yelled, for a third time. Where was he? Had something happened to him? I started to freak.
“Coming,” I heard him say. And then he was right next to me. “Hold onto him,” he instructed, grabbing the chains.
I don’t know why, but I hesitated. Not because I was afraid to touch Alex or anything. Well, okay, maybe a little, but it was also because he looked so breakable.
“Gemma,” Laylen said with urgency, and I quickly wrapped my arms around Alex, ignoring the fact that a) he was shirtless and b) his skin, although cold and clammy, still spun a fiery amount of electricity that made my skin smolder.
I held onto Alex as Laylen snapped the chains like twigs. Alex fell onto me like a hundred and eighty pound weight, and I almost buckled to the floor. But thankfully, Laylen caught him before I did.
“Excellent catching skills,” Laylen joked, flopping Alex’s arm over his shoulder, and balancing all of his weight on him.
“Hey, I never claimed to have them,” I said. “Besides I’m not a half-vampire, half-Keeper who is freakishly strong.”
“Would you two stop messing around and get us out of here before we get caught.” The frail voice came from Alex. His eyes were still closed and he was leaning on Laylen.
“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” I put one hand on Laylen and one hand on Alex, then shut my eyes, crossing my fingers I’d be able to get all three of us out of here, and back to Adessa’s, safely.
“Don’t do anything from in here,” Alex said, his voice sounded the slightest bit stronger. “There’s too much power in here…you’ll end up hurting yourself.”
I glanced at the crystal ball blazing vibrantly, and at the people chained to it. “Maybe we should help them.”
Alex’s eyelids slowly lifted open. “No, we have to go. You never should have come here.”
I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off of the chained up people, feeling a ping of guilt building in my gut. I used their energy every time I touched a crystal ball. Maybe even when I didn’t. And now I was supposed to leave and use their energy again.
“Even if you let them go, there’d be no way for you to get them all out of here,” Alex told me.
I swallowed hard and tore my eyes away from the people. “Okay, let’s go.”
Fortunately, Laylen was strong enough to hold Alex up as we headed out of the room and moved back down the cave, distancing ourselves from the massive crystal ball. Alex was really struggling to walk, his feet practically dragging across the translucent crystal floor.
“How far away do we need to go?” I asked Alex as we headed toward the spot where Laylen and I had entered the cave.
“Farther than this,” he said, his eyelids fluttering as he forced them open.
So we went further and, for some stupid reason, it never dawned on us that we might run into a very awake Nicholas, until we actually did. But Nicholas wasn’t what was sending my pulse racing like a jackhammer. It was the three Death Walkers standing next to him, the hood of their black cloaks caped over their heads; the glow of their yellow eyes reflecting across the translucent crystal floor.
“Crap!” I cried, at the same time Laylen screeched to a halt.
“Okay, time to get us out of here,” Laylen said as the three Death Walkers and Nicholas hurried toward us.
I grabbed a hold of Laylen and Alex, closed my eyes, and pictured Adessa’s living room; the dark blue walls, the purple velvet couches, and the black and white checkerboard floor.
“Gemma,” Laylen voice was full of fear. “Please hurry.”
I opened my eyes and saw that the Death Walkers were close. The air was slowly descending to a frosty chill, dotting my skin with goose bumps. I squeezed my eyes shut. Concentrate.
But nothing happened.
Focus.
Still nothing.
Fog laced the air as the temperature continued to plunge. I was in full panic mode, trying to force us to leave this awful place. But I just couldn’t do it.
“Gemma.” Alex’s soft voice made me open my eyes.
His eyes were locked on mine; some of the brightness had returned to them. “Don’t focus on them. In fact, pretend they’re not even there.”
I gave him an are-you-crazy look. Pretend that three ice-death machines weren’t running straight at us.
Alex slid his arm off Laylen and placed a hand on each side of my face, so I couldn’t turn my head. “Pretend they’re not there.”