“Your mom’s still out looking for him… I needed a break because I can’t… can’t…” Aislin cries harder, gasping for air. “I can’t... do… this...”

I’m not spectacular with emotions, but I do my best and give her a pat on the back. “It’s going to be okay. Just tell us what’s wrong.”

My attempt to soothe her is way better than Alex’s. He rolls his eyes, appearing irritated. “Just spit it out, Aislin.”

Looking hurt, Aislin wipes the tears away as she raises her head back up. “I can’t find him anywhere... And I’m worried… what he might be doing.”

“Me too,” I agree, wanting to scream at myself for being so selfish just five minutes ago and only thinking about myself.

Alex drops down on the sofa across from us and props his foot on his knee. “Yeah, we all are, but freaking out isn’t going to help us find him.”

“You don’t need to be rude,” Aislin snaps. “I’m just a little upset, okay?” Tears well in her eyes again. “I never got to tell him I was… sorry… for everything.” Tears pour out of her eyes and she abruptly shoves me back and takes off down the hallway, leaving me wide eyed and baffled, because honestly I thought only I reacted so dramatically.

“You know, sometimes I’m grateful I can shut off my emotions when I need to.” Alex mutters. “It keeps me from doing things like that.”

“Not all emotions are bad,” I point out, sitting in the spot Aislin just evacuated.

“No they’re not.” Hunger burns in his eyes and emits his voice, his breathing quickening uncontrollably as he looks at me. Then without notice, he’s getting to his feet and crossing the room toward me, his arm extended as if he’s going to grab me again and pull me into another irresistible kiss.

For a faltering second I stay motionless, wanting him to do it. But then I remember that I already had my selfish moment and it’s time to fess up and deal with things the right way, so I lean back right as he’s about to touch me.

His expression contorts with confusion as he withdraws his hand to his side and stops just in front of me. He assesses me intently and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a straight insight to my thoughts. “What are you not telling me?”

I take a deep breath and motion between us. “You and I can’t—”

“What the fuck. You’re head's bleeding.” He cuts me off, squinting at my forehead.

“What?”

“There’s blood all over the side of your head.” He drops to his knees and his fingers brush my temple. This time I don’t budge, letting him inspect, wondering what’s going on.

Then my finger drifts to the area he’s touching as I start to feel an aching sensation there and is instantly coated with a warm, sticky substance. Blood. All over my hair and skin and now my fingers. I quickly jump to my feet and rush over to a mirror on the wall to examine my head. On the left side of my scalp, there is a deep cut covered by blood that trails down my cheek and is also matted in my hair.

“That wasn’t there a minute ago.” Alex moves up behind me to inspect the cut some more. “It was like it appeared out of nowhere.”

“But then where did it come from.” We exchange a puzzled look, but something in my mind is clicking. Why was the injury so familiar? And the pain spreading through my skull… I’ve felt it before. Suddenly it hits me, like a punch to the gut. “Oh my God.”

Alex’s arms protectively enclose around me. “What’s wrong?”

“I think…” I don’t finish and sprint across the living room for the back door.

“Where are you going?” Alex calls out, running after me.

I don’t answer, throwing open the back door and leaping down the steps. Then I race across the sandy beach toward the cliff area where Nicholas knocked me out before handing me over to Stephan.

“Gemma!” Alex yells from at my heels. “Where the heck are you going?”

I push past a few people blocking the entrance chatting and drinking beers and they curse and flip me off. But I disregard them, calling over my shoulder to Alex, “I have to see something.” I wind through the rocks, feel the bottom of my feet scrape open, but don’t slow down. Blood continues to trickle out of the wound on my head and sweat beads my skin as the sun blazes down on me. Finally, I slow to a jog as I approach the mouth of the cliffs where the rocks part.

Alex halts beside me, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead. “I get the whole need answers now thing, but fucking hell, will you please tell me what’s going on?”

“I want to see if there’s something back here…” I explain vaguely, wiping the sweat from my brow as I venture closer to the area Nicholas took me down at.

“Okay…” Alex walks beside me. “Could you be a little less vague?”

I scan the ground and rocks. “I’m looking for a sign that the past that was erased has taken place, if that makes any sense.”

“Kind of.” He squints against the sunlight as he searches the tops of the rocks. “But I thought you said that didn’t happen.” He shields his eyes with his hand. “That your father erased it, so why do you think there would be a sign?”

I look over my shoulder at him. “I thought he did but now...” I shake my head. “I have no idea what’s going on, but if there’s blood back here, then something’s up—something’s not right, because the cut bleeding on my head right now was exactly where Nicholas hit me before he kidnapped me and gave me over to Stephan.” My head throbs and a warm line of blood drips down my skin. I press my hand against the wound and delve further into the cliffs cautiously, keeping an eye out for blood and a blond haired faerie.

When I arrive at the end of the path where rocks open up into a small sandy area, my heart rate accelerates. And my confusion multiplies.

Alex squeezes up to the side of me and squints down at the ground in front of our feet where a body lies in the sand. “What is that?”

“It’s….me.” I gaze down at myself, unconscious, laying in a pool of blood, wearing the clothes I had on when I’d been taken to the Wastelands. “Am I in a vision right now?” Out of the corner of my eye, I catch sight of a figure appearing and moving toward us. Nicholas. I jump back, knocking my shoulder into Alex’s chest, and he steadies me with his hands.

Nicholas, who is usually alarmingly calm, appears as shocked as me. His golden eyes are wide, lips slightly parted, as he stares down at the me in the sand.

“How the hell did that happen…” He trails off as comprehension rises on his face and he looks up at me. “Wow, I’m very impressed.” He starts clapping his hands mockingly, like the true asshole that he is. “Bravo, I must say. You become more amazing each time our paths cross.” He grins wickedly at me and then a split second later, he’s lunging for me.

I don’t have the reflexes of a cat by any means, and Nicholas is skilled in the art of lunging. Thankfully, Alex’s reflexes are flawless and with one swift movement, he’s positioned himself in front of me and clocks Nicholas in the jaw.

“Dammit…” Nicholas’s eyes roll into the back of his head and he falls back, landing hard in the sand, out cold.

Alex shakes out his hand as he turns to me. “His head is as hard as a rock.”

I laugh, but it swiftly vanishes as I step over Nicholas and make my way over to the body of me lying in the sand. Is it real? Or is she just a vision? Hesitantly I crouch down and place a hand on her arm. There’s a zap that shoots through my body and jolts straight to my heart, more powerful than even the current of sparks between Alex and me. I gasp, feeling the past moment erase and evaporate into the wind, vanishing, as if it had never even existed at all.

As the body of me goes with it, my hand falls onto the sand. “Wow.” I’m speechless as I stare at the empty spot. The ocean crashes against the other side of the rocks, birds sing in the distance, and the wind kisses my cheeks, the world becoming at peace with time, or at least that’s what it feels like.