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But I knew better He knew better And he didn t say anything else, taking his knife and creaking the door open

Stay behind me,

he whispered and then we crept inside

The house was bare, the walls scorched with residue fro the burnt wallpaper and rubbed ether

It s ash,

I said, wiping my hands on my jeans

He looked perplexed

It s weird, like it burnt on the inside but not on the outside

We stared at each other and flinched as a wail resonated through the empty house

What was that,

I hissed

He sed hard

I think it s my mother

Chapter 16

(Alex)

It was a sound that put hairs on end, raised bodies fro death This was the second time I d heard a Banshee s cry and I wondered if each one shaved more and more time off my life

I kept my knife out because I wasn t sure how she d be Would she appear in her hag for of her footsteps co myself between Geure, long brown hair, bright green eyes, I guessed it was her But the si that I swear hers had to be fake an illusion ofuntil she reached the bottoto speak

But the sound of her voice was nothing but a screech Ge our hands over our ears as my mother shook her head

Sorry

Her voice was angelic She motioned for us to put down our hands

It s a habit,

she explained

I nodded and then she was hugging rown up I can t believe it

Then her gaze darted overup

And who s this?

But she grew quiet, undoubtedly catching sight of Geave her away They were hauntingly beautiful

Oh ive Ge Gemma looked uncomfortable with the situation Her broken, emotionless, parentless past made her uneasy with affection

I can t believe youon, I highly doubt it s over yet

You know about the mark?

I asked and then shook my head

Of course you do You re a & faerie

So occurred to me at that moment What if she had the mark?

But it was like she could read my mind She rolled up her sleeves and lifted her hair away from her neck

All one now that I ve died

You re lucky,

I muttered

She frowned at me

You need that for now It ll help you stay alive

She was right, but it didn t mean I liked it

So we need your help with so to talk to herout of time

I know you do,

she said

I ve been waiting for you to show up

My grip constricted onfor me

I can t leave this place,

she said, with sadness in her voice

This is the place I was assigned to watch over

So how are you going to help us?

I asked

If you re stuck here?

I ll help you escape fro

Did this place burn down once?

No, this is death

She said it et to the Afterlife to see the queen

I nodded

That would be the proble to be easy

She sat down on the bottos required to enter the land of the dead without actually being dead

What kind of things?

Geot the is were probably bad

The first thing,

,

you already have

Ge

And the second?

Is looking like you re dead,

she said lightly

Gemma winced

Look like I m dead

Okay, hoe make it look like I m dead?

I asked

Not you sweetie

Her eyes settled on Ge way

My voice came out composed, but on the inside I felt like I d sed a jar of needles

It has to be me,

Gemma said, just like she always did In her eyes this was all her fault, even if she was trying to fix a mess my father and her father created

You don t know that

I stepped in front of her

You just always assume it has to be you

She shook her head, her hair going everywhere and I had to stopit back

No, I ve seen it Iforthis?

I rubbedto yell at her and at the sa back the anger bursting in me

Well, that still doesn t mean it has to be you

Yes it does,

my mother and her both said at the sa , she has the ghost connection, and she s the one who shifted the vision that led to this

I started to speak, but she talked over me