Chapter 28
I tried very hard not to fall smack dab on my face when I landed, but we all know how great I am at avoiding falling. So yeah, basically, I ate it. I did, however, manage to keep my head from hitting the ground, which I was grateful for since it was made of crystal. Hence the name City of Crystal.
Pushing myself up from the ground, my wrist let out a loud pop. I winced as the pain spread up my arm. I cradled my injured wrist against me and glanced around. I was standing in a cave. At least that’s what it looked like. A very unique cave, anyway. The high arched ceiling was dusted with what looked like glittery charcoal, and dark red crystals hung down from it. Rubies ran in a wavy pattern across the snow-white crystal walls. Through the translucent crystal floor, a river as dark as the midnight sky elegantly flowed; flakes of gold speckling in it like stars. I had to admit, the place was absolutely beautiful. Unrealistically beautiful, though. I mean, how many times have you found yourself stumbling around in a cave made of glass and crystal?
Probably never. That is, unless you are a Foreseer.
I heard a faint swoosh, and then Alex dropped down from above, landing gracefully beside me.
Startled, I jumped back, pressing my hand to my heart. “You scared the crap out of me,” I said breathlessly.
Alex put a finger up to his lips. “Shhh.”
Huh? “Why?”
Before he could answer me, I heard another swoosh, and Nicholas dropped down next to me.
“Well, that was fun,” Nicholas remarked with a grin. “Wouldn’t you all agree?”
“Oh yeah, super fun,” I muttered.
Alex shook his head. “Can we just get this over with? The quicker we get out of here, the better.”
“What’s the rush?” Nicholas slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans, and rocked back on his heels. “No matter how long you’re down here, they’re never going to let Gemma leave until she’s trained.” He winked at me. Yes, actually freaking winked. “Which gives you and me plenty of time to get to know each other.”
“Yeah, no thanks,” I told him. “I’d rather just go back with Alex.”
Nicholas expression slipped into scowl, and Alex, I could tell, was working hard to suppress a grin.
“Let’s go,” Nicholas said in a clipped tone as he waved at us to follow him down a glass path.
We made our way over a bridge paved with broken pieces of porcelain. And just on the other side of the bridge towered two massive pillars. They peaked up, forming an entryway to a set of silver doors that stretched to the ceiling. The handles of each door were twisted in the shape of a circle that wrapped an S; the same exact shape as the tattoo on Nicholas’s wrist.
“Wait here,” Nicholas told us and pushed through the tall, silver doors.
I leaned over in an attempt to catch of glimpse of what was on the other side of the door, but it I snapped shut too quickly, like it had been yanked by some kind of magnetic force.
Alex turned to me, his words rushing out in a jumble. “Okay, here’s the deal. When we get in there, let me do most of the talking. It’s kind of going to be a problem getting them to let you go because of the laws.”
“That’s what I don’t get.” My wrist was throbbing so I cuddled it closer against me. “How are you supposed to get them to let me go when you keep talking about these laws that won’t allow them to?”
He considered this. “Well, the Keepers have a little bit of power over the Foreseers, so I’m hoping that will help.”
I gaped at him. “You’re hoping that will help. But you promised you’d get me out of here.”
“I will,” he assured me. “I’m just hoping that it will be easier with Keepers having some power over the Foreseers. But if that fails, we’ll just go another route.”
I eyed him suspiciously. “What kind of route?”
“Trust me, you’d rather not know.”
“I always want to know.”
“This time you don’t.”
Silence.
“So do they know what I am?” I asked in a small voice.
“No,” he replied, keeping his voice low. “And it needs to stay that way.”
I leaned closer to him. “But wasn’t it a Foreseer who made the prediction of what was going to happen to me and the star?”
“The Foreseer that saw the vision was a close friend of Stephan’s,” he whispered, his breath hot against my cheek. “And they’ve worked really hard to keep it a secret from the rest of the Foreseers so let’s not ruin it now by talking about it, okay?”
“But they might already now,” I pointed out. “Since the Death Walkers do.”
“They might, but they might not. And let’s hope they don’t because it will make it a lot harder to get you out of here if they do know.”
I rubbed my aching wrist, considering the idea of being trapped down here. Yes, the place was beautiful, but it was also creepy. And empty—I hadn’t seen a single person yet. And then, of course, there was Nicholas. He heightened the creepy factor, like, a billion notches.
“Did you hurt yourself?” Alex asked, eyeballing my wrist.
I shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. When I landed, I fell and my wrist popped.”
“Here, let me look at it.” He reached for my wrist, pausing before gently taking hold of it. My first instinct was to jerk back and tell him not to touch me. Oh yeah, I might have been standing in the City of Crystal, waiting to see if the Foreseers would let me leave or not, but that didn’t mean I’d forgotten about the lies, secrets, and constant fighting that had gone on between us. Still, and I don’t know why—I guess I had a weak moment or something—I let him take my wrist in his hand and examine it over, sparks lighting up like lightening during a thunderstorm.
“Really, it’s not that bad,” I told him, flinching as my wrist let out another pop.
“Sorry,” Alex apologized, tracing his finger lightly along the inside of my wrist. It tickled to the point that I had to bite my lip to keep from giggling. “I don’t think it’s broken or anything. You probably just popped it out of place.” He let go of my wrist. “If it still hurts when we get back to the house, I can wrap it up.”
I nodded, cradling my wrist in my hand.”Okay.” If I ever get back to the house.
“How about your stitches?” he asked. “How are they doing? There not coming loose, are they?”
I shrugged. “I don’t think so.”
He stared at me incredulously. “You haven’t check on them?”
“I glanced at them after I went into the vision and face planted it on the ground,” I said. “Everything seemed to look okay, I guess.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “You guess.”
“Well, since I’ve never had stitches before, I’m not sure what qualifies them as looking okay and what doesn’t. But they don’t really hurt or anything.”
“They could have loosened up when you fell. Or they could be getting infected. You never know.” He moved his hand toward the bottom of my shirt.
I backed away. “What are you doing?”
He looked at me like I was an idiot. “Checking to make sure your stitches are okay.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“So you’d rather get an infection and end up in a hospital.”
“No.” I sighed, inching into his reach. “Fine, go ahead.”
I held my breath as he raised the corner of my shirt, peeled back the gauze, and peered underneath it. The way his fingertips kept grazing my skin tickled. Man, life could be so unfair sometimes. There should be some kind of law or something banning Alex’s touch to feel this good. It was practically torture.
“So what’s the symbol on Nicholas’s wrist mean?” I asked in a pathetic attempt to distract myself.
“It’s the mark of a Foreseer.” His fingers worked their way along my skin.
I tensed as he touched a tender spot on my ribs. “Then why don’t I have one?”
“I’m not sure…Things seem to work differently with you. You might get one and you might not.” His fingers linger on my skin for an instant longer before he pressed the gauze back into place and tugged the corner of my shirt back down. “There good. Completely intact and infection free.”
“Good,” I said. And then, being the polite girl that I was, added, “Thanks for making sure.”
“Whoa. Hold on.” He smiled, cupping his hand around his ear. “Did I seriously just hear you say thanks?”
“I’ve said thanks to you before,” I said.
He raised his eyebrows accusingly.
“Well, maybe not to you per se, but I’ve said the word before.”
“Oh yeah.” He laughed. “Is that so?”
I nodded. “But I only say it when I truly mean it, so it doesn’t come out a whole lot.”
He laughed again, and I felt my own smile breaking through.
Okay. Time out. Were we seriously, after everything we’d been through, having a moment here. So weird. Although, I wasn’t going to lie and say that I wasn’t enjoying it. The moment gave me a brief glimpse into what things might have been like if I was normal.
However, when one of the tall, silver doors opened up, our little moment slipped away, just like that.
“He's ready for you.” Nicholas said, holding the door open. “You can come in.”
As I stepped through the doorway, I had to catch my breath. The place made the glass cave look completely ordinary. Shiny cutouts of silver and blue porcelain paved the way through green gemstones that mimicked blades of grass. The blue sky shined like a giant diamond, the cotton ball clouds floating across it like a mirage.
Alex and I followed Nicholas down the porcelain path, winding back and forth until we arrived at a silver throne perched on top of a sapphire platform. A short, plump man with curly elf shoes and dark brown hair stood beside the throne. Nicholas approached him, whispered something in his ear, and the little man nodded.
While Nicholas was distracted, Alex placed his hand on my arm and whispered, “Oh yeah. You need to be careful around Nicholas. He’s part faerie so he can’t be trusted.”
Before I could even react to the word faerie, or the combusting electricity his breath and touch brought on, a man appeared from behind the throne. He was maybe in his sixties, give or take a few years. He was tall with pale skin and grey shoulder length hair. The silver shade of the robe he wore matched the silver shade of his eyes.
He took a seat in the throne, curling his thin fingers over the edges of the armrests. “Welcome to the City of Crystal. I am Dyvinius, leader of the Foreseers.” His voice came out in slow, motionless syllables—very monotone-like. “I understand that you were able to use the Foreseers power to channel up a vision yesterday. Am I correct?”
I glanced around idiotically and then it clicked. Oh yeah, he was probably talking to me. “Umm…yeah.”