Synergy (See #3)(81)

“Close,” Silas said finally. “Landen is guarded now.”

“By who? You?” I asked, thinking this could be over sooner than I thought.

He moved his head from side to side. “By someone he would recognize, that he loves.”

“Silas,” I said breathlessly, “those people that you watched die. Were they...were they his family?”

He nodded coldly, looking from the bed to Aden. He was beyond distracted, and I knew then that Bianca had plotted this. She was throwing illusions at us that made no sense, ones that would blind us.

“Why did you do that?!” I yelled.

“He told me to,” Silas said as his eyes blazed through me. “Look for a girl with pale green eyes that glow, small like you. With her is a man, strong and tall, dark eyes...they glow now, too. When you see them -- you’ll be there.”

Before I could ask another question, he was gone.

I turned back to see Aden starting to come to his senses. Madison was gripping his arm. “Wake up. You’re a target now. We’ll be fine,” Madison demanded.

“No, I’m staying with you,” Aden said as he painfully stared into me.

“This didn’t happen. You know that, right? She was messing with you,” I promised. I couldn't let him buy into this falling twice idea. If there was a wall, it needed to stay up; I had enough problems.

“Let’s hope,” Aden mumbled.

“It wouldn't matter if it did,” I said as I stepped closer to him.

“Tell that to Draven. All he needs is an excuse to fall into the darkness. This - this would cause him to question everything.”

I stared into his eyes, which mirrored his brother’s. Growing up, they were always side-by-side, two of my best friends. Where Draven ignited passion, both on a physical level and within music Aden offered comfort, understanding. Aden and I would think deeply about what our purpose was, search through every philosophy we could find. We’d spend hours on the phone together, and when we saw each other, we usually found a few hours to hide away and talk about our theories, how we could change our course.

One night two years ago, we fell asleep side-by-side. Somewhere in the night, his arms found their way around me, and mine around him. Draven found us in that unconscious, innocent embrace the next morning, and as you can imagine with Draven’s temper, that didn’t go over too well. It was the worst fight they’d ever been in, that Draven and I’d ever been in. It didn’t matter what excuse we gave or how convincing Aden and I were about our platonic relationship; Draven never completely got over it. He didn’t talk to Aden for weeks, not until Evan locked them in a room without any instruments and told them that they were not to come out until they came to their senses.

After that fight, almost on an unconscious level, Aden and I made it a point never to be alone again. Not only to keep the peace with Draven, but also to keep ourselves sane, doubt free. Simply because with Draven’s argument, he’d brought up a thousand moments that he’d thought that Aden was making a play for my heart or that he thought I was doubting my choice in the rebel brother over the one that was the philosopher.

Honestly, until this moment, that fight had remained dormant in my mind, a lost memory that I wish would have stayed lost because now, on top of everything else, I was seeing Aden though the same eyes I saw years ago. I was seeing how Silas was adding to wounds that were too fresh to be completely healed.

“It’s an illusion, and it’s over,” Madison said, and with her words the room vanished and we were in a field. Almost instantly, willow trees grew from the ground. Little white flowers were sprinkled across the long white blades of grass, and a gentle breeze caused them to flutter through the air. It would have been beautiful if I weren’t prepared for something ominous to happen at any moment.

“Who’s head is she in now?” I asked.

“Mine,” Madison said breathlessly.

I glanced at her, only to find her in a mystified stare. A few feet from us, a man stepped out from behind the massive willow tree; it was Drake. In a blind trance, Madison stepped forward.

The magnetism I felt of Drake’s sleeping body couldn’t compare to how his energy felt in The Realm. His dark eyes sparkled as they met Madison’s, and his flawless lips smiled slightly as he stepped closer. He reached his powerful arm around Madison and pulled her against his firm body. I thought for sure she’d run or use some kind of sarcasm, but she didn’t; instead, she gazed gently at him.

Aden and I looked nervously from them to each other. We had no idea how real he was. I had my doubts that we could have found him that easily.

Drake reached to cradle Madison’s faced, then slowly pulled her into his kiss; it was a slow, poetic kiss that made me hungry to feel Draven’s touch.

Drake pulled slowly away from Madison. The gentle wind was blowing long strands of her hair, and he caught a lock of it and tucked it carefully behind her ear. “That was a test … and you failed,” he said calmly as his eyes moved across her beautiful face.

Madison grinned slyly as she reached to hold his image. “Do you honestly think that I don’t know what your energy feels like? That your kiss could hide who you are? I didn’t fail...I walked right into your arms. Now tell me where they are so I can end this and come home to you.”

As Drake smiled, the image of Britain appeared in his place. “Well played,” Britain said quietly as he stole another kiss from her. He reached carefully for her side, where the knife had cut into her. “I told you, didn’t I?”