bouncing with traffic. There was an old white and green Victorian house across the road that had a sign that said Isabella’s Herb Shop. I wondered if it was the same kind of herb store as Adessa’s
Someone knocked on the window, causing me to jump. Laylen smiled at me through the glass and motioned to me to open the door.
“Well, good morning sleeping beauty,” he said, after I open the door and climbed out into the sunlight. “Sleep well?”
“Surprisingly, yes.” I stretched out my legs and arms. “How long was I out?”
“For about eight hours.”
“Eight hours?” How the heck had I slept for eight hours with everything that was going on.
“Yeah, you were really out, too.” He flashed me a grin. “Snoring and all.”
“I don’t snore,” I protested. At least I think I don’t.
He gave me another teasing smile, before sliding the debit card into the machine.
“Wow, you seem like you’re in a good mood,” I remarked with a curious tone.
He shrugged, glancing over at a tall woman with long black hair walking across the parking lot. “As good a mood as any, I guess.”
He was acting a little…off. “Are you feeling okay?”
He shrugged again, rubbing his lips together, and then looked at me. “I’m fine.”
I stared at him, picking up on something. I couldn’t explain it, but after the whole first-time-biting thing, I had to worry a little. But before I could press him further, Alex strolled up, carrying a plastic bag.
“If you need to go inside for anything, then you’d better do it,” Alex told me, tossing a bag of food and drinks onto to the front seat of the SUV.
Seeing him made what he said last night replay in my head, along with the hurt feelings I felt. “Okay.” I headed inside.
“Make it quick,” Alex called after me. “We don’t want to be stopped for too long.”
I nodded, shocked he was even letting me go in by myself.
***
The gas station was fairly packed, which made my senses go on high alert, especially because I stood out like a sore thumb. My clothes were filthy, I had no shoes on, and my hair was a tangled mess—well, at least more of a tangled mess than it usually is—so people couldn’t help but gawk at me as I walked by them. I made my way down the candy aisle, past the drink cooler, and stepped into the restroom. I splashed my face with cold water and washed my hands. Wherever we were, the air felt humid and hot, making my skin feel gross.
I glanced up in the mirror and let out a groan at my reflection. My violet eyes. The one thing that was always going to make me stand out—deem me different. I was painfully realizing that no matter how much I wanted a normal life, it just might be impossible, and maybe I needed to start accepting that I was a star carrying, vision seeing, violet-eyed Gemma.
And that my life might not be long lived.
After my light vision, and my light dream, I had to wonder. They both might have been showing me a part of my future. The thought was scary, but I had to hold onto the fact that not everything I saw or dreamt had played out exactly as I had seen it. Things changed.
For the moment, I really needed to focus on figuring out how to get a hold of the Ira so I could go into The Underworld and save my mom. The problem was I couldn’t just walk into a store and purchase an Ira. The only person that I knew of who had one was Nicholas, and now that he might be working with Stephan, getting one from him seemed more impossible than it did before.
“Stupid faerie.” I kicked the wall, frustrated. Of course, kicking a tile wall while wearing no shoes was not the grandest idea, and I ended stubbing my toes. “Ow.”
One of the bathroom stall doors opened up and an old lady, wearing a long green dress and tan shoes, and looking really alarmed, scurried out of the bathroom.
“Whoops,” I mumbled to myself. I guess it was time to go back anyway. Standing in a bathroom wasn’t doing me any good. And I was supposed to be hurrying.
I headed for the door, hearing one of the stall doors squeak open. Instinctively, I glanced behind me, and then stopped when I didn’t see anyone. The door was swinging, and I wondered if I scared someone else enough that