The Evanescence (Fallen Soul Series) - By Jessica Sorensen Page 0,65
moment.
I smile to myself because I know it’ll make Aislin happy, knowing he’s jealous. Sometimes it bothers her—Laylen and my relationship—even if we’re just friends.
She sits down on the couch and grabs the pillow again; then Laylen sits down beside her with a territorial look in his eyes. “So, what happened to you two?” he asks, and then looks at me. “You know it’s been days since you took off?”
I nod, flopping down on the sofa opposite of theirs. “Things got complicated.”
“Complicated?” Evan elevates his eyebrows. “It looked like there was a freaking war breaking out back there.” He hitches his thumb over his shoulder at the window, again pretending like we’re right by the castle.
“That’s because I think there was,” I mutter, rubbing my tired eyes.
He slips his jacket off, sighing, as he tosses it onto the cracked coffee table, then he situates himself in one of the sitting chairs just in front of the window. He kicks his feet up on the coffee table, leaning back and closing his eyes. “You guys’ world is freaking complicated. You know that?”
The three of us give overly exaggerated nods. “Yes,” we say in sync.
He shakes his head, probably wishing he didn’t get dragged into it. “So… how do we get rid of the Faeries?”
I shrug. “I have no idea.”
Laylen says, “Maybe we should try to shut the portal down.” He drapes his arm around Aislin’s shoulder, pulling her in as she frowns with a guilty look on her face. “Uh… yeah, sorry about that. I thought I had fixed that little problem… I thought I closed the portal.” She examines her nails closely, pretending to be deeply fixated on them. “Guess I was wrong.”
Laylen grabs her hand and squeezes it. “It doesn’t really matter... It is what it is. We just need to fix it. Besides, I know why you did it. You wanted to save your sister.” He looks around the room curiously. “Which, by the way, where is Aleesa?”
Tears start bubbling in Aislin’s eyes and her head falls forward. “She’s dead.”
Laylen’s eyes widen and he looks to me for confirmation. I nod and he focuses his attention back at Aislin with a heart-warming, compassionate expression on his face as he pulls her into him and lets her bury her face against his chest and cry her heart out.
Evan looks a little less compassionate. “What happened to you two?” he asks me.
Sighing I give them a quick recap about what happened over the last few days. He listens intently and when I’m finished, he gapes at me, along with Laylen.
“What’s the matter?” I ask. Sure I just told them a lot of crazy things, but it wasn’t any crazier than everything else we have—and are—going through.
“You really promised the Fey you’d return and help them fight against Luna?” Laylen stares at me with amplified eyes as he runs his hand up and down Aislin’s back while she weeps into his shirt.
“Um… yeah... Why? What’s wrong?” I glance at Evan, he looks just as horrified.
“It was a really stupid thing to do,” Evan says, shaking his head. “Really, really stupid.”
“Would someone please tell me what’s going on.” I’m beginning to panic because I can tell I’ve done something bad—something I’m going to regret.
Evan leans forward, resting his arms on his knees, his bangs hanging in his dark eyes, one of which is bruised. “Challenging the Empress is really bad. When you challenge the Empress, you fight to the death. Only one of you is going to be able to walk away.”
“But I didn’t challenge her,” I say in an off-pitched voice. “I just said I’d help them.”
Evan shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter. It’s viewed as one and the same.”
I swallow the enormous lump wedged in my throat. “Is there a way to get out of it?”
Laylen studies me as Aislin elevates her head up, blinking at me with tear-stained eyes. “There may be a way…” He considers something with his forehead creased. “Like maybe a loophole or something.”
Evan shakes his head again and reclines back in the chair. “There’s no way out of this. You made the promise to the Fey in their Kingdom, which means you’re bound to the promise. There’s no breaking it.”
I take in what he says, feeling my body crack and fall apart, the pieces breaking and scattering across the dirty floor. “So, that’s it? I have to fight Luna? Like with weapons? And then what? I either kill her or be killed?”