I slid my legs off his lap and sat up straight. “What’s going on?”

They exchanged another look, and this time I thought I saw a hint of disappointment in Alex’s expression.

“Why do you two keep giving each other weird looks?” My head had stopped spinning now, and I realized not only had the car stopped, but Laylen wasn’t in it. “And where’s Laylen?”

“He’s inside.” Aislin pointed out the window at a redbrick building with the words Adessa’s Herbs and Spices printed across the door. “He went in to check things out and make sure everything was okay before we all went inside.”

“Oh…well, why do you guys keep looking at each other like that?” I asked.

“Like what?” Alex asked so casually I knew he was playing dumb.

I looked back and forth between the two of them. Neither of their expressions gave anything away. But still, I could sense something was up.

“Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?” Alex wondered. “You’re acting kind of funny. Are you feeling okay?”

Hmm…Am I feeling okay? Suddenly, I had an epiphany. “Wait just a second,” I held my hands up in front of me exasperatedly. “Did you guys think I’d gone back to not being able to feel again or something?” Aislin shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and I could tell I’d guessed what they were thinking. “Why would you think that?”

“Because you were acting weird,” Alex replied in a laidback tone that would have made you think we’d been discussing the weather, not my emotions disappearing again.

“You were so mellow,” Aislin added in an unsteady voice.

“Oh.” I raised my eyebrows. “So you guys thought that I’d bumped my head or something and knocked the old Gemma back in.”

Neither of them said anything. Aislin fiddled with the visor above her head, and Alex stared out the window. I knew he was only trying to avoid making eye contact with me, seeing is how we were in a dark, desolated area, and there was nothing particularly fascinating to look at outside.

“Well, that’s nice,” I muttered, slumping back in my seat.

Aislin slowly turned around in her seat and looked at me with sad eyes. “Gemma, we didn’t mean it like that. We just thought…”

“That I’d stopped feeling,” I finished for her grudgingly. “Well sorry to break it to you, but I don’t think a bump on the head is going to knock me back into to that.” Then I crossed my arms and pretended like I was harboring this huge secret about what had caused the sudden onset of my emotions. Really, I had no freaking clue what had caused my emotions to suddenly be released. But they didn’t need to know that. Letting them think I knew more than what I was telling them, strangely enough, felt very gratifying.

“Gemma, if you know something,” Alex began, but I turned my back to him and stared out the window, tracing the lines of the surrounding buildings with my eyes.

I tried to brush off the fact that Alex seemed disappointed that I’d showed emotion. Who cared what he thought. Not me. I could feel and that was all that matter. Okay, well, that was a lie. But whatever. I was going to try my best not to focus on how Alex felt about me because, if I did, it would probably eat away at my insides.

As I stared at Adessa’s Herb’s and Spice’s, I noticed a crescent moon outlined by a black star sketching the window of the door.  I glanced at the tattoo on Aislin’s shoulder. It was exactly the same as what was on the window.

“What is that?” I asked, pointing at her shoulder.

She traced the lines of the tattoo with her finger. “It’s the witches mark. After I became a witch, it appeared on my skin.”

“Like the mark of immortality?” I inquired.

Her eyebrows dipped down in perplexity. “How do you know about that?”

“Laylen told me while we were at the Black Dungeon,” I explained.

“Oh great,” Alex scoffed. “What else did he tell you?”

“Nothing,” I said, which was a lie since I now knew what a Black Angel was. “So does everyone have a mark?”

Aislin nodded. “I actually have two. One because I’m a witch.” She lifted her foot onto the center console and flipped the ceiling light on. A black circle trimmed by fiery gold flames tattooed the side of her ankle. “And one because I’m a Keeper.”

“And what? They just all of a sudden showed up?”

“Yeah, my Keeper’s mark appeared when I was about twelve. It was also about the same time I really started learning about what it is to be a Keeper. And my witches mark showed up when I was about fifteen, which is when I first found out I possessed Wicca magic.”

I wondered how many marks Alex had. Was he more than just a Keeper?

“If you’re wondering if I have one, the answer is yes,” he said, like he’d read my mind or something.

Hold on. What if he could read minds? I mean, with everything else I’d learned over the last twenty-four hours, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if there was such a thing as mind-reading abilities. If Alex could read minds then that would totally suck, considering how my thoughts tended to center around him and his beautifulness.

“I only have one mark, though,” he said, meeting my eyes “The Keepers mark.”

Phew. What a relief. “Does it look the same as Aislin’s?”

He nodded. “Same mark, just in a different spot.”

Why, for the life of me, did his remark fire up the electricity was beyond me. I chewed on my bottom lip, severely distracted by my thoughts of where his mark could be.

A sly grin spread across his face. “If you want, I can show you where it is.”

“Alex,” Aislin hissed. “What are you doing?”

“Relax,” Alex said. “There’s no need to get all wound up. I was just teasing her.”

I came to the conclusion right then and there that maybe Alex had some kind of a bipolar disorder or something. First he hated me. Then he’d kissed me. Sometimes I irritated him. And sometimes he was teasing me. For someone who didn’t want me to feel, he was sure sending my emotions all over the place.

Looking out the window, Aislin heaved a huge sigh of relief. “Oh good, we can go in.”

I followed her gaze and saw Laylen, standing in front of Adessa’s, waving us in.

Inside of Adessa’s Herb’s and Spice’s, the air smelled of sage and a few other spices that I couldn’t quite identify.  Black and white tile checkerboarded the floor, the witches mark painted largely in the center. Glass countertops, displaying simple things like jewelry, candles, and incense, outlined the room. There were, however, some things inside the display cases that looked rather questionable. A black pot with a creepy looking eye painted on it (I swear the thing was watching me), a miniature figurine of an Egyptian pyramid, and a statue of a cat with two heads. I couldn’t help but wonder what these strange looking objects did. Were they merely for display? Or did they hold some kind of magical power to them?

“So…” Aislin skimmed about the room with a puzzled expression. “Where’s this Adessa?”

“She’ll be down in just a minute.” Laylen leaned back against a display case and rested his elbows on top of it. “She had to run upstairs to get something.”

I walked around the room, trailing my finger aimlessly along the glass countertop as I gazed down at all the peculiar looking objects. On one of the counters, I spotted a crystal ball that looked like what Fortune Tellers use to see into the future. I peered inside it, curious if I’d be able to see what my future held. Violet ribbons floated gracefully in a sea of shimmering water. Through it, my reflection stared back at me. Apparently, I possessed no psychic abilities. Either that or this particular ball was a dud.

“If you’re not careful, you might get stuck inside it,” Alex said, practically appearing out of thin air and scaring the crap out of me.

I threw my hand over my accelerating heart. “Jesus. You scared the heck out of me.” I paused, catching me breath. “So what were you saying about me getting stuck inside something?”