The Underworld (30 page)

dangerously.

I glared at him. “Let me go.”

“Now, why would I do a stupid thing like that?” He

stood up, gesturing at the floor around me. “I could

keep you here forever you know—the room is

surrounded by
praesidium.
”

As I glanced around room, I became aware that

trimming the floor were lavender crystal bal s about

the size of marbles. Now I didn’t know what they were,

but I knew they had to be bad.

“What’s praesidium?” I asked, fearing the answer.

He gave a long pause “Wel , I guess since you

asked…
praesidium
is another kind of crystal bal

Foreseers use. Only instead of channeling energy, it

takes it away.”

Oh God. That’s why I couldn’t use my Foreseer

power. The bad situation seemed to be getting

worse.

“What are you going to do with me?” I asked, my

voice cracking.

He grinned deviously. “I think the question is what

am I not going to do with you?”

I tried my best to ignore my quivering nerves. “If you

give me over to Stephan, you know what he’s going to

do to me, right? He’s going to end the world—

everyone wil die.”

“I don’t need you to explain what Stephan is

planning to do. I understand, even more than you do,

what he’s planning to do with you.”

“So you’re just okay with letting him kil everyone,” I

said, hoping he would let some of the details slip out.

“Do you even feel anything at al ?”

“I think the real question is do you feel anything.” He

leaned over me, his eyes nearly glowing. “Which I

think is what this whole thing is about.”

My stomach rol ed. He knew more than I thought he

did. “Why are you doing this? Is there a reason? Or

are you just plain evil?”

“Am I just plain evil?” He sounded mad. “Before you

go opening your mouth and saying things you don’t

understand, maybe you should consider how much

you know about Stephan. Or about his precious son

Alex? You trust him so much, yet he is the son of the

man who has ruined your life and many others as

wel .”

“Did he ruin your life?” The way he said it made me

wonder.

He didn’t say anything, and I thought I struck a

nerve.

“What did he do to you?” I asked, keeping my voice

low and swaying.

He stared at me with a look of intensity and I

thought he was going to tel me, but then that playful

sparkle returned to his eyes, and he backed away

from me with a stupid grin on his face.

“I think I’m going to go take a walk.” He slid his

hands into the pockets of his tan cargo pants. “I’d say

wait here, but I don’t think you’l be going anywhere.”

“Nicholas, please,” I begged, jerking on the chains

again. “You can’t hand me over to Stephan.”

But he already left.

I let out a frustrated scream, tugging on the chains

with every ounce of strength I had in me, disregarding

the pain of the metal cuffs cutting deeply into my skin. I

tried to break free until my wrists were bleeding; until I

was so exhausted that I had no strength left in me.

Until al there was left to do was wait.

What I was waiting for, I didn’t know.

It seemed like hours went by. There were no

windows in the room so I couldn’t tel if it was dark

outside. And where exactly was I? The Kingdom of

Fey or the City of Crystal—where did Nicholas live?

My wrists were sore, my head was throbbing, and I

was scared and tired. I wondered what Alex and

Laylen were doing. What did they do when I didn’t

return to the car? Were they looking for me? Would

they even know where to find me?

I’d just rested back against the wal , giving up al

hope that anyone was ever going to be able to find

me, when the door opened up.

My heart leapt, hoping it was Laylen. Or Alex.

Although, I couldn’t feel any electricity so I doubted

that was the case.

Of course, the only person who came strol ing in

was Nicholas. He was carrying something in his hand,

and he didn’t look happy at al .

He walked over and sat down in front of me. “Tel

me, Gemma, has anyone told you anything about the

fey world?”

“Umm…no?” Was this a trick question?

“Wel ,” he crossed his legs, “we have been around

forever. Most people who know of our existence think

of us a tricksters, which, most of the time, we are. But

we can also be very serious, at least when it comes to

our kind suffering.”

I wasn’t sure where he was going with this, so I just

stared at him vacantly.

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard of him or not, but there

used to be a Keeper who cal ed himself Malefiscus,”

he said.

I swal owed hard. “I might have heard his name

mentioned before.”

“Good, then I don’t have to explain who he is. And I

assume you know what kind of a person he was and

what he did.”

I slowly nodded. “I do.”

“Wel , during his time of chaos, he tortured

everyone, including the Fey. And the Fey leader at

that time, decided he had enough—that too many fey

were dying, so he made a bargain with Malefiscus.

Leave the Fey alone, and we would owe him one

favor. Malefiscus agreed and the promise was bound

with a Blood Promise.”

“A Blood Promise?”

He ignored me, continuing on with his story. “Not

too long after the promise was made, though,

Malefiscus was caught and sentenced.” He paused.

“Everyone thought he died, and who knows, maybe he

did, but his bloodline did not die with him. It carried on

and now resides in a man named Stephan Avery.” He

opened his hand and placed what he was holding

onto the floor between us. A smooth, round stone, with

a circle wrapped by an S painted on it—the

Foreseers mark. “Because his bloodline carried on,

so did the Fey’s promise to grant a favor. Only now

the favor is owed to Stephan. No one knew of this,

though, until he showed up just a few days ago,

demanding his promise in the name of Malefiscus.

But he didn’t want just any member of the Fey to

honor this promise. He wanted the faerie who

possessed the gift of Foreseeing—he wanted me. Or

more specifical y he wanted me to track down a very

pretty, but very tortured girl with beautiful violet eyes

and a fiery personality.”

If he hadn’t mentioned the eye color, I wouldn’t have

known he was talking about me because none of the

other parts of his description seemed fitting.

“This was after I met you,” he continued. “After I’d

taken you to Dyvinius.”

“What does he want you to do to me?” I was afraid

to know the answer, especial y because I was in a

very vulnerable situation right now, being chained to a

wal and al .

“A few things,” he said. “But in the end, it al comes

down to one thing—I am supposed to bring you to

him.”

I swal owed hard. “Are you going to?”

“At first I wasn’t sure. I know what Stephan is

planning to do—that was made clear from the

beginning.” He pressed his lips together, considering

something. “But in the end, I real y don’t have a

choice. I am bound to a promise I cannot break.”

“Are you sure you can’t break it?” I asked,

practical y pleading. “Because there might be a wa—”

“No, there is no other way.” He talked over me. “If I

don’t turn you over, then my people wil suffer.”

“But if you do turn me over, the whole world wil

suffer,” I told him. “I’ve seen it.”

He gave me a mocking look. “Are you sure about

that?”

“Yes,” I said confidently.

“And how can you be sure. How can you be sure of

anything?”

“I…” He had a point. How could I be sure of

anything?

He scooted the stone closer to me and I scooted

back.

“What is that?” I asked, pointing a shaking finger at

the stone.

“Something that’s going to temporarily take your

Foreseer power away.”

“What!” I cried, scooting back from the stone even

more. “How?”

“Don’t worry,” his voice purred. “It won’t hurt. And

it’s only temporary. For the moment, Stephan needs

you free of your powers, but eventual y you’l get them

back.”

“Please don’t,” I begged. “You can’t give me to

him.”

“I already said I don’t have a choice.” He looked

livid as he rol ed up the sleeve of his black shirt.

Across his arm was a mark. Not the Foreseers mark,

but a different one—a red symbol traced by a black

triangle.

“What is that?” I whispered, although I think deep

down I already knew.

“The Mark of Malefiscus.” Nicholas practical y

growled. “I am forever branded with the mark of evil.

And between the Blood Promise and the mark of evil,

I have to hand you over.”

“How did you—how did you get it?” I asked, trying

not to shake from head-to-toe. “Are you related to

Stephan?”

He shook his head. “No. Like Malefiscus, Stephan

is capable of making marks, not just on himself but on

other people.”

My breath caught again. If Stephan could put the

mark on people…What if he’d put the mark on Alex? I

wasn’t sure if I believed that or not. Yes, Alex had

done some questionable things, but now…I don’t

know…he went to the City of Crystal for me.

Nicholas picked up the stone and held it in front of

my face, just out of my reach. “Until we meet again,”

he said.

“No!” I screamed as the stone began to hum. It did

not glow, though, or create smoke. It just hummed.

Louder and louder, until the humming clawed at my

ear drums.

I threw my hands over my ears. “Nicholas!” I yel ed.

“Please don’t do this. “

“It’s not my choice,” Nicholas shouted over the

humming. Then, suddenly, his eyes were rol ing back

in his head. He let out a deafening scream that rang

loudly through the room. The stone fel from his hands

and hit the floor with a clank. The next thing I knew he

was lying on the floor. He wasn’t dead—I could see

his chest rising and fal ing with each breath—but

definitely unconscious.

I stared at him, bewildered. What happened? Had

the stone backfired its power on him? Then I felt a

warmth against my neck. I reached up, and slipped

my locket out from underneath my tank top.

“Oh my God.” My necklace. My beautiful, amazing,

wonderful necklace. The stone’s magic must have

taken Nicholas’s Foreseer power away from him,

instead of from me.

I tucked the locket back under my shirt and

immediately started searching for a way to escape. I

didn’t know how long Nicholas was going to be out so

I needed to hurry. What I needed was the key to the

cuffs.

I inched my way over to Nicholas, as far as the

chains would al ow me to go, which was close enough

that I could reach Nicholas’s foot. I grabbed hold of his

shoe and started dragging him toward me. My word,

faeries were heavy. It was like trying to pul a bag of

bricks. But I managed and almost started jumping up

and down when I found the key tucked away in the

pocket of his pants.

“Yes,” I cried, unlocking the cuffs and then letting out

a breath of freedom. I ran for the door, unsure of how

far I would have to go to be able to use my Foreseer

powers to get me out of here. But then a sudden

thought raced through my mind that made me pause

just outside the door. The Ira bal . What if it was

here?”

I glanced back at Nicholas, sleeping away. How

much time did I have? I wasn’t sure, but I had to try

and find it. I raced back into the room, ran over to the

table and threw open al the drawers. Each one was

vacant.

Other than the table, this room was empty, so I ran

out of it and into the next room, where I began ripping

everything apart. I dumped out drawers, threw the

cushions off the sofas, tossed books off the shelves,

but I stil couldn’t find it.

Frustrated, I kicked a smal garbage can that just

happened to me in my legs reach. It tipped over and

something round and moss colored rol ed out of it and

across the floor. The Ira.

I swiped it up and stuffed it into the pocket of my

shorts, which was a tricky thing to do since the thing