“Are you saying I will...love him?”
“You are meant to love everyone; we all are. Listen to me, your actions and thoughts have already assured your path to him. You will save him, and because you’ve made that choice already, you have assured that we will meet again. By saving him, you will prove that all souls can wake, that the war between darkness and light need not exist, but that is not the choice you will struggle with.”
“I will struggle with loving him,” I said as my face blushed with fear and embarrassment.
She nodded once. “When he wakes, he will be taken from your side, tested and punished by the darkness that seeks souls with the fearless passion he has. You will have two choices: to follow him, or to stay and watch from a distance. I assure you that either course will not change the fact that we meet again.”
“If it doesn’t matter, then what is the point in telling me?”
Her wise eyes danced across my face. “I don’t think anyone can be prepared for a broken heart, or a heart that is big enough to love more than one. I struggled with betrayal in this life. I felt guilt for not always loving the same man, and I will feel it again. At first when I felt that I needed to tell you all of this, I thought it was so I could ask you to tell me when we meet again that my heart is big enough, for you to tell me to love them both and fight for both innocence and darkness, but as I watched you tonight, I knew that was not why I felt called to you. I felt called because what my heart fights, yours will fight. So tonight I am telling you that your heart can love two, that you never really say goodbye to any soul; you simply trust that you will see that soul again, that in the end we are all one.”
“I still don’t understand. Where will I follow your
friend?
I cannot die.”
“That will be the moment that you will know if you truly love him. If the universe perceives that love to
be real, unbreakable, then the g
ods above wish this path for you, and you will follow him into another life.”
“So if I choose death, if I find some way to die and follow him, then that means he’s who I am meant to be with?”
“Do you not feel commanded to love Silas? Do you not feel that you are obeying by staying at his side?”
“No, I love him.”
“But if you were to ever leave him, would Isis not cross your mind?”
I looked away from her, knowing that she would.
“What I am telling you right now is tha
t if you desire to follow my friend
, and you die, then you know that you have not shamed any promise or prayer, but that your soul has followed its counterpart, and that path will be blessed.
“What about Silas? I can’t leave him alone. I could never do that to anyone, especially him. I love him.”
“Silas is a warrior. He is fearless and absolute. I know he will fight at my side in a future that is yet to be written, but I cannot see where his heart will lead him. The only reason I saw yours was because it weaves deeply into my family of souls.”
“Family of souls?”
She nodde
d once. “Lovers remain lovers, but f
athers become sons, daughters become mothers, friends become sist
ers, brothers, and so on. My f
riend
has played many roles. He has saved me and been the voice of reason time and again. Now the course of life has changed, and I will have to repay him for those acts.
When
we
meet again we
will save each other and stand as a voice of reason when our hearts and emotions tempt us to make hasty decisions.”
“Sou
nds like a great family,” I muttered
sadly.
In the eyes of my image, I could see how I envied that, how I missed my family.
“You’re a part of that family now. Regardless of whether you fall or not, you are a part of my path, and I am a part of yours.”
“So if I don’t fall, if I just save him and we meet again, what do you want me to say to you?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Not at first. You may reassure me of who I was over time, even tell me that I found balance with my heart, but who I am now will no
t be the issue. Who my friend
is in that life will not be. Our course will collide just as I dare to become the wave of change, just as we all dare to become that change.”
“Is there anyone else I need to watch over for you? Any more people you want to add to this family?”
“Everyone who chooses to be there will be; have no fear of that.” She put her hand on my shoulder. “Silas will be there. Even if you choose to fall, he will be with us, a part of this.”
“Then what now?”
“Now I will show how powerful you are; you have much to learn.”
At that moment, the world began to shake, and I heard a loud knock that invoked enough fear in me to wake from that memory.
Chapter Nine
Wide-eyed and startled, I found myself back in my car outside of Draven’s house. I glanced to my side and saw that Aden had knocked on the window. I ran my hands across my face, trying to bring myself into focus. I could n
ot believe that I knew her then. T
hat she literally predicted where I would be today. Willow knew I would love Draven. The guilt I had after leaving Silas that night intensified. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I must have ripped his soul in two when I fell, but I also knew that there was no way that the love I had for Draven was shallow or even habit; it was real, real enough to kill me.
I let out a sigh and opened my door and climbed out. Aden was leaning against the side of my car with his arm crossed, looking less than happy to see me.
“What did I do now?” I asked as I closed my door.
He tightened his jaw as the muscles in his arms flexed with frustration. “What is happening to us, Charlie?”
“Like I know,” I said as I leaned against the car beside him.
“That’s not what I mean,” he said in a forced
tranquil
tone. “You know I get that you and Draven are going through some stuff, that he’s changing and you’re doing your best to hold on to him, but I don’t get why you’re shutting me out. How we’ve lost our trust.”
“What are you talking about? I trust you.”
“Then why are we working against each other?”
“Why do you think we are?” I asked, angling my eyes at him, not sure where this was going.
“I told you to tell me when you talked to Silas. You’ve lied to me about him from day one. Why would you do that? Should I be worried about picking my brother’s heart up off the floor after you break it into a thousand pieces?”
Anger engulfed every part of me as I stood in front of him and glared up at him. “How dare you say that to me? You shut me out. You let him shut me out. Do you really think that I would leave him? That I have something going on with Silas?
!
”
“How am I supposed to know if you do?! Charlie, he appeared out of nowhere today and kissed you in front of Draven, then had the audacity to tell Draven that he was going to kill him, that if one thought crossed his mind to take your energy that death would come. Did he care that that demon had just force fed him a part of your light, that at that moment every part of Draven’s soul was at war, that he was fighting with everything he was to push that out of him to do whatever he had to do in order to love you, save you from all of this? No he didn’t, and what did you do? You woke
up;
you left us there with him, you left us behind. What was your plan, to just love the one that survived? Now what are you going to do, because both of them are still breathing?”
I couldn't stop myself. I reached out and slapped him as hard as I could. Aden held his face where my blow hit him as his eyes blazed with anger.
“You might want to get your story straight before you decide to accuse me of anything,” I said through gritted teeth. “Open your eyes,” I demanded as I let the wall I hid behind in my mind fall and stared at him.
I let my entire day play out for him. I showed him every minute, every escape from death, that demon, what Draven and I said to each other, what Silas said, the words of Willow that still echoed in my mind.
I stared at him for countless minutes and watched a sea of emotions wave across his body. When his pupils returned to their normal shape, I crossed my arms and ti
lted
my head and waited for him to have the nerve to accuse me of doing anything wrong.
Aden let his
crossed arms fall. “I’m sorry,
” he whispered as he pulled me to his chest. I let an angry tear fall before I pulled away from him.
“Have you convinced him to leave?” I asked.
“No,” he answered quietly. “Charlie, what are we going to do about Madison and Monroe?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that I’m not going to let anyone hurt them.”
“Do you really think Madison hasn’t seen any of this? How can she not with the dreams she has?”
“I don’t know. Monroe said it was just too much for her.”
“At least I now know why Winston is having a hard time picking what team to play for,” he said as he sighed deeply.
My eyes questioned him.
“If his dad’s a demon, that has to be in him.”
“That’s where I’m confused. I think Monroe needs to be in Chara, but I don’t want to bring any demons to their doorstep
-
- if that’s even the case, that ghost might just be after them for some other reason.”
“Willow told you she would see you in this life. She would have warned you not to do that if she didn’t want them there,” he said, clearly concerned that I was now wavering on whether we would leave or not.
“Maybe you saw my day too fast. All Willow was worried about then was
assuring me that loving her friend
was not a sin. She didn’t mention anyone beyond us, not even Madison
-
- and call me crazy, but I think I would have mentioned a twin if I were her.”
Aden furrowed his eyebrows as he gazed into his memory. “
She did say the path she
saw for her future could change.
I
don’t think Madison is a sacrifice.”
“That’s reassuring. Why?” I uttered with little enthusiasm.
“I think you’re just to
o
deep into this and you haven’t had time to see this from an outside perspective.”
“What I am not seeing, Aden?” I asked, knowing I was too tired to put it all together.
“Willow told you she loved two. She told you that in this life everyone would be together. Bianca has two boys. What if they are both her lovers, the ones she loved across time? What if Madison was the one that they loved in a different life? That would explain why she’s dreaming about that guy.”
“You think Madison is that prince’s soul
mate? That right now Willow loves them both and I’m about to bring a hammer and destroy that love triangle? I don’t see how that makes Madison any less of a sacrifice; sounds to me like all this talk that Madison has about not wanting to love anyone until she finds herself or that she doesn’t want to be anyone’s second choice is her way of saying she wants nothing to do with any of that.”
“Listen, Madison says those things about being in love because she thinks it will blind her the way it’s blinded you.”
“I’m not blind. How do you know that? I’m her best friend. If that were true, I would know that already.”
A frustrated smile revealed his dimples as a gasp escaped him. “Why do you think she does all that research she does? Why do you think she tells you not to worry about Silas or Draven? She does that because she thinks
-
- and I agree with her -
-
that you’re so focused on saving Draven that you aren’t fighting what we’re meant to.”
“It’s not worth fighting for if I don’t have Draven.”
“That’s Madison’s point. Draven is your weakness, and you’re his; if we can see that, then so can this thing we’re fighting. Madison just doesn’t want to be pulled into that. She wants to be clear headed, end this, and then fall in love.”
“How do you even know that? Are you assuming? I’ll tell you like I told her, you cannot ch
o
ose who or when you fall in love.”
He tilted
his head as his eyes fell into mine. “Who do you think gave her all those books she read? I did. Madison and I may butt heads, but we’re both clear headed, and we do our best to make sure that you and Draven stay that way.”
I looked away from him. “Aden, I think she loves Britain.”
“No. She doesn’t. He’s not good enough for her.”
I looked back at him to see anger engulfed in his e
yes. “And how do you know this p
rince will be? Have you seen the place he rules?”
“I have, and I don’t know that he’ll be good enough for her either, but I know if she loved Britain that she wouldn’t be leaving with us. That she would be spending all of her time trying to help him, but she’s not doing that; she’s using him as a guide, a guide to figure out Draven for you.”