The Underworld Read Online Free PDF Page A

eagerness dropped to the floor and shattered
    like glass. “Oh. Okay.”
    “Now hold on one second before you go getting that
    sad look on your face. Al I said was that she’s been
    down there for awhile, not that there was no way she
    could be alive.”
    I tried to keep my excitement to a bare minimum.
    “So, are you saying that there might be a chance she
    stil is?”
    He twisted his lip ring from side to side. “Maybe…
    There’ve been some people that have survived the
    Water Faeries tortured for a long amount of time
    without going too insane. And there have even been a
    few people that have escaped The Underworld
    before.”
    “There have!” I shouted, and then made an oh-crap
    face at the loudness of my voice. We both stayed
    silent for a moment, making sure no one had heard
    and had decided to head upstairs to check on me.
    The house was quiet, as stil as the hot desert air, the
    only noise coming from the humming of engines from
    the cars passing by. “Sorry,” I whispered. “But I’m just
    real y confused. The way Alex made it sound, it
    seemed like there was hardly any way that anyone
    could ever escape The Underworld. That once they
    were sent down there, they were basical y trapped
    there until they died from the torture.”
    Laylen’s bright blue eyes twinkled mischievously.
    “Yeah, but Alex doesn’t hang around with the same
    kind of crowd as I do, does he? You learn a lot of stuff
    when you’re not just limited to the Keepers circle.”
    Now I was letting myself get a little excited over
    what Laylen was saying. Wel , except for the fact that
    he said “crowd.” What kind of crowd were we talking
    about here? Vampire crowd? Witch crowd? Black
    Angel crowd? Al were possibilities, and there were
    probably other possibilities that I didn’t even know
    about.
    “Is there any way we could find someone who wil
    maybe help us find out if she’s alive? And help us find
    out if there’s a way we could get her out of The
    Underworld if she is?” I held my breath as I waited for
    him to answer.
    It took him a second, but he nodded. “It won’t be
    easy, though…And it’l be dangerous.”
    I should have been scared. But after you’ve faced a
    swarm of murderous Death Walkers, been hit by their
    Chil of Death, and stared into the eyes of a man who
    is trying to wipe your mind away, “dangerous”
    becomes a little easier to deal with. “So you’re saying
    that maybe we could go and talk to someone about
    her?”
    He mul ed over my question for so long that I was
    sure he was going to say no. “Yeah, I think we might
    be able to do that.”
    “Real y,” I was practical y bouncing. “Are you
    serious?”
    He nodded. “I think your mom may know more
    about what’s going on than anyone does. I think that
    might be part of the reason why Stephan sent her
    there—so she couldn’t tel anyone what she knew.”
    “I think so too,” I agreed. “In fact, in the vision, she
    told Stephan that one day he’d get caught and that he
    didn’t have everyone wrapped around his finger.”
    “Then I think the sooner we can find out if she’s
    alive the better. And maybe we can put al this
    madness together and get some real answers.” He
    paused. “But I don’t want you to get too excited, just in
    case things don’t turn out the way…the way you want
    them to.”
    “I won’t,” I assured him, but I stil couldn’t help but
    get a little excited. Wel , okay, I was beyond excited. In
    fact, I think I’d hit a whole new level of excitement
    and…yep, there it was. The prickle.
    I know. I know. I was total y setting myself up for
    some serious heart-ache here. But I couldn’t control
    myself at the moment. Just seeing my mother…it
    would be amazing. Especial y after being raised by
    Marco and Sophia, who were two of the most cold-
    hearted people I knew. Wel , besides Stephan.
    Wait. Hold on. “Laylen, what happened to Marco
    and Sophia?”
    “I have no idea,” he said with a shrug.