Synergy (22 page)

“I could ask you the same thing,” Madison answered calmly. “I can’t see you either.” Madison locked eyes with me. I knew she was looking for answers, and I didn’t hold anything back. There was no point to that anymore; she had to face this. Madison looked from me to Aden, then Draven. “Why are you not showing me?” she asked in a nervous voice.

I didn’t know how to explain it, not in front of these people. “Too much,” I muttered, repeating Monroe’s words, begging Madison not to hate me with my eyes.

Olivia walked over to Madison and circled her like she was trying to prove that Madison was real. It didn’t matter what I did or thought; I couldn't move from Monroe’s side. I almost tho
ught they were holding me back. T
hat Willow had some other power I did
n
’t know about, but Aden and Draven stepped forward. Out of the three of us, they would be the threat to these people, not me. Something else was tethering me to Monroe.

“What’
s your name?” Olivia asked softly as she reached for Madison’s wrist.

“What do you mean you can’t feel me?” Willow asked breathlessly as tears of hope glassed over her eyes. “You feel emotions?”

“You could say that,” Madison answered calmly. As she looked over every inch of Willow, her eyes halted on her wrist. Madison wanted to know, just like I did, if ther
e was a tattoo under her sleeve
. I was hoping against all hope that there wasn’t one, that the dream was just an exaggeration of this moment.

Willow reached for her sleeve and pulled it up. The Ankh was there, so was the star in the loop; we were all marked, marked for death. Madison swallowed before she said, “Nice tattoo,” with the sarcasm she often used for defense.

Willow and Olivia locked stares, and I saw fear in their eyes. I glanced at Olivia’s wrist: she had the same tattoo. My stomach tied itself in knots. What’s the
point of dreaming a doomed fate
? Was that a game the devil played just to prolong the torture?

“It’s growing less original by the minute,” Willow said, still staring at Olivia.

“You could say that,” I said with a gasping breath.

They all turned to look at me as I reached to pull up the sleeve on my hoodie.  Brady pulled Willow to him like I was some kind of plague, like we were the ones that were dangerous. Was he crazy? Did he not understand that Willow was the dangerous one in that dream?

“This is Felicity’s dream. She saw these girls. Is this your dream to
o
,
Olivia?” Brady asked.

“You dreamed of it, too?” I asked Olivia with wide eyes.

“Did you?” she asked me.

“No. Madison did,” I said, looking at Madison for some kind of answer. I wanted to see the dream. I wanted her to show me all of her dreams. I had to find a way to avoid our death, but she was blocking me. I’m sure it was her defense that was causing that, but I needed to see, I needed to see
right
now.

“How did the dream
end?” Willow asked in a weak voice, clearly not wanting to really know.

Madison glanced
at Willow with questioning eyes, then
sealed
her gaze
wit
h me. “We share a common enemy. T
his mark wil
l help us fight her illusions,
but it’s going to take more than that to end this.”

“Like what?’ Brady asked.

Madison looked from me to Draven, and I followed her stare. His eyes were almost green again. I could only hope he had figured out enough about all of them to know if we were safe or not, if they were a trap or a solution. I hoped against all h
ope that he was ready for this. T
hat he would love himself
enough to fight with us in The R
ealm. His eyes found mine, and I saw both disdain and determination there. He looked at Brady. “This place, this place is the echo o
f what you are, what you were. I
t’
s created by lost souls. Their ener
gy creates this place. There, anything is possible. It’s
addict
ive, seductive, mind-numbing. I
t’s the hardest test any soul could be asked to pass.”

“Have you passed it?” Willow asked.

I stared at him and asked if he thought he did, and what I saw in his thoughts was this morning, Bianca forcing my light into him, Silas threatening him.

Draven smiled sardonically. “Not yet,” he said solemnly as he glanced at me. I made sure I showed him what I had said just a few minutes ago, that I told him the light was in him, to pull from himself so he could help me protect Madison and Monroe.

I wasn’t going to let them push him to explain his answer. I was prepared to fight for them, to bring Landen and Drake home, but I wasn’t sure that we should be side by side. I was starting to think that distance would be best. I
hadn
’
t
had time to see everything around them, and I had no idea whose demon was worse; all I knew was that I now had a new reason to kill Bianca.

“Listen,” I said, looking between Willow and Brady. “You ne
ed to know that death haunts us. Damned souls are called to us. T
hat it is
a fate we d
idn’t ask for but must endure. W
e thought
--
” I looked at Draven, wondering if he was going to stop me from telling them that they needed to leave without us, but he made no effort to do so. I looked back at Willow. “We thought coming to your world would bring us peace, but we don’t want to bring our darkness to your doorstep. That’s what we told Austin.”

Before I could go on with my speech, Brady spoke over me. “Austin? You’ve seen him recently?” he asked as a gleam of hope came to him.

“He’s here,” Aden said, glancing at me, then walking to the stairs to get Austin.

I felt Wil
low’s stare and boldly star
ed back
. She looked like she was getting angrier, weaker. “You’re not bringing anything to my doorstep.” I
gazed
into her
, relieved that she would close this door, not me; at least that way I would have no regrets. “It’s already there,” Willow said quietly. “Help me, and I’ll help you.”

For an instant, I saw that wise woman I met in Egypt. I heard her words echo in my mind. I knew then that I couldn't walk away from this; I was a part of this family of
souls, and so was Draven.
I wasn’t going to let fear rob me of my fate.

Willow and I were
both trying to understand each other. I wanted to go back into my memories, find more, understand this. I was mad at myself for not turning around and talking to Silas before; for all I knew, there was a phrase I could say to her, one that would wake her up and let her see how big this really was, help her understand that she was planning this fifteen hundred years ago, more than likely long before that point.

Willow turned to look at Madison, obviously still not believing that she had found her, the twin I saw her search for in her memories. Willow was going to be disappointed. I knew Madison well enough to know that she would more than like
ly run from Drake, the p
rince,
and if she didn’t run, she would hide behind her sarcasm and philosophy. If there was anyone that could build a wall around their heart, it was Madison. I admit that Britain was climbing it, that he’d almost reached her, but I would have to see Madison fall in love in order to believe it was possible.

“Who’s Bianca?” Willow asked weakly.

Madison glanced
at Brady. “The one he saw in that room. The girl who pushed the boy in the shadow of the room to the floor and blew a kiss to the one standing next to you,” Madison said, then looked at me. “Oddly, I can’t see anything else.”

I glanced down at Monroe, completely in awe of her. How did she know that? How could Madison not see any of this?

“How does this ‘seeing’ thing work?” Brady asked. “Can you see everything?”

I felt Draven’s stare and glanced
at him. Our heart was breaking for Madison. We loved her too much to watch her go through this. His eyes found Willow’s. “Only what you choose to show us.”

“You said you could see everything,” Willow said as she grabbed Brady’s arm for support. Something was wrong with her beyond grief; she was weak.

Draven walked slowly to her and stared down into her tearful eyes. “When you appeared in this room, you had no defenses up; your thoughts were wide open. As long as I asked the right questions, I saw your past, your perception of it, but now you have your defenses up.” Draven glanced at Brady and Olivia, then back to Willow. “All of you do. Madison saw that moment because Brady was thinking about it. Madison saw his perception.”

“And apparently you saw more,” Madison said to Draven, clearly aggravated with us.

Draven ignored her and continued his stare with Willow. “With all that you know, with all that you can do with your mind, I don’t think that grasping this would be
too
hard for you, and if it is,” he looked at me, “we’ll go for you.”

When I stared into his eyes, he showed me our last
kiss;
he let me hear the word ‘promise’ over and over. He was telling me he was ready, that he would fight to overcome what was in him, to help our friends, these strangers in our path now.  I wasn’t sure if he was prepared to do that from here or leave with them. “Are we leaving?” I asked as the fields of Chara came to mind.

Draven looked at Willow. “Are we?” he asked, clearly asking if that was her intent.

She didn’t answer him; instead, she turned defensively to the doorway. Austin, Nana, and Grayson were walking up the steps. I was relieved to see Grayson. I knew he’d be able to break this defense I felt for Monroe, that with him here I could move and defend Madison if I needed to. Nana had already changed into her
nightclothes
. I saw sympathy fill her eyes as she looked at Willow. Austin was reflecting what we felt; it was clear that the last thing he expected to find in this room was Willow and the people with her.

“Austin,” Brady said with relief heavy in his tone.

“Where’s Landen?” Austin asked, looking at me with fear in his eyes. He knew then that we were right: Landen had been in danger this entire time. I moved my head once to the side to tell him not to feel the guilt I could see in his eyes. This wasn’t his fault, not any of ours.

Brady walked to Austin and urged him down the stairs to talk in private. Grayson came to Monroe’s side, and the moment he was there I felt her release me; I knew I could walk away from her now.

Nana held her stare with Willow, but she put her arm around M
adison. “You and Charlie go
say your goodbyes,” she said, then looked at Draven. “Wake your dad.”

Madison looked at Nana with pleading eyes, wanting to see someone’s point of view, wanting to know that we weren’t walking blindly into a trap. I walked as fast as I could to Madison’s side. Draven, Monroe, and Grayson were right behind me. I glanced over my shoulder as I walked down the stairs to see Nana slowly approaching Willow and Olivia. I felt Draven take my hand as we reached Brady and Austin in the hallway below the studio. Madison took off in a sprint down the hall. I went to chase her, but Draven held me tightly.

“Austin,” Draven said firmly, “I want you to look me in the eye and tell me these people will not hurt us. I want you to tell me that if you were me, with your soul mate at your side, you would walk with them, fight with them.”

Austin didn’t hesitate. “Draven, this
is
right; it’s right, and you know it. They won’t hurt you.”

I felt my heart pounding violently in my chest.

Brady looked down at me as if he could hear it, sense my fear. “Listen, my brother is in danger. If he falls...” Brady hesitated, clearly fighting an emotion that only a father would understand. His blue eyes found Draven’s. “We all do. If you hold the key to this trial, you have to come. This is the calmest she’s been all day. She’s calm because she thinks she’s found an answer.”

Draven locked his jaw and nodded once. He put his arm around me and led me down the hall, around the corner, far enough
a
way that they couldn’t hear us. He leaned me against the wall and held his face inches from mine.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?” he whispered.

I stared up into his eyes, which were filled with fear and frustration. “It
can’t get any
more dangerous than
what we’re already going through.”

“Did you not see her, Charlie? Do you not realize how much power she has? She can thrust grown men across the room
. C
rush them with a thoug
ht. Everything we can do in The R
ealm, she can do here.”

“Everything?” I asked, not understanding how I
’d
missed that.

“She can’t create anything like weapons or scenes, but she doesn’t need to; with a thought, she can kill a man, she can move across dimensions, into others’ bodies. She commands the weather.”