Enflame (Insight #6)(65)

“She’s at August’s house,” Chrispin said in a bewildered tone.

“Her dad. Same name,” I said. Chrispin nodded like he knew that and had just forgotten.

“Rumor has it he’s on the other side,” Phoenix said, raising one brow, anticipating Landen’s response.

“Oh, good then. That must mean this is all over and I can find a beach to stretch out on,” Landen said in a mocking tone, which made Phoenix laugh under his breath.

I guess rumors were not all that reliable in the veil.

“You know rumors. They have less truth than lies. But apparently, he’d only been in the veil for less than twenty years. Even dying as an Escort would have only afforded him a few hundred more years in experience and skill. They say you would have thought he created it. He was smooth, charismatic, formed an alliance and such.”

“You never saw him before?” Landen asked.

“I think I might have, but I was too busy hunting my ashes, a way out. Pointless for me to focus on The Fall if I couldn’t get through it.”

“He lingered near The Fall?” Landen questioned.

“From what I heard, that is where he came from, how he left,” Phoenix said with a smirk, waiting for a quick response from Landen.

“How in the hell did he make it through The Fall, and why would he leave his family behind? That can’t be right.”

“What Fall?” Brady asked.

“It looks like water falling, a waterfall. It divides two realities. Some people call it Heaven’s Gate,” Landen explained. He glanced at me. “At one time, certain souls could pass through easily, usually at death, but that has been blocked, trapping everyone on the side they were in.”

“From what I gather,” Phoenix said to Landen, clearly not wanting to take the time to explain anything, “he meant to, his intent, life plan, was to get Charlie here and take his lover home. They say he left her here on purpose.”

“Selected?” Landen said under his breath.

Phoenix shrugged, saying that was a possibility. I wasn’t clear on what The Selected were, but I thought they said they lived against that Fall, had really long lives and such.

“Did he have a Yod?” Landen asked.

“Nope.”

“What?” I asked, growing frustrated with this coded conversation.

“It’s a mark in your birth chart,” Landen answered.

“A mark that Landen has,” Brady added, glancing at Marc. I felt their dread rise.

“Is it a bad mark?”

“Just a mark,” Landen said to me.

“Don’t be modest, mate,” Phoenix stated. “Sunshine, it’s a God-like mark, the finger of God. Where it points is a direction fate has set for you.”

“Where does it point?” I asked nervously.

“In mine,” Landen answered, “to you, and to the service of others.”

“It has been his battle cry from day one, completing you, bringing balance,” Phoenix said, glancing across Landen to me.

“Why would you ask if her dad had one?” I pressed.

“I have no idea how he could have managed his way through without it,” Landen mused.

“I thought the same thing. All I can gather is that the other side is sending help. They said he left a path for his daughter to discover, that he had to do it that way because if she knew it all, it would overwhelm her. Something about her remembering slowly.”

“August has been trying to unravel a message her mother left her,” Brady said, sitting forward.

Landen moved his head from side to side. “That is all we need, another distraction.”

“My point exactly,” Brady muttered.

“It’s her message. She needs to unravel it,” Landen stated, sitting forward, lowering his head.

“Sunshine,” Phoenix said, looking past him. “I heard another rumor...can I see your medallion again?”

Landen glanced at me and slightly nodded, telling me to trust him. I unclasped it as the others sat nervously forward. They did not share Landen’s trust.

“What rumors are the dead filling your head with?” Landen muttered.

“They said this is dated, what it was in the beginning. They say your blood, essence, will tell us what we’re up against now.”

Landen sat up immediately. “Seriously?” he asked, passing my necklace to him.

“Well, that is what I read between the lines. Wouldn’t hurt to take a peek. Just need a drop,” Phoenix said as a small dagger appeared in his other hand.

Phoenix held his hand out, and the necklace floated over the coffee table, which shocked no one. I was sure that working on controlling energy was something everyone did daily.

His fingertips beckoned a flame from the fireplace and the boys leaned back, not sure what was about to happen as they watched the fire flutter past them.

Phoenix stood as the fire aligned itself under the medallion. A few seconds later, the necklace started to vibrate again then all at once a burst of energy pushed through the room, swaying everyone back in their seats.

The four rings appeared, the two universes side by side, the wall of energy that looked like water dividing them, the bright spot in the center lined up with the points on each end of the circle.

Phoenix nodded for Landen and me to stand. We did, and so did the others. The illusion rose a few inches so it was just below my eye level.