Draven cautiously raised his hand and I moved my head slowly from side to side. I saw the resolve in his image. He was glad I was stopping us before we went too far, but he was wrong: I wasn’t stopping anything.
As he lowered his hand, I focused on that small light I saw within him, then stepped forward and reached for that glow. When my hands passed through where his chest would be if he were solid, our bodies - which were on the couch beside us - let out a breath, and Draven’s arms tightened around my body. I ignored the pain my body was telling me his grip was bringing. If I let it, my body would have called my soul back as a form of defense. Instead, my thoughts were on this tantalizing energy that was swimming through my soul. My hands touched the light I saw in him and I heard sighs from our bodies. The sign was a weak reconnection of this bliss.
I felt like I was holding his soul, the part of him that I know I never forgot. I wanted to dive into this ecstasy and did just that as I stepped forward, pulling my soul into his. At that moment, we were truly one. Ecstasy was felt for the first time.
A bolt of light exploded from us. It was so bright you would have thought the sun was shining on us, through us. I couldn’t see anything, hear anything. But I could feel him, every part of him, the good and the bad. I felt it. It mirrored my emotions. Where he was dense I was light. Where I was dark he was light. It was a balance of elation that suspended time. Right now, there was no tomorrow, no today - or even a yesterday. Our existence was this: being one. Completely and utterly connected to the universe itself.
The stress of being out of place or even lost was gone. I didn’t need to worry about my parents, my friends, Monroe, or even the damned souls because I knew at that point that this was what every soul was striving for. I knew we would bring this to the world. This peace, this resolution.
The aroma of roses filled the room. The lingering scent of mint was there, too. It was coming from him - from the core of his soul. It was strong, refreshing, and most essentially, everlasting.
Ecstasy consumed us, the light around our souls dimmed, and the night took on the shade of a rose, one that lasted for hours. We didn’t bother to move, to wake until the sun had been up for hours. It was our bodies that protested: the grumble of our stomachs began to pull us to a wakeful state.
My energy eased out of his, only to notice a sense of awe in his essence. He could not fathom the night we had. Neither could I.
A clenching pain in my body pulled me out of that surreal moment and into the wakeful state in which my body wanted me to be in. When I focused my eyes, I realized it was a hunger pang. I was furious at my body for being so selfish. I knew I’d gone longer than this without food. It didn’t make sense that I felt this way.
Draven moved beneath me and realized that he was awake, too. I smiled shyly at him, still feeling the hum of his soul within me. Oddly, the scent of mint was now coming from his skin, but it was so light that I had to focus to make sure I was really sensing it.
“If you ever even dare to doubt that we belong together, I’m going to...I don’t know what I’m going to do, but it will be bad - possibly painful,” I threatened in the most unimpressive tone.
A breathtaking grin came across his face as his hand cupped my face and he pulled me into a deep kiss - a kiss that was hungry, a kiss that didn’t care what today held. We had just beaten the demon that had haunted us for months. It didn’t matter that he was an Escort, that my energy was brighter. It didn’t matter because our souls had proven that we fit together perfectly as one.
My stomach growled again, ending the moment. Draven pulled away from his kiss when his laughter forced him to.
“Why am I so hungry?” I asked in an annoyed tone.
“I’m starving, too. Maybe our bodies felt what we were going through. Had to be exhausting for them.”
“You’re exhausted?” I asked, thinking that from the way Cashton talked about this, he should feel powerful, not weak.
“Are you kidding? I feel like I could run a marathon, climb a mountain, play endlessly – the harder the song, the better.” His eyes grew wide, emphasizing the part about playing.
“Me, too.” I arose from his chest. “I’m going to take a quick shower, then figure out what’s for breakfast.”
He chased my lips as I stood stealing one more kiss. Playfully, I raced away from his embrace as he fell from the couch.
“That was cruel!” he yelled after me, trying to stifle a laugh.
“The faster we get through this day, the faster we can convince them to let us come back here,” I yelled back as I grabbed my bag from the bed before going into the bathroom connected to the bedroom.
In the shower I could not stop grinning. Even as I thought of what I was fighting I still smiled because I knew I could face it now. I felt like I could face anything or anyone.
By the time I was dressed I could smell pancakes. The aroma made me hurry to put on my short combat boots just before shoving my jeans into them.
Draven had finished making the pancakes and was starting on the eggs when I took over and nudged him to take his turn in the shower. When he kissed my temple before he walked away, I could still feel the hum of his essence – still smell that mint. The memory of our night together sent a warm shiver through me.
We ate in silence, catching each other’s stare once in a while and blushing shyly when we saw the images of last night in each other’s mind.
“Are you ready for tonight?” I asked him once the kitchen was clean.
He was leaning against the bar in the kitchen and reached for me to come to his side. “Playing is going to feel good, but all I’m going to be focused on is convincing Brady to bring us back here.”
I felt some invisible force around me reach for him in eager compliance, but my skin blushed beneath my serious composure.
“There’s more to it than playing and getting back here. We have a lot to work out. First thing I want to do is make sure Monroe is okay. Maybe she can confirm if Grayson is really okay, what side Winston is on. We just have to figure out what to do next.”
His hands slowly moved across my back. “I know this is a lot. We are losing people faster than we can save them. We just need to take this moment-to-moment. We’ll find our way.” He moved his hand in small circles against my back. “We’re going to keep you nice and innocent, like the peacemaker you are.”
I cringed. “You can’t fight all my battles for me. We are in this together. There is no leaving one of us behind. You remember that when you get any crazy ideas in that head of yours.”
He had to have felt me begging him to promise me one more time that he wouldn’t do something stupid, something that would take him away from me - take us away - but he didn’t say a word. He just pulled me to his chest. I wanted to hear him promise me, though, and just as I was about to demand it, there was a knock on the door.
Draven cleared his throat before sliding away from me to answer it. I assumed it was Cashton, but that’s not who he let in: it was Brady, and he was all alone.
“Hey, guys. I know I’m a little early – hey, something smells good. Do you have any -” Brady stopped short as his eyes met me, and a smile resonated on his face as he looked at Draven, then back at me. “Wow,” he said, almost to himself. “You guys...you guys look strong.”
“Are you serious?” I said just before I turned crimson.
Brady’s grin grew. “Why are you blushing? I just meant that you guys haven’t been this...I don’t know, ‘bright’ since I met you. Looks like a quiet night on the beach gave you your second wind - which you need, by the way. The list of problems is growing. I think the latest issue, though, is almost solved – well, found.”
It was clear he was having a hard time focusing. He just kept looking between us with the most absurd wonder in his eyes.
I tried to unfocused my eyes so I could see if there were some awkward color to my energy, but when I did I really didn’t see anything more than I saw yesterday. At that point, I just as
sumed Brady was acting that way because he had never seen us happy or this relaxed. I told myself I was being paranoid.
“What do you mean, ‘new problem’”? Draven asked, clearly not caring what Brady was looking at.
“Madison didn’t come home last night. None of them did. We didn’t figure it out until this morning when Drake was supposed to show up for breakfast - some kind of meeting with the court.”
“What do you mean, she didn’t come home?!” I yelled as I rushed to the door, as if I could run to the last place I’d seen her and find her standing there.
“Calm down,” Brady said, blocking my way to the door. “Aden did the ‘seeing’ thing and found her at her mom’s – with everybody else. Willow and Landen went to get them. Marc is posing as Drake right now. He cancelled the meeting with the court, stating he was having breakfast with Draven instead.”
Draven looked down at his jeans and black T-shirt, then back at Brady. “Do I need to change?”
“Nah. Aden is playing you.” Brady held in a laugh. “I swear it’s like all of you have doubles. Good thing, too. It’s saved us more than once. There are going to be fireworks at the palace when Drake gets back. I’ve never seen Alamos so mad – and Drake could care less who he makes mad.”
“She’s fine, though? You’re sure?” I asked for clarification.
“Promise. Aden just decided to look in the one place he thought Madison would go if she could go anywhere, and he found her at home. Aden never even left the room and found them before hundreds of others could even figure out where to look.”
“Take us to Monroe,” Draven ordered, “then I want to see my brother. I need to talk to him, understand what’s going on in his head. Has he been acting weird? Do you think he’s processing everything okay?”
“He’s fine. That place he went really helped him center himself - to not grab too much information. I mean, I can tell he’s trying to unravel all this - the big picture, as he calls it. Honestly, he’s just more talkative now.” He looked at me. “Monroe is in New Orleans with your family. She was the one who set everything in motion last night. Dad already had her in New Orleans before Winston disappeared.”
“I don't understand. She knew this was going to happen? Why did she want to go to Nana and not us?”
Brady shrugged his shoulders. “She rose from her meditation and asked to go there. They told her to wait a few hours until your dinner was done so you would know. But she insisted, and Preston and Libby backed her up.”
“What was her excuse? Did she even give one?”
“She said she had to protect Libby and Preston - and Allie - that her father would soon know where she was and she needed to hide in the darkness, something about how she was too easy to see in Chara.”
“Was she scared?” I asked in a crackling voice. I was doing a really bad job of making sure she was safe.
“She never looks scared. Rose assured my dad that she wasn’t. She said she was really calm and sure that she needed to go where your family is. We can go by the palace, meet up with everyone, then head to Infante - New Orleans - so you can get ready for tonight.”
We were eager to go. I had to know that Monroe was okay, that Madison was. I was actually pretty surprised that Madison had pulled something like that. She wasn’t one to rock the scales when there was a lot going on - but then again, knowing her, she more than likely wanted to get her mother’s take on Drake, on everything.
Just as I stepped forward, something blocked me. It was dense, paralyzing, and invisible. I wasn’t the only one that felt it. Draven and Brady were frozen in place, too. Wide-eyed, I went to speak - but before I could I saw an image appear in the living room.
Chapter Fifteen
A ball of fire that turned purple had escorted the image into the quaint living room. It was a girl, a beautiful girl. Her hair was long, blonde, yet held a tint of lavender. Her eyes were crystal blue and looked as if the ocean itself were swimming in the raging emotions I saw in her. I couldn’t explain her style. It was modern, yet aged. Her black pants were tight and had several pockets and loops here and there. Her top looked like a corset, and the deep purple enhanced the lavender tone in her blonde hair. A necklace that reached to her stomach carried the large symbol of a pentagram. It shone as a purple flame evaporated across it.
A violin was in her left hand and a bow in her right. Her eyes locked with Draven’s and as they did I could swear I saw an ache there. Swiftly, her stare met mine as she aimed her bow at my father’s guitar. A purple flame encased it, causing it to explode in slow motion. Within the slow-moving debris, a cream colored sheet of paper floated to the ceiling. She pulled her bow back to her, and when she did, the guitar was whole again and the fire was out. After one more gaze at Draven, she vanished, taking with her the weight that was paralyzing us in place.
“What. Just. Happened?” I uttered as I replayed it over and over in my mind. The entire episode lasted only five seconds at best.
Draven stepped forward and caught the paper that was floating to the floor. The unexpected aroma of sage in the room was telling me that I was not crazy - that it did just happen.
“What does it say?” Brady asked Draven in a faint tone.
“Wait - don’t read it...is it safe? Was she good or bad?” I argued, not trusting anyone or anything, especially something as wicked as that. Where the hell was Cashton when I needed him?
“This house is sealed with herbs,” Brady clarified. “They were put here to protect you before I brought you here. A mile in each direction was also sealed off. That girl was far from evil.”
“You’re trusting herbs to tell you that?” I argued.
“I’m trusting the fact that she was wearing a pentagram. That alone stands for protection against evil. And the sage – do you smell it? That wards off evil,” Brady said to me as he walked to Draven’s side.
I nodded, agreeing with him. Now that my heart was beating at a calmer level, I was almost sure I’d read something like that when Madison and I were trying to seal off the school so we could help the shadows before they vanished into the town, just in case something really evil followed us out of The Realm. We were nothing if not cautious.
“Then what was she?”
“Best guess: a shadowed soul,” Brady replied dryly.
“What?” Draven and I both said at once.
“They’re not ghosts, and they’re not dark. They just died before their time. They know who they are and at what moment they can step back into life. Where Felicity was raised, they are basically worshipped, seen as guardians. They feel that they move you forward to open a door for them so they can protect you from falling into the same fate that they had. Others have different beliefs, ones that say they are lurking to take over your life. I’ve never seen truth to the negative side of it. I have for the positive, though.”
“You’ve seen dead people come back to life?” I questioned as I searched his thoughts, not finding that to be true.
“No, but I have seen babies that have been born exactly 40 weeks, 8 days, 16 hours, 32 minutes, and eight seconds after sighting one. That was when Allie was born. The time was exact from when Felicity awoke from a dream of seeing one.”
“Your daughter,” I said breathlessly.
He swallowed nervously. “Every number leads back to eight, except for the minutes. Thirty-two – three plus two – adds to five, which means change.”
“What does eight mean?” Draven asked.
“Perfection, infinity, the total universe, new life, resurrection, prosperity, love, the sun – the list is endless. Felicity and I have studied everything we know, trying to understand our baby, why us, why her - and we are no closer today than we were that night of her dream. It took Allie’s birth for me to believe that the dream was more than it was. I still don’t know what to think about it.”
Draven and I both glanced nervously at each other, wondering what had caused this visit from that shadowed soul.
“What’s on
the paper?” Brady asked again. I could feel the fear coming off him. It was stabbing what energy I did have left like knives.
“Wait. No. Felicity had a dream - then had a baby? We just saw her wide awake. What does that mean?!” I asked in a rushed panic.
“Whatever is on that paper, I’m assuming,” Brady answered emphatically. “When you see them, they basically tell you exactly what must happen for their door to open. Felicity was handed a baby girl, you were handed a note. Hence why I am very eager to see what is on it.”
“So I do what’s on that paper, and that girl comes to life?” Draven asked.
“I don’t know. Listen, everyone is trying to figure out how to move forward because if we move forward, the children are safe, Monroe is safe. Shadowed souls move you forward; they knock you into the door you must open. They represent life, new beginnings, and fate. That girl could just be one of the millions of answered pleas this family and dimension have sent to the universe. All we want is peace for everyone.”
Draven glanced to the paper, then to me. “It’s one of her father’s songs – well, part of it. It looks like the scrap paper he was using to write it out.”
“Which one?”
“Rex Mortis.”
“The king of death?” Brady asked in a hollow tone.
“I guess it does mean that, but the song is more instrumental than lyrical. Most people thought it was about a guy named Rex,” I explained, reaching for the paper. I read my father’s handwriting aloud. “Bereavement for Rex Mortis will come when the divided are one; fire will burn, angels will fall.” The song went on to repeat those words at different times and places among a heavy drum and rhythm guitar.
“Xavier has been called the king of death for as long as I can remember,” Brady stated, as he turned white.
“What?!”
“Old stories say that when you were sent to execution, he was the one that did so, and you had a choice to die in agony or with a touch. Most chose the touch because it looked painless, but the real pain came after death - eternally damned, or so the story goes. It is an old wives’ tale that has been spoken in whispers since before my grandfather’s time in Esterious.”