Insight (Web of Hearts and Souls #1)(65)

He moved to the wall and knocked on it. Sound. We could clearly hear.

I furrowed my brow, he shrugged. “It might be because we are in Chara, it could be because we are controlling it.” He came to my side. “Come on, I want to try something,” he said, holding my hand and leading us from the beach house to the path that led to the string. Once there, we walked back through the passage close to our home. Landen hesitated as he used his gift to tell him where everyone was.

“My father is on his way to Jason’s house,” he thought.

“Where’s Livingston?”

“I can’t feel him anywhere close,” Landen thought. “Can you?”

I focused on the emotions around me, feeling the same dread and anxiousness that I’d felt before, but unsure as to where it was coming from. I shook my head no. We passed through the field in the direction of my father’s house, and in the distance I could see Ashten walking from the other direction. My father was standing on the front porch of a beautiful two-story brick home, the front of which was framed by bay windows.

“Do you think they’ll be able to see us?” I asked.

“Brady was right behind me that day you gave me that note, and he didn’t see you,” Landen thought.

“I don’t remember seeing him,” I thought.

“You terrified him. All he saw were my arms going around thin air and a note appearing in my hand,” Landen thought, grinning.

“I think I would have been bothered if I’d seen that happen,” I thought, shaking my head in disbelief.

We reached my father’s house at the same time that Ashten did. You didn’t need the insight of emotion to realize how concerned they both were.

Landen and I stepped cautiously closer, my father and Ashten never looked in our direction. It was an eerie feeling, almost ghostly.

“Are you sure they didn’t go to Esterious?” my father asked Ashten.

“More than sure. Landen is not one to make decisions without thinking them through. Rose believes they just went far enough not to feel us,” Ashten answered.

“Did it upset Willow when she was told that the medallion belonged to her before?” my father asked.

“I wasn’t there when Rose told her, but I was there when she told Livingston how she felt about Drake,” Ashten said, raising his brows.

My father looked at Ashten in utter confusion.

“Livingston made the comment that Drake had never hurt her, and she told him exactly what she lived through.”

My father looked down. I could feel his remorse. “Maybe I should have brought her home sooner,” he said to himself.

“You don’t know if that would have stopped the nightmares,” Ashten said, defending my father.

“I know that she’s a new person now that she has Landen. She’s more sure of herself now than she’s ever been,” my father said quietly.

“Landen is, too,” Ashten said, looking in the direction of our house. “He’s calmer now, she gives him pause and he needs that.” Ashten cleared his throat. “We need to get those girls home so the two of them can just live here in peace.”

“It’s not going to be that simple,” my father said, looking at Ashten with pain in his eyes.

“Jason, I will not allow them to face Donalt or anyone in Esterious,” Ashten said shortly. I felt his anger rise.

“We cannot make their choices for them anymore. All we’re doing is pushing them away from us. I’d rather stand at their side,” my father said in a calm tone.

Ashten crossed his arms over his chest and looked down. “I don’t know what scares me more—what they’re capable of now, or what they will be capable of,” he said quietly.

My father nodded.

“Where’s Livingston?” my father asked.

“He left right after Landen and Willow. I think he went to Esterious.”

“Is he insane? It’s well after curfew there,” my father said with wide eyes.

“He always goes there at night. I think he wants to bring those girls home before Landen has a chance to.”

“Did you figure out how he knew that Willow’s nightmares had come back?” my father asked.

“He said he saw it in the stars,” Ashten answered.

My father shook his head from side to side, clearly not believing what he’d just heard.

“I don’t know, Jason. He’s not the same person you knew twenty years ago. The only one he really talks to is August, and it kills me to see Marc and Chrispin reach out to him only to be ignored,” Ashten said in an exhausted tone.

“They have you and Aubrey. You made them the men that they are. You should be proud of the family you raised.”

“I am. I just feel like I’m going to lose them now,” Ashten said, looking down. I felt his sorrow deepen.

“I’m going to try something,” I thought.

I reached my hand carefully to Ashten’s shoulder. He didn’t seem to notice my touch. I thought of the emotions I felt from the celebration, the overwhelming love and peace. I remembered the smiling faces and the laughter.

His emotion began to change. As he surrendered to his peace, I felt the medallion on my neck tingle, then a warm rush flowed through my hand. It was a mesmerizing feeling. As it began to intensify, I looked back at Landen and felt the sensation flowing through him, too.