I saw that just months ago, she was living a normal life, balancing her sense of emotion, her dreams, but when Landen found her, everything changed. She was fighting
darkness
, but she wasn’t focusing on it because she was told that h
er heart was being tested. The p
rince now
had a name: Drake. I was right. T
his was love a triangle. My fear for Madison made me search deeper into her thoughts, and it wasn’t long before I figured out that Willow was seeking Madison; she was seeking her because she believed that Drake had been fooled into loving her. She wanted to find his soul mate, thinking that if she did that, whatever they wer
e fighting would be easier. I
f not over. Willow was a fool,
though; nothing would be over. I
t was just beginning.
Once I figured out
that she wasn’t dangerous to
us, t
hat she really did need us, I started to ask more questions, and a glimpse of her past life came to me. I even saw the woman in Egypt for a split second, but every time I tried to go back to a past life, her memories pushed me into this life. I decided to focus on Landen. I wasn’t able to go deep into his thoughts from her memory, but I was able to see my worst enemy toy with him the way she toyed with Draven.
“She’s seducing them,” I said before I could stop myself. I was so mad that it made me sick to my stomach. If I had stopped Bianca, found a way to kill her, this never would have happened; Landen would never have been taken away from Willow.
This was my fault. All of it.
“She better not be,” Willow said through gritted teeth. At that moment, thunder exploded above the house; it was so loud, I ducked before I could tell myself I was safe.
The girl with Willow gripped her arm as if she were telling her to stop making it thunder. Was that possible? Could Willow control the weather? How? No way that was possible! Then all at once, that witch’s words from this morning made sense: ‘The Goddess of Mother Nature is seeking you.’ She was talking about Willow looking for Madison. Th
e question now was who was the Great W
itch that woman was talking about, and was she dangerous? Did Willow have someone in her corner that could literally summon people across dimensions? I was in way over my head, and I knew it. My ears began to burn, and my heart raced.
The girl looked at all of us. “You know of us? You know why we’re here?”
“We see it, Olivia,” Aden said.
He must have had a chance to look into her life and now knew her name. I had been too focused on Willow.
“How do
you know my name?” Olivia
asked,
as her eyes grew wide.
Aden stepped forward cautiously, trying to keep them as calm as possible. “I told you. I see it.”
I looked nervously at Draven. His eyes were as black as coal, and there was no doubt he was deep in their thoughts. He was faster than all of us at this, and it was clear that he was trying to take it all in before these girls figured out how to close the door on us, how to block us from seeing their past.
“What? W
hat do you see?” Willow asked with a voice that was just as tired as she looked.
“The past,” Aden said calmly. “Everything that brought you here.”
Olivia looked over Aden cautiously, clearly not liking
the insight that we had. “What’
s your name?”
“Aden,” he answered. He smiled nervously, charming them with his trademark dimples. He nodded toward Draven and said, “Draven,” then looked at Monroe and said, “Monroe.”
Just as Aden went to introduce me, Willow’s chest swelled with what looked like fear. “Charlie, the girl who has already been to Chara, met Preston.”
I tried to understand if she was angry or relieved by that, but I couldn't tell; she was too unraveled. I couldn't stop staring, asking questions. I needed to know how frank I could be with her, if what I was would scare her, but in her thoughts, from her point of view all I could see were Landen and Drake. Bianca, or whoever was behind all of this, had to know that taking them would kill Willow, and I was beginning to assume that that was the goal all along. I could only hope that Landen and Drake were able to see through Bianca as clearly as Draven did, but I had my doub
ts; I knew the illusions in The R
ealm were all too real.
“What?!” Willow
shrieked
. “Why are you staring at me?”
I looked at Draven. He had caught her stare and was walking slowly to her. I tried to see if a memory was sparked in the old soul I knew she was, if she would see the friend she told me he would be in this life, if she knew that he was a part of her family of souls.
His stare seemed to calm her down, and she seemed to recognize something in him, but it wasn’t a past life. Her thoughts focused
around Drake, the p
rince, which almost made sense. If I had to guess, I would bet that Drake
played the role of Draven’s friend or brother
in a past life. Even though I hadn’t had much time to dwell in Willow’s thoughts, it was clear that Drake and Draven shared the same hypnotic essence.
“There is a lot to see. Y
our existence is vast,” Draven said to her.
I knew then that he and I were on the same page. He was trying to see what she knew about her lives before, if she recognized him, his energy.
“Well,” Willow said, holding back tears, “it’s about to end if you don’t help me.”
Before Draven could say anything to bring her comfort, more figures emerged from a light that wasn’t there before: three men. My heart was pounding out of control. I couldn't figure out how they were just appearing. I mean, I knew there were passages that were man-made, but I wasn't there when Austin first fell through one; he had used regular doors around me.
My eyes grew wide when I focused on the tallest one. He was lean, but he was strong with broad shoulders and crystal blue eyes. At first I thought he was Landen, that this was over, but my natural instinct was to ask ‘Who are you?’ in my mind. When I did that, I saw that he wasn’t Landen; he was a friend or a brother, and right now he was fig
hting to keep Willow sane. S
he wasn’t making it easy on him. He was clearly furious as he leaned into Willow and said, “We had a deal.”
Aden and Draven charged forward, willing to protect Willow without question. “Hey! HEY!” Aden yelled.
“Brady,” Willow said as tears emerged from her bloodshot eyes. “He sent me here.”
Brady’s anger left his expression as confusion took over. I glanced at the other two with him; it was clear that they were concerned, but they didn’t seem to be as emotionally connected to what was going on. It was like they were waiting on orders or something.
“Brady? Like Landen’s brother, Brady?” Aden asked as his pupils expanded and he saw his answer. He was his brother, his big brother.
Brady nodded once at Aden as he looked around the room and tried to find his bearings. My heart sank for this boy. I could see that he was fighting not only for his baby brother, but also for a daughter, a baby that he and his soul mate feared would be pulled into this. That child was in the center of his thoughts; every decision he had made since her birth was done to protect her, to protect his family, and right now Brady’s perspective was telling me that he thought he was failing.
I was growing more and more nervous about helping them. I didn’t like the idea of being anyone’s last hope, especially not when I was looking for just that, someone with all the answers.
Rain began to wash down the window, and I knew then that I was right: this girl was controlling the weather with her emotions. I couldn't think of anything that would be more dangerous for the world; her sadness alone would drown us. Willow whispered something to Brady. I could barely make out his response, but I did hear Preston’s name. I hated myself for not asking that little boy more questions; clearly, he knew this moment would come, the same way Monroe did.
“Sorry, man,” Aden said, stepping away from Brady and glancing at me. “I know how it is.”
I gritted my teeth as anger came to me.
Really?
That was Aden’s response? He wanted to throw in the fact tha
t I had seen Silas today? Seriously
? We
weren’t
over that? I looked at Brady once more and began to ask questions that would tell me what had happened before they appeared. I saw Brady fight with himself. He feared that
Willow would leave his brother. That it would kill Landen. T
hat it would kill Brady’s daughter. He hated himself for thinking that.
I let myself forgive Aden for that remark. It was clear that Brady’s path had reminded him of his. It was also clear that both Aden and Brady were foolish for thinking anything like that; both Willow and I were prepared to die for the ones we loved.
Brady looked over his shoulder to the two men with him. “Go tell them I have her. Make sure Marc stays there.”
Draven caught my stare; he was t
r
ying to see if I knew what he did. Then I saw it, I saw him show me Marc, and my heart poun
ded. Marc could easily be that p
rince that I thought was Drake. How could there be two of them? What was going on? I nodded once at Draven, and he returned his attention to Willow and Brady, still trying to gather as much information as he could about them.
The two men left, and Brady looked down at Willow, placing his hands gently on her face. “What did he say?” he asked Willow in a forced calm tone.
“He told me to find them, that they see everything - and they do; they said they do.”
Brady looked right at me with questioning eyes, and I n
odded slightly to tell him
that was true. Then Brady’s eyes fell to Monroe, and protectively I moved in front of her. I didn’t want them to scare her, and even though I doubted they could, I couldn't stop that reflex. A burning desire to protect her innocence was exploding inside of me. It was almost as strong as what Brady felt for his daughter, for that Preston boy.
Olivia noticed my reaction. Her eyes grew curious, then she glanced at Aden and Draven. “You see where they are? Can you take us there?”
I looked to Draven for answer
s. I didn’t know how to tell them
how deep Landen and Drake were, that more than likely the men they knew were gone and that even if we brought them back, they would fight what I was fighting with Draven, t
hat T
he R
ealm would call them over and over. They were looking for an ending, but they were standing at the threshold of a whole new world.
Draven felt our stares, and the weight of this fell on his shoulders. He looked down, then glanced up at Willow, igno
ring Olivia and Brady. “This isn’t a place. There isn’t a passage. You’
re going to have to see your way there.”
Just when I thought the tension in the room could not possibly build any
more, Madison climbed the stairs to the studio. She hesitated as she took in the room. I focused on her and saw her remember the sketch she made. I saw fear in my best friend’s eyes, and I was paralyzed by it. I couldn't figure out how to block Monroe and run to her at the same time.
Monroe’s leg brushed up against mine, and with her touc
h I heard her say, “Too much
,” in my thoughts. I looked down at Monroe to find her staring at me. What was she saying? Madison could
see this. She could see Willow. T
hen all of a sudden it made sense: Monroe was saying that she could see them, but she couldn't see Drake or that Marc guy, whoever he was.
“What if I can’t?” Willow asked Draven.
Draven didn’t answer her. He was staring at Madison, waiting for the levy in her heart to break, for all of this to get worse.
Madison looked between Draven and Aden, then her eyes locked with mine. “We’ll go. We’ll kill Bianca.”
I swallowed as I fought back angry tears. I nodded once to Madison, agreeing to do just that, to end the existence of the demon that had brought so much strife into our lives. I almost thought this was planned, that Bianca wanted this moment to happen; she would know we were getting too close, that this would make Madison weak, but she was a fool because all Bianca did was infuriate Madison, and that’s one thing you do not do to a Scorpio.
They all turned defensively to the doorway, noticing Madison for the first time. Wide-eyed, I stepped forward, but then I halted, not wanting to break the shield I had in front of Monroe.
“Why can’t I feel you?” Willow asked.
This was getting too eerie, even for me. They looked so much alike,
they had the same sixth sense. W
hat else did they have in common? Were they the same person? That couldn't be; that wouldn’t make any sense.
Madison unconsciously ran her hand across her wrist, across the tattoo she had all but forced me to get as well: an Ankh. Her dream, it was coming. These were the girls. Madison wanted the tattoo because she said that a girl that looked liked her would kill us if we didn’t have it, that she needed to know we were real and this was the only way, but that didn’t make any sense to me right now. All I knew was I was
n’t
looking forward to living throu
gh any nightmare Madison had
.