“Why did you do that?!” I cry, charging for her. “You killed me!”
The Queen whisks from her throne and meets me in the middle. “You needed proof, otherwise you wouldn’t believe me. Your breath, your beating heart, are proof.”
I press a hand to my heart. “It stopped beating. I felt it. But how did I come back?”
“You are now part of the ones who can return,” she says. “If you die long enough, you can go to the Afterlife, but can come back and revive to your body. Of course, you have to wait for your body to except you back. Depending on the severity of the death, you could be dead for a matter of minutes. Or with a more brutal death,” her lips curl with excitement, “then you could be gone for days.”
“One’s? As in plural?” I stammer, stretching my fingers as the blood flow returns. “There’s a whole group of people who’ve died and came back?”
“You think you’re the only one who’s been resurrected?” she laughs at the absurdness.
“But you said that I was protected from possession.” I think of Alex. He came back from death.
“He didn’t make it to death,” she states like a mind reader. “He made it between life and death, unlike you who made it to The Afterlife.”
“How do you know this?” I keep my voice guarded. “And why does it matter to you what I am? Why did you bring me down here?”
“I’ve been waiting for one of you for a very long time.” A wicked grin curves on her face and she dashes forward, stopping inches from my face. “Have you ever wondered why death and faeries seem to go together? You have Helena, Queen of The Lost Souls. Annabella, Queen of Essences. And then there’s me, Lucinda, Queen of The Underworld.”
I stagger backward. “Are you saying that you’re all related?”
“We’re sisters.” Her grin broadens like a true villain. “And just like all siblings, we have our quarrels. The current one is over a soul my sister Helena wants. And what better way to enrage her, then to take the soul she desperately searches for—the one that’s crossed over and came back.”
“Why does she want my soul?” I ask, my voice surprisingly steady. “Why not take someone else’s soul?”
“You’re the one Annabella released.” Her face is a sliver of space away from mine. I can see down her eye sockets. “You’re the one whose soul belongs to another. She wants you because of your high value.”
“High value for what?” I ask with a feeling there’s more to the story than she’s letting on. “So she can free all her Lost souls and herself over into the Human World?”
Without forewarning, she bashes me over the head with her fist. A shot of warmth vibrates from my head to my toes. Concisely, I sense a connection to The Underworld, as if I’m a part of it—as if I belong here. But it makes no sense.
I see stars. I hear music. I collide with the ground and black out.
Chapter 13
“Where is my mind?” by the Pixies plays in my head, over and over again. Finally, I wake up. A cold sensation possesses me, like I have been hollowed out, my soul robbed. What did she do to me?
I roll my eyes into focus. Brown water drips from the cement ceiling and pools onto my forehead. I wipe it away and hastily sit up. Cement walls and a metal bed with a filthy mattress; that’s where I am. There’s a heavy metal door and I try to open it.
“Lucinda!” I shake and bang on the locked door. “Open up! You can’t do this to me! I’m not a prisoner!” My voice echoes around the tiny cell. I slump to the ground and hug my legs against my chest. “If I just had my Foreseer’s power, there wouldn’t be a problem.” My fingers touch the back of my bare neck. Concentrating, I try to restore my power. I end up with a headache. Tears threaten to spill out, but I refuse to melt down. I remain immobile, until the door clicks and slides open.
Alex stumbles in and the door crashes shut. His clothes are soaked, one shoe is missing, and his hair beads droplets of water down his cheeks.
I jump to my feet, the chill swiftly fading. “Alex! Or are you—” His arms are around me before I can finish. He hugs me like I’m his oxygen. I breathe in his scent, cologne mixed with the musty odor of the lake. “You’re… you again.”
“Did you think that lake accident wouldn’t work?” He tries for a light tone, but fails.
“I hoped, but I never assume anything’s going to work out,” I whisper, clutching onto him. God, how did I ever live without this—without him? It’s been a little over a day since the Lost Soul took him over, but it feels like forever. “How did you get down here?”
“I sprinkled ash in the water,” he says. “After I became myself again. Laylen saw the Water Faeries take you. He jumped in to save you, but didn’t reach you in time.”
I lean back and sigh. “As much as I love that you came here to save me, now we’re both her prisoners. We’re giving her more power.”
He runs his fingers through his damp hair. “How did she get a hold of you? It’s against the law for Water Fey to surface the lake without being summoned by the ash.”
“Because apparently I’m a loophole,” I tell him, wiping the water trickling from his hair to his cheek. When his eyebrows furrow, I explain what Lucinda told me.
“A Protected One.” He absentmindedly twists a strand of my hair around his finger. “I’ve never heard of one. Are you sure she didn’t just make it up?”
“You told me—or the Lost Soul inside you told me about it.” I lead us to the bed and sit cross-legged. “It doesn’t make sense. Helena wants my soul, but I can’t be possessed. And according to my mom, I have to give her my soul. So Helena decides to have a Lost Soul take over your body instead? Why would she do that?”
He brushes my damp hair from my eyes and lets his hand linger on my cheek. “To get to you. It was like I was there but I wasn’t, you know.”
“Do you remember everything that happened?” I ask.
He nods, his eyes never leaving mine. “I’m sorry. You know that wasn’t me, right?”
“I know.” I nuzzle my cheek into his hand. “It kind of reminded me of when we first met and you were still brainwashed by your father. That’s how Aislin figured out what was going on.”
“I’m so sorry,” he apologizes again.
“You don’t need to apologize.” My voice exudes sincerity. “I know it wasn’t you. It was the Lost Soul.”
His fingers explore my cheekbone, my jawline, the back my neck. “Laylen said Dyvinius took your Foreseer power.”
“He discovered my plan to save my dad,” I say, nodding. “Nalina served me poisoned tea that allowed Dyvinius to get inside my head. And Nicholas has a Serpent mark on his back that helped them capture me.
Alex face distorts with puzzlement. “Why’d Dyvinius have to poison you? Why didn’t he read a vision or change one?”
“Because then he’d be tampering with visions. And then he’d be guilty of the same thing my father did.” I pause, a question tickling at my lips. “Why was Stasha at the castle?”
“I didn’t invite her there,” he grimaces, his fingertips molding along my shoulder blades. “She showed up on her own, but…”
“But what,” I press.
“But I’m pretty sure she knew I was possessed by a Lost Soul.”
“If she does, then it’s bad. That means she might be helping Helena. And a girl full of death, helping a Banshee who rules over Lost Souls and The Afterlife can’t be a good combination.”
“I won’t let her hurt you,” he growls, digging into my skin as if he never wants to let me go. “If she tries to use her death on you I’ll cut off her hands.”
“First of all, that’s gross.” My tone is light, but my stomach ties in knots. “And second of all, she can’t kill me. Hurt me, yes. Kill me, no.”
“I don’t believe that part,” he speaks softly. “You don’t have the Mark of Immortality. You have to be able to die.”
“The Queen didn’t say I was Immortal.” Needing to touch him, I interlace our fingers, the contact bringing some comfort. “So I think there could be a way for me to die, like from old age or something. But I am immune to strangulation.” I pause, fear overwhelming me. “And Alex, she said you can die now. So you have to be careful.
“I’m always careful,” he jokes like it’s no big deal.
“Promise me.” My words press firm. “You won’t do anything reckless.”
“Okay, I will,” he promises. “And when we get out of here, we’ll do everything we can to fix this. If you’re no longer a Protected One, Helena won’t want you.”
I bite my lip, wanting to believe him. “Alex, I’m not sure if this problem is going to be an easy fix.” I motion my hand at our cell. “Look where we are.”
He dips his head in, his voice husky. “I made a promise that I’d always save you and I will.” Then he kisses me. My fingers curl through his hair and I let myself pretend we’re back at the castle, in his bed, with our bodies pressed together.
“Aw, to be young and in love.” Lucinda stands in the doorway, watching us intently.
“Aw, to be a creepy faerie watching people make out,” Alex says derisively, hiding me behind him.
Her lips snarl. “Saying things like that are going to get you killed.”
“You already plan on doing that anyway.” Alex stands, fists tightened. “So why should I care?”
“What are you doing?” I hiss, grasping onto his damp sleeve.
He squeezes my hand, hinting he has a plan. “We can do, or say anything that we want, and you’ll still torture us regardless.”