Laylen was there too, both of them staring at each other from across the room, like they didn’t know what to do with themselves.
“So are you ready to go to the Afterlife,” Alana said, getting straight to the point. She looked like Alex, at least in the eyes, the same shade of bright green. “Although, we should get the wings off you first.”
“Where’s Aislin?” Alex glanced at the clock. “Shouldn’t she be here? I mean, how long does it take to steal a witch’s power?”
“She has…” I checked the time. “Nine minutes left.”
“Nine minutes?” He flopped down on the sofa. “That’s precise.” I slid down next to Laylen, putting space between Alex and myself, because his weird vibe was making me tired. “I gave her a time frame and if she not back by then, then I go looking for her.”
“Couldn’t she do it from here?” Laylen kicked his feet up on the coffee table. “There s plenty of witches outside.”
I adjusted my wings. “No, apparently, witches aren’t nice about getting their power stolen, so 144
she wanted to make sure they couldn’t track down where she lived.” Laylen bit at his lip ring. “Is she in danger? I mean, it sounds dangerous. Maybe we should go look for her.”
I looked at the clock again. “We can if she’s not back in seven minutes. That was our deal.” We all sat quietly, listening to the clock ticking.
“I hate to interrupt a good time,” Nicholas’s voice whooshed through the room. “But I’d just like to mention that you owe me my life.”
“Excuse me,” I said, my eyes searching for him. “I don’t owe you anything. And how can I hear you? I don’t have the ring on.”
“It s a Banshee thing,” Alana said with a sigh. “We have a ghostly connection and I’m channeling it through all of you.”
“But we still can’t see him?”
“Do you really want to?” Alex asked and pointed to the side of Laylen. “And he’s right there.” I felt Laylen shift toward me. “You could have mentioned that earlier.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, staring at the empty space Alex pointed at. “But why do you think I owe you your life.”
“Because Alex made a bargain in your name.” Nicholas giggled. “It was so nice of him.” I gaped at Alex. “You did what?”
“It was the only way I could get him to tell me where she was.” Alex nodded at his mother and then shot a glare in Nicholas’s direction. “You know how he is.” 145
“Okay, but how’s Gemma even supposed to do that?” Laylen asked the question I was thinking.
“Because I’m really curious.”
“She’ll make sure to include his name when she makes the bargain with Helena,” Alana chimed in, like she’d known this all along.
“So I’m going then?” I asked her. “You’re going to help me.”
“Alex.” Alana turned to him. “Give Gemma the ring back.”
He slid his hand to the side of him and hid it under his leg. “No way.”
“Alex.” Her voice was calm, but firm. “She needs the ring to enter the Afterlife.” He scoffed, almost yanking his finger off as he removed the ring. Then he slapped it down on the coffee table, where it spun like a top, finally landing on its side, the violet-gem directed at me.
I put the ring on and Nicholas appeared. He winked at me and gave a mocking wave in front of Laylen’s face.
Laylen leaned in to me. “How close is he? He’s not touching me is he? Because I’m starting to find this whole ghost thing a little creepy.”
Your fine, “I lied.”
“Bzzzz.” Nicholas murmured and Laylen flinched. “Times up.” My eyes darted to the clock and I hopped up.
“What’s wrong?” Alex was on his feet, like he was ready for battle I pointed at the clock. “Aislin’s times just ran out. I need to go find her.” 146
Alex caught me by the elbow. “Hold on a sec. You can’t just go running off, when a witch fight might be going down.”
I shook his arm off, but he wrapped his arms around me, pinning me against him. “I have to.
She might be in trouble.”
“Then I’ll go,” he said. I started to open my mouth to argue, but he covered it. “I’ll go this time.” He voice was slow pressing.
I bit at my lip, his breath warm on my neck. “You can’t get there. I have to take you.”
“I’ll take him,” Nicholas offered, raising his hand.
“Thanks. But no thanks,” I said. “You’d probably end up dropping him into the ocean or something.”
“He can take me,” Alex interrupted.
I hesitated. “Are you sure? Because I wasn’t really joking about the ocean thing.”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” He released me and reached for the ring. “Can I —” Poof.
I whirled, bumping my elbow into Alex. “Aislin.” I breathed relief. “You made it.” She grinned. “Of course I did.” She waggled her finger. “And I got the power. So let’s get those wings off you.” She turned to Alex. “I need you to…” Her mouth fell open. “Mom?” Alana looked like she was going to cry and she hugged Aislin tight. Then she reached around and pulled Alex in, even though he acted standoffish. I backed away with the slamming realization that I would never have this.
147
“Wait a minute.” I reeled to Nicholas. “Where’s my mom?”
He didn’t have to say anything. I knew it was bad. Because when someone like Nicholas looked sad, there was no way it could be good.
Tears threatened to fall from my eyes. “She s gone, isn’t she?” He pressed his lips together, nodding, not daring to speak.
My lips trembled, the prickle surfacing and stabbing violently at my neck. I didn’t say a word, because I couldn’t. I left the room, going up to mine, and sank down onto my bed. I hugged a pillow to my chest, letting the tears stream out.
A knock sounded at my door. Before I could answer, Laylen entered. He didn’t say a word as he sank on the bed and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” I sniffed, wiping my eyes. “I know it s stupid. I mean, I already thought she was dead once.”
“I remember when my parents died,” he started after a deep breath. “It hurt so bad I didn’t know how to deal with it.” He paused. “I kept wishing for time to stop so I didn’t have to go through life without them. But it kept moving, despite all my wishing. After a while, the hurt became less painful. I won’t lie, though, it never fully goes away. There will always be pain. It just gets easier to carry.”
I nodded, tears pouring and I didn’t even try to stop them. “And how did you get to that point… where it became a little easier.”