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I went limp in Dane’s arms; the fear had knocked the wind out of me, and the voices had torn my soul in half. Drake, Marc, and Landen waded carefully in our direction. When Landen reached the side of the pool, he handed the box to August, who’s hands trembled as he took it from him.

Landen walked over to me, and Dane slowly let go of me as Landen’s cold, wet arms surrounded me. In his embrace, I felt a calm come over me. He kissed my forehead. “
They’re only illusions,”
he thought, moving my chin up so I’d have to look at him.

“
It still hurts,”
I thought back.

“
Don’t let them make you weak – I need you to be strong for me now. This is almost over,
he thought.”

I nodded, then reached up and moved one of his dark locks out of his eyes. “Let’s get you warm,” I said, letting my hand fall into his.

We led the others back to the study, where Beth had summoned the silent girl that had followed Perodine since her return. They had towels and changes of clothes laid out on the back of the couch, and the girl was pouring steaming tea into cups. August, Alamos, and Perodine walked to the table. August set the box gently in the center of the table. Landen, Drake, and Marc began to dry themselves off before they changed, and I turned my back, giving them privacy. When the young girl had filled all the cups, she handed me and Dane one, then smiled at me and turned and left the room.

“What’s the deal with that tattoo anyway?” I heard Marc ask.

I looked up at Dane, and he nodded, letting me know that it was safe to turn around. Drake was pulling a long sleeve shirt over his T-shirt, and his eyes caught mine before he answered Marc. “Part of it represents my name; the other part represents what makes all of this hell worth it: Willow.” Drake finished butting up his shirt as he stared at his mother. “I was named after a constellation in the northern sky that never rests: a protector,” he said, sighing.

“The dragon in the sky,” Landen said, looking at Drake. Drake nodded.

“I’ve heard it called more than a protector,” Marc said in a teasing manner.

Drake looked at Marc, unamused. “I’ve heard every mythology there is about that constellation, and I find it foolish; it’s not me and I’m not it...nothing more than stars,” he said to Marc.

I sat my cup down on the tray and picked up two more cups of tea, then walked over to Drake and handed him one. As he took it from my hand, he stared deep into my eyes, and I held back the emotions that wanted to move through me. I walked to Landen’s side and handed him his cup. He took it, then protectively put his arm around my waist, pulling me to him. I took in his calm and leaned closer.

Dane offered Marc a cup of tea, but he refused it.

“We still need the two of you to open this,” Alamos said to get Drake and Landen’s attention.

We all gathered around the table. Alamos was carefully drying off the small stone black box they’d recovered. In the center of the box, there was a scorpion along the edges, and there were stars made of metal nailed to the black stone. On the side of the box was a latch that divided into two separate parts, each lining the side of the box. Drake reached for one handle, and Landen reached for the other; they then looked at each other, then to the box. They raised their handles slowly and pushed them away from one another, and the metal cried out as it was turned. The levers clicked into place, and the lid rose slightly. Alamos reached his hands vigilantly to the sides of the box and gently lifted the stone lid, and a burst of energy escaped as it was removed.

Inside the box, lying on a dark purple cloth was the most beautiful knife I’d ever seen in my life. The handle was black with silver shimmers, and it was round and thin. The blade was five inches long; it was so clear, you could see the purple cloth beneath it. The light of the room danced off the sharp edges. Perodine slowly reached her hand in the box. She let her finger barley graze the side of the blade before she pulled away, and I could see the blood surfacing where her finger had touched.

“Now, that’s a sharp knife,” Dane said under his breath.

Perodine raised her eyebrows, confirming Dane’s quiet remark. Alamos reached carefully for the lid and set it back on the stone box. He then looked at Perodine, then to August. “Now that we have it, we must discover how to use it,” Alamos said.

I followed her; I thought if I helped her emotion, I would somehow calm myself. We sat on one of the side couches so we could see the conversation around the table. I felt a sympathy rise inside of Landen, and I looked across the room and saw him staring at Drake. He felt my gaze and looked back at me, then took a deep breath and gave his attention to Alamos.

Drake walked to the cart. He had his back turned to us, but I could see him reaching for the pot of warm tea. When he turned around, he had a full cup. His eyes caught mine; they were darker than before and looked so sad. He came to Beth’s side and gave it to her, and she smiled slightly as she took it.

“You need your rest,” he said to her. She nodded and brought the warm cup to her lips. Drake watched as she sipped the tea; when she was done, he took the cup from her and leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I love you,” he whispered to her. She smiled and said, “I love you.”

Her eyes questioned his display of affection, but he looked away from her and made his way back to the table. Beth gave me a curious look, and I shrugged my shoulders; I’d never understood the calm he always seemed to have.

Dane came to my side, sitting as close as he could get. I put Beth’s hand in mine and thought of Preston playing, Chrispin laughing, and Marc and Stella’s celebration. I felt her eyes on me and looked at her; she was smiling slightly. “I wish I could have been there,” she whispered to me.

I looked curiously at her. “You could see that?” I asked quietly.

She nodded. “Is that uncommon?” she asked.

I looked to my side at Dane, and he shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve never seen anything,” he said as he stretched his legs out and closed his eyes.

My eyes moved to Beth’s hand, and I let more memories come to me: the first time I’d seen Chara, my celebration, meeting my beautiful family for the first time...as my eyes moved across the crowd that stood in front of me, I heard Beth gasp, and I looked up at her. “Was that your mother standing next to Jason?” she asked. I called the memory back of my parents, how happy my mother was that night; she almost glowed. I nodded.

“She’s beautiful,” Beth said, gripping my hand.

“This is Libby,” I said as I thought of Libby and Preston playing in the field of flowers by my house. “And Olivia, the one for Chrispin,” I said, thinking of Olivia walking across the field with Clarissa.

Beth nodded. “I remember her,” she said. I’d forgotten until then that Olivia had been held here and that her sight had been taken from her by this horrible place. As I looked across the room at Drake, my face turned red with anger. He and Landen had taken a seat at one end of the table and were watching August, Alamos, and Perodine work on the other end.

Beth followed my gaze. “Drake told me when he pulled her from the ocean that he felt connected to her.” She smiled slightly, ”I didn’t feel her in his heart – but I was more than sure she belonged to one of my sons.”

The heat in my cheeks left as I remembered that Drake did save her life. She’d fallen overboard with my friend Monica, but they didn’t reach her in time.

“You said you felt Stella in Marc’s,” I said, remembering the night Beth had watched over me. She nodded as she looked across the room at him. “You could help me find who’s meant for Drake – couldn’t you?” I whispered, sitting up a little.

Her eyes found mine, and she squeezed my hand. “He’s going to have to learn to forget you first,” she answered.

I let my shoulders fall and leaned back into the couch.

“One day, when all this nonsense is over...he will,” she said to me, but I knew she didn’t believe the words she said. I reached my hand to my charm on my neck and let my fingers run across the sun and the moon. I hated that it – who I was – had caused so much trouble that day.

“When that wall falls – I want you to take me to visit Chara,” Beth said.

“Why don’t you just come home, live there?” I asked quietly. Her eyes found Drake, and he glanced over his shoulder, catching her gaze.

“He needs someone,” she said quietly.

I felt a horrible guilt rise inside of me; it was so strong, Landen looked over his shoulder. He pushed away from the table and walked over to us, and Beth stood, allowing him to sit at my side. “I’ll sit over here,” he said, pointing to the other couch that faced the fireplace. She shook her head no and stretched out on couch opposite us.

Marc found his distance from Landen uncomfortable and made his way to the couch beside ours. “You look horrible; you need to sleep,” Landen said to him as he sat down.

“I’m fine - thanks for the compliment,” Marc said, rolling his eyes. “Why don’t the two of you sleep and do that thing you do and go check on our family?”

“No!” Perodine and August said in unison. Perodine walked up behind the couch where Marc was sitting, and August came to our side. “It will follow you there,” Perodine warned. “We have to make sure the children are protected.”

“Perfect; they’ll be so exhausted by tomorrow, tonight – whenever – that they won’t be able to think clearly,” Marc said, folding his arms across his chest.

“We aren’t tired; we’ll be fine,” Landen said to Marc.

Drake stood from the table and walked to the doorway that led to the hallway. I looked at Landen.

“
He’s going to get a blanket for Beth,”
Landen thought, answering my unasked question.

“
You have sympathy for him,”
I thought.

Landen smiled slightly and looked deep in my eyes before he answered. “
I know what it’s like to watch my mother struggle with the decisions that I’ve made, that were made on my behalf; we’re all victims, but Beth – Beth has had to endure more than all of us,”
he thought.

I let my eyes fall from his and squeezed his hand. I’d seen the pain in Beth when she’d cared for me; she was a woman that had lost so much and had never been repaid. “
I want her to go home with us, but she says Drake needs her,”
I thought.

“
Until this is all over – Drake has found his place – she won’t be at peace. We just need to do what we can to make her comfortable with the path in front of us all,”
Landen thought, moving his arm around me as he stared at Beth’s sleeping body.

My thoughts took me to my own mother, my father; I could only imagine how worried they were right now. I knew that Palhen himself would find it a challenge to keep them all balanced in our absence. I hated it; I hated that I somehow always seemed to cause so much trouble for the people who loved me.

Drake returned with a warm quilt. He covered Beth’s body and adjusted her sleeping head on the pillow, and I felt a jealousy rise inside of Marc as he watched Drake care for his mother. I don’t think Marc would ever get over not having her throughout his childhood, fearing that she was dead for so long. Drake took a seat on the opposite end of the couch where Marc sat.

“
The wall will fall, right? We will see them again?”
I thought.

“
One way or another, we will find them again,”
Landen promised.

Drake stretched his legs out in front of him a sighed deeply, closing his eyes for a moment.

“It wouldn’t be wise for you to sleep either,” Alamos said across the room to Drake. Drake opened his eyes as he heard Alamos’ voice.