Synergy (35 page)

Perodine and Madison came in the room. Willow’s father stayed in the hall.

Madison came to my side, refusing to show me anything they’d talked about. I glanced at her stomach before turning my attention to Perodine and Alamos.

Alamos pulled back the drapes around the bed, clearly revealing Drake and Landen. I reached for Madison’s wrist to tell her I was there. She didn’t make a move as she gazed at Drake’s near lifeless body.

Perodine was holding a different chalice and the same knife she’d cut me with before as she stood in front of the makeshift altar at the foot of the bed. “Come,” she said to us, and we all moved forward.

Perodine came to me first. I knew she wanted blood again, and I held my finger out for her. As she pricked my finger, her eyes met mine. I felt a warning there. “Whatever wall falls....I’ll help you put up again,” she said so quietly that I doubted anyone else heard her. I questioned her with my eyes, but she moved on to Aden, then the others. I watched her avoid Madison more than once. Finally, she stood in front of her, but Perodine silently refused to take Madison’s blood. Madison took the knife from her and sliced her own finger, letting twice as much blood fall into the chalice.

Draven and Aden both looked at me for some kind of answer, but I had none to give them. It was clear Madison was purposely going against the advice of Perodine. I could only hope she had a reason that made sense.

Perodine looked down, then turned to the altar. “Focus your eyes
. See energy. See the auras
of them. All of you.
”

I had no idea how to do that, so I just focused on all of us, patiently waiting for them to tell me to see, for this race to begin.

“Now pull it to you,” Alamos said to Willow. “Imagine it is a sphere right here, one that I can hold.”

Perodine turned from the altar and nodded in our direction. Aden and Madison stepped closer to me. I glanced at Draven as he took his place alongside Willow with Brady and Olivia. I smile
d
shyly, and he winked at me; he was trying to tell me we’d be fine.

Perodine began to whisper words in a dark chant, and that’s when I saw this sphere of light that they were talking about. For a second I thought
maybe I was in The R
ealm. I’d never seen anyone manifest anything like that; I was in pure awe of this display.

“Clear you mind, child,” Alamos said. At that moment, Perodine tipped the chalice and let the blood fall to the floor. Alamos then released the sphere of energy, and it caught the blood before it reached the ground. It fell further, and when it reached the floor, fire erupted from the sphere, then it turned blue and expanded into a wall of what looked like water.

On this water, I could see The R
ealm, the base of what you see without intent. I knew they didn't need us anymore. I reached for Aden’s arm. “Lets go,” I whispered.

And with that thought, we were gone.

Chapter Sixteen

Instantly, we were standing in the center of my city of ash. The sun was bright, and the people looked so happy. They were all gathering near a beautiful home, gazing at an open balcony.

“I thought we were over this now? We knew the dream was in the past,” Madison said as she glanced at me.

“Don’t l
ook at me. I didn’t create it. I
t was the furthest thing from my mind.”

“Someone else did then,” Aden said as he reached for my hand. “Let’s see what they’re gawking at.”

“Why? It could be a trap,” I argued, wanting to change our surroundings immediately.

“Or an answer,” Madison said, agreeing with Aden. She nodded to the balcony. At that moment, I heard a woman scream out, then a baby crying.

“I’m interested,” I mumbled as I thought to move myself to the balcony.

In an instant, I was there, and Madison and Aden were at my side.  There was a woman on a massive bed that had just delivered a baby. The midwife said, “It’s a girl.”

I looked closely at the new mother. I recognized her; she was the woman that was my mother when I lived in Pompeii. I saw a joy mixed with a disappointment in her eyes. Curiosity caused me to step forward. We were like ghosts to them, moving through a moment in time, which made it seem even more surreal.

The bed had a canopy over it, and white cotton drapes were lingering around the massive post. As I moved closer, I saw an image of a man on his knees. His head was bowed in what looked like grief, but his image wasn’t solid. It was obvious that these women didn’t see him, that a man wouldn’t have witnessed this birth.

The new mother reached for t
he baby. “I don’t understand...
I dreamed of a son.”

“You’ll have your son one day,” the midwife promised.

At that moment, the man raised his head and I saw Aden. I was sure it was him; the mark of dimples was clear. His eyes were glassed over, and his ghostly image reached to cradle the head of the infant. “This was my place, my war...I’ll find you again, my love,” he said, then he vanished.

I felt my insides fall as I nervously looked at Aden. I gripped my hand around my ring, understanding that Monroe must not have wanted my emotions to be a weakness
here that
she knew they would distract us all from what we needed to do. Instantly, I found the lack of fear in an undeserved calm. I turned my attention to Aden, and I could see terror in his eyes. He didn’t understand anymore than we did.

Then I heard a laugh, one I knew all too well. The people in the room had frozen in place, and Bianca was standing where the image of Aden had vanished. She walked slowly around the bed, holding Aden’s stare. When she reached him, she tilted her head. “It’s time to let that
wall fall. W
hy didn’t I think of this before?” Before she could touch him, I reached for the side of her head, feeling my hands vibrate with the awesome sound of music. Before I could even conceive the idea to bring light or push music through her, she vanished.

“Are you alright
?!”
I asked Aden, trying to get him to break out of the cold stare he had with the frozen images.

He broke his stare, but he didn't look at me; instead, his gaze moved over my head. I turned defensively, thinking Bianca had returned, but that’s not who I saw: Silas was standing there, his eyes full of confusion, pain, and betrayal. “Looks like I’ve been worried about the wrong brother,” he said as he swallowed stiffly, then glared at Aden.

I walked briskly to his side. “What?! That was a wicked illusion. Aden is light - don’t threaten him, too. We don’t have time for that. Where are they?”

He didn’t look down at me. I pushed against him to break his uncalled for stare with Aden.

“Close,” Silas said finally. “Landen is guarded now.”

“By who? You?” I asked, thinking this could be over sooner than I thought.

He moved his head from side to side. “By someone he would recognize, that he loves.”

“Silas,” I said breathlessly, “those
people that you watched die. Were they...
were they his family?”

He nodded coldly, looking from the bed to Aden. He was beyond distracted, and I knew then that Bianca had plotted this. She was throwing illusions at us that made no sense, ones that would blind us.

“Why did you do that?!” I yelled.

“He told me to,” Silas said as his eyes blazed through me. “Look for a girl with pale green e
yes that glow, small like you. W
ith her is a man, strong and tall, dark eyes...they glow
now, too. When you see them --
you’ll be there.”

Before I could ask another question, he was gone.

I turned back to see Aden starting to come to his senses. Madison was gripping his arm. “Wake up. You’re a target now. We’ll be fine,” Madison demanded.

“No, I’m staying with you,” Ade
n said as he painfully stared into me
.

“This didn’t happen. Y
ou know that, right? She was messing with you,” I promised. I couldn't let him buy into this falling twice idea. If there was a wall, it needed to stay up; I had enough problems.

“Let’s hope,” Aden mumbled.

“It wouldn't matter if it did,” I said as I stepped closer to him.

“Tell that to Draven. All he needs is an excuse to fall into the darkness. This
-
this would cause him to question everything.”

I stared into his eyes, which mirrored his brother’s. Growing up, they were always
side-by-side
, two of my best friends. Where Draven ignited passion, both on a physical level a
nd within music
Aden offered comfort, understanding. Aden and I would think deeply about what our purpose was, search through every philosophy we could find. We’d spend hours on the phone together, and when we saw each other, we usually found a few hours to hide away and talk about our theories, how we could change our course.

One night two years ago, we fell asleep
side-by-side
. Somewhere in the night, his arms found their way around me, and mine around him. Draven found us in that unconscious, innocent embrace the next morning, and as you can imagine with Draven’s temper, that didn’t go over too well. It was the worst fight they’d ever been in, that Draven and I’d ever been in. It didn’t matter what excuse we gave or how convincing Aden and I were about our platonic relationship; Draven never complete
ly
got over it. He didn’t talk to Aden for weeks, not until Evan locked them in a room without any instruments and told them that they were not to come out until they came to their senses.

After that fight
, almost on an unconscious level, Aden and I made it
a point never to be alone again. N
ot only to keep the peace with Draven,
but also
to
keep ourselves sane, doubt free. S
imply because with Draven’s argument, he’d brought up a thousand moments that he’d thought that Aden was making a play for my heart or that he thought I was doubting my choice in the rebel brother over the one that was the philosopher.

Honestly, until this moment, that fight had remained dormant in my mind, a lost memory that I wish would have stayed lost because now, on top of everything else, I was seeing Aden though the same eyes I saw years ago. I was seeing how Silas was adding to wounds that were too fresh to be completely healed.

“It’s an illusion, and it’s over,” Madison said, and with her words the room va
nished and we were in a field.
Almost instantly, willow trees grew from the ground. Little white flowers were sprinkled across the long white blades of grass, and a gentle breeze caused them to flutter through the air. It would have been beautiful if I weren’t prepared for something ominous to happen at any moment.

“Who’s head is she in now?” I asked.

“Mine,” Madison said breathlessly.

I glanced at h
er, only to find her in a mystified
stare. A few feet from us, a man stepped out from behind the massive willow tree; it was Drake. In a blind trance, Madison stepped forward.

The magnetism I felt of Drake’s sleeping body couldn’t compar
e to how his energy felt in The R
ealm. His dark eyes sparkled as they met Madison’s, and his flawless lips smiled slightly as he stepp
ed closer. He reached his powerful
arm around Madison and pulled her against his firm body. I thought for sure she’d run or use some kind of sarcasm, but she didn’t; instead, she gazed gently at him.

Aden and I looked nervously from them to each other. We had no idea how real he was. I had my doubts that we could have found him that easily.

Drake reached to cradle Madison’s faced, then slowly pulled her into his kiss; it was a slow, poetic kiss that made me hungry to feel Draven’s touch.

Drake pulled slowly away from Madison. The gentle wind was blowing long strands of her hair, and he caught a lock of it and tucked it carefully behind
her ear. “That was a test …
and you failed,” he said calmly as his eyes moved across her beautiful face.

Madison grinned slyly as she reached to hold his image. “Do you honestly think that I don’t know what your energy feels like? That your kiss could hide who you are? I didn’t fail...I walked right into your arms. Now tell me where they are so I can end this and come home to you.”

As Drake smiled, the image of Britain appeared in his place. “Well played,” Britain said quietly as he stole another kiss from her. He reached carefully for her side, where the knife had cut into her. “I told you, didn’t I?”

Madison didn’t argue wi
th him.

“I’m ending this now,”
he said. And with that, he vanished.

The willow trees fell into the ground, and the field was there again, but only for a moment;
in the distance, a stone
gazebo appeared. It was medieval enough to make me think that maybe we were close to Landen and Drake.

The three of us stepped forward. As we walked, the ground turned into rose petals, the air grew frigid, and a gentle snow began to whisk through the air.  When we came closer, I saw two images in the center of gazebo: one boy and one girl. I hoped against all hope that it was the ones Silas had told me were guarding Landen.