When I arrive at the end of the path where rocks open up into a small sandy area, my heart rate accelerates. And my confusion multiplies.
Alex squeezes up to the side of me and squints down at the ground in front of our feet where a body lies in the sand. “What is that?”
“It’s….me.” I gaze down at myself, unconscious, laying in a pool of blood, wearing the clothes I had on when I’d been taken to the Wastelands. “Am I in a vision right now?” Out of the corner of my eye, I catch sight of a figure appearing and moving toward us. Nicholas. I jump back, knocking my shoulder into Alex’s chest, and he steadies me with his hands.
Nicholas, who is usually alarmingly calm, appears as shocked as me. His golden eyes are wide, lips slightly parted, as he stares down at the me in the sand.
“How the hell did that happen…” He trails off as comprehension rises on his face and he looks up at me. “Wow, I’m very impressed.” He starts clapping his hands mockingly, like the true ass**le that he is. “Bravo, I must say. You become more amazing each time our paths cross.” He grins wickedly at me and then a split second later, he’s lunging for me.
I don’t have the reflexes of a cat by any means, and Nicholas is skilled in the art of lunging. Thankfully, Alex’s reflexes are flawless and with one swift movement, he’s positioned himself in front of me and clocks Nicholas in the jaw.
“Dammit…” Nicholas’s eyes roll into the back of his head and he falls back, landing hard in the sand, out cold.
Alex shakes out his hand as he turns to me. “His head is as hard as a rock.”
I laugh, but it swiftly vanishes as I step over Nicholas and make my way over to the body of me lying in the sand. Is it real? Or is she just a vision? Hesitantly I crouch down and place a hand on her arm. There’s a zap that shoots through my body and jolts straight to my heart, more powerful than even the current of sparks between Alex and me. I gasp, feeling the past moment erase and evaporate into the wind, vanishing, as if it had never even existed at all.
As the body of me goes with it, my hand falls onto the sand. “Wow.” I’m speechless as I stare at the empty spot. The ocean crashes against the other side of the rocks, birds sing in the distance, and the wind kisses my cheeks, the world becoming at peace with time, or at least that’s what it feels like.
“Gemma.” Alex puts a hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”
His hand falls from my shoulder as I rise to my feet. My mind is so wired from the power still lingering inside me that I can barely get my eyes to blink. “I think so, but I think I need to…” I clutch my head, where the wound was and note that it’s no longer there. I should feel better, but I feel strangely dizzy and disoriented. “I think I need to lie down.” I stagger to the side, my elbow slamming into one of the rocks. Skin scrapes open, Alex says something but his voice sounds far away as I collapse to the ground.
Chapter 5
Light everywhere. Encompassing me. Stealing the breath from my lungs. Stealing my heart. Alex and I by the lake, holding onto one another as if our lives depend on it. It will be okay. Ice. So cold. Death. Shadows emerging from the trees. I can’t breathe…I’m dying…
My eyes shoot open and I gasp for air as I try to figure out where I am, what’s real and what’s an illusion.
“Breathe.” Alex pats me softly on the back. “Just breathe. Deep breaths.”
Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. Deep breaths. My breathing gradually returns to normal and my surroundings start to make sense again. The rocks. The warm sunlight spilling over me. The waves crashing against the shore nearby. Alex. His green eyes so full of worry.
“You know, I’ve worried more than I ever have since I met you,” he says, attempting to make a joke as I sit up.
I force a smile, and then I try to get to my feet, bending my knees and pushing upward. But the world dances and I can’t keep up, my legs instantly buckling and I fall to ground.
Alex kneels down in front of me, his hand finding my cheek, almost as if it’s a magnet and my skin is metal. “You stopped breathing for a moment and I...” His gaze sweeps every inch of my body before residing back on my eyes. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“Oh,” was all I could think of to say.
I place my hand over his, the sensation of the deadly images I saw while I was out still crisp in my mind and haunting me to the point that I feel like I need comfort. “What do you think just happened? Not just with me stopping breathing, but with the vision thing.”
“I have no idea.” He nods his head at Nicholas still passed out on the ground behind us. “I wonder if he knows something, though.”
“It looked like he might,” I say, returning my attention back to Alex. “But even if he did, what are the odds he’ll tell us the truth?”
Alex’s green eyes sparkle mischievously in the sunlight. “Oh, there are ways to get him to tell us what we want to know.” He gets to his feet and dusts the sand off his jeans. “They’re just not very nice ways.”
I feel a ping of pity for Nicholas. He has no control over what he does—the Mark of Malefiscus does. Although, he was annoying before he was branded. Still it doesn’t mean he deserves to be hurt. Then again, I can’t help but think of all the times he violated me, to the point where I’m pretty sure he was coming close to raping me.
“I’m so confused,” I say, not meaning to aloud.
“About what?” Alex asks, circling around Nicholas with his hands on his hips.
I wish I could retract my statement because the last thing I want to do is talk to Alex about my feelings, but I find myself doing so anyway. “About why I feel the way I do.”
He pauses, looking solely at me. “And how’s that?”
I shrug, getting to my feet and leaning against the rock behind me. “I feel kind of bad for him.”
Alex gapes at me. “You feel sorry for Nicholas?” He steps toward me, examining me closely. “Are you sure your head’s okay?”
I nod, touching my head. “It’s just that he’s branded with the mark… and from what little I can remember, it has a lot of control over you.”
“Yeah, but even when he’s not possessed by the mark, he’s an ass**le.”
“I know. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I just feel… well, bad for him.” I scratch the back of my neck where the prickle is tickling. “I’m blaming it on the whole emotional thing. It confuses me sometimes.”