The Promise

“And what about my mother,” I snapped. “What does she have to do with this?”

“You can ask her yourself.” He pulled out a red-ruby crystal ball and held it up between his fingers. “In the City of Crystal.”

“What’s wrong?” Laylen peeked his head back inside. “Is he being his usual a

I ignored Laylen. “This is such crap.”

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“We all have to endure difficulty in our life,” he said. “Some just more than others.”

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Chapter 29

(Gemma)

“ Stop picking at your feathers,” Aislin said, mixing a bowl of green goo and leaves. “We don’t know if it’ll do anything permanent to you.”

“But they itch like crazy,” I whined, still scratching, feathers falling out and floating to my bedroom floor.

After we’d finished up at the The Evil Side, we’d transported to my house. But Laylen and Alex weren’t there, so Aislin had jumped straight into witch mode, mixing her potion, while I sat on the floor itching at the feathers and staring at the rainbow candle, wondering what would happen if it worked. What kind of emotions would I feel? New ones?

I touched the back of my neck, thinking about the prickle and how I hadn’t felt it in a while.

Maybe because I’d felt everything. But that wasn’t true. There was one thing I still didn’t understand completely.

Love.

“It s like you’re molting,” Aislin observed with a smash of the spoon.

I glowered at her. “I m not a bird.”

“I know,” she said. “But you do have wings.”

I plucked another feather and flicked it to the floor. “How long is that going to take?” Another crush. “Not too much longer, but I still have to steal a witch’s power.” I motioned at the boarded window. “Well, there s a ton out there. Take your pick.” 133

“We can’t find one there. When I take their power, whoever they are, they’re going to try to kill me.”

“But they won’t have their power,” I pointed out. “So you could just run.” She sighed, exhausted. “It’d be better if I just took it from someone far away from here, so they can’t track me down.”

“Have any place in mind?”

“Yeah…” she trailed off, staring at the red X on her hand.

“Is this some kind of revenge plot or something?” I wondered, rubbing the dust off the candle.

“Are you going back to Vegas to steal Amelia’s power?”

“Who’s Amelia?” She swished the bowl around.

I plugged my nose at the smell of her potion that reeked like rotten eggs and public bathrooms. “She’s the witch who put that X on you.”

“Good to know.” She got this wicked look on her face.

I pointed a finger at her, rising to my feet and kicking up feathers. “This is a revenge thing.”

“She branded me from the witch world,” she said, her voice piercing with a grudge. “She deserves it.”

“Okay, have your revenge.” I waved my hand at her. “Am I coming with you?” Her green eyes moved to my wings. “You’d draw a lot of attention.”

“Fine.” Usually I was an arguer, but it was better if I stayed behind, “I’ll stay and build my nest.”

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She laughed. I laughed. And we had this weird, normal moment.

After she brewed her potion, she rinsed out the bowl in the kitchen sink and was on her way.

“If you’re not back in a half-an-hour,” I said, pointing at the wall clock. “I’m coming to look for you.”

She thought this was fu

I got up, deciding to scrounge through Marco and Sophia’s room, for no reason other than I was bored. I flipped open the trunk and took out the photo’s Sophia kept, wishing that I belonged in them even just one. But every photo had the same similarity none of them included me.

I pried out the bottom board and looked at my birth certificate. I thought of my father, trapped in his own mind, perhaps with the Death Walkers. Then my mother snuck into my thoughts; a life spent in The Underworld something she did to herself. And now she was dead. Another thing done by her own hand.

“Mom,” I called out to the empty room, but only my heart answered me. I tore the certificate up into tiny pieces and watched them float to the carpet. If I survived this, I would no longer be this girl. If I survived this, I would finally start my life.

I curled up in a ball, domed my wings around me, and cried in the silence of my own shell.

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Chapter 30

(Alex)

It felt like I’d taken a giant step backward. I was back in the City of Crystal and honestly, I was hoping I’d never have to come back here again. Being strapped to that enormous fire ball was more painful than getting stabbed in the arm with a knife.

I’d never been a fan of the City of Crystal. The crystal walls and ceiling made it feel like I was trapped in an ice cave. Then, of course there was Dyvinius. He creeped me out. I mean, the guy knew everything; what would happen with our lives, when we would die.

I suddenly had this urge to make a right instead of a left and head over the bridge, through the silver doors, to Dyvinius and demand to know if we made it if Gemma and I would live. But instead I made a left, followed Nicholas up the crystal path, and to the door that sealed the crystal ball.

“So we’re back here again,” Laylen commented as Nicholas opened the door. “I was actually hoping we’d never have to come back.”

“Me too, man.” I stepped inside, glancing around, trying to disregard the energy flowing from the ball. “Why’s she even here?”

“Who?” Nicholas asked. “Oh, you mean your mother.”

I rolled my eyes. “Who else would I be talking about?”

Nicholas strolled up to the crystal and stared at the bodies, lifeless, chained, barely even human. “It really is a fascinating thing,” he observed. “Drain the life of humans, to feed the crystal.”