Image (Insight #3)(56)

I heard the truth in his words and shifted my emotion to calming bliss. Smiling, he kissed my lips softly and gently reached his fingertips to my eyes to close them. We rose at the foot of bed, and for the first time in days we submitted to each other completely, taking in the healing power and blissful emotion.

Chapter Fourteen
We slept past dawn, which was unusual for us. When our hungry bodies woke us, Landen rolled to his side and let his fingers run across the base of my eye. “You look rested now,” he said, smiling.

I smiled, feeling better. It wasn’t until I thought about the day in front of me that my smile lessened.

“We don’t have to take Beth back; Marc will,” Landen said, judging my emotion.

“It’s our place to negotiate against war - not Marc’s,” I said.

Landen’s eyes grew serious. War was our conflict - not Venus. In the three days that we’d spent playing the devil’s games, the tension between Delen and the surrounding world had grown. My wish for that day was to find a balance, to be thankful for what I’d accomplished and understand that I couldn’t save them all at once. For my intent to come to life, I knew I’d have to have an alliance with Drake.

A smile came across Landen’s face. “Have you learned patience?” he asked, slightly amused.

“I’m trying...don’t get your hopes up,” I said, winking at him.

In the distance, I could sense Brady’s intent to come there, and I knew he was getting close. As he felt it, too, Landen’s eyes widened and he rushed out of the bed. “He’s coming to help me build a wall around that passage in the yard,” he said.

I kept forgetting about that passage; it was where we saw Evelyn for the first time, and it led to Drake’s doorstep. “No unwanted guests,” I said under my breath.

“I just want to be able to have a little more warning if someone does pass through it,” Landen said, pulling his clothes on and looking out the window. I rolled on my back and stared at the ceiling. Feeling Brady, my father, and Ashten coming with the intent to ‘help,’ I counted every emotion I could feel surrounding our home. I realized that Marc had brought Beth there and that they were all gathered at August’s house; I smiled as I felt their bliss.

When Landen was done dressing, he smiled down at me. ”Hungry?” he asked.

I was starving, but I wasn’t up for company; I wanted to ease into this long day. I turned my head from side to side. “I just want to lay here for a while,” I said.

Understanding, he leaned down and kissed me before he left. I listened as he let everyone in, and they gathered in the kitchen for breakfast. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but from the fright I felt coming from Brady, Ashten, and my father, I imagined that Landen was telling them everything that we’d lived through over the past few days. When I felt them go outside, I pulled myself out of the bed and dressed for the day. My growling stomach wouldn’t give me time to make our bed.

I made myself a sandwich and watched as a stone wall in my side yard came to existence. It was going to be at least six feet high and two feet wide. I promised myself I’d plant a growing vine around it, or at least paint it. Paint...I hadn’t painted in almost two weeks. I knew it would make me feel better, help me sort through my emotions.

My studio was at the top of the stairs. I opened all the doors and let the light flood in, then sat down in front of a blank canvas and stared. The only image in my mind was the evil angel - and I had to get it out. I picked up my brush and began to paint more vigorously than I ever have in my life; I painted so quickly, I wasn’t even focusing on the image that was coming to life, just the utter details. Hours passed, and I painted on, determined to leave it all on the canvas, to get out what I was I trying to say, trying to think.

When I couldn’t find another detail that needed my attention, I stepped back, completely captured by what was in front of me. It was what I saw just before I took my life: images of me, Landen, and Drake - and the devil controlling us. As I stared, my mind replayed each second in vivid detail; the pain, the judgment - it was all so overwhelming.

I sensed that most of my family had gathered at my house, but I didn’t realize how close Olivia had gotten to me.

“Wow,” I heard her say.

I snapped out of my illusive stare and turned to smile at her. The pink in her Aura had faded, and I could tell that she hadn’t had any new dreams lately.

“It's one thing to dream it – but to know it really happened...that freaks me out a little,” Olivia said, stepping closer to the canvas.

I looked from her to the painting, then back at her, awestruck. “Your dream was that detailed?” I asked.

She tilted her head slightly. “Yeah...I mean, the only thing different is that I was focusing on the demon,” she said.

I looked at the canvas: the demon was in the center of the painting, and his wings stretched out to each side; they were the background.

“He is the focus,” I said in a stunned tone, thinking that Olivia’s eye for art was weaker than I’d given her credit for.

She pulled her eyebrows together. “Um...no...you - or who you were - is the focus,” she said, rather sure of herself. She walked closer to me and put her arm around me. “Take another look, Willow.”

I sighed, closed my eyes, then opened them again. The demon was the center of painting, and just before him I’d painted Landen and Drake. The sides of the painting, framing Landen and Drake, were the images of Alyianna and Jayda.