Synergy (See #3)(51)

Austin didn’t hesitate. “Draven, this is right; it’s right, and you know it. They won’t hurt you.”

I felt my heart pounding violently in my chest.

Brady looked down at me as if he could hear it, sense my fear. “Listen, my brother is in danger. If he falls...” Brady hesitated, clearly fighting an emotion that only a father would understand. His blue eyes found Draven’s. “We all do. If you hold the key to this trial, you have to come. This is the calmest she’s been all day. She’s calm because she thinks she’s found an answer.”

Draven locked his jaw and nodded once. He put his arm around me and led me down the hall, around the corner, far enough away that they couldn’t hear us. He leaned me against the wall and held his face inches from mine.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?” he whispered.

I stared up into his eyes, which were filled with fear and frustration. “It can’t get any more dangerous than what we’re already going through.”

“Did you not see her, Charlie? Do you not realize how much power she has? She can thrust grown men across the room. Crush them with a thought. Everything we can do in The Realm, she can do here.”

“Everything?” I asked, not understanding how I’d missed that.

“She can’t create anything like weapons or scenes, but she doesn’t need to; with a thought, she can kill a man, she can move across dimensions, into others’ bodies. She commands the weather.”

“I didn’t see that,” I said, holding his stare. “What I saw was a scared girl looking for her soul mate. She needs us. The devil may have thrown us together to destroy ourselves, but we’re smarter than that. We’ll use it to make ourselves invincible.”

“Charlie,” he said as he raised his hand to cradle my face. “She’s as bright as you are, her aura; the two of you are a blinding light when you’re standing side by side.”

I gasped and tried to smile.

“What?” he asked as his frantic eyes searched over my face. “Do you have any idea what I went through standing in that room? What I felt, how bad it hurt me?”

“Baby,” I said, reaching for his face, “you did it. You stood there, you got all the information you needed to and didn’t give in to any hunger. She’s already helping you. Can’t you see that? You passed the first test. For all you know, Bianca or whoever she’s working for was expecting you to kill her, me -- but you didn’t.” I put my hand on his chest and felt his heart beating wildly. “Your light is feeding you. If you don’t believe that, then we have to find another way.”

He leaned his forehead against mine. “I’m going to get you to a safe place, all of you. No Escort would be brave enough to hunt you near them. There’s too many of them; they’re like archangels. Pure. Deadly.”

His words instantly brought Silas to mind.

“I have to figure out what Silas was supposed to say to them.”

Draven leaned back and fought with the anger in his eyes.

“Comfortable place, Draven. You saw what he said to me. You know he knows what to say to help them realize what they’re up against. What if I could have said something back there that would have ended this before it began?”

“Go say your goodbyes,” he said, leaning away from me.

I pulled him against my body and stared up at him. “What do I have to do to convince you that I love you, that I have no regrets? What do I have to do to take that anger out of your eyes?”

He leaned down and kissed me gently. “I love you,” he said as he pulled away.

Evan’s bedroom door opened at that moment. Aden had woken him, and he looked just as scared as we did. He let out a nervous sigh as he looked over me and Draven.

“I have to find Madison, make sure she’s OK,” I said, squeezing Draven’s sides then rushing to the stairs.

Grayson and Monroe were in the living room with Winston. They weren’t saying anything; they were just staring at each other. I yelled Madison’s name, but she didn’t answer. I ran to the kitchen and found the back door open. I picked my bag up off the floor and ran outside, yelling her name. When I reached the edge of the garage, I heard her crying. I hesitated, trying to figure out where she was. I walked slowly out of the garage and found her leaning against the house, covering her face. I turned her around and embraced her as tightly as I could. She squeezed me back. “I’m going to die,” she sobbed against my shoulder.

I pushed her back. “No. You’re not,” I said firmly as fear shot through me.

She wiped away her tears, and anger and determination filled her emerald green eyes. “Why were you blocking me?” she asked in a voice that was still laced in tears.

“I wasn’t.”

“Charlie, don’t play dumb with me. All of you just left me in the dark.”

“We didn’t. I swear, we didn’t. Madison, the door was wide open; you just couldn't see it.”

“That makes no sense,” she said, crossing her arms and looking away from me.

“What does make sense, Madison?!” I yelled. “After everything we’ve seen our whole lives, after today what makes you break is a few blind spots? You did see something.”

“No, I didn’t!” she yelled, looking at me again. “I saw another sketch come to life. I saw my nightmare come closer, and I don’t know why. I have no idea why I’m in the middle of this.”