Insight (Web of Hearts and Souls #1)(67)

“Can we look for images today? For my friends?” I asked, rising to my knees.

“If we find them, we need to come back and get Brady and the others,” Landen said, standing.

I stood and began to pull out the clothes in the basket. Rose had packed the traditional travel clothes for Landen—black pants and a black T-shirt. For me, a solid black dress with wide straps. I looked at Landen and shook my head. I wasn’t sure how much I cared for always wearing black. He laughed at my expression. I then sighed and began to change into the dress. It felt soft against my skin, and it fell just above my knees. I pulled my necklace out and looked down at the sun and moon again, wondering for a moment about all it had witnessed.

The string was very calm when we entered it and the current was relaxing as it immersed us. We walked by the passages of our world and saw that several others were in the string. Smiling faces and pleasant greetings were given as we ushered by. It was clear that Landen didn’t even know most of them by name. Each of them had the most amazing eyes in the string. It was as if you could see the soul within them. Everyone was calm, peaceful, and all the couples had a deep love for one another.

The string became empty as other passages came into view, and I felt myself growing nervous. Landen glanced down at me. “The string is calm today. We should be safe,” he said, assuring me.

I smiled, appreciating that he could now sense my emotion.

I stopped walking. I could feel something, a terror so powerful that it took my breath away. It was coming from Landen, too, but it didn’t belong to him. Landen looked forward, then back. After a moment of indecision, we walked back to where we’d just been.

“You could feel that, couldn’t you?” I asked.

“I want to get Brady and the others. I’m not sure if that’s coming from in the string or around it.”

“How far are we from Esterious?”

“Only a few passages,” Landen said, guiding me back to Chara.

“It could be them,” I said, fearing that they were now suffering.

“I know,” he whispered, pulling me closer to him.

After reaching our dimension, we walked back to our house and Landen went to the kitchen to call Brady while I waited impatiently on the front porch for help to arrive.

Moments later, two Jeeps pulled up in front of the house. Brady was in one with Marc. Chrispin was driving the other one with Dane and Clarissa. I was surprised that Clarissa had come, but then I remembered that Landen had said that even the women were fierce explorers, and Dane could see in the string. I climbed into the back seat of Brady’s Jeep with Landen, then both Jeeps sped across the open field to the windmill.

Just before we entered, Landen told Brady that he would lead. He wanted Brady to bring up the tail and Marc and Chrispin to flank the sides, and he wanted Dane and me in the center with Clarissa. Brady argued with Landen, but he ultimately lost the argument. The others agreed that it didn’t matter where we stood. Being in the string was risky, no matter where you were.

Our group weaved through the others making their way to the celebration. As we walked in silence, Landen would glance back at me, checking my expression. We’d already passed the point where we’d felt the fear earlier, but the tension was growing among the others. I had a feeling we were almost to Esterious. The hum of the current flowed more aggressively, then reached an annoying high pitch. Landen stopped, and everyone stared at him, waiting for him to lead.

“Do you feel that?” asked Landen.

“No,” I answered, now concentrating on his emotion.

I walked closer to him, and through him I felt the fear again. When I reached his side, I felt it firsthand.

“I do now,” I thought.

“Do you recognize them?” he asked.

“The fear is too strong for me to tell you for sure. There are three. If he’s with them, I wouldn’t know,” I thought, reminding him that I couldn’t feel Drake.

Landen motioned for the others to come closer, and in a hushed voice he told them that if Drake were there, I wouldn’t be able to tell them. Brady didn’t even try to argue with Landen. He just stepped forward and led the rest of us. Landen squeezed my hand as we walked. The current was getting harder to navigate through.

“He’s here,” thought Landen.

He reached out to stop Brady from walking any further. In cat-like fashion, we took a few steps back then slid through a purple haze. Passing into this dimension, we were close to another waterfall. It wasn’t nearly as powerful as Victoria Falls, but the beauty was still breathtaking. Confusion was coming from everyone as they watched. Landen paced, then stopped and checked himself to make sure he was confident before he spoke.

“Drake is just a few feet away from here. This is a trap. He has someone with him, more than one, several, actually, and they’re expecting conflict.”

It wasn’t fear that rushed through everyone, it was anger. Landen and Brady seemed to be the most powerful of all of them, but Clarissa was the first one to speak with any kind of reason. “We have to use caution here. Charging them is not the answer,” she said, raising her hands.

I was grateful that she had spoken up, but if Landen felt what I felt, he wasn’t going to leave without those girls. They had passed fear and were closer to horror.

“What if I passed through the string? He doesn’t know me. I could get a better understanding of what’s going on in there,” said Clarissa.