Synergy (See #3)(96)

“Alright. Space. It’s yours,” Willow mumbled.

“Where are you staying so I can find you?” Landen asked.

“New Orleans. One of Austin’s houses,” Dane answered.

“Is that where you’ve been?” Willow asked.

“Spent a lot of time in the French Quarter,” Clarissa said as she tried to smile.

Dane reached his arm around Clarissa. “We’re going to get back.”

They turned to leave, but Clarissa hesitated, then looked over her shoulder. “Landen, tell Mom I love her. Tell Dad, too...I love all of you.”

Landen’s eyes grew wide as he saw her tears. He stepped forward, but she held her hand out to stop him. “I’m fine. I swear. I’m fine. I just don’t tell you that I love you enough, and I want you to know that I’ve always felt like the luckiest girl in the world. I have the best family in the world. The best brothers.”

She leaned against Dane, and he pulled her close as they disappeared into the glow.

Landen turned around and grabbed Winston by the back of the arm. Draven took his other arm, then they led him on through the string. I was staring at Willow, waiting for her to piece it all together. “Tell her,” Madison whispered to me, then she and Aden walked forward, leaving me in the back with Willow. Thanks guys. No worries. I got this. Not. Madison was the one that could gauge auras, not me. Draven had formed a bond with her. Not me. Yet, I was the one left to explain Silas. Great.

After a second or two, Willow glanced at me. “Why would Silas take Winston to them, and not us? Not you. Not Chara?”

I shrugged my shoulders, finding no words to explain to her what Landen’s sister and her best friend now were. Dead. “He’s unpredictable.”

“What are you not saying to me?” Willow asked.

Am I really that obvious? “I don’t know how to say it,” I mumbled.

“Try,” she said as she all but stopped.

I gritted my teeth and balled my fist. Madison looked over her shoulder and raised her eyebrows, telling me to spill it.

“Silas. Silas isn’t real,” I finally said.

“He looked real to me,” Willow argued.

I rubbed my hands across my face, then let out a deep breath. “I mean, he’s not alive, but he’s not dead. He’s undead.”

“What?!” Willow whispered harshly.

“He’s, like, immortal. Like some kind of archangel or something. He can appear and disappear like a ghost, but there are some places he doesn’t go – or can’t go. He spends a lot of his time in The Realm. A lot of time killing Escorts.”

“So he’s a ghost,” Willow said, clearly not finding that very shocking. I was starting to think that they’d handle this better than I thought.

I moved my head from side to side. “No. My dad is a ghost and he’s not flesh; he’s like Draven’s mom. Silas is different; he’s made of flesh. I don’t know what to call him besides ‘undead.’”

“I still don’t understand why he would take Winston to them.”

I grimaced. “I don’t know. I know that he made a promise to Winston’s mom, to Monroe, that he would protect them, not let The Realm take them. Their dad take them.”

“When did he do that?”

“I don’t know. After Monroe was born. Silas is, like, thousands of years old. That’s my problem: he remembers who I was before, and apparently I was what he was: undead.”

“But you’re not dead now,” Willow said, trying to understand me.

“What is dead anyway? No one is ever really dead. Silas has this whole story. All these unspoken rules. Apparently, when I was what he was, I tried to change Escorts, stop the source of darkness, and...” I said, glancing at Draven, “...it only worked with Draven. He fell in love with me and changed, but when he changed, he became dead, sent into another life. According to Silas, I followed Draven to protect him, and the only way I could do that was to become alive – not undead – and to change again, I must die. There’s more to it, but that’s the gist,” I explained, not wanting to tell her that she was the one that had prepared me for this in another life. I knew she needed rest, a chance to take a breath before she took in all that I knew.

“Is he dangerous, Charlie?”

I moved my head from side to side. “No. If I had to guess, I’d say he’s helping your friends. I’m sure he’s recounting where we are with the battle of light and darkness.”

“Why wouldn’t he share it with us?” Willow asked.

I couldn’t figure out how, with all senses she had, she hadn’t figured this out yet; that told me that she wasn't ready to hear it, and I wasn’t going to lay it all out for her.

“I’m sure he will. When he’s ready. When he thinks you’re ready.”

We had reached Chara at this point, and I couldn’t be more eager to end this conversation.

Willow nodded for me to step through the passage. Draven was waiting on me on the other side.

Even though I had been to Chara almost every day through seeing, standing in the presence of this peace in the flesh was near numbing.

The sun was setting, which made the lush green fields even more breathtaking. Draven leaned down and gently kissed my lips. This was our victory, even if it only lasted a few hours; we had finally reached the place we’d dreamed about for so long.