The Evanescence (Fallen Soul Series) - By Jessica Sorensen Page 0,32
why I’m going to go figure out how to put the Faeries back where they belong.”
Alex moves his arm off me and gets up, too. “Evan, I get where you’re coming from, but I need your help getting Aislin out of the realm first.” He glances at Laylen. “It’s important.”
Evan shakes his head and heads for the door. “Do it yourself.”
“Come on,” Alex fumes. “As much as I hate asking for help, I know there’s no way I’m going to be able to get her out of there without some help from your power.”
Evan shakes his head as Laylen rises to his feet, pretty much towering over the two of them. Alex balls his hands into fists as he heads after Evan, red faced, and getting pissed. They start shouting, yelling, and getting in each other’s faces, which is so pointless and gets us nowhere.
I can smell a fight coming and I get to my feet, looking for a way to end it. I rack my brain for something—anything—but I panic when Evan’s arms begin to ignite with flames and I sputter out the first thing I can think of. “Luna is my grandmother and Nicholas is my cousin!”
All three of them come to an abrupt halt and their heads turn towards me.
“What?” Alex asks, his face twisting in disgust. “Nicholas is your what?”
“Cousin,” I say quietly. My shoulders slump as the dirtiness surfaces inside me. “Not only is Nicholas my cousin, but I’m from Royal Fey.”
Saying it aloud makes it all real. I don’t want it to be real. I don’t want to be a Faerie. I don’t want to be royalty. When I really look at it, I don’t want to be a Foreseer with an extraordinary talent, or a Keeper.
I just want to be normal.
Chapter 13
Alex
I’m getting pretty pissed off at Evan. I’m so used to doing things my way, but he’s making it a pain. I’m about to resort to violence when Gemma drops a bomb on us.
“Nicholas is your cousin?” I repeat for the thousandth time, thinking about how many times he came onto her. “Cousin?”
She nods, biting at her thumbnail. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“How is that even possible?” Laylen asks, letting go of the collar of Evan’s shirt.
“Why are we just finding out?” I add, taking a step towards her. I can tell she’s uneasy and slightly freaked out, which is pretty understandable, considering some of the things that have happened between her and Nicholas. “And does Nicholas know?”
She shakes her head quickly. “I don’t think so. At least, according to what Nalina told me.”
“And you believe her?” Evan asks, assessing Gemma over as he runs his hands down the front of his black shirt, smoothing out the wrinkles.
“She had enough details that I don’t think she could have been making it up,” Gemma explains with a frown.
“Why haven’t we heard anything about this before?” Laylen asks, his forehead creased as he walks up to Gemma. “You’d think someone would have let it slip out by now.”
Gemma glances at him, taking a deep breath, her chest rising and then falling as she sighs. “It was a secret. My grandmother, Nalini, was basically disowned from the Fey world. My grandfather was a Keeper. And we all know how the Keepers feel about the Fey; how they are supposed to protect people from them. I guess they just decided it was best for everyone to just pretend that part of Nalini’s life didn’t exist.”
“So what does this mean to Luna?” Evan asks, joining us in the middle of room.
Gemma gets this funny look on her face, avoiding eye contact with me. “It means nothing, I don’t think—I mean nothing.”
“You always think you mean nothing,” I say, grabbing her hip and digging my fingertips into her soft skin, just above the top of where her jeans sit. “But you always do.”
“No you think I always do,” she responds, flustered.
I pull her closer to me until I can feel the warmth of her breath touching my cheeks. “Well, the less Luna knows about this, the better.”
“I really doubt Luna doesn’t already know everything,” Evan says, rubbing his jawline. “And I find it hard to believe that Luna doesn’t care. Fey, Keepers, Foreseers—all of you don’t like mixing, especially with royalty blood. I wonder if that’s why Luna’s here… maybe she feels threatened by you… or by Nalina?”
Gemma pulls back from me and rummages in her pocket, withdrawing something. “She might be threatened by this.” She holds up the Cornu