it would all be okay—that everything would go right.
So, I tried not to think about the fact that Nicholas had said that the Ira needed the power of two Foreseers to function as Alex and I sat in the living room with the Ira balanced on the coffee table.
Aislin was with Laylen, out on one of the decks. She was supposed to be keeping an eye on him while we were gone. But after Laylen’s revelation about Aislin abandoning him when he turned—which, may I add, was her father’s fault—my confidence in her was low.
“Now are you sure you want to do this?” Alex asked me, which was the same thing he asked me a thousand times already.
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m as sure as the last time you asked me.”
He cracked a smile, but it was a nervous smile—he was nervous.
I was nervous. “Do you have the diamond?”
He patted the pocket of his jeans. “Yep, it’s right here.”
“Okay, then.” I took a deep breath and reached out for the Ira, my hand shaking with zero confidence, and I froze. “Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked him. “Because I could go alone.”
According to my vision, though, I already knew what his answer would be.
“I’m sure,” he said, nodding. “Besides, I was there in your vision, remember?”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t mean you have to go,” I pointed out.
“Yes, it does.” He grabbed a hold of my hand, my fingertips buzzing electrically. “Now let’s go.”
I took another deep breath, concentrating as I placed my hand on the Ira. It was shocking how much energy radiated from it. Between Alex holding my hand, and the power flowing off the Ira, I felt like I might burst from the energy zooming through my body.
The first thing I saw in my mind was the lake. Panicking, I quickly shoved the image out of my mind, and tried to focus on the tunnel I was in during the vision. The dirt walls, the damp air, the darkness. I hadn’t expected it to be easy. Maybe Alex’s touch had given me the extra boost or something. Or maybe it was just my unique Foreseer ability that had made it so that when I opened my eyes we were there.
The tunnel was as dark as I remembered it being. The damp air caused my clothes to cling to my skin. The ceiling and walls dripped with water, and emptiness haunted all around.
“Do you know which way to go?” I asked Alex, still holding onto his hand.
He glanced up and down the tunnel. “I’m not sure…didn’t you see where we went the last time?”
I shook my head. “No. The only reason I found the cave where the vision took place was because Nicholas and I had been running from a Water Faerie, and I can’t remember which way we went…I don’t even know if we’re in the same place.”
Alex let go of my hand and dragged his fingers through his hair. “Okay, left or right?”
Just as he asked it, a scream rang out from down the tunnel from our left side, sending a spasm of shivers though my body.
“Right,” I said quickly.
He nodded, and we headed down the tunnel to our right.
The Underworld is not a welcoming place. Obviously. With everything I’ve told you about it, I’m sure you fully understand that a place where the dead walk and torture punished souls could not be in any way welcoming. But to be there, for real, and not in vision form, was about as frightening as being chased by a bunch of glowing-eyed Death Walkers, and a man who wants to freeze over the world with ice.
As we crept down the tunnel listening to the horrific screams that seemed to be shooting at us in every direction, I couldn’t help but wish I could leave—run away where it was safe and warm and scream free. But I knew I had to be stronger than that because this is where my mother had lived for the last fourteen years, and I only had been here for about five minutes.
I stayed close to Alex as we walked. Before we left, he had tucked a knife in his pocket, which brought some sense of security, but not much. Our shoes hit the moist dirt floor and created soft pitter patters up and down the tunnels. Water was dripping in my hair. But these were all mild things. The real problem started when a white, floating figure appeared in the tunnel,