Vital (10 page)

He looked in my eyes alluringly.
Every one.

I felt my breath leave me. His love never overpowered me; rather, it always made me feel whole. Something so perfectly woven together was terrifying and blissful at the same time.

“OK, are we ready?” August asked.

I broke my stare with Landen. Stella was on her knees on the opposite side of the table from August. Preston was kneeling at one end of the table, and Libby was next to August on her knees as well. The jewelry box was in the center of the coffee table. Landen went to Libby’s side of the table, and I sat next to Preston.

“According to this, both of you must hold your rings in the palm of your hand. Your mind must be clear, only holding the emotion you want to feel at the end of every outcome – I would go with peace. The rings should come together,” August instructed as he sat back, allowing me and Landen to lean closer to each other.

“How will we know that we did it right? How long do we have to hold that emotion?” I asked, not wanting this loophole to have a loophole that the devil could use.

“According to Tyless, an image of the rings will remain spinning, and the metal will return to your fingers. Tyless expressed that this was crucial, that if the rings were seen missing from your bodies, the devil would know he’s been played. I also have the impression that because you wear the rings, the power will find you when it’s needed.”

“You still feel like it won’t be needed now? That it’s far away?” Landen asked, looking back at him.

August nodded. “You may find small moments that you’re given a chance to change. These moments will be used as a form of training; it’s purpose is to teach you to trust the power so that when it’s needed to change a crucial moment, you’ll be able to.”

“How are they gonna choose the moment?” I asked.

As Libby and Preston both pointed to their heads, August nodded. “It will be a desire of yours; you may state or think it clearly, or it could be a hidden desire.”

I let out a breath and looked across the table at Stella. She was so eager to see this, and I couldn’t blame her; she was standing at the end of her bloodline, watching as a prophecy came to be. I imagined for a moment that every member of her family was staring back at me.

I slowly pulled my ring from my finger and placed it in my palm, then looked into Landen’s eyes as he did the same.

“Clear your mind,” August said.

Preston scooted closer to me and leaned his tiny body against my legs. It was as if he knew I needed more help than Landen to find the calm emotion that was needed to move these rings.

As I looked from Landen’s eyes to the palm of my hand, I just thought of peace. I pushed away what I thought was needed to reach that point, all the elements I thought must fall in place for that to occur.

At that moment, I trusted the path before me. As I felt the metal begin to warm, the silver grew brighter, emanating beyond any brightness I’d ever seen it have before. It slowly began to rise, as did Landen’s. In mid-air, both rings moved to an upright position, then began to slowly spin. As they drifted closer to each other, the speed with which they were turning intensified. They were moving so fast, it was hard to see what they were; they looked like tiny bright lights. As the fascination of their power came over me, I struggled to hold my calm. I felt the emotion Preston was giving me intensify; it was so strong, I felt numb, like I was powerless to feel anything.

The lights merged and became one. The light from them was so bright that each of us had to shield our eyes. Slowing their spin, the glare from the rings began to diminish. When I focused on the light again, I could see the rings spinning inside of one another; they
did
look like the looking glass we’d destroyed. The memories of that night came to me. That girl...I wanted to hate her, but Preston had complete control of my emotion at that moment, and I could feel nothing harsh against her.

Libby stood and opened the jewelry box on the table. She then gently picked it up and held it below the rings, which drifted angelically into it. Libby then gently closed the lid and sat it on the table.

I looked at Landen, thinking that that couldn’t be it; we didn’t have our rings. But before I could ask anything, I felt a hum on my ring finger and looked down: a light was slowly snaking itself around my skin. I gasped as I watched the glow turn to silver, and in its wake was a ring, my ring. It was identical to the other.

“Wow,” Stella said as a smile beamed across her face.

“That’s a good word,” August muttered as his emotion became saturated with excitement.

Preston nudged away from me giving me control of my emotions; once again, the mask he’d put over the rage I felt for that girl that trapped Landen the night we destroyed the looking glass was gone, and I felt every negative emotion I could for her. Landen reached for my hand.

That was you; in my mind, it was you. Don’t do this to yourself; she isn’t worth the energy
, he thought.

I tried to smile, but I couldn’t; instead, I looked at August. “How will we know it worked? Will the glass be standing when we go to Esterious?”

“It will be standing, but it won’t be spinning. We need Stella’s blood for that,” August answered.

“What?!” Landen and I both said at once.

August raised his hands to stop our outrage. “Only a drop where the rings meet on the west side. She must place her finger, and a tiny needle will prick it; just a small drop. The rings will then spin, knowing their keeper is close.”

“Marc is gonna love this,” Landen said sarcastically, running his fingers through his hair.

“We’ll find a way to tell him – just not inside of Esterious,” August said.

“Stella will tell him,” Libby said.

“He’s not gonna be mad. He may be relieved. He thought that if he’d found me sooner, it would have helped you with Mercury. He wasn’t afraid of my role – he embraced it,” Stella assured us.

“You must know a different Marc than me,” Landen said, smiling boyishly at Stella.

She stood. “Behind closed doors, with the ones we love we’re all different in some way,” she said, blushing.

“Fair enough,” Landen breathed, looking at me. Her words were true; in front of our family, both he and I looked fearless - but alone, we let every vulnerable emotion surface.

“So I guess we should go and get him, then go back again? I’m sure that’ll make everyone who’s waiting happy,” Landen complained, standing.

That idea of a beach is sounding better and better
, he thought.

“He’s here,” Preston said.

“What ?” I asked, knowing I didn’t feel him.

“He just stepped in the string. Ashten sent him to ask if the two of you were still coming,” Preston answered.

“Perfect timing,” August said, rising to his feet. “I’ll take Stella to the passage. The two of you hide this box, then meet us there. I don’t want anyone else to know where it is.”

Preston and Libby both hugged me and Landen before they left. I felt their intent to go to Felicity; I was sure they were only given a short window of time by her. Felicity had proven to be a perfect mother figure to all of the children we were supposed to protect.

Once everyone had left, I looked at Landen. “Where should we hide it?”

“Bury it in the yard?” he said impishly.

“Seriously?” I asked, trying not to laugh.

“No, maybe we should just use one of the drawers in our closet.”

“There’s drawers in there?” I asked.

“We really should spend more time here,” he murmured, trying to hide the obvious foreboding in his eyes. “Come on,” he said, reaching for the box. As he lifted it, he looked at me and said, “Feel this.”

As I reached for the box, I could feel the hum of the rings inside. The energy was pure, yet powerful. I shook my head. “I think I’ve become numb to the unexplained,” I mumbled.

“I don’t think that’s good,” Landen said, looking into my eyes.

“I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. I just don’t think that anything is impossible anymore. I really believe that every myth has a purpose; fairy tales are real, demons are real, and angels are real.”

He stared at me for a moment, trying to find the positive in my placid response to our twisted lifestyle.

I followed him up the stairs and into our room. Our closet was huge; it was almost the size of the bedroom I had growing up. I never really came in here; most of my stuff fit in the dresser in the bedroom, not to mention that Felicity was always bringing me clothes she’d made.

Inside the closet on the back wall, I saw the drawers he was talking about. At first glance, you’d think they were just decorations on the wall. Landen knelt down and opened the bottom drawer; nothing was inside of it. He gently sat the box inside, then closed the drawer slowly. He then pulled the large travel bags that we’d yet to use in front of the drawer, making it look even more reclusive.

“What other secrets does this house have?” I teased.

“One day we’ll lock ourselves in here, and I’ll show them all to you. I’m starting to wish I’d built a secret passage in here so we could escape anytime we wanted to.”

I smiled at him. “We have that right here,” I whispered, pulling his lips to mine. His hands reached for my waist, then began to move feverishly over every part of me. My heart began to beat faster and my skin blushed with anticipation as I reached to pull his shirt up. He casually grabbed my hands and pulled them behind my back as he stole one more deep kiss. “Let’s get this over with so we can come back here and I can convince you to run away with me.”

The alluring look in my eyes told him that we couldn’t get back here fast enough. He laughed under his breath as he pulled me to him once again.

August had taken Brady’s Jeep, so we had no choice but to walk to the passage. Landen held my hand, and we walked in silence most of the way.

“Do you feel better knowing that the next thing is Earth, not Mars?” I asked him timidly.

When he looked into my eyes, I saw a seriousness there that was almost frightening, “I don’t feel any better building toward a trial. I think we should be more cautious, not less. Mars is terrifying, even when you aren’t tied to some kind of prophecy. I’ve seen wars begin, love end, and death come within the influence of Mars. Venus was always perfect; almost as perfect as Jupiter, the planet of luck. Yet, Venus was the hardest thing I’ve ever lived through. Do you see why I’m so worried about you? Why I don’t want you to add to any of this with buried thoughts?”

I looked forward, seeing August, Marc, and Stella in the distance. “I just feel so anxious, like I’m in trouble, like someone’s going to make me pay for all I’ve done wrong. I fear Karma far more than I fear the devil.”

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “You haven’t done anything that deserves negative Karma – nothing.”

His tone was final, and I knew he didn’t want me to argue the point that Dane had pointed out the one thing I had done: let Drake’s energy inside of me. I wanted Drake next to us, to fight at our side - not against us - but I felt like I was leading him on, that I was the one and only source of all the turmoil between me and Landen.

My stomach started to turn as the anticipation of seeing Drake came to me. I knew we’d pass secret, seductive glances, that each time Drake looked into my eyes, I felt the hum of his soul in me, a passion that was unique to the emotion between us. I don’t think it’s love - at least not the same love I feel for Landen - but it’s undeniable. In a way, I felt like I was standing in the presence of a crush, something unattainable, dangerous. I never had one growing up because Landen was always there; I never had a doubt about the way he felt for me. I only compare the emotion to a crush because I remember feeling the emotion inside of my friends when I was young. Their hearts would race, their ears would turn red. It was obvious that they couldn’t control their breath or the words they uttered, and most of the time they sounded like a fool in the presence of their crush.

It wasn’t exactly like that with me. I mean, I feel those emotions, and I’m strong enough to push them down so that I’m the only one that feels them, and Drake doesn’t cause me to act like a fool; actually, it’s quite the opposite: he causes me to act in anger. My words are sharp, and I manage to know exactly what to say to bring him harm. I hate that because that’s the last thing I want to do. At times, I think he wants me to hate him, that hating him would make the tension go away.

Marc started to walk toward us. As we got closer, I could feel how worried he was, and I was sure he was about to tell us that he didn’t want Stella to go with us. I felt Landen’s relief; he was going to tell him that that was fine, that we wouldn’t ask him to help until we had no other choice.

Marc tilted his head and looked at Landen, furrowing his eyebrows, which intensified his dark eyes. “Are you mad at me?” he asked quietly.

Landen looked at him like he was insane. “What?”

“Are you mad I didn’t tell you about that book? Honestly, she told me a day or so after our celebration. I thought there was purpose in it, and I was going to tell you when I saw you, but then you knocked on the door, trying to get me to go to Pelhan’s world. Really, the book has been the last thing on my mind. Did I mess anything up by forgetting about it?”