To make things even more complicated, being confined in the car was causing the electricity to crackle like a wildfire. My skin was getting hot and sweaty, and I felt like I was burning up with a fever. Fortunately, I discovered that, even in the desert, the air cooled during the night and chilled the windows.

I had my cheek resting against the glass, on the verge of falling asleep, when Alex asked, “What are you doing?”

“Trying to sleep,” I mumbled crankily.

“You look like you’re burning up,” he remarked.

I heard him shift in the seat, and the next thing I knew he’d pressed the palm of his hand to my forehead. It sent a shot of heat through my already burning up body, causing me to jump. Great. It was so freaking hot—the last thing I needed was for him to touch me.

I turned my head to look at him. He’d narrowed the distance between us so drastically that, even through the darkness, I could see his eyes assessing me over.

“What are you doing?” I asked, raising my face away from the window.

“Checking if you have a fever.”

“I don’t have a fever,” I argued, sliding my forehead out from under his hand.

But his hand followed me. He dragged it gently along my temple, letting it come to rest on my cheek. “You’re skin feels really warm.”

“That’s because I am warm,” I said, my voice sharp. “And you touching me just makes it worse.” I tilted my face and his hand fell to his lap. “You’re too hot.” As soon as I said it, I immediately wanted to slap myself on the forehead. You’re too hot. What it wrong with you Gemma? “I-I didn’t mean it like that,” I stammered. And I really didn’t. I swear.

It didn’t matter, though. It was too late. The damage had already been done. The corners of his mouth tugged upward into a beautiful, yet smug, smile. “I’m too hot, huh?”

“Oh, shut up.” Through the darkness, I fixed him with my angriest glare. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Do I?” His eyebrow teased upward.

I shook my head, frustrated. The last thing I needed was for him to think I had some kind of crush on him. Because I didn’t. I swear. Well, fine. Whatever. But he didn’t need to know that. “What I meant to say was your skin feels too hot.”

“Okay, whatever you say.”

I heaved an angry breath. “You are such a—” I snapped my jaw shut as the city suddenly blistered over the horizon.

The sight was breathtaking. Flashy neon lights of every shape and color dazzled so vibrantly against the blackness of the night that I wondered if staring at it for a long length of time would make me go blind. Giant billboards lit up the sides of the road, and uniquely shaped buildings stretched godly toward the sky. As we emerged closer to the city, the sidewalks became packed with mobs of people, the air buzzing with excitement. Now I understood why its nickname had been deemed The City that Never Sleeps. Everything was so alive and awake.

Awestruck by the sight, I pinched my arm to make sure I wasn’t dreaming and winced from the sting I undeniably felt.

Alex must have seen me do it, because he leaned over and whispered, “You’re not dreaming. It’s real.”

I rubbed the pinched spot on my arm. “I was just making sure.”

He smiled. Clearly, I was entertaining him.

We drove by a massive glass pyramid, a giant pirate ship, and a small replica of the Eiffel tower, finally hitting the heart of the city. Laylen made an unexpected veer to the right, and the atmosphere abruptly shifted. The lights faded away, and the crowds of people thinned out. The buildings shrank from the sky, looking worn out and less exciting. I caught Aislin reaching over and locking her door. The place was definitely sketchy.

I chewed nervously on my bottom lip and scooted away from the window to distance myself as much as I could from the outside.

“You do realize it’s almost one o’clock,” Aislin informed Laylen. Back at the house, while I’d been in the bathroom changing my clothes, she’d changed as well, now wearing a frilly skirt and a lacy trimmed camisole. On her shoulder blade was a tattoo of a crescent moon outlined by a black star. “Is this place even going to be open so late?”

Laylen flipped the signal light on. “Yeah, it’ll be open. It’s only open at night.”

What kind of place was only open at night? Probably one as creepy as the street we were on.

Laylen made another turn, this time to the left, and any sign of life died instantaneously. Not a single person was in sight. The buildings looked dead, broken, and old, most of the windows boarded up.  And as Laylen slowed the GTO to a crawl, all I could think was, yes, of course this is the street we’re stopping on. We couldn’t have just stopped back in the land of the living, where the lights shined bright, and it didn’t feel like as soon as I stepped out of the car someone was going to jump out and stab me with a knife.

Or jump out and freeze me to death.

I choked on the last thought.

Laylen parked the car in front of a gloomy building with dingy windows and the words Angels Fortress of Tattoos and Piercing painted sloppily across the window. No lights were on inside it or in any of the nearby buildings. The only proof of human existence was when a person wearing a black hooded jacket, cargo pants, and army boots, darted out in front of the car, scurried down the street, and disappeared down a dark alleyway. I’m not going to lie; it scared me so badly I seriously about peed my pants.

Alex leaned in toward me. “Are you okay?”

“Umm…” Did he just ask if I was okay? He even sounded like he was being sincere, which was weird. “Yeah, I think so.”

Laylen turned off the engine, and the radio and the lights shut off. Everything got very quiet and very dark.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Alex asked me again, his voice low and deep. “Because you look scared.”

“I’m not,” I lied, clicking my seatbelt loose.

“You don’t have to be scared,” he whispered in my ear. The heat of his breath made me shiver in a good way. I hated that it made me shiver in a good way. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Huh? What was with the sudden nice guy act? Maybe the electricity was becoming too much for him too and was messing with his head or something.

“Okay,” I said, sounding confused. And trust me, I was confused.

Aislin scanned the ominous buildings surrounding us. “So which one is it?”

Laylen didn’t reply, his eyes glued to the front window as he fiddle with his lip ring.

Aislin turned and looked at him. “Laylen, which one is it?”

When he finally spoke, his words dragged out.  “It’s none of them.”

Alex slid forward in the seat and rested his arms on the console. “What do you mean, it’s none of them?”

“I mean it’s none of them.” Laylen dropped his fingers from his lip ring. “I needed to make an extra stop.”

Oh boy. Here we go. Alex had been very specific about going straight there and straight back. And now, here we were, taking a detour. I squeezed my eyes shut and massaged the side of my temples, waiting for all hell to break loose.

“What!” Alex shouted, slamming his fist down on the console. “I thought I told you we weren’t supposed to stop anywhere else!”

Laylen slid the keys out of the ignition and kept his voice calm. “Before you start freaking out, here me out first. Trust me, you’ll want what I stopped for.”

“Trust you?” Alex let out a cynical laugh. “Are you kidding me?” He made a gestured at the window. “I already trusted you and look where it got us.”

For a moment, no one said anything. I could hear dogs howling in the distance, and a loud bang, like a garbage can toppling over, echoed through the air.

Alex tossed his hands in the air. “Fine. What did we stop for?”

Laylen tapped his fingers on top of the steering wheel. “The Sword of Immortality.”

One…two…three seconds ticked by.