The Underworld (8 page)

few of their gazes landed on me as they walked by,

and the severity of the situation I was in hit me like a

punch to the stomach, nearly knocking me to the floor.

I should have never come here. Laylen had let me

choose whether I wanted to come or not, because he

thought I should be able to make my own decisions.

And he was right—I should be able to. But maybe I

should start making better ones because I had this gut

wrenching feeling that something bad was about to

occur.

After everyone had left the room, taking some of the

smoke with them, Vladislav gestured at Laylen and

me to take a seat at the table. So we did, and then he

sat down in a chair across from us.

“So Laylen, what could possibly be so important

that you would need to discuss it with me in private?”

Vladislav asked.

“I need to know if there’s any way to find out if

someone’s stil alive in The Underworld,” Laylen said,

getting straight to the point. “And whether there’s a

way to get them out of there if they are.”

Vladislav raised his dark eyebrows at us, asking,

“And may I ask who this person is that you want to

know about?”

“Her name is Jocelyn Lucas,” Laylen told him.

The mention of my mother’s name seemed to be

making my oxygen supply shrink.

“Jocelyn Lucas,” Vladislav pondered. “It wouldn’t be

the Keeper, Jocelyn Lucas, would it?”

Laylen nodded. “That would be her,” he replied.

“Hmmm…I have heard of her.” A wicked look

flashed across Vladislav's face, and I had the feeling

that getting the information from him was going to end

up being quite a chal enge.

“So do you know if she’s stil alive?” Laylen causal y

asked.

Vladislav's eyes darkened. “Hmm…I do know if

she’s alive or not, however…” He trailed off, looking

right at me as he licked his lips. “This woman Jocelyn,

I’m guessing is very important to you?”

Vladislav was stil looking at me, but Laylen

answered him. “Yeah, she is.”

Then, very abruptly, I could feel it in the air. A

condition—something that was going to have to be

done in order to find out about my mom.

Vladislav’s dark eyes were smoldering black, and

his voice purred. “So tel me, what would you be

wil ing to give up to find out if she is alive or not?”

Don’t freak out, Gemma. Don’t freak out.
Which

wouldn’t have been as difficult if Vladislav would just

stop staring at me as if he was...wel , like he was

hungry.

“I don’t know.” Laylen answered, biting at his lip ring

as he thought about what Vladislav had asked. Then

he flashed me a quick what-do-you-think look. Al I did

was shrug, because I had no idea what to do. I

wanted to know, but I was worried what the cost would

end up being. And what if Vladislav was lying and we

ended up giving him something and getting nothing in

return.

“What exactly do you want? Laylen asked evenly,

and I was so glad he was our spokesperson cause

I’m about ninety-nine percent sure my voice would

have shook as bad as my hands were right now.

Vladislav reached toward the middle of the table,

toward an old cigar box. He lifted the lid off of the box

and removed a cigar. “I want one thing in exchange

for tel ing you what you want to know.” He dragged the

cigar along the bottom of his nose, breathing in the

scent.

“And what is it?” Laylen asked.

Vladislav struck a match on the table and lit the

cigar. He took a puff, blew out the smoke, and then

smiled, his fangs glinting dangerously in the light. “If

only things were that easy. They never are, though.

Are they?”

Laylen twisted at his lip ring, and I held my breath

as I waited for him to respond to Vladislav. “Alright,

tel us what you know and we’l give you what you

want.”

My heart faltered and my legs began to tremble.

Why did it feel like Laylen was making a deal with the

devil?

Vladislav took another puff off his cigar, before

resting it in an ashtray, the smoke stil rising off the

end of it. “I’ve heard of a Jocelyn Lucas, the one and

only Keeper who has ever been sent to The

Underworld, and the longest person to survive down

there. She has quite the reputation.”

Whoa…My blood howled in my ears. She was

alive. My mother was alive. The prickle showed up,

releasing an abundance of eagerness so great it

made me go al lightheaded.

“However,” Vladislav said and I swear my heart

stopped. “To get her out of The Underworld would be

nearly impossible. Not just because getting anyone

out of there is nearly impossible—especial y without

them drowning—but also because I’ve heard that her

long survival rate comes from the fact that she is a

slave for the Queen, which makes her very valuable.”

Slave for the Queen of The Underworld. That

sounded awful. My breathing had suddenly become

erratic and it caught Vladislav’s attention.

Tel me girl,” he licked his lips, “what’s your name?”

I swal owed hard. “Gemma.”

He eyed me over, staring at my eyes for longer than

necessary, which made me even more nervous. “And

how do
you
know Jocelyn?”

My instincts told me to deny, deny, deny. “I don’t

know her,” I lied.

He looked unconvinced. “You don’t, do you?” He

stood to his feet, putting his arms behind his back.

“You know, Gemma,” he said, pacing in front of us as

if he was some kind of grand lecturer. “I do not like it

when people lie to me.”

I opened my mouth to say that I wasn’t lying, but

Laylen shot me a look that told me to keep my mouth

shut.

“I find it hard to believe that Laylen would show up

here with a human, for the very first time,” Vladislav

continued on, “and you not play a part in why he’s

asking about a Keeper who’s been trapped in The

Underworld for more than a decade.”

Laylen started to speak, but Vladislav held up his

hand. “Silence. Do not interrupt me.” He stopped

pacing and faced us, his dark gaze shooting a chil up

my spine. “Now I’l ask you one last time.” He leaned

toward us, pressing his hands onto the table. “How do

you know Jocelyn?”

I was scared to death, but for some reason my

brain was screaming at me to keep quiet; that if I said

that Jocelyn was my mother, that perhaps it could be

traced to me being the one with the stars energy in

me.

I kept my voice as even as I could. “I real y don’t

know her, I swear.”

Vladislav fixed me with a baleful look and said,

“Wel , then. If you’re saying you’re tel ing the truth, then

you must be.”

I started to relax a little, but then as suddenly as a

lighting blot flashes, Vladislav was charging at me.

Before I could even finish my blink, he’d flipped over

the table, grabbed a hold of me, and pinned me

against him.

Laylen jumped to his feet, starting to run toward us.

Vladislav backed away from him, towing me along

with him.

“Come any closer,” Vladislav hissed, exposing his

fangs, the tips brushing against the skin of my neck.

“And I’l drain every ounce of blood she has in her.”

Laylen froze, and I pretty much stopped breathing.

“Wise choice,” Vladislav said, his ice-cold hands

gripping me so tightly I was sure I was going to have

bruises from it….if I made it out of here alive, that is.

“I think it’s time I col ect on what I want from you.”

“But you haven’t even told us how to get her out of

The Underworld,” I cried.

Laylen’s bright blue eyes went so wide they

practical y bulged out of his head, and I realized I

should not have opened my mouth.

“Yes, that is true.” He pressed me tighter into him—

too tight—and I winced from the pressure. Moving his

mouth to my ear, he purred, “However, if you didn’t

know her, then why would it matter whether I told you

anything?”

Great. Me and my stupid mouth. I was starting to

understand why Alex always seemed to be tel ing me

to keep my mouth shut.

Vladislav let out a deep growl, and then his fangs

sunk into my neck. They sunk in deeper and deeper,

and I gasped as I was blinded by images flickering

through my mind like a flashing picture show.

Vampires. Teeth. Stars. Alex. I felt faint. Lightheaded.

Dizzy and weak, yet at the same time relaxed. The

prickle was poking my neck wildly. My vision went

blurry. And then, al of a sudden, I felt content with

Vladislav biting my neck.

It was okay….

Okay…

There was a sharp snap, fol owed by a loud thud,

and my neck was released from Vladislav’s fangs and

his grip. I blinked down at Vladislav, lying lifelessly on

the red-carpeted floor, a broken chair leg sticking out

of his chest.

“What happened?” My voice floated out of me as I

turned to Laylen.

“We have to go.” He took a hold of my hand and the

world swayed as he pul ed me toward the door.

My fuzzy brain only al owed me to pick up on a few

words Laylen was saying to me: careful, normal, don’t

panic. He wiped my neck where Vladislav had bit me

with the bottom of his t-shirt, before creaking the door

open. He peered up and down the hal , and then we

stepped out.

Someone was cal ing me.

The lights were bright. The music loud.

I saw red.

And then, I fel .

It was so cold. As cold as death. Was I dead?

My eyes fluttered opened. I was lying down on a

floor, the wood flooring cold against my cheek. I slowly

sat up and gazed at my surroundings. Where was I?

A cabin. Not the cabin in Colorado. No, this was a

different cabin; a much smal er one with no furniture,

no fireplace, no nothing.

I got to my feet and made my way over to the

window and tried not to flip out when I noticed it had

bars on it.
Trapped
.

“What in the world?” I muttered to myself.

A bang came from behind me and I whirled around,

coming face to face with myself. Not the younger

version of myself, but the actual eighteen-year-old

Gemma.

So I was in a future vision, at least I think I was. This

brought no sense of comfort to me, especial y since I

had no idea where this place was, and also

because…wel , because, in the vision, my violet eyes

looked drained of al emotion.

I watched myself lie down on the floor and curl up

into a tiny bal . Then, I just lay there, silent and

unblinking.
Numb
.

What was going on? Had my emotions been

erased? Was this actual y where I was going to end

up?

A surge of fear pulsated through me, and I took off

running for one of the two doors the smal room had

and threw it open. It was a bathroom. I turned around,

ran for the other door, and with a lot of effort, shoved it

open.

My heart stopped.

Miles and miles of snow-covered mountains, trees

poking out of them like little tepee’s. And the log cabin

I stood in was smack dab in the middle of it al ,

secluded from al civilization, for as far as I could see.

I turned around and looked at myself curled up on

the hardwood floor. How had I ended up like this? And

what was wrong with me? I had an idea, but before I

could look around and try to figure out more, an icy

gust of wind swept up, and I was blown back, fal ing

into the darkness.

When I opened my eyes, it took my brain a second

to process that I was lying on warm asphalt, with a

very dim lamppost shining down on me. And that

Laylen was kneeling next to me.

“Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.

I gradual y sat up, my neck burning with my every

movement. “Ahh,” I winced, reaching for my neck.

Then winced again from the pain my touch brought on.

“Easy,” Laylen said, his voice soothing. “It’s going

to hurt for a little bit.”

“What’s going to hurt?” I asked, and then I

remembered I’d been bitten by a vampire. I began to

panic.

Laylen must have seen the panic in my eyes too,

because he said, “You’l be okay, Gemma. The

fogginess wil wear off in awhile. The actual bite,