Ice. So cold. Death. Shadows everywhere…suffocating me…I was dying…

My eyes shot open as I gasped for air. I clutched the bottom of my neck, hyperventilating as I shot upright.

“Breathe.” Alex patted me on the back. “Just breathe.”

“I’m trying,” I coughed. I took a few slow, deep breaths until my breathing returned to normal, and then I tried to get to my feet. But the world twirled and swayed and I sank back into the sand.

“What happened?” Alex asked, kneeling down in front of me, his eyes scanning me over for any visible evidence that I might be broken.

“It felt like I couldn’t breathe,” I told him.

Alex, being Alex, straightforwardly said, “That’s because you stopped breathing.”

“Oh,” was all I could think of to say.

He touched the cut on my head and my scalp tingled with sparks. “Well, whatever just happened, it made the cut on your head seal itself up.”

I lightly grazed the side of my head with the tips of my finger. “It doesn’t hurt anymore either.” I dropped my hand and gave him a puzzled look. “What do you think just happened?”

“I have no idea.” He nodded his head at something behind me. “I wonder if he does, though.” I turned and found Nicholas still sprawled out in the sand, unconscious. “It looked like he might know something,” I said, turning back to Alex. “But even if he did, what are the odds of him actually telling us.”

His bright green eyes sparkled deviously. “Oh, there are ways to get him to tell us.” He got to his feet and dusted the sand off his jeans. “They’re just not nice ways.” I kind of felt bad for Nicholas, which I know sounds very weird, considering everything he has done. But, I mean, he had no control over what he was—the Mark of Malefiscus did. Well, okay, I had to retract that statement because not every annoying and wrong thing Nicholas did was because of the mark. He was just as annoying before he was branded by the mark. But that didn’t mean he deserved to be hurt.

I shielded my eyes from the sun’s brightness as I stared up at Alex. “What are you going to do to him?” He walked over to Nicholas. “We’re going to go back and get Aislin, so she can transport him into the house.” He paused, mulling something over. “I would drag him there myself, but I think it might look a little suspicious to some people.”

Some people? Try all people. “Well, maybe I should just go get Aislin, in case he wakes up and tries to leave.” Alex’s eyebrow curved up. “Can you even walk right now?”

Even though I was extremely dizzy, I was determined to show him I could. I gained control of my balance, before pushing myself to my feet. I rocked from side to side, and stumbled over to the wall of the cliff, bracing my hands against it.

“Gemma,” Alex started to say, his tone full of worry.

“Just give me a second.” Alright, Gemma, one foot in front of the other… Yeah, okay, that wasn’t happening.

I collapsed to the ground, barely able to keep my eyes in focus. “Alright, you go get Aislin, and I’ll stay here.”

“Are you crazy?” Alex said.

“I’ll be fine.” I shooed him away with my hand. “Now hurry up and go get her.”

“You won’t be fine.” He frowned at me. “And if he does wake up, he’ll just take you.”

He had a point, but...

“At least take the crystal ball he uses to travel with.” I rested my heavy head against the cliff. “That way if he does wake up, he won’t get very far.”

“Do you know where he keeps it?”

“I think he keeps it in the pocket of his pants.” Alex gave me a blank stare. “”You want me to reach into the pocket of another guy's pants.”

Oh my word. Guys were such babies sometimes.

still not feeling up to standing, I crawled over to Nicholas, reach in his pocket, and took out his ruby-filled traveling crystal ball that shimmered red when it caught in the light of the sun.

Alex took the crystal ball from me and chucked it over the cliff. “Alright, let’s go.”

I gave a slow nod, not wanting to stand up and walk.

Every part of my body was weak, like all the energy had been sucked out of me.

Alex held his hand out and helped me to my feet. I felt like I was standing on an out-of-control merry-go-round.

I clutched onto his arm. “I think something’s wrong with me.”

“You’re just figuring that out?” he teased, but there was concern in his tone.

“Ha. Ha,” I said sarcastically.

He laughed.

I saw spots and my ears popped. “I think…there’s something…” I trailed off as I fell toward the ground.

Alex caught me. “Careful,” he said, steadying me. Then he lifted me up into his arms.

The electricity flowing from him was like a peaceful lullaby, singing me to sleep. But even through my dazed-out brain, I knew it was wrong. Alex was not supposed to be carrying me.

“You can’t…be…near…me,” I murmured, drifting in and out of consciousness.

He shushed me, and I was overcome by sleepiness. I rested my head against his chest and a second later, I was out.

I woke up lying in a bed in a room with sky-blue walls.

My vision was back to normal and my head was much clearer. I gradually sat up, just in case I was hit with another spout of dizziness. But my equilibrium seemed to be fixed.

Thank God. I actually thought I was broken or something; that whatever took place back on the beach had permanently blinded me or something.

The door cracked open and Alex peered in. He looked shocked to see me awake.

“Feeling better?” he asked, pushing the door open the rest of the way.

I stretched my arms out above my head and yawned.

“Yeah.”

He sat down on the bed and nervous energy was radiating off him. “You freaked the heck out of me back there, you know that?”

“Sorry,” I said. “I don’t know what happened...it was like all my energy was sucked away from me or something.” He was looking at me in a way that made my skin glow with heat. He placed a hand on my cheek. “You really freaked me out.”

My heart pounded inside my chest. Why was he looking at me like that—it was making me feel like I was suffocating.

I flinched away from him.

He frowned, his hand still hovering in the air. “What’s wrong?”

Not looking at him, I took a deep breath. “I need to tell you something.”

He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Okay, what is it?”

I shivered from his touch. I wished he would have acted like this when I first met him. “It’s about you and me,” I said, meeting his eyes.

He pressed his lips together, looking amused. “Oh, yeah?”

He still had his fingers in my hair and it took all my energy not to lean my head into his hand and shut my eyes. “Your father told me something about you and me when I was up at the cabin,” I told him, my voice trembling.

He looked worried. “Was it something bad?” I nodded. “It is.”

“But you were never up at the cabin, so that means it doesn’t matter, right?”

I choked back the strangling feeling rising up inside me, knowing that once I said it out loud, it would become very real. “I know, but I’m sure it still applies.” I paused. “He told me that if you and I were close to each other for too long then the star’s power would eventually fade away and you and I would fade along with it.”

I held my breath, waiting for him to get riled up, but all he did was sit there, staring at me. I was just starting to wonder if I had shocked the words right out of him, when he shut down. The scary part was that I swear I actually could see it; the emotion slipping out of his eyes and leaving nothing in its place.

“Well, okay then.” He stood up and headed for the door.

“That’s all you have to say?” I sprung to my feet, kind of pissed off that he wasn’t as upset as I was.

“What do you want me to say?” he asked with an uncaring shrug. “We can’t be near each other, so we won’t.” I glared at him. “Well, we could at least make sure it’s true before we do.”