“So are we going to ever split up again,” I asked, throwing him off guard.
He deliberated his answer gravely. “Honestly, it’d probably be better if we did.” I nodded, agreeing, yet not agreeing. “Okay. But when?”
“Since we’re here…” His eyebrow arched. “We could just wait it out and if things get too bad, then we’ll promise to go our separate ways.”
I let out a soft laugh as I turned my hand over, tracing the scar of our forever promise. “Is this just a verbal promise or do we have to cut our hands again?” Hesitantly, he took my hand, dragging his thumb down the scar. He brought my palm to his lips and brushed it with a kiss. Then he returned it to my lap and said nothing more.
I wondered how long we were going to survive each other.
The taxi ride was a long one. The air smelled of old cheese and sweaty socks, and I had to hold my breath most of the way. But that was only part of the problem. Somehow I’d forgotten how hot and intense it was when Alex and I were squished in a car together. It was like a lightning storm had erupted in a confined space, the air static charged. At least when we kissed it was a quick rush of energy, but this… it was going to be the death of us if we didn’t arrive at our destination soon.
Just when I was thinking I was going to pass out, the taxi pulled up to the curb. The slightly tilted street was outlined with two-story houses compacted together, the lamp posts illuminating the snow flurrying down from the sky. We hopped out, Alex paying the driver before he sped off.
67
“Which one is it?” I asked.
Alex slid the paper out of his pocket. Then he walked up the street, glancing at each house, finally coming to a stop in front of a white one with a green roof and snow-coated shrubbery trimming the yard. “I think this is it.” He returned the paper to his pocket and swung the gate open. We walked up to the front door, my eyes wandering up the quiet street.
“Are we safe?” I asked.
“Are we ever safe?” He knocked on the door.
The only answer we got was an echo. After pounding on the door two more times, he went for the doorknob, but I swatted his hand away.
His green eyes sparkled like emeralds as he stared at me with an amused look. “Is something wrong?”
“It just seems like every time this happens every time someone doesn’t answer the door it ends badly. Like we get chased down by a crazy witch or something,” I said, remembering Aislin and mine’s little journey and how it ended with a witch and her store burning down.
“You want to wait out here, while I go in and check things out?” he asked.
“No, I don t want anyone to go in. I want the door to open and your mother to be standing there, looking happy to see you.”
His mouth sunk to a frown. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
“I know.” I sighed. “But it’d be so nice, if just once, something was that easy.” But I knew better. He knew better. And he didn’t say anything else, taking his knife and creaking the door open. “Stay behind me,” he whispered and then we crept inside.
68
The house was bare, the walls scorched with residue from an old fire. I wiped my hand along the burnt wallpaper and rubbed my fingers together. “It’s ash,” I said, wiping my hands on my jeans.
He looked perplexed. “It’s weird, like it burnt on the inside but not on the outside.” We stared at each other and flinched as a wail resonated through the empty house.
“What was that,” I hissed.
He swallowed hard. “I think it’s my mother.”
69
Chapter 16
(Alex)
It was a sound that put hairs on end, raised bodies from the grave, warned people of their impending death. This was the second time I’d heard a Banshee’s cry and I wondered if each one shaved more and more time off my life.
I kept my knife out because I wasn’t sure how she’d be. Would she appear in her hag form? Or look like herself?
I heard the thumping of her footsteps coming down the stairs, and I shifted to the side, putting myself between Gemma and the stairway, just in case. When I saw the figure, long brown hair, bright green eyes, I guessed it was her. But the similarity in our eyes was so striking that I swear hers had to be fake, an illusion of my own mind.
Her hand trailed along the railing until she reached the bottom of the stairs. At first she looked angry, like I was nothing more than an intruder. But then she smiled, her lips opening to speak.
But the sound of her voice was nothing but a screech. Gemma and I flung our hands over our ears as my mother shook her head.
“Sorry.” Her voice was angelic. She motioned for us to put down our hands. “It’s a habit,” she explained.
I nodded and then she was hugging me tightly like I was still a child.
“You’re so grown up. I can’t believe it.”
Then her gaze darted over my shoulder, eyes lighting up. “And who’s this?” But she grew quiet, undoubtedly catching sight of Gemma’s eyes. It was always her eyes that gave her away.
70
They were hauntingly beautiful.
“Oh my.” My mother opened her arms, leaning in to give Gemma a hug. Gemma looked uncomfortable with the situation. Her broken, emotionless, parentless past made her uneasy with affection. “I can’t believe you made it through. Although, with all the madness going on, I highly doubt it’s over yet.”
“You know about the mark?” I asked and then shook my head. “Of course you do. You’re a…
faerie.” Something occurred to me at that moment. What if she had the mark?
But it was like she could read my mind. She rolled up her sleeves and lifted her hair away from her neck. “All mark free. Even my Keeper’s mark’s gone now that I’ve died.”
“You’re lucky,” I muttered.
She frowned at me. “You need that for now. It’ll help you stay alive.” She was right, but it didn’t mean I liked it. “So we need your help with something,” I said, wanting to talk to her more, but knowing I was running out of time.
“I know you do,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for you to show up.” My grip constricted on my knife. “Then why didn’t you come looking for me.”
“I can’t leave this place,” she said, with sadness in her voice. “This is the place I was assigned to watch over.”
“So how are you going to help us?” I asked. “If you’re stuck here?”
“I’ll help you escape from here.”