Enflame (Insight #6)(58)
“Landen, you need to calm down.”
He clenched his jaw and shook his head once.
“Look, that was a reflex. I don’t get this energy deal, but I would’ve said that if anyone was in pain. That’s who I am. Who you are. Drake is my friend. In someway he’s yours, too.”
“Donalt is trying to cross us.” He said distractedly. “He’s came so close in the past.”
I reached for his face and pulled him so he would look me in the eye. I caressed his cheek. “No, he hasn’t. You’re mine. Right now Donalt is pulling your strings, not mine or Drake’s. I may offer my energy to someone, a way to heal or help them, but you are the only man I share my mind, body and soul with. There are no variations to that rule. Ever.”
A breath filled with adrenaline rippled through his body as he instantly pinned me against the wall, his lips on mine, his hungry hands rushing over me, sending the hum of his energy into my body.
“I’m so sorry,” he thought over and over.
I was so into the way his body felt, the way his hands felt as they moved over my body, the way his lips felt as they parted mine, that I had no idea what he was sorry for. I just wanted him to be sorry a little bit longer. I wanted more than five minutes alone with him. I wanted to bring him back to the reality we were in, the one where we were fearless lovers made of one soul.
He ended the dance of our kiss, the push of our bodies against one another, with a subtle grace, then leaned his forehead to mine as we both struggled for breath.
“Forgiven.”
A smile slowly eased across his lips, which I wanted so badly to kiss once more, then I felt a wave of his energy ripple though me, causing my toes to curl. He caught me before I lost my balance.
“I’m going to figure out how to do that to you,” I managed to say as I tried to straighten out my hoodie, my hair.
I felt his gaze and rose my eyes to meet his. “Please do,” he said with a sinful smirk.
“We are not going to let this place get to us. We are not going to let our family get to us. We are good, stronger than ever,” I stated as if it were some kind of pledge.
He nodded once. “They’re mad we left, didn’t come back. They’ve been looking for us while everything here has been falling apart.”
“I’m going to go with my gut here, Landen. I think the kids are okay, that they have been blocked because of what we just fought about. I think that if you do this spell, if we’ve moved forward, it will help them.”
“Agreed,” he said, pulling me to him, stealing one more kiss, and whispering, “I’m sorry,” against my lips once more.
Perodine and August were lingering near the study door. People I knew were from Chara were blocking anyone from coming that far down the hall, not allowing anyone to see us.
Once in the study, Perodine closed the doors behind us.
“All right,” Landen said. “His death was announced. What does that mean for this dimension right now?”
“It means they’re pushing for Drake to fall. They know he does not have Willow’s heart,” August answered. “But we have been preparing for this,” he said, nodding to Draven, who appeared next to him. I knew then why his energy hadn’t felt as strong before: his body was not really here. He was seeing his way here, which made me envy the way they moved their souls around. Before Pelhan’s touch a few hours ago, Landen and I could never communicate outside of our thoughts. It would have made things easier if we had known we could do that all along.
“We have staged support from Donalt’s bloodline,” August stated. “A blessing that will be taken very seriously by the citizens, something that the court will have to concur with,” August explained, reaching to pat Draven on the shoulder. But Draven wasn’t paying attention to him. His eyes were dark. He was taking in where we’d been over the last few days, and I held nothing back. I wanted him to see his family. I was almost positive Landen needed him for the spell he was trying to do.
“His bloodline is dead. The entire island is,” Landen countered.
“It is, but with the help of Alamos and the eager citizens of Chara, we’ve been rebuilding the island for a while now. Draven’s energy is so similar to that of Drake’s, of Donalt’s when he was alive, that no one can doubt he is from that sacred island. Draven will arrive on the shores of Delen with his court, his counterpart, and his sister, who looks just like the images portrayed of Willow in a lost time.”
“Madison,” I said with disbelief, seeing how this was lining up. She was taking my role. I wanted to jump up and down in place, but I held that emotion deep inside, not wanting anyone to think that I was only worried about who Drake loved. I was worried about all of us.
“Correct,” Perodine answered. “Draven will be portrayed as the leader of that island, his blood as royal. His family, his sister, will be set to court our king. We’ve made this so obvious that it will spoil any undesirable plans of the court. If anything, it will cause the traders to surface so we can see who we are really fighting.”
“Has every person agreed to this, or did you push them into it?” Landen asked. It was obvious to me that he was concerned with this crossing paths deal, but they had no way of knowing that. They assumed we just didn’t want Draven and the others to be hurt.