Enflame (Insight #6)(42)
I nodded weakly, not really caring what I reminded Skylynn of. As I went to walk past him, he held out his arm to block me.
“I know how a Scorpio’s mind works, Sunshine. Don’t make this out to be more than it was. It’s in the past, and it wasn’t a pleasant one.”
“It felt intense between them last night,” I said, clutching my hands into a fist and demanding that my emotions stay in the cage I’d locked them in.
“Only because he acknowledged that he used her to get to you, because she told him she still needed him to find hers. He has never left a debt unpaid on purpose, and the thought that he has unknowingly sacrificed the way you feel about him to redeem this is not helping matters.”
“If anything, it’s made me love him more.”
His slight grin took my breath away as I gazed at the fire in his eyes, the mystery there.
“Right, then. Go do what you humans do. I’m going to give a listen at what the word is on when we should try this spell once more.”
“Wait,” I said, reaching for his arm. “I’m going to tell you something, but you can’t burn Drake’s energy, not unless I’m there.”
“Oh, Sunshine, tempt me not.” His mischievous, sultry smirk made me want to slap him just for teasing me.
I rolled my eyes. “Last night when I was watching you, I heard Clarissa say ‘Xavier.’”
“Right. That’s the first and last time that bloke fools me.”
“It might be a coincidence, but I’ve heard that name in Esterious. I think he’s in the court. I can’t remember what Drake said, but I think he’s pushing him to get his throne. I just wanted you to know he might still be lurking, and if so, he’s in the same place Donalt is.”
“Interesting,” he said with an absent tone as his eyes appraised me once more, leading me to believe that he may have already known that and wasn’t sure he liked the idea that I had put it together. I guess they were beyond serious when they said they did not want to cross paths.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe your veil friends can tell you.”
“Perhaps,” he muttered as his eyes searched deeply into mine.
“I mean it, though. Don't touch Drake.”
He tilted his head as the flames in his eyes sparked. “Why?”
“Because when you did that to Landen, it knocked him out for hours. He’s still not right. If you do that to Drake, then someone will have to stand in his place, a member of our family. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. The timing has to be right.”
“What knocked Landen out was when I opened his eyes. Not the burning of energy.”
“Forgive me if I don’t trust you. I want to be there.”
He stood up straight. “All right, then. But let me be blunt. He will want Guardian’s energy out of him. He would want you to see him for who he is.”
“And I do. A great man, a good friend.”
He only offered a sly smile before he vanished.
I followed Landen and Nana’s emotion through the house until I found the kitchen. Landen was at the table with Evan. At first I thought there were two other women helping Nana cook, but as one of them turned to face me, I saw that half of her image was burned. I gasped, trying to hold in the sickening sensation that was seeping up my throat. Before I could blink, Landen was at my side, silently urging me to come to the table and sit beside him. As I sat down, he answered a lingering question Evan must have asked.
“I admit these paths are close, but this is complicated, and I want to be sure before I go back to Chara and ask Draven to play here.”
Evan leaned forward as he cupped his steaming mug of coffee in his hands. At that moment, the ghost I knew to be Draven’s mom appeared at his side, letting her hands rest on Evan’s shoulders.
“They will play here. I’m so sure of it that I have a truck on the way here with his equipment. If you are looking for a point of time for a perfect cross, then it would be the day after tomorrow, when this set is packed and the final farewell party is scheduled.”
Landen glanced at the ghost behind Evan. “It’s been spoken in the echo?” he asked.
She smiled to confirm.
Nana took away the empty plate in front of Landen and set a bowl of fruit and a bagel in front of me. I ignored them as my wide stare tried to figure out who was dead and who was alive. The images would look so real at a distance. Only the clothes or marks of death would give them away. But more than once I was fooled. There were actors in costume outside the back door and I had to do a double take to ensure that they were living.
“It was in the echo before Willow called us,” Evan commented. “I was so certain of it that when we gave a statement to the police, I mentioned it was a tentative engagement that the boys intended to keep, that they were backtracking to do so.”
“What police report?” Landen questioned before I could ask him what the hell an echo was.
“Charlie’s mom. Her office reported her missing because she wouldn’t answer the phone and missed a meeting. When they found their homes empty, they came to us because we are the emergency contact.”
“Is she missing?” I asked, refusing to eat more than a few strawberries.
Evan glanced at Nana as she sat on the other side of Landen. “Nicole called, talked to them. Told them she was going overseas a few weeks early. There is no cause for alarm in this dimension.”