stand around here arguing, the longer my mom has to be down there suffering. And the more time we waste not trying to figure out what the heck Stephan is trying to do with me and the star.”
They were all speechless for a minute, which almost always happens when I make a big speech like that.
“But how do we get Nicholas here?” Aislin asked, fidgeting with one of her diamond earrings. “Isn’t going to the City of Crystal the only way to find him? And to do that don’t we need another special kind of crystal ball that is hard to come by. I mean, the only other alternative I can think of is to go to the Kingdom of Fey, and see if he’s there. But he doesn’t spend much time there. At least I don’t think he does.”
“Besides,” Laylen added. “Whether we end up finding a way to enter the City of Crystal, or if we decide to go to the Kingdom of Fey, both places are not very accepting of unwelcomed visitors.”
“Kingdom of Fey?” I asked.
“It’s where the Fey live,” Aislin explained. “And since Nicholas is part Fey, he goes there sometimes. But I don’t think he’s very fond of it because…well, because the fey can be…”
“Everything’s a joke to them,” Alex interrupted. “Which means there’s a lot of running around in circles. And it doesn’t matter because I’m not planning on going to either one of those places.” Alex caught my eye. “Gemma’s going to bring him here.”
“What…” I gaped at him. “I’m going to bring him here? How am I…Oh…” I stopped as it dawned on me what he was referring to. I was going to use a good old normal crystal ball, which in turn would allow the Foreseers to know that I was using a crystal ball again, something I’d been forbidden to do until I’d been trained, and something Alex had promised Dyvinius I wouldn’t use until I had. So if I used the power of the crystal, Nicholas would show up here to collect on Alex’s promise.
“But if I bring him here that way then you’ll have to—” I started to say.
Alex shook his head at me, trying to get me to stop talking.
“Have to what?” Aislin asked curiously.
I gave Alex a funny look, wondering why I couldn’t say anything to Ailsin and Laylen about the promise he’d made to Dyvinius.
“Then he’ll be super annoying, just like he always is,” Alex said quickly, taking me by the hand, which threw me completely off guard. “Look, I have to talk to Gemma for a minute about what’s going to happen when Nicholas gets here, so excuse us for just a second.”
Before anyone could respond to this, Alex was pulling me toward the door. Laylen and Ailsin exchanged a perplexed look, which I’m sure matched the look on my own face.
“What’s wrong with you?” I pulled my hand from his grip after we’d made it out of the room. “Why can’t I say anything about the promise you made to Dyvinius.”
“Because...” he glanced back at Ailsin and Laylen, and then shut the door. “Ailsin will freak out if she finds out about it.”
“Why? How bad is it?”
“I told you that's for me to worry about.” He backed away toward the stairs. “We need to get that bite cleaned up before we bring Nicholas here. The less he knows about what’s going on, the better.” And with that, he headed down the stairs.
I sighed, trotting down the stairs after him. “But what happens when he gets here?” I asked, following Alex into the kitchen. “Are we just supposed to ask him for the Ira crystal ball and hope that’ll he’ll give it to us.”
Alex started opening up the top cupboards that surrounded the cooking area of the kitchen. “No. You’re probably going to have to do that.”
“Why would I have to?” I asked, wondering what he was looking for.
“Because…” he bent down and opened the cupboard below the sink. “I probably won’t be here.”
“Huh….Why won’t you…Alex what the heck is going to happen to you when I use the crystal ball.”
He reached inside the cupboard and pulled out a first aid kit. “I told you—”
I cut him off. “Just tell me, please.”
He looked at me, and I looked back at him, the electricity coursing all around.
“I’m just going to be gone for a little while,” he finally said with a shrug. “It’s nothing major.”
“But you’ll come back, right?” I asked, suddenly worried I’d never