Rage flares in Alex’s eyes as he rises to his feet, tall and sturdy, intimidating, but I refuse to back down. “Like hell I’m going to—”
I stand up and put my hand over his mouth, ignoring the warmth of his lips against my flesh. “If I foresee there, he doesn’t have a choice. You can have a tantrum but in the end, you can’t make me take you.” I lower my hand and wait for him to argue, because by the expression on his face, I can tell that he’s going to.
His eyes darken and his voice drops to a firm, husky tone. “I can always tie you to the bed and make it so you can’t go anywhere.”
He’s right. There’s Praesidium all over this place, making it impossible for me to use my Foreseer power inside it. And he’s strong enough that all he’d have to do is pick me up and carry be to the bed—he could tie me down with one hand. And by the amount of intensity in his eyes, I can tell that he wants to do it and by the way my blood is heating beneath my skin, I think part of me wants him to do it too.
Laylen finally clears his throat, alleviating the tension. “I can go with her.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Alex says, displeased. “I need to be the one to go with her.”
“Laylen can protect me just as much as you can,” I tell him, which is clearly the wrong thing to say.
“Like f**king hell he can.” He leans in and puts his lips beside my ear. “Would he die for you?”
I squeeze my eyes shut as my heart starts to pound. This is not good. Emotions. They’re surfacing, so many of them, and he can feel it too because his lips graze my neck. “Alex, I think it might be good if Laylen goes with me,” I say, breathless. “Not just for Aislin’s sake, but for you and me as well.”
“Gemma… I—”
“It’s for the best,” I cut him off.
He stiffens. When he pulls back, he gives me a look of indifference. “Fine, if that’s what you want.”
“It’s what I want.” But it isn’t really. I want him, but I can’t have him. Not anymore.
As he steps away from me, I breathe freely again and then turn to Aislin. “Okay, tell me where she is.”
She sniffs back more tears. “She went to the Keepers’ castle to try and kill my father.”
Chapter 12
At first I think I didn’t hear her right because why would my mom do such a crazy, erratic, impulsive, dangerous thing? It’s crazy—she would have to be crazy.
“Oh my God. She’s f**king crazy,” I whisper in shock. “She’s completely lost her mind... It has to be because she spent all those years in The Underworld, right?”
“She’s not crazy,” Alex reassures me, putting a hand on my arm as I slowly lower myself onto the sofa. “She just wants to protect you and she probably thought this was the best way not to get you involved, which I completely understand.”
“She’s going to get herself killed,” I state in disbelief. After all these years without a mother, I finally get her back only for her to run straight into danger two days later.
Alex massages my shoulder. “We’ll go get her.”
“No we won’t,” I say to him, leaning out of his touch. “I will. Stephan doesn’t need both of us showing up there so we end up right in his hands where he can lock us up and let the events of the world play out just like he wants them to. It would be like handing him the end of the world on a golden platter. And besides, I made a promise to Aislin that you wouldn’t go.”
He shakes his head, dumbfounded. “You actually think I’m going to let you go to the Keepers’ castle by yourself? Have you seriously learned nothing about me?”
“I’ve learned you’re a stubborn ass**le who gets his way all the time,” I dare say.
He gives me that dark, lustful look again. “Should we go back to the plan where I tie you up to the bed.”
As his gaze sweeps across my body, my skin tingles. “I’ll never forgive you if you don’t let me go. Like we planned, Laylen will go with me and protect me.” I look at Laylen, feeling Alex’s demanding gaze burning a hole in the back of my head. “Are you ready to go?” I ask Laylen. “Or, if you don’t want to anymore, I understand. I know you offered before you knew where we were going.”
Laylen looks at me like I’m acting ridiculous. The he gets to his feet, coming over to me. “Of course, I’m going to go with you.”
“Thank you.” I almost give him a hug, but decide against it, considering how Alex is acting right now.
“But you should change into some pants first.” Laylen points at the shorts I have on. “It’s freezing up there at night.”
I glance at the window where sunlight sparkles across the land. “But it’s morning.”
“It’s night at the castle,” he says. “Trust me.”
“Okay, give me a second.” I start for the hallway and go into the bedroom. I put on a pair of jeans, change my shirt, and rinse my face off, trying to fight my nerves. I’m going to the castle, where Stephan could potentially be and I’m not a Keeper or a ninja warrior. I’m kind of klutzy and uncoordinated. I wonder what the odds of me walking away unscratched from this are.
As I’m telling myself to suck it up and think of my mom, someone knocks on the door.
“Come in,” I call out as I pull my long, brown hair up in a ponytail.
Alex walks in and stuffs his hands into his pockets, glancing around at the room and then the bed where we’ve had hot, steamy. “You about ready to go?”
“Yeah, I think so,” I say, reaching for my jacket on the bedpost, my hand noticeably shaking from my nerves.
“Hey.” He catches my trembling fingers in his hand. “Come here.” He guides me with him as he sits down on the bed.
I notice that he’s carrying the Sword of Immortality, the jagged blade glinting in the light. I’m about to ask him why he has it when he starts talking.
“My mom left when I was about five,” he says, stroking the back of my hand. “At least, I think she left… I have to wonder now, after everything my father has done, if maybe he had something to do with it and if maybe she’s dead.”
There was so much suffering in his voice and I want to tell him that that probably isn’t the case, that I’m sure his mother is okay and that his father had nothing to do with it. But we’d both know I was lying because there’s a good chance that might be the case, considering all the horrible things Stephan has done.