Flipping the pages of the Lost Souls’ book, I sigh, wishing I didn’t feel so alone all the time. Wishing I could forget the past. Wishing I wasn’t a goddamn Vampire that was frozen in age, knowing that eventually, I’m going to have to watch everyone die.
Chapter 16
Gemma
I’m walking down a long aisle, wearing a long, black dress with red roses embroidered on it. My hair is pinned up in curls and residing in the hollow of my neck is a red, teardrop pendant. There are flowers all around me; roses, lilies, tulips. Leafy vines twist across the ground as well as around the trees and the air smells intoxicatingly of freshly fallen rain. Dew beads the grass and leaves, a light trickle falls from the sky.
My eyelashes flutter against the water as I put one foot in front of the other, moving towards a podium, trimmed with rubies and holding a silver throne. It feels like I’m walking somewhere, yet nowhere. It feels like I’m not moving on my own.
“Hello,” I call out as my feet keep moving forward.
At the echo of my voice, figures emerge from behind the trees. They are different sizes; short, tall, some are more round, others thin. The colors of their skin and eyes could make the most colorful rainbow. Each of them has one thing in common, though—they have wings.
They step to the lines of the aisle, a sheet of red carpet, dusted with white rose petals. I glance at each one as I keep walking towards the podium, towards the throne.
“What’s going on?” I ask, but they all just stare at me in awe.
When I reach the end, I stop and turn around. It has stopped raining, but my skin and dress are still damp; raindrops fall down from the leaves. Gathering my dress behind me, I step backwards onto the throne. My gaze sweeps across the Faeries, and even though my mind seems confused, my body doesn’t, so it lowers itself onto the throne. It feels like I belong there as I wrap my fingers around the velvety armrests. I stare out at the land, waiting for whatever is next.
The Fey move in and gather in front of me, then they lower onto their knees and bow their heads.
“Our Queen,” they say in harmony. “Our ruler.”
It’s terrifying and my pulse races because, for a moment, I like it. For a moment, I feel powerful. For a moment, I feel like I belong here.
***
I wake up trembling, sweat dripping down my skin as I clutch onto the locket around my neck. I glance around the dark room, trying to figure out where I am and why there’s a warm body next to me. I’m about to panic—scream—when the night’s events catch up with me and my heart and breathing steady again.
“Hey, are you okay?” Alex sits up, his bare chest pale in the moonlight as he wraps his lean arms around me and delicately kisses my neck.
I nod, turning my head to look at him. “I just had a weird dream. That’s all.”
He cringes. He knows that sometimes my dreams aren’t really dreams, but visions of the future or the past. “Want to talk about it?”
I shake my head. “No, not really.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He glances around the dark room and then a devilish grin rises on his face. “Do you want to continue where we left off?”
A blush touches my cheeks and I’m thankful it’s dark. “Only if you do.”
He laughs underneath his breath, lying back down and pulling me down with him. “I always do.”
I rest my head on his chest and trace the lines of his muscles. “I wish everything could be just like this.”
He chuckles again. “What? Me being shirtless?”
I slap his arm. “No.” But I kind of do and he must be able to read my mind because he starts laughing harder. Resting my chin on his chest, I peer up at him. “I mean, just you and me, away from all the crap… away from the world. I wish we could just disappear and not have to deal with any of this anymore.”
He’s silent for a while, his chest rising and falling beneath my chin. “We will.”
I force a smile. “I sure hope so.”
He tips his chin down and then, while lifting me up, he scoots down so we’re at eyelevel, lying face-to-face. “It’ll happen. I promise. We’ll get this fixed and then we can have our time.”
“But what happens when something else goes wrong?” I ask. “Because it always does.”
He pauses, scanning my face for something. “Then, we’ll let someone else handle it. I think it’s time that you and I start moving on from this. We’ve worked hard enough. We need a break.”
I offer him a soft smile. “Together?”
He rolls his eyes and then leans in to kiss me. “Of course, together. How else would it be?”
I smile and he returns it wholly. Then he rolls over, covering his body with mine as he begins to kiss me again, kneading his warm tongue against mine.
I hope he’s right. I hope one day we can escape it, but every time I look into the future, all I see is chaos lined up with more chaos.
Chapter 17
Alex
It’s probably one of the best nights of my life. When I wake up, Gemma’s nuzzled into me and her legs are draped over my side. She’s wearing my shirt and I love that she is. In fact, if I could have one wish, I’d wake up every morning like this, only I’d wake up knowing she’s safe. It seems so farfetched when I think about it and it makes my chest hurt.
I breathe in the morning air and her scent, but then frown at the sun rising over the mountains, the land shifting from grey to hues of pink and orange.
“Evan said he only needed an hour,” I mutter. Glancing down at Gemma, I lift her arm off my chest and scoot her leg off me, carefully, so I won’t wake her up. I sit up quietly so I don’t wake her. Giving her a quick kiss on the forehead, I slip on my jeans and exit the room, yawning and stretching my arms above my head, wondering why the hell Laylen and Evan didn’t wake me up.
I’m about to head to the right tower where Evan usually crashes, when the smell of bacon and eggs hits me in the nostrils. I follow the scent, like a dog, down the stairs, past the library, and into the kitchen.
Evan is leaning over the stove, dressed in a pair of holey jeans, a grey t-shirt, and his hair is combed. He has a fork in his hand and is turning sizzling bacon over in a pan. “What the hell are you doing?” I ask, stopping in the doorway. “I thought we were going to bail out after you took like an hour nap.” I nod my head at the sun lighting up the crystal clear lake. “But it’s morning.”
Evan rolls his eyes as he sets the fork down on the counter. “You do realize I went to go take my nap at like four in the morning.” Tilting his wrist, he looks at his watch. “And it’s like six-thirty, so we’re only a little over an hour behind schedule, so don’t go getting your panties in a bunch.”
I roll my eyes. “We’re behind schedule and you’re in here cooking breakfast.”
Shaking his head, he rotates the knob on the stove, turning down the temperature. “You do realize we’re still human, right? And we have to eat or will starve to death. Besides, Gemma hasn’t eaten anything, really, since we were trying to torture Helena with hunger.”
I wince, feeling guilty. “Yeah, good point.”
“Are you hungry?” He collects a plate from the cupboard above the sink.
“Yeah, I guess.” Sighing, I walk over and get a plate, knowing I should wake up Gemma, but she was so worn out last night and I want to let her sleep. What I want to do is let her sleep for like a few days, so I can sneak off and make everything right with her here, safe.
I pile on some bacon and pancakes and sit down at the table in the corner, tucked beside the island. I chew on the bacon, thinking about last night and how Gemma felt in my arms. God dammit, I just want to protect her and for everything to be simple for her. I’d give up anything to make it possible.
“Dude, what’s up?” Evan asks, pulling out a chair. He sets a plate of bacon down in front of him and then takes a seat. “You look weird.”
I shake my head and start cutting the pancakes. “I’m just stuck in my own head.”
Evan shoves a piece of bacon in his mouth and then thrums his fingers on top of the table, watching me like a weirdo.
“What’s up?” I ask, shoveling a forkful of pancakes into my mouth.
“I just was thinking that I may have been a little over the top last night.” He stops drumming his fingers and picks up a fork. “I kind of acted like a douche.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“It is, though. Sometimes, I just don’t get what it’s like to have family. It has been too long since I’ve had one.”
I shrug, feeling about as awkward as he looks. “It’s not a big deal. Trust me. We all have douche bag moments.”
He clears his throat and then coughs, shaking his head. “Are we good then?”
“Yeah, we’re good,” I reply and then chew my mouthful of pancakes.
“Something smells good.” Gemma walks in, dressed in a pair of jeans and a black tank top. Her hair is pulled out of her face and, when she turns for the counters, glancing at the food, I get a view of all her marks. “But I’m kind of confused.” Her face is scrunched when she looks at me, walking around the island. “Shouldn’t we be heading to the Fey Realm already?” She stops in front of me with her arms folded.
I reach over, grab her by the waist and pull her down onto my lap. “We are, but Evan thinks we need to have some breakfast.”
She pulls a confused face. “Don’t we usually just go, empty stomachs and all?”
I shrug, then pick up a piece of bacon, and move it towards her mouth. “Yeah, but you’ve got to be hungry. We practically starved Helena when she possessed you.”
She opens her mouth and takes a bite, licking her lip. “I am starving.”
A piece falls from her mouth and I wipe it away, slowly dragging my finger along her bottom lip, pressing it between my thumb and my finger. She smiles and then blushes, probably thinking about last night.