Synergy (See #3)(26)

“Lucky guess,” I said as I started to pace. “I think he’s in trouble, and it might be because you told him to help us. It might be because fate has called us to the same darkness – but right now, we’re in the middle of hell.”

“Charlie, I’m sure he’s fine. I would have heard something from someone.”

“Even if it just happened, like just a few hours or so ago?”

“Maybe not if it just happened, but you don’t understand, Landen’s family is the best. They’re warriors, but they’re also peacemakers. They have strong allies in every dimension, especially Esterious. What happened here?”

I took in a deep breath. “OK, here’s the short version. Turns out Draven is an Escort. We stumbled onto a Realm that’s like a dream where evil is bred and fed. We can now appear anywhere we’ve been or seen in a memory. I’ve lived before; so has Draven. We now have three others, two boys and a girl, with us. I think their father is a devil. There’s a boy named Silas that kills Escorts, that wants to kill Draven because he claims I loved him before. Madison and me are having dark dreams, but not as dark as Monroe, the girl that’s with us now. And I’m pretty sure that a demon has Landen and that he also has a prince – a guy that’s tall, dark hair and eyes, rules a gray dimension.”

Austin’s mouth opened slightly as shock filled his eyes. He glanced at Draven, who was quietly playing a gentle tune.

“True story,” Draven said, glancing at Austin, then back to his guitar.

“So,” I said to get his attention, “basically we’re like magnets for all things evil. We aren’t even in your world, and we’re hurting people. If you don’t want us there, that’s fine -- but I think you need to take the girl, Monroe, and if you know anyone that knows anything about this, send them to us.”

Austin let the shock in his expression fade. “OK, listen. I told Landen about you, and you know what? His only fear was that he’d bring darkness to you, that a demon he’s been fighting would be led to you. He told me he was going to work through the trial he was in the middle of, then he’d meet you. Sounds to me like you guys are fighting the same thing, and you don’t even know it. I’ll take that girl with me, but I’m going to do everything in my power to convince all of you to come. This has gone on for too long. You need help. I won’t be able to live with myself if I leave without you again.”

“It’s all of us or none of us,” I said, looking at Draven.

Austin followed my stare. “I take it that this time around, you’re the one that doesn’t want to go?”

Draven didn’t answer him; instead, he played his guitar. Typical.

Austin looked back at me. “What about the whispers, the shadows?”

“We’re helping them, but we’re outnumbered and a bit distracted,” I said, running my hands through my hair. I felt like a weight had been lifted from my body.

“Are these kids distracting you?” Austin asked.

“Not in a bad way,” I promised. “They need help.”

Draven stopped playing. “Austin, maybe you should just take Monroe. I’m a bit worried about her brother, Winston. He hasn’t decided what team he’s playing for yet, and if he picks the wrong team ... it won’t be good for Chara.”

“He can’t hurt us, Draven. Neither can you. If anything, there will be people who can help him pick the right team.”

“Maybe,” Draven said, looking at him. “I’m pretty sure that it’s Landen that’s in trouble. I want to help him, but I don’t know that I can do that from there.”

I threw my hands in the air, showing my frustration. “You said if you saw his body, you could see from their perspective, find him faster. There are no coincidences; Austin is here today because we need to help him.”

“I really don’t think he’s in trouble, guys,” Austin said, sighing. “And you,” he said, looking at Draven, “stop making excuses. If you don’t like it, I’ll bring you right back – but you’re going to let me clear my conscience and take you out of here, like I should have done months ago.”

Draven’s eyes locked with mine. “Let’s just think about this. If we’re leaving, we have goodbyes to say. Let’s sleep on it or something.”

Really Draven? Really? “We don’t have time to sleep. There’s a freaking devil’s trap in my living room, and I don’t know if that vision was clear enough for you or not – but I have my doubts that something that dark will be stopped by a pentagram for very long. If you think I’m sleeping on anything in this house, then you’ve lost your freaking mind.”

“Fine. Sleep in my bed,” Draven said, standing. “We’re going to eat dinner, and we’re going to sleep. When we wake up, if we want to go, we go. If we want to hunt in The Realm, we hunt.”

Oh like we were going to get any sleep at all tonight. “And while we’re sleeping, what happens to those boys?”

Draven sighed. “This involves more than us. We’ll talk it out as group.”

“OK,” I said as I let out a breath. I knew Aden and Madison would be on my side, and if Monroe was leaving, so was Grayson; in my mind, this had already been decided.