Landen reached down and picked a flower, then stared at me as he glided his finger through it as if it were an illusion, not solid.
My heart began to race and that smirk on my face vanished.
Chapter Nine
I watched as Landen bent the law of reason over and over again in front of me. When my emotions would tip to the point of anxiety, he would reach for my arm and calm me down with little effort.
“You can do this, too,” he promised. “Show her, Draven.”
Landen gave the flower to Draven, then stepped back, giving us space.
“When you play, do you see the music?” Draven whispered. My eyes told him no. “But you feel it, all around you. You feel like you are the center of it. When you let go, you become this energy. The boundaries of life are gone because you are in the music.”
“Right,” I exhaled as I moved my fingers against each other. I wanted to play right now and escape all that I was dealing with.
He handed me the flower. “Un-focus your eyes, baby.”
I did as he said because along with his addictive voice I heard others in my mind. I heard my mom teaching me this in another world when I was just a baby, my dad showing me how easy it was.
Cashton was the only one that got through to me. He was only a few years older than me, but Dad was already teaching him to play the guitar. He pulled me over to one of Dad’s favorites and pulled the string. When the strings vibrated and appeared to be smoke he moved his finger through it. He taught me to do the same. Before long, I was pushing my energy through the actual strings. He said the music was just like us, that it could vibrate its instrument and move through solid space. That it, like us, controlled our vessel - not the other way around.
“Memories are firing, aren’t they, little one?” Cashton said in a deep whisper.
I nodded weakly.
“You already know how to do this,” Cashton said to me. “You just have to trust that you do. Everything is energy. You can move through whatever you want. I’ll grant you that it’s easier to just move your soul, but you have to learn this way, too, so you can protect your vessel, so you can use the humming energy in your soul to defend yourself from assaulting emotions as well as protect yourself from physical breaches.”
The flower in my hand was mostly red. All around it I saw the haze of that color. It eventually lost its red shade and turned to white. That white was around everything: the grass, the trees, the windmills in the distance. Slowly, I eased my finger through this haze, feeling a sensual tingle of energy. Before I even realized it my finger had crossed through what should have been a solid flower.
I let the flower fall as I gazed widely at Cashton, then to Draven. I could see energy around both of them.
“You see it, Charlie?” Landen asked.
I nodded once as Draven stepped aside so I could see Landen, too.
“All right,” Landen said quietly. “Now, I’m going to feel those bad emotions again and you’re going to see them.”
Instantly, a crimson hue absorbed his aura and began to reach for the energy I could see around me. Without a thought I pushed it back - and when I did the light around me, which was almost entirely white, pushed the crimson away knocking him to the ground.
“Oh my God! I’m so sorry,” I said as I reached to help him up.
He grinned, shaking his head as Draven and Cashton both belted out another laugh.
“One more time,” Landen said, rising to his feet. “This time, try not to push it, but change it. See your light, your peace - change the color. Don’t push me away. Help me.”
My eyes grew curious as I gazed at him. If that were possible, why did he and Willow have to touch me to change my emotions? Why was he teaching me something he clearly could not do?
His aura shifted to crimson again. I had no idea how to change it or help him, for that matter, so I just imagined that the color was white instead. Not knowing why, I started to mentally hum the song of my father’s that I’d always hidden behind. The white haze around me eased into his energy. The crimson around him slowly backed away until it was barely visible next to his body.
“See,” Landen said, “now you have pushed this energy, laced with a negative emotion, back to me. You didn’t change it, but you flooded me with a calm I should feel. Now the choice is mine. I’ll either walk away from you because I’d rather be miserable or I’ll walk closer, exploring that energy, finally deciding to create it on my own.”
“How...why...how did you know I could do that if you can’t? If Willow can’t...you have to touch.”
Landen smiled faintly. “We are all different within our insights. We have to be. If we all carried the same it would be too much for one vessel. You are the Libra, the balance. You can pull almost any power into focus when needed. But you can also turn it off and let others take the lead. Wise girl. Balance.”
“You have no idea,” Cashton said under his breath.
“But how did you know I could? Can you see something I can’t? Did the scroll or that black book say something?”
As Landen’s eyes locked with Draven’s, I felt a common disdain in the energy around me. Whatever they were thinking about or seeing, they agreed not to like it. Landen’s eyes fell to mine just before I dared to see it myself.
“I have found that in the battle of life, every soul shows its deep intent. I don’t need to see the way you’re gifted in order to perceive it. My gift of seeing intent paints a vivid picture.”
At that moment, I saw images of Silas in Landen’s thoughts. They were face-to-face in a gothic graveyard fighting with energy and wit.
“I...I...I don’t understand. You found us in a past life. Silas had a message for you, one that you had given him.”
“We came to you,” Landen quickly countered. “We came to you because your fate was woven into our - as you say it - ‘family of souls.’”
Cashton gave me a curious glance, seeming to doubt that I knew as little as I had told him I did.
“But he was with me. Do you remember now?” I asked, feeling the sting in the air that I assumed was fueled by jealousy. I couldn't focus to change it, and I didn’t want to knock Draven down so I endured it.
“No,” Landen said sorrowfully. “But there was someone that helped me see, at least told me a story. At first I felt bad for your friend Silas - but then I saw his intent and I had to let him know that I would not stand for it. That none of us would.”
His sister...his sister had told him something. She was with them when this face-to-face with Silas happened.
“When did this happen? I just saw him,” I demanded.
Landen’s eyes rushed over my confused expression. “A few days ago.”
I tried to see it, but I couldn't. My emotions and confusion were blocking my path.
“I’m going to be very blunt with you, Charlie, because I don’t have time to break this to you gently,” Landen said in a tone that sent chills down my spine. “This is our eleventh hour. And if we survive it there will be another eleventh hour, then another. None of us have the time to be gentle.”
“Just say it,” I breathed, expecting almost anything.
Landen looked out at the field, then back to me as Draven reached his arm around my waist.
“I don’t understand my past lives any more than I understand this one. I cannot tell you how Willow and I knew to find you - or anyone else for that matter - lifetimes ago. But I can tell you that you were with the wrong man.”
“Yeah, okay. I’m with Draven now. I get that. But Silas had a message for you. Did he give it to you?”
Landen reached for my arm, letting a numb calm ease through me, one so strong that I was near sleep. Whatever he was going to say must be bad if he needed me this placid.
“Your father in that life was evil, dark as Donalt - if not more so. He knew your destiny. He knew you had fallen to change the world, but he didn’t want that change. He did his best to wed you away so that your morals would keep you fro
m running away with your soul mate when he came for you. And when your soul mate did come for you, he was prepared. He’d found a martyr to fulfill a role that he could not.”
My eyes questioned him as I remembered flashes of the time I lived in Pompeii, the story Silas had told me. It was a tragic story, but without doubt it was fortified in love, not evil.
Cashton was listening so intently that I knew he was learning this for the first time with me. He may have known me on the other side, but he was blind to what I endured on this side.
Landen’s eyes shifted to steel blue, a shade that was encased with stone cold seriousness.
“The man Silas killed in that arena at your father’s request...was Aden.”
“WHAT?!” I gasped as he pushed an even more calm feeling through me. I wanted to be outraged. This was the last thing any of us needed racing through our thoughts – especially Draven.
Landen nodded once. “Legend had said that if you ever looked into the eyes of your soul mate you would remember who you were. Why you fell. You would begin your fight. But you were never given that option. You never laid eyes on him, even though he resided in the same city for nearly a month.” Landen’s eyes filled with sorrow. “Legend also stated that the only way your soul mate could have been killed was by a noble man that loved you, a man that had no knowledge of who you were, that would love you in spite of it. All Silas was told was that if he killed him with one blow, he could be wed to you, that the murder would justify that he was worthy to win your hand, more worthy than the widowed man that was chosen for you.”
“That’s not...that’s not how I remember it...not what Silas said. He told me then that I had to marry that widower, that he didn’t deserve me.”
“What do you remember, Charlie? Beyond the aftereffects and a few days before that - what do you remember?” Landen asked, clearly wanting to know my side of the story. He didn’t want us rely on Silas’ version.
I shook my head once, telling him I didn’t want to remember even if I could. He seemed disappointed. After a brief hesitation, he went on.
“With Aden’s death, the Earth protested, the city was doomed. Your father threatened Silas. He told him that he must not have killed him because if he did, that destruction would not have come. He blamed the city’s death on Silas. Even with that, Silas tried to bring you safely to your father, just to prove that he was a brave enough man to marry you. But everything that could stop him from bringing you to your father, including you, stood in his way. You perished in that temple and because you never met the eyes of your soul mate you were with the wrong man, a man that was worthy to be a protector, but not your counterpart. Your fate was unfinished, so death could not claim you and your soul rose to be a Witness, keeping you aware so that when time aligned once again, you would fall. You would begin your fate as it was planned.”
“How do you know that was Aden? How reliable is your source?”
“My source? Silas. And looking into Aden’s eyes, feeling his emotions, seeing his intent - it all backed up what Silas told me,” Landen said confidently, commanding me to focus, taking away the visions I wanted to grasp so I could understand this. “You have the gift that allows you to see into the lives of the damned and the living. What is the first rule on seeing? What must you always remember?” Landen asked in a gentler tone as his blue eyes poured over me once again, encouraging me to use my memories, not those of Silas.
“That...” I swallowed, “that what you see is their perception...that it’s not always the way it happened.”
Landen nodded once. “Silas showed his perspective of what happened, not yours. Time and circumstance have changed his perspective. Seeing Aden in The Realm, his soul present at your birth, made him face what really happened. For the first time, Silas saw himself as a martyr, but he’s decided not to care. He plans to continue his fight. The universe is his arena.”
“What did Aden say about this? What is his perspective? How sure are all of you that he is not just picking up on Draven’s memories? They sense each other on a level that cannot be described.” I argued.
My words seemed to make both Draven and Landen reconsider what they thought about that day in a long lost past; what roles Aden and Draven may have played.
Draven clenched his jaw and stared out into the field.
Landen let out a sorrowful sigh. “To be honest, I didn’t ask him. He looked strong when I saw him, which tells me that the wall was not completely knocked down. He was only given a glimpse. That is a good thing because if that wall is ever completely knocked down his mind will shut down. The massive amount of information would be too much.”
“What do you mean, ‘too much’? What would happen to him?” I asked in a timid voice.
I received a sorrowful gaze from Landen for an answer.
“Would he die?” I croaked.
Landen’s grip on my arm tightened as the calm increased again. I felt Draven pull me closer to him.
“I won’t let that happen,” Draven whispered against my neck.
Landen sighed. “I have no doubt Pelhan has taught him how to protect his mind, his soul. You have to realize that what we are fighting now is a battle that has stretched across time. The darkness we are fighting would not have targeted him unless they knew it would weaken all of you. The only advice I feel comfortable giving you is this: follow that feeling deep inside. There are no absolutes. The messages given to you from the past - or even the visions you see - are layered with intent, emotion, and circumstance.”
“My gut is telling me this is B.S. It wasn’t Aden in Pompeii – it couldn’t have been. And if he was there, if he was killed by Silas, then it wouldn’t have mattered. I still would not have awakened because Aden is not Draven.”
Landen held my stare, clearly neither agreeing nor disagreeing with me.
“Silas has the notion that he didn’t kill a man that day. He thinks he divided a man. He has already tried to kill Draven when he was a king in a past life. He failed. He now feels that if he kills Aden it will automatically kill Draven. He believes they are two halves of a whole.”
“What?! What kind of reasoning is that?! You cannot be serious!”
Draven turned me in his arms and pulled me against him, whispering, “Shh...I’m not going to let that happen,” as his hands moved across my back, sending the power of his hypnotic energy through me.
Landen waited for the tension to leave my body before he answered. “He thinks he could not kill Draven then because he is the darker part of the divided soul, that he’s feeding off Aden, then and now. If Draven doesn’t have Aden he will die instantly.”
“B.S.,” I seethed again as I pondered my argument with Silas and glanced back at Landen.
“Right,” Landen said calmly. “Silas’ intent is clear: to protect you.”
Cashton was oddly silent as he evaluated this revelation.
“So let me get this straight: Silas is basically throwing a temper tantrum because he figured that his almighty plea that I loved him first was in some way wrong. And because of that, he is not telling you what he was supposed to tell you? That in a way he is holding all of our lives in limbo - even the children?”
I felt that cutting sensation in the energy all around me and knew that I was probably right.
“He’s still playing his role as a Witness,” Landen offered, “but he is not offering any insights that we really need. He still claims that if Draven pulls light from you that he will kill him. His excuse is that his life is yours. Only he will not appear at your side like he did last time. He will appear at Aden’s and strike him.”
“Because he is bonded or something?”
“Kind of,” Landen said as he crossed his arms. “Apparently, you are the one person he has ever really loved on this plane. He had to feel love in order to be a Witness. I think he would protect you no matter what, but because he has that emotion, because you were risen together, he knows when your soul is weakening - instantly.”
??
?Should I talk to him? Get it through his head that he is being petty?”
“No,” Draven said firmly as his arm clasped around me. “We are going to end this a different way.”
“What? How?”
Neither of them answered. The air around us grew tense.
“Answer me!”
Draven’s skin blushed with anger as he nodded to Landen, asking him to tell me.
“The thing is that Silas’ point of view, along with some of the notes in that book, have led us to assume,” Landen hesitated, to point out that last word to Draven, “that if Silas believes that Aden and Draven were divided in that life, then we must consider that they can join. And that if they do, they could take out a very big threat to you instantly.”
“Silas?”
“No, your father in that life,” Landen corrected. “We think he has been taunting all of you for a while, taunting Draven. And now he has a grip on Aden’s life. He only let some of that wall fall. If he lets it all fall it will be too much for Aden: death. If he is stopped, then you should all find peace.”
“Who is this person? I thought Bianca did this to Aden?”
“Bianca is empowered by a very dark master Escort. He used her to get close to you in this life.” Landen cleared his throat. “We even think they brought Silas back into your life to amp him up, cause more trouble.”
“How did you come up with that connection?”
Landen grimaced slightly. “Silas had eighteen years to sense you in this life. He didn’t until an Escort came for you. Draven just fell in his line of sight, brought up a lot of old bad blood,” Landen answered solemnly. “Silas was content to stay in love with your memory, do his job and move on. The darkness you’re fighting put you in danger, put Silas in danger, and pointed him right at Draven and, well, now Aden.”
I knew that Silas had told me that he had waited and searched for me, that it wasn’t until I was near death that he sensed me, but I wasn’t going to argue that point.