“Madison,” I said with a sigh, almost feeling sorry for Drake.
“I know, I know. I just...” She glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was close enough to clearly hear us. “It was just a defense. It sucks to look just like her, Charlie, to not know who he’s really seeing. Being mad at Britain was my defense, and Drake...Drake is just really good at getting me to talk. It didn’t take him long to figure out I was mad at Britain and why. So, when we were in Salem we made it a point to be seen by Anna, all her friends, and eventually Britain showed up.”
“Was there a fight or something?”
“Nope. We acted like we didn’t see him, then put on a show. He kissed me, and I kissed him back, then we left the coffee shop and went to my house.”
“Feeling pretty crappy about that, aren’t you?” I asked as I looked over her.
“Yes and no. I mean, that’s low, I get it - but so was what Britain did...and I don’t even know what Britain and I are, you know? I mean, I always knew he wasn’t ‘the one’ or whatever, but I thought I meant more to him than that - that I could leave for a day without him having a girl at his house.”
“So, curious...how did you know he wasn’t ‘the one’?” I asked, simply because the last time I checked she wasn't looking for anyone.
The sharp intake of breath she took told me that she regretted letting that part out - that she was, in a way, lonely, looking for someone, that this ‘I don’t need anyone’ speech was just her defense.
“He didn’t make me nervous. Curious, but never nervous. I never had butterflies...I never heard my voice quiver...I never felt my head spin or my skin blush,” she said quietly as a ghost of a smile echoed on her lips, one that told me that the memory of Britain was not causing that grin.
“And who does that?” I pushed, wanting to see that relaxed smile that was just beneath her balanced composure.
“The boy in my dreams…too bad we’re both broken people now,” she said as she clenched her stomach.
I knew then that her insight of emotion on steroids had not gotten any better. It almost looked like it had gotten worse. She looked exhausted, and I doubted all of that exhaustion was from staying out late last night.
“Madison, he makes you nervous...” That was my promise, my way of pointing out that she was strong enough to overcome this and not use it as an excuse to push Drake away.
She blushed as she hid her grin. I’d never once seen her this happy over a guy before.
“Yeah...I guess he does.”
“Is he acting like himself now?” I asked as I glanced at Landen, wondering if it was still an issue for her - that some of Landen’s energy was in him.
“I’m not sure…seems like it. I think he got help with that problem.”
Silence took over for a few minutes.
“So, I guess we can’t ask Britain if Bianca is really dead,” I stated flatly.
“What?!” she said, looking at me with her pupils already expanded. After a second, she turned red with anger. “See, this is what I mean: I’m sitting here thinking about last night, and all of this crap went down - that’s why I don’t want to do this.”
“Yeah, well, at least you had last night because according to Bianca, we won’t have any more unless I do something stupid, let Draven and Aden do something stupid.”
Her eyes flew to Draven and Aden. “Oh no, I’ve already had enough issues with boys not being who they are.”
“Right.”
“It really did look like she died just now, didn’t it?” Madison said to herself.
“How many times have we thought that?” I bit out.
“Right.”
“I just have to figure out my priorities. I know Bianca is not the problem, at least not the big one. I just don’t know how to solve what is in front of me.”
She wasn’t listening to my little self-loathing moment. Rather, she was focused on everything she had missed. She had yet to mention Cashton to me, so I was sure he was still hiding himself from everyone but Draven and me.
“Shadowed soul...interesting,” Madison said to herself as her eyes landed on Aden.
“Wicked’ is more like it. The only thing I liked about her was the fact that she was obviously a musician. I guess the lavender hair color was cool, too - but seriously, that girl was powerful.”
“Not a big talker. I can’t see much in her through your memories. Did you see anything?”
“It happened too fast - like seconds.”
“We’ll figure it out,” she promised as we noticed that everyone was halting their walk.
Landen turned around. “Just walk in here like you own the place, up the stairs, through the kitchen. Outside, there are two Jeeps. We’ll make some calls and see where we need to be.”
I think we all looked at him like he was crazy, but he just stepped into the passage with Willow at his side.
Draven reached back for my hand. I took his, and we followed the others in. I smelled the stench of seafood immediately, but I didn’t understand why. We were in a room with a large generator and wall-to-wall freezers. Landen led us up an old staircase that opened into a kitchen, a restaurant kitchen, and I knew why I smelled crawfish and gumbo immediately: large pots of it were all along the commercial kitchen stoves. A few of the cooks looked up at us, but not many.
I had no idea what time it was here, but if I had to guess I would say it was late afternoon. The cooks looked like they were preparing for a huge dinner rush, but the front doors were still locked. Someone who I thought was the owner or manager unlocked it for us to get out.
People were crowded all along the streets. Most of them carried that tourist mark, taking pictures of everything with their phones and entirely too happy for an average day in New Orleans.
The Jeeps we were supposed to get in were parked in a side parking lot a block from the restaurant, but the walk seemed to take forever. The whispers almost seemed to cheer when they saw us, saying our names. The shadows were more corporeal, almost holding a solid image. This town had far more dead than living in it. Even if you didn’t have any extra senses, I’m sure anyone could feel it when they walked these eccentric streets.
While Landen unlocked the Jeeps and grabbed a cell phone to call whoever, I let go of Draven’s hand and tried to help a few shadows. What was odd was that it didn’t matter what I said; most of them would not leave. Finally, I asked a shadow that was a younger woman what her issue was, why she was holding on; she looked at me as if I were insane.
“We’re not leaving until we find whom we lost, until you open the door.” The dark hollow of her eyes grew even sadder. “You are going to open the door, right?” All at once, other seemingly corporeal shadows gathered around her, all telling me who they’d lost and when – begging that I take them to whoever it was.
“Enough!” I yelled when the desperate pleas began to take my breath away. I was sure that they would not only listen to me, but that it would also get the others’ attention, at least Draven’s.
I had managed to wander at least twenty feet from all of them, but the images didn’t back away. My voice was hollow, silent, as if they were masking it.
Then all at once they parted and a woman, that I was sure was still alive, walked closer to me. The long black coat she had around her made her gray hair seem white, and her gray eyes glistened with promise and hope. I noticed the pentagram around her neck and the pungent odor of sage as she stepped closer. The shadows turned to her, waiting for her to speak.
“Charlie has seen a shadowed soul. She has seen my daughter, and she knows what she has to do. All of you will not only find who you lost, but you will find a way to the pristine light of peace.”
As this woman spoke I felt that insane tingling sensation in my mind. There was no way she’d only lived seventy years or so. I could see centuries around her. I was almost sure I’d seen her die a time or two. I saw her as a shadow, then something that became like the images around me, then finally to this present living stage. I did see that lavender-haired girl with her, as an infant, as a child. I saw her die tragically, meaning the death I saw happen to Bianca an hour or so ago was hers, too. I cringed, thinking that this woman who was standing with the only truly honest souls I knew - my shadows - was backing up Bianca’s words.
Her gray eyes moved over me once more before she turned into the crowd of darkness and vanished. The damned souls she left behind silently stared at me - waiting for a promise, I suppose.
I felt someone grip my arm and looked up to see Draven, with Aden just beside him.
“I don’t think we can help them the same way,” he said under his breath to me as he looked at each of them.
“No. They need a sacrifice,” I bit out, pushing past them to walk back to the Jeeps.
Madison was climbing into the back of one as Chrispin added the address to the GPS.
“You guys take this one. We have a bit of a drive with the traffic,” he said as he moved out of the driver’s seat and threw the keys at Draven.
“Thanks, man,” Draven said, opening the passenger door for me to get in.
“What’s wrong, Charlie?” Madison asked, clasping her stomach as Draven closed my door.
As Aden climbed in next to her and Draven claimed the driver’s seat, I glanced back, showing her what that lady had said to me.
“How are you feeling, Aden?” I asked him as Draven got his bearings in the driver’s seat. This ride was a bit different from his Hummer.
“Trying not to think about that,” he answered, catching Draven’s glance in the rearview mirror.
“Why did you run? What have you been doing?” I pressured him.
“You can’t see it?” he asked.
“I’m sure I could, but I’m asking you.”
He glanced out the window. “I don’t know, guys. It was like watching a forgotten movie and reading an unwritten novel at the same time. Everything was crashing down inside of me, people were out of place, enemies I thought I had were nothing but a nuisance. I kept seeing this one place and I knew it was balanced enough for me to think. That Preston kid was there when I woke up. He told me the name of the place. I just went there to breathe.”
“Did they help you?” Madison asked, flinching, obviously having issues with the sixth sense of emotion. We were stuck in traffic. I guess the people around us were unhappy about that.
“Kind of. Austin stayed with me. He said those people just connect on a higher level. They didn’t have answers, but they taught me to breathe on the inside, how to just stay calm. But I’m not really calm because I feel like I’m losing that first rush. I know there are answers there. It’s a horrible feeling.”
“No joke,” Madison said almost incoherently.
“Sorry,” he said, taking in a deep breath and reaching to hold her hand. “What sucks is I’ve got more of the past than the present, and what I have is out of order. Only fragments here and there.”
“What do you know for sure?” Draven asked, locking stares with him in the mirror.
“I know that Xavier dude is no joke. I saw him everywhere around you.” Aden’s eyes met mine. “He’s the clearest in Pompeii. He knew I - we - were coming. The thing is, though, from those memories I don’t think we knew you were there, Charlie. I think we were hunting someone or something. We hadn’t even made it to the town before we were arrested and accused of everything from murder to robbery. Then the ash fell.”
“Do you think Silas knew?” I asked, blocking out every image that was surfacing of that time. I wanted to know, but I could not stand to witness the horror again.
“I think if he did, it wouldn’t have worked. I’m pretty sure he didn’t figure it out until we were in The Realm. That part still doesn’t make sense to me. I do remember it, but it wasn’t like a love thing. It was the fact that I knew you were fighting something I had to and that you were doing it because you didn’t want me or Draven hurt.”
“Can we say ‘role reversal’?” I mocked. “Okay, so you’re saying you were both there, that you knew Draven then – so were you teaming up to kill something wicked? What that was is the question. We should focus on that. Build up to Xavier.”
Draven threw a wicked glance at me, knowing what I was doing: placing reasonable doubt in everyone’s mind. I wanted proof and I wasn’t going to rest until I got it.
“I don’t know,” Aden said with a sigh. “I know that we had no doubt that we would take out Xavier. There was someone else, too, but I can’t remember. I almost think we found Xavier by accident. We were focused others, others that were just as evil. I remember the blade, I remember the ash, and I remember lives after that. I never saw or met Draven again until this life, though, so as far as knowing how or what happened, I couldn’t tell you. I do know that I saw you again, Charlie. We were friends, but nothing more. I’m almost sure I led you to where Draven was just before you fell.”
That last part was more for Draven’s sake than mine, but I nodded anyway.
“I don’t think you should try and remember it, Aden. Just let what needs to come up, come. Let the rest be.”
“I know. That’s what the Pelhan guy said, the old man in that dimension I went to, and Austin said the same. Now, honestly, I just feel like I have a mix of déjà vu and precognition. I knew that Grayson was at risk, that he was wrong to try and chase his mom before he even tried. We just couldn’t find him in time…”