“And if you try to kill her instead of removing the death, I’ll drain you of all your blood, got it?” Laylen says with his fangs still out.
“Got it,” Stasha replies through gritted teeth.
Laylen slightly loosens his grip so Stasha can slip off her one of her gloves. “Give me your arm,” she says to me.
Hesitantly, I extend my arm to her and she enfolds her fingers around my wrist. Within seconds, the olive-green lines fade away, until my skin is back to its normal color. I let out a breath of relief as she withdraws her hand, but then gasp as I catch sight of something on her wrist.
A black triangle around a red symbol.
Laylen tracks my gaze and he shoves Stasha back against the wall roughly. “Where did you get that?” he demands.
Stasha looks down at the mark on her wrist. “This? I’ve always had it you dumbass.”
Laylen shakes his head. “That’s not possible… I’ve know you for long enough to know it hasn’t always been there.”
“Yes, it has,” she says in a condescending tone. “I’ve had it since the day I was born, but apparently you’re too stupid to remember.”
“Alex would have seen it when he was dating you,” I say, gripping the knife in my hand, fighting the compulsion to stab her. “And he would have mentioned it by now.”
Stasha laughs sharply. “Yeah right. He’s lied to me more than anyone in my life and I’m sure he’s doing it to you.”
Laylen starts to say something, but then the Death Walker starts to stir, waking up.
“We need to go,” I say and reach for Laylen’s hand.
“What about her?” he asks. “What should we do to her?”
I shrug. “Whatever you want?”
Laylen considers this but not for very long and he knocks her out by clocking her in the head with his own. Stasha falls to the floor, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as the Death Walker charges at us. But I’m already blinking us away.
Chapter 29
When we get back to the house, Laylen and I decide that the best thing to do is go downstairs and simply ask Alex if he knew about the mark. We could sit there and try to figure it out ourselves but at this point I am tired of dithering around things.
In the living room, Aislin has herbs and candles in front of her as she reads a page on her spell book. She hasn’t had any luck yet getting the mark off my mother and has been burying herself in trying to solve what went wrong. It shows through her red eyes, bags under them, and, she’s in her pajamas, her hair a mess. Alex is sitting beside Aleesa as she watches something on television, but it’s clear he’s not paying attention, gazing off into empty space.
When he looks up at me, he sort of flinches as if seeing me is painful for him. I simply raise my arm up and show that the lines are gone, figuring that’s the best way to start this conversation.
He drops the remote onto the table, stunned. “How did you get them off?”
I glance at Laylen beside me and he gives me an encouraging look. “We paid Stasha a little visit,” I tell him.
“What?” He’s baffled and so is Aislin, who looks up at us, confounded. “When?”
“Just barely,” I explain. “I had a little hunch that if they were gone, the Purple Flame might work.”
“I wish you would have said something before you took off,” he says, trying to keep his need to be dominant and controlling intact.
“Yeah, I know, but you were talking to Aislin and I didn’t want to bother you.” I glance from Laylen to Aislin, who are listening intently, then back to Alex. “Can I talk to you alone for a minute?”
He gives me a funny look, but goes into the kitchen with me without asking questions.
“Okay, what’s going on?” He reclines against counter, arms folded. “You’re acting weird.”
“When Laylen and I—” I start, but a strange noise escapes his throat, like he’s choking back a cough. “What was that noise you just made?” I inch toward him, attempting to pick up on his vibe.
“You really want to know?” he asks and I nod. In three long strides, he’s stolen the space between us and backed me up into the counter. An arm comes down on each side of me, trapping me between him. “My problem is that every time you have a problem, you run off with Laylen. And it’s driving me crazy. After how far we’ve come… after the things I’ve shared with you… I thought by now you’d come to me when you needed help—it’s what I’m good at.”
“I’m sorry, but it seemed better to take Laylen since he can’t die from Stasha’s touch.” I suck in a loud breath. “And she’s your ex-girlfriend.”
“I already told you she never meant anything to me.”
“Yeah, but you clearly meant something to her—she has pictures of you two all over her house.”
He presses his lips together. “What do you want me to do?” He pauses and I can tell the way his eyes crinkle that he’s trying not to smile. “Go to her house and steal all the photos away, because I will. Just say the word.”
I shake my head, attempting to stay annoyed. “No, that’d be silly.” I pause and his smile starts to break through, so I reach forward and playfully pinch him on the side. “This isn’t funny.”
Now he’s grinning as he touches the spot where I pinched him. “It kind of is.” He brushes a strand of hair out of my face. “You’re cute when you’re jealous.”
“That’s not what this is about,” I tell him then remember what I’m really supposed to be discussing with him. “Did you know Stasha has the Mark of Malefiscus?”
The shock on his face is too real and I know right away that he didn’t. “No, she doesn’t… I’d know….”
“She does, though. I saw the mark on her wrist, and she told us she’s had it since she was born.”
“That’s not possible.” He shakes his head, gripping onto the counter. “I’d know if she did.”
I hated that he would know. “So I’m guessing that either he recently put it on her and tampered with her mind to make her think she’s had it forever, or this is another case of the butterfly effect from resetting time…” I look down at my hand and flex my fingers. “It’s time for me to go see what I can do about this.” I open my hand and the flame smolders.
“You think it’s going to work now?” Alex asks, the flame reflecting in his bright green eyes.
“There’s only one way to find out.” I march out of the kitchen without putting the fire out and Laylen, Aislin, and Aleesa all jump back. I scoop up the mapping ball and place it in my hand as they all watch. It fits perfectly and my skin begins to sizzle. Energy torrents through me, violet, passionate, untamed. My eyes snap wide as searing heat spills through my veins, gives me an indescribable power, and then sucks me into the glass.
Chapter 30
It’s so dark it makes the air thick and heavy, bearing down on me and crushing my body. I have to be dead. There’s no way I could be alive with this much pain. But then I open my eyes and see the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen before me, like I landed outside of the world, where the stars shine. They are everywhere. Above me. Below me. As far as my eyes can see.
“It’s so gorgeous,” I whisper in wonderment. But as I start to wander across the stars, my heart sinks in despair. There is no sign of memories or anything that will lead me to it.
But as if answering me, one of the stars just in front of my feet illuminates. I hop back as light flows out of it and casts against the darkness like a movie screen. At first it’s blank, but then people appear on it. A man probably about twenty years old with dark brown hair and violet eyes—my dad. He’s talking to an older woman with flowing auburn hair, wearing a pressed tan dress—Sophia.