Vital (5 page)

Brady and Marc were waiting for us at the passage. I could see Brady whispering to Marc, and I could feel Marc’s confusion and anger toward Dane.

“Did you tell Jason to look at Clarissa?” Landen asked, ignoring their emotions.

Brady shook his head no. “Mom said he left to meet all of us in the string. She’s going to make her rest. I don’t think anything is wrong with her, but I do want to have a talk with Mr. Dane.”

Marc nodded in agreement with cold eyes.

“There are two sides to every story,” I said shortly.

“Right,” Marc said, “but someone decided not to come home so we could hear his.”

Landen’s eyes shot to Marc, then he tilted his head, silently telling Marc to end it. Marc seemed caught off guard by Landen, but Brady understood, and he looked at me. “Sorry, Willow. She’s our sister, and we’ve always been a bit protective of her.”

“Yeah, I get it, but he’s like a brother to me, and I know he didn’t mean any harm. It’s just stress,” I said, gripping Landen tighter.

Brady looked away from me, wanting to squash the argument. “It’s about that time,” he muttered, stepping to the opening of the passage with intent to guide the damned souls that Drake would deliver us in just a few minutes.

Marc nodded and followed. I looked up at Landen, dreading the moment we found Dane. As he laced his fingers through mine and pulled me into the passage, the disdain I felt within him told me that even though he was furious with Clarissa, he still held blame with Dane, like Brady and Marc obviously did.

There were several other travelers passing through the passages from Chara to Delen. Some were carrying food, and others were waiting to see if we needed help guiding anyone that Drake pushed through. I kept my eyes down. I’ve always felt guilty when others helped us; I thought that I had somehow disturbed their lives and that somewhere a soul mate was waiting to be discovered when the travelers found time to take the citizens of Chara to them. Landen had told me over and over that no one was waiting, that whenever someone asked to be taken, there was a traveler ready to lead them.

As we came closer to Delen, I thought I felt Dane. I wasn’t sure if his emotion was in the string or somewhere inside of Esterious, but a moment later I could see a dark image coming closer to us.

That’s him
, Landen thought. “Not now,” he said to Marc and Brady, telling them to keep their opinions and thoughts to themselves. They both nodded and slowed down so Landen and I would be the first to approach him.

As Dane emerged from the glow, his eyes found mine.

“How did you get in here on your own?” I asked him. “Do you need help to see your way into Chara?” I asked, knowing the only way to suspend the tension would be for him and Clarissa to end their fight; when her tears stopped, so would the anger that Landen and the others had.

I knew he had the intent to stay with me, but I was hoping he’d hear my coded message that he’d crossed a line and that I was his only fan at that moment.

“I don’t need colors to see my way in or out. No one does. I’m right where I want to be,” he answered with cold eyes as he looked between Landen and the others, daring them to speak their minds.

“Dane, Clarissa is at home. I think you need to go there and work this out,” I dictated, letting go of Landen and stepping closer to him, trying to catch his eyes so he could see the obvious warning there. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold Landen back if he pushed any harder.

He looked away, avoiding my stare. “Willow, that’s none of your business.”

“Our family, our business,” Marc said before he had a chance to censor his tone.

“Really?” Dane said sarcastically. “Well, your ‘family’ left me in Atamentous, thinking that I had no other way to get home. She’ll get over it and go back there.”

“Yeah, and you aren’t there,” I rebutted, reaching back to Landen’s chest; out of the corner of my eye, I could see him shifting his weight as he fought his rage.

“Why were you there?” Landen asked through gritted teeth as his eyes slowly looked over Dane. He was waiting for one flinch, one move, one excuse to hit him.

Dane looked at Landen as if he were some kind of plague. I couldn’t understand why he was acting this way, why was he looking for a fight.

“I wanted to hear what he was saying to them. I would think that you would care - or am I wrong? You’re willing to take his word?” Dane accused, glaring at Landen. He then locked eyes with me. “To let him have whatever he wants, whenever he wants it?”

That was all Landen needed; he pulled me behind him as he charged Dane, stopping just inches before his face, his broad shoulders pulled back and his strong hands locked in a fist as his eyes coldly looked over Dane, daring him to move. “ This is your one chance to shut your mouth,” Landen seethed.

Dane rolled his eyes in disgust. “ Right. Well, call me old fashioned, but I would think that you could have found a better way of protecting her than partnering with Drake.”

Instantly, Landen pushed Dane back, knocking the wind out of him. He then stepped forward, waiting for Dane to throw a punch. Brady grabbed Landen as Marc stepped between them. Landen threw his hands in the air, saying he was done, then glanced at me, feeling the terror that was coursing through me. His eyes filled with regret as he pulled me to him and walked us a few steps away.

Marc kept himself between Landen and Dane as he scolded, “Drake; that’s my brother, my family, my blood.” Marc stepped a little closer to Dane and glared down at him as he slightly bowed his chest. “I know you’re new around here, but you need to understand that family - blood - is something we hold dear. We’re forgiving of each other’s mistakes.” Marc pointed his finger at Dane’s chest as he stepped back. “You’ll find that a benefit when you stop acting like a jerk and we all still find a way to call you one of us.”

My eyes pleaded for Dane to just shut up, call a truce. Though he didn’t look at me, I knew he felt my plea because he stepped back and said, “I’ll let you know when I feel like not being a jerk anymore,” as he looked away from Marc.

“It’s time,” Landen said, turning to face the passage that my followers would come through. I was so distracted by my own emotions and racing heart that I hadn’t noticed the terror of emotions coming from the other side of the passage. That was the worst part about this plan to work with Drake: the way these people felt. They were literally expecting to die, and they thought they were watching the deaths of others before them.

My father and Ashten approached us, looking curiously at Dane, and then us. I knew they could feel the hostility between us all.

“Where’s August?” Brady asked them.

My father cleared his throat. “I was telling him about this morning, about the rings, and he got that look in his eye like he’d just had an epiphany, then he left to go back to Chara.”

“What’s with the rings?” Marc asked Landen.

“Nothing,” Landen said, ending the onslaught of questions that would surface.

At that moment, a little girl emerged in the string. Landen reached out for her, sending calm through her as he passed her to my father. Other travelers then lined up in the string, leading the girl to the passage of Delen. Her mother was the next to be pushed through.

“She’s fine,” I whispered to the woman as I touched her shoulder. She nodded blindly and tried to smile, but the cold fear in her soul wouldn’t let her. I guided her to the traveler who was waiting to lead her to Delen.

Only fifteen more came after her. Drake was right yesterday: this wasn’t going to work anymore. Their fear of dying was greater than the peace they would find in the light of Delen. Landen nodded in the direction of the other travelers, letting them know that that was all. They all seemed to look down at once and fill with sadness as they walked away.

Ashten and my father started to walk in the direction of Delen as well. I went to follow them, but then I felt an anger, a rage rise inside of Landen.

“Step back, Willow,” he said through gritted teeth.

My father instinctively turned as he heard Landen’s demand. I didn’t want to move away from Landen, but my father reached for my arm and pulled me back. At that moment, a man in a black cloak was thrown through the passage. He landed in a ball on the floor of the string. He didn’t stare blindly into the darkness he should have seen, but instead looked up at me. Before he could say or do anything, Drake charged through the opening and pulled the man up, but the man had control of his energy and pushed Drake back. Drake screamed in agony and held his side, and I could see blood seeping from beneath his hand as he tried to compress a wound.

“He’s bleeding!” I screamed.

Landen, Marc, and Brady pushed their energy at the man, forcing him back to the ground, then holding him there. I broke away from my father’s grip and rushed to Drake’s side.

“How did he do this? Is this a new power?!” I asked him frantically, not knowing what to do.

“No, he had a knife,” Drake said through a locked jaw, trying to block the pain he was feeling as sweat glistened off his intoxicating image.

My father was at my side, trying to see the wound that Drake was holding. Once Landen was sure that Marc and Brady had control of the dark man, he came to Drake.

“Landen, this wound goes all the way through. You’re going to have to really focus; he’s punctured two major organs.”

Landen nodded, then Drake raised his hands, allowing Landen to touch him. As Landen placed one hand on Drake’s back and one on his stomach, a light blue glow began to emerge from his hands. Drake looked into my eyes as the healing began. Within his dark eyes, I saw the purest shade of blue emerge. As Landen slowly let go, the color faded and his eyes were as black as coal again. Landen looked at my father, wanting to know if he’d managed to repair everything. My father circled Drake, taking in every part of him.

The color of his eyes changed when you healed him; they looked blue
, I thought, confused by what I’d witnessed.

Landen looked into Drake’s eyes, then back at me.
Strange
, he thought as he anxiously rubbed his hands together.

“You healed the wound, and then some. Every cell looks stronger,” my father said, amazed by what he’d witnessed.

Drake nodded once at Landen, as if to say thank you.

“Who is this?” Landen asked, looking at the dark man who was struggling to break free from Marc and Brady’s hold.

Drake glared down at the man. “I don’t know. I just knew that he was deceiving me. He didn’t believe in Willow, at least not in the way the others did. I ordered him to be returned to prison, and the guards left with him, but a moment later I felt someone behind me. When I turned, I felt the knife slide through me.”

“I never meant to hurt you,” the dark man said in broken breaths.

“His intent, Landen,” Drake said, glaring down at the man.

Landen’s eyes narrowed as he focused on the man. I felt his anger and confusion as he began to speak.“He’s a spy. He was supposed to follow you, to find Willow, then take her to a man named Xaviour,” he said.

As Drake locked eyes with me, I could see his rage for this man, for the idea that I was his target.

The dark man struggled under the pressure of his captors. “You’re lost, my king. They’ve taken your queen – your throne,” he said in broken breaths.

Drake pushed through the others and lifted the man using only his energy, suspending him in mid-air. “You’re a traitor! How dare you call yourself a follower of mine! I – not you or anyone else - have the final say in everything in this world!”

“Killing him makes us no better,” Landen pointed out, not because he had mercy on the man, but because he didn’t want me to witness his murder; his intent to shield me made that very clear.

“Devil!” the man screamed from the air. “Don’t listen, Your Grace – his words are poison!” he screamed.

“His words are countering your death,” Drake bellowed, dropping the man. “What are we going to do with him? He can’t go back.”

“I’ll take him to the prison in the palace,” Marc assured, helping the man up.

Brady grabbed the man’s other arm, and they led him away. Ashten and my father followed, wanting to make sure he was locked securely away.

“I hope it’s a big prison,” Dane snapped as he came to my side and reached his arm around me protectively.

Seeming to notice Dane for the first time, Drake stepped closer to us and reached his hand out for me to come to him. “Back so soon?” Drake said calmly.

Willow, come to me. Drake thinks something is wrong – really wrong
, Landen thought harshly.

I’d learned never to doubt any fear that Drake had. I wasn’t afraid of Dane; I just thought perhaps Drake had sensed the demon somewhere in the string. I reached for Drake’s hand, feeling the hum of his skin, the addiction of his energy. He didn’t look at me as he led me behind him into Landen’s arms.

“Why are you so concerned with the size of my prison?” Drake asked once I was away from Dane.

Dane shook his head and smiled cunningly. “What’s wrong, Drake? Am I a threat to you? Do you really think you can tear us apart – come between us?”

“I’ll come between Willow and anyone who’s a threat,” Drake vowed, crossing his arms and glaring at Dane.