Vindicate (30 page)

I stood and glanced at the others behind me. Brady and Olivia reflected the trepidation I felt in their emotion. T
hey were lookin g at me like I was a stranger. S
omeone they couldn’t understand. Like I’d become someone else. It didn’t bother me like it did before beca use I knew that in this place I had to be th is girl. I had to be fearless. Reckless. D
emanding.

I looked at Drave n; in his eyes, I saw a thirst. A craving. I felt jealousy in his emotion. “Do you need something from me?” I asked . “Do you need light to exist? T
o help me with this fight?”

He pulled his shoulders back as he fo ught to hold on to his intent to help me. T
o not succumb to his dark side . “You saw what it did to him. I f you give me anything, I will be no good to you.”

“Is that the only reason you are not asking for it?” I asked, looking for validation that he had chosen to never taste the craving Escorts seemed to be known for.

He moved his head from side to side. “Death will come before I ever willingly take from another soul.”

I’d never felt a more divine truth spoken to me. He despised his heritage. That brought me sorrow for some reason.
“I’m going to help you find balance.
I’m going to help you build your own light.
I’ll help them all figure that out,” I promised.

I felt Olivia’s relief. I knew she thought tha t I had let my vengeance fall.
T
hat I would be the good guy in the myt h of my life.
I didn’t look at her because I didn’t want her to know that in the word ‘
all,’
Bianca was not included. S
he couldn’t be because s he was going to be my example. S
he was going to be the thre at I gave to the rest of them. T
hey would know not to cross me ever again.

“Another time,” Drave n said, clenching his jaw. “I s this the place you left them?” he asked.

And with those words, we were standing in the courtyard of the Estate. T
he Estate that no longer existed but was before us now. P
erfectly intact.

Brady nodded. “This is it. A little quiet, though.”

And with his words, people dressed in long black cloaks appeared . Ignoring us, going about their mundane days.

“There’s no water,” Olivia said as her nerves got the best of her.

“I’ll call water into existence when I need it,” I mumbled as I stared a t the open door to the Estate. A s flashes of the time I walked through that d oor in Evelyn’s body came to me. T
he pain I felt then was the strength I found now.

I boldly walked to the doorway. All at once, the people seemed to notice us. As if they were being controll ed, they began to move closer. Among them, there were others. O
nes that were dressed in modern fashion, black suits, ones I was sure were Escorts.

Before I could think to move my energy, Brady and Olivia had reacted. W
ith extended arms, they pushed the people a way as if they were weightless. T
hey flew across the lawn like autumn leaves.

The ones dressed in a modern fashion rose to their feet first, and in a flash they were surrounding us. There were ei ght of them to the four of us.
As if in slow motion, I watched as weapon s appeared in everyone’s hands. A s Brady and Draven took on three men each at once . A s Olivia pinned a man three times her size to the ground with two swords.

There was a man in front of me th at I swear was seven feet tall.
I couldn’t even see past his broad chest. “Rumor has it that you are feeling generous today,” he said with a voice that was laced in pure evil.

I looked up and found his eyes to be soulless. “Are you looking for a light?” I asked.

He smiled slowly, revealing teeth that were stained yellow.

“Here you go,” I said slyly, and with that thought, lightning popped in the air then struck him where he stood, causing him to fall to the ground.

I turned to see Draven and Brady faring well again st the men they were fighting.
I didn’t have time to wait for this to un fold. I blew gently from lips. My breath was the color of ash. I t reached out to all of the men and flung them across the field. Olivia removed the swords from the neck of the man she was holding. “Do you want to run ? O
r do you want her to help you with that?”

Apparently, that man did n’t know what I was capable of. H
e charged forward at Olivia, and with one thought, lightning popped again a nd struck the man causing him to fall.

Breathless, Brady looked at Draven. “Friends of yours?”

Draven leaned down, bracing himself on his knees, trying to catch his breath as he moved his head from side to side.

I glanced at Olivia. “Impressive.”

“Impressive, but not dangerous,” she said, looking at the men I had taken down with one thought.

I fel t her plea for me to calm down and realize how powerful I was . F
or me to understand that this was not a game . T
hat those men were more than likely dead in reality now.

I wouldn’t let that thought come into my mind. They were bad. A bad illusion I ended.

I broke my stare with her and began to walk toward the stone steps. When I reached the open doorway, I saw shadows underneath the elegant stairwell, silhouettes of a man and a woman. The m an was leaning into the woman with his lips on her neck in a playful manner.

I recognized the emotion.
I would know it anywhere.

“Am I interrupting?” I said flatly into the echo of the open entry hall. At that moment, the boy stepped out of the shadows, and for the first time in almost two days I saw the blue eyes that gave me reason to exist.

“Willow,” Landen said.

I felt Brady’s hand grip my arm. “Do I need to say illusion?” he said under his breath.

He could have screamed those words, and I doubt I would have heard them.
I was too captivated. T
o entranced by the image b efore me. I felt my heart race. E
very part of my soul come to life at the sight of him.

The image of Landen slanted his head, and his eyes grew serious. “I thought I told you this place was dangerous.”

At that moment, the woman stepped out of the shadows.
Her long, dark hair was down and curled, making her look as innocent as her angelic blue eyes. She walked slowly to the image of Landen. I found myself focusing on the echo her heels made o n the marble floor. It was like a clock ticking. A countdown to her death. When she reached the image of Landen, she wrapped her arm around him and against his neck as she stared at me and sai d, “Is that what you told her. I s that the excuse you gave her so you could be alone with me?”

Her hands moved seductively across his chest, then reached for his strong jawline and pulled his lips to her. When her kiss ended, the image of Landen looked at me, then walked slowly to my side.

Brady pulled me behind him, refusing to let me face this illusion.
Draven was at his side, and Olivia gripped my other arm in an attempt to hold me back.

When Landen and Brady were face to face, Landen smirked. “Move, brother .
I have a goodbye to say.”

“Go to hell,” Brady said through gritted teeth. “There is not one part of this image that is my brother.”

The image of Land en laughed out loud. “Trust me. T
here is.”

Landen tilted his head around Brady. “I’m afraid this is goodbye.”

“Is it?” I said under my breath.

Draven glanced over his shoulder at me, then said, “A shame she had to witness you kiss that whore just before you said goodbye to her.”

I recognized the effor t he put behind the word ‘kiss.’
I think when Draven had told me that I need a word or memory that I could use against the illusions he thought I w ould not be able to tell if Landen or Drake were real or not. S
o far, I was doing quite well with that, but I also remembered that he said that facing these illusions – proving they were false would make Landen and Drake stronger. S
omehow give them the memories or energy she had taken back to them.

The image of Landen grabbed Draven’s shirt and pulled him to him. “She’s not a whore.”

I reached my hand for his grip and urged Draven behind me. “He’s right. T
hough that was agonizing and your words are painful I have memories to live on. L
ike the first time you kissed me…
” I looked into the blue eyes that were a perfect reflection of Landen. “Do you remember?”

With that question, he vanished, leaving only Bianca there with us. I cr ossed my arms and peered at her as if she were nothing to me. S
omeone not worth the thought that would kill her.

“Well,” she said as she smiled innocently and stepped closer to Draven. “I see you have been sharing secrets.” Her hand reached for his face, and he instantly dodged out of the way. “Aw, Draven, my sweet Draven, are you jealous ? M
ad at me for moving on? Have you changed your mind ? D
o you want to play with me?”

“I’m just here for the show,” Draven said smugly.

“What show?”
she asked. “That one?” she said as she looked past us to the open doorway.

I turned to see that the courtyard was gone; now there was a battlefield. On one sid e was Landen, the other Drake. B
ehind them, images of me with them, locked in passion, were across the field.

“Silly boys,” Bianca sa id innocently. “Always fighting. N
o worries. S
oon those images will mean nothing to them.” And with that, she was gone.

We were left to witness a battle of Landen and Drake’s darkest side.

One might think that my attention would have been captured by the images of Drake and Landen standing face-to-face full of rage, but my attention was not there. It was on the images behind them. The ones that reflected the most private, sensual moments I’d had with them. Most of the ones with Landen I recognized. T
hey were recent; others were ones that I could not recall but had no doubt existed in another time.

An odd hum bellowed in my soul as glimpses of life behind those moments came to me. For an instant I could swear I felt a million emotions and knew with vivid detail what my each moment of my past contained. That feeling vanished as quickly as it appeared. What the hell was this Realm doing to me?

The images behind Drake were all new to me, at least most of th em. A few I’d seen in the dream we shared a few days ago , he ’d showed me what our passion was capable of.
Yet, that hum didn’t come when I gazed at them. I almost felt like it was not my past with him that was on display.

In the heat of this moment , I found myself embarrassed. E
mbarrassed that all of my moments of passion were on display for anyone who wished to gawk at them.

“Co uld she be any more revealing? I nvading?” I bit out through gritted teeth.

“I don’t see anything,” Draven said. He glanced at Brady. “Do you?”

From his tone, I knew he saw what I saw and that he was conveying the gentleman I knew he was by ignoring the images .

Brady crossed his arms. “Not a thing besides two idiots.”

“Let’s have a talk, shall we?” I said, appreciating their discreteness.

Draven reached for my arm, then leaned into me; against my ear, I felt his warm breath.
“Remember what we talked about. T
he word you need.” I felt a warm chill move down my spine as his hypnotic voice eased into my thoughts.

“I remember,” I whispered as I looked into his green eyes, laced in black.

I felt the stares of others and looked past him to see the images of Drake and Landen gla ring in our direction. I let out a sigh , and with a thought I was standing between them.

“Now what are we fighting about?” I asked as I crossed my arms and looked between the images of the men I was searching for.

Their stares moved to my side. The others had followed me, and Draven had stolen their attention.

“Apparentl y, it’s a fight with no merit. Y
ou have replace d us,” Drake’s image seethed .

Then he and the image of Landen charged toward Draven. Brady pulled Draven behind him as I stood between them a ll. I reached for Drake’s face. He refused to look at me. A nger was engulfing his dark eyes.

“Call me by my name,” I whispered to him.

His stare with Draven broke, and he looked down at me.

“Willow,” he said in a familiar, addicting tone.

I ti lted my head and smiled sardonically . “Wrong,” and with that, he was gone.

I looked to the image of Landen.
He’d stopped his advance on Draven and was gazing at me. He reached his arm around my waist and pulled me to his strong body. With his touch, the world around me changed.

I was standing on my front porch in Chara. The sun was shining , bir ds were flying through the air, but the world was silent. W
e were in the dream where he first kissed me.