Synergy (See #3)(18)



Madison must have manifested it beneath him. The roar of the angel grew so loud that I felt it in my core. The room fell apart, taking the images of the boys that I intended to save. We were in the field again, but almost instantly trees sprang from the ground, creating a dark forest all around us.

I heard music, Draven’s music. It was loud, so loud that I knew Madison wouldn’t be able to hear me. I squeezed Madison’s arm to get her to follow me, and we moved from tree to tree, trying to find the source of it and stay hidden in the shadows.

Just as we moved around another massive tree, Bianca appeared in front of me. Anger boiled in my skin as I thought of a weapon, and with that thought, a knife appeared in my hand.

“You really are an idiot, aren’t you?” Bianca scuffed.

“Me?! You’re the girl that won’t die,” I rebutted.

She crossed her arms as her eyes moved to Madison. “Here’s a news flash: you may want to stay out of here for a while.”

“Why is that?” Madison said as she looked to the ground. Once again, she’d created a devil’s trap under Bianca.

Bianca didn’t bother to look down. “Let’s just say it’s not a good place for Scorpios with green eyes...besides, I might get bored if someone else kills you. I rather like this game we’re playing.”

“It’s not a game,” I said, drawing her attention back to me. “Who did you take, and why?”

“Charlie, is it Draven? No. So why do you care? You proved yourself. He’s with you. Blah blah blah – soul mates. Back away and let me live my life.”

“Do you think I’m going to let you hurt someone else? Do you think I’m going to let you gain power over this Realm? Think again.”

Bianca moved her head from side to side. “So na?ve, Charlie. I’m not your enemy.” She looked down at the pentagram she was standing in the center of. “And I’m not a demon.” She stepped out of the circle just to mock me and Madison.

“Trust me, you’re my enemy,” I said, glaring at her.

“More like a distraction,” Bianca said as she grinned.

I glared. “Where’s Draven? Who were those boys you have?”

“Have we lost our boyfriend? Why do you care who I have?”

“I care because it’s wrong.”

“How is it wrong? How do you know they don’t want to be with me?”

“Then show them to me. Let me hear them say that.”

Bianca laughed out loud. “I don’t think so. Besides, I think your afternoon is booked.” And with those words, she vanished.

All around me, I heard whispers mingling within the music that was still playing around us.

“Screw these trees. We need to see what’s coming,” Madison said, and with her words the trees fell into the ground. At first the only light around me came from my butterflies, which were resting across the ground and lingering near me, but then an orange moon began to shine, and in that moonlight I saw shadowed images moving toward us. My butterflies tried to move from their path, but some didn’t get away; the images would grab them and they would fade. At first it made me mad that they were hurting something so beautiful, but then I started to feel weak; that fleeting feeling I’d had that morning was coming back to me.

I yelled, “Draven!” as loud as could. I didn’t see him. It was just a reflex. I wanted him to help me stop what was going on.

“We have to wake up!” Madison yelled as I swayed at her side and she tried to balance me.

“I’m not leaving without them,” I mumbled.

I focused on my butterflies, and with a thought I called them to me. On command, they all rose from where they were across the ground and soared into my chest. My eyes grew wide as I told myself that this was like a dream and that it was no big deal. As the butterflies ascended into my soul I found my balance again. I found my strength.

A second later, Draven appeared in front of me.

“Is it really you?” I asked before I embraced him.

“I love you, Charlie.”

A smile echoed in my eyes. The shadows couldn’t say that word. Escorts that give in to their nature couldn’t say that word either. It was the only way I could ever know he was real in The Realm.

I threw my arms around him, and he squeezed me back before pushing me behind him. Aden and Grayson appeared in that moment as well. The shadowed images began to creep closer and closer, then all at once they charged Aden. Draven and Grayson dove into the dark cloud to help him.

Madison and I instinctively ran toward them, but before we could take a step, men appeared in front of us. They were just like the men in the graveyard before: all in black, flawless images. Behind them, I saw gleams of light. I knew that Draven and the others were helping those shadows, turning them into light, but I doubted they’d see their way out before these men attacked us.

“Too bad we didn’t get that lesson from Silas,” I muttered.

“Maybe we don’t need it. Anything can happen here,” Madison said confidently.

I nodded to agree, then stepped boldly forward to the man in front of me. I reached my hand right though him. The shock of that act made me sick to my stomach. Inside, around my arm it felt like ice, but it also felt like worms; wet, slithery worms. I grabbed as many as I could with my hand and pulled my arm out as I stared into the vacant eyes of a man that was twice my size. When I pulled my arm out, black smoke came, but not as much as what I’d seen Silas pull out, so I reached in again and set my intent to pull every inch of darkness out of his body. The cold, slithery worms vanished, and I felt a rock in my hand. I pulled back, and with that the man fell as the black smoke drifted into the air.

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