He sighs overdramatically, pressing his hand to his heart. “Your distrust wounds me so.”
“If you’re not here to tell me where my mom is, go away,” I order, and Alex gives me this puzzled look.
“But I swear I really am here to help,” he says, drawing an x over his heart with his fingertip. “I promise.”
“What’s he saying?” Alex asks, scanning the forest.
Nicholas’s lips curl into a malicious grin as he steps in front of Alex and waves his hand in front of his face. “God, I hate you.” He flattens Alex’s hair with his hand. “And that stupid hair.”
“Stop that.” I glare at Nicholas. “And I like his hair.”
“Why are you talking about my hair?” Alex asks, ruffling his hands through his hair.
I pull Alex out of Nicholas’s reach then aim a finger at Nicholas. “Either tell me what to do or go away.”
“Fine.” He sighs, lowering his hand to his side. “You need to come with me.”
I shake my head, stepping back until I can feel Alex behind me. “No way.”
“You have to.”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not,” I argue. “And I can’t, anyway. You’re dead, and wherever the heck you’re going, I can’t go.”
“And you’ll soon be dead, too,” Nicholas says simply. “Once you pick the way you want to die. Now, me personally, I’d pick a poetic way, like poison from a vile. But you, I’m guessing you’ll go with something lame.”
I gape at him. “What are you talking about? I’m not picking the way I’m going to die, not with you around, anyway.”
Alex’s hands find my waist, and he pulls me against him. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Just a second.” I hold up a finger, keeping my attention on Nicholas. “Start explaining from the beginning; otherwise, I’m leaving.”
He yawns. “It’s kind of a long story, one I’d really rather not waste time telling.”
“Then give me the short version,” I say through gritted teeth. “Just don’t leave out anything important like you usually do.”
He sits down on a rock, folding his arms. “Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess,” he starts and I glare at him. “You asked for the short version, and I’m giving it to you. This is how it starts.”
Sighing tiredly, I sit down on a rock then signal for Alex to take a seat.
“What are we doing?” Alex asks as he sits down beside me.
“We’re listening to a story,” I explain, “that probably has no point.”
“Like I was saying,” Nicholas says, resting his hands on his knees as he leans forward. “There was a beautiful princess who was more extraordinary than any other princess because she liked to help the world. The problem was, she wasn’t very good at helping. Every time she fixed a problem, she caused another until, one day, she caused a problem so great it cost the lives of many innocent people.”
Alex whispers in my ear, “What’s he saying?”
“I’ll tell you when he’s finished.” I motion at Nicholas to continue.
“What the princess needed to realize is that to fix the problems she caused, she needed to save the lost souls of the innocent lives that were taken.”
“And how do I save these lost souls?” I ask, even though I think I already know the answer.
“By going to the Afterlife and bargaining with the queen for their release.” He flashes me his pearly whites, taking pleasure in my pain.
I frown, remembering the last queen I ran into—the Queen of the Underworld. “Why does it always have to be a queen?”
“Because it’s much more fun that way.” Nicholas smirks. “And her name is Queen Helena.”
“And what’s this queen like?” I wonder, picking at a hole in my jeans. “Is she as bad as the Queen of the Underworld?”
“No, she’s much worse than the Queen of the Underworld.” A grin plasters across Nicholas's face.
“How do I get her to free these souls if she’s that bad? And how do I even get to the Afterlife to begin with? Because I can’t die . . . Not when . . .” Not when I won’t be the only one dying.
“Don’t worry. Nothing’s going to happen to your baby. You’re not technically dying; your spirit’s just leaving your body.”
Even if what he’s saying is true, I still don’t understand how I’m supposed to make any of this happen.
“And to answer your other question,” Nicholas says like he’s reading my thoughts, “you get to the Afterlife by getting help from a Banshee.”