Vindicate (35 page)

With those words, the room we left our bodies in appeared around us. Drake and Landen looked at each other in utter surprise.

“This is where we are at. W
e’re in a bed together?” Drake asked, looking down at me .

“Yep,” I said smugly.

“The place Bianca took you from was destroyed,” Draven explained.

“How?” Landen asked.

Brady elbo wed Landen. “Word to the wise. Don’t make her mad.
Mother Nature is on her side.”

Geez can we please give Willow a hard time after we get out of here.

Landen’s eyes grew wide as he looked down at me .
“You destroyed it?” he asked.

I shrugged my shoulders weakly . “I was mad – wouldn’t you be?”

Drake laughed out loud. “I love it!” Then reason c ame to him. “Wait, where’s mom?
Alamos?”

“I pulled them out before I ever w ent in to save you,” Landen replied still staring at me .
I could see the wheels in his mind turning. He knew he was my balance. He knew what I was capable of. He was furious and terrified that some unknown force and pushed us into this hell.

“I didn’t hurt anyone on purpose.”
I thought with an ache.

He pulled me c loser and swayed me ever so slightly.
“Did someone hurt you? Was my family disrespectful to you? Was anyone?”
His thoughts were meant to be tender but I knew that there was fury behind them.

“They just don’t get me the way you do. I didn’t make it easy on them either.”
That was as honest as I could be.

Brady was staring at us. Landen looked over at him in an arbitrary way .

“You should be proud, Brother. It was an honor to stand with her in your absence.” Brady said so quietly that I doubted anyone else heard him. Landen nodded once in response then pulled me against his humming body.

“Save me?” Drake said, crossing his arms, trying to call back any memories.

“You don’t remember her? Long, dark hair ? Her blue eyes?” I asked.

“That should have been the first clue I didn’t let her in. B
lue eyes are not my style,” Drake said, looking into my eyes.

“Can we focus, please?” Olivia said, noticing how tense Landen grew with his words.
I could not have agreed more.

“Right,” Draven said. “
This is where you are – asleep. T
his is a shared dream by all of us, and now,” he said as he walked over to Drake and Landen and put his hands on their shoulders, “it’s time to wake up.” And in that instant, they vanished.
The wickedly eerie forest returned.

Draven reached back for Charlie’s hand, then looked at me, Brady, and Olivia. “Step back. This vision is closed. You’re standing before an altar. B
efore the waking bodies of Drake and Landen.”

“Nothing is over,” I heard Bianca say.

She had appeared behind Draven and Charlie.

“I thought I killed you,” I said through gritted teeth as I stepped forward. Charlie was at my side – pushing Draven behind her.

“Killed me?” Bianca said as she smiled devilish ly. “Dark shadows won’t hurt me. T
hey are nourishment to me. W
hat were you trying to do ? C
hoke me or something?”

I felt cold all of the sudden. I glanced at her arms an d remembered agony. But she never laid a hand on me.
So that didn’t make any sense at all.

“End you,” Charlie said coldly.

Bianca tilted her head and smiled at her. “My best friend. W
hy could n’t you just stay on your side?
W
hy couldn’t you just let them go?
W
hy did you have to seek out more?”

“More of what?” I asked, holding my arm out, not letting Brady or Olivia come face to face with her.

“I don ’t even know what to call you. A plague that is stopping evolution.”

“Evolution to what?” I asked in a disgusted tone.

Bianca stepped forward and took in a deep breath. “You are a little too late to the party. A few million years late. Everything is in motion. M
y kind will overtake the universe – asunder: that is your future. P
ieces , not whole lights; that is what will be left.”

“You are a disgrace to your race,” I said smugly. I had no idea what I meant by that but I knew it was true. She was meaningless in the scheme of things. A servant. A disposable soul in the eyes of her kind. “I’m going to figure out where the real you is. And when I do. I’m going to kill you slowly.”

“Stand in line.” Charlie seethed.

“OOOO...I’m terrified,” Bianca said as she laughed. “Listen.
I’m a distraction . Bravo you do have one brain cell that helped you figure that out. B
ut what you will never understand with your infantile mind is what I’m a distraction fro m. Y
ou’ve been marked. Y
ou crossed the line.”

“W
hat line is that?” Charlie fumed .

“You’re holding the heirs of the darkes t Escort that has ever existed. His only fleshly little children. H
e wants them back and he always gets what he wants.”

“W
ake!” Draven yelled behind us and before I could ignore that word, I was back.
I was pulled out of The R
ealm.

The pain that brought me was nothing compared to what brought me out. I leaned forward, bracing my hands on my knees, taking deep breat hs. I heard Perodine say, “They’re ba -
-” I looked up to see why she had stopped short and saw Drake and Landen sitting up i n bed, staring at one another. O
ne of them had stopped time.

I took in a few more deep breaths and stood up straigh t. “Alamos is going to be mad. W
e have to be more careful with that. Y
ou have no idea how jacked up time is right now.”

They both climbed to the edge of the bed, taking in the fact that their shirts were ripped.
That they were soaked with water and sweat.

Drake looked at me. “Love, you have some explaining to do.”

I looked all around me. Madison and Aden were on the couch. Aden was consoling her. Draven had his arm around Charlie. Both Brady and Olivia were leaned forward, trying to cope with the pain of leaving. I t was odd because it didn’t hurt them going in.

Perodine and Alamos were in front of the bed as if they were staring at us. W
aiting f or us to come back. My father, Chrispin , and Marc were standing in the doorway watching patiently.

It had only been two days, but so much had happened.
I didn’t know where to start. I wanted to start with the latest re velation that Bianca had given, but I noticed that Madison had captured their attention.

The alt a r – the salt around where he way lying , caused Landen immediate alarm. He jumped over the outline around the bed and considered each expression on everyone’s frozen faces as Drake followed his lead.

I stepped around Draven and Charlie and met them by the window, whose drapes were pulled, making the room nearly dark.

“What happened after – after…
”?
Landen asked.

“I went crazy,” I said, feeling a little guilty for my emotions.

“After what? What about before? What are you talking about some girl came into my room?” Drake probed .

I sighed . “Yeah, we saw Alamos and Beth in the string. T
hey said you weren’t letting anyone in. T
hat there were rumors that you and I were together. T
hat they had seen you and me in the window of your chambers. We went in and that’s when all hell broke loose.”

Drake moved his head from side to side.
“I don’t remember any of that.
I didn’t let a girl in.” Then his eyes grew wide and he brought his hand to his stomach, which must have been starvin g. “A maid brought me food.
I remember that. N
othing after that.”

“Well, i t wasn’t a maid I saw you with. She was all over you.
I felt seduction,” I said as a sick feeling came to me and I glanced up at Landen.

“You felt me?” Drake asked, as his eyes grew wide .

Landen threw a glare at him, cl early stating no. “It was her. You were gone. L
ong gone.”

“And what did you feel?” I asked, looking up at him. “How did she make you fall?”

“Not that,” Landen vowed . “I don’t know what I felt.
I just remember falling.”

I could feel his emotions raging in every direction; he felt off balance, almost as if he didn’t trust that this was reality.
I reached for his waist and pulled him to me. Noticing a slight hum that still lingered in his embrace.

“Who are these people?” Drake asked, looking around.

“It’s a really, really long story . I don’t know where to start. T
here was a bad storm that was a ll my fault. Then the mourning. Then I found them. Then I went to The Realm. T
hen Bianca just now – who is not dead, by the way, told me t hat I was harboring fugitives, or heirs of Donalt’s . H
ow in the hell does Donalt have children in another dimension?”

Landen’s arm tightened around me .
I thought it was to calm me, but then I understood.
He just wanted me to show him. T
o show him what occurred in every moment that he was gone.

“Good idea,” I mumbled, reaching for Drake’s hand, too. “Just try to focus.
I’ll try to remember it how it happened.”

Drake squeezed my hand, and I closed my eyes and called forth the emotions I felt over the past few day s. I started at the beginning. W
alking into Drake’s chambers -
-
them falling to the ground. M
y rage rippin g apart the E
state.
Brady saving both of them with not a second to spare – the words and chants Perodine and Alamos said over their bodies. T
he moments I tried to wake them. T
he words they said. The mourning that Marc was directed to begin. Stella with the looking glass that refused to work the way we were told it would. D
iscovering that I was not bound to Landen any longer. M
y daring escape that led to Draven and the others – to that Nana lady that helped me rememb er that I had their power, Landen’s love inside of me, and I could call on it at any ti me. The argument with Madison. W
here she showed me her perspective. Where she called me blind.
I really focused on that moment for Drake’s benefit, not mine. H
e needed to know who that girl was. I remembered Olivia’s speech about how I was a myth. The fight in the hall. How I healed. T
he cere mony with the energy and blood. Everyone I faced in The Realm. Focusing once again on Britain for Drake’s benefit so he would understand that there was someone after her. Then I remembered the last conversation I had with Bianca. H
ow she promised she was no thing more than a distraction. That Donalt had marked us. T
hat really wasn’t anything new, but the reason was.

As I shifted through those memories, I felt Landen’s emotions spiral; he was furious one minute – proud the next –under it all, he was concerned. V
ery concerned.

I let go of Drake’s hand and opened my eyes as I felt Landen’s grip on me gro w stronger. That hum gre w stronger .
I was pretty posi tive I was not imagining it any more.
“Well, are we on the same page now?” I asked.

“They invoked mourning!” Drake said in a ha rsh whisper, glaring at Alamos’
frozen image.

“Out of everything I just showed you, that is what you are worr ied about?” I said as I glanced behind me at Madison’s frozen image.

Drake glared in my direction.
“What did I tell you, Willow?”

“What, that besides the fact that I didn’t have a twin? And by the way, you were wrong about that.”

“Think, Love. W
hat have I s aid over and over?” Drake urged as his magnetic dark eyes began to pull me into him.

“Enlighten me,” I said coldly.

“It – would – not – matter - if – you – found – someone – who – looked – just – like – you,” he bit out sarcastically slow.

With one glance, Landen had pushed Drake a few feet back; his body was tense , his piercing blue eyes daring Drake to make a move.

I moved myself between them, staring up at Drake. “I found some one who you share dreams with. T
he fact that she l ooks like me is a coincidence.
I wasn’t even looking for her; I was looking for a song. S
o that makes it fate. N
ot forced.”
Seriously? He was still going to argue with me about this?

He pointed his fi nger at his chest. “My dreams.
I would know who is in my dreams, not you. N
ot her.”

I glanced up at Landen, who’d pulled me against him again . His body was on fire, and I could not figure out why. “Do you think she looks like me? In a dream, would you be able to tell the difference?”