The Lost Soul (Fallen Soul Series, Book 1) (29 page)

“Who?” I run my hands up his arms, my fingers needing to touch him. “Annabella? Does that mean she’s free from Helena?”

“No, Helena let me go.” He lets his hand fall from his head.  “She’s taken over the Essences now and she let me go for some weird reason. Why did she let me go?”

“Because you’re supposed to be my puppet,” I say absentmindedly.

“Huh?” He blinks his eyes confoundedly. “Your puppet? Gemma, what are talking about?”

“Nothing. Never mind.” I gently loop my arms around his neck, because he’s still fragile from death. “I don’t want to talk about Helena now. I’m just glad your—” My voice squeaks and I clear my throat. “I’m just glad your back.”

“But why?” Alex obsesses, fiddling with the hole in his shirt where the needle entered. “Why would she let me go like that? And if she did, does that mean I’m a Protected One now?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe…” I drag my fingers through his hair, breathing in his musky scent. “You died just to bring me back. Why… why would you do that?”

He meets my eyes, powerful and intense. “Why wouldn’t I do it? I love you, Gemma, more than my life.”

I straddle his lap and burrow my head in his neck, loving him more than I ever have. “I’m sorry I did it. I’m sorry I ever went to The Afterlife.”

He hooks a finger under my chin and tips my head up. “It wasn’t your fault. You were just trying to save Laylen. But please, please,
please
don’t ever do it again. You risk too much all the time, always getting in the middle of things.”

I nod, but it feels like a lie. For some reason, I sense that I’ll be the one to bring a storm of death down on the world.

He delicately traces my lips. “I saw some stuff when I died. About you and me.” He picks my locket up from the floor and fastens it around my neck.

“Bad stuff?” I kiss the tip of his finger. Then lean in and kiss the line of his jaw.

“Gemma…” He groans as I suck on a sensitive spot on his skin. “We have to talk about this.”

“In a little while,” I beg, desperate to be with him. I thought he was dead and every doubt I had about our relationship, our connection, has evaporated. “I just want to be with you right now.”

His face looks sad in the moonlight, as if he’s baring agonizing secrets. But he gives me what I want, cupping the back of my neck and bringing my lips to his. His chest rumbles with a low growl as I suck his bottom lip into my mouth. He tries to stand up with me positioned on his lap, but he’s weak and his legs falter. I slide off and take his hand, leading him to the bed. The back of my legs brink the edge of the bed and I tumble backwards, pulling him down with me. He steadies himself with his hands, only a sliver of space left between our bodies. I eliminate the space by arching my body.

“Gemma.” He’s breathless, eyes wild and needy. “I’m not sure… I think we should… How am I sure Helena’s gone for good?”

My gaze bores powerfully into his and that’s all he needs. He rips his shirt off and tosses it on the floor, dazzling me with the sight of his broad chest and defined arms. His voice growls out untamed, “We’re going to talk about this later, though.”

“Okay.” I bite my bottom lip, repressing a smile.

His lips smother mine and we fade into the night.

***

“I need to find a way to save Nicholas.” It’s been hours of kissing and touching. My lips are swollen and my cheek’s resting against his bare chest. The blankets are pulled over us and our bodies radiate heat. Outside the sun leisurely embarks over the mountains, tinting the land with a buttery glow.

His fingers play with my hair as he angles his head back and peers down at me through his long eyelashes. “Save Nicholas from what?”

I pull a guilty face. “While I was under Helena’s orders, I made him take me to the City of Crystal and used him to get my powers back. He strapped to the giant ball in the City of Crystal.”

He inclines over me and sweeps my hair to the side of my neck. “Oh my God… you’re being serious.”

“Of course I’m being serious,” I say. “Why would I kid about that?”

He leans away, shaking his head. “I just have to say that you are a really mean evil villain.”

“That wasn’t me,” I gripe. “That was Helena… everything was Helena.” I cringe, recollecting certain thoughts I had about Laylen. “All Helena.”

“I know.” He eyes me like he knows my secrets. “Okay, so we try to get Nicholas out of there. Then what?”

“Do you want to tell me what you saw when you died?” I place a hand on his cheek and his stubble is rough against my palm.

He flinches at the remembrance. “I think what I saw… it was our future, but I’m not completely sure.”

“It was bad,” I assume.

He nods, swallowing hard. “We weren’t together.”

“That’s not possible,” I assure him with fire in my veins. “It can’t be our future then.”

He pins his lips together, staring out at the sunlight sparkling over the land. “It felt real… like I was standing there really watching it.”

“It sounds like a vision.” My pulse accelerates. “You don’t… you don’t have a Foreseer mark by chance?”

He shakes his head and his pain envelops me.

“Alex, will you please tell me what you saw,” I plead.

He shuts his eyes and breathes deeply. “You were… you were with Laylen and I was dead.”

“It’s not going to happen,” I tell him firmly. “You’re not going to die and Laylen and I… we’re just friends.”

“I know that.” His glossy eyes flick open. “Well, I know
you
wouldn’t be with Laylen.”

“Helena’s gone. I promise she is.” I roll on my back, tugging my shirt down, which was shoved up all the way over my bra. “And we’ll find a way to get her out of this world. And all her Lost Souls.”

“All of them? How many are there?”

I sigh, shamefaced, and tell him what my evil mind did during its brief trip to the dark side. Well, with the exception of Laylen’s and mine’s overly close relationship.
Thank God we didn’t actually do anything.

“Jesus Christ,” are the first words that leave his lips. “So anyone can be possessed? We don’t even know who’s themself anymore?”

“I’m not sure.” I trace the lines of the star on his wrist, giving myself a sense of security. “They could be destroyed now that Helena no longer has control of me, but I doubt it.”

“Me too. Nothing’s ever that easy.” His lips begin to part. “Gemma, I—”

The door flies open and Aislin comes bustling in. “Problem!” She screams so loud my ears ring. She stutters at the sight of her bother, fully alive. “Oh my God! You’re alive.”

“Yeah, I—” Alex’s voice is silenced by the stampede of sprites charging through the door, ruining their hallmark moment. He curses and leaps out of bed. “I thought I told you to shut that portal down!” He dropkicks a nubby sprite and it flies out the door, crashing into a chandelier.

Aislin dashes beside me. Her pink pajama bottoms are torn at the knee and one of the sleeves is ripped from her thermal shirt. “I did shut it down!”

We scramble, kicking sprites as they take nips and swings at us. Some have wings, some florescent skin. Short, round, pointed teeth; not a single one of them match.

“Then what the heck happened?!” I shout, dropping flat on the ground as a sprite zooms for my head. I jump up and kick one galloping toward me. It hits the ceiling light and falls to the bed, unconscious.

“I screwed up.” Her hands light up, ready to cast a spell. Alex shoots her a sharp look. “I think I accidently freed Luna.”

I freeze, gaping at her. “
What
?”

Alex has a sprite by the hair, ready to throw it out the door. “You did
what
?”

A sprite slams into my legs and knocks me to the ground. My chin and elbows bang against the stone floor and my jaw cracks. “Why you little—” I smash my shoe into its small body and it hits the wall, its big eyes crossing as it sinks to the floor. I push up and pop my jaw into place, wincing.

“It wasn’t my fault!” she cries. “The spell was supposed to protect me, but it backfired!”

“If I had a penny for every time you said that, I’d be filthy rich,” Alex says ruthlessly.

“Stop it,” I intervene. “We’ve all messed up a thousand times. And right now we just need to get the hell out of here!”

Our eyes dart to the doorway where sprites pile inside and line the wall. Luna promenades in, grinning from ear to ear. She’s as tall as my hip and her hair is a dark purple that matches her floral dress. Her skin glitters like the red teardrop pendant on her necklace.

“Wait a minute.” I squint at the necklace. “I’ve seen that before.” Before I can sift through my memories to figure it out, Alex picks me up, throws me over his shoulder, and kicks open the window. I’m stunned, until I see Luna rising, taller, and taller, her head finally reaching the ceiling. I guess Nicholas wasn’t lying. Fey do have multiple identities.

Alex doesn’t miss a beat as he leaps out the window and crashes to the ground, his Keeper strength softening the fall.  Aislin follows after us, diving out backwards, and shooting balls of light from her hands.

I climb off Alex’s shoulders and we race for the car. Luna bursts though the slope of the roof and shrieks at the top of her lungs. Birds flurry from the trees and sprites heap out of the house, charging across the lawn. We hop in Alex’s car, me on the console, and Aislin in the passenger seat.

Aislin unnecessarily locks the door. “Go! Go!”

Alex revs the engine and Chevelle’s “I Get It” blasts out the speakers. We skid down the driveway. Over my shoulder, I spot a giant Luna hurtling after us.

“What does she want?!” I holler over the music. I turn around as Alex shifts gears. The force throws me backwards into the rear seat. I whirl around, my eyes glued to Luna. She thwacks trees out of her way and tramples over her sprites. Suddenly, she skids to a halt, her feet whipping up dirt and rocks. Her dark eyes watch us, her skin gleaming like a disk in the sunlight. I watch her until Alex rounds the corner and she disappears out of view. I turn around and slump against the seat, my heart knocking against my chest.

Alex turns the volume down to a low hum. “Does anyone know what just happened?”

“She wanted something from one of us,” I state, and then pause. “Wait. Where’s Laylen?”

Alex starts to push on the breaks, but Aislin stops him. “Don’t worry. He went to town this morning.” She slides her cell phone out of her pocket. “I’ll text him and let him know what’s going on.”

Alex accelerates, flying onto the main highway that laps around the mountains. He checks on me through the rearview mirror. “Are you okay?”

I nod, twirling my locket. “There was something about the pendant Luna had on… I’ve seen it before.”

Aislin rotates in her seat. “What did it look like?”

“It was teardrop shaped,” I say. “And red. It kind of reminded me of blood.”

Aislin’s eyebrows dip together. She scrolls through the screen on her phone, punching buttons. “Did it look like this?”

I take the phone and stare at the picture of a necklace wrapped around a woman’s neck. The pendant hanging on the gold chain looks exactly like Luna’s. “Yeah, that’s it.” I give her the phone back. “What is it?”

Aislin frowns and reads her screen. “It’s called a Cornu Lepore.”