“I am giving you the chance to not only rule the entire universe. You can be as kind or as cruel as you desire,” Drake said as if he were painting a beautiful portrait.
Libby’s image danced across the room, her laughter echoing around me. Drake’s eyes followed her.
“Would you put your comfort before hers? Yours before billions?”
He’d managed to put his hands on my face again, and my clarity left me. My head fell back, and his lips touched my neck. I felt the ring on my finger burn, and the necklace responded.
“I love Landen. I always have, and I always will.”
As I said the words, the white glow vanished, and we were back in the dark room. I felt someone jerk me away, and I fell to the ground. Opening my eyes wide, I saw Landen and Drake on the ground, fighting. Beth and Marc crouched over Livingston’s body, which was lying at the base of the stonewall. I looked to see that it was Brady that was holding me, and I struggled to stand, halfway pulling him up with me.
“Landen, tell me you love me—tell Drake that’s how I got away.”
Landen stood, and Drake followed. As they glared at each other, Landen said, “I love Willow, she loves me. What you have done will be undone, today and every day that follows.”
Silence fell in the room. Beth stood and slowly walked toward Drake. The rings that we were wearing were drawn to each other, putting me in Landen’s arms. The wind turned in the room. Electricity was coursing through us. A stunning white light came from our hands then bolted toward Drake. Beth dove in front of him, screaming. Suddenly, she vanished and so did Drake.
On the stonewall, the candle under the moon ignited into a flame that burned the entire wall. Brady raced to the altar, fearing that the book would be next. “I’ve got the page. Do you want to look for the star?” Brady yelled, running to us and handing Landen the page.
“It’s gone,” Landen said in a whisper.
“What?”
“I’m sure that’s where his power came from, it’s still with him,” Landen said, stunned.
“Is he dead?” Marc asked, not looking up from Livingston’s body.
“We don’t know where he is,” Landen said, looking at Marc with remorse.
Sorrow and grief hit Landen and me with a force that wiped our energy away. I looked to my side and saw Livingston. The absence of emotion told us he was gone. I strolled to Marc, pulling every single happy memory that I’d ever had forward. He saw me coming and stood and opened his arms. I hugged him tightly and thought the words ‘everything happens for a reason’ over and over, and I finally felt Marc’s emotion break. He was at peace, at least for the moment.
“We should go,” Brady said with a heavy heart. He leaned down and picked up Livingston’s body and carried it to the string. I turned and reached for the book on the altar. When I reached to pick it up, a force repelled my hands. Landen then reached for the book, only to be repelled as well.
“You have the page. Let’s go,” Brady said.
We looked at each other, knowing that this was not over, and walked toward the passage. I then remembered the little boy and searched for him in the darkness. Landen and I felt his grief and followed it to one of the dark corners, where he was huddled in a small ball. Landen reached down and picked him up, checking to see if he’d been hurt.
“What’s your name?” I asked softly.
“Preston”
“Preston, are you okay?”
“Where did my mommy go?”
We glanced to Marc to see the blank, fearful expression on his face.
“She had to leave for now. Where’s your father?” Landen asked.
Preston reached his arm out and pointed at Brady holding Livingston.
“He’s sleeping now,” Preston said in an innocent voice.
Brady stepped through the passage, taking Livingston out of sight. Marc walked over to Landen and reached his arms out for Preston.
“We’re going to take you home now. You’re safe,” Marc promised the little boy.
Marc walked to the opening in the string, shielding Preston. Landen and I followed. Just as we reached the string, I heard, “Aliyanna—Guardian,” in a comfortingly familiar voice.
I turned to see Perodine walking from the shadows toward us. Marc’s fear spiked, but Landen reached his hand back to tell him that we were safe. She had the intent of helping us; we could feel the love coming from her.
“It’s not over, is it?” I asked her.
Perodine closed her green eyes and shook her head no. She then walked closer, stopping just before us. Landen wrapped his arms around my waist. Perodine smiled kindly at him, bowed her head, and said, “Your task has only just begun. There are eight beyond the sun and the moon, and they will all test your love.”
“Is Drake gone now?” I asked with an ache in my voice.
“Alamos will bring Drake back. Alamos has given Drake a power unique to himself, but for any man to see the universe the way he desires it to be, he must have your heart.”
“I will always choose Landen.”
“It was my wish then, as it is now.”
“You aren’t angry with me, for what I did, for not coming back?”
Perodine smiled warmly at both of us. “It was impossible for you to return then.” Perodine waved her arm, and the smoke from candles on the altar began to take the shapes of images—images of me, of a life I could not remember. Landen and I were in this room, and men in cloaks pushed a light toward us, then we vanished. The scene changed to a beautiful field of wildflowers, and my body changed, too—I was carrying a baby. Time then shifted forward, and Landen and I were playing in a field with Libby.
“She was ours,” Landen thought as I felt a deep compassion rise inside of him.
Perodine smiled as she saw me and Landen take in our past. The guilt we had for not returning was washed away. Libby was our reason.
“Today, everything has moved. You can be the souls I dreamed you to be.”
I felt Perodine and Landen’s fear rise and heard footsteps coming closer. Perodine leaned in and kissed my cheek, then smiled up at Landen and said, “Go. Quickly.”
Hastily I hugged her, then Landen pulled me into the string. Marc was holding Preston, and when he was sure that we were okay, he led us home. Landen and I followed. We had it all wrong: we weren’t selfish. We had no choice. Knowing that lightened our hearts and brought us closer. We stared forward, wide-eyed, trying to conceive how Preston was Livingston’s son. In the string, it was clear that little Preston had no problem seeing. He looked over Marc’s shoulder at me and smiled. “Do I get to play with Libby now that I’m going home?”
I smiled and nodded, too stunned to ask how he knew her name.
Chapter Nineteen
“Resistance is a sign that shows you're going the right way” Constance Friday
It was daybreak when we reached our home, and for the first time I saw the rain fall in Chara. Brady had vanished into the dawn with Livingston’s body. Marc, still carrying Preston, followed us to my parents’ home. The porch light was on, and upstairs we could see Libby sitting in her window seat, patiently waiting for us. We saw her in a new way. It was clear why her insight centered on us. We loved her even more deeply now.
Libby ran outside to meet us, and we knelt down and scooped her up into our embrace. Both of us had tears in our eyes. We couldn’t ever leave her, no one could.
“I knew you’d come back to me. I just knew it, love you,” she whispered in our neck.
“We love you…” Landen whispered.
Libby let go, then ran to Preston and hugged him. My father was on the steps, confused and scared when he saw us so early with a little boy. We walked past him, keeping our eyes down.
Landen and I walked up the stairs to Hannah and Jessica’s room. The girls were lying in the same positions when we’d left them. We knelt down between their beds, laying the page on the floor between us. We then joined hands and touched the girls. Landen held Jessica’s han
d as I held Hannah’s. We looked at each other one last time then to the page to read the words scrolled on it.
“Speak pure, hear love, sleep only to dream, dream only pure, dream only love, be no more…leave this now.”
Beneath our left hands, a pure white light glowed and a mesmerizing hum centered in my soul and sent a sensation throughout my body. I looked to Landen to see if he could feel it, too; in his eyes, I saw a beautiful glow. He smiled at me. Locked in our stare, we didn’t notice Hannah and Jessica wake from their sleep.
“Where are we?” Hannah said.
“I don’t remember,” Jessica answered.
They looked at each other, realizing that they’d they been healed then threw themselves in each other’s arms.
Landen’s eyes were still locked into mine. As he leaned slowly forward and kissed me, the room disappeared. I realized how easy it would have been to succumb to Drake’s touch, and I was amazed at my will power and thankful that Landen’s love was strong enough to carry me through.
Walking down the stairs, we could hear Libby and Preston giggling in the kitchen. My mother was waiting for us, wide-eyed, not understanding what had happened through the night.
“We need to talk, but we can’t do it here,” I whispered to my mother, looking at Preston.
At that moment, Olivia stepped in the back door. We could feel her grief, and we knew she’d seen Brady.
“Um…I can watch Libby if you guys need to go to Willow’s for a little bit,” Olivia said to my mother. “Did…did the page work?” she asked, bracing for our answer.
Hannah and Jessica trailed into the kitchen, answering her question. My mother let out a few happy tears as she witnessed our reunion.
Brady had gathered his parents, Chrispin, Felicity, Dane and Clarissa at our house. Landen made a call to August and Rose’s home, telling them that there had been an event.
We sat in silence, waiting for the others to arrive, feeling the heavy weight of grief coming from those who knew. In rain-drenched clothes, one by one people filled our house. Brady looked to Landen to explain, knowing that Marc wouldn’t be able to find the words. Marc went to Chrispin’s side as Landen stood in the front of the fireplace.
“We left last night,” Landen began. Sighs filled the room, and anger came over Ashten and my father. Landen continued, “Libby told us we needed a page to heal the girls – and she also told Brady and Marc. We didn’t leave you out of this to be spiteful; we only had your safety in mind.” Landen’s eyes shifted between Ashten and Chrispin then he continued, “Once there … once we were there, we saw Adonia’s body.”
Aubrey put her head in her lap, trying not faint.
“Livingston was there,” Landen said.
My father and Ashten sat at full attention, feeling less nervous to know that he’d been at our side to help us.
“Um…you may know this,” Landen said, looking at his father, Ashten, “but it seems that Beth was alive and well. Drake is her and Livingston’s son, not Adonia’s.”
Astonishment filled the room. It seemed Livingston had managed to keep his secret close to him. Chrispin stood, raging with anger as Marc pulled him back down. Landen took an uneasy breath and continued, “Livingston tried to talk Drake down, but he didn’t listen, and with the power of the star…he flung him across the room, knocking him into a stone wall.”
“Where is he now?” my father said as he stood, wanting to deliver any medical attention he could.
Landen swallowed hard and looked at Chrispin, who was still being held back by Marc.
“We brought his body home,” Brady said, helping Landen.
A chilling silence came over the room. I walked to Landen’s side, embracing him, trying to give him peace.
“Where is Beth?” Rose asked.
“We faced Drake, and when it was over, a light came from us, then pushed toward him. Beth jumped in front of it, and she and Drake disappeared. We don’t know where they are.”
“Who is that little boy?” my mother asked.
“His name is Preston. He told us that Livingston was his father and Beth was his mother. He helped us; somehow, he told Libby through a dream about the page and the flowers,” I answered.
August had been staring out the front window, watching the rain. He was calm, at peace, and proud of all of us. Landen could feel it, too; it was the only comfort we had at that point.
“Did it work—the page?” asked Felicity.
“They are completely healed, but we need to take them home soon. I can’t tell you that this world will not reject them again,” my father said, consumed with grief and dread and holding his eyes down.
My mother rubbed his shoulders, calming him with her touch. Aubrey raised her head and looked at Ashten, then at Marc and Chrispin.
“I, um, Marc...I know you have a lot to take in right now, but I want you to know that I’d be honored to raise your baby brother—and give you time.” Aubrey walked over to hug the boys that she’d raised in Beth’s absence, and Marc and Chrispin let out the grief that couldn’t be held back as she held them. Ashten went to help Aubrey comfort them.
August was still standing silently in the back of the living room, listening to our explanation of the night’s events. He cleared his throat, then crossed the room and offered his condolences to Chrispin and Marc. Though he had lost his son, Livingston, I could feel how at peace he was. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out three envelopes, then handed one to Chrispin and one to Marc; turning to the rest of us, he opened the third.
“Just before Livingston returned to Esterious for the final time, he came to my home and spoke the words that I’ve always known in my heart to be true. He asked that if he didn’t return and we were certain that his life here was over, to read this to all of you – especially the two of you,” August said, glancing to Landen and me.
As if the letter had already been read to us, a surge of adrenaline rushed through our souls. The room was still and silent, waiting for the last message left for us by Livingston.
“The letter reads:
If these words are being read to you, you may very well already know what has been left unspoken for so many years. Donalt was seeking a bloodline, my bloodline. Donalt knew I was a direct descendant of Guardian, and he believed that Beth and I would bear Guardian. I was allowed to go home only to defuse any turmoil. Donalt knew my love for Beth would call me back day after day. Years later, Beth was with child, and we knew that the love of our son would keep us prisoners of Donalt’s for the rest of our lives, and we would bear that burden.
Donalt knew he only had half of the prediction; you see, a man is never whole without the heart of the one he loves, this heart would be the power to move so many. The girl was to come from Chara as well; eight months and three days from the birth of the son, Aliyanna would return as well. Willow was the only girl born in that eleventh month.
I asked Jason to keep her hidden, knowing that if she were brought home Donalt would know exactly where she was. I did not realize it was Landen, not Drake, who was born with the power to love Willow until Landen showed us his gift six years later. I planned to take my son and Beth and come home as soon as Donalt had found the fault in his stars. That day never came.
Last November, Drake and I seemed to see eye-to-eye for the first time. I told Drake that soul mates did not need anyone to guide them to one another. If Willow were the one to complete his soul, he would find her without the help of Alamos. He was confident that Willow was meant for him. Drake refused to allow Alamos to invoke the dreams. Beth and I were proud of him; we were both sure that he would find the one he was really meant to be with and leave Willow alone.
With the last new moon, Drake once again refused to dream. The following morning, Donalt and Alamos came to him. They told him before he gave his reign to another man he should first see where my alliances were held. Drake followed me that night to Chara. He saw me in the field with Landen and Marc. He ran to Beth to tell her I had another li
fe. Beth told Drake that it was he that was the secret – not his family in Chara. The next night, he submitted to the desires of Donalt and Alamos and allowed the dreams.
All I could think to do was make sure Willow was safe in Chara. I sent Ashten to warn Jason, but by then it was too late; Willow had been marked, a star that will always serve as a beacon for Drake.
You must know that the priests helping Drake are powerful. My son’s sole ambition is to win Willow’s heart. Donalt believes that Preston, my fourth son, is the innocent one meant to lead Drake, a prediction that was made with Landen and Willow’s birth. Preston is just a child and spoke of Libby days before I knew who she was. Bring him home if you have not already; he and Libby are an undeniable part of this and have a power equal to that of Landen and Willow’s. I love all of you, and though you may never see it, somewhere deep in the soul of Drake is the love that Beth and I gave him.”
August folded the letter and put it in his pocket. The room seemed to stand still. No one knew what to say or do.
Landen looked down at me and pulled my wrist into his view. This star was a brand; for the rest of my life, each time I saw it Drake’s face would pass through my thoughts. From the time I told Landen that Drake had placed that star on my wrist, he had avoided touching it.
Landen stared deep in my eyes. As he gently raised my wrist to his lips, I felt a rush soar through me. He was telling me, and everyone else, that he would never let Drake take me from him.
My father made his way to the front porch and stood silently, watching the rain. Rose left to make arrangements for Livingston. Felicity took a weary Brady home. My mother took an uneasy breath before she stood, and as I hugged her goodbye she whispered, “Thank you for being the daughter I raised you to be.”
Aubrey followed my mother to meet Preston.
The room was quiet. We were waiting for an explanation, for someone to explain it all further.
“We didn’t know,” Ashten said as my father was walking back into the living room. “I mean, he was different after Beth went missing. He never talked about what had happened, and we never pushed him to.”