Read The Gate first!
Lena Matthews knows better than to trust anyone. She and her friends are hoping for a new start in New York, but shadows lurk behind every alleyway. With secret conspiracies and a mysterious killer that shares an odd connection...
Lena Matthews was sleeping fitfully. As she tossed and turned under the covers, Gem was almost concerned. But at the same time, she was exhilarated - Lena could wake up at any moment and realize that there was an intruder. Gem walked around the bed silently, her casual stride from coming here many times before. It was here, when Lena and Gem were mere feet apart, that Gem accepted what her nickname was short for - The Gemini.
The Gemini gently picked up the glasses that were sitting on Lena's bedside. Lena turned over, her red hair draped over the pillow and wrinkled covers halfway off the bed.
The Gemini tried the glasses on herself and observed her reflection. Even in the darkness, the resemblance to the troubled girl in bed was abundantly clear. The Gemini pulled out her phone and quickly snapped a photo of herself, still amazed at the resemblance.
"Wha-" Lena sat upright in the bed, reacting to the flash. The Gemini froze, watching as Lena's hand fumbled onto the dresser for glasses that weren't there. Finally, the girl turned over, right back to her restless sleep. The Gemini sighed quietly and took off Lena's glasses, leaving the room as quickly as she had come. It wasn't like Lena would remember anything in the morning.
The way back to the Underworld was quiet. It reminded the Gemini of first arriving in New York with the siren she had managed to rope into the first step of her plan. Taking over the fourth circle was almost too easy. But the second step has been stalled for weeks now. Despite being excellent at their cover-ups, not a single one of those guys could complete the simple task she had given them.
The Underworld's neon sign exploded into the already crowded night sky, and the Gemini maneuvered away from the line of scantily clad bodies waiting to be let inside. Instead of dealing with the main entrance, The Gemini made her way around the building. With a couple of pointed knocks at the back door, one of the waiters let her inside.
The moment the Gemini made her way into the club, she knew that the energy was different. All 13 members of the fourth circle were sitting calmly at a booth, like they were waiting for her to get there. Maybe it was finally time for that coup she'd heard whispers of. Then, her eyes landed on the girl sitting next to them. She was definitely new.
"I didn't expect to see all of you." said the Gemini calmly. She made eye contact with Gregory Lewis, one of the members who really hated her since she murdered his best friend. It was justified, but still inconvenient. "So? What's the news?"
"We did what you asked." Mateo Velez, who stood out as one of the bolder members, spoke up.
"Great." the Gemini responded. "And that is...?"
"You wanted someone capable of great things. You called them practitioners." Mateo filled in.
"I'm assuming it's that one over there." the Gemini pointed to the girl, who just nodded back. She was petite, with freckles dotting most of her face. Her curly hair was tied into a large puff on the top of her head, and like Lena, she wore glasses. "Name?" the Gemini asked.
"Cora." the practitioner responded.
"Excellent." the Gemini replied. She looked at the other men, who were staring at her expectantly. "What did you guys want?"
"What's next?" Mateo asked.
"Next?" the Gemini asked. "Well, that's simple. You're all fired."
Almost immediately, everyone started shouting. Gregory stood up like he would fight her somehow, but the Gemini shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm doing you a favor. This is your chance to get your affairs in order and move out. It's not going to be safe for folks like you."
"What does that mean?" Mateo asked.
"I want a new Atalka. And that starts with you." the Gemini pointed at Cora and winked. "I'm done with the rest of you."
"But the Agency-"
"Oh, please." the Gemini interrupted. "Let them come. You're all dismissed."
No one moved, but the Gemini was already done with the conversation. She pointed at Cora before turning to leave. Cora looked around uncertainly, but eventually followed the Gemini through a hallway and down the stairs to what looked like a basement.
There was a rank smell underneath the club, and the music vibrations sounded like thunder threatening to make the floor cave in. Cardboard boxes lined the room, and the Gemini grabbed a random one and pulled out a book before handing it to Cora.
"Where did they get you from?" she asked casually.
"I... I was staying with a Windermere Coven. LA." Cora answered. She awkwardly pulled out her cell phone to use as a flashlight.
"LA." the Gemini echoed. "You know, I thought about being there. But too sunny, too spread out. Not my vibe."
"Wait... are you serious about this?" Cora asked, scrolling through the book. "This spell is... there's no way you're going to pull this off. The Society would kill us."
"They wouldn't." said the Gemini. "The nature of what I'm trying to do technically follows their principles."
"You're talking about making Manhattan just disappear," Cora argued. "Why would you even want that?"
"Isolation means no Agency." the Gemini shrugged.
"And the people who live here?" Cora asked.
"It won't be a problem if they aren't people anymore." The Gemini moved her hair over her shoulder, letting her Forbidden brand be exposed. "Look, this is bigger than you and I. This place is going to be our new Atalka."
"And if I don't-"
"Oh, that one's easy. You wouldn't die right away, I can tell you that much. We'll start with the people you care about. Consider your friends back in LA dead. Your family too. And if you want to question what I'm capable of, you're free to do so. But keep in mind that the fourth circle used to be run by someone else, and now he's dead. And that one was just business. With you, it will be personal."
There was a moment of silence as the threat hung in the air. "I need two things for this to work." Cora finally announced. "The spell needs to be grounded to something living, and it needs time, preferably in a room that can withstand pressure."
"I might have just the thing." the Gemini grinned. "How soon can you do it?"
"It's going to take a lot of time," Cora warned. "A couple months, probably."
"Tick, tock then." the Gemini smiled as she waltzed back out of the room. Upstairs, the fourth circle had dismissed themselves. The Gemini sat in the bar alone, digging into the table with her fingernail.
Carefully, she traced the roman numeral for 2 into the wood, the symbol of the Gemini zodiac. Gemini. It was a fun name to have, but right now, Lena felt more like a loose end. She could ruin everything with her identical face, and it was time for her to go. The Gemini pulled out her phone and sent the picture of herself and a text.
Message for the Agency.
Lena Matthews spotted in New York.
You know what to do.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A/N: So there's my first chapter since that weird publishing kick I was on. Finally we have a better picture of what the Gemini is up to, even if that picture isn't that good. And now we're about to jump to the second part of this story, where a lot of the wild things in the first half are finally going to come together. Hope you enjoy, it's about to get wild (as if it hasn't already been)
