Enflame (Book 6) ((Insight) Web of Hearts and Souls) (20 page)

“You have time,” Perodine said to Landen.

“I don’t think I do. Brady said the meditation is longer each time. I have to at least try.”

“I believe it is the last eleventh hour that will break the spell you are up against.”

“How? Why?” he asked her.

“The children started to fall into that deep meditation the day you came out of The Realm. There are two eleventh hours each day. If they are stifle
d, it is because of past trials. There have been five. On the fifth day, the tenth eleventh hour Jupiter will be square, and natal planets in all of your charts will be in a positive force, with very little opposition. You are supposed to be distracted by the little ones, or each other, but I believe they are pointing an arrow at the time you need to undo this.”

“And that lines up with the day after this arrival of Draven and his court,” Landen said under his breath, hating and loving this revelation.

“Perfectly,” Perodine confirmed.

“And with the day that Evan said they would play,” I added.

Landen didn’t say anything for what seemed like forever. “It’s the slight oppositions that leave me questioning this...we’ll keep this plan for now, but I will change it if I have no other choice.”

Perodine walked slowly to him, letting her eyes move across him. She pulled his chin gently down so she could see into his eyes.

“That fire will never burn out. You regret it now, but one day you will not. It has given you a rebirth once again. With open eyes, you will move this universe.”

I didn’t have to feel Drake’s emotion to know he was seethi
ng with jealousy at that moment. It made me feel bad for him.

Perodine let go of Landen and walked to Drake. “You have been vindicated. He knows you were there. He’s heard her scream your name. You will move the universe with your willpower alone...take this blessing of Jupiter and move forward.”

Drake bowed to her as if he’d been knighted or something, then he reached to shake Landen’s hand.

“Let’s make a deal to keep them all safe,” he said, nodding in the direction of
Draven and me.

“Done,” Landen said, holding his stare.

There was a knock at the door, but Landen didn’t wait to see who it was. He let go of Drake, and an instant later I felt a warm rush...the string was the next thing I saw.

It felt good to be in the string, walking toward home, a place where I never had to worry about being unwanted or unloved. It didn’t feel good to know that Landen was dreading it, that in some way he didn’t want to call Chara his home anymore. I had to really focus on his intent to understand that, to get a grip on his emotions.

He did love C
hara, and he loved our family. But when we are at home he feels like he should be fighting, he feels guilty for our bliss – and as far as our family...when you are not around the ones you love, you become fearless, living on the edge because you have nothing to lose. Being around them made him realize how painful it would be to lose them, how painful any goodbye would be. His dread was justified. He wanted to undo the past that his eyes were opened to, and he didn’t want to lose anyone else in this mix.

“You’ll feel better when we get home,” I said, squeezing his hand.

“Maybe,” he said, trying to smile.

“What is wrong?” I asked, wanting to know if my judgment of his intent was on point.

“I don’t know if I can look my parents in the eye. They have a hard enough time with what I can do. I don’t know what they are going to think about what Clarissa is going through, if in some way they might think it’s my fault, and it is. It’s my fault Brady’s daughter is falling into that deep sleep, too. I’m hurting them and not even meaning to. Sometimes I think it would be better for us to just take off, fix this, then come home.”

“No way,” I said, stopping and facing him.

He locked his jaw and looked away from me.

“Your family would never b
lame you for what is going on. Hell, they told us a million times that they were ‘called to help us.’ They need you and you need them. Going away like we did is good for us, but walking through this passage to our home is going to keep us in line—not because our family is there, but because we will be reminded of what we are fighting for. You can’t charge across the universe knocking down walls, only to put one up at home.”

As his eyes f
ound mine, he gave me a faint smile. “Would you leave here with me if I asked you? Would you go to Hell’s gate and knock on the door without hesitation?”

I reached to trace his jawline with my fingertips as I searched deep into the eyes that had always been my hope, my peace. “I would...but I would never let you forget Chara, your family...our beginning.”

He pulled me to him and leaned his forehead against mine, then raised one hand to my chest and painfully said, “This is my home.”

His other
hand caressed my sides. “They’re going to want me to throw all this to the side. Focus on Chara this war in Esterious. They won’t see that it connects. That I’m pulled to more than one fate, and that right now I don’t know which one is more important.”

I was a little lost on that statement. Our family was opened minded, they were not ones to say let it be, they were fixers, too. I assumed this was stemming from Landen’s father. The man that wanted us to reside in Chara and Chara alone.

“What is import is what you feel called to. It may all be the same fate.”

“You’re what is important. Us. None of the expectations before us will hold any water if there is no us.”

“There is an us.”

“Willow you’re in pain. I can see that. You cringe with each new emotion.”

“Maybe so, but I’m not the only one in pain. You are, too. We’ll figure it out. Together.”

His warm breath gliding across my face and the hum of energy moving through my chest made me want to run away with him,
leave it all behind and never come back.

“Just don’t let this new insight imprison you…take you away from the good energy in the world.”

I moved my head side to side to tell him that was not going to happen. I saw doubt in his eyes.

My fingertips
reached to trace the lines of the dimples that refused to show themselves. “Don’t dread seeing them. You’ll feel better once you do,” I said in response to his disbelief and dread. His energy intensified as I continued. “And if you don’t, I’m sure Saige would
love
to have me over for dinner.”

My fake pleasant tone made him smile. He wrapped his arm a
round my shoulders and led me the last few steps to our home passage.

As we went to step into our passageway, Ashten emerged, followed by Brady. Both Ashten and Landen shared an unmistakable silence and disbelieving stare. Ashten’s eyes then narrowed as he tilted his head and looked over his son.

“Every time,” he said in a near absent voice. “Every time I watch you walk out that door, I tell myself, ‘He’ll never come back, this is it’...and every time, you prove me wrong.” He took a step toward Landen, bringing them both eye-to-eye. “Promise to prove me wrong every time, and I’ll never stand in your way. I’ll never judge you for what you do, or do not do, what you were, are, or will become.”

Landen offered a slight nod. It was a
ll he could force himself to do. Inside, his emotions were raging in every imaginable direction.

Ashten cleared his throat and glanced back at Brady as he took a step past Landen. “Your brother and I are going to try and line up a ship with a passage. It’s the only way Draven can arrive at the appointed time. We could use your help.”

As Ashten started to walk away, Brady nodded for Landen to follow him.

“Help them. I want to see my sister,” I said to help urge him to go on.

“
Our Libby
,” he thought.

“Take my Jeep. It’s right there,” Brady said to me, grateful that I was giving Landen an excuse to spend time with them.

I smiled at Landen and waved at Brady, leaving them to work out whatever they needed to.

It was late here, almost ten at night. I wasn’t even sure Libby would be awake for me to see her, but I thought I could at least let my parents know that I was okay.

All the lights were on at their house. It looked so warm and inviting from the outside. As I walked up the sidewalk to their porch, memories of my home in Franklin began to flash through my mind.

I smiled, noticing the familiar fall decor marking the entrance. My mother always decorated our home with the mark of the season. It was hard to believe those memories fluttering in my mind were only a few months ago, that my life had changed this much. One day I was their l
ittle girl, the next I was gone. My childhood was over.

Through
the glass panes around my door I could see my parents sitting on the couch with Libby between them, lost in a book with her. I had to bite back my emotions and find my balance. The emotion of home, simplicity, and peace was nearly overwhelming.

When I opened the door, Libby unraveled herself from her little blanket and ran to me, yelling my name. I knelt down to catch her.

“It’s past your bedtime,” I said, leaning away from her and straightening her nightgown.

“Mom lets me stay up because I rest in the day.”

I swallowed nervously and glanced at my parents, who were now standing a few feet behind her. “I heard.”

Libby’s eyes grew wide, like she had just remembered something. “I made you something. Come on,” she said, pulling my hand. My parents gave me a relieved smile as I was pulled out of the room and up the stairs to Libby’s room.

I sat on her small bed and watched her open her window seat box and meddle around, tossing aside dolls and toys. She was six in that moment, my baby sister who was eager to try and do anything.

Finally, she walked over to me with a small box in her hand, opening the top to reveal some kind of hard candy. “Felicity helped me make it. They’re lemon drops.” She giggled once. “That will help you, right?” she questioned. I didn’t want to bring her out of the innocence she was beaming with by asking her how she knew that was the flavor I counted on when I was losing balance.

“Very much,” I said quietly, stealing one from the box and letting the flavor linger on my tongue. “I’ll tell you what, why don’t we get you tucked in, and I’ll read you a story?”

I read her three books, then listened to her tell me all about her day, her little adventures, savoring every moment of it.

I caressed her hair as her dark eyes stared into mine. “Are you getting tired now?” I whispered.

She nodded against her pillow.

“What do you want to dream about tonight?” I asked, tracing her brow, encouraging her heavy lids to close.

“Dreams aren’t coming now. It’s all blank.”

“Blank?”

Her eyes closed softly. “I think I can almost see past it, though,” she whispered.

I kissed her temple and pulled her closer, hearing what I wanted to, that this was turning, that I was moving forward now, that my focus was back. I could only hope that would mean my images would come back, that everything Donalt had distracted me from would be undone now that I was moving forward.

When I finally left Libby, I found my parents drinking steaming cups of coffee on the front porch.

“I hope that is decaffeinated,” I joked.

My mother smiled a sleepy smile. “It is...can I get you something to eat? Anything?”

“I’m good,” I said as I walked closer to hug them. “I just wanted to stop by and tell you we were fine, that I think I’m already fixing what is wrong with Libby.”

“No doubt,” my father, said hugging me. He then pulled my mom closer so he could hold us both. Before I lost my balance, I pulled away, then waved my box of lemon drops behind me to tell them goodbye.

I drove around Chara forever, passing by the homes of each member of our family, feeling their peaceful emotions of rest. I don’t know what I was looking for as I drove. I guess I just needed time to let my mind wander, to let everything sink in. I halfway thought that I might see an image. They always appeared before when I was lost in thought, rambling around the streets of Franklin.

Eventually
I gave in and drove back to my house. All the lights were out, meaning Landen was still out with his dad and brother. I put the Jeep in park and leaned back on the seat, dreading walking into an empty, dark house. I gently pulled my medallion out of my shirt and gazed down at the sun, the moon, the black glass; the mystery behind the gem that had followed me through time.

“What is it with you and cars?” I heard Phoenix say.

It scared the living daylights out of me. A rush of wind responded, knocking into the side of the Jeep.

“Lemon drop?” he said, handing me the box that was on the seat he was now in.

I stared at him like he was an idiot before snatching the box from him and walking in the house. When I opened the door, he was standing in the entranceway.

“Not too shabby...a little too modern for my taste,” he mused as he stepped in the living room and nodded at the fireplace. At that moment, a raging fire came to life.

“Landen is not here,” I muttered, putting my lemon drops down on the stairs before walking toward the kitchen.

“I know that. Where are you going, Sunshine?”

“To get something to eat, food. Do you remember what that is?” I threw over my shoulder in the most sarcastic tone I could manage. It was fun to tease him. To throw what he dished out right back at him. I liked that formalities were not needed with him.

When I turned on the lights in the kitchen, I saw him pulling out trays of food from my fridge. “Eating is done more so for pleasure or to be social. Of course I know what food is,” he rumbled as his energy flashed across the kitchen, opening cabinets, gathering dishes, and getting food. Within seconds, the table was set with warm leftovers.

He pulled out my chair. “Now, don’t make me eat alone, Sunshine.”

“Do you have ni
cknames for everyone?” I asked as I took my seat.

“Only the people I like,” he said under his breath, trying to hold in a smirk.

That made me smile.

“You’re going to eat for real?” I asked him.

“Exactly what do you think I am?” he asked as he cut up his food.

“I have no idea. You’re the one
who said you were dead.”

“I did, didn’t I? Titles are overrated. Did you have fun driving around for no reason for hours on end?”

“Stalk much?”

He shrugged his shoulders as he took another bite of his food, seeming to enjoy it way more than he should.

“Really didn’t want to crash in on Guardian and those blokes.”

“He’s ‘Landen’ t
o them, and they are not blokes. They’re his family.”

He smirked. “What has it been, nineteen years or so here? That’s like meeting for a drink in comparison to the time we’ve been together.”

“You missed him, didn’t you?” I mused aloud.

He didn’t answer me for what seemed like forever as his eyes flamed and he stared forward. A ghostly smile echoed on his lips.

“You have no idea. He and I...we were unstoppable. Both charismatic one minute, deadly the next. There was no circle we could not break into, no one crossed us, and we let no one in.”