There was a pause. “Then I guess that means your future’s dead.”
Dead. Dead. Before I could dig into the details of why he had said this—or if he meant that I would be dead soon—I felt his hand touch my arm.
“Let’s go back,” he said. “I have some business to take care of with Alex.”
Which was exactly what this was all about—taking care of business. But Nicholas was never supposed to show up in my vision. And I was never supposed to go into a vision so…heavy and severe. I was supposed to keep it simple. But if what Nicholas said was true, then I fail miserably.
For now, though, as hard as it was going to be, I was going to have to push this vision out of my mind so I could take Nicholas and myself back to Adessa’s.
So I did, shutting my eyes so tightly; wishing I could forget what I had seen—or what I didn’t see maybe I should say—but also wanting to keep the peaceful feeling with me.
“Alright,” I said. “Let’s go back.”
When I reopened my eyes, there was no bright light, the only light was coming from the chandelier on the ceiling. Dark blue walls surround me, and black and white checkerboard tile made up the floor beneath my feet. I was sitting in the velvet purple sofa with Alex on one side of me, and Laylen on the other.
The crystal ball was no longer in my sight because Nicholas was standing in front of me, blocking it from my view.
His sandy blonde hair swept over his forehead, his golden eyes were locked on me, and his hand still rested on my arm. The navy blue t-shirt he was wearing made the Foreseers mark on his wrist visible.
“What the—” Alex shouted, leaping to his feet as he took in the sight of Nicholas and I. He swatted Nicholas’s hand off of my arm. “Why did you…How…”
“He showed up in the vision,” I explained quickly.
“Instead of here.”
“But that’s not allowed,” Alex said, his bright green eyes burning with rage. “Foreseers are not allowed to go into another Foreseers vision without permission.”
“Maybe I did have permission,” Nicholas said with a sly smile. “How do you know for sure that I didn’t?” He looked at me, and I could feel trouble boiling.
“Besides, I think it was a good thing I showed up there, so I could explain to Gemma what she was seeing.”
Alex gave me a so-what’s-going-on look, in which I responded with an eye roll and a don’t-worry-about-it shake of my head. I didn’t think this was the appropriate time to bring up that Nicholas had just told me my future was dead. Besides just because he said it, didn’t mean it was true.
“So is there a reason why you let her use the crystal ball again,” Nicholas asked, dropping down on the sofa across from us and kicking his feet up on the apothecary table. “Or did she just decide to do it all on her own and let you suffer for it.” He paused, his golden eyes glinting wickedly. “Personally, I’d love to think it was the latter.”
“Well, it wasn’t the latter,” Alex said, irritated. “It was for a good reason.”
“And what reason would that be?” Nicholas asked with a sparkle of amusement in his eyes.
Alex hesitated and sat back down on the sofa beside me. “The reason she did it is because I needed to talk to you about…about a way to get into…The Underworld by using the Ira crystal ball.” I looked at Nicholas, but his expression was blank, giving me no idea what he was thinking
“You think an Ira will take you to The Underworld.” He let out a laugh. “I’ve never heard of a more ridiculous thing.”
“I know it can be done.” Alex’s face reddened with anger. “So cough it up—where can we get one.” Nicholas pressed his lips together, holding back a grin. “Like I said, I have no idea what you’re talking about—I’ve never heard of such a thing before.” Laylen and Alex exchanged this strange look that I couldn’t interpret. Then they both jumped to their feet and charged at Nicholas, Laylen taking out the apothecary table with him. They each grabbed one of Nicholas’s arms, tipping over the sofa as they dragged him over the back of it. Then they shoved him against the wall so violently that it made me wince.
What in the world? Had they planned this while I was gone? What happened to their wanting to beat the crap out of each other thing?
I got to my feet and made my way over to them.
“Now like I said,” Alex practically growled at him.
“We know an Ira can take us to The Underworld, so just tell us where we can get one and how to use it?”
“I don’t kn—” Nicholas started to say, but Alex pushed on him harder. “Okay. Okay. I might know where to get one.”
“And you’ll tell us where.” Alex’s tone was firm.
Nicholas glanced at everyone and then this look passed over his face and all I could think was, great, what does he want.
“I think if I do, I should at least get something out of it.” His eyes landed on me, and I took a step back.
“Something I want.”
I took another step back as the three guys all looked at me.
Alex shook his head. “No. No way. You’re not having anything that comes from her.”
“Then I won’t help,” he said simply.
Alex waited a second, and then shoved Nicholas against the wall again. “Think of something else.” Neither one of them looked as if they were going to back down, and when Laylen glanced at me, I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands. I’ve already been bitten by a vampire, so why not see what faerie boy wanted to add to my Stipulation list.
“What do you want?” I asked, walking toward him.
Alex shook his head. “Don’t.”
I ignored him. “What do you want?”
A devious smile rose on Nicholas’s face. “A kiss.” Ugh. “Really? That’s all you want, and then you’ll just hand over the Ira and tell us how to use it so we can get into The Underworld.” I was having a hard time believing that a kiss from me—Freaky Girl With Violet Eyes Who Couldn’t Feel—was going to seal the deal.
But Nicholas was a weirdo so…
He nodded, his smile so impish I wanted to slap it right off of his face. And then that’s when I felt it—the prickle, releasing a new kind of confidence I never felt before. In fact, I felt kind of strong.
“Okay, then,” I said. “I’ll do it.”
Alex looked at me with anger blazing in his eyes.
“No.”
“You’re paying your dues for this,” I said, taking a deep breath. “This is mine.”
“You act like it’s such a bad thing,” Nicholas said with a smirk. “But deep down I think you know it really isn’t.”
I shot him a glare and then, with a wave of my hand, told Alex to, “Let him go.”
Alex did not take his eyes off of me as he gave Nicholas one more hard shove against the wall before letting him go. Laylen let go of him as well and Nicholas rubbed his arm where Alex had been holding him.
“God, you Keepers think violence is the key to everything,” Nicholas remarked.
“And you faeries think tricking people into doing things is the key to everything,” Alex bit back.
“You’re right,” Nicholas said, his golden eyes locking onto me. “We do.”
I scowled at him. “Let’s just get this over with.” He stepped toward me, never taking his eyes off of me, and it took a lot of effort on my part not to back away from him. Laylen walked toward the doorway, looking really uncomfortable with the situation. And that was okay. The less people watching this painful scene, the better. Because kissing a half-faerie—the only other guy I’ve kissed besides Alex—in front of Laylen and Alex was absolutely mortifying. I wished they would just leave the room, but instead Laylen leaned back against the trim of the doorway, folded his arms across his chest, and stared out into the foyer. And Alex…well, he went over and punched a hole into the wall.
I shook my head and took a deep breath as Nicholas leaned in.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the kiss. Honestly, I expected a little more than what happened. I mean, it wasn’t like Nicholas was hard on the eyes or anything, just a little weird and annoying. But as his lips brushed against mine, all I felt was…nothing. I felt absolutely nothing. In fact, it made me feel empty, like it was all wrong, and I needed to fix it somehow.