Broken Visions

Chapter 6

I let Alex be for the next few hours, figuring it’s probably for the best. Let him be irritated with me. Still, it’s hard being in the same room with him, knowing that all those intense, passionate, in-the-heat-of-the-moments were going to be no more.

“Is this really necessary?” I ask Alex the same question I’ve been asking him for a while. We’re in the garage, the doors closed, the window blocked by a shelf so the only light is coming from the ceiling and the only way to see what’s going on in here is by entering the garage, which is good, since if a neighbor or something saw the scene in front of me, they’d more than likely call the cops.

Alex shrugs and then cracks his knuckles. “Maybe.” It’s hotter than hell in here, musty, stuffy. He has his shirt off, sweat dripping down his chest, his jeans riding low on his hips, giving me a full few of the muscles carving his midsection.

It’s almost like he’s taunting me, ha ha this is what you can’t have anymore. So I try to stop staring at him and concentrate on what’s going on, but I’m not sure it makes me feel any better. Despite my loathing for Nicholas, seeing him tied up and being tortured is a bit difficult to watch. After Alex dragged him back to the house, he bound his hands with rope and then secured the rope to a beam that ran along the ceiling in the garage, pulling it tight enough that Nicholas is forced to stand on his tiptoes or hang from his arms. His lip is cut and bleeding, his skin is scraped on his side, and blood covers various parts of his body. His sandy blond hair is damp with sweat and his shoes fell off somewhere.

“Tell me what you know about what happened back on the beach,” Alex demands as he paces in front of Nicholas.

Nicholas laughs but it’s laced with pain. “Never.”

Alex cranes his arms back and without warning, punches Nicholas in the stomach. “You better talk or it’s going to get a hell of a lot worse.”

Nicholas grunts, his back curved from the impact. He breathes in and out before speaking again, forcing a light tone. “You know, it’s actually starting to tickle.”

Alex clocks him again, this time in the ribs. I cringe at the cracking noise, like bones breaking. “I could do this all day,” Alex tells Nicholas as he brings his arm up and slams his fist into Nicholas’s jaw.

This continues for what feels like forever and I watch, wondering if I’m any better for doing nothing. Just when I’ve come close to talking myself into leaving, the door opens up and Aislin enters. She has a handful of grapes and offers me some as if we’re snacking and watching a movie.

Still, my belly is empty and I gratefully take some. “We should do something,” I tell her, popping a grape into my mouth.

She looks at Alex as he takes another swing. “Like what? I hate to say it, but this needs to be done.”

“Isn’t there another way?” I ask, eating another grape. “Like maybe you could do a spell to get him to confess.”

She finishes off the last of the grapes. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Didn’t Alex tell you? I lost my spell book.”

“What? How?”

She shrugs, wiping her fingers on the sides of her jeans. “I’m not sure, but while you were passed out, I was sitting there looking through it and suddenly it disappeared. I have no idea what could have happened to it other than maybe another powerful witch did a Power of Possession spell and took it. Although what the hell they’d want with it is beyond me.”

“Maybe it has a spell in there that theirs didn’t.”

“Maybe, but I doubt it,” she says. “It was actually a pretty typical spell book, well at least from what I understand.”

An image of a blond haired girl with blue eyes, wearing gloves and a wicked grin, holding Aislin’s spell book pops into my head. The girl is with Laylen, talking to him like they’re old friends, laughing as she tosses her hair from her shoulder. But as quickly as the images appears, it dissolves.

“Have you heard anything from Laylen by chance?” I massage the sides of my head with my fingertips. I think I might be exhausted and in need of some mental rest.

Aislin shakes her head, folding her arms over her chest. “Not yet.”

“What about my mom?”

“No… Well, she checked in about an hour ago. Said she was in town and was going to keep looking.”

“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.”

“Blood Promises can go wrong, Gemma.” Alex frowns as he traces the scar on the palm of his hand. “The promise is unbreakable—you can’t take it back. And if you say the wrong thing, you can end up making a promise you didn’t intend to make.”

“Is that what happened with us?” I ask, raising my brows in accusation. “Did you say the wrong thing? Or is it that you just want to take it back?”

He looks taken aback. “Why would you say that?”

I shrug indifferently. “Well, it’d make things easier right now for you, wouldn’t it?”

He steps closer to me. “Even if we never made the promise, I’d still…” His tongue slips out of his mouth and wets his lips as he struggles for words. “I’d still fucking hate what’s going on more than I’ve ever hated anything in my entire life.” He takes another step toward me, so close the tips of our shoes brush against each other. “What I feel for you isn’t based on some stupid star or promise or anything other than my emotions.”

We’re veering toward forbidden territory, about to jump off the cliff, at least he is. Even though I desperately want him to continue, I need to stop it before he does something he can’t take it back.

“Okay, we’ll have to be really careful then when we make the blood promise.” I change the subject. “You tell me exactly what to say.”

He looks at me for a fleeting moment with hurt in his eyes before he shoves it all down and moves away from me. “Even with the Blood Promise, if my father shows up, Nicholas will more than likely still have to do what he asks since I’m pretty sure the Mark of Malefiscus is more powerful than a Blood Promise.”

“Okay, well I guess we’ll have to make sure your father doesn’t find us then,” I say. “I think it’s worth the risk to get some answers, Alex.”

Alex is unconvinced, but I already have made up my mind and turn to Nicholas. “Okay, you and I will make a Blood Promise. I’ll promise you can stay here with us, and you’ll promise that you’ll answer all of my questions truthfully. And, you won’t harm any of us while you’re here, got it?”

Nicholas considers what I said then a grin slowly creeps up on his face. “I want one more thing.”

“No way,” I say firmly. “That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”

He nods his head at Aislin. “I want Witch Girl over there to try and find a way to get this mark off my arm.”

My head snaps in Aislin’s direction. “Can you do that?”

Aislin ravels a strand of her hair around her finger. “I don’t know…I mean, there might be a spell that could remove a mark, but I’ve never heard of it, or I might not be powerful enough to actually pull it off. Plus, my spell book is gone so it makes finding the spell to do it even more complicated.”

“You know other witches, don’t you?” Nicholas says in a condescending tone. “Talk to them—see if they know how.”

“Maybe I could see if someone knows a spell that would work,” Aislin says. “But it’s going to take time and a lot of searching probably, in places I don’t generally go.”

“We’re talking black magic?” Nicholas asks.

“More or less,” Aislin replies and Nicholas seems twistedly pleased by this.

“Good, then we have a deal.” He smirks at all three of us.

I glance at Alex who’s shaking his head, arms folded, muscles taut, but he doesn’t utter a word. “Okay, we have a deal,” I say, wondering when I became the spokesperson of the group. I stick my hand in Alex’s direction. “Do you have a knife on you? So I can cut my hand and make the promise.”

Still frustrated, he stuffs his hand into the pocket of his jeans and retrieves a small, silver knife. “I still don’t think this is a good idea.”

I take the knife from him and flip open the blade. I try to keep a steady hand as I aim the knife at my palm. “So I just cut and then what?”

Alex sighs, finally giving up on being stubborn, then takes the knife from me, and then holds my hand in his. He draws a line across the scar on my palm with his thumb before releasing my hand. “I need your other hand to do it.”

I give him my other hand like he asks. “Can we not do the promise in the same place twice or something?”

His head is angled down so I can’t see his expression. “No, you can do that, but I don’t want to do it on the scar that was from our promise—that’s mine.”

It might be the sweetest thing he has ever said to me. I bite back a smile, though, because it’s a feeling that’s bitterly sweet.

“Man, you two are going to kill each other quickly, aren’t you?” Nicholas reminds me of what I can’t have.

Alex shoots him a glare as he touches the cold blade to my skin. “I’m going to cut your hand and his,” he tells me. “Then you’ll press your palm to his and repeat exactly what I say, alright?”

I nervously nod. “Alright.”

“And be very careful that you repeat exactly what I say,” he stresses.

“Don’t you need to untie Nicholas first?” I ask.

“I’m not going to let him go until the promise is made,” Alex states firmly. “You’ll just have to reach up to his hand.” Then very vigilantly he makes a small cut along my palm. Blood seeps out of the wound and I quickly cup my hand. Then Alex moves over to Nicholas, reaches up over his head, and with less carefulness, slices Nicholas’s hand open. Blood drips out of the wound and down his bare arm.

Stepping back, Alex closes the blade then tosses the knife onto the floor. “Okay, put your hand up to his,” he says to me.

Gathering up the courage, I step forward and get on my tiptoes to press my bleeding palm against Nicholas’s. The smell of flowers and rain is overwhelming and his nearness makes me uncomfortable as he leans over and smells my hair.

“We should have done this a long time ago.” He breathes in my scent. “God, you smell so divine.”

I slant my head away from him. “Back the hell off, faerie boy or I’ll drop kick you in the balls.”

Aislin snorts a laugh as Nicholas chuckles lowly in my ear. “Sounds kinky to me,” he says.

I roll my eyes. “Only in your dreams.”

“Repeat exactly what I say, Gemma,” Alex says, interrupting us. “EGO votum permissum.”

I speak slowly to avoid mistakes. “EGO… votum…permissum.”

“Vos subsisto hic quod Andron.”

“Vos… subsisto… hic quod… Andron.” My voice shakes.

“Mos capto aufero vestri vestigium.”

“Mos capto… aufero… vestri… vestigium.”

Alex and I release a breath of relief, then Alex points a finger at Nicholas. “You better repeat exactly what I say. No changing or adding anything, understand? Or I’ll kill you.” He says it with a straight face and I have no doubt that he just might do it.

After Nicholas agrees, Alex tells him what to say, speaking the words carefully. Nicholas repeats everything correctly. But I have no idea what’s being said, so I’m putting a lot of trust in Alex. I analyze the idea of how much I’m trusting him at the moment and come to the conclusion that perhaps my feelings toward him might be drifting into the unsafe zone. But I haven’t felt the prickle yet nor have I felt anything that’s stopped and made me think, hey, that’s got to be love.

After the Blood Promise is made, Alex cuts the rope and frees Nicholas. He falls to the floor on his knees and rubs his wrists as he wipes the blood from his lip with the bottom of his t-shirt. “God, that feels good.”

“Now tell us everything you know about my father. Gemma. The Vision. No holding back.” Alex bends down and collects the knife from the floor.

“Can we at least sit down?” Nicholas asks, sounding pained.

Alex shakes his head as he cleans the blood off from the knife on the side of his jeans. “Whatever, let’s just get this over with.”