are parts that even they didn’t know about.” A look of deep thought passed over Laylen’s face.
“Well, if Stephan has the same mark as Malefiscus, then what does that mean?”
“It means Stephan has to be a descendant of him, at least he most likely has to be. There are very rare cases where someone gets a mark without being a descendant from someone with the same mark” He paused, glancing down at the mark on his arm. “Well, except for the mark of immortality that is.”
We sat there in silence, and I wondered if he was thinking about his mark of immortality. I was thinking about a million different things that ranged from my end-of-the-world vision, to the Mark of Malefiscus, to my Foreseers mark and how I didn’t seem to be a descendant of a Foreseer. Well, at least that I knew of. Since I didn’t know who my father was, it was still possible that I might be.
“So Stephan could be a descendant from the most evil man that has ever walked the earth?” I asked with a shiver.
“If he is,” Laylen said, the heaviness of the situation ringing in his voice. “That would explain why he is controlling the Death Walkers. Those who have the Mark of Malefiscus have control over them. And…”
“And what?” I pressed.
“And it would give him a reason to open the portal.” Laylen’s eyes pressed the gravity of the situation. “And why he’d want to try to end the world,” Laylen added. “It’s in his blood.”
Silence dripped by. The house was quiet and I wondered what Aislin and Adessa and Nicholas were doing, and in a way, I wished I were them and didn’t know about all of this.
“Do you think my mom knows Stephan had the mark?” I asked quietly.
“I think your mom may know even more than that.” Laylen’s bright blue eyes never left me.
Something else was bothering me. “Laylen, do you think it’s possible that Stephan… that he…,” I let out a breath. “That Stephan wants to use the stars power for something bad. That maybe that’s why he’s been keeping me around all this time...Do you think he might be using it to open the portal.”
Something about the way Laylen was looking at me made my heart stop.
“I don’t know…” He said quickly looking away from me.
“Laylen, please just tell me if you know something” I begged. “You always tell me stuff. Don’t be like Alex.”
He turned his head back toward me. “The thought has crossed my mind that maybe…that maybe that’s exactly what he’s doing.”
I felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach. Even though I had thought it myself, it was a lot harder to deal with hearing him say it aloud. That I could be carrying something around inside me that could end the world. That my very existence could be bad. “How long have you thought this?”
“Since Aislin and I showed up at the Hartfield cabin back in Colorado—when Stephan showed up with the Death Walkers, but yet he didn’t try to kill you. He wants you alive for some reason. And that reason I’m sure isn’t a good one.”
I nodded. Keep it together. Keep it together. “Okay…Okay.” I was trying very hard not to fall apart. But, at the same time, how could I not fall apart?
“Are you okay?” Laylen asked, concerned.
I had to force myself to speak and was startled by the hollow tone my voice had taken on—something I hadn’t heard it do in awhile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
He looked like he wanted to say more, but I decided to stop him, because honestly, I didn’t want to talk about how I was feeling at the moment. Or about the fact that the prickle was poking at the back of my neck releasing an abundance of worry and panic at a level I had never felt before.
“I think I better get back to Nicholas and my training.” I stood up from the bed.
“Gemma.” Laylen got to his feet. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah.” My voice sounded numb. “I just need to get back, if for nothing else, so I can get into The Underworld to save my mom. Then maybe we’ll get actual answers, instead of just a bunch of guesses.”
“Okay…” Laylen watched me as if I were a scared mental patient who was about to go off the deep end, and I left the room with a giant lump swelling in my throat.