“I worry about her being alone, especially since she just got out of The Underworld.”
Aislin smiles sympathetically. “Don’t worry. She’s a Keeper and we’re taught to recover quicker than most.”
“Mentally recover?” I frown over at Alex with doubt. “Because it seems like he might be proving that theory wrong.”
“That’s just Alex.” She pats my arm in a friendly manner. “And trust me, this is much better than how he used to be.”
Alex continues to beat up Nicholas with no progress until finally I can’t take it anymore. I march forward and snag Alex’s arm before he can hit Nicholas again. His skin nearly scalds mine, mainly because the anger inside him is causing the sparks to crackle like fire. But I refuse to let him go and instead catch his eye. “Look, I know he’s annoying and everything, but still… killing him isn’t going to help us and beating him up isn’t getting him to talk.”
“Back off Gemma,” Alex says through gritted teeth as he scowls down at my hand on his arm.
I free his arm. “No.” I lean forward and whisper, “Look, I get that you’re pissed off at me for what I told you, but take it out on me not him.”
“You pity him.” He’s baffled. “Seriously?”
I shake my head. “No, I just hate watching all this pointless violence and I don’t want you doing something that’s going to make you hate yourself. Like kill him.”
“I wouldn’t hate myself if I did that,” he assures me., wiping the sweat from his brow. “In fact, I’d be glad.”
“Don’t do that,” I tell him, gently taking his hand. “Don’t put up that tough guy douche bag façade again and go back to being a douche.”
He stares at me intensely for a moment and I think I might be getting through to him, but then he’s glaring at me and yanking his hand away. “Don’t touch me.”
It stings just a little, but I think I know enough to understand that he might just be hurting and this is his way of dealing with it. So I just stare at him, because arguing is pointless. The longer it goes on, the more stifling things get. The more the electricity coils in places it shouldn’t. The more my fingers beg to touch him, rip the remaining clothes from his body.
Then Nicholas busts up laughing and shatters the moment. “Oh my God, look at you two. You both want to be together so badly, yet, if you do, you’ll more than likely fall in love and kill each other. It’s fucking hilarious.”
Alex turns toward him, jaw set tight. “What did you just say?” His hands enfold into fists.
Nicholas gives him a bloody smirk. “I didn’t say anything.”
Alex takes a few threatening steps toward him, his boots scuffing the cement floor. “What do you know about Gemma and I killing one another if we fall in love?”
“Wait a minute?” Aislin rushes forward. “What do you mean you’ll kill each other if you fall in love?” She puts her hands on her hips as she scowls at me then at Alex. “Why am I just hearing about this?”
“Because it doesn’t matter at the moment.” Alex waves her off, his gaze fixed on Nicholas. “Now start talking before I start beating the shit out of you again.”
Nicholas shakes his head, his body swaying with the rope. Alex’s skin reddens with rage as he elevates his fist. “God dammit. Why do you have to be such a pain in the ass?”
Nicholas writhes his body and attempts to wiggle his arms from the rope. But he’s helpless and I think he knows it. Hell, there’s so much blood on his face and clothes, it looks like he should be dead already. “Alright… I’ll tell you.” He pauses, his body still, relaxing. “But I want something in return.” His gaze flicks in my direction.
Alex shakes his head as I tense. “No way.”
“Then no deal,” Nicholas says with a shrug, struggling to keep his toes on the floor.
“I don’t think you’re in much of a position to be making bargains.” Alex lowers his arm to crack his knuckles. “Or do I need to remind you of that?”
“What do you want?” I step between them. “It doesn’t hurt to hear what he wants.”
“Gemma, be careful,” Alex warns, but I shush him, putting my finger across his lips.
“Let’s just hear him out and then make a decision, okay?” I say. His breath quickens simply from my touch. I’m starting to wonder just how powerful of a hold I have over him. Well, not me but the electricity. Biting my lip, I lower my finger, and then wait for Alex to say something, when he doesn’t, I turn to Nicholas. “What do you want?”
The humor erases from Nicholas’s face and he momentarily looks human, but I have to remember all the things he’s done and the fact that he has the ability to manipulate my mind and make me see things that aren’t real. “I want to stay here,” he says.
“You want to what?” I gape at him. That wasn’t what I was expecting at all.
“I want to stay here,” he repeats as Alex shakes his head and Aislin makes this strangled, shocked noise. “After I tell you what I know, I want to be able to hang around here for a while.”
“No way,” Alex protests. “There’s no chance in hell that’ll ever happen.”
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s such a good idea either.” I point to the red and black triangular mark on Nicholas’s forearm—the Mark of Malefiscus, pure evil. “Especially considering you have that on you and I know firsthand just how powerful that thing is.”
“I know you do.” His eyes twinkle with the knowledge that he might know all about the vision erased and what happened. It would make sense since he’s a Foreseer and they can see practically everything. “And this mark is why I want to stay,” Nicholas explains, rope trying to get his footing as sweat drips down his face to hips lips and jaw. “If Stephan can’t find me, then he can’t force me do things for him.”
I look over at Alex. “Is that true?”
Alex shrugs. “I have no idea how the mark works, other than it’s pure evil and the person who has it has to have evil in...” He trails off, recalling that in another time I had the mark.
“It’s okay. I’ve already come to the conclusion that I have evil in my blood.” I shrug, pretending it’s no big deal. “And I think I know where it comes from now—from my father.”
“You sure about that?” Nicholas questions with amusement.
“What do you know about it?” I wonder, suddenly seeing why Alex gets so frustrated with him.
He gives a shrug, but it looks awkward with his arms restrained above his head. “Let me go and stay here and I’ll tell you.”
I tread with caution. “If we do that, then how do we know you’re telling the truth and how can we trust you? You don’t have a very good track record.”
A grin expands across his face. “Guess you’ll just have to take that risk.”
Dammit. Why does the one person who seems to have the answers have to be a very obnoxious faerie/Foreseer that loves twisting things into riddles and making everything complicated?
I exchange a look with Alex and Aislin. “What do you guys think we should do?”
“I don’t know…do you think we can trust him?” Aislin asked Alex with wariness.
He folds his arms across his chest, appearing annoyed and lost amongst many other things. “I have no fucking clue.”
I glance down at the faint scar on my palm and get an idea. I extend my hand out in front of me, palm up. “I have an idea,” I say then look at Nicholas. “Would you be willing to do a Blood Promise that you wouldn’t do anything harmful to anyone and that you would tell us what we need to know in exchange for your freedom and staying here?”
Alex promptly starts protesting. “No fucking way,” he says, at the same time Nicholas remarks, “Clever girl.”
“Why not?” I ask Alex, lowering my hand to my side. “It’s not like it’s a bad thing to do or anything and it’ll help us make sure this all works out the way that we want it to.”