Blakeshire (Insight #9)(101)
“She has proven her worth to all of you.” Drake glanced behind him. “To all of them.” His powerful gaze moved to his people. “Our Golden Age is on the horizon.”
Silence remained as he turned his body to face me. Gracefully, he reached to trace my bottom lip, then carefully, as if silently asking for permission, he leaned in and let his warm, lush lips meet mine.
The crowd roared as I lost myself under the spell of his kiss and pulled him closer to me. A burst of excitement and relief from their emotions rolled over me as I held him.
With all the willpower we both possessed, we kept our embrace to a modest stance. He pulled away, letting only his eyes smile before turning and bowing to the crowd with me in his arms.
That moment, he gracefully put my hand on his arm, turned us from the ledge, and led us past Xavier and the other dark men with him on the roof.
He stopped before Draven and bowed. “My apologies for the ignorance of my court.”
Draven glared past him at Xavier. “Before my sister is given to you, a new court is to be established.”
“Agreed,” Drake said boldly. “Shall we discuss this in private?”
Draven held out his arm, telling Drake to lead the way.
Drake removed his jacket and placed it over my shoulders before taking my hand and leading us to the floors below.
That’s when our long walk to the other side of the palace began. That was when my crazy mind started going haywire.
Chapter Twenty-One
Drake
I had lived side by side with a demon my entire life. I had faced moments that would make most nightmares look like childhood fairy tales, and yet today I met fear for the first time.
If it weren’t for my newfound ability to see, I would have botched this entire trial. More than likely, Madison and I would both be side by side with our Creator at this juncture in time. Through the ramblings of conversation around me in my office, I managed to make eye contact with Zander on more than one occasion. His mind was complicated, as I always suspected, but I saw his visions. Visions so vile and cold that I gripped the edge of my desk so fiercely that I was sure I still had splinters in my hand.
He knew how my past life in this dimension had ended before. He saw me betrayed then, saw the woman I loved and my son put to death and me diving in to save them, knowing that life without them would be unbearable. He showed me how we were all imprisoned, how that moment played out just as Xavier and Donalt wanted it to then. It gave them the means to weave Willow across my path, the means for them to ensure that Madison crossed Britain’s path time and time again. But they underestimated us. Underestimated just how powerful the love between us was.
We were reborn—our son was reborn. We had come full circle and were more than prepared to face this battle once more.
The three sacrifices needed for this trial had already been paid; they were the lives of Preston, Madison, and me. Madison had to release them in order to protect our future. It took everything I had to let her jump, especially since I knew what she would find.
Zander had given my mother a chalice, one that was to give Madison direction on her dive.
Zander himself had to pin me with a glare just to ensure that I didn’t dive in after Madison once again and allow our history to repeat itself. The moments ticked by in agony. I only survived them by holding on to the visions in Zander’s mind. He had an all-knowing point of view at that moment. I could see Madison’s struggle, see her mind working, the vision of Preston, our son, reincarnated as my brother, speaking to her, speaking to life the misery we had all lived through.
I wanted to kill Xavier right then and there in front of my kingdom, but I knew he wasn’t my kill; he belonged to Draven, just as Donalt belonged to Landen. Most would assume my kill, the King of Obsession, was Horace. But I had my suspicions that either the current King of Obsession was Britain or Britain was his first-in-command. Madison had instincts that told her the same. She knew that killing him today would have hurt us, set us back. I wasn’t sure how she knew, but she found the mark she needed. She killed the man who’d been emulating Alamos for weeks.
The real Alamos was locked away deep in this palace, unaware that he’d ever been crossed. Perodine had cast a spell that put him in a deep slumber, one that he would remain in for some time, at least long enough for all of this to settle.
Madison winced, and I reached my hand for her back. I don’t know how I knew, I just knew that the mark on her soul, the one on her back now, had another slash. We were one step closer to taking a heavenly throne.
Madison sighed as my hand met her back. Because the pain seemed to vanish almost instantly, I knew we had made the right choice, the right kill today.
When we reached the part of the palace we usually kept to, Draven broke away from our walk. When I looked into him to see what he was doing or thinking, all I saw was Charlie. He was going to her side in whatever dimension she was in.
On instinct, Madison went to follow him, but I held her tight against me. “Do you need us?” I asked him.
“I know you can sense me. You will know if that moment arises. Take care of her for now,” Draven said to me.
Madison looked curiously up at me, wondering why Draven had said that.
“You can sense them?” she asked quietly.
“Have been for some time. It’s just stronger now.”
“I can’t feel Charlie or Willow.”