Image (Insight #3)(68)

“And you are the dreamer?” Perodine said under her breath.

Chrispin looked past me at Dane, and I felt a tension rise between them. Landen stretched his hand out for Chrispin’s knee, drawing his attention away from Dane and giving himself a sense of calm. Chrispin broke his stare and pulled Olivia closer to him. I could feel Perodine’s emotions racing; it terrified her to know that if it weren’t for August insisting that we allow Drake to stay, I could have been easily overcome by the demon. Drake had been the only thing standing between me and the darkness that chased me.

“Water is every part of your chart,” Perodine said to Olivia. “It gives you the ability to see beyond the moment you are in...you are the one the demon fears the most - for you can see it coming,” she said slowly.

I felt Dane come to the edge of the couch, but I didn’t look at him; I knew if I did, his eyes would make me feel guilty for not thinking he was the one who was supposed to protect me.

“I feel better now,” Perodine said, smiling slightly. We all looked at her curiously. “I could not figure out how he was able to cause the illusion in the bathroom or get as close as he did inside of Drake. I thought he had somehow grown more powerful than the shield, but that was not the case,” Perodine looked at Landen, then to me. “The shield was simply misplaced.”

“To admit you were wrong is the same as admitting that you could be wrong again,” Dane said through his teeth; anger and jealously were engulfing him.

August leaned forward and raised his hands as if to calm the room. “Then we’ll just make sure that in the future they’re both with Willow; that way, we have no doubts - and Willow is protected.”

I felt Landen’s anticipation. I looked to my side at him, then followed his eyes to the doorway August had come through. “It must have been a short meeting,” Landen said aloud, watching the doorway.

I felt him sorting through the emotions and intent of Alamos and Drake. I still couldn’t feel them; I could only feel Landen’s response to what he felt – and at that moment, he had sorrow, fear, and anger.

Adrenaline spread through me, and I unknowingly held my breath, waiting for the moment when I’d look into Drake’s dark eyes.

“Is it bad?” I asked.

He looked at me. “They’re just very overwhelmed, and apparently they aren’t thinking clearly.”

I drew in an uneasy breath and waited for them to enter the room. Alamos came in first. His eyes moved across the room, first finding me, then Perodine. He passed by me and stood at Perodine’s side. He felt Olivia’s gaze and stared curiously back at her. Drake appeared in the doorway. He looked passed everyone at me. Our eyes locked, and for a second I thought time had stopped; I couldn’t hear or feel anything - I could only see his captivating dark eyes outlined in dark circles. He looked so tired. The sleeves on his button up shirt were rolled up, and my eyes fell to his tattoo of the dragon covered by a willow tree on the inside of his arm. He carefully rolled his sleeves down when he saw the tattoo had once again taken my attention, then kept his eyes on me as he took a seat on the couch next to August. I was calmer than I thought I would be in his presence.

Clarissa reached for my hand and held it tight. I felt how uncomfortable she was around Drake; like every young girl in his presence, she was completely captivated by him.

Olivia turned to look at him, and he smiled slightly, noticing her for the first time. “I was wondering where you were,” he said to Olivia as he relaxed into the couch.

His eyes moved to Alamos.

“I thought that was her,” Alamos said.

Marc walked behind Landen. “You should recognize her; are you not the one who held her captive, the one who took her sight?” he said shortly.

Alamos smiled slightly, then looked at Drake and Marc. “Son, the priest you seek revenge on has since lost his life; beyond that, it’s impossible to take her sight. If anything, they caused her to find her third eye more suddenly than expected,” he said.

“Third eye?” Marc repeated sarcastically, shaking his head.

Alamos looked at Perodine. “The only one that really matters,” he said. “What we see with our minds is far more important that what our eyes see; this child has the ability to see clearly without concentration.”

You’d think Olivia would be afraid of the power they were telling her she had, but she wasn’t; it was like she’d known all along. I envied her calm state. I looked at Drake to see his eyes barely open. He broke our gaze and gently shut his eyes.

“Why didn’t you just tell us that before?” Marc asked. It terrified him to think that we’d made a bad decision, that in our haste we’d left behind the one that could guide us clearly.

Alamos looked at Perodine, then to Marc. “I was under the impression that you already knew,” he said, tilting his head in Perodine’s direction.

Perodine shook her head from side to side and tried to suppress her anger. “You only have to worry about Drake; I have to guide the children, Landen and my daughter,” she said, looking apologetically at me.

“My thoughts are always with ‘our’ daughter,” Alamos retorted.

I raised my hands and closed my eyes; the emotions of the room were starting to drain me - and Dane’s feeling of betrayal was killing me. “I know all of you are here for me,” I said, daring to look over my shoulder at Dane, “but when you battle over who’s known me longer or who has the best intentions for me, you lose your focus; you forget that this demon has a power beyond our imagination. Stop fighting, and let’s resolve this.”