The Promise

“This is confusing.” I sighed, swatting a branch away.

“Death always is.” Her silver eyes held my gaze powerfully “You’re better than you think you are, Gemma. Your soul is pure, despite what you think.” Then she held out her hand, her skin shimmering like glitter. It swirled down, forming an orb in her hand. “Nicholas’s essence.” I was hesitant to touch it. “You’re just giving it to me?” She smiled. “Not everything is complicated. Sometimes the answers are right in our hands.” I traced the scar of the Blood Promise, thinking of Alex. “Nothing’s ever easy.”

“Sometimes it is.” She urged the orb at me. “But it’s the easy answers that humans question, which only makes it complicated.”

“I think I understand,” I said, and gently picked up the orb of essence, which was warm in my hand like sunshine.

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“Remember,” she said. “Not everything is as hard as you think. Sometimes the answers are right in front of us.”

I nodded, turning away from A

“My sister makes things too easy,” she wallowed, pooling her body back onto her throne. “She just hands it over, without any bargains. She’s always been the stupid one.”

“It’s hard to believe she’s your sister.” I cupped the orb carefully in my hands. “You two are nothing alike.”

“That’s because she believes in good, which makes her weak.”

“And what do you believe in?” I asked.

She smiled vainly. “Myself.”

I couldn’t help but think of the story of Malefiscus and his brother Hektor. One selfish, the other good. And in the story, good triumphed for the time being. But I wondered how the story would have gone if Hektor had to sacrifice his life to trap Malefiscus in the portal. Would bad have triumphed instead? Or would he have thrown down his life, to save everyone he ever cared about.

“The question you asked me earlier, I have your answer.” I approached the throne, not steady with great sureness, but terrified and emotional. Because that’s who I was. I wasn’t a fearless soldier with a hero complex to save the world.

I was just a girl, doing what I had to do to make things right.

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Chapter 38

(Alex)

“ Atraitor?” Laylen questioned. “Okay, I think you’ve finally lost it.”

“That sounds like something a traitor would say,” I replied, my eyes never leaving him.

He stared me down. “You re insane.”

“He’s not a traitor!” Aislin cried as she finished removing the Mark of Malefiscus from Sophia.

And I’m not either.

“Then why was I trapped in that floor?” We all turned to Sophia as she sat up, blinking. “I don’t understand any of this.”

“Are you sure about that?” I asked, nearing my knife to her. “Or could your confusion be an act to make us turn on each other, leaving you room to detach Gemma’s soul again.” I bent down, getting in her face. “Is this a desperate attempt by my father? Did he put you in the floor to get to us?”

“I never wanted to detach Gemma’s soul in the first place,” she said quietly. “I thought I was doing what was right. I thought I was protecting the world.”

“No, you were ending it.”

She nodded quickly. “I know that now, but before, what I was trying to do made sense.” She clutched onto my arm and I shook her off. “It’s your father. He brainwashed me.”

“Trust me,” I said. “We’ve all been there.”

Something shattered to the floor. “Oh my God.”

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I turned. The glass cow that was sitting on the table was now headless on the floor and Aislin’s hands were shaking.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I can’t deal with this anymore,” she cried. “He’s a horrible man who messes with minds and murders i

“What are we going to do?” Aislin said, stomping her foot.

“The only thing we can.” I reeled back to Sophia and grabbed her arm. “Sorry Sophia, but until we know who’s in control of their own actions.” I pushed her back in the trapdoor.

“Alex, please!” she begged. “You can’t do this! I’ve ran out of food and I’ll starve.” I snatched a few bags of chips, cookies, and bread from the cupboard and tossed them into the trapdoor. “That should hold you until we work this out.”

“Alex, please don’t leave me down here. I —”

I slid the tile over. “Seal that up,” I said to Aislin, feeling bad, but drastic times called for drastic measures.

Aislin hurried over, ru

“What?” I asked. “Didn’t it work?”

She turned. “I’ve done that before.”

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I was about to jump for her, take her down, and tie her up until I could figure out what the hell was going on. But then Nicholas entered, solid, human, and alive. He turned over his arms, incredulous.

“It’s time,” he said, solemn for the first day in his life.

I shoved past him, knocking him into the wall, and then I charged up the stairs, ready to wake her. She was lying, motionless in her bed, skin paled with death, but just as beautiful as ever. I didn’t feel the electricity until I was right beside the bed. The life in her was so weak it was barely a shock of static. I touched her ice-cold skin and bushed her hair back, waiting for her to open her eyes.

But she didn’t stir, didn’t breath, and I cupped my hands around her face. “Gemma, can you hear me.”

The only sound was silence.

I shook her gently by the shoulders. “Gemma. Wake up.”

But her body was limp. “Aislin!” I yelled, trying not to panic. Because I knew better than to panic. But this was pushing me. I inched my mouth for hers.

“Gemma, please.” And then I kissed her.

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Chapter 39

(Gemma)

When the queen freed the souls, I could hear them whisking away, back to the world, back to their bodies. Then she held out her hand, her mood elated as I placed the ring in her palm.