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  “What do you mean? We have longer than that,” Ashten said, following us out onto the front steps.

  “We were wrong about the orbit. Every time is mapped out on here; she will help us,” Landen answered. “Where is she?” he asked Preston.

  “In Delen; in the palace,” Preston answered.

  “Are you sure? We were just there,” I said.

  Libby and Preston both frantically nodded ‘yes.’

  “You stay here,” I said to Libby.

  She sighed. “I knew you were going to say that,” she said, looking solemn. Landen nodded for Preston to go back to Ashten.

  “She’s in the observatory,” Preston said to Landen, who nodded in response.

  August climbed into the backseat of our Jeep, and Landen drove off in the direction of the passage, not allowing anymore arguments.

  August slid in the middle to talk to us as we drove. “I don’t want to concern you, but we may have less than three days. It’s well into the seventeenth day in Esterious, and Delen is in the same time as Willow’s birthplace,” he said, looking at Landen.

  Landen tightened his jaw and increased his speed. There was no doubt he was in shock; he thought we had more time, and he longed for the peace in which he wanted us to live. Sensing that I felt guilty for being the reason we had to live through this, Landen reached his hand over and let it rest on mine. He then looked at me and shook his head ‘no,’ reassuring me that there was no reason for my guilt.

  Chapter Two

  Once we reached Delen, we could see that all of the palace lights were burning brightly; people were lining the streets, anxious to see what had brought Perodine back so abruptly. As we walked through the large iron gates, flashes of the storm came to me, then an overwhelming emotion of grief flooded me. The girl kissing Landen...the pain in Drake’s eyes as I hurt him once again...those memories were worse than any nightmare I’d ever had.

  The front doors were open, and a young woman dressed in black was standing in the shadows; she intended to lead us to Perodine. Inside the place, we grudgingly climbed eight flights of stairs, then turned down a short hallway that led to a vast open room. In the center of the stone room, there was a square pool; stars from above reflected in the dark water. Perodine was standing near the center of the pool; the water was clinging to her waist. She waded carefully backwards, and as she moved, the water grew more shallow. She was wearing black slacks and a black T-shirt. I’d never seen her so informal; it made her seem more real, approachable. She was studying the reflection of the stars, and I could feel her anger, frustration, and absolute dread.

  August walked in front of me and Landen. When he reached the pool, he quietly slid his shoes off and stepped slowly in, trying not to move the stars on which Perodine was focused.

  Landen and I cautiously walked to the pool, anxiously watching them, wanting any help we could get from the stars above.

  “Perodine,” I said quietly. She looked up as if I’d screamed her name, then noticed August in the pool for the first time. Around her neck, I could see dark bruises - as if she’d been severely choked by someone. “Who hurt you?” I asked, horrified.

  As she held back tears that wanted to surface, her eyes seemed to turn to glass. She then waded through the pool toward me, filling with absolute defeat. As she leaned across the edge and put her hand on my face, her eyes carefully studied my every feature. “I’m afraid, my child, that he is more powerful dead than he ever was alive,” she whispered to me.

  I felt as if the wind was suddenly knocked from my body, and my heart pounded in my chest. What did she mean? Donalt was a ghost, a demon?

  “He’s been planning this for millions of years,” she continued.

  “Planning what?” Landen asked, terror consuming him.

  Perodine let her hand drop from my face, then slowly turned around and sat on the edge of the pool. August was now quietly studying the starry reflections.

  “He knew all along where Guardian’s soul would be born, where you’d be born. He orchestrated this entire dilemma - just so he could return again,” Perodine answered. “I’m such a fool.”

  “It’s not your fault,” I said, sitting down next to her.

  “I just don’t know why I didn’t see it in the stars,” Perodine said, letting her face rest in her hands. I put my hand on her shoulder, and so did Landen; together, we tried to give her a sense of calm - but she refused to succumb to the emotion.

  “Absolute genius,” I heard August say in a disgusted tone.

  Perodine looked up from her hands, and August waved her over to see the reflection he was studying. She approached carefully. August began to point to the water, and as Perodine studied the stars, I felt an anger come over her with an intent of revenge.

  “What do you see?” Landen asked them.

  “In the stars, I saw conflicts in Willow’s path; a man, darkness keeping her from you. I thought it was Drake - but Donalt weaved his intentions alongside Drake, hiding himself,” Perodine said, shaking her head and smiling - almost deviously.

  “I don’t understand,” I said, looking around at all of them.

  “When I saw danger in your path, I thought it was Drake. I never thought it would be Donalt; I’d already considered him dead, and I never considered the idea that he’d linger between lives,” she said, looking around the room in the dark shadows. She let her anger overturn her fear, then glared into the darkness.

  “How can he take the power if it’s her heart?” Landen asked, bewildered.

  “I’m afraid he’s had four million years to plan - and I’ve had only moments to understand it,” Perodine said, concentrating on the stars again.

  She and August waded in the water for countless minutes, then at the same time they said, “Three days.”

  August looked back in our direction. “Just like the scroll.”

  “What scroll?” Perodine asked.

  “It was found with their charts,” he said, wading toward us.

  Perodine looked at me and smiled. “You did manage to steal it,” she said as relief overcame her.

  “You know what it is?” I asked, stepping out of her way.

  She reached for a towel, wrapped it around herself, then led us to a doorway. On the left, it led to another vast room; two of the walls were books from ceiling-to-floor, one was a wall of windows, and in the center of the third was a large fireplace. Two doorways framed either side of it, leading to more of the palace, and three couches framed the fireplace. A large round table was in the center of the room, circled by six chairs, and books and scrolls were open all over it. As Perodine walked over to it and began to clear a space for the scroll we’d brought, we followed her, eager to get her interpretation.

  “We knew that Donalt had the most trusted stargazers of that time study the heavens above at the time of your birth; we knew that it held the path of all of your lives. The night you were pushed into the string was the night you intended to steal it,” Perodine explained as she moved open books from the table to make room for the scroll. “I never knew if you had it or not; I think I’ve looked for it every day for the past four million years,” she continued, reaching for the scroll.

  As Landen handed it to her, his eyes met mine. Perodine then gently unrolled the delicate cloth; if she could read this, our lives would be told to us before we had a chance to live them – which was something that everyone and no one wanted. I could feel disappointment coming from Perodine.

  “What is it? Is it the wrong scroll?” I asked.

  “No, it’s the right one - but it’s been altered,” she said as she leaned in and looked closely at the symbols. “It looks as if you sought advice on how to decode it; there are answers around the planets, written in code, and foreign words,” Perodine said.

  “Those are answers?” August asked. Having seen the document as an original, seeing the division now was astounding to him.

  “Well, what someone thought were answers,” Perodine said bleakly.

/>   “If Donalt is a ghost, how dangerous is it that Willow is here?” Landen asked.

  Perodine seemed to freeze, and her eyes raced back and forth. She then looked to the doorway that led to the pool, then back at us. “Where’s Allie?” she asked.

  Allie, Brady and Felicity’s infant, was someone I felt would lead us all one day. Perodine had said as much when I saw her last.

  “In Chara, where she belongs,” I answered.

  As I spoke, Perodine shook her head no. “No, he knows about the passage you made to Evelyn and Stella, the one that rests next to your home...Donalt knows everything,” she said in a rush. Landen and I looked at each other; it had escaped our attention that we’d left an obscure gate inside Chara.

  “You must go there and take everyone with your bloodline to Pelhan; I’m sure he’s expecting them. Return here with your shields – it’s the only protection I think we have,” Perodine said, walking to us, then guiding us to the doorway.

  “What do you mean ‘shields?’” Landen asked, stopping her.

  I could feel her impatience and urgency. “The Cancers, the ones who have lingered at your side your entire life,” Perodine said breathlessly.

  I took Landen’s hand and pulled him to the doorway. I knew what Perodine was saying: return with Dane and Marc, the two that had unknowingly guarded me and Landen throughout our lives.

  “Landen,” August said to stop us. He then took a sheet of paper from the table, wrote a quick note, and rushed it to Landen. “Tell Nyla to give you these books - and make sure she gets to Pelhan.”

  Landen nodded; we knew August intended on staying there and trying to unravel the scroll so he could protect us.

  The people of Delen were lingering on the streets, wondering what was about to happen. Landen raised his hand and said “We’ll be right back,” over and over again, trying to assure them that they were all safe.

  When we stepped in the string, my heart felt like it was pounding through my chest. I couldn’t breathe, and not finding breath sent me into a panic: I started to see black spots, then a dizzy sensation swept through me. Landen reached his arms around me and held me as tightly as he could against his chest, rushing a calm through me. It can’t get any harder, Landen...I’m not over the last time; I can’t go through something like that again, I thought as the panic faded in his embrace.

  He leaned back and looked into my eyes, and I found myself mesmerized by the diamond blue eyes that the light of the string had created.

  “We love each other. They cannot tear us apart.”

  “I’m not as strong as you; I get weaker every time.”

  “You get stronger; we both do,” he thought.

  He swayed me with the flow of the string, and I closed my eyes and took in the overwhelming power of energy flowing around us, as well as the calm that Landen was giving me. I slowly began to catch my breath, and when the tightness in my chest began to release, I let my hand fall inside of Landen’s. He smiled at me and gently kissed my forehead.

  In the distance, we could feel the string filling with emotion, an anxious emotion. Landen tightened his grip on my hand, and we began to run to Chara - fearing the worst. When the first hazes of Chara came into view, we saw hundreds of people crossing out of Chara into the neighboring dimension, Olence. We passed by them, eager to make sure our family was safe; inside our passage, we saw Chrispin and Olivia waiting with their travel bags.

  “What’s going on?” Landen asked Chrispin.

  “Preston and Libby told your dad to make everyone on this side of Chara move for three days; they told them to go to Olence. Do you know what they’re talking about?”Chrispin asked, bewildered.

  “We have to return to Delen with Mark and Dane and take the rest of you to Pelhan,” Landen answered.

  “What? You’re not hiding me away and taking Marc off to battle; I should be there – wait, why Dane?” Chrispin asked, feeling betrayed.

  “I didn’t choose; that’s what Perodine said. Look, Donalt is in-between, like your Dad - only in a dark way; he’s the threat this time. I have to listen to Perodine’s advice,” Landen said, pulling me to our Jeep. “I need you to get everybody here for me; I’ll get Nyla and Marc,” he finished as we began to pull away.

  Chrispin nodded and ran to his Jeep, then drove off in the other direction. Landen stopped at our house and ran in to grab our bags, then we sped through the streets to Marc’s house. All of their lights were out, and we could feel the calm of sleep coming from them. I felt so guilty; we were about to charge in and separate them after they’d had only days to know one another.

  “If he wants to stay with her, then I’m going to tell him to,” Landen said as we turned into Marc’s yard.

  I knew Perodine believed that the Cancers would protect us, but I didn’t want to ask either of them to return with us. I let the intent of giving Dane a choice to stay, too, come to me, and Landen smiled as he sensed it. We hesitated for a moment, staring at the dark house, feeling the love between Stella and Marc; it was so beautiful. Landen sighed heavily, then opened the Jeep door. I followed him anxiously to the porch.

  Landen knocked quietly on the door, and we waited. We then felt them waking up, wondering who had the boldness to disturb them. Marc opened the door and squinted in our direction, then closed it behind him, keeping us all on the porch. “It’s a little late for a visit, don’t you think?” he said, stretching and smiling at Landen. When Landen didn’t smile back, Marc knew something was wrong. “Already?” he asked.

  Landen nodded. “Three days. Perodine told us to take our families to Pelhan and return with you and Dane,” he said, looking down, then up again.

  “What did Drake do? Is my mother OK?” Marc asked, angry.

  “It’s Donalt, not Drake; apparently, he doesn’t feel his time is over. Marc, you don’t have to come to Delen with me, but you have to at least go to Pelhan - for your safety.”

  “Oh, I’m going with you - and don’t try and talk me out of it,” Marc said, opening the door to gather his things. Landen reached for his shoulder and looked past him; Stella had come to see who was there.

  “You need more time. I’ll be fine,” Landen promised.

  “I’m going,” Marc said, closing the door.

  Landen sighed and pulled my hand for us to leave. As we drove to get Nyla, I tried to prepare myself for her reaction when we told her that she wasn’t going to see August for three days; I couldn’t envision her without her overwhelming calm.

  When we got to her house, Nyla was standing on the front porch with two travel bags at her feet and two large books in her arms. As Landen pulled up to the porch, I stepped out and took the books from her arms. Both of them were no less than six inches thick, the pages were yellow, and the leather on the covers had worn on every edge. Landen walked around and loaded the bags.

  “Where are you supposed to take me?” she asked, feeling somewhat excited.

  “To Pelhan. Who told you to pack?” Landen asked, opening the backdoor for her to get in.

  “I knew when you left here with that scroll that the influence of Venus was sure to begin.”

  After making sure Nyla was safely in the Jeep, Landen pulled the note August had given him out of his pocket. He looked at the titles, then walked to me, took the top book, and checked the title. He did the same with the second. “These are the ones,” he whispered, shaking his head. I could feel a sense of betrayal coming from Landen; he felt like this when we’d first met: that his family had him on a need-to-know basis.

  “Best intentions,” I thought.

  “I hope so,” he thought, opening my door. I climbed in, and he set the books gently on my lap, then closed the door.

  Nyla slid to the center of the back seat and leaned forward so she could see me. I looked to my side at her, then down to the books in my lap.

  “What are these?” I asked timidly.

  Nyla stretched her arm forward and let her fingertips trace over the worn leather corners. Landen
climbed in and began to drive us to the passage. “This one is of my ancestors; the one on the bottom is Karsten’s ancestors,” she answered. I looked at Landen; Karsten was my grandfather, which meant that in my lap I held the history of both Landen and my bloodlines.

  “You’re both from Analess?” Landen said, confused by Nyla’s answer.

  “Yes, but we’re from two opposite sides of the dimension; we’re only connected by the Odiona.”

  “Odiona?” Landen questioned. I knew he’d never heard this before, and it was making him angry.