Vindicate (Insight #5)(78)

Bianca tilted her head and smiled at her. “My best friend. Why could n’t you just stay on your side? Why couldn’t you just let them go? Why did you have to seek out more?”

“More of what?” I asked, holding my arm out, not letting Brady or Olivia come face to face with her.

“I don ’t even know what to call you. A plague that is stopping evolution.”

“Evolution to what?” I asked in a disgusted tone.

Bianca stepped forward and took in a deep breath. “You are a little too late to the party. A few million years late. Everything is in motion. My kind will overtake the universe – asunder: that is your future. Pieces , not whole lights; that is what will be left.”

“You are a disgrace to your race,” I said smugly. I had no idea what I meant by that but I knew it was true. She was meaningless in the scheme of things. A servant. A disposable soul in the eyes of her kind. “I’m going to figure out where the real you is. And when I do. I’m going to kill you slowly.”

“Stand in line.” Charlie seethed.

“OOOO...I’m terrified,” Bianca said as she laughed. “Listen. I’m a distraction . Bravo you do have one brain cell that helped you figure that out. But what you will never understand with your infantile mind is what I’m a distraction fro m. You’ve been marked. You crossed the line.”

“What line is that?” Charlie fumed .

“You’re holding the heirs of the darkes t Escort that has ever existed. His only fleshly little children. He wants them back and he always gets what he wants.”

“Wake!” Draven yelled behind us and before I could ignore that word, I was back. I was pulled out of The Realm.

The pain that brought me was nothing compared to what brought me out. I leaned forward, bracing my hands on my knees, taking deep breat hs. I heard Perodine say, “They’re ba --” I looked up to see why she had stopped short and saw Drake and Landen sitting up i n bed, staring at one another. One of them had stopped time.

I took in a few more deep breaths and stood up straigh t. “Alamos is going to be mad. We have to be more careful with that. You have no idea how jacked up time is right now.”

They both climbed to the edge of the bed, taking in the fact that their shirts were ripped. That they were soaked with water and sweat.

Drake looked at me. “Love, you have some explaining to do.”

I looked all around me. Madison and Aden were on the couch. Aden was consoling her. Draven had his arm around Charlie. Both Brady and Olivia were leaned forward, trying to cope with the pain of leaving. I t was odd because it didn’t hurt them going in.

Perodine and Alamos were in front of the bed as if they were staring at us. Waiting f or us to come back. My father, Chrispin , and Marc were standing in the doorway watching patiently.

It had only been two days, but so much had happened. I didn’t know where to start. I wanted to start with the latest re velation that Bianca had given, but I noticed that Madison had captured their attention.





Chapter Sixteen


The alt a r – the salt around where he way lying , caused Landen immediate alarm. He jumped over the outline around the bed and considered each expression on everyone’s frozen faces as Drake followed his lead.

I stepped around Draven and Charlie and met them by the window, whose drapes were pulled, making the room nearly dark.

“What happened after – after…”? Landen asked.

“I went crazy,” I said, feeling a little guilty for my emotions.

“After what? What about before? What are you talking about some girl came into my room?” Drake probed .

I sighed . “Yeah, we saw Alamos and Beth in the string. They said you weren’t letting anyone in. That there were rumors that you and I were together. That they had seen you and me in the window of your chambers. We went in and that’s when all hell broke loose.”

Drake moved his head from side to side. “I don’t remember any of that. I didn’t let a girl in.” Then his eyes grew wide and he brought his hand to his stomach, which must have been starvin g. “A maid brought me food. I remember that. Nothing after that.”

“Well, i t wasn’t a maid I saw you with. She was all over you. I felt seduction,” I said as a sick feeling came to me and I glanced up at Landen.

“You felt me?” Drake asked, as his eyes grew wide .

Landen threw a glare at him, cl early stating no. “It was her. You were gone. Long gone.”

“And what did you feel?” I asked, looking up at him. “How did she make you fall?”

“Not that,” Landen vowed . “I don’t know what I felt. I just remember falling.”

I could feel his emotions raging in every direction; he felt off balance, almost as if he didn’t trust that this was reality. I reached for his waist and pulled him to me. Noticing a slight hum that still lingered in his embrace.

“Who are these people?” Drake asked, looking around.

“It’s a really, really long story . I don’t know where to start. There was a bad storm that was a ll my fault. Then the mourning. Then I found them. Then I went to The Realm. Then Bianca just now – who is not dead, by the way, told me t hat I was harboring fugitives, or heirs of Donalt’s . How in the hell does Donalt have children in another dimension?”