Vindicate (Insight #5)(66)

I stood and glanced at the others behind me. Brady and Olivia reflected the trepidation I felt in their emotion. They were lookin g at me like I was a stranger. Someone they couldn’t understand. Like I’d become someone else. It didn’t bother me like it did before beca use I knew that in this place I had to be th is girl. I had to be fearless. Reckless. Demanding.

I looked at Drave n; in his eyes, I saw a thirst. A craving. I felt jealousy in his emotion. “Do you need something from me?” I asked . “Do you need light to exist? To help me with this fight?”

He pulled his shoulders back as he fo ught to hold on to his intent to help me. To not succumb to his dark side . “You saw what it did to him. I f you give me anything, I will be no good to you.”

“Is that the only reason you are not asking for it?” I asked, looking for validation that he had chosen to never taste the craving Escorts seemed to be known for.

He moved his head from side to side. “Death will come before I ever willingly take from another soul.”

I’d never felt a more divine truth spoken to me. He despised his heritage. That brought me sorrow for some reason. “I’m going to help you find balance. I’m going to help you build your own light. I’ll help them all figure that out,” I promised.

I felt Olivia’s relief. I knew she thought tha t I had let my vengeance fall. That I would be the good guy in the myt h of my life. I didn’t look at her because I didn’t want her to know that in the word ‘all,’ Bianca was not included. She couldn’t be because s he was going to be my example. She was going to be the thre at I gave to the rest of them. They would know not to cross me ever again.

“Another time,” Drave n said, clenching his jaw. “I s this the place you left them?” he asked.

And with those words, we were standing in the courtyard of the Estate. The Estate that no longer existed but was before us now. Perfectly intact.

Brady nodded. “This is it. A little quiet, though.”

And with his words, people dressed in long black cloaks appeared . Ignoring us, going about their mundane days.

“There’s no water,” Olivia said as her nerves got the best of her.

“I’ll call water into existence when I need it,” I mumbled as I stared a t the open door to the Estate. A s flashes of the time I walked through that d oor in Evelyn’s body came to me. The pain I felt then was the strength I found now.

I boldly walked to the doorway. All at once, the people seemed to notice us. As if they were being controll ed, they began to move closer. Among them, there were others. Ones that were dressed in modern fashion, black suits, ones I was sure were Escorts.

Before I could think to move my energy, Brady and Olivia had reacted. With extended arms, they pushed the people a way as if they were weightless. They flew across the lawn like autumn leaves.

The ones dressed in a modern fashion rose to their feet first, and in a flash they were surrounding us. There were ei ght of them to the four of us. As if in slow motion, I watched as weapon s appeared in everyone’s hands. A s Brady and Draven took on three men each at once . A s Olivia pinned a man three times her size to the ground with two swords.

There was a man in front of me th at I swear was seven feet tall. I couldn’t even see past his broad chest. “Rumor has it that you are feeling generous today,” he said with a voice that was laced in pure evil.

I looked up and found his eyes to be soulless. “Are you looking for a light?” I asked.

He smiled slowly, revealing teeth that were stained yellow.

“Here you go,” I said slyly, and with that thought, lightning popped in the air then struck him where he stood, causing him to fall to the ground.

I turned to see Draven and Brady faring well again st the men they were fighting. I didn’t have time to wait for this to un fold. I blew gently from lips. My breath was the color of ash. I t reached out to all of the men and flung them across the field. Olivia removed the swords from the neck of the man she was holding. “Do you want to run ? Or do you want her to help you with that?”

Apparently, that man did n’t know what I was capable of. He charged forward at Olivia, and with one thought, lightning popped again a nd struck the man causing him to fall.

Breathless, Brady looked at Draven. “Friends of yours?”

Draven leaned down, bracing himself on his knees, trying to catch his breath as he moved his head from side to side.

I glanced at Olivia. “Impressive.”

“Impressive, but not dangerous,” she said, looking at the men I had taken down with one thought.

I fel t her plea for me to calm down and realize how powerful I was . For me to understand that this was not a game . That those men were more than likely dead in reality now.

I wouldn’t let that thought come into my mind. They were bad. A bad illusion I ended.

I broke my stare with her and began to walk toward the stone steps. When I reached the open doorway, I saw shadows underneath the elegant stairwell, silhouettes of a man and a woman. The m an was leaning into the woman with his lips on her neck in a playful manner.

I recognized the emotion. I would know it anywhere.

“Am I interrupting?” I said flatly into the echo of the open entry hall. At that moment, the boy stepped out of the shadows, and for the first time in almost two days I saw the blue eyes that gave me reason to exist.