The Lost Soul (Fallen Soul Series, Book 1) (30 page)

“And what does this Cornu Lepore do?” I sigh. “Because I know it does something.”

“It’s the charm of the Royalty Fey.” She grips the door handle as Alex floors the Camaro over a massive pothole in the road. “Like Luna, who’s an Empress.”

I buckle my seatbelt. “Is there any other Royalty Fey out there? I mean, I thought Helena, Lucinda, and Annabella were all fey?”

“Death Fey,” she says. “There’s a
huge
difference.”

Frustration bubbles up in me. I know I’ve seen the pendant before.

“It gives them power.” Aislin continues to read her screen. “That’s probably why Luna can grow to ten times her normal size.”

“It’s always gotta be about power,” Alex mutters, slowing down for a sharp turn.

I rewind through my thoughts. Where have I seen it?

Aislin’s phone beeps and she switches to her text messages. “Oh good. Laylen’s not even heading back to the house.” She sighs with relief. “But Alex, you’re not going to like where he is.”

Alex drums his fingers on the steering wheel as we gradient down the road and pass by a cemetery. “Lay it on me. I’m pretty sure there’s not much more that can surprise me.”

“He went to…” She glances warily at the screen. “He went to Nalina’s house to see if he can force her to help Gemma with the Crystal of Limitation.”

“But didn’t she betray Gemma?”

Trees zoom by in blurs. When it clicks, it’s like the wind’s knocked out of me.

“Tell him to get out of there!” I shout, frightening both of them. “Now!”

They look at me with wide eyes and their jaws hanging open.

“Why?” Aislin asks, panicking. “I know she’s bad and everything. But Laylen’s a Keeper and a vampire. And Nalina, well she’s just a Foreseer without her power.”

I shake my head swiftly. “No, she’s not. She’s fey—Royalty Fey.”

Aislin gapes at me. “Did you hit your head or something?”

“No, I remember where I saw the Cornu Lepore.” I point at my own necklace. “On Nalina’s neck.”

Aislin’s dialing Laylen’s number before I even finish. Alex throttles the gas and the tires spin up a cloud of dirt.

“Please answer your phone, please answer your phone,” Aislin chants under her breath. She bites on her thumbnail. “Please—Laylen, yeah. You need to get out of there
now
.” A pause. “No, Nalina’s some kind of Fey Royalty.” She nods her head. “I know. I know. But until we know what the hell she is… Laylen… Laylen!” She stares at the phone. “Oh my God. Oh my God.”

“What is it?” I lean forward and my seatbelt locks. “What happened?”

She breathes fitfully. “There was a scream and then we were disconnected.”

Alex presses the gas pedal to the floor. I don’t know how fast we’re going and I don’t want to know. All I care about is that we make it to Laylen.

He’ll be fine. Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to my Alexander.

My eyes shift from side to side and I attempt to convince myself that it’s a ghost or something. Because that option would be a lot better.

“Gemma, can you foresee us there?” Aislin grips the handle on the roof as the car ramps over a bump.

My body flies up and my head bumps the ceiling. “No, there’s
praesidium
all over the place, including the neighborhood,” I lie, unsure why.  I pry my lips open, attempting to tell her that I can.

Pretend all you want. Deep down, you knew I wasn’t gone.

I let out a gasp.

She’s back.

I’ve barely said a word the entire drive. No one notices. Aislin’s too busy crying and Alex’s main concern is driving like a maniac. I point directions, guiding him to the Victorian house located on the bad side of town.

He ramps the car over the curb and onto the front lawn. He hops out and flips the seat forward. I climb out and we rush up the path to the front porch. A large Rottweiler drools and snarls behind the neighbor’s chain link fence. I shoot a glare at it and it cowers off with its tail between its legs.

Alex kicks down the door, shattering it off the hinges. He rolls his shoulders, all manly.

“Well, if she didn’t know we were here before, she does now.” Aislin sticks her head inside and then walks in.

Alex clutches my hand and we follow her. We probably look like a couple of homeless kids raiding the house for food, in our torn pajamas with bruises and cuts on our skin. Alex doesn’t even have a shirt on. Luckily, I don’t think anyone in this particular neighborhood will mind.

Come out. Come out. Wherever you are Nalina.

Apparently Helena knows Nalina. Big shocker there.

The floorboards creak as we creep through the house. No one has a weapon, except Aislin with her magic. She ignites her hands with a bright orange flame. The furniture in the kitchen is tipped over, pans are scattered all over the counters, and a pot of water boils on the stove.

“They can’t be too far,” Alex whispers, turning off the stove. There’s a door at the rear of the kitchen and he navigates to it.  He hesitates and then squeaks open the door. Stairs lead to a bottom floor. The lights are on and hushed voices float up to us. He puts a finger to his lips and releases my hand. “You two wait here.”

Aislin begins to argue, but he brushes her off and walks expeditiously down the stairs, vanishing at the bottom.

“They’ll be okay, right?” Aislin asks worriedly. “I mean, Nalina doesn’t even have her power.”

I shrug, clicking my locket open and shut. “Not her Foreseer power. But she might have her fey power.”

“But what is fey power, really?” she cogitates. “I’ve never seen anything that would lead me to believe the fey have any power. Well, other than the power to drive someone insane.”

I point a finger over my shoulder and raise my eyebrows. “Did you see what Luna did?”

“Good point.” Her worry multiplies. With uncertainty, she steps down the stairs.

I let her go, rummaging the kitchen for a knife. I open a drawer and recover a sharp butcher knife. I touch my finger to the tip, pricking my skin. Blood pools out. “Yep, that’ll work just fine.”

A deafening scream erupts from the downstairs. Gripping the knife, I trot down the stairs. Alex has Nalina trapped in a corner. She’s curled up in a ball, trembling with fear. Filing cabinets are flung all over the floor and papers pile out. Laylen stands in the middle of the room, his arm wrapped protectively around Aislin, whose hands are still flaming.

I skulk behind them with the knife pointed at the ground.

“Tell us why you have a Cornu Lepore,” Alex demands, hovering over her with his fury raging.

She covers her head with her arms, her grey eyes peeking up at him. “Leave me alone. I didn’t do anything. He attacked me.” Her eyes find me and a hopeful look crosses her face. “Gemma, tell him. Tell him I’m not a bad person.”

I return her plea with a bored expression. “All I know is you poisoned me with the memory tea to help Dyvinius steal my power.”

“But he made me do it.” Her voice quivers. “I didn’t want to, but I have no power to protect myself.” She steadies her voice. “Please Gemma, I’m your Aunt.”

“No, you’re not,” I reply. “You’re fey.”

“And so are you.” She lowers her hands and slowly rises to her feet, her back pressed against the wall. “You just don’t know you are.”

“You’re full of crap,” Alex says, raising a fist.

I almost drop the knife. “I don’t have a mark.”

“Did you have your Foreseer mark when you first used that power?” She cautiously steps toward me. “Think about it. Why would Helena be so fixated on you?”

You’re getting warmer.

“Because you have fey blood.” Another step, then another, until she's right in front of me. “She can connect to you because of your fey blood.”

“There’s a difference between Helena’s fey and other fey,” I deny. “And I’m not any fey.”

Yes, you are.

“Yes, you are Gemma.” She reaches for my hand but I recoil. “You’ve just been in the dark all your life. But you’ll get your mark. You’ll see.” She pauses. “You need to be careful. There’s a rumor going around that a fey war is breaking out. Lucinda, Helena, Luna, they’re all after something, but I’m not sure what.”

I scratch my head with the handle of the knife. “Like world domination?”

“I don’t know.” She glances at the four of us. “Now please just let me go. I’ve told you everything I know.”

I consider her request thoughtfully. “Okay, that sounds fair.” She smiles and I clock her in the side of the head.

“Gemma!” Aislin exclaims in a high pitched squeal.

Alex looks at Nalina then at me. “Okay, well that works.”

“Dude, you just hit an old lady,” Laylen comments from behind me.

I shrug and toss the knife on the floor. “So, now what do we do?”

Alex is stunned, but blinks it away. “We need to find a place to hide out. We can’t go back to the castle.”

“Why not?” I ask. “Do you really think Luna will be hanging around? I’m sure she has reasons for wanting to get in the Human Realm, besides chasing us.”

“Do you really want to find that out?” Alex asks.

I shrug. “Maybe.”

“Can we just go?” Aislin complains. “I don’t feel safe here.”

We all agree and hurry up the stairs. While Alex and Aislin argue about where we should go, I quickly backtrack to Nalina. I squat down over her unconscious body and snap the necklace off her neck. I hide it in my pocket and head for the stairs.

Alex waits for me at the bottom. “Are you okay?” He glances over at Nalina. “Did you forget something?”

I shake my head. “I just wanted to make sure I didn’t hurt her too bad. I feel kind of guilty now.”

He twirls a strand of my hair around his finger and gives my lips a soft kiss. “She’ll be okay. I’ve hit many people a lot harder than that.” He speaks to me like I’m innocent.

I nod and we rush up the stairs. I almost laugh at his gullibility.

He has no idea what’s coming for him.

Luckily Laylen has enough money to buy us all a set of clothes, food, some toiletries, and a motel room. It’s the grungier side of town, where the doors have to be locked and no one can go wandering around by themselves. We take turns showering and brushing our teeth. We’re tired and bummed out and have absolutely no idea what to do next.

“I can’t believe I screwed up so bad.” Aislin sits cross-legged on the bed, coiling her damp hair around her finger. She’s dressed in shorts and a pink tee. Laylen and Alex are outside, searching for an ice machine to fill up the ice bucket. “Now there are sprites and a crazy Empress running around.”

“It’s not your fault.” The room has two full size beds and I sit on the opposite one, brushing the tangles from my hair. “And we didn’t see any fey invading the streets, so we’re good for now.”

“But I didn’t even get Aleesa freed.” She pouts.