The Underworld (28 page)

sink, but there was nothing I could do about the fact

that I didn’t have any shoes on.

After I finished cleaning up, I met Laylen and Alex

back outside. Laylen had scrubbed down his shirt, but

I could stil faintly make out a smal stain. Alex had run

water through his hair and somehow had miraculously

styled it into place.

Apparently while they’d been waiting for me to

clean up, they’d come up with a plan. Wel , Laylen

came up with a plan, anyway. Laylen suggested to

Alex to go work his “Alex charm” on the cashier girl

inside the gas station, and see if he could persuade

her to let us use her phone. I felt bad for the poor girl,

and for a brief second I wanted to smack Alex on the

back of the head for doing such a mean thing,

especial y because I once was in that poor girls

position. But my sore bare feet and hunger pains kept

me from stopping him.

So Laylen and I waited outside the gas station,

which was located in a less busy, but sketchier area

of Vegas, while Alex went in to work his “Alex charm”

on the poor girl. And within seconds, he had the

phone pressed up to his ear.

“So you’re okay, right?” Laylen asked, as we stood

in front of the glass entrance doors, keeping our eyes

out for any Death Walkers, vampires, man with a scar,

ect.

“What, with Alex flirting with that girl,” I replied,

ringing some of the left over water out of my dark

brown hair. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” The expression

on Laylen’s face let me know right away that that was

not what he had been talking about at al , and I felt like

such an idiot. “Oh, you mean with the bite,” I said,

feeling stupid. “Yeah, of course I’m fine.”

“You don’t feel…” He hesitated, leaning back

against the door. “Weird or anything?”

I shook my head, cupping my hand over the bite

marks on my wrists. “No. No weirdness.” Actual y, that

was a lie. During the bite-session, there was this

fleeting instant where I pictured Laylen and I kissing,

which was completely weird. I knew it was only the

bite that had struck up the picture in my mind, but

there was stil a lingering feel-good sensation that the

image had brought up inside me. But I knew it would

wear off soon enough.

“So no weirdness, then?” He stil ed seemed

disbelieving.

“Besides this conversation?” I joked.

He laughed, and it felt good that I had been the one

to make him laugh. Also, maybe I could take this as a

sign that my people skil s were improving.

I know, who would have thought, right?

“So how are you feeling?” I asked. “No weirdness

with you?”

He shook his head as he absentmindedly touched

his mouth on the spot where his fangs had slipped

out. “I feel okay, I guess. Except my teeth feel a little

strange.”

“Strange how?” I wondered.

“I don’t know…I can feel them now, up there, and

it’s…I don’t know.” He touched the tip of his finger to

his tooth. “I’ve never had them out before.”

I gaped him. “What? You’ve never brought out your

fangs before…ever?”

“Nope,” he said. “I told you I never brought them

out.”

“Yeah, but when you said ‘never’ I thought you

talking about hardly ever, like maybe once and

awhile.”

“Nope. Never as in never.”

“So you’ve never bitten anyone before…
Ever
.”

He shook his head. “No, you’re the first.”

Wow. I stood there, taking in the heaviness of the

situation. What if, because he brought them out, he

changed? What if he started to become blood

hungry? It would be my fault because I made him bite

me. But he would’ve died if he hadn’t. Especial y

since Alex had been moving at the pace of a turtle,

which I was hoping wasn’t done intentional y. But Alex

is Alex and you can never put anything past him.

I chose to keep al of this to myself, though. There

was no use letting Laylen in on my thoughts of whether

or not he was going to go insane and start biting

people. I was just going to have to make sure to keep

an eye on him.

“Okay,” Alex announced as he stepped outside, a

bel dinging as the door swung shut. “Aislin and

Adessa are leaving the house now—wel , Aislin is,

and Adessa’s going to go stay with some friends of

hers until we let her know it’s safe for her to return

home.”

“And where are we going?” I asked, glancing

anxiously at a large Chevy truck turning into the gas

station parking lot.

“
We
are driving,” he answered.

“Driving?” I repeated. Driving seemed like such an

amateur thing to do. “Why can’t we just have Aislin

transport us? Or maybe I could get us somewhere

since I can now use my Foreseer power to travel to

places.”

“No.” He moved right in front of me, his bright green

eyes gleaming in the neon pink glow of the flashing

“Open” sign. “We’re not transporting because there’s

no way we can get to Aislin or Adessa without the fear

of them being fol owed.”

“But I could—”

“And we’re not using your Foreseer abilities

anymore until we know for sure that you know how to

use them.”

“I know how to use them. I got us to the Black

Dungeon perfectly fine, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but you’re tired.” He gave me an intense

look, before looking away at the silent street. “I can

feel it.”

I focused on the electric buzz, and it did seem very

faint—a soft hum instead of fiery sparkles. “Wel , so

are you,” I pointed out.

“Exactly. We al are.” He looked at Laylen. “So for

now, I think it would be best if we drove. It gives us a

chance to rest. And besides, since our location wil

constantly be changing, it’l make it harder for

Nicholas to track us down. Showing up in a moving

vehicle is basical y impossible to do.”

“But what about when we stop?” I asked.

“We’l make limited stops, and I won’t make the

decision to stop until a few seconds beforehand,”

Alex ran his hands through his very messy and not in

an-intentional-done kind-of- way hair. “That way he’l

have very short notice on where we’l be at.”

“You think that’l work?” Laylen asked, moving away

from the gas station entrance doors so a man

wearing a red basebal cap could go inside.

“Honestly,” he shook his head, “I have no idea if it

wil , but it’s al I got right now so…”

“So, where’s this car we’re supposed to be

driving?” Laylen asked. “And where are we going to

be driving it to?”

“That’s for me to know.” Alex started across the gas

station parking lot.

I headed after him, the gravel cutting into by bare

feet. “You’re not going to tel us?” I asked, not

surprised, but irritated.

He came to a stop so rapidly I just about ran

straight into him. The electricity awoke from its lazy

slumber, reacting excitedly.

He turned around with very serious expression on

his face. “Look,” he said. “I understand it’s your nature

to want to know things, but it’s best if only I know

where we’re going. If Nicholas is trying to track you,

it’l be easier for him if you’re thinking about where

we’re headed.”

Whether his plan made sense or not, I gave in

because I didn’t have a better idea. “Okay then,” I

said. “Let’s go get a car.”

Turns out Adessa had a friend who would lend us

their car, or an SUV I guess I should say. The beastly

thing could in no way qualify as a car. The colossal

SUV—a shiny black Chevy Tahoe—had tires as tal

as my legs and a lift to add even more height. I

practical y had to high jump into it. Then after I made it

inside, I had to wait around while Alex and Laylen

argued over who was going to drive the beast.

Final y, they decided that Laylen would go first

since apparently he felt very wired and awake. So we

pul ed out of the parking garage and onto a main road

of Vegas, where Alex told Laylen to drive to the

freeway and head east.

As I sat there on the sticky backseat, staring out the

window—at the stars of course—I couldn’t help but

think about how much trouble we were in now that it

seemed Nicholas was helping Stephan. With Stephan

having a Foreseer on his side, it was going to make

tracking us down much easier. In fact, I was surprised

he hadn’t already, which made me question just what

Nicholas was up to. He had me right there when he

pretended to help me, so why not turn me over?

At least we were in a moving vehicle now, and if

what Alex said was true then we were safe for the

moment.

The longer we drove, the dimmer the florescent

lights of Vegas became, until they were completely

tucked away behind the sandy hil s. I let out a yawn as

I stared up at the sliver streams of stars, questioning

my whole existence. Why was I here? I mean, if the

star’s energy was being used to open the portal, then

didn’t it mean I was as wel ? It was in me, therefore I

would be responsible for the portal opening and

ending the world.

Wel , that was a heavy thought.

“You should get some sleep.”

I tore my eyes away from the stars and my very

unsettling thoughts and found Alex watching me from

the front seat.

“It’s late,” he said. “And we have a ways to go.”

“I’m not real y tired,” I said, even though I yawned

about ten times in the last few minutes.

“Wel , you should try to get some sleep, anyway, just

in case something happens.” He ran his fingers

though his hair and turned away. “And I know you’re

tired. I can feel it.”

This whole new “I-can-feel-your-tired-and-you-can-

feel-I’m-tired” thing was weird. But I guess everything

between Alex and I was a little weird so…

I rested my head against the cool, hard glass of the

window, and within seconds my eyelids had drifted

shut.

Bright light. Bright light everywhere.

I belonged here—I could feel. I belonged in the

bright white light.

Peaceful, calm—this was my end.

The light sparkled across my skin, enveloping me

in a blanket of warmth.

I’d been here before, in a vision. Nicholas had

said it was my end. And as I stood here in the bright

light, I knew he was right. This is where I would end

up…

Forever.

My eyes shot open, and for a moment I couldn’t

figure out where I was. Somewhere dark. And warm.

Then it dawned on me. I was in a car, headed to who

knows where. I was also lying down on the seat, the

leather pressing warmly against my cheek.

The whole light dream I had was making me freak

out a little, especial y because Nicholas had told me

that the light vision I’d went into meant my future was

dead. And now I was dreaming about it. That couldn’t

be good.

From the front seats, Alex and Laylen were chatting

about cars, like they were two normal guys, which I

guess was a good thing—at least they weren’t

fighting. But it was stil strange to hear a normal

conversation that didn’t center on Death Walkers,

Foreseers, or the end of the world.

“No. There’s no way your GTO could beat my

Camaro,” Alex was saying, sounding a little worked

up. “Are you freaking kidding me with this?”

“No I’m not freaking kidding you with this,” Laylen

replied calmly. “I bet you hands down that my car

could take your car any day.”

“Bul ,” Alex said. “You know I would win, you just

won’t admit it.”

I decided that I’d rather be sleeping than listening to

this. But right as I was shutting my eyes, Laylen said

something that made me open them right back up.

“I’l tel you what,” he said. “I’l admit that you might

be right, if you’l admit that you like Gemma.”

“If I told you that then I’d be lying,” Alex said,

sounding as if he meant it. “Wel , at least not in the

sense that you’re implying.”

Ouch, that stung.

They were silent. The only sound came from the

rumble of the tires and the low hum of the song purring

from the stereos speakers—“Epiphany” by Staind.

“Okay Alex,” Laylen said, in an ‘I’m-going-to-lay-it-