Enflame (Insight #6)(43)
“She is missing,” Landen stated as he pushed my food closer to me in a silent request for me to eat more.
“I know Nicole. She would do anything in her power to protect her daughter. Where she is now is a mystery.” Nana sighed. “I think this, along with the boys’ behavior, is meant to be Charlie’s distraction...you can’t let that happen.”
“If we cross before we are meant to, it will do more damage than I could explain,” Landen pressed.
Nana reached for Landen’s arm. “I agree, but you should not let that hinder you—cause you to purposely not cross. I told Willow, and I’ll tell you. Willow learned everything too fast and forgot what was natural to her. That was your downfall, and you can ensure that they don’t make that mistake.”
“They can see us. They know what we’ve been through,” Landen countered.
“They see your actions, not your mind, and that is where Willow’s biggest battle was...is.”
Landen reached his arm around me, but I was too distracted to meet his gaze. I was watching two ghostly children play on the floor with wooden trucks.
“We’ll guide, but I cannot tell them what to do.”
“Will your family unravel the box we gave the boys?” Evan asked.
That caused me to focus. I hated how messages kept coming from the past. What box?
“I have no doubt they are trying to help them understand it. But any code, message, scroll, or even the Zodiac will not pave their path. They will know inside what is right to do and when to do it.”
Landen glanced at Evan’s phone sitting on the table in front of him. It read ‘7 A.M.’ on the screen.
“I will not be strong enough by the A.M. eleventh hour, and I doubt the people here want to see us try again. Tonight at the eleventh hour I’ll try once more. If I fail, I’ll leave for Chara and tell Draven you are here and want him to play, but that is as far as I go until coincidence suggests otherwise. I don’t want them hurt, and I have no idea how much control Draven has at this point. Testing him is more than dangerous.”
Evan smirked. “I’ve been told that Drake has been coaching him and Draven has proven to be a fast learner.”
Landen tensed at the sound of Drake’s name. “What are you not saying?” Landen asked, noticing Evan’s dread.
Evan drew in a deep breath. “I have two sons.” He pushed back from the table, then stood. “I’m afraid if I tell you all my worries it will hinder you from helping them both. So right now,” he glanced at his ghostly wife, “against my better judgment, I’m going to let you understand that on your own, let you get some rest.” He glanced at Nana. “Leave them your phone in case they need us.” He then left the room, only giving me a polite nod as he did so.
Nana stood and walked to the counter and pulled a cell phone out of her purse. She handed it to Landen as she nodded toward the narrow staircase in the corner of the kitchen.
“There is a rather dim room at the top of those stairs. I brought clothes for the kids in case they needed more with them. They should fit you both. Everything you should need is in those bags. We have some friends we are going to meet. If you need anything, call.”
Landen glanced around. “We have a home here we can go to. You don’t need to open your friends’ doors for us.”
Nana glanced at me. “Whatever would make you comfortable.” She squeezed Landen’s shoulder before she followed Evan out the back door.
The silence between us was cold, empty. Even the ghosts felt it. Their silent gazes in our direction caused chills to spread across my skin.
“You don’t want to go to our home,” he stated finally.
“It’s hard to rest in a house you are not wanted in...it will be hard to rest here, too, so whatever,” I answered with little emotion, really just wanting to go home to Chara.
He stood and reached his hand down for me, pulling me to the narrow staircase. I hugged the wall as we climbed the stairs, avoiding walking into any of the dead. There was only one door at the top of the stairs. It opened into a quaint bedroom with a double bed, nightstand, and one other door that must have led to a bathroom. The one window in the room had the shutter pulled down and thick drapes on both sides that, along with the large tree outside, shadowed the room.
There was a ghost in there, too. A young woman sitting in a rocking chair, weaving yarn together. Landen nodded at her and she vanished. He waved his hand across the room and I felt and saw a light blue energy expand across the room, blocking out every emotion and intent but his. He’d put us in our own little bubble.
I wanted him to just go to sleep, for me to have the time to sit and think, figure out what was going on, but he had a far different intent than I did.
Chapter Ten
I didn’t want to talk, to say something I would regret, to learn something I’d rather not know. Instead, I walked to the bed and opened the bags Nana had set there to find a choice of clothes to change into, everything I would need for a long, hot bath. I started to pull them out, but he stopped me and gently turned me to face his piercing blue eyes. Inside the still dilated pupils I could see a lingering, distant flame.
“Let it out,” he whispered.
I glanced away from him. “I already did. In The Realm. I’m numb now...can you not feel that?”