Synergy (See #3)(77)

“Well?” Madison asked. I opened my mind up and let her see what I said to him.

She moved her head from side to side. “You’re going to have to get meaner than that.”

“What?!”

“Charlie, you know him better than I do, so I don’t know how you can’t see this. Anger fuels that hunger, but all you manage to do is make him turn it into passion, an angry passion, and I’m sure that’s exhilarating and all - but it’s not helping.”

“What do you want me to do?” I asked, blushing, wishing I’d cut off what I showed her earlier.

“Next time he acts like that, get mad. Mad as hell. Make him mad. As soon as he figures out he can be mad and not pull away from you, then he’ll trust himself.”

“What if he does pull? What if it happens in The Realm and Silas shows up and kills him? What then? I think I’d rather stick with the angry passion.” Who could complain about that? Seriously? My heart was still racing.

She moved her head from side to side. “I don’t care what Silas says, killing Draven would ensure that you’d never love him again. Draven has more leeway than he thinks. Silas would hold back until he had no other choice.”

“Fine,” I said as a sick feeling came over me. I hated fighting with Draven, even it was for his own good.

I felt the stares of others and glanced over my shoulder and saw Perodine and Jason watching at us.

“Let’s go figure out what that’s all about,” Madison mumbled, urging me to go.





Chapter Fifteen


As I was walked over to them, I focused on Jason, trying to figure out with a glance how he knew what was wrong with Madison. It didn’t take me long to understand that I was right before, that he wasn’t an ordinary doctor; apparently, he had some kind of sixth sense that allowed him to see all that was wrong inside of someone, like some kind of X-ray vision. Knowing that I wasn’t thrilled with the way he was looking at Madison, I saw a concern in his eyes.

“Thanks again,” Madison said, trying to act casual toward him, acting as if she’d known him her entire life.

“How are you feeling?” Jason asked Madison.

“You tell me,” she said, noticing how concerned he looked.

“Do you want me to be blunt?” he asked.

She nodded.

“You should be dead. That knife went right through your lung.”

“But I’m not,” Madison said, raising her eyebrows.

“Right. There’s a dam around that wound now.”

“A dam? What are you saying? She’s not healed?” I asked frantically.

“She’s fine,” Jason assured me. “But Willow has never healed before, and though I’m amazed by what she did, I’m not sure how permanent it is.”

“So what do we do? Are there hospitals here?” I asked.

“No,” Jason said. “Looking at you now, there’s no sign of any damage, even if there was a place to take you to. I’m only telling you this so you can exercise caution.”

“So she doesn't need to go in The Realm?” I clarified.

“I’m going,” Madison said firmly.

Perodine cleared her throat. “I think what Jason is trying to say is that the two of you need to find Landen, and quickly.”

“Why? For Willow?” I asked, not grasping this one-track mind they all seemed to have.

“No, for Madison,” Jason corrected. “Landen is a healer, and I mean he is a divine healer; he heals so deeply that he erases it. If anything happens, if any one of you get hurt, you make sure you get to him as fast as you can.”

“He’s asleep in there. You realize that, right?” I asked.

“I’m just saying if you have a choice, wake him first. Even if he isn’t completely focused, he would be able to heal, better than my daughter did,” Jason said in a calm tone.

“So as a doctor, you’re OK’ing Madison going into this battle zone,” I clarified.

“As a doctor, yes; as a father, no. But if I can’t stop my own daughter, I doubt I can stop her,” Jason said as he casually looked over Madison once again.

“Divide and conquer, wake the healer, that’s what you need to do,” Perodine said to me.

I nodded and looked at Madison, noticing how overly confident she was.

“Can we speak with Madison alone?” Jason asked.

“Why?”

“We just want to explain the risk to her, and I think I’d have better luck if she wasn’t looking you in the eye,” Perodine said to me.

“I’m going regardless,” Madison promised.

“I’m sure you are, but I’m not letting you go without explaining the risk clearly,” Perodine said firmly.

Madison and I both stared at the woman, but all I could see was the image of Drake when I looked at her. Madison nudged me to go into the room. I didn’t argue with her; I was numb at this point and ready to get this over with. I would make it my personal mission to wake Landen up. I was confident that I could reach him rather quickly, or at least trick Bianca into showing me where he was.

Inside the room, Aden, Draven, and Brady were talking to Willow. People were walking in and out, setting up an altar at the foot of the bed. There was already a ring of salt around the bed; at least it looked like salt.