4. Gemma

4 GEMMA

I’ve heard my father talk about the visions he’s seen, what they look like, how they come to him. He says it’s like entering another world where the vision exists in that realm. He’s part of it, and the people in it can see him.

If we’re in a vision, which this seems like we are, then we need to stay hidden.

Although, perhaps they’re doppelgangers.

“How the heck did we get into a vision?” Alex whispers under his breath as he lowers his hand from my mouth.

“How do you know that’s what this is?” I whisper back.

His mouth opens then closes as the vision version of me says, “What was that?”

“I’m not sure,” Vision Alex tells her. “Maybe the wind.”

We hold our breaths, hoping they don’t come looking for us. Not that I’m afraid of them, but it’s weird, and if this is a vision, we could mess up future events.

“Maybe we should go back,” Vision Me says with a bit of anxiousness in her voice.

“No, wait—I need to give you your surprise,” Vision Alex hurriedly says.

“Okay.” Vision Me grows silent, and then she gasps. “Oh my God, no way.” She sounds excited. Way more than I ever have in my life.

“Gemma Lucas, will you marry me?” Vision Alex’s voice shakes as he proposes.

“What?” I hiss way too loudly.

Alex’s eyes widen, and then he snatches my hand and runs, towing me with him.

“Hey!” Vision Alex shouts after us.

Alex quickens our pace, and we barrel out of the forest.

“You’re running from yourself,” I call out to him as we sprint across the field.

“I know,” he throws over his shoulder at me. “Trust me; the last thing we want is to run into me who sees a vision of myself. I’ll probably try to kill us.”

“What?” I blink then shake my head. “What the hell?”

“Look, I know myself, okay?” He veers right and rushes toward a cluster of trees.

“You’re not trying to kill us now.”

“But I know we’re in a vision. That me doesn’t know that.”

He pulls me into the shelter of the trees, and we hunker down behind the largest one. The branches canopy down and dome around us. Neither of us speak, but we’re breathing heavily, and the sound of my heart is pounding in my ears.

“Where did they go?” Vision Alex asks over the sound of snapping twigs.

“I’m not sure.” It’s pretty clear Vision Me is totally confused. “Am I going crazy, or did they look like us?”

“They did,” Vision Alex tells her. “Do you think your foreseer powers pulled us into a vision without us knowing?”

“ Foreseer powers ?” I mouth, a crease forming between my brows. Then my neck begins to burn. I reach around to touch it?—

Swoosh —

One minute, we’re hiding behind the tree, and the next thing I know, we are yanked out. I barely get my footing and almost eat dirt again, but Alex steadies me, this time landing with me.

We’re back in the tower, and everyone is gawking at us like we just sprouted unicorn horns out of our asses.

“Um … Professor G.,” a guy named Gary says, pushing his glasses up the brim of his nose, “was that supposed to happen?”

Professor G., who’s standing over by the wall of glass, shakes his head as he gapes at us. “No, it wasn’t.” He grows silent for a beat before shaking his head again. “Gemma, Alex, come with me.” He pushes the simulator door shut then signals for us to follow him as he strides across the room. “Everyone else, you can take a free period.”

Chatter fills the air, most of it whispers about us. I ignore it the best I can and follow Professor G. out of the room. Alex trails at my heels, his footsteps thudding behind me as we rush down the stairway. When we arrive at the bottom, Professor G. turns right and yanks open the door to his office.

“Get inside—quickly.” He motions for us to enter.

I trade a look with Alex, who mirrors my uneasy confusion. But we both ultimately step inside.

The office is small, with a cluttered desk and a few bookshelves. Professor G. takes a seat at the desk and indicates for us to sit down in the two chairs in front of it. Once we do, he overlaps his hands and studies us.

“Which one of you has foreseer powers?” he asks, sliding his gaze between the two of us.

“Neither of us,” Alex answers for both of us.

Professor G.’s gaze locks on me. “Gemma, your father is a foreseer.”

“I know that.” What’s this guy’s deal? “I don’t have the mark, though.”

“Are you sure?” he questions suspiciously.

“Um, yeah. I’m pretty sure I know what’s on my body.” I resist an eye roll. “Why are you pushing this so hard?”

“Because the witches who made the simulator created it from the glass of a foreseer’s crystal ball,” Professor G. informs us. “Now, no one at the academy has foreseer powers. At least, none has been recorded. But you two didn’t go into the simulation. You went into a vision, which means, somehow, the foreseer power was channeled.”

“Did you ever think the simulator doesn’t work properly?” Alex questions with an arch of his brow.

Despite his cocky tone and demeanor, I can see that he’s restlessly bouncing his knee up and down.

“We tested it at least ten times,” Professor G. stresses. “And it worked every single time except for when you two used it.”

“Well, I guess the eleventh time’s the charm.” With that, Alex pushes to his feet. “And I guess that means you’ve got your work cut out for you fixing it.” His gaze lands on me. “Let’s go, Gemma.”

Usually, if Alex demanded something from me, I’d tell him to kick himself in the balls. However, the way Professor G. is looking at me right now, like I’m hiding a foreseer mark on my body, it’s creeping me out. So, I get up, and we walk out of the office together.

Alex heads off toward the exit of the castle, and I have no clue where to go. Home?

“Come talk with me for a second.” Alex’s voice carries down the empty hallway. He’s standing near the exit doors, and sunlight is filtering through the glass.

“Why?” I question with a raise of my brows.

He heaves a tolerant sigh. “Please just come talk with me outside for a few minutes.” He presses me with a pleading look.

Well, that’s a new look for him. Maybe that’s why I agree to do it. Or perhaps I’m just hoping he has answers as to why we entered a vision. And better yet, why did he propose to me in that vision?

Now that I think about it, there’s no way that would ever happen, so perhaps we didn’t go into a vision. Maybe Professor G. was wrong, and we merely hallucinated.

As I step outside behind Alex, the door swings shut behind me. A crisp breeze wraps around us as we trot down the stairway and hike toward the parking lot where his SUV is parked. He unlocks it, and we climb in, closing the door and sealing us from the outside world.

“All right, dude, what’s up?” I ask, like nothing weird just took place over the last thirty minutes.

He roughly yanks his fingers through his hair. “Something’s off.”

“Um, yeah,” I say, like duh . “We either just went into a vision or we hallucinated. My bet is the latter.”

His brows furrow. “Why would you think that?”

I shrug. “Because you and I were together in … well, whatever we just saw. Like, together enough that you asked me to marry you. That’s insane!”

“Is it?” he mumbles with a frown.

I gape at him. “What?”

“Nothing.” He shakes his head and erases the confusion from his expression. “Look, it wasn’t a hallucination. It was a vision. Whether it was real or not, I don’t know—I don’t know much about visions. Your father does, though, so I think we should talk to him about this, because Professor G. was acting pushy about seeing if one of us had a foreseer mark.”

“That’s not weird, considering what happened.”

“Maybe, but I got this feeling that something was off. Like he was eager to find out if you had the mark.”

Now that I think about it, he was being kind of pushy about it.

“All right, you can meet me at my house, and we’ll see what my dad says.” I reach for the door to get out, but he stops me by placing his hand on my arm.

Zap.

Electricity zaps across my skin, his touch burning me, but in the most wonderful way possible.

I suck in a sharp breath, and Alex jerks away. His eyes search mine, his features creased with suspicion.

Before he can say anything, though, I ask, “What’s up, dude?”

He stares at me momentarily. “I was just going to say that I can drive us to your house. I mean, Aislin drove you to school today, right?”

I nod. “I can walk. It’s only a handful of miles to my house.”

He shakes his head again, the muscles in his jaw ticking this time. “Do you seriously hate me that much that you’d rather walk miles home than be in the car with me for a few minutes?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?” As soon as I say it, his expression drops, and this pit of remorse forms in my chest. Well, that’s new. “Fine, I can ride with you.” I hope, anyway. The reality is that part of me wonders if this is some sort of setup, if he’s playing me. All I can do is cross my fingers that he isn’t.

And if he is, I guess I’ll stab my eyes out with my crossed fingers so I won’t ever have to look at him again.

Alex and I are quiet for the first few minutes of the drive. I expect it to stay that way and am completely content with that. But then Alex goes and ruins it.

“So, are you excited to graduate this year?” he asks as he shifts gears.

I rotate in the seat to face him. “Sure?”

He casts me a sidelong glance. “Why did that sound more like a question and not an answer?”

I eye him over. “Because small talk with you seems weird.”

He taps his finger on top of the steering wheel as he contemplates something. “You know what? We should discuss what you said to me in class.”

“What? When I told you why I don’t like you?”

“Yeah.” He gives a short pause. “You said that I should rewind over everything I’ve ever said to you, which indicates that I’ve said something mean enough that it caused you to hate me for years.”

“And you haven’t figured it out yet?”

“No, because I’ve never said anything mean about you. Sure, I’ve teased you a handful of times, but it wasn’t ever meant to be mean. And you teased me, too, so I thought it was what we did.”

“It wasn’t teasing,” I stress, resting my arms on the console. “It was meant to be mean. Like, really mean.” And it broke my confidence more than I want to admit.

He downshifts as we near the entrance to my neighborhood. “I swear I’ve never said anything like that. If you thought I did, you misheard me.”

Anger prickles through the humming that’s been consuming my body since we climbed into the SUV.

“Why are you lying?”

“I’m not.” He parks at the curb in front of my house. “I know I haven’t said anything like that.”

Gritting my teeth, I shake my head. “Maybe telling me that my eyes are ugly isn’t mean to you, but I was already self-conscious about the color before you decided to point out how freaky it was.” I shove the door open and move to hop out.

He captures a hold of my arm and stops me. “I promise you I’ve never said that.” The shock in his voice leaves me all sorts of confused.

I glare at him. “Stop lying.”

“I’m not,” he insists, his eyes pleading with me to believe him. “I’ve never, ever thought that or said it.”

“Well, then I guess it was someone who looked exactly like you.” My voice oozes with sarcasm, but it hastily dissolves when I remember that I just saw another him.

Alex’s expression resembles mine.

“No. There’s no way I saw a vision and didn’t know it.” I’m shaking my head with confidence, but on the inside, I keep thinking about what happened.

Plus, there’s that whole thing with the dreams of stars …

Every time I have that dream, he’s there, and it’s like we’re living a different life. Just like we were in that vision. And I know Alex has had dreams of them, too.

“What do you know about the dreams of stars?” I inquire, observing his reaction closely.

He angles his head to the side. “What do you know about them?”

I wiggle my arm from his grip and cross my arms. “I asked you first.”

He scrubs a hand across his mouth, I think to hide an amused smile. Why he’s amused is beyond me, but whatever.

“I know a little bit about them,” he admits then drags his teeth along his bottom lip. “I’ve had a few.”

“Me, too,” I divulge, causing his brows to rise toward his hairline. “Why’re you so surprised by that?”

“Because they’re rare.”

“You’ve had them.”

“I know, and it’s weird.” He scratches his head while staring out the window. “What have your dreams been about?”

Ugh, why did he have to ask me that?

“Just stuff.”

His gaze dissects me. “What kind of stuff?”

“Just stuff.” As I spot my dad opening the front door to my house, I seize the distraction. “Oh, look, there’s my dad. Let’s go talk to him.” I exit the SUV, close the door, and bolt away from him.

I know Alex follows because I hear a door shut. I refuse to look over my shoulder, though.

“Hey, Dad,” I greet him as he steps out onto the front porch.

He greets me with a puzzled smile. “What’re you two doing out of school?”

I walk up the stairs and stop in front of him. “Well, there was an incident.”

He has a cup of coffee in his hand and is about to take a sip but pauses. “What kind of incident?”

“One that we probably want to talk about inside.” Alex steps up behind me, standing way too close.

My dad glances at him, and the corners of his mouth dip downward. When I peer over my shoulder at Alex, I find him giving my father a stressing look.

Without saying a word, my father nods then walks back into the house. Alex and I do, as well, and Alex shuts the front door behind us.

“What’s going on?” my father asks as he moves over to the sofas and takes a seat on one.

I plop down onto the sofa across from him, and much to my demise, Alex sits beside me, putting no space between us. We’re not quite touching, but the buzz is connecting us in a way that makes my pulse throb. I inch to the side, putting distance between us. Alex’s gaze strays to me, and his lips curve downward, but he doesn’t remark.

“All right, tell me what’s going on,” my father gets straight to the point as he leans forward and places the coffee mug on the coffee table.

Alex and I trade a look.

“Who wants to explain?” Alex reclines back. “You or me?”

I consider this then sink back and prop my boot-clad feet onto the coffee table. “I will.”

I spend the next ten minutes giving my father a recap of what happened today. I even include the information about the dreams of stars. That captures his attention. Alex’s, as well, since I add more details about the story.

“Wait—Henry gave you a book about it?” Alex double-checks, rotating on the sofa to face me.

I nod, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “He stole it from the library. I haven’t gotten a chance to read through all of it, but—crap.” I smack the heel of my hand against my forehead. “I left all of my stuff in class, including the book.”

“He stole the book for you.” Apparently, Alex is stuck on that.

I pick at a loose thread on my pants. “It’s not a big deal. I’ll return it after I’ve finished reading it.”

“That’s not what I’m … I just …” Strands of Alex’s hair fall into his eyes as he shakes his head. “Nothing. Never mind.” But the crease etched between his brows is a sign he hasn’t moved on from whatever is bothering him.

When my attention drifts back to my father, he’s smiling as he looks from Alex to me.

“What’re you smiling about?” I wonder as I lower my feet to the floor.

“Nothing.” He continues to smile.

“Anyway …” Alex clears his throat. “Do you know why any of this has happened? I mean, I’ve never heard of anyone being able to use foreseer power without having the mark. Unless Gemma has it and doesn’t know it.”

“Hey, I’m not dumb.” I blast him with a dirty look. “I know what’s on my body.”

For some reason, Alex smashes his lips together, and I swear his cheeks turn red, but it could be my imagination.

My father has his thinking face on, and he’s holding the mug in his hand but hasn’t taken a sip. His attention is elsewhere as he gazes into empty space. But then his violet gaze meets mine, and worry is flowing from his pupils. “Have you checked since you got out of the vision?”

“No, but I haven’t really had a chance.” I shift forward on the sofa. “Should I go check?” Could I have foreseer power? Do I want to be able to see the future? Considering what I saw when Alex and I entered the vision, I think probably not.

“I think you should. Because, from everything I know, only people with a foreseer mark can enter a vision. And logically, it would be you, Gemma, because it’s in your bloodline. Although, it’s a rare gift. But with what just happened, I’m guessing the power of that simulator caused the mark to surface.” My father shifts forward and rolls up his sleeves. “What did you see in the vision? Was it something bad?”

My gaze skates to Alex, who’s already looking at me. We trade a look that I don’t even grasp, and then I jump to my feet.

“I’m going to go check for this mark. I’ll be right back.” I dash out of the room so swiftly I end up banging my elbow on the doorway. “Ow.” I rub the aching spot as I rush into my room.

When I close the door, I release a loud exhale. I can’t believe what’s happening. This morning, I woke up thinking about how my life was so dull, and now I’m trying to remember why I thought that was so awful. Because being boring is way better than seeing a vision where Alex proposes to me.

And I seemed happy about it, like I was going to say yes.

“Ugh.” I grimace while banging my head against the door in frustration. Then I instantly regret it as my head pounds.

Pushing away from the door, I shove my worries deep down inside me and focus on finding a foreseer’s mark. After searching for a few minutes, I come up empty-handed. I exit the room and return back to the living room, only to find that Alex and my dad are no longer sitting on the sofas. I check the kitchen, but they’re not in there, either.

“What the heck?” Scratching my head, I backtrack to the living room. That’s when I hear their voices flowing in from the outside. I start toward the front door, but something my father says causes me to stop.

“I just need you to promise me that, no matter what, you’ll take care of her,” my father says worriedly.

“I’m still not sure what has you so worried, Mr. Lucas,” Alex replies. “But I promise I will. Gemma means a lot to me.”

“What?” I mumble to myself. What the hell is Alex talking about? And better yet, why is my dad asking him to take care of me?

“I know that.” My father doesn’t even miss a beat, making me question how much he knows about my life. Not much if he thinks Alex cares about me.

The air grows still for a second.

“It’s starting to get colder earlier, like the seasons are changing soon,” my father says. “And I have this feeling that a massive ice storm is brewing. One that might not be created by nature.”

“You think it’s the death walkers?” Alex asks. “Because no one has seen any of those creatures in decades.”

“So everyone says.”

“What do you know, Mr. Lucas?”

“I know a lot of things, but you also know that I can’t speak of such things. The past and the future can’t be spoken about, no matter how much I wish it could. All I can do is hope my subtle warnings will help.”

“That’s very … ominous.” Alex sounds like he’s worried my father is losing his mind.

Worried, I open the door and step outside. The wind has kicked up, and clouds are covering the sky. A storm is definitely heading our way.

Alex and my dad are standing by the porch railing. Their backs are turned toward me, and they’re staring out at the road.

I step up beside them. “What’re you guys doing out here?”

Alex angles his body toward me and rests his arm on the railing. His gaze sweeps up and down my body. “Did you find the mark?”

“Nope.” I give a dubious glance between the two of them. “What were you guys talking about?”

My father doesn’t even glance in my direction. “About the storm heading our way.”

Alex presses me with an intense but indecipherable look then pushes away from the railing. “Can I talk to you alone for a moment?”

“Sure.” Something is off, but I can’t figure out what.

The moment we step foot in the living room, Alex says, “I think something is wrong with your dad.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m pretty sure he had some sort of vision while we were waiting for you to come out of your room.”

“That’s not possible. Foreseers can’t see visions without a crystal ball,” I point out. “And my father doesn’t keep one in the house.”

“There’ve been a few foreseers throughout history who have been able to see visions without crystals, and I think your dad just did that.” He slips his hands into his back pockets. “One minute, we were sitting there, talking about classes, and the next thing I know, he’s zoned out. Once he came out of it, he had this panicked look on his face, and then he told me that he wanted to talk to me outside. He started saying all this stuff about protecting you and being prepared for the worst.”

I rewind over what he said. “If he had that kind of power, he would’ve said something already.” Right?

The thing is that my father doesn’t tell me much about the foreseer world.

“I’ll keep an eye on h?—”

I startle as thunder grumbles from outside.

Silence skips by.

“So, no mark?” Alex asks, retrieving his phone from his pocket.

I shake my head. “Nope. Maybe it was you who channeled the power.”

“It wasn’t.” He sounds so certain, and I’m unsure why. He reads a message on his phone then puts it back in his pocket. “I think we should be careful around Professor G. until we figure out what’s happening. I have to return to the school for practice, but I can have Aislin bring you your bag. That way, you can look through the book, and if you find anything interesting in it, will you let me know?”

I mull this over, mainly because it feels like we’re forming some sort of detective partnership, and I don’t like the idea of having that with him. However, since we both went into the vision together, it feels like I might be stuck with him until we can figure this out.

“I would never marry you,” I say. “That vision was wrong.”

He sinks his teeth into his bottom lip. “Noted.”

Why does it feel like he doesn’t believe me?

I lean against the back of the sofa. “That aside, I’ll let you know what I find out. And thanks for having Aislin bring me my stuff.”

His lips kick up into a half-smirk. “See? That wasn’t so hard.”

I give him a blank stare. “Don’t push your luck.”

He chuckles, his green eyes crinkling around the corners.

He leaves not too long after that.

My father is still on the porch, staring up at the clouds. I step out beside him and gaze up at the clouds, as well, propping my arms on the railing.

“What’s wrong, Dad?”

“It’s nothing.” The wind is blowing through the strands of his hair and causing them to stick up all over the place. I didn’t notice earlier, but dark circles reside under his eyes. He’s exhausted, and it’s evident in his expression.

“I just haven’t been sleeping very well.” He removes his attention from the stormy sky and fixes his eyes on me. “Don’t worry about me. I promise I’ll be okay.”

Why does it sound like he means the opposite? Like he won’t be okay at all?

Between that and what he told Alex, I’m worried he knows something terrible is heading our way.