Image (Insight #3)(16)

At that moment, Perodine charged in the door. “NO!” she yelled at us. “It’s an illusion!” she said, pulling the drapes on all the mirrors.

“I can feel her,” Landen screamed, pulling Libby to us.

“Marc! Dane!” Perodine screamed.

I looked into Libby’s eyes, and I could see the fear and terror that I felt from her. I began to help Landen pull her by grabbing her other arm.

“It’s an illusion!” Perodine yelled again.

Dane and Marc crashed into the door, and the little girl we were pulling - the one we thought was Libby - turned demonic and began to pull us to her. Dane wrapped his arms around my waist, Marc did the same to Landen, and it took all of their force to pull us free. We landed in a pile on the floor, then Perodine tied the drapes that surrounded the mirror closed.

I fell apart; I couldn’t be strong anymore. I cried breathlessly, gripping my towel against my chest, trying to understand how, why. I pulled my knees to me and buried my head, trying to block the horror I’d just seen. Landen pulled himself free from Marc, scooped me up in his arms, and rocked me back and forth.

A roar filled the room, then we heard breaking glass on the other side of the drapes. In a whisper, we heard Libby’s voice say, “You left me,” over and over again. Landen gripped me tighter, feeling the pain of the words.

“Come, let’s leave this room,” Perodine said, walking calmly to the door.

Landen picked me up, and Dane grabbed my things. In the room where we’d slept, Marc and Dane turned, allowing me to dress. My hands trembled as I pulled my clothes together, so Perodine calmly helped Landen dress me. When I pulled my shirt over my head, I squinted with pain; the necklace had burned itself into my skin.

“Let me see,” Landen said, examining my neck.

He gently pulled my hand away to see what was hurting me. It looked like they’d melted into my skin; blood seeped from the sides of the metal, and I closed my eyes and looked away, blocking out the thought of the pain. I felt Landen’s hand on my chest, bringing with it a warm rush of energy, calming and peaceful. He reached for my hand, and the rush intensified. I opened my eyes to see him staring at me, and his eyes glowed as the healing energy left him. I looked down and saw that my wounds were gone; he’d healed me on his own. He wrapped his arms around me and held me as tight as he could.

“Look at me and tell me it was an illusion, that they’re safe,” I heard Landen say.

“It was an illusion; they’re safe,” Perodine repeated, we both heard the truth in her words.

I let go of Landen, then pulled my jeans up and put on my shoes. A shiver ran down my back as the smell of the blood came to my memory, and Landen’s hand was on my shoulder as soon as he felt the emotion. “I’ll be fine; don’t use all of your energy,” I whispered.

“We need to cover all the mirrors in the palace. We need help,” Perodine said, walking to the door that led back to room where they’d been working. When I focused, I could feel someone beyond August in there; I assumed it was the woman that had been shadowing Perodine since her return.

Marc and Dane peeked to make sure I was dressed. When they saw that I was, they walked closer.

“What happened?” Dane asked, looking over me carefully.

“A cruel illusion,” Landen said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and guiding me to the study.

When we entered the large study, we saw August sleeping soundly on one of the couches; he had one of the books we’d brought open across his chest. Perodine was whispering to the young woman, and she looked up at us as we entered the room. “She’s going to ask the old staff to return and help us cover them all; it will take us a week if we try to do it on our own,” Perodine said, nodding for the silent girl to go.

I felt a rush of fear and looked to August; it was coming from him. He sat up straight, focused his eyes, then stood. “We have to cover the paintings,” he said into the room.

“You mean the mirrors,” Perodine corrected.

“That, too, yes - but the paintings, the paintings must be covered,” August said, walking to one of the walls to turn the portraits.

“Where did you read that?” Perodine asked, walking to the table to look at the scroll.

“I didn’t read it. I dreamed of Nyla; she said that Libby and Preston told her to tell me to cover the paintings,” he said, turning the next painting. Marc and Dane began to help him.

“Were they OK?” I asked in a shaky voice.

August hesitated when he heard me, then looked in my direction and nodded yes. “Are you?” he asked. I shook my head no and gripped Landen tighter. August looked at Landen for an explanation.

“We’ve already seen the worst illusion imaginable,” Landen answered.

I felt a shock come from Perodine. “They are right. How did I not see that? Venus rules art; he can use that as a passage...Willow do not sketch anything,” she said, still looking down at the scroll.

“I think you need to rest,” Landen said to Perodine.

She shook her head no. “I stopped sleeping a million years ago - I am not going to start now,” she answered, reaching for a pen to write down something she’d found.

I think that was the first time that I put into perspective just how long she’d lived in that form. I felt sorry for her; how awful it must be to stand still in time. I heard breaking glass and jumped, then turned to see that Marc had covered a mirror.