Enflame (Insight #6)(22)

After a moment or two of inspection, he brought the energy to me. In the sphere, I saw more light than darkness; I saw the gray lines of my energy swimming within him. I also saw darker lines spider webbing through this ball of energy, but what looked like flames were burning into those lines. Once he was sure I saw what he saw, he sent the energy back to Landen.

“If he’d refused me one moment longer, this would be over. Do not ever do that again.”

I seriously doubted the few times I’d helped Drake was the cause of that much damage. The Realm did this. I was sure of it.

“What is happening inside him? What did The Realm do to him? What was the purpose of Donalt or that girl sending him there?”

“Bloody hell, am I speaking clearly or not? They were invading his energy. You and your other’s energy together is destructive, put that inside of Guardian, side by side, and you birth annihilation. There is only one reason to do that: a hostile take over. Someone wanted not only his vessel, but his soul.”

“Donalt.” I breathed. “He wanted me with Drake so he could take over his body. I suppose he was trying to seize Landen’s instead. I don’t get why he wanted Drake’s essence in the mix.”

“Three powerful souls taken down with one shot, the reaction to that take down will wave across all those who are in this fight. Donalt was trying to end this war with one blow. Simple as that.” He glanced to Landen then to me. “We’ve got a mess to clean up, no doubt, Sunshine.”

And with that, he vanished, taking the hold off me. When it was gone, I instantly heard a mournful rainfall against the home we were in. I urged the door closed behind me, and in the blinding darkness I found my way to the bed, then crawled against Landen’s side until I found his shoulder.

His skin was on fire. His heart was racing. When he felt me next to him, his arm pulled me closer.

“Are you awake?” my thoughts pleaded.

“Not really.”

“Tell me where you are so I can find you.”

“Not here...just hold me.”

“You’re okay.”

“Better than I have been.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Don't be.”

His arm tightened around me, and his humming energy caused my body to relax against his. I stared forward as memories of my life before him came to me. I remember seeing images, thinking they were in some way a doorway to him. When I would sketch the emotions of the ones I helped, it gave me an escape, helped me to focus on them instead of my wondering heart, that absent feeling that chased every second of my day. My mom used to urge me to paint still life. Looking back, I think she did that so I would take in the beauty of now, embrace life for what it was, and not focus on an unseen future.

I think she was both right and wrong. I needed to have more gratitude for the world around me, but I also needed to open myself up to who I am, what change I could bring with a simple emotion. That change was beyond the home I barely knew in Chara, beyond the dark dimension of Esterious. For all I knew, my work there was nearly done. I knew that Madison and Drake had not fallen instantly in love, that Drake still needed me, if only to encourage him to take control of his world. But right now I had to figure out the big picture, my end game, a way out of this curse.

I held the image of my mom and Libby in my mind as I drifted into an exhausted sleep.

Feeling someone caress a strand of hair out of my face caused me to open my eyes. When I did, it was not Landen’s silhouette I saw gazing down at me.





Chapter Six


I slowly rose, finding myself far from the darkened room I’d drifted away in. I was in Drake’s chambers, lying across his massive bed, which was showered in dark velvet red. My heart hammered with a mix of excitement and fear. My glance moved to the closed drapes, expecting the weather to pound through them at any moment.

“It’s a dream,” Drake murmured.

My eyes found him sitting by my side, careful not to let any part of himself touch me.

“It feels real. Is this the past?”

“This is now,” he whispered.

“How?”

His gaze fell to my ankh tattoo. “I will always find you.”

At one time, that may have frightened me, but right now it made me feel safe.

“Do you know where I am? Are the others looking for us?”

“That’s a foolish question.” His ghostly smile made my heart flutter.

“I’m fine.” I grimaced. “At least I think I am.”

“If you weren't, I would already be there. You know that.”

“Do you know who Phoenix is?

“Perhaps. The name sounds familiar.”

“And?”

His perfect lips parted slightly before he answered. “At the time, I was distracted with my death.”

“He killed you?”

He seemed flattered by my obvious rage. “No. I’m sure he would have found pleasure in it, but he wasn’t looking for my death. He was looking for Dane’s.”

“I know that was not my Dane.” I argued.

“It was his vessel,” he bluntly stated, raising his brow to emphasize his point.

“Don’t fight with me on this. He’s dead.” My voice trembled as the words left my lips.