Enflame (Book 6) ((Insight) Web of Hearts and Souls) (15 page)

“
I wouldn’t have been reborn if not. I would have been a slave with the mirrored souls
,” he assured me.

“
Which brings up one of my other questions: how many paranormal beings are we against right now
?”

“
No more than before. We are just aware of them
.”

“
You are aware of them
,” my thoughts muttered.

“
Right. Let’s see. Phoenixes are not against us and are usually solitary. I doubt we will come across many. Witnesses, we talked about them before. They are not against us. They are basically archangels who defend souls of light. They will offer insight when the moment comes that was stated...Escorts…some of those are on the dark side. They feed off the essence of emotions
.”

His thoughts hesitated as his eyes cascaded over me. I knew he wanted explain more about Escorts, but he held back, and that was fine. I wasn’t entirely sure they were all bad, and I didn’t want him to convince me differently.

“
Mirrored souls
,” he began again. “
I’m almost positive that girl that took Drake and me is one of those. She is a prisoner to her master and will do his bidding faithfully. Then there is a shadowed soul...what Skylynn is. They died before their time, usually because of misuse of magic. They cannot come back until time and circumstance are aligned again. They can appear in dreams or images. Most people see them as omens. The argument on whether they are good or bad omens rages on. Honestly, it depends on the intent of the soul, why they want to come back
.”

I moved my head from side to side. “
How complicated can this be
?”

A faint
grin was all he bothered to answer me with.

“
Why are you not wanting to cross paths
?”

“
So far, every planet we have faced has managed to twist what we thought it should represent. Jupiter is luck and expansion, but I’m trying to outsmart this curse. I know now that many of us were fighting to get what we wanted, that spells, intent, were cast with a blind eye. The times we used for the spells we cast were chosen because of the alignment of the Earth, the squares and conjunctions of the planets. We were not the only ones that would have used that power. If I asked Draven and the others to help us, for all I know, I’m taking them away from something they either have to undo or do for the first time. If I try to help Dane or my sister, I could hurt them by ignoring what I have to undo. The only safe way is to follow our path. When they meet, I’ll know to help them
.”

“
Okay, I get that fates run side by side and that this is a thin line and you are treading carefully, but how close? Like, use this analogy: all of us, everyone involved in this, on our own decided to go out to dinner. Is it enough that by chance we all end up at the same restaurant
?
Like, we see our friends and say
, ‘
Hey, come sit with us,’ or do we have to wait for the hostess to accidentally sit us side by side
?”

His odd grin made my heart flutter, and his fingertips began to trace my eyes.

“
I think the same restaurant would do, but let me add to your analogy. There is a strip of restaurants all side by side, and in reality we are only feet away, but in different buildings
.”

I looked away from him and adjusted my lean against him. “
Very thin line
.”

“
I understand what Nana was saying to me about how trying too hard to ignore others is not going to help anything. But, no matter what planet we were facing, I would have tried to do this spell once more before bringing anyone else into it. I’m just going with my gut feeling
.”

I sat forward and looked over my shoulder at him. “
I watched that battlefield last night. I saw all of you, Drake and me, Clarissa and Dane. I didn’t see a heavy metal band…maybe you’re right
.”

I felt the laughter in his soul, noticing that his eyes were becoming more and more normal by the moment
. It was as if the laughter was helping him. At that moment, I made myself promise that I would make him laugh at least once every day.

“
I promise to make you laugh, too
,” he thought.

“
Your insights are stronger than you think. That was a lingering thought
.”

“
I’m locked inside my mind with you. That makes them strong. Everything about you makes me stronger
.”

The heat in my soul began to rise as I tried to understand if that was an open invitation.

“
The veil is becoming clearer to you
,” he stated.

“
You see it, too
?” I questioned.

His eyes told me yes. “
The echo...that is the dead. They live on a different time frequency from us. Basically, our intent, thoughts lead our human lives. They see the echo of what is to come
.”

“
And they saw Draven play
,” I pointed out.

“
I have no idea what they saw, and that echo could be anything, even someone trying to hurt us
.”

“
I doubt his mother would have heard it wrong
.”

“
True. We have a plan for this now...echo or not
.”

I felt useless against this trial
—almost broken.

“
Why do you think my images vanished
?
Do you really think I’m dark
?
I’m some kind of a puzzle piece that can get us out of this reality if we are backed against the wall
?”

He reached to gently caress my cheek. “
I don’t think they vanished. I just think you have been too distracted to see them. They’ll come back...and I’ve never really cared for labels like ‘darkness’ and ‘light.’ Souls find their mate, no matter what shade their energy is.
”

“
If we’ve disrupted a balance, I want to put it back
.”

“
So do I
,” he assured me, wrapping his arms around me.

“
What about home, Landen
?
Donalt...those damned people...are you sure that by being here we are still helping, not moving on to a new problem
?”

“
I need to drain the power going there. The night that you saw last night gave that dimension an immense amount of power, and the souls here are still grieving for the souls that are still feeding that dimension. It’s one of many portholes that I want to close; it will help. I think Donalt has been purposely distracting us from figuring that out with our little love triangle. He sent me to that Realm to twist my energy into Drake’s, which he succeeded in doing. But the time there exposed my past lives to me, making the opening of my eyes so much easier to comprehend. He couldn’t have stopped Phoenix or Skylynn from finding us because every bad thing we endure because of him causes a door to undo that hardship to appear...we have crossed through that door
.”

“
What is he now
?
A ghost, an Escort, or a phoenix
?”

“
According to Phoenix, a bit of all of them, which is not insane to believe. He is a powerful master Escort. He wants Drake’s body, your power, my power. If he can’t get that, he will find another way
.”

“
Are you worried about this Xavier guy
?”

“
I would be a fool not to be. Donalt has many enemies, ones I tried to find favor with at times – which was foolish
.”

“
You made a deal with him on that night
,” I thought, letting him know I knew more about that night than he’d told me.

“
Not really. He told me he found you, made me believe he was going to help us stop all of this then...when we got there
.” His eyes fell deep into mine, causing my soul to tremble with anticipation. “
I felt you. You were so intoxicating. Passion singed the air with your presence. I could barely focus because I was so consumed with you. As Madison’s image approached, your essence didn’t become stronger. It became weaker. I turned in time to see you fall to the ground
.”

I knew he was trying to explain why he was fooled, but it only made me feel guilty.

He turned my head so I would have to look into his eyes. “
You mistook what I said. That passion was for life. It was undoing all that was wrong, for sacrificing yourself to save innocents. It was the passion that pulled me to you the first time our souls met. I was feet away from you. I could have saved you. I was the fool, not you
.”

“
Saved me
,” I repeated. “
Thrown me into a fire to become like you. I saw myself last night. I would have killed anyone that would have stopped me from chasing after Drake. He consumed me then, and we destroyed each other, just like Phoenix said darkness and darkness do
.”

A painful disdain filled his eyes. “
You’re right. That is why I finally chose to die. Why I decided to trust fate. Why I’m holding you now. Let’s trust fate right now and slowly undo the damage I’ve done
.”

“
I don’t trust fate. I make it. I’ll go along with this ‘don’t path cross’ thing for as long as I can, but if my gut argues with yours, I will step in and save Dane or whoever else
.”

“
That is my plan, too. Promise
.”

“
You mean that
?
I have a say in all of this, too
?”

He laid me down next to him across the tender blades of lush green grass. “
You are me. I am you. You have more than a say. What you feel, I feel and together we are unstoppable
.”

His hand, which was resting on my stomach, slowly eased into my soul, and a gasp of ecstasy escaped my lips, causing the atmosphere to become alive with static electricity. As he eased his soul into mine, the air around us vibrated, the sun beamed with my excitement, and the rain fell with the ache of wanting to be even closer. When we became one, the thunder vibrated the ground, and lightning cascaded around us as the sensation of power, unconditional love, and passion absorbed us.

By the time we’d pulled ourselves out of that empowering dream, nightfall had come. Not wanting to come out of the safe haven of this room, we made our way to the bathroom attached to it and lingered in the oversized claw
-foot tub until the hot water ran cold and our skin began to shrivel. After getting dressed and straightening the room up back to the way we found it, we answered a knock on the door. No one was there, but a tray of food was on the bottom step. I was sure Nana had placed it there.

After dinner
I gathered everything on the tray to take it down to the kitchen and thank her for taking care of us, but Landen took it from my arms just as a plate began to tumble to the ground. At first I thought he caught it in mid-air somehow, but then I realized I was suspending it. Not with my energy, but with a gentle wind.

“Wow,” I muttered, picking it up from the current, noticing that the wind vanished the second I didn’t need it anymore.

“Looks like you are using that power like a hand now,” he said in a teasing manner.

In the bath, he’d made me make mini-waves and whirlpools with a thought. It was meant to be a lesson, but we spent more time laughing at the odd shapes I could create with the water. I’d managed to use the water as a canvas, but fo
r the first time in a long time I didn’t paint anything that was dark or full of emotion. Instead, I sculpted anything I could think of to make him smile.

I wanted to relive our afternoon together and not go out into the hars
h reality, but we had no choice. Too many souls and issues were waiting on our next move.

“Your eyes seem normal now, too.”

“I still see a glow around you,” he whispered, letting his energy hold the tray of food in mid-air as he pulled me to him.

“That glow is you.” My words spiked his passion and matched my desire to stay right here in this room.

Just as he picked me up and wrapped me around the hum of his body, I felt a warm rush of air and knew we were not alone anymore.

“Good night? Seriously? Is it not out of your system yet?” Phoenix complained.

Landen let his lips linger on mine as he slowly set me down. His fingertips traced my cheeks as if he wanted to wipe away my blushing complexion.

“Not a chance in hell that this ever gets old,” he said to me, even though it was stated for Phoenix’s benefit.

Landen let me go and grabbed the tray. I opened the door for him.

“Where are you going?” Phoenix asked in an annoyed tone.

“To put this back,” Landen answered.

A warm rush of air surrounded me. Before I could reason what it was, I was downstairs leaning against the counter, hearing a dishwasher run.

“Done. It’s back. Seriously, act like the power you are,” Phoenix said, crossing his arms in front of Landen and me.

“It was the ‘thank you’ we wanted,” I complained.

“Well, she’s asleep, so unless you want to wake her, we have work to do.”

I didn’t budge. Paper and a pen appeared in Phoenix’s hand.

“Will a note do? Or what is that other thing...um...yeah, a text?”

I couldn’t help it,
a grin spread across my face.

“Ah, Sunshine is smiling, and it’s still dark outside.” He
glanced at Landen. “Good work, mate. I was a bit worried about how long her control would hold.”

“It wasn’t all me. It was a lot of her, and the friend she wants to thank,” Landen told him as I wrote a note to Nana to thank her for the rest and food and told her we were
going to try this spell. One way or another, I would bring her grandsons here to see her.

Phoenix took the note from me, vanished for an instant, then returned.

“On her bedside table,” he offered when he appeared again. “Let’s go.” And with that, we appeared in the field next to the graveyard.

“Moving two bodies at once? You must be feeling the power of being whole,” Landen applauded.

“If she ever even gets the notion to take my ashes again, I swear—”

Landen stopped him. “Where is she?” he asked, glancing around the field.

“She’d better be in the veil,” Phoenix answered.

He was mad at her for a reason outside of his ashes, outside of what was going on with this spell. I
just couldn’t figure out what that was. Apparently, Landen had. He offered Phoenix a sincere nod, obviously promising to help him with something. Landen was close to his brother, close to Marc, but not like this. It was like he and Phoenix were connected at the soul or something. The rich past between them echoed in every glance they shared. That made me feel safe, made me feel like the two of them would protect each other and everyone under their watch.

A wave came across the darkness, creating a doorway for us to move into the veil. The screams were the same as last night, but I could swear I heard Charlie’s name being screamed, along with Draven’s. The ghosts lined our path once again, but there was no Skylynn waiting on us.

“She wants me to kill her,” Phoenix scoffed.

“Have you been fighting with her today?” Landen question.

“Not about this,” Phoenix said with a tone that was laced in agony.

The scarf bracelet came to mind again. Before I could ask what that was about, he changed his composure.

“I did try and find out what is up with Xavier, and by the way, rumor has it that Donalt has some of his ashes. Whatever witch you have in that dimension is either careless or playing both sides.”

I went to lash out at him, but a glance from Landen caused his energy to bellow within my soul, reminding my body of his essence. I was powerless to be angry when I felt him consume me.

“They are neither,” Landen said dryly. “I burned him, he fell to ash and escaped through the fireplace. He’s had them all long. We’ve recovered some, taking them from him the last three times we have fought him.”

“How much ash?”

“Not enough, but if he used what he had to appear, it would be a horrid sight.”

“I don’t really think he cares what
he looks like, mate.”

“Neither
do I. Let Skylynn be right now. It’s better for her to figure out where her lover is than for me to tell her.”

That was one of the questions I’d asked him before, one I didn’t get an answer to: who was Skylynn after? Before I could press on for the answer I wanted, a flaming pentagram appeared on the grass before us.

“The timing is off, too,” Phoenix stated. “Jupiter is not square yet.”

“The power lies four days before and after,” Landen countered.

“On average, the point it squares is the most powerful you know that,” Phoenix argued.

Landen glanced at me. “I want t
o try.” His gaze moved over the ghosts that were lingering around us.

“Looking for me?” I heard Clarissa say before noticing her standing on the other side of Phoenix.

Landen nodded once. “Keep her safe,” he said to his sister as he and Phoenix moved into their places around the pentagram.

Clarissa locked stares with me.

“I know, I know...The Realm,” I muttered as I focused on how to get there. It was instantaneous this time.

“Well done,” Clarissa commented as The Realm appeared around us.

At that second, Dane appeared at her side. I lunged myself at him, embracing him in the biggest hug I could manage. I felt him hug me back.

“I want to fix this,” I said into his neck.

He gently pulled me away. “I will.”

“You’re here. Is this going to work now?”

He looked over my shoulder as the ground fell and opened the same scene I’d seen over and over again last night. “I don’t feel it.”

“Maybe it’s because Skylynn is not there,” I offered.

Dane glanced up at the heavens, then all around the battlefield. “It’s more than that.”

“What are you looking at?” I asked, trying to see what the sky could have told him. It was too overcast for him to see the stars.

“The other levels,” he offered as he and Clarissa locked glances, clearly agreeing with one another on some obvious silent notion.

“Levels like up and down, or side by side? I don’t get this.”

“Both,” Clarissa answered.

At that second, Silas appeared at their side, peering out at the field of war. I shied away, not knowing if I should trust him. He must have sensed that; his glowing honey eyes found mine, and he nodded once as if to say hello.

“The time is off,” Dane said to him.

“It’s stopped,” Silas answered.

“Do you see her anywhere?” Dane asked.

“What are you guys talking about?!” I asked, growing more and more scared and frustrated.

“The eleventh hour,” Silas stated, capturing my stare. “Everything stops at the eleventh hour. At first it was for a breath, but now it stops longer each time.”

“Because of this?”

“At first, that was what we assumed. Doesn’t make sense,” Silas answered. “The Escorts stop fighting us, but not because they are weak. They have power. I think it’s a shift. Something is blocking the echo.”

“Echo?” I muttered.

“A shift was supposed to occur at some point, or many. It didn’t happen,” Silas explained in a somewhat annoyed tone. “So now the clock stops at the eleventh hour, as if it is waiting for that shift, for the echo to reach it and guide it again.”

“Is it this spell?” I asked, not caring to tell him I already knew what an echo was.

Silas crossed his arms as he took a step toward me. “It’s everything. Just because you are not aware of something does not mean it does not exist in someone else's reality. The opportunity to remake this night happened long before Dane and Clarissa crossed over, as did the opportunity to undo others, but you have been locked in a triangle. This pause occurred long before it reached us now.”

“Like you’re not,”
I countered. “Look, I don’t get what you are, but I know you care about Charlie, so we may not be the only ones that are distracted. How many pauses have you caused?”

“I do care. And yes, I am aware that my actions impact her, but I’m not going to send her into the arms of Hell for the fun of it.”

“The arms of Hell, or the arms of Draven?” was my sarcastic comeback.

Something above me caught his atten
tion. Dane and Clarissa’s, too.

“Is that what I think it is?” Dane seethed.

“It’s not his mirror, and that is not his mom,” Silas answered just before he and Dane vanished.

“What is going on?” I demanded, reaching to catch Clarissa, fearing she would vanish next.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said as she effortlessly unclenched my grip. “Winston is mirrored by Bianca, or at least he was. The real him is in here, chasing his mother’s image. The Escorts are trying to lure him in, all of the Donalt children.”

I shuddered, thankful that I knew Donalt was in no way, shape, or form my father in any life. Clarissa was intently listening to something I could not hear, looking all around us.

“How strong is your control?” she asked me.

“I think it’s good. Why?”

“Because you have to hold it. No matter what you hear.”

“What do you mean? Is
something bad about to happen?”

“It’s already happened, but long
before today. Stick to the plan, Willow. Undo the spell in your own way. Do not panic or push. If you do, you will make this worse.”

“What’s worse?”

“Time stops here because you were not moving forward in the past. There is a delay from reality to now. We have to pause now because of the past trials, the lack of real progress. Don’t think that what you are doing now is causing it; realize that it was the past and that you have to keep on your course in order to know if it’s right or wrong.”

“Tell me what is going on now!” I demanded.

“No,” she stated, leaning her head to the side, as if she were trying to hear more intently. Her pale green eyes met mine. “Listen, trust me. If something was really wrong, you know no matter what I would tell you. I’m just telling you now not to panic. It’s the echo.”

“Echo? Like the dead reading our intent and knowing what will be?”

“Right, but the echo will come to be. You will live through it. There is an echo coming at you, and I’m more than sure it ties into this. The echo is hitting a wall. This spell, I have faith that if you undo it, if Landen does, what you are about to fear will not matter. Time will move again, until you give it a reason to stop.”

“Clarissa,
stop. Tell me. What do I do now!”

“No one can tell you that. Trust that you are living in the echo. As of now, the threshold into Jupiter's Square is here. When it passes, the echo will diminish, and you will then live through what you are doing now. In order for that to be a good echo, you have to move forward, patiently, powerfully, faithfully. Do not question your instincts
. Ever.”