you?” He swats low branches out of the way.
“He didn’t cheat on me,” I retort. “I knew he dated Stasha. And besides, it’s was a long time ago.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t know he made a promise that connected his soul to hers.”
I pin my lips together, inhaling through my nose. “He didn’t do that—he wouldn’t do that.”
“I can tell you don’t completely believe that,” he says. “There’s something in your voice, maybe sadness.” He swerves us to the right of a pebbly hill, concealing us behind it. “Tell me Gemma. What have you seen?”
“Nothing.” I look away at the trees, the wind blowing through my hair. I can’t focus on anything else, besides my latest dream. Alex said he broke our promise. He went with Stasha. What if he was trying to tell me something? “Is it possible I still might be seeing visions even though my power’s gone?” I meet his eyes.
“I would say no,” he says. “But with you everything works differently, or so it seems.” He traces his finger over the circle encompassing “S” on his wrist. “Why? Do you think you’ve been seeing visions?”
“I’m not sure what I’m seeing.” I attempt to slip my hand from his. “It doesn’t feel like a vision, almost like it’s really happening to me.”
“It’s a dream with Alex,” he assumes, clutching my hand.
Reluctantly, I nod. “I had it once, right after he was taken away by an unknown person. Although, I think it’s Helena who took him.”
His gaze darts around and he shakes his head once. “Not quite, but close.”
“You know who it is?” My eyes roam the trees, the sunlight spilling through the gaps in the leaves. “And what are you looking for?”
He stops near the hill and frees my hand. He points a finger at a violet bush, sheltering a small hole burrowing into the hillside.
I shake my head incredulity. “How did you know this was here?”
“That’s beside the point,” he answers, giving me a rough shove toward the hill. “Now go look. Your special secret hideout isn’t as special as you think.”
My feet stick to the muddy ground as I stare at Alex and mine’s childhood hideout. “You’re lying. He wouldn’t. I know he wouldn’t.”
“Who are you trying to convince? Me or yourself?”
I don’t respond, taking slow steps for the hillside. My shoes slip in the loose rocks and mud as I scale to the bush blooming with violet flowers. Inside the dark hole a soft pale glow flutters. My heart skips nervously as I climb down the ladder and to the bottom of the hideout. Two silhouettes sit in the dark. Candles glow around them, orbing the dirt walls and the trunk in the corner.
I could try and convince myself that it’s Alex and me sitting there, but the blue eyes staring at Alex are not mine. Their hands are pressed together, blood sopping from their palms. I don’t fully understand the intimate words they whisper to each other. But the one I recognize is enough.
Forem—forever.
And for the first time in a long time, I turn my emotions off. Because I don’t want to feel the pain. I don’t want to feel anything.
***
“Can we go?” I ask Nicholas as I slide down the hill.
“Didn’t like what you saw?” he remarks with a grin. He’s leaning against an oak tree, his arms crossed as leaves feather from the branches.
“Just once, can you not give me a hard time?” I stop in front of him, cleaning my muddy hands on the side of my shorts. “Please.”
Something in my expression alleviates the cold look he carries. He doesn’t speak. Biting his lip, he glances sideways. “How bad do you want your Foreseer power back?”
“Badly,” I reply with zero hesitancy. “It’s the only way to save my father.”
“And Alex?” He meets my eyes with curiosity.
“Yes, I still want to save Alex.” I clear the fluctuation in my voice. “I’ll always save him.” I wonder if those words belong to me or the promise. I wonder if the dream I had was more than just images. I wonder how much of my life is real. And how much is a lie.
He shrugs me off, but deep down he’s bothered. “It’ll cost you.”
I huff out a frustrated breath. “Tell me what I have to do? What will I owe you?”
He smiles sadly. “You won’t owe me anything.”
“I don’t understand,” I say. “Who will I owe?”
He exhales dramatically. “The person’s life that you’ll take.”