“And we need a witch, one we can trust.” She turns to me, looking hopeful. “What about your sister?”
“Aislin’s marked,” I say, still pissed the hell off. I need another plan. I can’t handle her dying. “So she can’t help us.”
“Hang on. I think I might know someone who can.” She spins around and whisks up the stairs.
I shake my head, irritated and on the verge of grabbing Gemma and running as far away from here as I can. I could always drain her of her energy, make her pass out, but that might hurt the baby.
“Stop looking at me like that,” Gemma says, shifting uncomfortably. “It has to be me.”
“No, it doesn’t.” I keep looking at her, letting the electricity get to her, hoping she’ll lose focus of her sacrificial plan. “Give me the ring and let me do it.”
She tucks her hand behind her back, shaking her head. “You heard your mom; I caused this. It has to be me.”
“Stop being stubborn. We can at least try to do it with me.” I face her, begging again, “Please don’t do it.”
“I’ll come back,” she promises. “I can’t die completely, not without you.”
“I’m not worried about you dying. I’m worried about you getting hurt. I can’t stand the thought.”
When she says nothing, frustration bursts inside me. I spin around and ram my fist into the wall, causing a crack to splinter across the sheetrock.
“Holy shit,” Gemma says. “Are you okay?”
I cradle my hand, facing her again. “No. And I won’t be until you promise me you won’t do this.”
“All right,” my mother interrupts us as she jogs down the stairs, “my witch is on board, but you two are going to have to go to her place and pick it up.”
“Pick up what?” Gemma and I say at the same time.
She hands me a piece of paper with an address on it, her body flashing for the briefest moment, and I worry she’s about to transform into her hag form.
“The poison that’s going to kill Gemma.”
GEMMA
I’m going to pretend I’m not scared out of my damn mind, but the very idea of dying is overwhelming enough. Adding poison to the mix has my heart racing a million miles a minute. But it’s worth the fear, knowing soon I’ll be able to fix the world to what it once was, without the possession of the mark. Everyone will be free, including Aislin, Laylen, and Aleesa.
I can’t let Alex know I’m terrified, though. I have to play it cool, because he’s already freaking out enough for the both of us.
Ever since his mother made the announcement about the poison, he went from a mad-crazy-begging Alex to a walking-silently-with-his-eyebrows-knitted-together Alex. He’s contemplating something deeply—I can tell—and my bet is that it’s a way for him to die instead of me.
Since Alex’s mom can’t leave the house, Alex and I make the journey to the witch’s place alone. We silently walk down the snowy sidewalk underneath the glow of the lampposts as thick snowflakes drift from the cloudy night sky, and the cool air kisses my cheeks.
“Why do you think it’s so quiet around here?” I ask as we turn south and head down a winding road that slopes toward more houses.
“I’m not sure.” He tucks his hands in his pockets. “But I don’t like it. At least when things are noisy, you know what’s going on. When it’s quiet, it leaves you guessing, and I hate guessing.”
“I know you do.” I look at the all houses around us. Are their families in them? Are they watching us? “It’s just so different here. In Afton, there were vampires, faeries, and witches everywhere, but here, there’s . . . nothing. Everything in the airport seemed pretty empty. It’s like the apocalypse hasn’t reached here yet or something.”
“Maybe it hasn’t.” But his voice carries doubt. “Or maybe we aren’t looking—” He suddenly snatches hold of my hand and jogs to the other side of the street. “We have to leave. Now.”
I slip on the ice, struggling to keep up with him as he hunkers down and keeps running.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, breathless.
He continues running down the sidewalk, reaching for his knife.
“Alex, tell me what’s going on.” I whisper as he slams to a stop near a large trashcan pressed up against the side of a house.
“Take us away from here,” he says, pacing from left to right. “We need to go. Now”