It’s binding because I made it in the City of
Crystal. It’s how things work—promises are
unbreakable when made there.”
“Wel , can you at least tel me what you have to do
while you’re be there?” I asked as he pul ed out a
square piece of gauze.
“It’s better if I didn’t.” He peeled off the wrapper
from the gauze. “Trust me, you’re better off not
knowing.”
It was bad—I could tel . “Wel , if it’s that bad then
why are you doing it?”
He took the rol of tape out, looking very
uncomfortable. “Because…as of right now it’s the only
way I can think of to get some answers.” He ripped
two pieces of tape off and tossed the rol back into the
first aid kit. “And also because…” He struggled with
his words as he taped the gauze to my neck.
“Because I’m hoping if I do, then maybe you’l start…
trusting me more. And perhaps…” He closed the first
aid kit, picked it up, and headed back toward the
cupboard where he’d gotten it from. “You’l forgive
me.”
He said it so quietly I wasn’t sure if he’d actual y
said it. Before I could get around to asking him to
please repeat himself, Laylen entered the kitchen.
“So I’m assuming you need a normal Foreseers
crystal bal to get this Ira crystal bal ,” he said to Alex
as he slid onto the table beside me.
Alex shut the cupboard and nodded. “Yeah, does
Adessa have one?”
Laylen nodded, and we fol owed him out of the
room to go get one. I couldn’t help but look at Alex,
thinking about what I thought he said—that I’d forgive
him. The more I thought about it, though, the more I
was convinced I’d misunderstood him.
After we got a regular old vision-seeing kind of
crystal bal from Adessa, we went into the now
cleaned up living room. Evidently, Adessa had used
magic to clean and mend up Laylen’s and Alex’s
mess. The shelves were back up on the dark blue
wal s, the knickknacks standing on them. The
apothecary table was no longer broken and the black
candles were topping it once again. And the crack in
the wal had miraculously been fixed.
It was real y early in the morning, and Adessa had
decided she needed to do some inventory in her
store. Alex had suggested to Aislin that she should go
help Adessa. I think he did it so that Aislin would be
distracted from the fact that when Nicholas showed
up, he would be taken away to the City of Crystal. I
couldn’t believe he wasn’t going to tel her, but there
was no use trying to argue with him. Whatever the
promise was, he wanted to keep it a secret from her.
While we had been getting things set up, Alex had
informed me that he stil wasn’t sure if this was going
to work. Al he knew was that Foreseers did have a Ira
crystal bal , which al owed them to travel to and from
places that people normal y couldn’t travel to—like
say for instance The Underworld—but he wasn’t sure
how it would work exactly. Al we could hope for is that
we’d be able to get Nicholas to tel us. For some
reason, I had a feeling that this was going to be tricky.
Faeries were tricky after al , so getting information
from one seemed liked it would be tricky.
The violet ribbons swirled and danced inside the
crystal bal , which was balanced in its stand on top of
the apothecary table in front of us. Laylen sat on the
one side of me, while Alex sat on the other side of
me. I’d put myself in the middle of them intentional y,
figuring it’d be best to separate them, just in case they
decided to get mad at one another again.
I felt a little afraid looking down at the glinting crystal
bal . I worried where I would end up when I went in,
and if I would even be able to get myself out. But we
were al taking risks here, and I guess this was mine.
Al I could do was cross my fingers, and hope that I
would return to Adessa’s and find a more than
cooperative Nicholas awaiting to tel me in detail what
needed to be done to get my mother out
Crystal. It’s how things work—promises are
unbreakable when made there.”
“Wel , can you at least tel me what you have to do
while you’re be there?” I asked as he pul ed out a
square piece of gauze.
“It’s better if I didn’t.” He peeled off the wrapper
from the gauze. “Trust me, you’re better off not
knowing.”
It was bad—I could tel . “Wel , if it’s that bad then
why are you doing it?”
He took the rol of tape out, looking very
uncomfortable. “Because…as of right now it’s the only
way I can think of to get some answers.” He ripped
two pieces of tape off and tossed the rol back into the
first aid kit. “And also because…” He struggled with
his words as he taped the gauze to my neck.
“Because I’m hoping if I do, then maybe you’l start…
trusting me more. And perhaps…” He closed the first
aid kit, picked it up, and headed back toward the
cupboard where he’d gotten it from. “You’l forgive
me.”
He said it so quietly I wasn’t sure if he’d actual y
said it. Before I could get around to asking him to
please repeat himself, Laylen entered the kitchen.
“So I’m assuming you need a normal Foreseers
crystal bal to get this Ira crystal bal ,” he said to Alex
as he slid onto the table beside me.
Alex shut the cupboard and nodded. “Yeah, does
Adessa have one?”
Laylen nodded, and we fol owed him out of the
room to go get one. I couldn’t help but look at Alex,
thinking about what I thought he said—that I’d forgive
him. The more I thought about it, though, the more I
was convinced I’d misunderstood him.
After we got a regular old vision-seeing kind of
crystal bal from Adessa, we went into the now
cleaned up living room. Evidently, Adessa had used
magic to clean and mend up Laylen’s and Alex’s
mess. The shelves were back up on the dark blue
wal s, the knickknacks standing on them. The
apothecary table was no longer broken and the black
candles were topping it once again. And the crack in
the wal had miraculously been fixed.
It was real y early in the morning, and Adessa had
decided she needed to do some inventory in her
store. Alex had suggested to Aislin that she should go
help Adessa. I think he did it so that Aislin would be
distracted from the fact that when Nicholas showed
up, he would be taken away to the City of Crystal. I
couldn’t believe he wasn’t going to tel her, but there
was no use trying to argue with him. Whatever the
promise was, he wanted to keep it a secret from her.
While we had been getting things set up, Alex had
informed me that he stil wasn’t sure if this was going
to work. Al he knew was that Foreseers did have a Ira
crystal bal , which al owed them to travel to and from
places that people normal y couldn’t travel to—like
say for instance The Underworld—but he wasn’t sure
how it would work exactly. Al we could hope for is that
we’d be able to get Nicholas to tel us. For some
reason, I had a feeling that this was going to be tricky.
Faeries were tricky after al , so getting information
from one seemed liked it would be tricky.
The violet ribbons swirled and danced inside the
crystal bal , which was balanced in its stand on top of
the apothecary table in front of us. Laylen sat on the
one side of me, while Alex sat on the other side of
me. I’d put myself in the middle of them intentional y,
figuring it’d be best to separate them, just in case they
decided to get mad at one another again.
I felt a little afraid looking down at the glinting crystal
bal . I worried where I would end up when I went in,
and if I would even be able to get myself out. But we
were al taking risks here, and I guess this was mine.
Al I could do was cross my fingers, and hope that I
would return to Adessa’s and find a more than
cooperative Nicholas awaiting to tel me in detail what
needed to be done to get my mother out
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