Witness: See Series (Volume 1)(59)

“We’re still gonna have this concert, this song – and when we do, they’ll be pulled out of that world. Then we’ll figure out how to redeem them,” I promised him.

“You have no idea how many are there, how badly this could all go. Some of the souls there don’t deserve to be saved; they’re the definition of evil.”

“Everyone deserves to be saved. Underneath all that, there had to be a pure beginning. Maybe we should just forget this – just go to Chara. From what I know of that place, it has to be hard to become angry there.”

“I don’t want to live like that – have you walk on eggshells around me. I want to have control over my life and keep my sanity.”

“We’ll figure out how to do that,” I promised, reaching to trace his strong jawline.

“I talked to Britain tonight,” he said as he pulled me closer to him.

“What? When?” I asked as my body tensed. Honestly, I didn’t know how to feel about him anymore. He didn’t seem to be one of the big issues that were plaguing me any longer.

“I thought you were with him – so I went there.”

I had to tell myself to hide behind my shield and not think of who I was with, the calm that Silas gave me.

“What did you guys talk about?” I asked as I focused on him.

“Silas…Bianca….Madison.”

I rose up and leaned over him, wanting to know every word that was said. I asked the question in my mind, but I couldn’t ‘see’ him; he was blocking me.

“I’m not letting you see; I don’t want to have a way into that world.”

“I was there, and I can go back on my own if I want to. Show me.”

His jaw clenched. “I’ll tell you, but I’m not letting you see what I’ve fought; I’m not going to watch the fear in your eyes.”

I wanted to be angry at him, but right now I just needed to know what Britain said to him. I needed to figure a way out of this – a solid direction I could follow.

“Fine…what did he say?”

“Most of it you already know. He said that Bianca is power hungry, that she’s stepped deeper into whatever kind we are. That she’s set on revenge and will play the part of the devil’s advocate until we all perish. At one time, she thought that she and he would have enough power together to control that world – but he refused her, and now she sees him, you, and me as a threat. She will do everything in her power to end us so she can have control. Apparently, we’re the oldest, most powerful Escorts in this reality.”

Anger engulfed every part of me as thoughts of Bianca came to me. “I think she only has the power that we give her. We don’t have to listen to her.”

“She fooled you tonight – and has found a way to fool me in the past. She’s the reason I was dead set on hating Britain. She showed me countless images of you in his arms.”

“That never happened!” I swore.

“I know. He showed me; I wouldn’t listen to him until he did.”

“How does she fool us so easily?”

“Britain said that if you have a memory and understand the worst fear of the person who created that memory, you can manipulate it…apparently, that’s one the ways that Escorts fool the ones they tame in this world: they show them illusions that create doubt and cause you to hate – to turn away from the light.”

“We can find a way to ignore her illusions…there has to be a way.”

“I’m telling you, baby, reality is hard to grasp in that realm. You feel everything...you’ve felt so real to me every time I saw you, but you were never really there.”

“Then we have to make a decision to love one another, no matter what we see – get over the jealousy we both fight.”

“Easier said than done,” he said as his jaw locked once again.

“I won’t let it rule me anymore if you make the same promise.”

He leaned down and let his lips touch my forehead, making a silent promise to me. I knew that if he were to keep his promise, we were going to have to learn to talk about Silas without my guilt and his jealousy surfacing.

“What did he say about Silas?” I daringly whispered.

He laid his head down next to me. I knew he was growing too tired to be angry, which was a good thing. I knew that when he was this calm, I could not only convince him to do anything, I could also get him to talk to me about things that he’d normally avoid.

Just after he yawned, he said, “That he’s our mortal enemy. That his kind takes our life by taking our source of energy: the lost souls. That he’s the fiercest one of his kind. That he’d do anything in his power to end the both of us. He blames us for taking you from him...it seems that the two of you couldn’t be more opposite, yet at one time you were completely devoted to him.”

I could see the envy flooding to the surface of his eyes, and I had to stop it. “You do realize that you may as well be telling me a fairy tale, right? You’re the only man I know, the only one that allows me to be what I want to be when I want to be it.”

The envy in his eyes washed away. “I told myself that even if that were true, somewhere in time you chose me – and left him.”

“Right,” I whispered with a slight smile.