Image (Insight #3)(53)

I smiled back and reached for Karsten. “You’re going to have to tell your friends of the Odionia that they’re wrong; Jayda’s blood runs through them. She found love, and so should they,” I said to him.

Karsten reached his arms around me. “I stand witness to that, my dear,” he said, letting me go.

Rose pulled Landen down to kiss his cheek before she and Karsten passed into the passage.

Clarissa and Dane approached next; they barely glanced up at us. I felt relieved to see her in Dane’s arms again. Clarissa hugged me and Landen at the same time. “I told you everything would be fine,” she said, looking over me.

“I don’t want the two of you to part again. What Landen and I feel is no different from the two of you; the world would mourn if your love was lost,” I said, looking back at her.

A stunned look came across her face, and she looked up at Dane, then to Landen. “Well then, I take that as an invitation to face Mars – because Dane will always be there to protect you,” she said.

Landen’s eyes grew serious; she knew he’d oppose her conclusion and quickly pulled Dane into the passage before Landen could utter a word.

As he looked to where they’d vanished, Landen shook his head in disbelief. “She’s always been too adventurous us for my comfort,” he said under his breath.

Chapter Thirteen
Brady and Felicity approached next. Libby was holding Felicity’s hand, and Brady was cradling Allie. Libby let go of Felicity and ran to us. Landen leaned down to scoop her up, and she laughed as he raised her above his head; it was refreshing to hear it. She reached her arms out for me to come close to her.

“Were you really there?” I asked her. She didn’t answer me; she just hugged us both as tight as she could, then let go as Brady and Felicity came to our side.

“The others are staying a while longer,” Brady said to Landen.

I looked into the distance and felt the emotion of bliss; all of Livingston’s family was with him - well, almost all of them.

“It took everything I had not to go through this passage; Marc said there was a wall,” Brady said.

Landen nodded to confirm.

“He said he didn’t know what happened, that they all fell asleep,” Brady added.

Landen looked at me. We hadn’t thought of what their perception of everything was; we were both just glad that they didn’t see what we saw: the demon himself.

“We’ll talk later,” Brady said, putting his hand on Landen’s shoulder.

I was sure that I wouldn’t be a part of that conversation. Still, I hoped that Landen would open up to Brady and vent about what he’d seen, face it, and then share it with me.

Brady gently handed me Allie, kissing my forehead as he let her go. “You’re the bravest girl I’ve ever met,” he whispered.

I blushed as I looked into Brady’s blue eyes; he’d never shown any kind of affection toward me. I’d always imagined he saw me as Landen’s soulmate, never just Willow.

“I’m only brave because he loves me,” I said, looking into the blue eyes that belonged to me.

Landen picked Libby up and led us into the passage. As the darkness came to her, Felicity smiled at me. “You seem calmer with the passage,” I said to her.

“I’m calm because I’m going home - and I know you’ll be there,” she said as she blindly looked in my direction.

Libby laid her head on Landen’s shoulder and closed her eyes. I looked down to my arms; Allie was staring up at me with heavy eyes. I let calm flow through my arms, then watched her drift to sleep. I felt relief and looked to see Brady staring at me.

“She hasn’t slept in three days,” he said.

Landen looked at Brady curiously.

“Libby, Preston, and Allie have sat in the center of Pelhan’s front room, not sleeping, eating – nothing; we couldn’t get them to say or do anything,” Brady said.

Felicity blindly reached to let her hand rest on Allie. “If I took Allie from Libby and Preston, she’d cry endlessly,” she said.

“We knew you had a victory when we heard their laughter. Preston and Libby were jumping in place, and Allie was waving her tiny hands and smiling,” Brady added.

Landen looked back at me. Hearing that didn’t make us feel any better; in fact, we were afraid - afraid that we were incapable of leading these children to any victory.

I let the calm I was feeling continue to flow through Allie, and I felt Landen do the same with Libby. We knew how tired we were, and it was hard to imagine that their little bodies had endured with us.

Inside Chara, I handed Allie’s sleeping body to Felicity; I felt her relief when she saw how calm Allie was. Brady let me and Felicity in the back of Landen’s Jeep, which was waiting by the passage. Landen sat in the passenger’s seat, still holding Libby’s sleeping body. I knew that Brady wouldn’t rest until he had a moment alone with Landen; he wanted to assure himself he was fine.

I leaned between the front seats. “Can you guys take me home first? I want a hot shower,” I said, looking from Brady to Landen. Landen looked back at me as fear suddenly came through him; his memory was sharper than mine: I’d almost forgotten the illusion of blood that I’d faced in the palace.

“We’re home,” I thought.

Landen smiled slightly, then leaned back to kiss me. Brady drove carefully across the field. I slid back into my seat and looked at Felicity, who leaned in and whispered, “Do you need to talk to someone?”