Vindicate (Insight #5)(40)
I took in a jagged breath , fighting the embarrassment of knowing that Draven, someone I barely knew, had seen so much of my life – moments that should only be shared with one other. I told myself it was a blessing and right now he was not some stranger peering into my thoughts ; he was my gateway to Landen, and he needed to know everything. He needed to know my past so he could steer my future. “What do I have to say to make them realize I’m real?”
“Your question will be enough. We need another one , though . There is a chance that she ’ll catch on to you . A chance that she ’ll have the time to find the answer you ’re seeking and fool you . When you get a correct answer , you ’re going to have to ask another one quickly – one that ’s powerfu l enough to wake them up in The Realm . One that will give them the power to leave whatever damage she ’s done to them there. You don’t want them coming back with anything of The Realm in their soul. Trust me.”
Draven’s disdain came back to life , and I wondered for a moment if he had not managed to leav e it all behind. I f that was the reason I felt tension between him and the others. Even though I wasn’t focusing on them clearly , I knew there was something off – a sadness or even defeat in all of them. They wanted to help me simply so I wouldn ’t have to fight the battles they were in, so Bianca wouldn ’t do this to anyone else. I wanted to ask him how I could help him – how I could undo what had happened to him , but I realized that Charlie was already doing the most powerful thing that could be done : she was loving him.
With that thought , I realized how powerful that word was, how deeply both Drake and Landen felt about it. I kne w if I had them say that word it would be enough. Enough to not only wake them up , but also help them find the power we ’d need to end that girl. The question now was how would I get them to say it. Not in the obvious way , but in a way that would make them remember our reality. Our past. A ll that we ’ve conquered.
I thought over the moments I heard them say that word: l ove. It was the name Drake always called me, the name he said he ’d called me in every life. It was the word that Lan den told me his world stood for. A wor d that was shallow in comparison to the emotion I felt between us. A word I doubted I deserved to hear at times.
“That’ll do , ” Draven said as if he ’d read my thoughts. “An Escort can ’t utter that word . I t ’s poison to them . Get them to say that word , and you ’ll know that they aren ’t an illusion. It will be powerful enough to wake them up and see how real you are. That word will change the game for us there. It will p ut us in charge of the illusion . She ’ll never b e able to take your image again, because at that point they will recognize her energy as false . Evil. You will have awakened them to her malevolent powers. If she seduces them , it has to be with her image … neither of them could possibly fall for that child’s play.”
“I assume this has happened to you as well? You found a way to control her illusions?” I asked , feeling his disdain for each time Bianca’s name was mentioned.
He looked down , and I felt a sadness build in him. “I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone this , ” h e mumbled .
“You don’t have to tell me anything , ” I said quickly , not liki ng the anger I could feel in his soul , wrapped with regret.
He moved his head from side to side as his eyes rose to meet mine. “In the beginning , I would have dreams of Charlie. They were so real. So blissful. Then all at once , my daydreams, the ones I had while I play music, the ones I might have at any given moment , started to come to life around me, all of Charlie. It was like we were locked in our own world . A lways one. Quickly , I noticed how empty her embrace in my dreams felt compared to real life , h ow Charlie seemed to lack a soul when I dreamed of her . The second night. I n my dream , I asked Charlie to tell me that she loved me . Her image formed into Bianca instantly.”
I felt a disgust rise in his energy , and I reached for his arm and thought of what peace I could remember in my life , trying to bri ng him some calm. Forgiveness. “It was just a dream, not real , ” I promised.
His jaw tightened. “The moment I saw Bianca was the moment I grasp ed the tangibility of The Realm. It was the moment I realize d where I was on the scale of good and evi l. That I was more dange rous to Charlie than I was good. Sometimes . Sometimes I think the illusion was better than that reality.”
“How are you dangerous?” I asked , knowing I couldn ’t feel anything that would lead me to believe that.
His eyes moved to Drake’s body , then slowly back to mine. “I pull from her . She ’s light , and I ’m darkness … if I take to o much – if I lose control , I could destroy the beautiful light she is … and if that wasn’t horrible enough , there ’s someone out there that ’s waiting for me to do that. Waiting for me to make that incompr ehensi ble mistake. He will end my existence before I have the chance to hurt h er. I don’t hate him for that. I hate him because I envy him. I envy him because he is who she truly belongs with.”
I stood beside him and stared into his haunted eyes. “You believe you ’re an Escort. Darkness?” I asked quietly. His eyes told me yes. “Have you uttered the world ‘love ’ to Charlie?”
“More times than I could count , ” h e responded with an ache in his deep velvet voice.