Shattered Promises 02 - Fractured Souls by Jessica Sorensen (motivational books for students TXT) 📕

I feel almost naked with the way my ass hangs out of the shorts and I wonder why on earth Aislin would put this outfit in there for me. It’s definitely not her style, either.

I go out into the hall, wondering where I’m supposed to be going. There’s a line of doors on my one side and a spiral stairway to my other. I turn for the stairway, when arms slip around my waist. I open my mouth to scream when a hand clamps down over my mouth. There’s no electricity, no sign that it’s Alex and all I can think is that I’m in deep shit.

Chapter 2

“Gemma,” someone whispers in my ear. “Relax. It’s just me.”

I try to twist my arms free as I squirm against the stranger. Yet they easily haul me back into the room as if I weigh nothing.

“Jesus Christ, Gemma. Calm down,” Laylen says in a sultry voice as he loosens his grip on me. “It’s me. It’s Laylen.” He lets me go and I reel around, panting with my hand over my heart as he shuts the bedroom door.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I pant profusely as I work to slow down my rapid heartbeat. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Shhh…” Laylen puts his finger up to his deep red lips that are ornamented with a silver loop. He glances around the room and then at the window. “Keep your voice down.”

I take in the sight of him, insanely tall, at least a few inches taller than Alex with striking blue eyes and skin as pale as snow. Wisps of his blonde hair hang down his forehead, the tips dyed blue. He’s dressed head to toe in black, very gothic, very sexy, in a way that sends me yearning for things it really shouldn’t. I remember how I used to dream about Laylen, back before I met him, or re-met him anyway. The dreams were erotic and would alternate between Alex and Laylen. I wonder if they mean anything. If down the road, I could end up doing something with Laylen. The idea is exciting and unsettling at the same time, considering I have feelings for Alex and Aislin has feelings for Laylen, yet I also have feelings for Laylen, too; I merely can’t quite decipher what kind yet.

“Why do I have to be quiet?” I hiss, standing up straight and stepping toward him. “What’s going on?”

He glances nervously around the room again and then locks the door. “So what do you think about what Alex told you?” He rests back against the door, his gaze flickering to the top of the shirt that I’m pretty much bulging out of.

“I’m not sure.” I fold my arms over my chest self-consciously. “Some of it seems plausible, but it seems like he’s still keeping a lot from me. Like the fact that his father just disappeared along with the Death Walkers and just left us all behind.”

He rakes his fingers through his hair, leaving his hand on the back of his neck, his elbow bent upward. “I’m unsure about that part, too… I’m hesitant about a lot of things.”

I sink down on the foot of the bed. “When you guys came back from Nevada, how did everything seem? Was it only Alex and me inside that mess of a cabin?”

He takes a seat beside me, sitting near enough that our legs press together. I can’t help thinking about how he can manipulate emotions and, for a second, I contemplate telling him to give me a moment of solace, anything to make the pain go away.

“Pretty much,” he says. “Alex was just sitting there, holding you. He looked like he was freaking out, but then when he saw us, he went completely calm.”

It’s so confusing, a tangled mess of wires that need to be unwound. I ask him a few more questions about what Alex has told him so we can compare stories. For the most part, everything adds up, nearly matching. Maybe a little too much, as if Alex’s story was rehearsed. I think about all the times he lied to me; how he pretended he didn’t know me when he did, how he knew my memories had been erased, yet only divulged the information when I asked him. He’s extremely good at keeping secrets, what's not to say he doesn’t have more locked away inside him?

“So do you believe him?” I ask. “When he says he has no clue where the Death Walkers and Stephan went or why they ran off?”

He stretches out his legs in front of him and crosses them at the ankles. “I have no idea what the hell to believe.” He leans in, his shoulder brushing against mine as he lowers his voice. “What I do know is that there’s a slim to none chance that the Death Walkers are just going to leave when they know you have the star’s energy in you. Plus, if Stephan’s in on it with Demetrius and the Death Walkers, which I’m sure he is, then he’s the kind of person that’ll do anything to get what he wants. So walking away from you is pretty much impossible if what he wants is the star.”

“From what I saw that’s what he wants,” I tell him. “I mean, he showed up with a herd of Death Walkers.”

“I wonder why, though. I wonder if it’s for the same reason as Demetrius… if he wants to open the portal… or he has other plans for you and the star.”

“Laylen did you… do you know that Stephan is Immortal?”

With a clenched jaw, Laylen nods. “Not until yesterday, though… when we got you here. Alex explained some things that apparently he’s been keeping from everyone—even Aislin. Like the fact that his asshole of a father pretty much can’t be killed.”

“How is that possible, though?” I eye over the black ink tattooing his skin, the