Then the crowd parts and Stephan comes walking in, wearing a black cloak. He gazes at the Death Walkers’ bodies all over the floor and then at me. “Well, I see that you’ve changed since the last time I met you,” he says, sounding both annoyed and impressed. He stalks toward me, his boots cracking the icy floors.

I remain where I am, waiting until he’s within sword’s reach before I take a stab at him. But he swats the sword away as if my new inner strength is nothing but a minor problem, insignificant.

“You know, you’re a very hard girl to track down,” he says. “I send a faerie to find you, but he up and disappears. I’d try to find you myself, track you down and come where you are, but that’s impossible right now thanks to the memoria extracto.”

It’s like he’s about to give me the same speech again, like he did in the Wastelands, which has me wondering if he’s oblivious to the fact that he’s captured me once before, branded me with the mark, and tried to get me to murder Alex.

“Finally, I thought to myself, what can I do?” he continues on unknowingly. “How can I get ahold of my star without going to her?” He takes the knife he’s holding and traces the tip along the scar on his cheek, circling around me. “See, the thing is, Gemma, there’s something you don’t understand.” He gives a dramatic pause and then grins. “I always win.”

Yep, stuck on repeat. I check behind me, relieved to find that Laylen has freed my mother from the chains. Aleesa is still curled in the corner, rocking back and forth as she hugs her knees to her chest. I need to get us out of here. Somehow.

“I wouldn’t put so much trust in people.” Stephan says. “You never know what secrets they could be hiding from you. People are great liars, especially when it comes to protecting themselves.”

“And you would be the expert on that, wouldn’t you?” I carry his intimidating gaze with confidence.

He stops in front of me. “I’m not the only one in this room who is an expert at lying.” He looks behind me at my mother on the floor her eyes unexpectedly vacant of emotion. “Should I tell her? Or would you like to, Jocelyn?”

She says nothing and Laylen shifts his weight uneasily. I discretely point at Aleesa, mouthing for Laylen to get a hold of her and get closer to me. I need to foresee us out of here. Now.

“Ask her what’s on her wrist,” Stephan says to me with a wicked grin. “Go ahead. Ask your mother what she’s been hiding from you”

I don’t have to look. I think deep down I already know. “No… there’s no way,” I say in denial.

Laylen bends over and jerks up the sleeve of my mother’s shirt. His eyes widen and I gasp at the triangle outlining by red symbol branded in her flesh on her arm.

I shake my head, refusing to believe what’s right in front of me. “It’s not real…”

“She’s had it forever,” Stephan tells me, pleased. “Sophia, Marco… Didn’t you ever wonder how I got everyone to do what I asked? The only ones I didn’t mark were the ones who couldn’t be marked.” He frowns. “The one’s whose blood is pure from evil.”

I think about Alex. Aislin. Laylen. Myself. Blood pure from evil. I know I can be marked, but what about them. What if one of them is marked?

I start to step back toward the door, needing to get the hell out of here.

Stephan matches my step, regaining every amount of space I put between us. “Your mother’s a fighter. She was always a fighter… it’s her gift, you know—her Keeper’s gift. She always made things difficult for me, which is part of the reason why I sent her to The Underworld. I couldn’t even summon her to go—I had to threaten your wellbeing. The Underworld has weakened her, though. It’s tainted her blood, which makes things less complicated for me. Getting her to come here was as easy as a master whistling to call his dog.” He looks over at my mother, pride beaming as if she’s something he’s created. “It makes her easier to control. All I had to do was tug at the leash a little.”

“Okay, this conversation is getting a little too metaphorical for me,” I say glancing at Laylen who has Aleesa now and my mother by his side. “If you want to say something,” I tell Stephan. “Just say it. Quit rambling.”

He begins rolling up the sleeves of his shirt, still grinning. A small part of me wants to see how this fight will turn out, especially with my new badass fighting skills. But the other part of me knows what needs to be done. So with one swift dive, I slide across the icy floor, slipping between the Death Walkers’ legs and into my mom like a baseball player glides into home plate. I snatch hold of Laylen’s arm who grabs onto Aleesa and then extend a hand out to my mom. Even though she’s imprinted with evil, I’m not leaving her behind.

Stephan’s elation plummets as he sees his precious star slipping through his fingers like sand. “Get her!” he orders to the Death Walkers and they begin to close in on us, sucking away any heat left in the air.

But I blink my eyes and picture somewhere safe and moments later we’re gone.

Chapter 16

Alex and Aislin are drinking coffee and having a heated conversation about something when the four of us fall into the living room, a pile of tangled bodies. We end up taking out the coffee table, breaking two of the legs off and cracking the top in half. Coffee spills all over the floor and Aislin gasp in alarm.

I immediately unwind my legs and arms from Laylen and Aleesa and scramble to my feet. “We have to leave,” I say. “Now.” I bend down to eye level with my mom who is disoriented. “Did you tell him where we were hiding?”

She trembles, pulling her knees against her chest. “I’m so sorry, Gemma. I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t.”

I didn’t want apologies right now. I need to know we are safe. “I need to know if you told Stephan where we were hiding.”

She didn’t answer, because she couldn’t.

“Shit.” I start to turn to Alex for help but feel an unfamiliar sense of leadership taking control of me, coiling through my veins and colliding into my heart, thrusting a surge of energy potently through my body. “We need to leave now.”

“What the f**k is going on?” Alex rounds the broken table toward me and looks at Aleesa, cowering near the end table with her arms cradled around her head. “And who the hell is she?”

“She’s just someone we found in the basement.” I know that once I say who she is, it’s going to be a huge distraction. And we need to focus on getting somewhere safe first. “It’s not important right now.”

He questions me with a crook of his brow. “Okay, well then explain why we need to leave in such a rush?”

I snatch hold my mom’s arm, roll her sleeve back, and give an exaggerated gesture at the mark on her wrist. “Because of that.”

His jaw nearly hits the floor. “What the… did he just do that to her?”

I shake my head, letting go of her arm and my mom hangs her head in shame. “But I’ll explain everything later, okay? I think she told him where we were hiding so we need to move before he shows up here... well, when he can. I’m not sure how long he still has to stay away from us for, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

He starts ripping the place apart, pulling out weapons he hid all over the house. “Alright, everyone, we’re going. Aislin, grab whatever you need to, but no clothes or stupid shit like that.”

“Any suggestions on where we should go?” I collect the mapping ball from the coffee table.

“I’m running out of ideas,” Alex replies, tucking a dagger into a sheath on his ankle. “With all the moving around we’ve been doing, the list of safe places is dwindling.”

I can’t believe I’m about to say this. “What if we went back to Wyoming?” I ask. “Back to Marco and Sophia’s home, because I’m guessing my landlord has evicted me by now from my apartment.”

“Gemma, Stephan knows where that is,” Aislin tells me, like I was an idiot as she tosses herbs and candles into a large duffel bag.

“Yeah, which means he’s less likely to look for us there.” I pace back and forth. “He would never think we’d go to a place he knew about, right? And I’m familiar with it and the town. There are hardly any people around so it makes the worry of someone seeing us low.”

“And what if Marco and Sophia are there?” Aislin asks, zipping up the bag. “Then what.”

“Then we take them out.” Alex draws a medium size knife out from the sofa cushion and touches the tip of it with his finger. “We lock them up and see if we can get some answers from them. We should have done that a long time ago anyway.”

Aislin sighs, but doesn’t protest. Laylen comes hurrying out from the bedroom with a bag on his back. “So what’s the plan?” He directs the question to me.

“Afton,” I reply with confidence.

“Look at you,” Laylen jokes as he adjusts the handle of the bag on his shoulder. “First the ninja moves and now the awesome leadership skills. You’re turning into a regular badass.”

Alex elevates his eyebrows inquisitively. “Ninja moves?”

“I’ll explain later,” I say dismissively. “Now what’s the best way to get there? Transport or should I use my power?”

“Either.” Alex goes over to the window and peers out of the blinds. “Driving isn’t an option since the car was totaled in the accident.”

“That’s too many for me to transport all at once.” Aislin hitches the bag over her shoulder. “But I can make two trips.”

“No!” Alex and I shout at the same time and Aislin flinches.

“Sorry,” Alex says with limited sincerity in his tone. “But remember what happened the last time we did that? You and Laylen never made it there.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Aislin shudders.

“It’s okay…I can do it.” I hope the extra adrenaline pumping through my veins will give me the boost I need to do this right.

“Are you sure?” Alex asks restlessly as he makes his way back over to me. “I don’t want you over exerting yourself. You’ve already been passing out a lot.”

“I’ll be okay.” And for once, it actually feels like the truth. This unknown power pumping inside me makes me feel almost invincible.

We all gather in the corner, in a tight huddle and then I close my eyes, picturing the high ridged mountains enclosing the town I grew up in, the red brick house, the rooms inside. When I open my eyes, I cringe. All six of us are huddled together in the center of my old living room. There are pictures on the walls that don’t include me and sad memories are floating everywhere like ghosts. I stand up straight, a mixture of feelings drowning me. Everything... It’s too much. My eyes roll into the back of my head and I buckle to the floor.

Chapter 17

When I wake up in my old bed, I flip out. For the briefest, most fearful moment I think that maybe I’ve dreamt the last year and have woken up to my lonely high school life, friendless, unfeeling and empty once again.

Everything looks exactly the same as the last time I was here, back a couple of months ago. The walls are bright red and there’s a single shelf in the corner that use to hold my limited collection of books and CDs but Sophia made me come get them because she didn’t want my “junk” taking up her space anymore. The only thing that is different is the six-foot-four vampire snoring away in my computer chair, his black boots kicked up on the computer desk, his head tipped back in an awkward position.

I find myself smiling as I get out of bed and pad over to him. I don’t try to wake him right away, taking in his pale skin, the silver lip ring ornamenting his bottom lip¸ and the mark of immortality on his arm. God, he is beautiful. He really is and honestly, I don’t think he sees the beauty in himself, inside and out, which is sad.

I lightly tap him on the shoulder, figuring I’ll wake him up and see what’s going on. He jumps, startled, and lets out a loud snort, his fangs descending from his mouth as if he’s about to bite.

“Sorry.” I cover my mouth to stifle a laugh. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

His bright blue eyes are huge as he presses his hand to his heart. “You scared the shit out of me. Jesus, Gemma.” He allows his fangs to retract as he lowers his feet to the floor.

“Sorry.” I lower my hand from my mouth. “But why are you sleeping at my computer desk?”

“I’m on Gemma duty.”

“Gemma duty?”

“Yeah, Gemma duty.” Laylen fiddles with his lip ring, sucking it between his teeth. “You’ve been out for almost three days and we were getting worried about you…that maybe the rush was too much for you. You’re heart’s been racing way too fast so they put me in here to try to calm you.”

“With your gift?” I ask and he nods and it makes my stomach flutter just a bit. “Wait. What’s a rush?”

Laylen swivels in the chair. “It’s the rush of adrenaline you get when your Keeper’s mark first appears.”

My arms go limp at my side. “My Keeper’s mark?”

He offers me a smile but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Yeah it’s on your shoulder blade.”

I dash over to the mirror and yank down the upper part of my t-shirt, turning around. Circling the center of my shoulder blade is a ring of fiery-gold flames, centered by a circle. “Wait.” I give him a suspicious glance. “How did you guys find the mark on me?”