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

and again until I can barely breathe or think straight. Maybe that’s what he’s trying to do. Distract me from my worry. Or maybe he just loves kissing me.

“And what about you?” I say between his breathless kisses. “What will you do?”

He pauses, offering me a sad smile. “You remember all those times I was around you and I was a douche?”

I roll my eyes. “How could I forget? I hated you because you were an ass, but the damn electricity made it impossible to actually hate you for real.”

His smile turns to a real one. “That entire time I hated doing that to you. In fact, I swear to God it killed me, but I did it because I had to.” He slants closer to me, so we strategically touch in all the right places. “I can control what I feel, Gemma. It’s what I’ve been taught to do. The only exception to this is you.”

“Then how can anyone know what you’re really feeling?” I question, gripping his lean arms. “If you’re shutting it off and saying contradicting things.”

He considers what I said then leans down and covers his lips over mine. He kisses me until I’m desperately gasping for air, until my heart’s pumping blood at an unhealthy rate.

“Do you feel that?” he whispers against my lips. “Do you feel how I make you feel inside?”

I blink dazedly through emotions of yearning, elation, and contentment. “Yeah.”

“Well that’s exactly how you make me feel inside.” He looks me in the eyes and I can almost see my reflection in his overly large pupils.

He could be lying, but he might not be. Maybe I do make him feel the same as I do inside. Maybe he’s just as confused as me. Maybe he’s erratic on the inside, unstable. Perhaps it’s the hardest thing in the world not to be close to me. I choose to believe that he’s being genuinely honest because it’d be the perfect ending to my sad story. The one where the guy falls in love with the girl and the girl falls equally in love with the guy. The flaw to this story, however, is that at the moment, there’s no prickle on the back of my neck confirming I’ve felt love before, so in the end it’s only a story.

Nothing more.

Chapter 28

“You know it’s going to happen,” Stephan says, propping a hand on each side of my head.

Alex is gone and I don’t know where he is. He left me. No he wouldn’t do that.

“You’ve already felt the evil and you’re going to change,” Stephan says, his black eyes glinting wickedly.

I try to sit up, but I’m glued to the mattress by an unseen force, my arms kinked to the side and my legs stuck together like melting wax. “I’m not evil! I’m good! I know I am!”

“You about beat Nicholas to death,” he reminds. “How does it feel to have blood on your hands?”

“Terrible,” I say, but the red and black triangle singes onto my upper arm, revealing the lie. I can smell the scent of burning flesh and feel the good in me dissolving “I hated every second of it.”

He leans back and sits down on the mattress, “Now we know that’s a lie. You loved it and we both know it.”

I shake my head, denying what lies deep inside me; darkness, a shadow opposing the good. “No, I didn’t.”

He grins as he elevates his hand and a razor-sharp knife appears in it. “If that’s true, then I guess I have no use for you.” He moves to swing the knife down.

I scream as it dives for my heart. As it plummets closer, I shut my eyes and picture the blue beach house while I channel my Foreseer power. As the blade grazes my skin, almost splitting my heart open, I blink myself away from this place.

***

My eyelids spring open. “Holy shit!” I gasp. “I know how to get us out of here.”

Alex is lying on his side, watching me with his arm draped across my stomach. “How?” he asks and we both sit up on the bed. “Gemma, what are you talking about?”

I catch my breath, wiping the sweat from my forehead. “I can use my power to get us out of here.”

He shakes his head, looking lost. “But you don’t have a crystal ball.”

“But I’ve gone into visions without them before.”

“Yeah, but those are visions, not present time.”

“I know that,” I say, sitting up. “But I can try. It pretty much works the same way. I just need to feel enough emotion and try to remember things… memories seem to get it going pretty well.”

He opens his mouth to protest as he sits up. “I don’t—” His eyes dodge do the door and he quickly stands to his feet, grabbing my hand and pulling me behind him.

A Water Fey watches us from the open doorway, interweaving through the ceiling vines as it heads toward us. It stops when it’s about to reach the bed and seconds later the Queen appears behind it. She’s changed into a black, mermaid-shaped dress that has red roses growing on vines, which trim the bottom half. Her frosty hair has been braided up on the top of her head and is woven with black ribbons and her lips are tinted purple.

“It’s time,” she says and snaps her fingers. “Both of you, follow me.”

Alex and I trade a look and then we follow the Queen out of the cell. We quietly walk just behind her as she struts down the tunnel lined with jail doors. Water Fey enclose us, floating in curving paths. I consider shutting my eyes and seeing if I can really pull it off—take us out of this place in the blink of an eye—but I can’t just yet, not until I find my mom. As I glance over at Alex, however, guilt begins to rot in my stomach. I drag him into this mess and look where it gets him. Now what’s