off her, even when the candle flickers, getting ready to fade.
How can I just let her die with me? How can this moment be her only real, peaceful moment? There has to be more for her.
There has to be a way for me to save her. I’d give up everything just so that that she’ll get to live and raise our daughter. There has to be a way through all this madness for me to make this happen. It can’t be impossible, not after everything we’ve managed to make happen.
Anything seems possible.
I think about what my mother said—that everything happens for a reason. And just like that, an epiphany slaps me across the face.
Slipping out from underneath Gemma, I roll over and stand to my feet. I pull on my jeans and shirt then lean down and kiss Gemma.
“I love you,” I whisper right as the last of the candlelight dies then bury my emotions down, despite how it kills me as my skin erupts with heat.
I hate leaving her like this, but then again, it’s going to be hard to ignore my feelings for her now that I’ve been able to feel them. It might be better if I’m gone.
With one final look in her direction, I whisper goodbye then head downstairs.
“I need your help,” I say to Aislin as I walk into the living room.
“Can it wait?” She has her spell book open, bags of herbs are scattered everywhere, and she looks really stressed out. “I think I’ve almost got the shield spell all figured out.” She perks up, suddenly looking very awake. “Oh, yeah! I totally almost forgot.” She rolls back her shoulders, looking proud. “I removed Laylen’s Mark of Immortality.”
My head whips in Laylen’s direction. “It’s gone?”
Looking happier than I’ve seen him in years, he lifts his arm and shows me the spot where the mark used to be. “Yep, I can officially die now.”
I blink at Aislin. “Why didn’t you come tell us?”
Aislin shrugs, focusing on her bags of herbs again. “I could feel the power of the candle burning, so I thought it’d be better if I just waited until you guys were . . . done.”
As huge as the removal of the mark is, I’m actually glad she didn’t come disrupt Gemma and I while we were making . . .
I shake the thought from my head as my heart begins to quiet, and my lungs forget to breathe. I can’t go back to that memory yet, not unless I want to kill us both.
“So all that’s left is the shield spell?” I ask Aislin.
Aislin nods but doesn’t seem too upbeat. “Yeah, but I still have to get close enough to Stephan in order to remove his mark and take down the spell, which is going to be a huge pain in the ass.”
“We’ll figure out a way to do it safely,” I say then pull her to her feet, “but I really need to talk to you about something important.” I glance over at Laylen who’s watching us intently from the sofa. The last thing I need is for him to hear what I’m about to do. He’s close enough to Gemma that he just might tell her. “Can I talk to you for a second? Alone.”
“Fine.” Sighing, she follows me into the kitchen and sinks down into a chair. “I’m listening.”
“I need you to take me somewhere.” My heart is beating so loudly I can barely hear anything over it. I’m nervous, which is a strange and very uncomfortable feeling. “To Iceland, actually.”
Her eyes pop wide as she blinks up at me. “Why the hell do you need to go to Iceland? Especially when we’re supposed to be stopping the portal from opening, like, really soon.”
“I know what we need to do, Aislin, but it’s really, really important that I go there,” I say, trying to keep my composure.
She mulls over my request. “I’ll take you, but only if you tell me why.”
I shake my head. “I’d rather not. You’ll just freak out.”
She crosses her arms and gives me a stubborn look. “Then I’m not going to take you.”
I rub my hand across my face. “I figured out a way to save Gemma.”
“Just Gemma?” The color drains from her face. “Please tell me you figured out a way to save yourself, too.”
My silence says all she needs to hear.
She rapidly shakes her head and rises to her feet. “You can’t do this, Alex.”