vitae,” she whispers, swishing the liquid. “Servare quicumque bibit spirans. Sed signa voluntas osculum mortem et eorum cor mittimus.” Once the liquid in the vile bubbles and darkens to a deep grey, Aislin lifts it to her face and squints at it. “Now, that’s death.”
“I guess it’s time,” my mom says quietly.
Aislin runs over and throws her arms around my mom. “I can’t believe you’re leaving already.”
“This isn’t good-bye,” my mother whispers, embracing her tightly. “I’ll be back one day.”
Tears flow from Aislin’s eyes as she pulls back and nods.
After my mom gives me a hug, too, she turns to Gemma. “And I’ll see you even sooner. Remember, don’t fight death. If you fight it, it’ll look suspicious.” Then, quicker than she arrived, my mother vanishes into thin air.
A rush of sadness crashes down on me and makes me really fucking uncomfortable, so I clear my throat, trying to pull my shit together.
“Are you ready?” Aislin asks Gemma as she sinks down on the edge of the bed.
Gemma takes the vile from Aislin. “As ready as I’ll ever be,” she says, forcing a stiff smile.
Aislin glances over her shoulder at me. “You need to go downstairs. You can’t be near her at all. She needs to be calm, and you make her the opposite of calm.”
“I can’t be away from her,” I say with my gaze locked on Gemma.
“Alex, please go,” Gemma begs. “The spell might get messed up if I’m not totally relaxed.”
Brushing my finger across my palm, I think of the promise we made. Two kids who were trying to hold on to something that might never be. Gemma must read my mind because she also touches the scar on her hand.
Forever, she mouths.
Forever, I mouth back.
Walking out of the room is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but I somehow manage. When I enter the kitchen, I find Laylen messing around with the pipes under the sink.
“What are you doing, man?” I ask.
He focuses on twisting a bolt. “Distracting myself . . . It’s easier this way.”
I bob my head up and down then roll up my sleeves. “Need any help?”
He shrugs. “Sure.”
I reach for the wrench, trying to ignore the feeling of Gemma’s life slipping away.
GEMMA
As I watch Alex leave, I swear I feel him taking a part of me with him as the electricity dissipates from inside my body. I’m so terrified right now over what I’m about to do that I almost call him back, but deep down, I know I can’t. This is something I have to do on my own.
I hold the vile of poison in my hand, my heart slamming deafeningly inside my chest. “I’m nervous,” I admit to Aislin.
“You don’t need to be nervous¸” Aislin reassures me as she side braids her hair and secures it with an elastic. “I promise nothing’s going to go wrong. I can’t let it this time, not with this.”
I inhale then exhale, trying to calm down. “I feel so silly. I mean, I know I’m going to come back, and I know I’m not going to die, yet I’m still terrified out of my mind.”
“Gemma, you’re about to drink death. Of course you’re scared.” She pauses, eyeing the vile in my hand. “You don’t have to do this. You know that, right?”
“A vision said I did it.”
“Fuck the visions. They don’t always have to map the future for us.”
I can’t help smiling. “You sound just like Alex.”
“I do, don’t I?” A thoughtful look crosses her face. “You know what? A few months ago, I would’ve been insulted, but now it’s not so bad—he’s not so bad—and that’s because of you. You changed him, brought him back to the loving, caring brother I used to know when we were kids, before my father tried to mess him up.” Her smile grows. “You two together are going to be great parents. I can feel it.”
I force down the lump lodged in my throat. “Aislin, will you promise me something?”
She wavers. “That all really depends on what it is.”
“Will you . . . ?” I lay my arm over my stomach. “If something happens to me, will you take care of her? You’re such a good person, and I just want . . . I want her to grow up and have a better life than I did with a good mother figure.”
“Gemma, you’re going to be okay,” she says, choking back the sobs. “But if you need me to promise that, then