Insight (Web of Hearts and Souls #1)(47)

I tilted my head on my knees and looked at Dane. He was staring back at me. Even though we never spoke about my images, I always felt better knowing someone knew.

“Has Landen seen you do that?” Brady asked me.

I nodded. “He taught me to control it,” I said, slowly looking in the distance at the memory.

Brady glanced at Clarissa, and they both smiled at each other then looked back at me. I could feel pride and a tinge of envy coming from them. But I don’t know why anyone would envy what I was going through.

“Dane, you can see in the string?” my mother asked, befuddled, remembering that Aubrey had told her he could.

Brady was staring at me, but he turned sharply to Dane as my mother spoke. Aubrey and Clarissa smiled proudly. It was clear that Brady didn’t know that.

“I can see in the string. I just can’t see the passages in or out,” Dane answered, feeling offended by Brady’s reaction.

“That’s not normal. How is that possible?” asked Brady, shaking his head in disbelief.

“I didn’t realize what it was,” Dane said.

“At least you can see. We might even be able to teach you to see the passages,” Brady said to him as his stare raked over Dane.

Dane seemed to relax as Brady showed acceptance of his talent. Everyone then fell silently into the background, and I drifted inside myself somewhere, analyzing memories, ones that could help me remember why I chose to be so na?ve. I had to have known there would be a day when I would have to face those nightmares.

When I would see Brady out of the corner of my eye, his image caused my heart to pound through my chest, and I had to fight harder to forget the pain. Why was I in pain? Seriously?

The day aged. The sun had set long ago. Libby never left me, even when my mother begged her to eat. She was sleeping on my lap now. Even though she was warm, I still trembled. Brady took the others outside one by one. I knew they were talking about me. I’m sure my sanity was coming into question. I felt out of control; my head wouldn’t stop running through everything. Why didn’t I tell Landen about the other nightmares? Did he even know that’s what Drake meant?

Aubrey and my mother were now sitting beside me, and Clarissa positioned herself in front of me, taking Dane’s place as a guard.

“What was Libby upset about earlier when I saw her?” I asked my mother.

She looked down at Libby and ran her hand across her forehead. “We’d just gotten back, and I was about to fix lunch for everyone. She was dancing around and playing with Ashten and Marc, then the laughter left her and fear filled her eyes. It was like she was watching a horrible accident. We tried to talk to her to bring her out of whatever trance she was in, then after three or four minutes she started screaming your name. She told your dad he had to go get you, that you were lost in a field. As soon as the words left her lips, you appeared out of nowhere.”

I felt a chill run through me. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew that somehow she’d seen what had happened in the string.

“When you left with Dane, she was calm, she told us you would be right back,” Aubrey added.

“Willow,” Clarissa said. “You saw one of the parents earlier, right?”

I nodded.

“I bet your friends don’t even know they’re in danger.”

I looked at her, not understanding what she was saying and slightly offended by her lack of concern. She read my expression and went on to explain. “It just seems that if they were scared, you would have seen them,” she added.

I took comfort in her explanation. It made sense, but I didn’t feel any better knowing that they were clueless and in danger, like sheep being led to the slaughter.

My mother’s cell phone rang. The sound brought us all to attention. Brady and Dane came back in the door while my mother reached for her phone, which was resting on the side table.

“Hello? Gina? Hey, is there good news?” my mother said cheerfully.

I felt everyone’s hope rise, but as my mother listened, I could feel her heart breaking.

“I—I need to talk to Jason…I’ll call you back…I’m fine…I promise,” she said, fighting back tears. She then hung up the phone and stared at it.

“Are they okay, Mom?” I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

My mother gave me no response.

“MOM!” I yelled.

She came to attention. “I don’t know…she didn’t say.”

“What do you mean? She said something.”

“There was…well, there’s some kind of a fire at our house…they’re working on it.”

Of all the days, this is the one day that our historical home decided to burn. I could feel my mother’s grief. That house was all she had left of my grandparents. I sat as still as a statue. I didn’t even notice Brady and Aubrey take my mother outside.

I could feel my mother’s mood change as Brady and Aubrey talked to her. I felt a sense of understanding come over her. I then watched as she came in, picked up her cell phone, and turned it off. She then went upstairs. I could hear her walking from room to room. Aubrey and Clarissa went upstairs, too, and I wondered what they were doing. Brady had a very calm feeling come over him, almost too calm. I knew he knew more than he was telling me.

I realized that Landen wouldn’t have been gone this long unless something had happened. Perodine’s words circled in my mind. I wondered what price my choice would cost, and who would pay it. I wanted answers.