by Jamie Magee
After a moment, Drake glanced at me. “Does this clear up your little issue?”
I clenched my jaw. No. It didn’t. “Lore stated the Flames would end him. For all I know, this power is what I need to do that. I can’t fathom what will happen to me once that is done, and I hate that I have to put her through this hell to end the devil that he has become.”
Draven puffed out his chest. “He’s your last mark. You could rise after that. You could be the first of the seven to do so.” He had an unexpected awe when it came to me.
With this connection between us, coupled with the memories Phoenix had restored within my mind, I could clearly see the highlights of my existence in ghostly images that were emerging between the four of us.
Willow and I had taken out four major players in Donalt’s line of escorts in our first life, in none other than the wicked playing field of The Realm. Donalt should have been next on our list, but we vanished to Chara.
Up until now, I’d assumed that we’d stayed there, built the heritage I’m fighting now, because of Libby. Because we could not leave her behind and we could not take her. Now, looking at this tangled web, it seemed as if we did not escape Donalt; he’d sent us to Chara to create a dimension he planned to take over. It was part of Donalt’s master plan. It was all coming to a head now.
After a second or two of silence, of bringing myself back to the moment we were in, I spoke again. “I’m a positive-minded person, but let’s see this as it is. The current kings can be taken down. They have weaknesses. Therefore, it stands to reason we will, too. Now that we know of this course before us, we have to use even more caution.”
We all seemed to smirk at the same time. Our girls made us the most cautious souls in existence. They were the first and last thought on our minds each time we chose a path. They were equally our strength and weakness. We had to protect them. Beyond this newly found circle, they were the only ones we trusted without question to do what was right for the entire universe.
“We share the same weakness, one that has been threatened since day one,” Phoenix said as he gazed at the energy before him, watching his life. Draven and Drake were doing the same. Each of us was standing in our own judgment, watching each instant where we almost or did lose the souls that gave us reason to fight.
“The girls,” I said. “They are all that matter. We are only half of this. I will not make a decision without Willow, and I strongly advise that each of you do the same. They have to have felt this calling on some level. They have to have some insight to bring to this table.”
Drake nodded in agreement, as did the others.
“They are the first priority. If we defend them, make our decisions based on their protection, we cannot fail,” Drake offered.
“Then how does this revelation play into this crossover of conflicts?” Draven asked, clearly not wanting his Charlie anywhere near any war of darkness.
“I have no idea,” Drake said. “I’ll stop time when the first explosion happens. I will hold it as long as I have the power to. We fight our own wars.” He glanced at me. “Landen can deal with his heritage, and you two can deal with the dead.”
“What about the five?” Phoenix asked, not wanting to forget about the text he had uncovered that said five sacrifices around this merged conflict. “I think it has to do with the two of you,” he said with a nod to Drake and me. “It’s on an Earthly plane, not the Veil where Draven and I are fighting.”
“If it does, then what will happen must happen,” Drake stated evenly.
There was a humble nod from each of us.
“Kings,” Drake said as his eyes met mine. We were both blown away by this revelation. We had, at one time as boys, dreamed of ruling side by side.
“Honored,” I said with a wry smile. I truly was. I had a great respect for each of those in front of me, and I knew they felt the same way. “We all have beautiful women waiting on us. How long do we have to prepare them for this? I’m ready to get back.”
“Tonight. Twelve hours,” Phoenix said.
Not nearly enough time, as far as I was concerned.
“We can stretch that,” Drake nearly swore to me. He needed more time, too. It was clear we both had a lot of explaining to do to the girls we’d left behind. “Do I need to send Marc and Chrispin with you? How dangerous will it be for them to be here while your ceremony is going on?”
“If they do not answer the call, lore says they will be consumed by flames where they stand. You can send them all you want, but they are not going to leave your side until the last second. You are not alone, Drake. You never were.”
A boyish smirk echoed on his lips; for a second, he was fourteen in my eyes.
“Is it just me—or can all of you sense me clearly now? I sense you. In a weird way. I feel what you are planning on doing,” Draven said.
We all nodded.
“I wonder if this will hold once we break this connection. If it does, that will help on the battlefield,” Phoenix said, looking to his hands, then to me.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but for a while I have been sensing all of you, Landen and Draven the most,” Drake admitted. “But I do sense the fire of you now,” he said, meeting Phoenix’s stare.
“Then let’s give it a go, mate,” Phoenix said.
At the same time we lifted our hands, the electric waves diminished.
“Still feel it,” Draven said. We each gave each other a knowing glance to agree. “Makes me feel a little bit more secure. I can focus on what I’m doing and not worry that I’m hurting any of your battles. I like it. A lot.”
“We have a plan, a connection, and a goal. Good conference, mates,” Phoenix said, raising one brow.
We dropped our barrier of energy, opening the room back up to a furious Marc, Brady, and Chrispin.
“Still feel it,” Draven said.
It was clear the rest of them agreed. It was odd. It’s not like I could read their thoughts, or even hear them. I just sensed them. It was a lot like it was with my Rampart Warriors.
“So what top secret information are you hiding from all of us?” Marc spouted.
“Nothing,” I said calmly. “Drake will stop time with the first explosion, giving Phoenix and Draven time to fight their war.”
“While you proceed with the ceremony,” Brady said as he crossed his arms.
“We’ll see.”
My now fellow kings nodded to agree, which only infuriated my cousins and brother.
“I don’t know what that was about,” Brady said with a glance to the table, “but clearly you knuckleheads figured out this ascension would give you the army you need to win any web of spells, curse, or trial.”
“We figured out that it’s not about the war. It’s about our girls. The emotions they hold close to their heart,” I said, holding his stare.
The kings knew I meant the ones we were destined to fight, or rather rule. My family assumed I meant love, but telling my brother that instead of being an Eternal Flame, as our heritage stated I would be, my new goal was to become a Sovereign Escort would not settle well.
He would have never understood that. Life was black-and-white to Brady; bad people stayed bad, good people stayed good. If he had any notion of what was going on in my mind, he would come unglued. So would the rest of my family; they all assumed I was at my happily ever after. But I already told him once: he didn’t know what I knew.
“Best of luck to each of you. No doubt that you will prevail.”
And with that, I vanished from the room, sending my soul to the woman that I could not live without.
Chapter Fourteen
~Landen~
My mind should be racing with everything I learned at that meeting—the imminent threat of war, the promised future of ruling an emotion that I have always wanted to subdue—but all I could think about was her.
Willow was seated beneath a vast tree, only steps away from where I’d left her. A plate of food that she had barely touched was on the ben
ch beside her, and a sketchpad full of images was sitting next to her. Her hand was on her chest, outlining the mark that could be clearly seen in the energy of the Radiance.
Olivia tapped my shoulder, and I glanced down to see her solemn expression. “I had to apologize,” she said to me.
Olivia was the one that had basically sent up the red flags to my family that the ceremony had to take place. She had seen the flower on Willow’s chest, told Chrispin. She had no idea what she was doing when she did that. She was confiding in her soul mate, a natural course of action.
“Did she understand?” I asked, not sure what I was walking into now. I knew I should have never left her alone. My gaze soared to Justus, who was perched on a branch above Willow, watching over her like a lethal lion. I should have been clearer with him, should have told him to keep my family at a distance. I assumed because Willow could not hear clearly that that would not be a problem; I guess a sketchpad and paper were too obvious for me to consider.
“Justus didn’t let me get very far,” Olivia admitted. “I told her I was sorry. She asked why, and I pointed to the mark. She asked me if I knew anything about yours, then Justus cut in, told her to ask you. She spent the rest of the time asking me where everyone was. She wanted us all to leave here. She thinks it’s dangerous. I didn’t tell her we were bound to you until this was over. I just told her I could not or would not leave her side.”
“What happened after that?” I asked, knowing I’d been gone far longer than I wanted to be.
“She sketched.”
My heart let out a deep, hard pound. It was like Olivia had told me Willow had taken a breath on her own. Art had always been her way to deal with things. Even the good things. I hadn’t seen her with a sketchpad in hand in some time.
I took in her emotions; she was rippled with fear but was forcing a balance in her mind. She was so deep in thought that she hadn’t sensed me there.
“What did she create?” I asked, wanting to know what part of our short life together she was reliving in torment.
“Everything,” Olivia said. “That sketchpad at her side was empty when I gave it to her. Now it’s full. Every page. Front and back.”
I let out a slow breath, hating that she had sat there and endured all of that without me. I could only imagine how harsh her flashbacks were. The energy around her clearly left the marks of an emotional war.
Olivia reached her hand for my shoulder. “For every dark image, there was a bright one. You have been good to her, Landen. The emotions she put into those sketches were so powerful that everyone here stopped and stared.”
I glanced down at her, knowing that would not have helped Willow. She hated being the center of attention, especially when she was trying to escape reality.
“She didn’t know,” Olivia offered, knowing that was my concern. “Justus is fierce. I’m surprised he let me get as close to her as he did, and he made it very clear when my time was over. She is behind his energy now. She doesn’t see anything in this courtyard.”
Right as she said that, Willow’s eyes moved to me, staring right into my soul. She stood from where she was and walked blindly in my direction. The second Justus let his energy fall, she gasped, noticing me and the courtyard full of people. I could hear her heart hammering from where I stood—I would swear that I could.
“Don’t go far, Olivia. Chrispin will need to be by your side when this all goes down, and he won’t have time to search for you.”
“It’s going to happen?” Olivia nearly croaked. Clearly, she was not as eager for this to happen as her soul mate, but that made sense. She grew up next to Willow; she saw her as...well, human. My family, because of my insights, had always looked at me differently, expected more of me. It was like they all knew deep down who I was—that my entire life only had one purpose: to protect them.
“Not tonight,” I said under my breath as I walked slowly away from her and toward Willow.
The stroll was painful. My instincts told me to soar my energy forward, to hold her in my arms, but I knew I needed to take very slow steps with her. I needed to let her tell me when she was ready.
“I missed you.”
“You sketched.”
She nodded once as a shiver came across her, then almost immediately, a wave of bliss rippled across her energy. Her internal war was becoming more and more evident, yet that fear was still dominant. Sequestering her soul.
A weak nod was all she offered as my steps moved me closer.
“You vanished…into a tree.” Her remark was almost pointed with humor. I had to hold back the smile that wanted to surface.
“You commanded thousands of soldiers to emerge with one word.”
I nodded, taking one more step.
“This was our home.”
My stare agreed.
“Esterious is right there,” she said through a tremble.
No denial came from me.
“Donalt is threatening our people.”
I kept my pace.
“Donalt tricked us. He sent us here. We are the only ones that can stop him.”
I furrowed my brow, wondering how she knew that. Justus. He had to have told her that. Would it have killed him to enlighten me on that fact?
“We’re a part of something massive, Landen. Part of seven souls. A new beginning.”
I hesitated, and so did she. She was trying to let me understand what she said, and I was trying to figure out how she knew that. Before now, she was terrified of the idea of being dark. Did she now accept that? Did she understand what those seven would rise to do?
“But I don’t understand what that has to do with what you fear now. What you are hiding from me.”
She didn’t mean for it to happen, but I felt those words stab my soul.
I’d reached her side. With a trembling hand, I reached to outline her cheek. She sighed like I was relieving some deep pain. It took all I had to not pull her to me and meld our bodies and energy together, not caring who was watching. Instead, I leaned my forehead to hers.
“Are you okay? Are the flashbacks bad?”
She knew I was diverting her question. “I’m dealing with them.”
They had to be bad. If she admitted to any pain, it was already past the threshold of pain that most could endure.
I wrapped my arms around her. “Hold on,” I thought.
I moved our bodies away from the watchful stares of our family, of our kingdom, and carried her to the highest treetop in Radiance.
I suppose treetop was an understatement. Up here, near a thousand feet in the air, there was a home, one that would put any treehouse to shame. It was two stories. Most of it was open to the sky, letting the air that was never too warm or cold in. The beams were mainly branches, and the floors were solid, strong enough to support all the luxuries of home.
At one time, this place was used to prepare the couples for their celebrations. From here, you could understand this world more clearly. The magic was not explained, it was revealed. It had not been used since I brought Willow home in my arms. The tradition had been halted. Until I walked this path, no one else would, which was why even if Justus had allowed Olivia to speak to Willow longer, she would not have been able to explain this place to her, this magic. I felt a tinge of guilt right then, knowing I had stolen this moment from Chrispin and Marc, from my sister.
I had been up here when Brady had brought Felicity home. I knew what it looked like, and it was clear that it had been altered for my and Willow’s benefit. Everything was new, made to fit our personalities. It nearly mocked our home, with those dark, wooden colors that seemed modern, yet edgy at the same time. I didn’t have time to understand how my family knew I would need this sanctuary. Right now, I had a trembling Goddess in my arms.
Her pensive stare glanced around as her arms clutched me a little closer. She had gauged how far up we were by gazing down at the treetops below. I’d placed us in our own world once again.
“I’d never let you fall,�
� I thought as I kissed her forehead and gently pulled her chin so my lips could meet hers.
We both sighed on contact. When I felt her tongue against mine, I could not hold in the groan that I doubted she could even hear. The only good thing about being away from her, even if it was only for a few hours, was coming back to this, feeling our bodies and souls react as if it had been years since they touched.
Everything in the Radiance was amplified. The energy took away all barriers and enhanced every sense. Her skin had always been soft, like silk, but right now I found myself fascinated with her touch, the sensation of it. As our kiss deepened, I pulled her waist against mine. My hands moved beneath the rim of her shirt, and I could feel the warmth of her back, where the sun had kissed her earlier today. Oddly, I grew envious of that blazing ball of fire. I wanted to feel every part of her, hide her away forevermore. She broke our kiss, only to gasp against my neck, clearly feeling the sensations as powerfully as I was. When her wet lips met my neck, I nearly lost it.
I reached for her beautiful face, stopping this natural pull we had to each other.
“We have to talk.”
She glanced around the room. “Do we have an audience?”
It took all I had not to laugh at the frustrated expression on her face. I reached my arms around her waist; she had moved slightly away, and I couldn’t bear the separation.
“I doubt anyone would dare to disturb us.”
She was perplexed, didn’t understand why I was pushing her away. That wasn’t the case at all. I would gladly hold her any hour of any day. In fact, I would beg to on my knees. But I wasn’t going to hold her until she knew what lies I had left unspoken.
“I want to explain what’s before us,” I said, leaning my forehead to hers, fighting my own internal war. The bed was only a few feet away. Hell, the floor was only at our feet. I didn’t want to talk right now. I wanted her. I always wanted her.
She moved her head from side to side. “We’re never alone, audience or not. This curse lies between us each minute of each day.”