Synergy (See #3)(56)

“I don’t need anyone to do my dirty work for me.”

“Madison, stop this. Don’t be jealous of her.”

“Why do you think I am?” she asked coldly.

I was getting sick of not talking about the elephant in the room. Madison knew there were two guys in The Realm and that Willow obviously cared about both of them. If this were any other situation, she would already know their zodiac signs, how old they were, and what their hobbies are. That was the kind of person she was; she had to know every detail – but, not one single question about Drake, not even his name.

“You know I don’t have the words, and you’ve already told me not to talk about any dreams.” She tensed, and I raised my hand to tell her to calm down. “But I want you to know you have no reason at all to envy her, to fear her. She is just like us, and she’s forgotten that...she’s been looking for you.”

“Why?” Madison whispered as she swallowed nervously.

“I don’t know; maybe because you look just like her...maybe she thinks someone has mistaken her for you.”

Madison slowly turned her head from side to side as if I were the one that was blind to all of this. “What we look like isn’t who we are. From what you’ve said to me, from what I did see, when I looked at Brady I know that girl is running in circles. Whatever wise woman you met a thousand or so years ago is gone. Willow isn’t going to fight darkness, at least not until she gets her head clear.”

“Well, you’re good at helping people with that.”

“It’s a full-time job keeping you focused. I don’t have room for another girl to keep straight.”

I nodded once, giving up on asking her to take her defenses down; it was going to take a lot for her to trust any of these people.

“When we get to wherever we’re going, we need to ask for August,” Madison said, gathering her bag and phone.

“Why? Who is he?”

“Brady and Landen’s grandfather. I saw him calm down Brady, heard his words in his thoughts. I think he could help us with Monroe. Was that not what Silas said to do -- get her to Chara? We don’t know how long finding them is going to take.”

“Did you happen to see a great witch?” I asked; half-joking, somewhat relieved that I had her at my side backing me up, keeping me focused.

“Not sure. Too many people to take in at once when staring at your twin image.”

True, very true. “OK, so we have a plan,” I said, reaching for the door. “Thanks,” I said quietly to Madison.

“For?”

“For not being too scared to face your fate.”

She looked over me once, then climbed out. I stuffed my phone in my pocket and grabbed my bag. When I opened the back door, I found Nana and Willow all alone in the kitchen. Willow was wearing some of the clothes that I’d packed, and she didn’t look weak or tired anymore. She looked like a normal girl, but I could still feel the power coming off her. She must have heard us walking in because she was standing, staring at the door.

“Looks like Nana took care of you,” I said, trying to break the ice.

Willow looked over what she was wearing. “Yeah...thanks for letting me borrow these.”

I tried to smile, but I was too nervous. “Are we ready?”

Willow observed Madison. I could see the frustration in both of their eyes. They hated being blind to each other, but I knew that was best, that some greater power knew that the last thing these two needed was a gateway inside of the other’s thoughts.

“Are we, Madison?” Willow asked.

“Not at all, but that’s beside the point. We have a demon to kill,” Madison answered with little enthusiasm.

Willow carefully looked over Madison like she was trying to tell herself she was real. She glanced at Madison’s tattoo, then looked at me. “I want to apologize for anything irrational I may do. Sometimes my emotions outweigh my thoughts, and right now for some unknown, complicated reason my emotions are reflected around me. I don’t mean any harm.”

As she spoke, I asked how dangerous this weather connection she had was. I saw that palace place ripped apart. I saw Brady tell her she was killing people. I also remembered Madison’s nightmare, the weather she said that was there, the lightning, wind, and thunder. I glanced at Madison; she was looking right at me. She reached for her wrist and silently tried to reassure me that the tattoo would save us.

“The place we’re going might seem frightening at first. It’s a palace, very old, very elegant. There’s a lot of energy there, and I hate to say that none of it is good. My family is there. We all have a common goal to redeem those people one way or another. I beg you to just endure it long enough for me to figure out how to get in The Realm, and once I do, I’ll bring you home or anywhere else you want to go. I promise.”

“I’ve seen it. We’ll be fine,” I said as Madison gave me a dirty look. She knew that I was terrified of that Esterious place -- not because of the dark energy, but because I knew Drake’s body was there, because I knew that it wouldn’t matter how many times I’d tried to tell Madison about him; when she was forced to face it, I would take the heat of it. I wasn’t upset about that, though; I was upset that she was about realize that she couldn’t avoid her fate by simply not thinking about it.