“Well, it’s like that. Change one small thing in your life and it alters everything. Ruin it or sometimes make it better, depending on what you do.” He pauses, mulling something over with a thoughtful expression. “I’m not sure what your father erased and recreated in order to get the world to end, but for us to stop it without doing too much damage, the best thing to do is to erase him before he changes the event. Well, not actually erase you father, but we would go into the mapping ball, find the memory of your father where he changed the vision, and erase him before he does it… like you did with yourself on the beach.”

“And how are we supposed to find the exact memory?” I remove the crystal ball from Nicholas’s hand. “If this thing is full of them.”

Nicholas taps the side of his head. “That answer is in here. Literally.”

My mood plummets. “In your head? You have got to be kidding me.”

“Actually I am.” He winks at me and positions his finger to the side of my head, disregarding the dirty look I give him. “It’s actually in yours, which makes more sense if you think about it.”

“My dad said the same thing to me,” I say. “But I’m still lost.”

“I’ll explain more when we get in there,” he says, lowering his hand to his lap. “It more easy to show you then to explain it you.”

I sigh wearily as I recline back against the armrest. “And what if the vision my father changed still ends up leading to death?” I look over at Alex, thinking about the vision I saw right before I was dropped into the place where my father was. Alex and I by the lake, dying in each other’s arms.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s how things were—are supposed to be.” Nicholas traces the Foreseers’ mark on his wrist, an S outlined by a circle. “Despite how powerful some of us get, Foreseers are only supposed to see visions, not change them or control them to our liking. No one should ever have that much control.”

For a second, Nicholas actually seems like a decent person who cares about the world and has values. It’s strange seeing him like this, serious and somewhat normal.

My father seems like the opposite. He changed a vision so the world would end in the most horrible way. Everything’s going to freeze and all the witches, fey, vampires, and Death Walkers linked to Malefiscus are going to run the streets killing everyone.

“Let’s go then.” I sit up straight. “I want to get this over with as quick as possible. The sooner we put everything back together, the sooner we can maybe all have a normal life.” I can’t help but glance at Alex. Is there hope for us yet?

“That’s easier said than done.” Nicholas snatches the mapping ball away from me. “This thing uses a lot of power. It’s not as simple as placing your hand on it and going into it, like the other crystal balls you’ve used in the past.” He throws the ball in the air and catches it, making me tense. “We need the power of the main crystal ball that all the other crystal balls run off in order to pull this off.”

“The giant crystal ball that sucks its energy away from people?” I shudder at the memory of Alex strapped to the crystal with tubes embedded into his skin, along with a ton of other people.

“That would be the one,” Nicholas says uncaringly.

“And the Foreseers are going to just let us take the power?” I ask doubtfully.

Nicholas looks down at his hand as he opens and closes it. “No, we steal the power and bring it back with us and use it here. It’s safer that way.”

“You actually think I’m going to let you go off to the City of Crystal alone with her.” Alex gets up and walks over to us, sitting on the armrest just behind me.

“You could always let me go by myself and hope I’ll come back,” Nicholas replies snidely. “But I’m guessing you’re not a fan of that idea either.”

“Alex, back off. I can handle this,” I say, not meaning to sound so rude, but it kind of slips out in my tone. “You have got to stop trying to protect me all the damn time.”

“How am I supposed to stop doing something, when it’s all I want to do?” He brushes his fingers across the back of my neck. “All I want to do is protect you. That’s it. I can’t even think clearly when I know you’re in harm.”

Recollection clicks in my head. He said that once to me, in another time, in the erased vision, before I ran off and got captured by Nicholas. It’s strange that I’m remembering these little details, instead of them fading like the event did.

“Yeah, I give you two a day before you end up killing one another,” Nicholas remarks with a laugh. “Seriously, it’s like watching mild porn, watching you two eye fuck each other every two seconds.”

“We’ll be fine.” Although, I’m not sure I believe my own words. Fine. Nothing feels fine. Not me. Not Alex touching me. Because he shouldn’t be just touching me. He should be holding me. Kissing me. Slipping inside me over and over again…

“We have a problem,” Aislin announces as she whisks into the room, interrupting my dirty thoughts. “A big problem.”

“Of course we do,” Alex says with an eye roll his fingers coming to rest on my back. “The world is going to end unless we fix it.”

She shakes her head and puts her hands on her hips. “No, not that problem.” Her eyes land on me. “Gemma, your mom just called and told me that she found Laylen and that he’s in trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” The pitch of my voice is alarmingly high and I reach out to grip something for support and end up grabbing Alex’s knee. “He didn’t… bite someone did he?”

“He’s…” She trails off, giving a cautious glance at Nicholas before leaning in and lowering her voice. “Maybe we should discuss this in private.”

“Why? He can’t go anywhere,” I point out, but she is still hesitant.

“Just say whatever it is,” Alex says, his finger tracing circles on my back. I wonder if he’s even aware that he’s doing it, touching me like that.

“He’s at…” She lowers her voice even more and positions herself so her back is to Nicholas. “He was at the Red Dragon.”

“Please don’t tell me that’s another club,” I grimace, slumping against Alex. “I really don’t want to do anymore clubs as long as I live, at least not ones with poisonous drinks.”

“Oh, it’s a club,” Alex says dryly. “An exclusive club for anyone and anything that has a thirst for the evil side—much worse than the Black Dungeon.”

“God, this is all my fault,” I say, frustrated with myself.

“This isn’t your fault,” Alex assures me. “It’s Laylen’s. What he does is his choice.”

I abruptly feel like I’m being strangled, invisible fingers winding around my neck. “Wait. If there’s vampires at this club, they might kill him because he killed Vladislav.” Panic overcomes me, makes the room spin as my lungs shrink.

“Oh my God! Would you two shut up!” Aislin yells, practically spitting in our faces as she stomps her foot. “I said he was at the Red Dragon, but someone we know picked him up from there and now he’s safe, well more or less.”

“Who picked him up?” I ask at the same time Alex says, “Fuck. Just what we need. I really don’t want to deal with her shit right now.”

I look over my shoulder at him and give him a funny look. “You know this person.”

Alex fidgets uncomfortably. “Yeah, more or less,” he says in a tight voice with regret in his eyes.

“I know she lives close by here and everything.” Aislin looks about as hurt as a wounded animal. “But I just never thought Laylen would contact her over me… us.”

“Would someone please explain who her is?” I ask in the nicest tone I can summon.

Aislin waits for Alex to explain but he avoids her gaze and she sighs. “It’s Stasha. She used to be a Keeper—well, I guess she technically still is, but she…decided she didn’t want to be part of the circle anymore because of him.” She nods her head at Alex who looks like he wants to be anywhere but here.