Synergy (See #3)(59)

“Let’s hope I can do that,” Willow said as her eyes found Madison. “If I can’t...if I can’t, what kind of impact will Madison make there?” She glanced at me. “Will anyone there recognize her?”

That was the last question I wanted her to ask me. I knew besides bringing Landen and Drake back that finding her ‘twin,’ who she thought was Drake’s soul mate, was her greatest desire. Madison was right: Willow was blind to what was really going on with this darkness. “Hard to say...she said sometimes...sometimes he sees her, but most of the time he’s looking at someone else.”

“Drake?” she whispered.

“Listen,” I said, slowing down even more. “I know Madison. I know that she’ll shut the world away and run. I’ve seen her do it. I’ve seen her make every excuse when someone comes for her heart. If you push her, she’ll run. For all I know, she’ll run anyway, but pushing her isn’t the way to go about this,” I warned.

“I won’t,” Willow promised as she tried to hide her relief, the joy of finding Madison. “Does she trust me? Does she hate me?”

That was the oddest question she could have asked me. I mean, it’s not like Madison knows Drake, like he’s her ex or something, and from what I’d seen, Willow had done everything in her power to convince him that she wasn’t his soul mate. “Honestly, she hasn’t conceived the idea that he’s real. She blocks her dreams from us. The only way Draven and I figured out he was real was because she sketched his image and Preston showed me who he was when I came looking for you. I haven’t found the nerve to tell her that he’s real. None of us have.”

“She’s an artist?” Willow said as the relief in her eyes grew more apparent.

“She can sketch better than I can play,” I smiled shyly. “That’s a compliment. I promise,” I said, realizing that Willow really didn’t know anything about our talents or us.

It was clear I had left her speechless, so I went on to say, “And just so you know, there is someone else in her life.”

“Who?” Willow asked, looking at Winston and Grayson.

I had to hold in a smirk; there was no way Madison would ever date either of them. “Britain.”

“The one that was addicted to you?” she asked.

“Are you sure you’re not seeing me?” I asked curiously.

“Very. Draven told me about it.”

“Did he?” I said as I glanced at Draven. I was proud of him. He must have been able to talk to her when I was gone, and if he was talking to her, he was balancing that hunger, growing comfortable with her energy. If he could handle hers, he could handle mine. “That’s him. He’s very charismatic, very powerful. She doesn’t trust him, but I catch her thinking about him. If you hadn’t have shown up when you did, chances are he would have found a way to her heart. He’s almost there.”

“There’s a reason for everything,” Willow said as something captured her attention and she started to walk faster. I followed her, but I stopped at Draven’s side. He took my hand and squeezed it tightly. I didn’t block anything because I wanted him to be able to show me what he and Grayson were showing each other before; to see if we knew anything more about Monroe or what we needed to do.

Draven let out a sigh. “Looks like you’ve found a counselor,” he mumbled.

I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering what he meant by that, then I realized he must have seen Willow tell me to love them both. Knowing him, he thought that Willow had felt doubt, guilt, or regret. I wanted to argue with him, but we’d come to a stop in the string. We’d passed countless hazes of light that resembled beautiful sunsets, but now it was as if a storm were upon us; the hazes had turned gray and looked more dangerous than beautiful.

Two men were in front of us, blocking our path. I asked the common question, ‘Who are you?’ in my mind and quickly discovered that one of the men was Landen’s father. He was tall, well-built, broad shoulders, and had the same blue eyes and dimples that both Brady and Landen had. Through his perception, I saw how mad and worried he was about both Landen and Willow. His blue eyes glowed in the string, reflecting the pain I saw in his thoughts. Ashten was his name. I looked at the other guy, hoping he was August, even though he looked too young to be a grandfather, but he wasn’t family; he was basically a soldier, one of the people from Chara that were in Esterious to help Landen’s family. Austin must have recognized him because he nodded once in his direction.

My stomach started to twist. I felt like all of us were in trouble, like we’d been caught sneaking out of the house or something. Without hesitation, Willow walked right up to Ashten and placed her hands on his face. She said something to him, but I couldn't hear it. Whatever she said seemed to take the tension out of the string. He said something quietly to her, then looked at Austin. “Who do we have here?”

Austin nodded respectfully, then introduced us all one by one. Once he was done, Ashten’s blue eyes looked over us carefully, then he asked, “Who’s the Libra?” Madison looked at me instantly, and that sick, ‘I’m in trouble’ feeling came back again. I raised my hand, only to receive a smile from Ashten. He looked at Draven and Aden. “Taurus, I assume.” They both nodded to confirm. It was odd, like he not only knew we would be here, but who we were. At least someone did, someone told him. The Great Witch came to mind again, and the fear that Madison was a sacrifice raced through my heart.