Enflame (Insight #6)(23)

Indifferently, he murmured, “The choice is his now.”

“What choice?”

“He was only possessed because a part of his soul was given by him. He has to find that part. Once whole, he can choose to rise into the existence of a Witness or fall into the life of the damned. Only a mirror of him will exist and it will be your worst enemy.”

“How do you know this?” I asked as my eyes rushed across his image.

“Alamos has been helping me work through my dreams of him since the moment I laid eyes on him. Some of what I’m telling you came from the dreams. Others I rediscovered in The Realm when my lives were played out for me. Perodine admitted it was seen in his chart.”

I swallowed nervously. “They did something to Landen, opened his eyes or something. Is that bad?”

“It was inevitable,” he said under his breath as his magnetic eyes showered me with his energy.

“He’s not going to be in pain, is he?”

“I doubt he will ever feel pain again...well...from anything beyond losing you or his first heir.”

I sat up abruptly. “Libby.”

His pensive stare confirmed my obvious question.

“You wouldn't say that unless you thought something was going to happen to her.”

His hand reached for mine, but then he stopped himself and pulled away. “You have many weaknesses. Landen only has two. He may grieve for another loss, but the two of you are the only thing that can break him. Any warrior knows his enemy’s weaknesses.”

“He’s not your enemy,” I said, jolting away from him. “What is going to happen to Libby?”

He hesitated, almost painfully. “There was one image I would see over and over in The Realm: Preston and Libby, asleep under a massive clock.” His eyes fell from mine. “Each time the clock ticked slower, I thought it was my mind’s way of telling me that I was running out of time, that soon The Realm would end me.” He drew in a short breath. “Even now, once I’ve made it out, those images appear in my mind every single minute.”

He leaned forward, letting his gaze fall to the floor. “I think we’ve stopped the clock, that we’ve lost our way and...and...we have damned their purpose.”

He stood, pushing his hands into the pockets of his suit pants. “Donalt knows the only foolproof way to stop me or Landen would be taking you or them. Taking you has failed him. It’s almost logical that he’d come for them...and somehow he would make it our fault.”

He glanced over his shoulder at me. “We are so far off-track at this point that I doubt we will ever understand what the right one was in the first place.”

“We’re on track now,” I argued.

“You and I are in the same place we have been from day one.”

“Stop this. Madison,” I argued, standing to make my point.

With a fierce glance, he turned to face me.

“Go ahead. Tell me that it doesn't matter that she looks like me—tell me that I was a fool to search for her. We both know that’s B.S.”

He leaned down, only allowing inches to separate us. “You were too late.”

“No” I breathed, stepping forward. He avoided my touch by stepping away.

“Willow, she’s a Scorpio. Loyalty is not encouraged. It’s demanded.” His dark eyes melted over me. “She knows we had a past, that I held you, that I loved you.”

“It was not the same kind of love,” I swore.

“Perhaps,” he whispered as a ghost of a smile echoed on the corner of his lips. “Nevertheless, she will never forgive me for my emotions…for every wrong I have done.”

“That’s crap, and you know it. When did you become a coward? In the last twelve hours? Come on.”

He furrowed his brow. “You sound like her.”

“She said the same thing?”

“The sarcasm. I like it.”

“Where have you been? Sarcasm is not new to me.”

“Yes, it is. You’ve never been you with me. You’ve never been you with anyone. What broke your spirit?”

“My spirit is not broken. I’m over this. I’m fine with answering for what I’ve done in this life. This B.S. about paying for something I can’t remember has taken its toll on my manners.”

He leaned into me. “You’re not paying for anything. You are getting what you want. The devil is in the details.”

“Truth,” I whispered. “You can’t talk to a girl twice and then think that you have no chance.”

“Do you like it when I call you love?”

The question was so out of place that I really didn’t know how to respond. I just shrugged instead, showing indifference.

“It doesn’t bother you that I never have called you by your full name. That I don’t even know what your full name in this life is?” he pressed.

“What does this have to do with anything?” I asked as I evaluated his brooding stare.

“I’m trying to work out my dreams. To understand how much of my past was with her and how much of it was with you.”

“Present is all that matters now.” I assured him.

“I can’t tell you how furious I am right now, Willow.”

He was clearly getting used to calling me by name now. “Why?”