still wrapped around his arm, his bare skin pressed against my own, causing lots and lots of static to flow through me.
“The Queens slave,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t believe it.”
“Why?” I asked. “Is it…bad?”
He shook his head. “No…well, it’s better than being the Water Faerie’s torture victim…but the Queen usually doesn’t use humans for slaves...”
“But that’s the reason she’s still alive, right?” I asked.
Silence.
“Even if she is alive,” he said, looking at me gravely. “She probably wouldn’t be the same Jocelyn—being there for that long, it most likely will have changed her.”
I swallowed hard, my voice barely audible as I said, “Okay...I understand.”
“Do you?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Because just imagine being stuck in a place like that—a place of death, where fear and torture is common—for over fourteen years.” He lowered his voice. “Even if Vladislav was telling the truth—even if she’s still alive, she’s probably not your mother anymore.”
“She’s probably not my mother anymore,” I repeated in outrage as I let go of his arm. “She’ll always be my mother no matter what.”
He shook his head. “”Gemma, you don’t understand. The torture that goes on…the way the Water Faeries instill the fear in people…her mind is probably gone.”
I touched my locket with my hand, thinking of how my mother had given it to me when I was little, even though I couldn’t remember her doing so. “It doesn’t matter what she’s like now because I don’t have anything to compare her to before.”
There was pity in his bright green eyes. “Gemma, still—”
I cut him off. “Do you know a way to get her out of there or not?”
“I don’t,” he said simply.
I held his gaze. “Is that the truth?”
He paused and I felt my heart skip a beat. He knows something. Oh yes he did. I could feel it. I could see it on his face and how he avoided looking at me.
“Please just tell me the truth,” I practically begged.
He sighed, leaning back against the arm of the chair. “Even if I did…know something…I wouldn’t actually do it. It’s way too dangerous.”
“So what if it’s dangerous,” I said. “Everything’s dangerous—I’m dangerous, and yet you’re still here helping me.” I hope. “She’s my mom, Alex. And besides, she might know something. Your dad didn’t just send her there for no reason.”
“Even if she does know something, and she is actually mentally there enough to tell us what she knows, it doesn’t mean I think it’s a good idea to go there. We can get our answers somewhere else.”
I told myself to keep my cool—breathe in, breathe out—but it was hard when it came to Alex. Especially when it came to getting answers from him. It was like a freaking mind game of who could outwit who. “Where else can we get answers?”
He didn’t answer me, and I started to wonder if he wasn’t going to answer me because he really didn’t have an answer to give me. And honestly, at that moment, I questioned whether he knew anything at all. Maybe he was just as lost as everyone else, and perhaps deep down inside, he wanted to save my mother, if for no other reason, so then maybe he could figure all of this out. Of course, even if this were true, it didn’t mean he was going to help me out.
I got to my feet, giving up on him. I had other people I could go to.
He jumped to his feet as I tried to scoot by him. “Where are you going?”
“To find Laylen—see if he and I can figure out a way to save my mom.” I started for the doorway.
He caught me by the arm and pulled me back down on the sofa. “Hang on just a sec, before you go freaking out.”
I wiggled my arm free. “I wasn’t freaking out. I just don’t want to hear what you have to say unless it’s going to help me get my mom out of that awful place.”
He massaged the sides of his temples with his fingers and let out a stressed breath. “If we were to do this—if we were to go to The Underworld and try to save your mother, you’d have to promise me that you’d do everything I told you to do.” He looked up at me. “If I tell you something’s too dangerous for you, you’d have to listen.”
I considered this. I know I might sound like a brat here, but the idea of doing everything he