I scream, my limbs convulsing as my body rocks. From the foot of the bed, Alex watches, horrified, longing to touch me.
“Don’t do it,” Aislin warns him, sensing his need. “You’ll ruin the spell.”
He crosses his arms and tucks his hands tightly under his armpits. “Just hurry, okay?”
Whooshing her hands up, Aislin plunges a red streak of magic at me. It blankets my body, searing it with heat. I scream, ears ringing, head pounding, my body wanting to split in two.
“It’s working, I think.” Aislin’s voice is far away.
My body thrashes, my mouth salivates, my eyes clamp tight.
“Is it hurting her?”
“Probably.”
My body stills like a statue.
“Aislin, she looks… she looks dead.”
Someone shifts closer. I wait, motionless, until I feel a breath on my cheek. My eyelids fire open. Aislin hovers above me, her eyes searching for a sign of who I am.
So I give it to her, nipping my teeth at her cheek. She leaps back, shaking her head.
“It didn’t work,” she tells Alex apologetically, wiping the sweat from her forehead. “I’m so sorry Alex.”
“Then it’s on to Plan B.” He reaches in his pocket, but Aislin snatches his arm.
“No. I won’t let you do it,” she says. “It’s too dangerous.”
Alex offers her a sympathetic look. “It’s not your decision. I have to do it.”
Tears slip from her bright green eyes. “It might not work… and if it doesn’t, then you’ll be… you’ll be…”
“Dead,” Alex finishes for her. “And if that’s what it takes, then that’s what it takes. I sacrificed my life for her once, and I’ll do it again in a heartbeat.”
With a heart wrenching look, she lets his arm go. She backs into the corner, hugging her arms around herself, tears staining her cheeks. Sliding his hand out of his pocket, Alex keeps his eyes on me. Grasped in his fingers is a syringe filled with a clear liquid.
“Are you insane?” I laugh maliciously. “You think that will kill me.”
He shakes his head sadly. “No. I know it won’t.” He bites off the cap and spits it onto the floor. Taking a deep breath, he aims the needle at his chest.
Something sparks inside my heart. “You won’t do it. Humans fear death more than anything.”
He inches the needle closer. “Not this human. The only thing I fear is life without her.”
My shoulders twitch as sparks shock my chest again and this time it’s more intensified. “I’m calling your bluff,” I choke, hacking up a Black Widow. “You don’t have it in you.”
His hand trembles as he sinks the needle into his skin. Every one of my nerve endings rage wildly. He waits, but I don’t speak—I can’t speak. Don’t do it. He can die now. Don’t let him die. When he realizes I might not say anything, his breathing panics out in spasms. He nods, ready to go through with it.
Aislin lets out a hysterical weep. “Alex! Stop!”
But it’s too late. He starts to inject the medicine into his heart. And that’s when it all comes rushing back to me.
Alex and I. The hide out. Violet flowers. Love. Blood Promise. Forever. Everything I’ve ever felt surges through me and jumpstarts my emotions.
I scream at the top of my lungs. “Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop. It’s me. It’s me. Alex stop!”
He gags as he wrenches the needle out of his heart, blood soaking his shirt. He pants, his skin paling as his glossy eyes travel to the bloody needle in his hand. “Damn it…” His breath slips away and he crumples to the floor.
A heart dying scream erupts from my lips. “Aislin! Untie me! Please. He can die now!”
Aislin buckles over Alex’s body with her head tucked down and manic sobs croak from her mouth. “He’s dead, Gemma. He’s dead.”
“No he’s not!” I cry, tears inundating my eyes. I tug on the chains until they puncture my skin, until blood overflows my wrists, until I feel the pain unconditionally. “Aislin, please untie me. I need to be with him.”
She appears over me, eyes swollen, tears streaking her cheeks. Sucking in a deep breath, she unlocks the chains. I spring free, scramble over the edge of the bed, and stumble over to him. His eyes are open, vacant, his arms and legs are sprawled on the floor. He has no breath. No heartbeat. I cover my body over his and sob, tears blotting his shirt.
“Please wake up.”
But the only response I get is the sound of my own dying heart.
Chapter 27
Aislin tries to pry me off him. “Gemma, come on. You have to move. This isn’t healthy.”
I cling to him like he’s my life and shake her off. “Leave me alone. Please.” I hear her leave. I lay motionless in the dark. The moon haunts the sky and the branches of the trees scratch the window. My cheek’s pressed to Alex’s chest with false hope that it will start beating again. Part of me had doubted Lucinda, but Alex’s body is turning ice cold.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper. “This is all my fault. I never should have gone to The Afterlife.”
Heavy boots clunk against the floor. Laylen kneels beside me. “No, it’s not.”
“Are you… are you yourself again?” I whisper softly.
“Aislin’s spell worked on me.” He rubs my back comfortingly. “And this isn’t your fault. It’s mine. I’m the one who drove out to the field that night. I don’t even know why I did it.”
“Probably because you were possessed,” I mumble. “Just like Alex was—just like I was.”
He doesn’t say anything and his hand continuously smoothes my back and my hair.
I shut my eyes with handfuls of Alex’s shirt grappled in my hands. “You should go check on Aislin. She’s probably falling apart too.”
“Are you sure?” he checks tentatively.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just want to stay with him for a little longer, okay?”
He kisses the top of my head. Seconds later, he leaves the room and the door closes. Time slips by and I don’t plan on moving anytime soon, if ever. I’ll lie here forever, never letting go. Otherwise, I’ll have to face the reality that Alex is gone. And I don’t ever want to endure those emotions.
“Gemma.” His voice startles me.
I lean back quickly, blinking through the tears. “Alex?”
His eyes shimmer like emeralds in the moonlight. He gasps, oxygen returning to his chest. His heart thumps, connecting with mine. I feel alive again.
“You’re alive,” I sob, wiping the tears from my face with the back of my hand. “That means Lucinda was lying.”
He shakes his head disoriented. “No, she wasn’t lying. I died, but I…” He sits up, clutching his head. “She sent me back here.”
“Who?” I run my hands up his arms, my fingers needing to touch him. “Annabella? Does that mean she’s free from Helena?”
“No, Helena let me go.” He lets his hand fall from his head. “She’s taken over the Essences now and she let me go for some weird reason. Why did she let me go?”
“Because you’re supposed to be my puppet,” I say absentmindedly.
“Huh?” He blinks his eyes confoundedly. “Your puppet? Gemma, what are talking about?”
“Nothing. Never mind.” I gently loop my arms around his neck, because he’s still fragile from death. “I don’t want to talk about Helena now. I’m just glad your—” My voice squeaks and I clear my throat. “I’m just glad your back.”
“But why?” Alex obsesses, fiddling with the hole in his shirt where the needle entered. “Why would she let me go like that? And if she did, does that mean I’m a Protected One now?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe…” I drag my fingers through his hair, breathing in his musky scent. “You died just to bring me back. Why… why would you do that?”
He meets my eyes, powerful and intense. “Why wouldn’t I do it? I love you, Gemma, more than my life.”
I straddle his lap and burrow my head in his neck, loving him more than I ever have. “I’m sorry I did it. I’m sorry I ever went to The Afterlife.”
He hooks a finger under my chin and tips my head up. “It wasn’t your fault. You were just trying to save Laylen. But please, please, please don’t ever do it again. You risk too much all the time, always getting in the middle of things.”
I nod, but it feels like a lie. For some reason, I sense that I’ll be the one to bring a storm of death down on the world.
He delicately traces my lips. “I saw some stuff when I died. About you and me.” He picks my locket up from the floor and fastens it around my neck.
“Bad stuff?” I kiss the tip of his finger. Then lean in and kiss the line of his jaw.
“Gemma…” He groans as I suck on a sensitive spot on his skin. “We have to talk about this.”
“In a little while,” I beg, desperate to be with him. I thought he was dead and every doubt I had about our relationship, our connection, has evaporated. “I just want to be with you right now.”
His face looks sad in the moonlight, as if he’s baring agonizing secrets. But he gives me what I want, cupping the back of my neck and bringing my lips to his. His chest rumbles with a low growl as I suck his bottom lip into my mouth. He tries to stand up with me positioned on his lap, but he’s weak and his legs falter. I slide off and take his hand, leading him to the bed. The back of my legs brink the edge of the bed and I tumble backwards, pulling him down with me. He steadies himself with his hands, only a sliver of space left between our bodies. I eliminate the space by arching my body.
“Gemma.” He’s breathless, eyes wild and needy. “I’m not sure… I think we should… How am I sure Helena’s gone for good?”