13. Gemma

13 GEMMA

For a moment, I swear time stops. But that’s not right. Time is completely messed up. That has to be why this is happening.

“I’m not a murderer,” I insist defensively. “I could never do that.”

“Hey, we know,” Alex assures me in a gentler tone than I thought he was capable. He has his body angled toward me and places a hand on my arm. “Someone is trying to set you up. That’s why Laylen and I took the note and cleaned up the mess.”

My eyes go huge. “You got rid of the body?”

Alex swiftly shakes his head. “No, but we took the note. Now we need to get a hold of the security footage so we can not only see who was there but also erase that Laylen and I ever were.”

“Okay.” I release a shaky breath, way too anxious to be bothered by Alex’s hand on my arm. “If we can get a hold of that, then we can find out who killed him … How do you know he was murdered, though?”

“How else would he get stabbed in the chest?” Alex questions with a cock of his brow.

“Right.” I shake my head at myself. “My brain’s just spinning as to why someone would try to frame me.”

A crease etches between Alex’s brows. “I feel like this is all connected—the visions, the death walkers.”

“And what’s in your father’s basement,” I say as an afterthought.

Alex tilts his head to the side. “Wait—what?”

Aislin gapes at Alex. “You don’t know about his machine?”

Alex shakes his head as his gaze flits between Aislin and me. Laylen shares the puzzlement, looking at Aislin for an explanation. Her mouth opens, but then her lips clamp together as the waitress arrives with our food.

She sets the tray down on the table. “Here’s your food.” She smiles at us then fixes an extra dazzling smile on Alex.

Alex can be a flirt, but right now, he looks so over it. “Can we get this to go?”

The sparkle in her eyes dims a drop, and I feel kind of bad for her. But I’m also involved in a murder, so I have bigger things to worry about than Alex being a dick.

“Sure. I’ll get some boxes.” She’s flustered as she heads back to the register area.

“You could’ve at least smiled at her,” I mutter with a heavy sigh.

“Why?” Alex wonders. “I don’t need to string her along just because I think being polite is nicer than being honest.”

I give him a blank stare. “I don’t even think you know how to be nice.”

“Really?” He angles toward me and brings his leg onto the booth. “Because I’m pretty sure I was extra nice to you.”

I snort a humorless laugh. “Why? Because you kissed me? Yeah, that was so nice of you. Gag me, bro.”

“What? That’s not what I meant.” He tries to recover, but I don’t allow him the opportunity.

I refuse to meet his gaze as the waitress walks back to our table. “There’s our waitress with the boxes.”

She places the boxes down on the table.

“Thanks.” I grab a box and begin piling my fries in it.

“Yeah, thanks,” Alex echoes me in an attempt to be polite.

She plasters on a smile, but it’s more zirconium than diamonds, then she spins around and leaves, winding around tables and booths.

Alex blows out an exasperated sigh. “Look,” he says to me as he shoves the sleeves of his shirt up, “I didn’t mean to be a jerk to her. My head’s just stuck on other things, and sometimes, if I don’t focus, I turn into an asshole.”

Deep down, I’m aware I should give him a break, but I keep replaying what he said about our kiss. So, I shrug.

“Whatever.” I stuff my burger into the box then fold the lid close.

“Gemma, I’m being serious,” he stresses, saying my name in his hushed sort of reverence that makes my heart do weird fluttery things. “That goes for every time I’m being a jerk, including toward you.”

I collect the box of food then look him directly in the eye. “Well, maybe you should work on that.”

“I know I should,” he agrees, throwing me for a turn. I assumed he’d argue.

“Well … good.” Now I’m the one to stammer a bit.

“Yep, good,” he agrees, his green eyes searching mine. “Are you ready to get out of here?”

I nod, glancing at Aislin as she closes her box of food. “But where are we going?”

“To where we were supposed to meet up.” He scoots over and stands up. “We’ll follow you guys there. And then we’ll figure out a way to get a hold of this video. Since it’s so late, I’m going to guess no one will find the professor until morning, especially since we locked his door.”

I stand up. “Sure.” I’m all bravado with my casual reply.

The truth is, I’m worried.

About my life falling apart.

About my parents’ MIA status.

And about the fact that, at any moment, I could be arrested for murder.

To add to my worry list, as we leave the diner, I get this unnerving feeling that I’m being watched. Wondering if Henry is still loitering, I cast a glance over my shoulder and scan the tables. I don’t spot Henry, but what I do see makes my stomach plummet into a cold descent of fear.

The blond guy whom I thought was a ghost is sitting in a booth across the diner. He’s alone, no food is on the table in front of him, and he’s casually leaning back with his arms tucked behind his head. When he sees me, his lips curl into a grin and he winks.

I gasp, blinking, and then he’s gone.

“What is it?” Alex asks as he holds the door open for me.

“I …” I look at him then back at the table where the guy was. “I thought I saw the ghost again.”

Alex lowers his hand, letting the door close. Aislin and Laylen are outside, but they pause and questioningly stare back at us through the glass. Alex pays no attention to them as he faces the diner.

“Where?” His gaze is like a hawk seeking its prey as he strategically positions himself in front of me.

I don’t like how much comfort I feel over him being protective of me.

“Over there.” I point at the table where I saw the guy. “But he’s not there anymore. He disappeared into thin air.”

Alex faces me. “Did he see you see him?”

I bob my head up and down while clutching my to-go box. “He smirked and winked at me.”

He pulls a befuddled face. “He sounds like a douche.”

“I think he is a douche,” I say. “But a douche with an agenda. I just don’t know what the agenda is. I know he has answers to this past and present overlapping thing, though. At least, he indicated that.”

Alex reaches over my shoulder and places his hand against the door to push it open. “I don’t like that he’s harassing you and no one else can see him.”

“I’m not making him up,” I feel the need to defend as I step outside into the chilly night air.

“I know you aren’t.” He moves up beside me. “I just don’t like that we can’t see him.”

“Oh.” I hug the box to my chest. “Thanks for believing me.”

His lips start to tug upward when Laylen and Aislin approach us.

“What’s going on?” Aislin asks with her food box tucked under her arm.

“The ghost has returned,” I announce flatly then blow out a weighted sigh. “I think the jerk is messing with me. Seriously, if it weren’t for his ghost-like qualities, I’d think he’s a faerie.”

“Ugh, let’s hope he isn’t,” Aislin gripes. “Faeries are freaking annoying. Not more than vampires, but still, they’re pretty close.”

“Since when do you have issues with vampires?” Laylen wonders, turning to face her, his blond hair as pale as a ghost in the moonlight creeping through the clouds.

“Since one attacked me on that last mission,” she clarifies. “I almost got bit.”

“Not all of them are bad,” he points out, folding his arms across his chest.

“I know, but I still don’t have to like them.” She assesses him with her eyes narrowed. “Since when do you defend vampires?”

He scratches his cheek. “I don’t.”

“Okay.” She sounds so perplexed.

“Okay.” He sounds equally confused but almost appears fidgety.

I trade a look with Alex, and his puzzled expression reflects mine.

I decide to interrupt the oddly tangled confusion of a conversation “Great. Now that it’s settled that we don’t like vampires, and we don’t defend them, and everyone is super confused about this conversation, can we get going before I end up getting arrested?”

“You’re not getting arrested,” Alex insists as he fishes his keys out of his pocket. “But you’re right; we should get going.” He spins his keys around his finger before heading over to his Camaro parked on the opposite side of the parking lot from where Aislin parked.

Laylen trails after him, and Aislin and I start toward her Jeep. She’s bizarrely quiet as we make the short walk in the dark.

“Are you okay?” I ask as she retrieves her key fob and unlocks the doors.

“I’m fine.” She opens the driver’s side door and sets the box of food on the middle console. “I’ve been having these strange dreams lately, and what Laylen said reminded me of them.”

“What were the dreams?”

“That he was a vampire, and he bit me.”

I blink in shock, but she climbs into the car before I can remark.

I go to the passenger side and get in, shutting the door before placing my to-go box in the back seat.

“It’s not a big deal.” She hands me her own to-go box to place in the back then starts up the engine. “If I were you, it’d be a big deal since you’ve been seeing the past and the future. But I’m me, so they’re just dreams.”

“Reoccurring ones, though,” I stress. “You know what that can mean.”

“I’m not a seer witch, Gemma.” She pumps the gas a few times as the engine tries to stall. “What the heck is my car’s problem? It’s struggling to stay running?—”

The engine makes a screeching noise then stalls before dying. She tries to start it again, to no avail.

“Dammit.” She pops the hood, shoves the door open, and hops out. “Go stop my brother, please.”

I get out and start toward him as she lifts the hood. Then I pause when I hear her mutter, “Oh my God.”

I spin around and jog back to her, my shoes scuffing against the damp asphalt. “What is it …?” My words fade from my tongue at the sight of the engine under the hood.

Or, well, the block of ice encompassing the engine.

My jaw drops. “Is that from?—”

I’m cut off by the sound of branches snapping from a nearby cluster of trees.

My gaze snaps in that direction where several pairs of yellow, glowing eyes pierce the night like fireflies. Except, they’re not fireflies. They’re deadly cloaked creatures, the same kind that came into my house.

“Death walkers,” I breathe out, fog circling my face as I take a step back, bending over to grab my dagger that’s tucked into my boot?—

Fingers wrap around my arm, and then I’m being pulled backward.

I spin around, nearly tripping over my feet, my arms flailing to protect myself. But Alex has a hold of me. That brings me a drop of relief as I run with him, sprinting toward his car. Laylen is with Aislin a few steps ahead of us, their feet hammering at the now frosted ground as they run, too.

No one speaks as we pile into the car, cursing under our breaths as we bump into each other in the chaos. But we manage to get in quickly then peel out of the parking lot with a wave of ice crackling behind us.

As I watch through the back window in horror, I see the creatures creeping back into the shadows of the night, but as the chill of coldly death lingers in the air, I know they’re not gone.

They’re merely waiting.

But, for what?

That’s what I need to find out, and fast, before I end up living in a world like what I saw in my nightmare of a vision.