Vindicate (Insight #5)(39)
Brady grew curious and came to our side just as Draven’s eyes turned to green and met mine.
“Well?” Brady asked in a quiet whisper as he held on to the hope we ’d returned with, yet doubting it just the same. Draven leaned closer to me , and against my ear he whispered , “Make them all leave. We need to be alone.”
My eye s questioned him. Draven glanced at Brady. “If we ’re going to do this – work together , y ou’re going to have to trust me. Leave us alone right now. All of you. Just for a few minutes.”
Brady looked at me with the intent to not move until I told him to. I stared back at him , feeling Draven’s honest intent to help me , then I nodded once at Brady. Without a moment of hesitation , he left our side and said something quietly to the others. They all left, and the moment the door was closed , Draven whispered, “They’re weak.”
“What do you mean? Are we too late?” I asked as anguish pierced through my soul . I twirled my ring as fast as I could.
He moved his head from side to side and pulled his finger to his lips to tell me to be quiet. “No,” he said as sympathy filled him. “Listen. They ’re deep. Hidden in their mind , and they ’re struggling to hold on to sanity, to understand what ’s happened.” He looked at each of them as if he w ere trying to weigh his options. Find the fastest way to solve this. “When – if -- I teach you to go there , you ’re going to face illusions – ones that will reflect your deepest fear. To prove to yourself that you ’re looking at an illusion , you ’re going to have to ask them something only they would know. When we finally reach them , you may to have to prove to them that you ’re real – that you aren ’t an i llusion.” He captured my gaze . “Right now , we need to do two things at once : we have to make them stronger , and we have to find something that can be said that will make both you and them believe the other is real.”
“How are we going to do that?” I asked breathlessly .
He was quiet for a second , and I swear his eyes turned darker for an instant, almost as if he w ere searching for something in his though ts – his memories. “First kiss. The first time you perceived that they were both real , ” h e mumbled.
“What?” I asked .
“Your first kiss. The first time you kissed Lan den. The first time you saw Drake in real life – it was on the same day. It’s a p owerful memory for all of you. That one day. All of yo u agreed to the path you were o n. You knew they were real , and they knew that you were.”
I guess he was right . Seeing Drake that da y gave me hope that Landen was more than a lucid dream . More hope than I ’d ever had. “Yeah , that happened. How is that important?”
“That ’s a memory we can go back to . When you see an illusion that ’s meant to be Drake , ask about those moments at the lake . When you see an illusion of Landen , you ask , ‘Where was our first kiss ?’ A sk what you were wearing , things like that. That ’s a memory or thought that Bianca wouldn ’t have thought to study. She focuses on passion , not innocen ce .”
“How do you know?” I mumbled , feeling how c er t a in he was.
The anger that rose inside of him told me that he ’d witnessed this. “She ’s taken my memories. Memories of Charlie, and recreated them with her in Charlie’s place. She dwells deep in your mind and finds moments t o embed herself in. Moments that she doesn’t belong in , ” he said with a disgusted heav iness in his tone.
“How did you fight it?” I asked as a sick jealousy seeped into my mind. I didn’t want her to recreate any moment with either of them.
Draven smiled sardonically , and I felt a deep , passionate love rise and blossom throughout his soul. “When a man loves a woman – really loves her … it is not the moment o f passion he remembers clearly. I t’s the moments of innocen ce . The moments when we ’re the most v ul nerable. When we say how we really feel.” His cheeks blushed slightly in the dim room. “Charlie and I have a passion that I can ’t create with any sound, but even in those moments I feel her innocen ce . I hear myself telling her how I feel about her, but I could never bring myself to say that to those illusions recreated for me because I knew there was no innocen ce , that she wasn ’t Charlie. It was easy for me to see through her ploy, to turn her game on her.”
“Because you could see . See into her existence. Landen and Drake can’t see like that – they may not know. She might --.” I had to slice my nail into my finger and demand that the rattling cage in my soul held fast to the raging emotions that wanted their freedom.
Draven reached for my hand. Saw the blood under my ring. “You’ve got this.” He ran hi s fingertip across my raw skin. “You won ’t hurt us.” He swore .
Hearing that truth in his rhythmic voice. Knowing that he trusted me gave me reason to take the first deep , calming breath that I’d taken in days. Landen shifted his body ever so slightly. Draven nodded once toward his closed eyelids. Landen wasn’t even awake and he was showing Draven gratitude. No one understood me as deeply as Landen, but Draven had recognized my demons and offered me unshielded assurance that I was stronger than I thought.
“They know .” Draven said quietly. “From what I’ve witness ed between the three of you – from each of your viewpoints. They know. Your soul may be fierce, but you love innocently.”