Enflame (Insight #6)(52)

As if he had no idea what the word ‘caress’ meant, Landen stormed across the room and pulled Aden up, forcing him to look him in the eye.

“Why are you here?” he asked him.

Aden looked all around us, taking in where we had been before this moment, why we cared that he was here. I made no attempt to hide anything from him, hoping he would see Skylynn, that it would help with the open door in his mind, help all of this path crossing business.

“I had a past with Charlie. Draven will kill me when he figures that out,” Aden finally answered.

“You’re insane,” Landen commented dryly, stepping back and giving Aden room.

“I think I am,” Aden replied in an exact tone.

“He will never kill you. You’re his brother,” Landen offered.

“I’m more than that.”

“Maybe, but he is man enough to see that was in the past,” Landen argued.

“You don’t know Draven.”

Austin’s emotion of despair backed up Aden’s words. I guess Draven was a bit of the jealous type. I agreed with Landen, though. Aden was acting crazy. It would be different if I knew Charlie had any doubt in her soul, but I have never felt that from her. I always envied that about her, too. Not that I have doubt; just that she had no interest in honoring past promises that she could not remember. She went with her heart, her gut, and let the rest fall away from her thoughts. I was planning on taking her lead from this moment on.

Landen glanced at me curiously when he felt that intent, then turned his attention back to Aden.

“No, but I know what it feels like to have your past thrown in your face. Hiding here is not helping anything.”

“I’m not hiding,” Aden all but yelled.

“We’ve got issues,” Austin said as he came to our side. “Aden has been in The Realm just as much as he has meditated on his past. They have Winston, and they have lured Grayson in...Monroe has to be next.”

“Clarissa said the same thing,” I added.

Landen looked down at me, then to Austin. “She should be safe in Chara.”

“I agree,” Austin said, “but those boys are the furthest thing from safe now.”

“They can only help themselves,” Landen said regretfully.

“I’m going to wake them up. I woke you up,” Aden argued.

“You did wake me up, and I’m in your debt. But they are not asleep. They are chasing this. If you chase them, you will be lost, too.”

“I have to try.”

“Fine. Try. Leave this dimension to do it,” Landen ordered.

“Why?” Aden asked, as if that were the most ridiculous idea he’d ever heard.

I could see Landen struggle with his words, half of him wanting to tell him that here he could not be found by anyone, including the one that would more than likely end any onset of a triangle between him and his brother. If Aden found his someone, Draven would never fault him for a past. The only reason it was a threat right now in Aden’s mind was that he was very available and Charlie had always been there. Now, apparently, that ‘always’ has stretched across time. But Landen had to swallow his own advice and keep that information to himself.

“Because hiding from your brother is stupid. Work this out with him,” were the harsh words he chose to use.

“He’ll lose control.”

Landen stepped closer to him, narrowing his eyes. “I saw your mother, your father, your Nana. They said Draven has been coached to remain in control. They also said that you have a concert to play. You can’t do it from here, and you can’t do that if you’re not talking to Draven.”

“You saw my family?” Aden asked, mystified. “The last thing on my mind is playing.”

“Maybe it should be the first,” I mumbled.

Aden’s eyes expanded, taking in what he could see all around me and Landen, what we’d been doing.

“Why there?” he asked, clearly seeing the historic home in New Orleans where we’d been for the last few days.

Landen clenched his jaw. “If I could, I would tell you. Ask them.” He nodded in my direction. “She told your Nana that one way or the other, she was going to bring you to her to say goodbye in a moment that was not rushed. If you plan to hide here or fight in The Realm, then look Willow in the eye and say your goodbyes so she can relay the message.”

Aden clenched his jaw. “I’m not hiding from anyone, and I’m not saying goodbye. Not until I have no choice.”

“Well, you are not going to figure it out standing here,” Landen argued.

Aden glanced at Austin. “Take me back. I’ll go into The Realm from there.”

“Are you ready for this?” Austin asked him.

“No.”

Landen looked at Austin, then to Aden. “The entire wall was not knocked down. If it was, you would be insane. Take what was meant to hurt you and use it as a weapon, not a curse.”

Aden nodded once.

“Let’s go,” Landen said to me as he held my stare and we sent our souls back to our bodies, which were sitting in the field of New Orleans.

Before I opened my eyes, I heard, “Who do you think you are? Back off, mate!”

“I’m his brother!”

“I’ll be damned! I’ve been his brother longer than you have breathed!” Phoenix scoffed.