Mark of Malefiscus we couldn’t hear anything the Death Walker was saying.
“And along with the Death Walkers, every witch, faerie, and vampire who are the descendents of those who followed Malefiscus, during his first reign of terror, will be under his control if he gets out of the portal,” my mom added in a heavy tone. “So what you saw in the vision, Gemma, was probably the end of what’s going to happen to the world. What you saw is probably what came after the massacre.”
“Massacre,” I said aloud and then we all just sat there. This was so much worse than what we originally thought. Yes, the world would end in ice, but people would be slaughtered first, and by witches, vampires, and faeries.
“But I don’t get it?” I said loudly, startling everyone. “How does Stephan know how to do all of this? And why on December 21, 2012?”
“Because that’s when he was told it would be possible to open the portal—a Foreseer told him. The same Foreseer who told him he needed to create all of you.”
“Is my father the Foreseer?” I asked, shocking both her and everyone else.
My mother jumped up from her chair. “No, it’s not your father!” she screamed and I hovered back in my chair.
She stood there for a moment, her bright blue eyes wild with rage. Then she composed herself and sunk back down in the chair. “I’m so sorry Gemma.”
“It—it’s okay.” I said, sucking back the tears threatening to leak out of my eyes.
She shook her head. “No it’s not.”
Aislin slowly stood up from her chair, her golden blonde hair blowing in the wind. “I think I need to go lie down. This is a lot to take in.”
My mother nodded, and Aislin scurried out. Laylen hopped off the railing and followed after her.
My mother glanced between Alex and I. “And you two. I have no idea why he needed to separate the star. Or why he detached Gemma’s soul and raised you to be emotionally shut off. It’s the one thing we really need to find out because I have a feeling it might be the key to stopping it all.”
“But why did he create Aislin and Laylen?” I asked. “I mean, I understand why he needs them, but why did he create them? Why not just find a vampire and witch who are also Keepers?”
“Because their kind are not easy to find,” my mother answered. “And I think it was also so he could keep an eye on them and make sure everything turned out the way that he wanted.”
Suddenly, the electricity started to surge even more than it had, almost to the point that it was suffocating me.
“Alex, are you…okay?” I asked.
He looked at me; there was a fire in his bright green eyes. Then he stood to his feet, threw the chair over the deck, and stormed inside. I almost followed, but then thought better of it.
I turned my attention back to my mother. “So, that’s it, then? Stephan will open up the portal and the world will end, just like I saw it?”
My mom leaned toward me and placed her hand on top of mine. “There are always loopholes, Gemma. You just have to find them.”
I took her words in. There were always loopholes; you just have to find them. But what if we couldn’t find them?
Then what?
Chapter 41
After my mom had dropped the bombshell on us, everyone scattered around the house. Aislin and Laylen were in their rooms and Alex had gone outside. My mom said she needed to lie down and rest—she was still recovering from being in The Underworld for so long—but had made a request first. She asked me to go check on Alex.
Yeah, I’m not sure she understood how terrible of an idea that was, and I tried to explain to her that he and I tended to argue a lot and with as upset as he was, I would probably just make him mad. But my mom was very insistent that I do so.
So I did, but with zero confidence that I would be able to make him feel better.
I found Alex sitting out on the front steps, the sun shining down on his messy brown hair. He didn’t look up at me when I walked out, but I knew that he knew I was there, thanks to the electricity. The electric connection felt so different now that I knew why it was there. In fact, it was kind of like