Synergy (See #3)(93)

He raised his hands, telling her he’d said his peace.

“I looked deep,” Madison said. “I saw it all. I saw every time he told her he loved her. I saw every time he plotted to have her at his side. I saw him give her his energy - his energy; that’s sacred – that’s something that only soul mates share. It’s not the body. It’s the soul. No more than fifteen minutes ago, he told Willow it didn’t matter if she found someone who looked just like her, that he loved her - and then he walks in here and wants to bring up a dream that happened a year ago? No thanks. I’m done. He didn’t fail a test; he ripped it up and burned it -- just like Britain told me he would.”

“He thought he was fighting for you.” I mumbled. Catching her glare. The glare that told me I was right. So right.

“Britain told you about him?” Draven asked.

Madison turned her scowl to him. “He told me he would know my energy anywhere. That he wouldn’t fail where others had. That he would never play me. That even though his nature was dark, it was faithful. That he could never see another girl once he committed to me. That if I left with you, I would have a broken heart and he’d be waiting on me when the pain was too much for me to handle.”

I may not know much about the zodiac, but what I did know was that Scorpios were insanely jealous, that once wronged, they never forgot. I knew that loyalty was what they craved, so it made sense to me that she’d be furious with Drake and find comfort with Britain, but Draven didn’t see it that way. I felt his body tense next to mine. “Did you see him in The Realm?” he asked her.

“I did,” she said firmly.

“Well, guess what? I did, too.” Draven said shortly. “I saw him mock Drake’s image. I saw him try to kill Willow. I saw her push light into him, and I saw him take it willingly and relish in the essence of it. Britain has crossed over. He’s an addict. He’ll say and do whatever he needs to survive, to get the light he needs. You’re too good for that, Madison. You’re not a drug, an object, and you’re too smart to fall for those endless lines. He knows what to say and how to say it to you.”

“He didn’t mistake me for someone else!” Madison yelled at him.

“No, but he went after Charlie, didn’t he?!” Draven bellowed.

“I get why you’re on Drake’s side, Draven - but you need to butt out. You have your own problems,” Madison said coldly.

“I’m not on anyone’s side!” Draven yelled. “I don’t think any of us are good enough for either of you,” he said as his eyes moved between me and Madison. “I’m just telling you that we’re a team. The four of us trust each other. We’re not scared to call each other out on our flaws, to die for each other. To fight side by side. This test, this ‘he loves me, he loves me not’ thing is hurting us, making us weak. Do you honestly think that this evil that we’re fighting didn’t see this coming? That it’s not pulling every trick in the book, causing us to turn on each other?!”

“I’m not turning on you!” Madison yelled.

“You want to leave!” Draven bellowed. “That’s giving up! You want to leave because you don’t want to face him. I’m not asking you to love him, or even like him. You just met him. I’m asking you to practice what you preach.”

“Practice what I preach?!” Madison repeated sarcastically.

I pushed Draven behind me, knowing the two of them were getting out of control.

“Madison, what he means is that you preach to rise above duality, you preach to not let your heart be your weakness -- running away makes your heart your weakness. You’re admittedly showing all evil that all it has to do is put you in an uncomfortable situation to make you weak. Love Britain, love Drake, find someone else. Love no one, even, if that’s your choice - but running, hiding behind some test or jealousy? That’s the act of a coward - and you are not a coward; you’re the one that thinks straight, the one that keeps us all in line. Rise above duality, forgive Drake for what he says and does; not so you can love him, but so we can fight at his side, at all of their sides. I know you, and I know that as soon as you analyze this, you’ll see how your heart was played by the devil and you’ll be furious, furious enough to end this war. We just want you to stand at our side...we want you to be happy.”

Her eyes rushed between the three of us, then she tilted her head down and held her arms out for us to come to her. The four of us embraced each other and silently vowed to stay, to fight, side-by-side.

A knock on the door interrupted our peaceful moment.





Chapter Nineteen


Draven let go of us and walked to open the door; August was there all-alone. I nodded once at him as he smiled wisely at all of us.

“I believe Landen and Willow are almost ready to take you home, but I wanted to speak to you before we left.”

“Is something wrong?” I asked as Monroe instantly came to mind.

“No, not at all,” August said as his eyes moved across the room; it was as if he were trying to sense if we were really alone in the room. I’d been raised by a ghost, and I knew what a room felt like when there was some unseen presence watching. We were alone, but it seemed that August didn’t completely trust that notion.

“You see,” August began, “we have a very welcoming family, and I’m sure that when you enter Chara it will take me some time to find a private moment with the four of you in one room.”