He ignored me. “So should we hit the road?”

We were not going back to that again. “You didn’t answer my question.”

He let out an aggravated sigh. “You remember when I told you that some Keepers have gifts, like Sophia’s gift of…” he trailed off, looking guilty for bringing up my soul detachment.

“Yeah, I remember.” I tried not to sound bitter.

“Well, Stasha has a gift too.” He rubbed the back of his neck tensely. “She has the gift of…death.”

“Like she kill’s people or something?” I asked with a shiver.

“Not for fun,” Alex clarified. “She just can, you know, kill if she wants to.”

I cringed. “Everyone can kill if they want to, Alex.”

“Yeah, but not like she can,” he said. “She can kill with her touch.”

“So she can kill me if she touches me?” I asked.

“Only if she wants to.”

Well, that sounded lovely. And I had this creepy feeling she might end up wanting to.

“Oh, my God.” Aislin’s green eyes widened as she looked at us fearfully. “You don’t think that Laylen went there to drink the blood of someone Stasha killed.”

Alex didn’t answer and I felt my stomach churn.

“No—No he wouldn’t,” I stuttered, but honestly I wasn’t sure.Urgency spilled through the air. “I think we should all go get him. NOW!”

Alex shook his head. “I don’t think you should go.”

“I don’t really care what you think,” I snapped. “I’m going—Laylen needs me.”

“I’m going to see if I can go get a hold of Stasha and let her know we’re coming,” Aislin talked over us. She opened her phone and stepped into the hallway.

“You shouldn’t go.” Alex’s voice was less demanding and more begging.

“I need to,” I told him. “Laylen needs me, and this is all my fault anyway.”

“She won’t like you being there,” he mumbled, frustrated.

“Who? Stasha?” I asked curiously. “Why?”

“Because…she just won’t.” He was looking at me strangely.

The sly look on Nicholas’ face meant he was about to say something unpleasant. “He doesn’t want you there because he’s afraid Stasha will try to kill you.”

“But I haven’t done anything to her,” I grimaced.

“Oh, but you have.” He patted Alex on the back. “This one right here broke her heart.”

Alex smacked his arm away and his eyes lit up with fury. “Keep your mouth shut.”

“Yeah, well, his breaking her heart has nothing to do with me,” I told Nicholas. “I wasn’t even there.”

“Oh but it does have to do with you.” There was a mischievous sparkle in the faeries golden eyes. “Like I said, Stasha was madly in love with him.”

“Shut the hell up,” Alex growled, clenching his hand into fists.

But Nicholas continued on unbothered. “But since he is emotionally hollow, he broke her heart of course.”

“Of course.” I rolled my eyes at him, because he was being annoying. Well, a little annoying. I had to admit it did make me feel slightly better that Alex broke her heart, not the other way around. “But that doesn’t explain why she’ll want to kill me. I didn’t make him break her heart.”

“She’ll want to kill you because she’ll see how you two look at one another.” He smirked. “Your desire for each other is ridiculously obvious.”

Why, oh why, did Nicholas get a sick twisted pleasure on making things awkward? I mean, was it a faerie thing? Or was it just him. I shifted uncomfortably and so did Alex.

“No, it’s not,” I tried to assure Nicholas, but my voice failed me.

“Yes it is—it shows in your eyes.” He touched the corner of my eye with his finger and I flinched back.

“Don’t touch her ever again,” Alex said, getting in his face.

“Alright, let’s just stop,” I said, deciding to be the peace maker. “Now I understand your concern,” I told Alex. “About your ex-girlfriend wanting to kill me or whatever, but I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Alex opened his mouth to protest, and I questioned if there was some other reason he didn’t want me to go. Those other reasons ate away at my insides.

“I think she should go with us,” Aislin said from the hallway.

Daggers shot from Alex’s bright green eyes. “Well, no one asked for your opinion.”

“And no one asked for yours,” she snapped, shutting her cellphone. “You can go. You’re right—Laylen needs you.” She paused, looking pained. “You seem to understand him better than anyone…and he trusts you.”

It hurt her to say it, and I realized Aislin wasn’t that bad. Sure, she has done some things in her past that weren’t that great, but, like Alex, she probably was under the control of her father.

“So, we should get going.” Aislin grabbed the car keys from off the desk. “Stasha didn’t answer her phone, so we’re just going to have to surprise them.”

“Wait? What about my mom?” I asked. “She’ll wonder where we are.”

“We’ll leave her a note,” Aislin said quickly. “Besides, I think she needed to go somewhere—to the store. She was going to the store to pick up some food.”

Okay…she was acting weird. I pointed a finger at Nicholas. “Well, what are we going to do with him?”

Alex rubbed his jawline as he deliberated this. “We could tie him back up in the garage.”

“Oh, that would be nice,” I said, crossing my arms. “My mom showing up and finding him tied up in the garage.” I paused. “I think we should take him. Besides, if someone shows up here, he’ll tell them everything—you know he will.”

Alex knew I was right, but he still didn’t look very happy. “Fine, he can come.”

We hid the mapping ball and locked up the house, with both locks and magical charms. Then we headed down the desolate highway, toward the next town where Stasha lived. Night had blanketed over the land, the moon shining at its fullest. Silver and purple stars twinkled a soft lullaby, the ocean purring along with the tune.

The inside of the car was absurdly hot, due to both the humid air and the electricity. I didn’t know what it was about cars, but it brought out the heat between Alex and I. Thankfully, he was driving and I was in the backseat, sitting next to Nicholas, who was practically like an air freshener, with how much rainy-flower scent flowed off him. I couldn’t breathe, and finally I had to roll down the window. The air pumped oxygen threw my lungs, and I breathed in its salty scent with a deep, lingering breath.

“You doing okay back there?”

I tore myself away from the window and found Alex watching me in the rearview mirror.

“Yeah, it’s just a little hot back here.” I fanned myself with my hand.

Nicholas let out a loud snore. He had dozed off the minute we pulled out of the driveway. Aislin had nodded off too, not too shortly after the town had disappeared from our view. Evidently, everyone was tired.

“It is hot in here,” he agreed.

The pale glow of the moon trickled inside the cab of the car, lighting his hands clutched tightly on the steering-wheel.

“Maybe you should roll your window down too,” I suggested, hoping to pump in some more circulation. God, what had I been thinking, climbing in here with him?

“Good idea.” He rolled down his window and a gentle breeze lulled in. It helped…a little.

“Make-up Smeared Eyes” by Automatic Loveletter hummed from the speakers, and between the soft beat of the music and the gentle breeze, I found myself getting drowsy.

I yawned, my head feeling heavy.

“Are you tired?” he asked, glancing at the bright red numbers on the clock.

“Yeah, a little.”

“You should get some rest,” he said in a soft voice. “You need to be awake when we get there.”

And suddenly I was wide awake. I leaned forward in the chair. “I don’t get it…You act like this Stasha is…like going to murder me or something.”

“No, she’s not that bad, but…” He paused. “But she has jealousy issues.”

Ah, the emotion of jealousy. I’ve experienced that one a few times, and I can’t say I’m a fan.

“If she’s like that, then why did you date her?” I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth.

He shifted in the seat uncomfortably. “That’s why I dated her…It was easy not to feel things with her…unlike with some people.” His eyes met mine in the mirror and the look he gave me made my body tingle.

Stop thinking about him like that. Just Stop.

I bit at my nails. “I think we should—”

Suddenly, a shadowy figure appeared in the road. I let out a screamed as Alex slammed on the breaks. Tires roared. The car lurched forward…crunching…a bright light…yellow eyes…then blackness.

Chapter 7

I had never felt this kind of pain before. Never. It was like my body was compressed into a ball, my bones breaking and conforming to fit the position. It hurt so bad…so bad…

“Gemma.”

Who said that?

“Gemma, can you hear?”

I knew that voice. It was the most wonderful voice in the world.

I forced my eyes open and saw the beautiful boy staring down at me with the brightest green eyes I had ever seen.

“Are you alright?” The boy asked. Stars danced behind him. They were pretty.

I told my head to nod, but it didn’t. There was gravel in my hair and my skin was sticky and warm.

A girl appeared above me. I knew her too. Blood stained her golden brown hair.

“Look,” she pointed at my stomach.

The boy’s eyes widened and with one swift movement, he swooped me up in his arms.

“Get us out of here,” the boy yelled to the girl. “Now!”

She looked at him helplessly. “Where do you expect me to take us?”

“To Stasha’s.” There was panic on the boy’s face, and I wanted to tell him it’ll be okay—everything will be okay, but I couldn’t. “You have your crystal, right?”

She nodded. “But what about him.” She pointed down at the ground.

There was sadness in the boy’s eyes. “We’ll have to leave him here….If we don’t get her out of here…she might not make it. Besides, you know they pick up their own.”

“Alright.” The girl looked so sad. “Let’s go then.”

The boy said something else to me, but I couldn’t hear it, I could only see his lips moving.

My eyelids were heavy, so I shut them.

I was dying. I don’t know how I knew, but I just knew: this was what death feels like. There was no pain, no anguish, no burden of the star. Everything felt complete, except for one thing. A piece of me was missing.Not an actual piece per se, but something I was connected to—electrically connected to. Alex. I needed Alex.