Aislin twisted her golden brown hair around her finger. “Maybe, I could see if someone knows a spell that would do it.”
“That’s all I’m asking,” Nicholas said.
“Alright, then.” Aislin let go of her hair. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Nicholas’ gaze landed on me. “So are you ready to do this?”
“Do you have a knife?” I asked Alex, holding my hand out.
“Why?” he asked, his arms crossed as he looked at me with irritation.
“So I can cut my hand and make the promise,” I tapped my foot impatiently, waiting for him to hand over the knife I was almost certain he had.
He shook his head, frustrated. Then he reached into the pocket of his jeans and retrieved a silver pocket knife.“I still don’t think this is a good idea.” He reluctantly handed me the knife.
I flipped open the blade and winced at the sharp tip as it flashed in the florescent lighting of the garage. I tried to keep a steady hand as I held the knife up to the palm of my hand. “So, I just cut?”
Alex sighed and took the knife from me. “Give me your hand,” he said and I did. He traced the scar on my palm with his finger, and then let my hand go. “Give me you other hand.”
Confused, I gave him my other hand. “What? Can I not do the promise in the same place?”
He shook his head, his eyes locked on the palm of my hand. “No, you can. But that scar was from our promise.”
It felt like a thousand butterflies were fluttering around in my stomach.
“Man, you two are going to kill each other quick, aren’t you?” Nicholas remarked with a smirk.
Alex shot him a glare and then held the knife to my palm. “Okay, I’m going cut your hand and his. Then you’ll press your palms to his and repeat what I say, alright?”
I swallowed hard and nodded. “Alright.”
“And be very careful that you repeat exactly what I say.”
“Don’t you need to untie him first?” I pointed over at Nicholas.
“I’m not going to let him go until the promise is made,” Alex told me firmly. “You’ll just have to reach up to his hand.”
Well, it’s a good thing I’m tall because it was going to be a really high reach to get Nicholas’ hand—they were practically touching the ceiling.
Alex pressed the tip of the knife gently against the palm of my hand and then, very carefully, he made a small cut. Blood seeped out and my skin felt like it was on fire. Alex quickly went over to Nicholas, reached up to where his hands were bound, and with less carefulness, sliced the palm of Nicholas’ hand. Blood oozed out of his skin and dripped down his arm.
Alex flipped the blade shut and tossed it on the cement floor. “Gemma put your hand up to his.”
I took a deep breath and, ignoring the flowery smell that always flowed off Nicholas, stood on my tiptoes, and pressed my bleeding palm against Nicholas’. His closeness made me uncomfortable, along with the deviousness playing at his lips.
“We should have done this a long time ago.” His breath was hot on my cheeks.
Glaring, I leaned my face away from him.
“Repeat exactly what I say,” Alex said, holding my gaze. “EGO votum permissum.”
I spoke slowly so I wouldn’t mess anything up.“EGO… votum…permissum.”
Alex swallowed hard. “Vos subsisto hic quod Andron.”
“Vos…subsisto…hic quod…Andron.”My voice shook.
“Mos capto aufero vestri vestigium.”
“Mos capto…aufero…vestri…vestigium.”
Alex and I both let out a breath of relief, and then Alex pointed a finger sharply at Nicholas. “You better repeat exactly what I say. No changing or adding anything, understand?”
Nicholas nodded, but there was a mischievous look in his eye that made me uneasy. “I understand.”
Alex told him what to say, speaking his words vigilantly.Nicholas repeated what Alex said, and as far as I could tell he said each word correctly. But I had no idea what was being said, since I don’t speak Latin, so I was putting a lot of trust in Alex. Strangely, I think I might have reached the point where I could do this.
After the Blood Promise was made, Alex cut the rope and freed Nicholas. Nicholas rubbed his bleeding wrist and wiped the blood from his lip with the bottom of his green t-shirt.
“Okay, tell us everything you know,” Alex said, swiping the pocket knife off the floor.
“Can we at least sit down?” Nicholas asked with pain in his voice.
Alex shook his head and wiped the blade of the knife on his jeans, cleaning off the blood. “Tell us now.”
Again, I kind of felt sorry for faerie boy. I mean, he looked like crap, and it wasn’t going to do any harm to go sit down.
“We can go into the living room and sit,” I told Nicholas. “If you want to?”
Alex shot me a dirty look.
I shrugged. “He’s hurt.”
Still glowering at me, Alex leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Feeling sorry for him is only going to get you into trouble…you’ve seen what he’s capable of.”
I tried not to shudder from the electric tickle of his breath. “Okay, but I still think we should go sit down.”
Alex didn’t look happy, but we still ended up in the living room. The seating arrangement proved to be a difficult task, since Alex didn’t want me sitting next to Nicholas, but I thought it wouldn’t be a good idea to sit by Alex, considering what the consequences could be. I was realizing very quickly that, if it turned out to be true—if Alex and I being close to one another for too long could end up killing us—then there might be a huge problem because we seemed to magnetize toward each other.
Finally Alex sat down beside Nicholas, and I shared a sofa with Aislin.
Alex jumped to the point immediately. “Alright, start talking.”
“About what?” Nicholas pressed back a grin. “What do you want me to tell you?”
Afraid Alex might hit him again, I chimed in. “How about you tell us what happened on the beach.”
Nicholas stared at me with a twinkle in his golden eyes. “That would be an example of how extraordinary you are.”
“Okay…” Let the running around in circles begin. “Define why that makes me extraordinary.”
Nicholas flexed his hand and winced. “Well…that makes you extraordinary because you erased a vision. Which, might I add, is something that’s completely forbidden and could have severe consequences.” His eyes darkened. “If I wanted to, I could turn you into the Foreseers…you know there’s punishment for erasing visions.”
“What kind of a punishment?” I asked curiously, thinking of my father and the strange place he was in.
“I don’t know for sure....” Nicholas paused, tapping his finger on his lips. “I’ve only heard of one Foreseer being punished for erasing a vision.”
“Do you know who he is?” I leaned forward, anxious to hear his answer.
He shook his head. “Our kind doesn’t like to talk about things like that because…well, I think because it reminds everyone of how much control and power Foreseer’s really have.”
I got up and grabbed the crystal ball from off the desk.“So can you explain to me what this is?” I asked, taking a seat back on the sofa.
“Where did you get that?” Nicholas’ eyes sparkled in the glittering purple glow of the crystal ball.
“That’s not important,” I told him and balanced the crystal ball on the coffee table. “What’s important is that you tell me what it is.”
Nicholas slowly reached for the crystal ball, hesitating, before picking it up. I saw Alex tense up and I tensed up too since I didn’t know what the crystal ball did. For all I knew, it held enough power to destroy us all; something that should probably not be held by a very tricky faerie/Foreseer.
He stared at the crystal ball in awe for a moment, and then set it back on the coffee table. “That,” he pointed at the crystal ball, “is what we Foreseer’s refer to as a mapping ball. They’re very rare to come by—in fact, they’re almost nonexistent.”
“So what does a mapping ball do?” I asked.
Nicholas furrowed his eyebrows at the mapping ball. “It holds a map of someone’s life. It shows all the decisions they’ve made…although, some mapping balls are used to keep a secret hidden in the midst of thousands of their memories. It really is the most amazing thing...” He glanced up at me. “So whose is it?”
I caught Alex’s eye, wondering if I should divulge this bit of information to Nicholas. Alex’s expression was serious, which meant he didn’t want me to say anything.
“There’s no use trying to keep it from me,” Nicholas said. “Because I’m sure you’re going to want to know how to use it, and that means you and I are going to have to go inside it.”
Well, okay then. I tore my gaze off Alex. “It’s my father’s.”
Nicholas gaped at me. “I thought you told me you didn’t know who your father is.”
“I just recently discovered his identity,” I explained, purposely being vague.
“What!” Aislin cried out, scaring the crap out of everyone, including me—I think we all had forgot she was there. “Why didn’t anyone tell me….any of this?”
I shook my head at Alex. “Didn’t you explain this to her while I was sleeping.”
“You were already all wound up about Laylen,” Alex explained to Aislin.“So I thought I would spare you the burden.”
Tears dripped from her eyes. “You could have told me.”
As much as I hated when people kept things from other people, I think Alex might have been on the right track with this one.
“So,” I turned my attention back to Nicholas, figuring it was best to move on, “about the mapping ball. How do we get inside it?”