“It wasn’t you,” Alex insists, giving me a comforting smile. “It was Helena.”
Helena or not, I still feel guilty and I need to make it right. Somehow.
The four of us walk outside and into the street, away from the house. Alex holds my hand, guiding me across the dark yard towards the curb. I can barely make out the Crystal Ball in Evan’s hand, but when the glow of the full moon hits the glass, it shimmers like fireflies.
As Evan prepares to foresee us away—even though I could without a Crystal—I glance over my shoulder at the house. It’s dark and the street is silent, but, on the inside, I feel a storm stirring and I have a feeling that more and more bad things lie ahead of us.
Chapter 11
Alex
We arrive back to the outskirts of the castle in the blink of an eye, but, to me, it seems like forever. Gemma’s still holding onto my hand and I have to wonder if deep down she wishes she was holding someone else’s hand. I don’t want to be jealous, I just can’t help it. The way she ran to him and hugged him for a way longer time than what seemed necessary is driving me crazy and eating away at my insides.
At first everything had been great; she’d hugged me and then agreed when I said I wanted to take her back to the castle; pretty much so I can kiss her and touch her all over. She’d never been so forward before and it threw me off a little, but I want it—her. So freaking bad. Then came Laylen and our perfect reunion turned into a disaster.
The four of us hike up the hill towards the castle, my mind drifting as I stare at the outlines of the tree beside us. What if she loves Laylen like she says she loves me? What if this whole time she’s loved both of us? Can I live with that?
Suddenly, she jerks on my arm as she slows to a stop.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, turning to her, but she silences me by crushing her lips to mine.
She’s never kissed me like this before—made the first move—and an intense hunger consumes me. I wind my arm around her waist and press her body against mine, kind of roughly. I explore her mouth with my tongue, tasting her, pretty much devouring her as my hands travel down her backside and I scoop her up.
Her breath falters as she fastens her legs around my waist while she continues to kiss me, making little moans that drive my body crazy.
“Gemma…” I say between breaths. “Is everything… okay…”
She answers me with her tongue, tangling it with mine and pushing her body closer. I decide to stop talking and knot my fingers through her hair, pulling gently at the roots so I can tip her head back and delve my tongue into her mouth deeper. I start to walk blindly forward, into the dark, towards a tree near the lake and, when I reach it, I press her up against it.
She moans as our bodies weld together so tightly that we pretty much become one person. The longer we kiss, the more desperate our movements become. Her legs are secured around my waist and my fingers are digging into her hips, feeling the sliver of skin below the bottom of her shirt, feeling her warmth. We’ve never gotten this heavy and all I want to do is hold onto her and never let her go.
Eventually, she breaks the kiss, breathing ravenously. “I really needed that,” she gasps between breaths.
I give her a soft kiss on the lips and bring my hand out from underneath her shirt, my fingers grazing her stomach and she shivers. “I needed it, too.”
It’s dark, but I can see the outline of a smile on her face. “You want to take me into the castle now?”
I study her, wishing I could see her in the light so I could tell what she’s thinking. “Are you sure you want to?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I shrug and let out a breath. “It means are you sure you want to be with me and not Laylen,” I bluntly throw it out into the air because that’s what I do.
She pinches my chest, surprising me, and I wince. “Yes, I’m sure. I love you.”
It’s a simple answer, but she sounds genuine, and I really want it to be genuine. “I love you, too.” I’m the one to kiss her this time, backing her into a tree as I thrust my tongue inside her.
She lets out this whimpering moan that I’ve never heard before and I just about lose it. There’s so much fire and heat pouring through me—it’s more intense than when we shared the electricity. My hands sneak back underneath her shirt; her skin is so soft and smooth, her tongue warm. She slides her hands underneath my shirt and traces her fingers along the lines of my muscles, instigating a tightening from them. Although I’ve been touched like this before from a few different girls, it’s different with her. It’s real. I’m real.
“Umm… sorry, I was worried something happened to you,” Laylen’s voice drifts through our moment and we pull back, gasping for air. “Clearly, I need to go back into the castle, though.” There’s a hint of laughter in his tone.
“We should probably go inside,” Gemma says, shivering from the cool breeze. She wraps her arms around herself and in the moonlight; I can see that she’s smiling.
“We’ll continue this later.” I thread my fingers through hers and steer us up the hill towards the castle, the windows glowing in the night. As we walk both of us are lost in our own thoughts and, when we reach the front porch, the door is wide open. I hear Laylen and Evan arguing about something as we step inside.
Gemma’s eyes instantly find mine and I’m taken aback by how wide and terrified she looks, when just seconds ago she was moaning in sheer bliss.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, shutting the door.
She shakes her head, clutching onto my hand. “How are you alive—You didn’t have a pulse—You weren’t breathing—You looked dead and I know we’ve both died already and everything, but I saw a brief vision… and it… and it… I don’t get it.”
I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You really want to know?”
She nods, biting her lip. “Yes, please tell me”
I take a deep breath. “It was our love… It saved me. It’s the reason why I’m still alive.”
At first she looks doubtful and then she looks stunned. Then she’s unexpectedly kissing me again. I kiss her back fiercely and this time I don’t plan on ever stopping.
Chapter 12
Gemma
Alex is kissing me and I don’t want it to ever end. I thought I’d lost him forever and it is amazing to feel the warmth of his lips against mine. I circle my arms around his neck as our bodies crush together. I’m afraid that I’m dreaming and, when I wake up, everything will be gone. That I’ll be back at Nalina’s, fighting over the pendant with so much hate and pain in my body, it’ll drown me.
Alex scoops me up again, like he did outside, and starts to walk towards the stairway with his lips sealed to mine. His tongue massages mine and makes me feel something I’ve never felt before. Something wonderful. I know where he’s going and even though, in the pit of my stomach, nervousness tugs at me; I want him to take me upstairs.
Yet then Laylen says, “Guys, seriously,” and the moment is broken again.
I could seriously hit him right now for interrupting us, not once, but twice. When I open my eyes again, I notice that Alex looks pretty much the same way as I feel.
Sighing, he sets me back down on the floor, giving me a quick kiss on the mouth. Then, taking my hand, he leads me down the stairs to where Laylen’s waiting at the bottom.
“Sorry,” Laylen apologizes. “But we kind of have some other problems to deal with, like Faeries and,” he swallows hard as he steps toward the hallway, “Aislin.”
“I know,” Alex responds, walking with him and pulling me along. “We just got caught up a little bit.” He turns his head and looks at me, giving me a wink and I smile.
The four of us seat ourselves in the living room, ready to make some kind of plan. When I really think about it, it seems like I’ve spent a lot of time making plans only for them to fail. I wonder if there’s any point.
Alex and I take the sofa and he drapes his arm around my shoulder, keeping me close, while I rest my hand on his knee, needing to know he’s alive and real; not just my imagination. Laylen and Evan take a seat in the sitting chairs corner side from us. Laylen kicks his feet up on the table between us and Evan fiddles with the chain on his belt loop.
Alex gives me a quick recap of everything that went on and how our love not only saved him, but Annabella and Laylen, too. “It was the loophole that sent Helena back to the Afterlife,” he tells me with a look in his eyes that makes my skin feel like it’s melting.
Despite that, there are still Lost Souls and Fey roaming free, like the ones I saw on Nalina’s street. Aislin and Aleesa are trapped in the Faerie Realm. Two huge problems. Also, Nicholas is still prisoner in the City of Crystal.
“So where do we start?” Evan asks, checking the time on his leather-band watch.
“Late for a date or something?” Laylen questions with an arch of his brow.
Evan sweeps his black hair out of his face and stretches his hands above his head, yawning. “No, I’m just tired. It takes a lot of energy to use my powers and I’ve been using them a lot over the last few days.”
Laylen nods and then glances at Alex. “We should save Aislin first.”
“Yeah,” Alex concurs. “As much as I love my sister, she’s probably having a meltdown by now with all those Faeries and their insanity.” He dithers. “Then again, she might be fitting right in.”
I pinch him right above the kneecap. “Be nice,” I say and he leans over and kisses me for no reason. It makes me smile stupidly, despite the heaviness of the conversation. “And yes, we should save Aislin first… it’s my fault she’s down there.” I frown. “I can’t believe I did that.”
“You weren’t you.” Alex massages my shoulder. “It’s not your fault.” He pauses. “But we do need to get her out of there. If Luna returns to the Faerie Realm, she might be able to force Aislin to use magic and that’s the last thing we need on top of everything else.”