Image (Insight #3)(39)

Drake looked unshaken by Alamos’s words. My eyes raced between Perodine and Alamos. Landen let his hand rest on my knee; I knew he was trying to calm me, but it wasn’t working.

“Answer me – who is killing who?” I said louder. Beth stirred but did not wake.

Perodine looked sympathetically at Drake, then to me. “‘The darkness shall consume the blood of Jayda and subdue the power’...it cannot live in Landen...you are his soulmate; Jayda and Obea proved that point once before. It will consume Drake, kill Landen, and then overpower you at the moment Venus and Earth align,” Perodine said carefully as she knelt before me.

I expected Drake to protest against Perodine calling Landen my soulmate, against the idea of his murder, but he didn’t; instead, he looked calmly at Landen, then to me.

August stood abruptly; I was more than sure that he hadn’t realized the details before now. “It said ‘three would stand strong’...we thought it was Jayda, Alyianna, and Willow...it could be the three of them...dying is not an option here,” he augured.

Perodine squeezed my hand to get my attention, and I looked into her green eyes and found the sympathy that I felt coming from her. “Your only defense is to move the knife through Drake’s heart at the moment the darkness consumes him; that’s the only way to protect your life, Landen’s life, the life of the children.”

I shook my head from side to side, and tears gushed from my eyes. I then looked at Drake and saw that he was looking at me; his dark eyes reached in my soul and pulled at my heart. I looked at Landen, who wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his shoulder; I squeezed him as tight as I could and tried to find relief from the grief that was consuming me.

“This is not the answer. You saw what happened yesterday when Drake was taken from these people: war will erupt if he’s slain – and everyone in Delen will pay the price for this decision,” August said into the room.

“There is no other way. Donalt has been preparing Drake’s body for this moment; he will be capable of immense power the moment he joins him,” Perodine said, standing.

“He’s already consumed him once; he didn’t look any more powerful to me,” Landen said.

As I heard his words, I took in a breath a released my hold on him. I then leaned back and looked at Landen, then at Drake; hope was starting to come back to me.

“What was it like?” Alamos asked Drake.

As he answered Alamos, Drake’s eyes never left me. “I cannot recall the moment he entered me – but I can recall the time he was inside of me. It was as if my dreams had come to reality; what I wanted was mine, and life was perfect,” he said.

“It kept you calm so it could control your body,” Alamos said.

“I suppose, but I don’t want to live a fantasy. If I can’t have what I want in this life – then I’m ready for the next,” Drake said bleakly.

August stood and began to pace, then stopped abruptly in front of Landen. “The looking glass,” he said, looking at Landen. He turned to look at Drake. “Is there another one?”

Drake’s eyes moved to Alamos, and August followed his gaze.

“Do you honestly think that we’ve had time to reconstruct another looking glass?” Alamos asked. “It took Donalt over a year to build the original.”

“Is it possible for us to reconstruct it if we all worked together?” August asked.

“No,” Alamos said.

“Even if it was, you’re assuming that I’ll look into it,” Landen said, looking bleakly at August.

August knelt in front of Landen. “Whatever your intent is – it’ll be better than war...better than murder,” he said.

Landen looked down; I felt him struggle with his intent. He’d told me that he’d never look into the glass, and I knew right now that he’d do anything to protect me from the demon that was chasing me. Landen nodded, but he refused to look August in the eyes; he didn’t want to promise anything to him.

August stood. “Are you certain that it can’t be rebuilt in time?” he asked Alamos.

“Not in time for Venus; not in time to save Drake’s life,” Alamos said. I could see the grief in every part of him.

Drake was staring at me, and I let my eyes meet his. “I am not killing you – or anyone else,” I said, staring back at him.

Perodine looked down; I knew I was letting her down. She felt after all this time - all of these lives - I was submitting to the darkness, and she tried her best to hide the frustration she felt.

“I’ll heal him,” Landen said, standing. “Willow will strike him, and I’ll heal him - and all of this will be over,”he said, looking at me.

“This is not a cut,” Alamos argued. “She has to strike his heart – that’s the first place a soul connects with the body. Have you healed a wound of that degree?” Alamos asked sarcastically. Landen looked at Drake and shook his head no, but he still held the same confidence.

“She strikes him, and as you begin to heal him, the darkness overtakes Willow...what’s your priority - his life or hers?” Alamos continued. “His fate is sealed. Once again, the bad soulmate pays the price for loving the one he desires.”

Sunlight peered into the room. I felt the astonishment and fear coming from Perodine and August. When Landen felt it, his eyes looked to the rising sun, and a fear rose in him; at that moment, he felt overpowered.