alone. I’m extremely conflicted, but in the end the more power we have, the better. “An hour,” I say. “And then we’ll go.”
Laylen, who pretty much never sleeps, heads for the doorway. “I’m going to go get that book about the Lost Souls and see if I can find a way to send them back. After we get Aislin, we’re going to have to move onto that problem.”
Gemma lets out a breath and mutters, “I wish that we didn’t have to deal with so many damn problems.”
Laylen and Evan wander out of the room and Gemma watches them leave, staring at the doorway even after they disappear. Worry courses through her and I can almost feel it inside me.
“You know you don’t have to do it?” I try to reassure her and calm her down. “I can go and fix it for you. As long as Aislin comes back, it’s really all the same.”
She shakes her head and slides her gaze to me. “Yes, I do. I need to do it or it’s going to haunt me forever.” Her eyes squint as she considers something. “I do have a question, though.” She walks towards the sofa, pulling me with her. “You said you could feel that I went to Nalina’s; how?” She sits down without releasing my hand and I sit next to her.
I shake my head. “I have no idea. All I know is that when Helena and Annabella left your body and went into mine, something shifted in me and I could feel and almost see—or tell—what you were going to do.”
She pouts at her lip, disappointedly. “You don’t think we’re connected again somehow, do you?”
“Would it be that bad if we were?” I joke, touching her bottom lip with the pad of my finger.
She nods. “I want everything between us to be real. When we had the Star’s energy in us, I always had my doubts that I was the driver behind our feelings for each other; that it could be the reason for the feelings instead of me.”
“But it wasn’t.”
“But I didn’t know that until it was gone.”
I eye her over, feeling her concern flow through her and into me. I don’t want her to ever think that my feelings aren’t real. It took me forever to let myself feel like this towards someone.
“You’re the most important person to me,” I say, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet as I stand up. “You need to understand that. I’ve never—ever—felt this way about someone else.”
“Not even Stasha?” she questions as I lead her towards the stairway.
“I didn’t feel anything for Stasha,” I tell her with honesty as I step up the stairway, my body rotated so I can look at her. “Which was the appeal of dating her.”
She assesses my expression, like she’s hunting for cracks that will reveal that I’m lying, but I’m not. “Nothing at all?”
I shake my head, holding her gaze as we reach the top of the stairway. “I’ve never felt anything, except with you.”
She’s quiet for a minute as we walk down the hall, towards the room at the end where I’ve been sleeping. I don’t even think she realizes where I’m taking her until I stop in front of the shut door, and then her cheeks start to turn a little red.
“What are we going to do for an hour while Evan takes a nap?” she asks, nervously.
“Whatever you want,” I say, turning the doorknob.
I wait for her to say something, but she never does. Instead, she lets out a faltering exhale, stands on her tiptoes, and seals her lips to mine.
It’s the best answer I’ve ever gotten.
Chapter 14
Gemma
I’m glad Alex didn’t put up too much of a fight about my, “save Aleesa and Aislin rescue mission.” When he agrees, I kiss him, relieved, yet scared because I actually have to do it now. Even though I’m a Foreseer, a Keeper, and apparently Royal Fey, it doesn’t make things less terrifying. I still have the same things to lose, which is where the fear stems from.
Somehow, in the midst of the madness, Alex ends up telling me that I’m the only one he’s ever loved. At first I question it, but the look on his face is genuine. I’m the only person he’s ever loved and I’m pretty sure he’s the only one I’ve ever loved.
Then he takes me up the stairs, kissing me, with this hungry look in his eyes that makes my skin tingle. We end