“Everything’s been fine.” She turns a page in her spell book. “Jocelyn’s asleep, and Laylen’s showing Aleesa what a TV is, and I’m trying to figure out a spell that will remove the mark.”
I yawn, feeling exhaustion overwhelming me, not to mention the idea of being in the same room as Alex is making me feel sick. “I’m going to bed,” I say then I drag myself to my bedroom, strip down into my bra and underwear, never fully making it into my pajamas as I flop down on the bed and pass out with the Foreseer book in my hand.
Chapter 20
Light. Everywhere. I’m blinded by it, suffocating.
“It’ll be all right,” Alex whispers, bushing my hair out of my face. “I want to protect you forever, no matter what happens. No matter what it costs. I would die for you Gemma.”
I want to tell him that I can’t allow that. That if he dies, I die right along with him, not because of the star, but because of a broken heart, but my lips are sealed by an emotion surfacing, one I know I have to shove down.
The light flickers and the lake materialize before us. The water is glistening with ice, and death is in the air. They sky is grey, the clouds thick, the trees frosted with snow.
“It’ll be alright,” Alex says again and I clutch onto him tightly as the light drowns me. “I’m here Gemma. I’ll always be here for you, no matter what.”
Images flash through my mind. Death Walkers… Stephan… fire…
Then nothing but ash falling from the sky and not even Alex and I survive.
***
“Wake up. Come on, open your eyes.” A hand touches my arm and there’s no jolt, no spark, no warmth.
My eyes shoot open and with one swift movement I shove the person leaning over my bed down to the floor. Then I leap to my feet with my fist raised, ready to fight.
“What the hell,” Aislin hisses from the floor as she gets her feet back underneath her. “Calm down Gemma, it’s just me.”
I lower my fist and turn on my lamp. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” Suddenly realizing I’m wearing nothing but my underwear, I pick up the blanket and wrap it around me.
Aislin is wearing a plaid pajama set, her hair pulled up into a messy bun, and she has a jacket on. “Were you having a nightmare? You were making weird noises when I came in.”
“Maybe… I honestly can’t remember,” I lie, sitting down on the bed with the blanket wrapped around me, thinking of the light vision and what it could mean. That Alex and I weren’t going to survive?
“Gemma, you know you can talk to me about stuff,” she says standing beside my bed. “I’m sure it’s hard taking on all of this on your own.”
“Thanks, but I’m not ready to talk about certain things just yet.” I notice she has a bag draped over her shoulder. “Are you going somewhere?”
She nods, looking guilty. “And you are too... I mean, if you’ll help me?”
“Help you with what?” I ask interestedly.
“With a spell.”
“To remove the Mark of Malefiscus?”
“Hopefully,” she says, taking her spell book out of the bag and opening it to a marked page. “I found a spell that could help… The Spell of Zaleena.”
I squint down at the page. There’s a drawing of a woman with her head angled back, her hands spanned to the side of her, her mouth open and a spirit rising out of it.
“And you think this spell’s going to remove the Mark of Malefiscus?” I ask as she closes the book and tucks it back in her bag.
“The spell isn’t exactly for removing a mark,” she says. “But it’s supposed to give the witch who performs the spell the gift of being able to separate and remove evil from those who are good.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“I don’t think so…” She seems uncertain. “It shouldn’t be, but when it comes to magic, you never know.” She shrugs. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. But I think your energy might come in handy because it’s a really powerful spell. And I could use your company.”
Weird. Was this how the start of friendships worked?
“Okay, let me get dressed and I’ll go with you,” I say. “But where exactly are we going?”
She hesitates then sighs. “To the cemetery.”
***
The cemetery is located at the edge of town next to the forest and the hill line of the mountains. The moon and stars are covered by the clouds, the streets are lit up by lampposts, and the air is still, except for the scuffing of our shoes as we walk up the sidewalk.
“How intense is this spell going to be?” I ask, wrapping my jacket tightly around me. “You said you need power, so I’m guessing pretty intense.”
“Yeah, it’ll be pretty intense.” She grows quiet, lost in her thoughts. I can tell something’s bothering her and I’m about to ask her when she blurts out, “Gemma, do you like Laylen?” She sighs. “I don’t mean to go all high school on you, but I just want—no—need to know if you like him as more than a friend, like maybe the same way as you do with Alex.” She bites her lip, waiting for me to answer.
I feel extremely uncomfortable as I try to figure out the right thing to say. “Laylen and I are just friends,” I finally tell her, wondering if that’s the answer she wants.
“It’s just that sometimes you two seem… I don’t know. You just seem happier when you’re around each other and then there was the whole biting thing….”
“The biting thing we didn’t want to happen… we just got into a mess and then things got out of control.” It feels like I need to say something that will make her feel better but I can’t figure out what that is. “And I think we’re more comfortable around each other because Laylen has always been honest with me and he doesn’t have painful history with me.”
She looks hurt. “I get it… what I did to him in the past is unforgivable.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” I pause, drawing the hood of my jacket over my head as the cool breeze picks up. “Have you ever tried sitting down and talking to him?”
She shrugs, hugging her arms around herself. “I’m worried what will happen… Of what he’ll say.”
“We’ll you won’t know until you try.”
She glances at me. “Yeah, you’re probably right, but can I ask you a question?”