Enflame (Insight #6)(87)
The circle was so large that I would have had to walk through at least three feet of flames to reach her.
I tried to manifest anything and everything I could to put the flames out to make a path for me, but nothing worked. My energy would impact anything and everything but this pentagram.
I had no choice: I had to step into the fire.
Chapter Eighteen
The flames were agony, and they were pulling every part of my energy away from my body. I doubted I was doing anything to open the porthole we were all trying to unlock, but I couldn’t think about what it would mean if that door was not opened: Dane’s soul, which was still trapped, and my sister would drift away. I had to fight the pain and reach this girl who should not be in the middle of this.
I wasn’t the only one in there with her; Madison had stepped through seconds after I did. Before I could take a step closer to Monroe, a bold, shadowed figure emerged from the flames and forced me out of the fire.
I struggled under an empowering hold, thinking it was someone evil. I only stopped when I heard, “Sunshine, you’re not burning tonight!”
I knew then that Phoenix had stopped me.
“Monroe!” I screamed, trying to push him off me, but he was too strong. I thought he was hitting me, but I realized he was only squashing the flames that were slicing into my skin.
My stare was hazed over, but I could clearly see my energy. There was no gold seal holding me in balance. Crimson was spilling out of me, and everyone was feeling the pain of it. The sky protested with thunder, lightning, and wind, the ground vibrated, and the rain was sharp as knives as it rained down on us.
I felt like my insides were ripping in two, that a million hurricanes were fighting to come out at once. The bitter taste in my mouth was nauseating.
I heard an innocent scream and moved my head to the side, seeing Madison on the ground, Drake putting out her flames, Monroe screaming her name. A dizzying glance showed me Clarissa, Dane, and Skylynn on their knees, all in pain, facing the fire, the tornado of energy that was still spinning downward.
At the same time, Madison and I started to shake against our will. It felt like convulsions, power trying to break out. What looked like a bolt of lightning exploded from both of our chests. Clearly, Phoenix and Drake had no idea what to do. I kept hearing Skylynn in my head, telling me that if she could not have her power, she surely would not have given it to someone else. I knew something dark was ripping me apart, and I was not going to let that happen. I focused on that whirl of energy and pushed everything I could at it, determined not to open a door, but instead rip the sky open.
The pain was unexplainable. The harder I pushed, the louder I screamed in agony.
Landen appeared between where Madison and I were lying. He had two blades in his hand, and he tried to strike the bolt that was coming from Madison, but no luck. Drake took the blade from his hand, and with one powerful blow he set Madison free.
The ground began to break away around us, and darkness rained down through the holes in the Earth. Landen jumped over the crack separating us.
“I can’t stop it!” Phoenix yelled at him.
Landen’s long arm, with blade in hand, sliced through the bolt of light that was soaring through my chest. The next second, his body was covering mine, his arms wrapped tightly around me.
“Humble...be humble to the power,” his thoughts demanded as his touch sent a paralyzing hum through my body.
I screamed out in pain, unable to find control. It hurt so bad, I just wanted to give in, to let my soul die. Living was not worth this.
“Breathe for me! Breathe!”
I took in a gasp.
“One more, slowly.”
It took all I had to listen to him and not call him every name in the book, but at that point the pain hurt too badly to matter. The angry thunder around us slowed its rumble, which gave me hope that I was in control.
“Breathe,” he thought again as his hands rushed down my side, ensuring that every part of me was as calm as possible. He wanted to take this pain from me, to endure it alone, but it was my battle to face. One breath after another, I found my way back to sanity.
All around us, the cracks in the Earth grew wider. The rain of black smoke fell through the Earth so swiftly that the wind of their wake blew me to the side a few inches.
I sat up slowly, not answering Landen and Phoenix as they asked me if anything hurt or where I was hurt.
“Is this bad?” I said in an exhausted tone.
“The door is open,” Landen told me, pulling me into his arms, holding me so tight that breathing was not possible.
Over his shoulder, I saw one gleaming light falling from the sky. My arms were wrapped around Landen’s neck, allowing me to smell the lemon on my hands. Calmly, I extended my reach and sent a gentle wind to guide that light to where I could see Dane and Clarissa. When the light reached Dane, they were freed from the illusion. They both stood and resembled the Witnesses they were born to be.
Clarissa glanced in my direction, offered a subtle smile, then vanished with Dane.
“Is she okay?” I asked Landen as I pulled away and went to stand so I could cross over the broken ground to reach Madison and Monroe. By the time I made it to my feet, Phoenix was already there. He knelt down and helped Drake pull both girls up. The glance he gave Landen told me that something was off.
“Wake now, Willow,” Landen said to me.