Enflame (Insight #6)(75)

“Right, but Charlie’s mind is not on tonight. She had the intent to ask me for help. I know she did.”

“She is fine. She just needs some alone time and clearly they know that, too. If they need us, they will do more than set the intent. They will ask.”

“And I will help, with or without permission.”

“I know,” he said quietly. “And if I thought that you would need to, I would have already told you, prepared you for it. They are stronger than what Nana led us to believe. Someone has began to help and guide them, and I don’t want to get in their way.”

Truth. Every single word.

He took my hand and led me down the string. The passage we stepped into led us to the top of the lighthouse I’d used in the past. In the distance, I could see the massive ship. It was no bigger than a dot on the horizon. Landen nodded for me to do my thing. Feeling useful, I focused on a wind and pulled the boat across the ocean with a gentle current. For show, and to prove I had more control than I’m sure he thought I had, I asked the sun to beam across their path, and it did so, parting the distant gray clouds.

I felt the awe of the countless souls and glanced to my side to see the shore lined with curious onlookers.

It wasn’t long before the ship was close enough to shore for another smaller boat to be lowered. Once everyone was on board, I guided it along the ocean, too. Humbly, with a thought, I asked the sun to continue to guide their path.

“How do we get into the veil?” I asked Landen, not wanting to watch their approach any longer. I was a bit jealous, and it wasn’t because of Drake. Charlie was side by side with my best friend, set for a brilliant night, and I was about to walk among the dead.

“It’s thin here, not hard to see,” Landen said as his eyes rushed across my solemn expression, taking in everything he could about what I was feeling. He reached his arms around me, leaned his forehead against mine and whispered, “Hold on.”

Warm air swarmed around us, making me feel weightless in his humming embrace. An instant later, we were far from the shores of Delen. I could smell a musky, regal odor. I glanced away from him to find us surrounded by a dim room filled with countless pieces of furniture covered by dusty, white sheets. The room seemed to go on forever in each direction.

“What is this?” I asked, wanting to uncover the hidden treasures all around us.

“The attic to the palace,” he answered, still entirely too focused on me. “The veil...can you see it?”

I glanced all around us, finding us alone. My blank stare told him no.

I felt a warm brush of air glide by us, which caused me to notice Phoenix for the first time.

“You’re in it, Sunshine. You just have to see it,” he said to me.

As his words lingered in my thoughts, I glanced around once more, seeing images lurking around the white sheets. The more I focused, the more real they became. I then began to notice the ones that were near us.

All at once, everything seemed less solid. I happened to glance down, and when I did, on instinct I threw myself in Landen’s arms. The floor was not completely there anymore. I could see all the way down to the first floor of the palace, every floor between here and there, thousands upon thousands of souls lurking in every corner, making it impossible to see which were real and which were the damned.

Landen tightened his arms around me and scorned Phoenix with a glance, telling him to stifle the laugh I heard deep in his chest.

“We don’t have all night, Guardian,” I heard Skylynn say, as if she were absolutely bored. I turned to see her with her arms crossed, standing just behind us. “Good, she can see me so now we can move on.”

“What is your deal?” I asked, letting go of Landen. “I thought we were good?”

“Had a bad day, which has followed a few bad centuries,” she scoffed, pushing back a few ghosts that she felt were lingering too close to her.

“I know it’s a lot to take in up here, with this many souls. You can ignore it—not see what we are seeing, if you want to.”

“Not good with heights.”

Oddly, that seemed to surprise him. He looked like he was rethinking something, but whatever it was, he pushed it aside.

“Just focus on what you want to see. Your eyes can block what you can’t handle.”

I nodded to tell him I understood, then dared to look down again. I reached in my pocket and pulled out another lemon drop, wanting to stifle the taste of blood that was seeping into my mouth.

Skylynn was watching me with a curious stare as Landen and Phoenix began to ask the souls around us to give us room to work. She reached in her pocket and handed me a velvet bag.

“I guess you don’t need this anymore, but it’s the thought that counts, right?”

“What is it?” I asked, peeking in and smelling the sweet aroma.

“Lemon balm. Helps with anxiety, calming element.”

“Thanks,” I muttered.

She halfway nodded before she turned, then with a wave of her hands created a massive flaming pentagram outlined by a circle. I noticed words and other symbols within the fire as well.

“You see this?” she confirmed.

My obvious glance told her I did.

“Commit it to memory. You have to make it.”

“You’re not serious?”

“Oh, but I am,” she said with a sigh, giving me the impression that she had her doubts I could manifest anything useful.