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I shove the marble into his ear It sounds like a pinball machine as the marble rolls down his ear canal

He swats his hand at his ear, like there’s a bug in it "What’d you do to me? Gemma, as that?" His head quivers erratically "Gemma… please…"

I scoot fros to o limp His eyes recede into the back of his head and his body crumples to the floor I inch toward him, smooth his sweaty hair back, and check his neck for a pulse His heart beats a consistent rhythm

"Sorry," I whisper Then I heist the crystal halves and leave him alone in the room I race to the library, a s spreads underneath two leather recliners that border a slim table Aislin sits in one chair, her feet kicked up on another The book containing the history of The Afterlife rests in her lap and she studies the pages

"I had to use thea seat on the table

She lowers her feet to the floor and sits up straight "Already? Jeez, that was a lot quicker than I guessed"

"He challenged ht," I say "Winner takes these" I hold up the two portions of the crystal ball "He gave me no choice, really But I still feel like a complete jerk He’s passed out on the floor"

"Just re him a lot like this, you’ll feel er on pictured of a man with a hole in his chest Wisps of s headfirst into the hole

"I’asted, I take the book and gape at the drawing "How did I not see this happen?"

"Well, you said he felt the cut after you guys left that freaky windstor one followed you back and took over his body while he was alone"

I runthe hideous picture "Does it happen to et up to the Human World?"

She frowns and recaptures the book "No, that’s what doesn’t make sense It says here that they’ve been banished for hundreds of years and there are no reports of any returning"

"But that book’s old," I point out "So maybe there have been, but they haven’t been reported in that book

Aislin dru "What we need is someone who understands The Afterlife… someone who understands death and the rules"

I pull a face "I think I know so teeth"

She sets the book on the table "Who?"

"A certain faerie/foreseer that's been dead and has a connection because of his faerie blood The Queen of The Afterlife is a Banshee, which is a type of faerie Although, Nicholas insists all breeds of faerie hate hi Luna," she notes "So h sarcastically "Nicholas exaggerate? Never"

She laughs withtears from our eyes

"So what do you think?" She picks up her neon pink purse off the table "Should we go torture hiht as well," I say "I have to get his help to use the Crystal of Li to need the help of at least one other Foreseer who doesn’t o back to his her purse on the coatrack in the foyer "I mean, doesn’t it see so It’s almost like he does it on purpose"

I freeze with my hand on the handle of the front door "You don’t think… nah, never mind"

"What?" Aislin shuts the front door We trek down the rocky path toward Laylen, who’s still working on Alex’s car in the driveway "Just tell ht be a really stupid thought, but do you think that Nicholas le his way into our lives? He always seeo to and he alants so in return for his help"

She stops short of the base of the path "Whoa I’ve never thought of that It couldn’t be possible Could it? If he did, he’d be in the Rooood point" I halt behind Laylen "Like I said, it was a stupid thought" But it bothers me

"We’re on a mission," Aislin says zealously to Laylen

Laylen peers over his shoulder from below the hood "What kind of a mission?"

"A save Alex, saveto try to cross them both off in one shot"

"Save Alex?" Laylen washes the grease off his hands with the botto the fabric "Save hiht be possessed by a Lost Soul," Aislin tells hi like a total weirdo?" Laylen frowns and picks up a wrench "I ondering if so"

"You noticed it too?" I ask and he nods "Good, I’lad I’m not the only one"