The Promise

“It s the Good and Evil spell.” She turned the book, sat down, and Laylen joined us. “It separates the good from the evil.”

“But the Mark of Immortality isn’t a good thing.” Laylen covered the Mark of Immortality on his arm. “So trying to take it off Stephan? That’s bad and bad.”

“That’s not what this is.” She tapped her finger on the page. “This spell separates things that don’t go together. Like Stephan and the Mark of Immortality. Or like Laylen and his mark.”

“It seems like a long shot.” I crossed my arms on the table. “Can’t you just use the same spell you’ve been using to take off the Mark of Malefiscus?”

“Magic doesn’t work like that.” She turned the page. “Everything works according to rules.

And as a witch, I think this will do it. There’s just one tiny little problem.” I flopped my head back and sighed. “And what’s that?”

“There’s this thing about blood.” She flipped the page back. “It needs the blood of someone who’s both good and bad. So any ideas?”

I had one idea, but I wasn’t about to say it. If I’d learned anything, it was never to mention this particular person’s name in reference to something bad.

“I have an idea.” Laylen paused. “Me.”

Glad he was the one who said it.

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“You what?” Aislin asked, puzzled.

“Me, as in my blood.” He stared at the table, ashamed.

“Oh, I don’t think that’s what it means,” Aislin said, skimming the pages with her finger. “It couldn’t be…”

“Why not?” I decided to put my two cents in. “He’s a vampire and a Keeper. Good and bad, well at least the Keeper part is kind of good.”

“Alex,” Aislin started.

“No,” Laylen put his hand over hers. “I think it might work, if that’s the spell you want to try.” She blinked dazedly at his hand and I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know. I mean, I guess it might work.”

“Alright then.” I rubbed my hands together. “Let’s do it.”

“It’s more complicated than that, Alex,” she said. “We need more than just blood.”

“What else do you need?” I heaved a dramatic sigh. “Ice from an Iceberg, salt only from the sea? Or how about the toe of a faerie?”

“No, nothing like that.” She paused and then smiled skillfully. “And besides, if we needed the toe of a faerie we wouldn’t have a problem. We’ve got one upstairs.”

“That one’s a ghost.”

“But not for long.”

I hated the direction of this conversation. It forced me to think of Nicholas up there with Gemma. “So what else do we need?”

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She ran her fingers along the list of ingredients. “Honestly, the worst thing is the blood. Other than that, I probably have most of these things. And anything I don’t have can be picked up from a basic witch store.” She scooted back from the table. “I’ll go check and see what I got.”

“She’s crazy,” I muttered, shaking my head.

“She’s your sister.” Laylen muffled a laugh.

“And she’s your what?” I questioned. “Because I’m still not clear on that.” We stared each other down. He knew what I was thinking, and it was a thought that had crossed my mind more than once. Gemma and Laylen had this close co

“That s really none of your business.” He rapped his hand on the table and stood up. “I think I’ll go help Aislin.”

The stillness of the kitchen wore on me quickly. It was driving me crazy not knowing what was going on. Not knowing if everything was going smoothly.

Not knowing if she’d make it back to me.

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Chapter 35

(Gemma)

“ This was worse than I expected,” I told Alana. We d put the torture chamber far behind us and I was happy for a brief moment, before realizing the sights of that room would haunt my dreams for a long time.

“You expected less?” She gestured at the decaying walls, lit up by red lanterns. “This is death Gemma.”

“I know,” I said. “But I guess I didn’t really look at it like that until now.”

“When people die before their time,” she traced her hand along the wall, “their soul is considered lost. There’s no real place for these souls to go, so they end up here. Queen Helena collects them and turns them into the mummies you saw working as slaves.”

“But my mom.” I swallowed hard. “You said she crossed over. So her soul’s not here right?”

“No, Gemma. Her death was her time,” she explained and we descended to the right wing.

“But she took her own life.” I ducked below a row of red ribbons that smelled like they’d been dipped in moldy water. “So how was that her time.”

“Because it was,” she replied. “Just like when you will save the world. Your mother’s life ended when she took her own life to save you. It was her time to go.”

“But how did it save me? I smacked a ribbon out of the way. “She didn’t know if she’d lead Stephan to me. She just feared she would.”

“No, she knew.” She stopped in an archway and I almost bumped into her.

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“I m sorry, but what?” I scooted back. “Are you talking about a vision?” She nodded. “Otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”

This had never occurred to me. That another vision existed. But it made sense. “And how does this one turn out?”

“I think you already know the answer to that.” She paused. “Gemma, unless the star is gone the world will end.” Then she walked away into the darkness and I followed, trying to shove out of my head the picture of Alex and me dead.

I watched her silhouette as I weaved my way to the mysterious. When my surroundings opened again, I saw a throne. We were in Queen Helena’s chambers. Of course there was a throne. This was always the case with someone in higher power, like it was their declaration.

This particular throne was twisted with thorny branches, and the blood red platform in front of it seemed fitting for someone who collected the Lost Souls of the dead. There were no mummies in the room, but I swore I could hear them whisper: Help me, free me, let us live again.

“She’s not here,” I noted.

“Oh, she’s here.” Alana pointed to the ceiling, where was a flat sheet of shining silver rippled with our voices.

The water warped down, a spiral of shimmer, co