Image (Insight #3)(14)

“What do you mean? Relationships in past lives? We already had to deal with that,” Landen argued.

“Son, that is not the part we’re worried about,” August said, sighing deeply. “You’ve had the privilege of making decisions with your heart, and the heart often has no clear reason. This time, Venus will influence you to make a rational decision based on what you see - not what you feel. Throughout history, it has been known as the heartless, the opposite of the love Venus normally gives us,” August said.

Landen looked back at me, then to August. “Does this affect only me and Willow, or all of you?” he asked.

“Everyone,” Perodine answered. “We must realize that now, because as the hours move forward and truths are revealed, we have to hinder our anger. This darkness feeds off the negative – and right now it’s being fueled by the workers on the other side of that wall.”

“What truths? Willow and I have held nothing back, have we?” Landen asked, confused.

“If you remove the emotion of love and look at things from a rational point of view, you will find a truth that has escaped you before,” Perodine answered.

“Why did you think Drake was a healer? Is he not on the same side as Donalt?” Marc asked, trying to comprehend what he was hearing.

August looked at Marc, and a sense of grief came over him; he understood Marc’s anger, but he wanted him to move past it, to see Drake as the brother he was to Marc – not the enemy.

“For all we know, Drake is just an innocent bystander – someone Donalt planned all along to use as a vessel. His and Landen’s charts are weaved so closely together, you can barely see the defining line; at this moment, I fear his life is the one in danger – not Landen’s,” August said, looking down, prepared to block himself from the arguments he thought would come his way.

August believed what he said. As Landen heard the truth in his words and felt the emotion of grief and sorrow fill him. I was too tired to try and understand if the sorrow was for August or Drake; instead, I turned forward and resumed my stare at the raging flames in the fireplace.

“Does that say nineteen?” I heard Marc ask.

“Nineteen is represented all over Venus,” August said.

“It’s Willow’s nineteenth birthday,” Landen said.

“It’s more than that; the symbol of the hand and fish also has nineteen embedded in it,” August answered.

I heard the shuffling of papers, then felt an astonishment coming from Perodine. I turned in my seat and watched her recording symbols from my birth chart and the scroll we’d brought.

“What is it?” Landen asked.

“Willow was born in the nineteenth second, hour, and minute, on the nineteenth day,” Perodine answered.

“Yes, and this is her nineteenth year,” August said.

“That may be the time we will face the climax of Venus, the window Donalt will use. The universe is a sea of perfect numbers, and Donalt would had to have found a way to weave himself into the equation, into the place of Landen or Drake. If this is right, he will have the chance on Willow’s birthday, the nineteenth hour, minute, second,” Perodine answered.

I felt August’s fear, and my eyes raced between them. “A number that can only be divided by one and itself,” August whispered.

“What are you saying - Donalt is going to try and become me?” Landen asked, feeling just as scared and confused as I was.

“Maybe...maybe you, maybe Drake, but one of you,” Perodine said, leaning in to look closer at the scroll. Landen felt my uneasiness and came to sit by my side; I curled up in his arms and watched the fire.

“How close do I need to be to him?” I heard Marc ask.

“You’re in the room; that should be enough,” Perodine answered.

“If I can shield Willow and me, what can they do – add to it?” Landen asked, moving us sideways so he could see the table behind him.

Perodine looked up. “Water is powerful; if he moves through their energy, he will grow weaker - and if I know him, he will wait for the nineteenth hour to use his force. They will not be able to protect you from that moment – but they should keep you safe until then,” Perodine said, looking to the shadows of the room.

“So in theory, any water sign would be able to protect us?” Landen asked. I knew he was looking for clarity that leaving Olivia behind was the right decision to make.

“Yes, but the ones who have been at your side your entire lives are old souls who have lived before, fought at your side,” Perodine clarified.

I looked over my shoulder at Dane; he was so calm. If I were him, I’d be nervous - and it wouldn’t matter if I’d been here before in another life. I turned back and looked up at Landen; Perodine’s answer didn’t give him any peace. I laid my head against his chest, then closed my eyes and let the memory of my family come to me. I was ready for this to be over...for me to be home again.

“Landen,” I heard Dane say. Feeling Landen’s lips on my forehead, I opened my eyes and looked at him.

“Come on, we’ll find a place to rest,” he thought as he stood and pulled me up with him.

While Dane stretched out on the couch he was sitting on, Marc continued to try and help August and Perodine. Landen and I walked to the doorway next to the fireplace; as we walked down the hall, he peeked in the first two doorways before deciding to enter the third. The room was vast: a full sitting room was on one side, a large bed with a canopy was to the other, and windows made up the back wall with beautiful ivory drapes framing them. In the distance, I could hear the workers building the wall. It was a dim reminder that we had more to worry about than Donalt; before long, a war would erupt, and the newfound innocence of Delen would be lost.