Chapter 29
I’ve barely said a word the entire drive. No one notices. Aislin’s too busy crying and Alex’s main concern is driving like a maniac. I point directions, guiding him to the Victorian house located on the bad side of town.
He ramps the car over the curb and onto the front lawn. He hops out and flips the seat forward. I climb out and we rush up the path to the front porch. A large Rottweiler drools and snarls behind the neighbor’s chain link fence. I shoot a glare at it and it cowers off with its tail between its legs.
Alex kicks down the door, shattering it off the hinges. He rolls his shoulders, all manly.
“Well, if she didn’t know we were here before, she does now.” Aislin sticks her head inside and then walks in.
Alex clutches my hand and we follow her. We probably look like a couple of homeless kids raiding the house for food, in our torn pajamas with bruises and cuts on our skin. Alex doesn’t even have a shirt on. Luckily, I don’t think anyone in this particular neighborhood will mind.
Come out. Come out. Wherever you are Nalina.
Apparently Helena knows Nalina. Big shocker there.
The floorboards creak as we creep through the house. No one has a weapon, except Aislin with her magic. She ignites her hands with a bright orange flame. The furniture in the kitchen is tipped over, pans are scattered all over the counters, and a pot of water boils on the stove.
“They can’t be too far,” Alex whispers, turning off the stove. There’s a door at the rear of the kitchen and he navigates to it. He hesitates and then squeaks open the door. Stairs lead to a bottom floor. The lights are on and hushed voices float up to us. He puts a finger to his lips and releases my hand. “You two wait here.”
Aislin begins to argue, but he brushes her off and walks expeditiously down the stairs, vanishing at the bottom.
“They’ll be okay, right?” Aislin asks worriedly. “I mean, Nalina doesn’t even have her power.”
I shrug, clicking my locket open and shut. “Not her Foreseer power. But she might have her fey power.”
“But what is fey power, really?” she cogitates. “I’ve never seen anything that would lead me to believe the fey have any power. Well, other than the power to drive someone insane.”
I point a finger over my shoulder and raise my eyebrows. “Did you see what Luna did?”
“Good point.” Her worry multiplies. With uncertainty, she steps down the stairs.
I let her go, rummaging the kitchen for a knife. I open a drawer and recover a sharp butcher knife. I touch my finger to the tip, pricking my skin. Blood pools out. “Yep, that’ll work just fine.”
A deafening scream erupts from the downstairs. Gripping the knife, I trot down the stairs. Alex has Nalina trapped in a corner. She’s curled up in a ball, trembling with fear. Filing cabinets are flung all over the floor and papers pile out. Laylen stands in the middle of the room, his arm wrapped protectively around Aislin, whose hands are still flaming.
I skulk behind them with the knife pointed at the ground.
“Tell us why you have a Cornu Lepore,” Alex demands, hovering over her with his fury raging.
She covers her head with her arms, her grey eyes peeking up at him. “Leave me alone. I didn’t do anything. He attacked me.” Her eyes find me and a hopeful look crosses her face. “Gemma, tell him. Tell him I’m not a bad person.”
I return her plea with a bored expression. “All I know is you poisoned me with the memory tea to help Dyvinius steal my power.”
“But he made me do it.” Her voice quivers. “I didn’t want to, but I have no power to protect myself.” She steadies her voice. “Please Gemma, I’m your Aunt.”
“No, you’re not,” I reply. “You’re fey.”
“And so are you.” She lowers her hands and slowly rises to her feet, her back pressed against the wall. “You just don’t know you are.”
“You’re full of crap,” Alex says, raising a fist.
I almost drop the knife. “I don’t have a mark.”
“Did you have your Foreseer mark when you first used that power?” She cautiously steps toward me. “Think about it. Why would Helena be so fixated on you?”
You’re getting warmer.
“Because you have fey blood.” Another step, then another, until she's right in front of me. “She can connect to you because of your fey blood.”
“There’s a difference between Helena’s fey and other fey,” I deny. “And I’m not any fey.”
Yes, you are.
“Yes, you are Gemma.” She reaches for my hand but I recoil. “You’ve just been in the dark all your life. But you’ll get your mark. You’ll see.” She pauses. “You need to be careful. There’s a rumor going around that a fey war is breaking out. Lucinda, Helena, Luna, they’re all after something, but I’m not sure what.”
I scratch my head with the handle of the knife. “Like world domination?”
“I don’t know.” She glances at the four of us. “Now please just let me go. I’ve told you everything I know.”
I consider her request thoughtfully. “Okay, that sounds fair.” She smiles and I clock her in the side of the head.
“Gemma!” Aislin exclaims in a high pitched squeal.
Alex looks at Nalina then at me. “Okay, well that works.”
“Dude, you just hit an old lady,” Laylen comments from behind me.
I shrug and toss the knife on the floor. “So, now what do we do?”
Alex is stunned, but blinks it away. “We need to find a place to hide out. We can’t go back to the castle.”
“Why not?” I ask. “Do you really think Luna will be hanging around? I’m sure she has reasons for wanting to get in the Human Realm, besides chasing us.”
“Do you really want to find that out?” Alex asks.
I shrug. “Maybe.”
“Can we just go?” Aislin complains. “I don’t feel safe here.”
We all agree and hurry up the stairs. While Alex and Aislin argue about where we should go, I quickly backtrack to Nalina. I squat down over her unconscious body and snap the necklace off her neck. I hide it in my pocket and head for the stairs.
Alex waits for me at the bottom. “Are you okay?” He glances over at Nalina. “Did you forget something?”
I shake my head. “I just wanted to make sure I didn’t hurt her too bad. I feel kind of guilty now.”
He twirls a strand of my hair around his finger and gives my lips a soft kiss. “She’ll be okay. I’ve hit many people a lot harder than that.” He speaks to me like I’m innocent.
I nod and we rush up the stairs. I almost laugh at his gullibility.
He has no idea what’s coming for him.