the City of Crystal, and I’ll see if I can get an exact location on her.”
There was a swoosh, and then silence.
Alex peered around the corner of the tree trunk, before letting me go. And then we were sprinting though the lingering fog that was starting to tint my skin a bluish-purple. But at the moment I didn’t care. All I cared about was that Laylen was laying on the ground, on top of the scattered leaves and twigs, with a stick stabbed into his chest, blood covering his shirt.
I’d never felt anything like it before. Panic, rage, fear—it all crushed through me.
Alex muttered something incoherently as he bent down to Laylen’s lifeless body.
“He’s not—he’s not,” I was on the verge of tears, “dead, is he?”
Alex examined the stick poking out of Laylen’s chest. Being a huge science fiction freak, I’d read enough vampire books to know that a stake through the heart meant death for a vampire.
The stick was so close to his heart.
“He’s not dead,” Alex finally said, putting his hands on top of the stick. “Not yet anyway.”
“Not yet anyway,” I repeated, horrified. “Does that mean he’s going to die?”
“Not if we can get him some…” Alex yanked out the stick, and I tried not to gasp at the sight of the very large hole in Laylen’s chest or at the blood that was pouring out of it. Alex pressed his hand onto the wound, putting pressure on it.
“Get him some what?” I asked, fully freaking out. “Is there a cure?”
Alex avoided my eyes as he said, “”Yeah, blood.”
“He has to bite someone?” I asked, remembering the first day I had met Laylen and he had told me he never brought out his fangs.
Alex hesitated, and I could see it in his eyes, “No, he needs another vampires blood.”
“Is that the only kind of blood that will work?” I asked.
He nodded, and even though I didn’t believe him, I took a deep breath, placed a hand on Laylen’s cold arm, and then shut my eyes, hoping I was strong enough to take us back, since what I could do with my extraordinary Foreseer ability was still a huge question mark.
“Take us to the Black Dungeon,” Alex told me.
Keeping my eyes shut, I replied, “Why there?”
“Because there’ll be vampires all over.”
I nodded, thinking how Laylen wasn’t supposed to go near vampires, but feared if he didn’t, he would die. I pictured the alley, damp, scary, and covered with garbage. I envisioned the bright red door, and the flap at the top. I saw all three of us there.
I tried my hardest to focus on the details I’d seen when I was there, and when Alex took hold of my hand, I felt a surge of electricity, and the weakness I’d been feeling left me. I knew I’d get us there.
I had to.
Chapter 23
I didn’t have to open my eyes to know I’d gotten us to the right place. The smell of garbage and musty air gave away our location.
I opened my eyes and saw Alex was kneeling on the ground beside me, still holding my hand, his other hand on Laylen’s wound. It was the smoothest travel I’d ever pulled off and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Okay, I’m going to go inside and get someone who’ll help—hopefully someone who doesn’t know Laylen was responsible for Vladislav’s death. ” Alex took my hand and placed it on top of his hand that was covering the hole in Laylen’s chest. “Put pressure on it, okay.”
I nodded, and he moved his hand away. Very quickly I replaced it with mine. The blood seeped warmly against my fingers, and Laylen’s skin felt colder than it usually did.
“Hurry,” I called out to Alex as he started for the bright red door. “Wait,” I suddenly called out. “Can you go in looking like that?”
Alex stopped and gave a glance down at his shirtless chest. “Gemma, I don’t think it’s really going to matter whether I’m dressed appropriately or not.”
“Yeah, but it’s going to matter if that’s showing.” I pointed at the Keepers mark tattooing the side of his ribcage.
“Crap,”” he said. Then without saying another word, he took off in the opposite direction.
“Alex,” I hissed. “Where are you going?”
He didn’t answer as he vanished around the corner.
I sat there, with my hand pressed to Laylen’s bleeding chest, listening to dogs howl in the distance. The sky was beginning to shift from a bright blue to a pale pink as the sun