I angle my head to the side and cringe. The towel is slipping loose and he has himself pressed up against me in every strategic place. “Back off, pervert.”
“If you touch her, I’ll break off all your fucking fingers.” Alex dares another step into the room so the only thing between us and him is the sink. “And since I’m pretty sure you know what I am, after all, you seem so dead set on being me, then you know what I’m capable of and just how good I am at breaking bones.” He pops his knuckles and neck.
The body of the mirage begins to quiver and vibrate. The possibilities of what he could be doing spin a web of disgust through my body, but Alex seems pleased by whatever he’s doing. He continues to shake and shiver faster and faster, until he conclusively lets out a jolt that lurches us both forward.
“Nicholas Harper.” Alex crosses his arms and a patronizing look arises on his face as the mirage skims his arms down to my waist.
I slant my head back to look at the mirage. His hair is no longer brown, but a sandy-blonde and his eyes are as golden as the desert sand. He’s shorter than Alex and a little thinner, but probably around the same age. It creeps me out to see him in real form, not because he’s bad looking, but because I realized he’s basically a shape-shifter and he can be anyone.
“You know, it’s really fun messing with your head,” he says and his real voice is higher. “And that scene in the forest was priceless. I’ll never forget the scared looks on your faces.”
Alex shakes his head. “I’m not sure why I’m surprised. I always figured you’d end up with something like the Death Walkers. Tell me, when did you decide to switch sides?” He’s acting arrogant and condescending which I normally hate, but, at the moment, I’m thoroughly entertained.
“I didn’t switch sides,” he says with irritation. “I was merely having fun with this lovely girl right here and the Death Walkers just happened to show up at the right time. It couldn’t have been better timing if I planned it myself.”
“That was all it was about?” Alex doubts with a frown. “To simply fuck with our heads?”
“There’s always a purpose.” His shoulders lift up and then descend as he shrugs. “But, it doesn’t mean I have to divulge it to you.”
“What about the other time?” I question and Alex looks at me for clarification. “The one in the parking lot? Where you were pretending to help me with the Death Walker?”
“Mind manipulation. Foreseer’s are excellent at it.” His breath stings at my nose and I almost gag at the floral scent. It’s so powerful, like he’s recently eaten rose petals. He strengthens his hold on me, arms tightening as he urges me closer to his chest. His heart beats through his chest and against my back, slow and rhythmic like a drum. “She’s a beautiful thing, isn’t she?”
I scrunch my nose and make a face. “Let me go.” I try to kick him, but miss again.
“I’m the one calling the shots here,” he says, then sniffs my hair as his hand drifts down my stomach to the base of the towel. Alex starts to move forward with a vein popping out in his neck. “Which means I can do whatever I want with you.”
I wiggle my arm enough that I can jab my elbow into his stomach. “Fuck you.”
His stomach muscles tense. “Feisty. I like it,” he whispers in my ear and I slam my head straight into his nose.
“Shit!” His hands leave my body and I dash over to Alex, meeting him in the middle of the room. He grabs my arms and swings me behind him. Prodding me with his elbow, he drives me toward the door as he reaches for his pocket.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Nicholas calls out, still clutching his nose. There’s blood running down his arm and dripping onto his grey t-shirt.
Alex pulls a small knife from his pocket and flips the blade open. “Gemma, go.”
“Go and there will be even bigger consequences.” Nicholas pinches the brim of his bleeding nose. “And since you’re a Keeper and know all the laws and rules, I bet you can guess what they are.”
“Foreseers can only punish Foreseers,” Alex states as he poises the knife out in front of him.
He removes his hands from his nose and there’s blood all over his face. “Which is exactly what she is.”
My jaw nearly slams to my knees. “Excuse me.”
Alex turns his head and puts his finger to his lips, shushing me. “Listen, there’s been a misunderstanding.” He looks back at Nicholas. “Gemma, she’s… there are things about her that make her different, but she’s not a Foreseer.”
He grabs a towel from off the hook and begins to dab the blood off his face. “Did she see a vision?”
Alex wavers with his arm bent at the elbow and the knife stationed in front of him. “Yeah, but there were special circumstances.”
“Look, I don’t give a shit what she is or what the circumstances are. You know the law and the law says if a person sees a vision, then they belong to the Foreseers.” He wipes his hands off with the towel and tosses it onto the counter. “Gemma saw a vision; therefore, she belongs to us and she’s going to the City of Crystal with me.”
“I know what the fucking laws say,” Alex snaps. “But, like I said, she’s…”
“Different.” Nicholas throws his head back and laughs. “It doesn’t matter. She has to go back with me. She can try and plead her case when she gets there, if she wants to.” His gaze drinks me in. “She can even wear the towel.”
I pull a disgusted face, secure my hand onto the towel and then cower back behind Alex. “Can’t you make him go away?” I hiss.
Alex shakes his head over and over again and then he pounds his fist against the countertop, causing perfume bottles to topple from the cabinet into the sink. He kicks the cupboard and punches a hole in the wall, breathing furiously and with deep, ravenous heaves of his lungs. After a long dragged out pause, he finally utters, “Fine, she’ll go.”
“What!” I cry, jumping in front of him. “Are you kidding? I’m not going anywhere with him to some city with a bunch of future seeing weirdoes.”
He sighs heavily and adjusts the towel higher up on my chest. “You don’t have a choice, Gemma. Laws are laws. If we break them, we’ll pay and you’ll still end up having to go down there.”
I lock eyes with him and give him a silent plea. “Can’t you do something, like beat him up? Or, stab him with your knife?”
Alex smashes his lips together like he’s trying not to laugh at me. “As much as I would love to do either, I can’t. Technically, he hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“He was with the Death Walkers,” I argue. “And he’s been fucking with my head… he made me think I was going crazy.”
Nicholas lurks towards us with a smirk. “Now, that wasn’t entirely me. Some of that stuff was conjured up from your own head. I was just trying to give your Foreseer ability a little nudge. You should be thanking me. Now that the gift’s starting to surface, the nightmares should stop.”
“Can’t we just run?” I ask Alex, ignoring Nicholas.
Alex shakes his head and offers me a look of compassion. “Foreseers can travel anywhere by the power of the crystal. If he wants to find us, he can and very quickly.”
Nicholas starts to laugh as he reaches the edge of the counter. “We are brilliant creatures, aren’t we?”
Alex rolls his eyes and slams his hand against Nicholas’s chest, shoving him back. Nicholas bumps his hip on the corner of the sink as he staggers backward, tripping over his feet. “Just so you know, I’m going with her,” Alex tells him.
The humor vanishes from Nicholas’s face as he recovers his steadiness by bracing his hand on the wall. “You can’t go.”
“There are no laws forbidding Keepers from entering the City of Crystal,” Alex informs him as he slides his pocketknife back into his pocket. “So I can go whether you like it or not.”
It makes me feel a little bit better, but not much. I don’t want to be a Foreseer. I already have too much on my plate, and adding the ability to see futuristic vision
s is going to splinter it even more. “Are you sure there’s no other way?” I whisper to Alex, hoping.
There’s definitiveness in his eyes. “I’m sorry, but don’t worry, I’ll make sure you come back with me. You won’t have to stay there.”
Can I believe him? Can I trust him? What other choice do I have?
He licks his lips as he stares at my mouth, and then increases his voice so Nicholas can hear. “The Keepers have much more weight than the Foreseers and, in the end, we all know how this is going to turn out.”
Nicholas’s eyes smolder like embers as he glowers at Alex. “Nothing’s changed. You still do whatever the hell you want.”
“Yep,” Alex replies coolly as he leans in and kisses my cheek possessively. “I absolutely fucking do. There’s no other way to live life.”
“Whatever.” Nicholas retrieves a miniature crystal ball from the pocket of his cargo pants. It’s filled with red rubies and there’s a glittery tint to the glass. “Go head, my little Gem,” he says to me as he holds the ball. “Ladies first.”
I glance at the towel barely covering my body. “You have to let me change first.”
“Says who?” Nicholas questions and I want to slug him. “There’s no way I’m going to leave you alone. For all I know, you’ll jump out the window and run.”
“And what?” I question. “Run out into the mountains and die?”
He shrugs. “From what I’ve seen, you could be that stupid.”
I shake my head and march forward with my hand beginning to elevate to hit him. Not just for this, but for everything else; for pretending to be Alex and making me think I’ve lost my mind.
Alex gently touches my hand and it subdues me. “We’ll step out so you can dress, but hurry, okay?”
“I didn’t agree to that.” Nicholas moves towards us, but Alex pushes him back again, and his shoulder slams into the wall as he fights to keep his footing.
“You don’t need to be a fucking pervert,” Alex says in a firm voice. “Now, step out and let her change. She won’t go anywhere.”
Nicholas studies me for an eternity, then his eyes dim to a deep brown as he winds a path around me. He squeezes between us and the towel rack, and heads to the doorway. “You have one minute.” He goes out into the hall and Alex follows, giving me a lingering last glance before he shuts the door.
I hurry and pull on my jeans and a black t-shirt, then twist my hair up into a messy bun with a few bobby pins I find in a drawer.
“Fifteen seconds,” Nicholas shouts from the other side of the door.
Panicking, I glance at the window and consider jumping out and making a run for it. Maybe the risk of freezing to death is worth it? Before I can arrive at a definite decision the door swings open and the knob bangs against the wall.
Nicholas struts inside with the crystal ball in the palm of his hand and Alex is just behind him. “Times up.”
I really, really dislike this guy. “What exactly am I supposed to do with it?” I ask as I put my hands on my hips and stare at the crystal.
“Put your hand on it,” he instructs as he elevates his arm so the crystal ball is closer to my face.
I glance at Alex and he nods once. I summon a deep breath and tell myself I’m not afraid, that I’ve lived without fear forever and that this vile, toxic feeling intensifying in me really means I’m hungry. As my fingers brush the cold glass, there’s a burst of light and warmth that inundates my body. My body jolts forward as the sink, shower and mirror evaporate into light. A tunnel forms in front of my face and twists toward me. I try to back away, but I can’t tell what’s up and what’s down. I feel my limbs disconnect, but there is no pain, only soft tugs. I fall apart and collapse into a tunnel, unsure where I will end up.
Chapter 18
My limbs reconnect with my body as I crash against a glass floor and catch myself with my hands. I quickly push to my feet and my wrist lets out a loud pop. I wince as a sharp pain zips up my arm. I cradle my wrist and get to my feet. I’m standing in a field layered with grass that glistens like gemstones. Above, the sky is blue with sharp, distinct edges that resemble the cuts on a diamond. The clouds float back and forth, thin and wispy. At the end of the field is a godly throne perched on an immense silvery podium that’s trimmed with various shades and sizes of emeralds.
“What the hell is this place?” I mutter.
There’s a faint swoosh and then Alex drops down from above, landing gracefully beside me. His cheeks are wind kissed and his hair is disarranged. He quickly puts a finger up to his lips. “Shh... Keep quiet.”
Another swoosh and Nicholas appears next to me. He smoothes the wrinkles from his cargo pants and ruffles his sandy hair back into place. “That was fun,” he remarks cleverly as he rubs his hands together. “It’s seriously the best part about being a Foreseer—falling into the unknown and not knowing where you’re going.”
I shake my injured wrist until it pops back into place. “If you think that was fun, then I’d hate to hear what you think is torture.”
“You, a four-post bed, and some leather straps,” he says with a wink. My jaw drops and he grins.
“Can we just get this over with?” Alex rearranges his hair into place with a quick tousle from his fingers. “The quicker we get out of here, the better.”
“What’s the rush?” Nicholas stuffs his hands into his pockets and rocks back on his heels. “They’re never going to let Gemma leave until she’s trained.” He winks at me again. “Which gives us a lot of time to get to know each other.”
“No thanks,” I tell him. “I’d rather go back with Alex.”
Nicholas scowls at me and stomps off in the direction of the throne that sits a couple hundred feet away. Alex and I trail after him down a path of broken teal porcelain and past a translucent sheet of glass. Every once in a while, the sheet of glass flickers and an image of a woman flashes across it. She is doing different things each time; writing in a journal, crying in a street, dancing in a field.
“It’s how they keep an eye on the future,” Alex whispers in my ear. “The screen continuously shows them what’s going on.”
I nod as the image of the woman fades into a lake that ripples in the sunlight, and that’s how it stays until we reach the throne’s podium. Standing beside the throne, is a short, plump man with elf shoes and curly brown hair. Nicholas approaches him, says something in his ear and the little man nods before hurrying off through the grass.
Alex places his hand on the small of my back and says in a low tone, “And you need to be careful around Nicholas. He’s part faerie and he can’t be trusted.”
“Faerie,” I mouth with wide eyes. He looks normal, which makes me question how many people are just people? And how many are something else disguised as humans? Have I crossed paths with some of them and had just been too oblivious to notice?
We wait in silence until an elderly man materializes from behind the throne. He’s tall and lanky with pallid skin and shoulder-length grey hair. The silver shade of his robe matches his eyes and on the top of his hand is a circle wrapped around a “S.” I assume it’s the Foreseer’s mark, although, I haven’t spotted one on Nicholas.
Nicholas backs away from the throne and stands near the rim of the podium as the old man takes a seat in the throne. His thin fingers curl around the velvet armrests as he situates in the seat. “Welcome to the City of Crystal. I am Dyvinius, leader of the Foreseers.” He speaks in slow, monotone syllables. “I understand that you were able to use the Foreseers’ power to view a vision yesterday?”
I glance at Alex. What am I supposed to say? “I guess…”
“That’s wonderful.” Dyvinius drums his fingers. “I’m not sure if you know much about what a Foreseer does, or who we are, so I’ll explain because it really is the most magnificent thing,” he says and repositions the bottom of his robe so it’s covering his feet. “A Foreseer uses the energy of the Divination Crystal to see what’s going to happen. It helps us prepare the world fo
r the future. Once a vision is read, it becomes permanent. There is no changing it.”
He should probably explain that to the Keepers, since they think differently. The bigger picture suddenly opens up before me like I’m finally looking past the light and witnessing a small part of my future. Through all the chaos, emotions and secrets unwinding, I’ve never taken the time to see what it all means when I connect everything. In the end, I’m the key to saving the world. I will always be the star first and Gemma second.
“When a person goes into their first vision, they usually don’t know what they’re doing,” Dyvinius continues. “Typically, a Foreseer’s ability is discovered before they see their first vision. Occasionally, someone does end up slipping through the radar undetected. Most of the time, we find them, but sometimes, we don’t.” His silver eyes target on me. “We have a tracking system that lets us know when there’s been an interference with the Divination Crystal. Now, it’s not necessarily bad, but the vision does need to be read correctly. Otherwise, it can alter the human world.” His face lights up and the wrinkles around his eyes multiply. He claps his hands and straightens up his shoulders. “And so, I’ve brought you down here to go into the vision again and read it correctly. That way, you can be trained as a Foreseer.”
My mouth droops to a frown. “Do I have to?”
Alex snags the back of my shirt and draws me back as he steps forward. “She can’t stay here right now. There are certain things that require her to stay with the Keepers at the moment.”
Dyvinius’s eyes glaze with ice. “And you are?”
“Alex Avery,” Alex responds, positioning himself in front of me so I have to peek over his shoulder just to see what is going on.
“Is there any relation to Stephan Avery?” Dyvinius questions.
Alex reaches behind him and slips his fingers through mine. “He’s my father.”
“Oh, I see.” Dyvinius frowns, displeased. “Tell me, Alex, what are the circumstances that are keeping Gemma with the Keepers?”
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