“Is she okay? Why was she there?”
“Not sure on that part, but she is wiped out right now. Probably scared and feeling ashamed.”
“Why would she feel ashamed?”
“Because she would never want to hurt anyone,” Silas sighed. “And Madison would throw her life down for anyone.”
“What happened, Silas?!”
“Madison just got in the way. Her energy was pulled and rearranged. She probably thinks she is at peace, and that’s fine - but those emotions will come back, and she will have to deal with them when they do. Get them to Chara so they can heal.”
“They are going to heal? You’re sure?”
“As long as no one hurts them before they do.” He glanced at Draven. “Madison needs to stay away from anyone who doesn’t have control.”
Draven stepped forward, taking his challenge to fight, but Cashton was in the middle of them.
“No, mate. I think I might feel that punch if you throw it - and I thought we were mates? Let it be.”
Silas let out a deep breath, looked in my direction, then faded from sight.
Cashton glanced at me. “You still have those seven pages?”
I patted my back pocket to be sure, then pulled them out. Warily, Cashton opened the envelope. I could smell the singed paper from where I stood. The look on Cashton’s face was in no way reassuring. He pulled the pages apart. Two of them were singed on the corners, and one had words in a different language written down half the page.
“Your girl’s hurt,” he said.
“Madison?”
Cashton nodded. “Listen, little one, I know you want to rush around this house and fix it, sit her down and make her face her demons - but that is not your place.”
“The hell it isn’t!” I bellowed.
Cashton gripped my shoulders and dipped his head so we were eye-to-eye.
“Only one person can pull her back around, and that is not you. It’s time for a break. Let her be, or your page will burn next.”
“She is not going through whatever happened to her alone!”
“No, she’s not. Let the person who’s meant to help her fill their fate. This is a singe. The story is not over for her. She has to live out her fate in order to heal - and you’re going to let her do that.”
I glanced away.
“You are going to let her do that,” Cashton stated firmly. “I’ve never lied to you, and I’m not going to start now. I’m saving her life by telling you to let her be for now.”
“She tells me she needs space, I’ll give it to her. But if she asks for help, I’m not telling her no.”
“Fair enough,” Cashton said with a nod.
I had just lost that argument. Madison had never openly asked for help in any matter. I doubted she would start now, but that didn’t mean I could not let her know that I was offering said help.
“Alright, then, shall we?” Cashton said, nodding forward, telling us to go somewhere safe.
I clenched my side, still feeling the burn as Draven took my other hand. When we reached the front of the house I saw Monroe on the stairs, crying softly into her hands. Draven let me go so I could comfort her.
“Monroe,” I said breathlessly, trying to get her to look at me so she could see that she was going to be okay, that I was going to keep her safe.
She tightened her hands into a fist, then looked at me with tears streaming down her face.
“I...I didn’t mean to...I’m so sorry,” she said in a whispered cry.
“I know. It’s okay. You are going to be fine. Madison is going to be fine. I promise.”
“I’m fine now,” I heard Madison say.
I glanced back to see her leaning against the Jeep like she was waiting on us to leave.
“She brought me peace,” Madison answered.
“No. I didn’t. Even if I did, you wouldn’t know what that felt like,” Monroe rebutted in a tone that for once reflected her age. She then stood and said, “She has no emotions – none that she is letting surface.”
“And she is going to heal. I healed. Before I met you, I was weak - and it took the right person to heal me,” I promised Monroe, only to get a glare from Madison.
Monroe held a glare as she stared at Madison. She whispered something under her breath, then all at once a bolt of light flashed from her and landed square on Madison’s chest. I watched as the light spider-webbed through her skin. It all happened so fast that neither Draven, Cashton, nor I had a chance to react.
Madison wasn’t hurt. Her eyes were wide, as she seemed to internally evaluate her mental status.
“Compromise,” Monroe bit out.
“What did we just compromise?!” I asked as my eyes raced between them.
“She doesn’t want to feel emotions that she feels she has no right to deal with? Request granted,” Monroe said as she crossed her arms.
“I’m taking you both home,” I said with wide eyes, not sure what they would do to each other next or what they had already been through. All I could see was fire when I looked into their minds. “Where’s the other Jeep?” I asked, wondering where Drake and the others were.
“I’ll go find out,” Draven said, rushing into the house.
Madison was staring at me. I walked slowly to her, not recognizing anything but her image. Her energy was gone, barely visible around her body, and her eyes were placid.
“Was it an accident?” I asked as calmly as I could, knowing that she’d been miserable since the moment we first saw Willow. “Did you purposely lose your emotions? What did Monroe just give back to you?”
“Leave it be,” Cashton said under his breath as he looked her over once. “Never question Monroe’s reasons. She is wise beyond all of our years.”
I glared at Cashton, wishing I could argue that Monroe was fifteen without looking like a fool in front of Madison and Monroe.
“She said it was,” Madison answered, still unable to see Cashton.
“I meant you. Was it an accident that this happened to you? Did you sacrifice a part of yourself?”
“I tried to save Monroe,” Madison said blankly, clearly not caring about the outcome.
As I reached for her arm I saw Austin walking up behind us. He carefully looked over Madison.
“You okay?”
“Better than ever,” she answered before climbing into the Jeep.
“Where is everyone else?” I asked him.
“They left.”
“No goodbyes?” I asked sarcastically, knowing there was a darker reason.
“They had some battle scars, for sure, but they had to get to the palace before Jupiter moved.”
“Are they trying to kill Xavier or something?”
“No. They are trying to make Donalt destroy himself. They think he would be the weakest after what you did tonight, that he would try and escape them – but he would end up wasting away because he was wounded.”
Draven came out of the house with Nana. Evan followed with Aden.
“We have to say goodbye. It’s dangerous here. Clarissa said for us to go to Chara,” Draven directed.
“Are they still fighting?” I gasped.
“Always fighting,” Draven said quietly as his mind showed me images of Drake. I knew Draven had a deep respect for him, and like me he hoped that once this battle was over, Drake could help us save Madison.
Nana came out of the house and encouraged Monroe to come toward us. Once Monroe was in the Jeep, Nana turned to hug me. Evan was saying his goodbyes to Draven and Aden.
“We fly home tomorrow. Let us know you’re okay. I’ll watch after Kara, and everything else,” Nana said to me.
I held in my failing emotions and squeezed her. “Make sure you tell her I love her.”
Nana placed her hands on either side of my face. “Only the strongest souls could move through that wall. She brought you here; both of your parents did. If there is any truth to the visions and myths around you, then you must understand that once she made it through to this side, she fought blindly, even lost her way a time or two - but she made sure that you knew how to do that, that you knew how to fight without seeing the ending or purpose. You will find her again, child, and you will bring balance. Do it for her. Do it for both of your parents, and know that they are watching you, waiting for your victory.”
She glanced at Cashton, who had become rather tense as she spoke. She reached for his arm, which caught him off guard; I was sure he thought he was blocking her.
“She loves you so much, and I know she is happy that you two found each other again.”
Cashton nodded stiffly, daring not to show one emotion.
I held in my tears and hugged her once more. “Love you. I’ll keep the boys safe.”
She smiled to say thank you.
Austin took over the driver’s seat, and Monroe climbed to the front so she could sit between him and Madison. Draven held the door open for me to climb in the middle, between him and Aden. I hesitated, though, as I locked eyes with Cashton.
“I’m heading to the veil, to a warm fire and a simple guitar. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Cashton said as his eyes reflected how tired he was.
“You said that yesterday, and it didn’t pan out,” I said as I tried to figure out how to get him in the Jeep.
“If you poke a stick in a hornets’ nest, you’re going to get stung. I went after that girl trying to figure out if she was worth the kill. She wasn’t, by the way. I shouldn’t have done it until I was out for good and strong again.”
“You’re strong. Wit takes you further than strength, sometimes.”
“That it does, little one,” he said with a wink as he vanished.
Draven just smirked as he nodded for me to climb in. Once he was in, he held his arm out, inviting me to come closer to him. His hand gently caressed my side.
“Still burning?” he whispered.
I nodded to confirm, not sure how badly we’d hurt ourselves tonight. I glanced up at him to see that his eyes had turned dark. He was analyzing Austin, everything he’d seen on his side of the story - no doubt trying to figure out how we went so wrong.
I closed my eyes as I lay against his chest and imagined my mother in some peaceful sanctuary in another universe. I knew I would never be completely convinced that she was okay until I saw her with my own eyes, but I also knew that finding her would be the end of this curse - a day that I would fight to reach.
No one bothered to utter a word as we made our way back to the restaurant, to the passage of the string.
“Are you sure we don’t need to help them?” Draven asked Austin as he ushered us by the gray passages of Esterious.
He glanced back at Draven and me, at the slow stagger we were forced to walk in simply because our sides were burning.
“They want you guys to rest. I’m supposed to take you to the beach house. It is safe there. I’m afraid if you fought anymore tonight, we’d surely lose you.”
“That is a one-bedroom house. We can go back to Nyla and August’s,” I said, glancing at Madison and Monroe. Even though I was told not to push Madison, I wanted to keep a close eye on her, on Monroe.
“I’ll stay with them,” Aden said, nudging me.
Aden knew me too well. He knew I would not let Madison rest tonight, that I plotted to figure out how to turn back time, to undo this.
The string became crowded when we came closer to Chara. It was like watching the second wave of soldiers falling into battle. As they passed and I saw them, I realized they were not rushing to Esterious to fight; they were rushing there to bring peace.
Before we reached the passage that held Willow and Landen’s home, a tall boy dressed in black charged through the passage, in the direction of the gray passages. I recognized the fury in his energy and tried to see him as he rushed past us, but all I could see was Alamos. That boy was determined to face him, and the Alamos he knew was not the one I knew. No, the one that boy knew was evil.
Panic for Drake and everyone else came to me. We had all halted, and Austin froze in place, doubting that he had really seen that boy. A second later, Ashten, Landen’s father, charged through the passage, followed by Jason, Willow’s father, both obviously chasing that boy.
“Was that -” Austin yelled after them.
“YES! Get them in Chara – NOW!” Ashten yelled at Austin.
August and Rose came through the passage next. August took off in a sprint, but Rose stopped when she saw Madison and Monroe - all of us.
“Oh my,” she said as her eyes raked over Madison. I knew she had the sixth sense of emotion that she would agree that Madison was more wounded than we were acknowledging. “Come,” she said, putting her arm around Monroe and carefully directing Madison with a glance.
“Stay with them,” Draven said to Aden.
“You’re going to rest, right?” Aden asked, clearly not agreeing to babysit while we figured out what Ashten and August were so upset about.
“He has no choice,” Rose said, reaching for Aden to guide him into Chara. Madison and Monroe had already gone in, only offering a glance to us as a goodbye.
“What’s going on?” Draven asked.
Austin raised his brow. “The dead are rising.”
“What?!” the three of us said at the same time.