“So, I’m guessing you need to get to the Afterlife to see the queen,” my mom breaks the tension that has filled the room.
I nod, tearing my eyes away from Gemma. “We were told that’s the key to getting rid of the mark and turning the world back to normal.”
“It can be done, but it’s not going to be easy.” She lowers herself onto the bottom step. “There are certain things required in order for someone to enter the land of the dead without actually being dead.”
“What kind of things?” Gemma asks, stepping toward my mom.
“Well, the first thing you already have.” My mom eyeballs the ring on Gemma’s hand.
Gemma fiddles with the purple stone on the ring. “And what else do we need?”
“To look like your dead,” she says, “so much so that even the queen herself won’t be able to tell.”
Gemma winces. “And how do I do that?”
“Not you.” I stride toward Gemma, closing the distance between us. “Me.”
“No, not you, sweetie.” My mom’s gaze lands on Gemma. “It has to be her.”
“No fucking way.” My voice cracks, and it feels like I’ve swallowed a jar of needles. “I’m never going to let that happen.”
“It has to be me,” Gemma presses, her hands balled into fists at her sides. “And it should be. This is all my fault.”
“It’s not your fault.” I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “None of this is. If anything, it’s mine. I should have saved you earlier. We would’ve had so much more time to stop this.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she says. “Whether it’s my fault or not, it has to be me. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen myself dead in a coffin and Nicholas is waiting for me.”
“You dreamed about this?” I rub my hands across my face, wanting to yell at her and kiss her at the same time.
She shrugs. “Since you left.”
I shake my head and flex my fingers. “I don’t give a shit how you dreamed it happens. We don’t have to do it that way just because you saw it. We can make our own path, create our own future.”
“She has to be the one who goes,” my mom interrupts, rising to her feet. “She was given the ring, she has the connection to the ghost world, and she’s the Foreseer who shifted the vision that turned the world into all of this. She has to be the one to fix it. It’s the only way this will work.” I start to protest, but she talks over me. “I know it’s not fair—I know it’s not her fault—but that’s the way things are. If you do it any other way, it’s not going to work. The queen won’t accept you.”
Gemma steps forward with determination. “So how do I make myself look dead?”
“She’s pregnant,” I sputter in desperation. “If she dies, then the baby could die, too.”
“I thought I sensed another soul here.” My mother smiles down at Gemma’s stomach. “What an amazing gift, to bring life into this world.”
“Will it . . . ? Will it hurt the baby if I go?” Gemma asks tentatively.
My mom shakes her head. “We’re only pulling your spirit out of your body. While you’re gone, your body will be fine, the baby will be fine.”
“This is such bullshit,” I snap, but neither of them so much as look at me.
My mom places her hand on Gemma’s belly and smiles.
Frustrated that everyone seems to be okay with Gemma pulling her spirit out of her body and paying a visit to the Afterlife, I move between them and do something I’ve never done.
I fucking beg.
“Please, don’t do this,” I plead with Gemma, clutching onto her shoulders.
“Alex,” she says so softly, “I’ll be fine. Your mom won’t let anything happen to me.”
I shake my head, panicking, a foreign feeling to me and one I’m not a fan of. “I can’t lose you.”
She places her hand on my scruffy cheek. “You’re not going to, I promise. But I have to go. I’ll never be able to live with myself if I don’t save the world from the chaos I helped cause.”
I feel so fucking helpless I want to scream as the two of them start making a plan.
“You’ll need to have a funeral,” my mom says, pacing the floor. “Helena needs to think you’re dead.”
Gemma nods. “I actually saw that in my dream.”
“I think we need a different plan,” I snap, “one where she doesn’t have to die.”