Vindicate (3 page)

I held Brady’s stare , too afraid to remember.
I not only needed his calm , but I needed his voice.

Brady held my stare as I felt his emotions roam through those few moments. The catastrophic moments that forevermore changed our life.

“I knew something was wrong before we eve n stepped one foot in that room.” Brady began.
“
I could feel the evil in the a ir. The anger on Willow’s face, Landen’s , told me I was right , ” Brady bit out in a forced calm tone.

“What did you see?” Perodine asked calmly.

Brady held my stare and edge d closer to me in his seat , prepared to grasp my hands if I lost control. “A girl.”

“A demon , ” I corrected.

The room grew tense as they prepared for some kind of reaction in the weather outside , but one did not come. I t did not come because I was determined to prove them wrong. I was not weak. I would not fail.

“Tell me about the girl , ” Perodine said calmly .

I looked to my side at my dad.
“It was her. The one that was with Dane.
I should have killed her then.”

My father looked down at his folded hands. I felt his regret , too. H
e felt guilty for not seeing more into that moment that had happened just a few days ago.

“Dane?” August questioned.

I nodded. “A seductive whore.
I found her in an alley with him a few days ago.
She was the one in his head. C
ontrolling him.”

“Are we sure that w as even Dane?” Rose asked bleakly as she pulled me closer to her. I just turned my head from side to side.

Ashten didn’t say a word ; he left the roo m with the intent to find Dane. H
e was going to Infante. I wanted to ask how he knew Dane was there , but it was taking everything I had to hold one thought in front of the other.

“Willow…” Perodine said as she sat down on the table in front of me. Brady moved slightly to the side , assuring himself that he could still see my eyes. “Did you feel her?”

My eyes grew docile as I tried to find th e words to explain what I felt. H
ow I felt it. I didn’t feel that girl whe n she was with Dane that night, so I ha d no idea what I was feeling. H
ow I felt the one emotion I would die to forget.

“Not before . M
aybe not even then, but I felt the seduction. T
he lust.”

Perodine’s eyes moved to Alamos as dread came to her. Brady captured my stare. “She had Drake under some kind of spell. H
is back was to the wall , and she was wrapped around him. His eyes were barely open. O
nly open enough for me to see that he was gone. L
ost inside himself , ” Brady said steadily .

“Broken h eart,” I mumbled , staring at him.

He nodded , then answered the questioning eyes of the room. “She has a birthmark on the back of her neck . I t mocks a broken heart . H
er eyes were blue . A color that could easily mock innocents , but they were full of deceit at that moment.”

“What did you say to her?” August asked , looking between me and Brady.

“Willow told her to step back. T
he girl closed Drake’s eyes as he fell to the floor , then she focused on Landen. I t was like me and Willow weren ’
t there.”

“What did Landen do?” August pressed .

I shook my head. “Nothing. There wasn’t time. W
e threw our wall of energy between her and us. She blew a kiss at him.” I shuttered . “T
hen he fell.” I held my breath after those last words; trying everything in my power to find control as the haunting memories of the strong man I loved falling to the ground troubled my mind .
I felt an ache in my core as I thrust those emotions down. O
utwardly no one could tell I was falling apart. Well, maybe Rose could, but she was letting me do what I had to do with the emotions that were now my enemy.

“How did you make her leave? How did you get their bodies away?” Perodine questioned .

Brady’s jaw tightened. “We didn’t , ” he said firmly. “Someone else did.”

“Who ?
” Perodine said , mystified.

Brady furrowed his brow.
“I don’t know who was playing the music, but it was clear that it was poison to that girl.”

“Music , ” Alamos muttered as his worried eyes caught Perodine’s .

“Loud guitars . Drums. T
he music was powerful , commanding , ” Brady said. “Nothing like what has ev er been heard in this dimension. I t was something you would hear in Infante.”

“Did you feel anyone else in the room with you?” Perodine asked .

I slowly moved my head from side to side.

She looked at Alamos , who shook his he ad no. “There is nothing left. I f anyone was there , they perished.”

My angry , confused eyes peered into him.
“There was no one else there. T
hat soun d – that sound was in the air. Yes , there was emotion behind it. Y
es , it was real, but the soul that created it wasn ’
t there.
I would have felt someone that powerful.”

“More than one created it , ” Brady clarified , looking at me. “Music is my insight .
I can hear every part of a song. T
here was more than one creator of that sound . T
here was more than one soul that brought it to life.”

“How was that sound there , though?” Marc asked .
“How did it know at what moment to play ? W
hy didn’t it play before?”

“Find Austin. F
ind that Charlie girl . T
hat musician with her , ” I demanded .

“We ’
re already looking, I promise , ” Brady said slowly and clearly to me , as if he wanted me to hear the truth in his words.

Silence took over for a moment or two , then Alamos cleared his throat. “I think it’s safe to say that this trial does not lie in this dimension . Or any other. I t’s in a different realm.”

“What do you mean? How do I get there?” I asked .

Alamos turned his head from side to side , telling me he had no idea.

“It’s in their mind right now , ” Perodine said calmly. “Mars has begun , and just as we feared, it is the worst tr ia l yet.”

“You didn’t predict he would be taken – both of them , ” I said as rage blushed through my skin.
As Brady leaned forward , Perodine shifted out of his way. He locked eyes with me , bringing calm back. To ensure that I held it , he reached for my hands and gripped them with all of his strength. I felt the tension in the room release as they felt gratitude that Brady had mana ged to fall into Landen’s role. H
e had managed to reach me in the depths of my despair.
He deserved the respect they were giving him.
I felt shame, though. I shouldn’t need someone to keep me calm or watch over me. I should be stronger than that.

“We predicted war. S
eduction , ” Alamos confirmed .

I was really starting to hate that word. I swear if that girl laid her hands on Landen against his will I would rip her apart piece by piece.
“No one bothered to tell me that , ”
I fumed as my eyes left Brady’s for his.

“We didn’t have a chance , ”
Alamos said quietly. “We tried to tell them,” he said , looking over his shoulder at Landen and Drake’s bodies , “
b ut they couldn ’
t see past t he moment they were in. T
hey had already conceived the idea that they were gone. T
hat their death would come the night of the winter sol stice .”

“Which was the wrong night , ” I said shortly.
“So when is it going to happen this time ? W
hen does this end ?
”
I needed a plan. Right now.

“We don’t know , ” Alamos said.

“How can you not k now?! Look at your scrolls. Y
our precious freaking scrolls!”
Seriously? No plan? How could they not know?

Sympathy filled his face. “I have .
I can tell you what war you will fight, but not the time. T
hat luxury expired when Drake and Landen froze time over and over again.”

I broke free from Brady’s grip and stood , raging with grief as thunder exploded in the sky. “Don’t you dare m ake this out to be their fault. M
y fault ! W
e make the decisio ns we have to when we have to. W
e ’
re human and have no choice but to listen to our emotions!”

Brady had stood and pulled me to him , squeezing me as tightly as he could. “We have a deal , Willow , ”
h e whispered into my ear.

My hands clawed at his back , trying to find a way to channel my emotions .
T
rying to find control.
I pushed the emotions down again. Felt the agonizing pain of that act. I didn’t want to feel anything if I could not feel it freely. After telling my soul and body to get over their temper tantrum over and over again I fo und control.
When my grip released , Brady knew I had grasped it once again. His hands moved to my shoulders , and he pushed my stiff body to sit down again as he sat in front of me.

After a few seconds Alamos spoke up.
“I’m just saying that we have no ide a what day it really is anymore.
Chrispin told me that the calendar in Infante said that it was day nine in the eleven th month.”

I started to twirl my ring on my finger. I figured it was not an overly noticeable nervous tick. Hopefully, it was one that I could use when I felt my emotions boiling to the surface.
“How is that possible ? T
hat was weeks ago , ” I said as I remembered my birthday on the nineteenth of November. T
he day I took my own life.

Success. No thunder. No reaction from the atmosphere. I twirled the ring faster , so fast that it almost burned. I would take the burn over broadcasting how I felt to the world any day. I was not weak. I refused to be weak.

Perodine nodded. “We know. W
e told him to make sure when he went back, but if Landen or Drake ever stopped time in that dimension , they are off , too.”

“He did . O
nce .
” I said as I thought of that one time in N
ew Y
ork w h e n Drake and I battled a war of wits on the frozen streets.

“More than once , ” Alamos corrected.

“What?” I asked , looking at him.

Alamos looked over his shoulder at Drake ’
s body , then back to me. “It was stop ped while he saved your friends. Olivia. T
hose boys. He kept time frozen for hours as he searched the depths of the sea for your friend Monica. H
e did every thing in his power to find her. S
ave her, but failed.”

My eyes glassed over , but I kept my control.
I may not a finger when this is all over.
But I was keeping my control with each spin of my ring.
“I’ll have to thank him for that , ” I said as I looked to Drake’s body.

“Time has been frozen here countless times . H
e has stopped it and weighed every decision he could.
I’m more than sure that Landen has done the same in Chara.”
Alamos added.

Brady nodded once. “He has . H
e admitted it to me . H
e told me if he could figure out how to keep all of the innocent people in motion and stop the rest of the world from calling the devil into battle , he would. I t w as only a minute here and there. B
arely noticeable.”

I breathed in as Landen’s reasoning came to me. He never once took an y of his insights for granted. H
e always thought they had a deeper meaning than he could perceive. He was always looking for a way for us to live in peace.

“It would only take a sec ond to throw the calendar off. T
o move our perception as a whole , ” Alamos said.

“What are you saying ? T
hat we have to face Venus again ? T
hat we aren ’
t as far as we thought ? T
hat what we’ve been thr ough was for nothing?!” My nail stabbed the skin under my ring as I felt a sharp pain in my core. Those emotions wanted out. They wanted vengeance. That wasn’t going to happen. I control this body. Along with any annoying insights that may accompany it.

Alamos glanced at Perodine , then went to the table and started studying the scrolls.

Perodine looked down as she spoke. “No , child . Those victories are yours. W
hat he meant w as that now we have no calendar. W
e can just interpret what will happen, what tools you will need.”

“I don’t understand .
I thought all o f this had to do with planets. W
hat the sky said ?
”

“It does,” Perodine promised as her eyes rose to mine. “But. N
ow we have fallen deeper into the devil ’
s web. W
hat w e fight now is our perception. Our realm of reality, and unfortunately , that realm is now different from the rest the world.”