Eventually, she breaks the kiss, breathing ravenously. “I really needed that,” she gasps between breaths.

I give her a soft kiss on the lips and bring my hand out from underneath her shirt, my fingers grazing her stomach and she shivers. “I needed it, too.”

It’s dark, but I can see the outline of a smile on her face. “You want to take me into the castle now?”

I study her, wishing I could see her in the light so I could tell what she’s thinking. “Are you sure you want to?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

I shrug and let out a breath. “It means are you sure you want to be with me and not Laylen,” I bluntly throw it out into the air because that’s what I do.

She pinches my chest, surprising me, and I wince. “Yes, I’m sure. I love you.”

It’s a simple answer, but she sounds genuine, and I really want it to be genuine. “I love you, too.” I’m the one to kiss her this time, backing her into a tree as I thrust my tongue inside her.

She lets out this whimpering moan that I’ve never heard before and I just about lose it. There’s so much fire and heat pouring through me—it’s more intense than when we shared the electricity. My hands sneak back underneath her shirt; her skin is so soft and smooth, her tongue warm. She slides her hands underneath my shirt and traces her fingers along the lines of my muscles, instigating a tightening from them. Although I’ve been touched like this before from a few different girls, it’s different with her. It’s real. I’m real.

“Umm… sorry, I was worried something happened to you,” Laylen’s voice drifts through our moment and we pull back, gasping for air. “Clearly, I need to go back into the castle, though.” There’s a hint of laughter in his tone.

“We should probably go inside,” Gemma says, shivering from the cool breeze. She wraps her arms around herself and in the moonlight; I can see that she’s smiling.

“We’ll continue this later.” I thread my fingers through hers and steer us up the hill towards the castle, the windows glowing in the night. As we walk both of us are lost in our own thoughts and, when we reach the front porch, the door is wide open. I hear Laylen and Evan arguing about something as we step inside.

Gemma’s eyes instantly find mine and I’m taken aback by how wide and terrified she looks, when just seconds ago she was moaning in sheer bliss.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, shutting the door.

She shakes her head, clutching onto my hand. “How are you alive—You didn’t have a pulse—You weren’t breathing—You looked dead and I know we’ve both died already and everything, but I saw a brief vision… and it… and it… I don’t get it.”

I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You really want to know?”

She nods, biting her lip. “Yes, please tell me”

I take a deep breath. “It was our love… It saved me. It’s the reason why I’m still alive.”

At first she looks doubtful and then she looks stunned. Then she’s unexpectedly kissing me again. I kiss her back fiercely and this time I don’t plan on ever stopping.

Chapter 12

Gemma

Alex is kissing me and I don’t want it to ever end. I thought I’d lost him forever and it is amazing to feel the warmth of his lips against mine. I circle my arms around his neck as our bodies crush together. I’m afraid that I’m dreaming and, when I wake up, everything will be gone. That I’ll be back at Nalina’s, fighting over the pendant with so much hate and pain in my body, it’ll drown me.

Alex scoops me up again, like he did outside, and starts to walk towards the stairway with his lips sealed to mine. His tongue massages mine and makes me feel something I’ve never felt before. Something wonderful. I know where he’s going and even though, in the pit of my stomach, nervousness tugs at me; I want him to take me upstairs.

Yet then Laylen says, “Guys, seriously,” and the moment is broken again.

I could seriously hit him right now for interrupting us, not once, but twice. When I open my eyes again, I notice that Alex looks pretty much the same way as I feel.

Sighing, he sets me back down on the floor, giving me a quick kiss on the mouth. Then, taking my hand, he leads me down the stairs to where Laylen’s waiting at the bottom.

“Sorry,” Laylen apologizes. “But we kind of have some other problems to deal with, like Faeries and,” he swallows hard as he steps toward the hallway, “Aislin.”

“I know,” Alex responds, walking with him and pulling me along. “We just got caught up a little bit.” He turns his head and looks at me, giving me a wink and I smile.

The four of us seat ourselves in the living room, ready to make some kind of plan. When I really think about it, it seems like I’ve spent a lot of time making plans only for them to fail. I wonder if there’s any point.

Alex and I take the sofa and he drapes his arm around my shoulder, keeping me close, while I rest my hand on his knee, needing to know he’s alive and real; not just my imagination. Laylen and Evan take a seat in the sitting chairs corner side from us. Laylen kicks his feet up on the table between us and Evan fiddles with the chain on his belt loop.

Alex gives me a quick recap of everything that went on and how our love not only saved him, but Annabella and Laylen, too. “It was the loophole that sent Helena back to the Afterlife,” he tells me with a look in his eyes that makes my skin feel like it’s melting.

Despite that, there are still Lost Souls and Fey roaming free, like the ones I saw on Nalina’s street. Aislin and Aleesa are trapped in the Faerie Realm. Two huge problems. Also, Nicholas is still prisoner in the City of Crystal.

“So where do we start?” Evan asks, checking the time on his leather-band watch.

“Late for a date or something?” Laylen questions with an arch of his brow.

Evan sweeps his black hair out of his face and stretches his hands above his head, yawning. “No, I’m just tired. It takes a lot of energy to use my powers and I’ve been using them a lot over the last few days.”

Laylen nods and then glances at Alex. “We should save Aislin first.”

“Yeah,” Alex concurs. “As much as I love my sister, she’s probably having a meltdown by now with all those Faeries and their insanity.” He dithers. “Then again, she might be fitting right in.”

I pinch him right above the kneecap. “Be nice,” I say and he leans over and kisses me for no reason. It makes me smile stupidly, despite the heaviness of the conversation. “And yes, we should save Aislin first… it’s my fault she’s down there.” I frown. “I can’t believe I did that.”

“You weren’t you.” Alex massages my shoulder. “It’s not your fault.” He pauses. “But we do need to get her out of there. If Luna returns to the Faerie Realm, she might be able to force Aislin to use magic and that’s the last thing we need on top of everything else.”

“I don’t think that Aislin is our biggest concern,” Evan interrupts. “I think we need to get the damn Faeries,” he hitches his finger over his shoulder at the window where a pair of blue, beady eyes are peeking in, “and the Sprites the hell out of our world.”

“Yeah, but what do they really do?” I ask. “I mean, I thought I saw one while I was standing in the street at Nalina’s, but it didn’t do anything except watch me like a creeper.”

Alex chuckles under his breath as he starts brushing his fingers through my hair. “A Faerie creeper?”

I shrug. “That’s what it was acting like.”

“Creeper or not, Faeries can be dangerous,” Evan says, sliding his cell phone out from his pocket. He swipes his finger across it and starts scrolling through something, dragging his finger down the edge of the screen.

“Do you really think now’s the time to be surfing the Internet?” Alex asks.

Evan holds up a finger with his free hand as he continues to scroll. “Just a second. I’m proving my point.” He mulls over the screen as he lowers his hand. “There it is.” He looks up and then pitches the phone across the room to Alex.

Alex catches it effortlessly; careful not to bump the screen and lose whatever Evan’s trying to show us. I lean over and read, with Alex, the article on the screen.

Early this morning, there was an accident at the City Center when a massive, moving structure crushed through Town Hall, destroying the entire building. At least three people are dead and twenty-three have been injured.

The various reports of what the structure was ranged from a large purple airplane to a giant purple woman. The latter has been linked to severe head trauma in many of the victims. The official cause is still being determined.

I glance up at Alex as he shuts down the screen. “Why would she do that?”

Alex shakes his head and tosses Evan’s phone back to him. “I’m not sure, but we need to find out.”

“We need to get Aislin out of the realm first,” Laylen says. “Then we can chase down crazy, purple, Faerie woman. Aislin can help us, too.” He looks at Alex for help. “You know her, magic is always needed whenever we’re about to do something dangerous.”

“Yeah…” Alex is torn.

“What about the Lost Souls?” I ask. “I saw one of them on the street, too, but they don’t seem to be doing anything.”

Evan stuffs his phone into his pocket. “Besides taking over innocent bodies?”

“Shit,” I mutter under my breath. “This is such a huge mess.”

“A huge mess that needs to be fixed.” Evan rises to his feet. “Which is 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.”