“You mortals think you’re so clever.” She prowls for us, her bony feet padding against the cement floor. “You think you have life all figured out, but I’ll let you in on a little secret amongst the dead. Death always wins, that’s why people fear it so much. No matter what you do, you can’t outrun it forever.”
My palm sweats against Alex’s. “You don’t think we get that?”
She laughs, tipping her head back and shaking it. There’s a gut-crushing silence as she catches her breath. Her pale lips part, but Alex interrupts.
“We may fear death.” Alex voice is steady. “But you fear life, or too much of it anyway. How does your story go again? Once the Queen of Immortality, who chose to be mortal because she fell in love, only to have her heart broken. Alone, and fearing life and death, she begged her mother to take her back and let her be the Queen of Immortality again. Instead, she ended up in this God awful place.” He signals around us.
The Queen’s ghostly skin scorches. “Tell me how you know that story!” Every part of her radiates fear as she clutches Alex’s neck. “Who told you this?!”
Alex struggles to breath. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” He chokes, his legs dangling, his skin tinting blue.
I charge at Lucinda, my fist flaring, but she flicks me away like a fly. “You must be really stupid.” Her lips tremor. “Bringing up secrets of the Queen of The Underworld like that.”
“No, you are,” Alex chokes, diving his nails into the backs of her hands.
The Queen snickers, her veins bulging beneath her skin. “How dare you insult me?! ME!”
A herd of Water Faeries burst inside the cell, hundreds of white ribbon bodies floating around, searching for something. Some of them look strange, their facial features almost humanlike. But their bodies are still bone and wisps.
Panicking, I leap to my feet, prepared to do whatever it takes to free Alex. But the fey don’t advance at Alex or me. Their hungry eyes lock on Lucinda.
“Get them!” Her fingernails puncture Alex’s neck, sending a line of blood down the front of his shirt. “Get them now!”
“Get her!” They repeat in a frenzy.
But instead of attacking Alex and me, the Water Fey target Lucinda. Her shoulders stoop over and her gaze fleets to the doorway. “You’re all dead after this!” She drops Alex and bolts out the door, her dress dusting a path on the floor. The Water Faeries chase her with eagerness in their quick movements. In bundles of death and bone, they soar down a tunnel, pursuing Lucinda’s terrified shouts that ricochet through The Underworld.
“Run!” Alex grips my hand and we sprint down the tunnel in the opposite direction of the fey and the Queen. They are brutal, and I’m guessing they won’t hold back, even for Lucinda. I don’t look back. I’ve seen Water Fey torture before and I don’t care to see it again.
Our shoes thump against the mud and water rivering from the ceiling to the floor. The prisoners scream for help as we pass the line of cells and torture chambers. There is nothing we can do though. They were put in The Underworld because they committed horrible crimes. So we leave them behind to be tormented by the Water Faeries.
The tunnel forks and we veer to the right toward Lucinda’s chambers. Twisting and turning around corners, we descend further into the ground beneath the lake. The air grows quiet and damp.
“Alex.” I pant. “Please tell me why they did that… why did they chase her down?”
We verge around another bend and an archway ascends into view. We speed up, smacking away vines dangling from the ceiling.
His hand tightens around mine. “Lucinda was terrified that I knew about her past. That’s the one bad thing about being evil.” Our legs hammer down the stairs and we dash for the throne. “You can’t trust anyone, including your own.” He slips his hand from mine and flings himself onto the back of the throne.
I follow, springing to my toes and shoving upward. My fingers and feet brace against the lips of rock. Alex ascents up the back and I match his moves, carefully maneuvering to the top. There is a secret escape route hidden in the ceiling. It’s not the first time we’ve had to use the exit. And I have a feeling it won’t be our last.
Alex hoists himself into the hole, his body and legs vanishing into the dark. He reaches down, catches my hands, and lifts me up like I weigh nothing. Darkness capes our bodies. I grasp his arm and let him lead me into the dark.
“Sorry,” he apologizes when he crashes into the wall.
I find myself wishing Laylen and his night vision was with us.
Finally, we emerge out the end and into the light flowing in through cracks in the wall. A waterfall rumbles, the cliff sloping to the violent water below. The white water swirls, creating a funnel that sucks toward the bottom.
“We did it once.” Alex envelops his arms around my middle and presses his hands against the small of my back. “We can do it again, right?”
I drape my arms around his neck, pulling against him, trusting him completely. He inches us to the ledge. For a split second, the chill overtakes me again. I consider running back to the cell—back to the Queen and her fey. But I shake my head and the thought drifts away.
Inhaling, Alex launches up and dives us off the cliff. Entangled together, we plunge into violent water. Oxygen is ripped from my lungs. I force myself not to gasp as Alex swims down, towing me with him. I hold onto him like my life depends on it, knowing if I slip from his grasp, I’ll be lost to drown in the water. He paddles with one arm, gripping me with the other. His powerful legs carry us upward. We burst through the surface, winded and breathing in the air. Water trickles off our skin as we float for the shore.
I spit a mouthful of water out and catch my breath. “Aren’t you worried they’ll come after us?”
“They’ll be busy with her for a while,” he says light-heartedly. “The Queen who feeds off fear is full of the emotion herself.” He paddles us toward the shoreline.
“Will they kill her?”
“You know they like to torture, not kill. I’m sure she’ll survive.” He kicks his legs and draws me closer. “You aren’t worried about her, are you?”
Part of me is and it’s strange and unsettling. But I press the thought into the back of my mind.
My legs are enclosed around his waist, my arms around his neck. I watch his face as he swims us to shore. Life has returned in his eyes, but Nicholas’ words replay. Who knows how long he’ll stay like this before another Lost Soul shows up. I need to find a way to protect him.
“I love you,” I whisper, feeling like I don’t say it enough. In fact, I know I don’t, because the three small words carry more emotion than anything else in the world.
His feet contact the bottom. “I love you too.” He strides forward, his lips pinned together, his brows set at a slant. “As much as I love hearing you say that, it seems like there’s something else you need to tell me.”
I untangle my legs and arms and wade to the shore. I collapse in the damp dirt, completely exhausted. Alex flops down on his back and drapes an arm over his face. Dirt plasters our wet clothes and hair and little beads of water sparkle across our skin.
“You can be possessed again,” I tell him, gazing up at the grey sky. “By a Lost Soul.”
His expression is impassive. “I know I can.”
I turn my head to him, the coarse dirt scratching at my cheek. “How did you find that out?”
“While the Lost Soul was inside me,” he explains, lifting his arm away from his face. “I got a direct link to his thoughts.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“Both, I guess. I mean, I saw some horrible things.” He winces. “But I also learned a little bit about how a Lost Soul’s mind works. They’re almost like puppets. In fact, Helena sometimes speaks directly through them.”
I shiver from nerves and from the cold air arriving with nightfall. “Did you ever talk to Helena directly? Through your thoughts?”
He shuts his eyes and folds his arms. “I did once.”
I place a hand on his arm. “Did you learn anything important?”
“Yeah, that no matter what we can’t let her get a hold of you.” He opens his eyes, which are sheen with water. “If we do, then the whole world’s as good as dead.”
Chapter 14
It takes until the sun is behind the mountain before I locate my voice. “Why is it that I’m always associated with the end of the world?”
“I didn’t say end of the world.” He helps me to my feet and nervously scratches at his neck. “I said the world’s as good as dead. All the human population would be possessed by The Lost Souls if she got your soul.”
“She can’t get my soul unless I give it to her, which isn’t going to happen.” It feels like he’s hiding something from me. “And are there that many Lost Souls that it would be a problem?”
He plucks a leaf out of his hair, avoiding my gaze. “Not right now, but she’s working on a way to get enough.”
“Just like Stephan and his Death Walkers,” I eye him over. “Are you sure you’re telling me everything?”
He nods, staring at the horizon. “I told you I would from now on.”
Water Faeries dance at the surface of the lake, white wisps of fabric and bone. “Looks like they let Lucinda go.”
He glimpses at the water. “No more going near the lake, understand?”
I nod, but my mind utters: You belong there now.
Linking hands, we trudge over the grassy hill as the sun resorts behind the mountains. By the time we make it to the front porch it’s nightfall. The porch light is neon against the dark and moths cluster around the door and steps.
He shoos the moths away and chips dried flakes of dirt off his shirt. We enter the foyer of the castle and he blocks out the starry sky, shutting the door behind us. We’re only a few steps away from the staircase when Aislin comes barreling in. Tears streak her cheeks. She hugs me and before I can respond with an awkward hug back, she’s throwing her arms around Alex.