“Promise,” I whispered in the nape his neck.
His arms tightened around me, and his warm lips touched my neck as he whispered, “Promise.”
I heard someone clear their throat behind him so I pulled away to see who it was. I assumed it was Grayson. He looked a lot like Winston, only he was older, stronger, and had a sense of leadership that lingered around him. His long, dark hair enhanced his dark eyes, which seemed humble and kind - unlike his younger brother.
Draven nodded toward him. “This is Grayson. This is my Charlie.”
Grayson nodded and smiled slightly, then looked around me at Monroe. She had stood, and her eyes were smiling.
“She seems happy,” he said to me as a relived smile came across his face.
“She’s sweet. She gets me,” I said quietly.
Grayson’s smile fell as he stepped a little closer. “Listen,” he said gently. “She doesn’t speak…she…she’s just been through a lot, so she’s timid. She’s a good girl, though.”
I looked over my shoulder at Monroe with questioning eyes. Was it possible that I was the only one that heard her voice? It was clear that she loved her brother; she seemed to glow when he walked into the room. She held a serious expression, but her eyes were asking me to hold her trust.
“Monroe fits in perfectly around here. We’ll keep her happy,” I mumbled.
Grayson walked past me to her side and hugged her. He whispered something in her ear, and she nodded in response and smiled slightly. Then they stared at each other…I was almost certain she was ‘seeing’ him and he was ‘seeing’ her. It was kinda sweet to watch; words were a waste of time if you could just show someone your day.
I felt Draven lean into me. “Can I stay with you tonight?” he whispered against my skin.
I pulled his arm around me as I leaned back against him, telling him yes without saying a single word.
“Dad is downstairs if you want to go home,” Draven said to Aden.
Aden’s eyes grew wide. “You’re kidding, right? He’s gonna drive me like I’m some kind of kid? Did you really burn it down, man?”
My body tensed, and Draven responded as he pulled me closer. “Not on purpose,” he said firmly. “Don’t give Dad a hard time.”
Aden stood up. “I’m going home – I wanna play.”
I thought about telling him could play here, but the look fierce look in his eyes said he wanted to play drums, not the guitar.
Grayson broke his stare with Monroe. “I’m gonna go, too...let you get settled here. It feels nice…you’ll like it here,” he said to Monroe. She nodded as Grayson turned to walked to the staircase, where he mouthed the words ‘thank you’ to me.
Aden locked eyes with Draven as he followed Grayson. Draven’s grip on me tightened a little more, and I knew Aden had just shown him every moment he was with me. The anger that seemed to seethe through Draven’s skin told me that he knew every detail Aden knew. I wondered if it was Silas or Britain that was fueling it.
Madison crawled to her bed, picked up her charcoal, and began to sketch. Monroe lowered her head and walked to her bed, too.
“Feel like playing?” Draven ask in a quiet tone. I nodded and reached for his hand to guide him to my room.
When we stepped into my new room, an impish grin spread across Draven’s face. “Why didn’t we think of this?”
“I thought the same thing,” I mumbled as my eyes looked over him carefully. I knew I was seeing the way I was supposed to - but he was blocking me. “What are you hiding? What did you do?” I asked as a sense of dread began to rise in me.
Draven’s jaw tightened, then he tried to smile. “It’s not fun when someone hides behind a shield and you can’t see them, is it?”
Within his tone, I heard the pain of the time I’d blocked him out – the time I’d forgotten who he was.
“That’s not fair. I didn’t know I was doing that – I didn’t even know I could see.”
He causally walked to the guitar stand and let his fingers dance across each stalk of the guitars resting there. “I’m talking about before, when you still could see - when you hid the existence of Britain from me.”
“So what is this - retaliation? Some kind of twisted payback? I was trying to protect you,” I argued.
His eyes shot a hard glance at mine. “And what do you think I’m trying to do now?”
I rushed to his side and reached my hands for his waist. “I was a fool. When I hid my worry and fear from you, it drove us apart. Why are you taking that risk? Why are you doing this to us?” I asked as I fought tears and my pounding heart.
He slowly reached to cradle his hand against my face as he gazed into my eyes. “I will never let anything or anyone come between us…I promise you that.”
His words were meant to comfort me, but the sting of anger behind them made them seem as if they were more of a threat than a promise – to whom, I couldn’t comprehend.
“What did you do? What is he gonna do to us because of it?” My tone was pleading but near silent.
“Look at me,” he whispered. I focused on him, and within that second he allowed me to see the answer to my question. I watched him read the text from Aden then struggle with his thoughts as anger seemed to rip through his soul. His eyes turned to black, and within that moment he was standing in Britain’s home.
Britain was standing in front of his desk, trying to open a crystal bottle that had what looked like whisky or bourbon in it. Candles were lit on each corner of the desk. The moment Draven appeared in the room, Britain seemed to sense it – every muscle in his back tensed. He slowly sat the crystal bottle down before he said, “I’m not your problem…you and I have to work together if we plan on living much longer.” He then slowly turned around to face the fierce anger in Draven’s stone expression. When Britain saw that Draven wasn’t the slightest bit curious as to why he had said those words, he smirked. “Looks like someone doesn’t know how to share…there’s enough Charlie for the both of us – trust me,” Britain said with a sting in his tone.
Draven charged forward and pushed Britain back with nothing less than violent force. Britain fell back against the desk, causing the candles and crystal bottle to crash onto the floor. Within an instant, fire spread across the floor. Draven gripped Britain’s shirt and pulled him from the path of the flame just as it raged toward him. The shock of the fire caused Draven to lose his focus, and in that moment he was back at his father’s side, listening to the lawyers go over contracts. None of them had the slightest clue that he’d been gone – well, almost none of them. The first person Draven’s eyes met was Grayson.
Before I could see what Grayson could have said or shown Draven, the door Draven had opened was closed and I couldn’t see any more of his memories. I blinked once and took in a deep breath. “It was an accident,” I whispered.
He smiled slightly, then leaned in and let his lips gently rest against mine. “Show me more,” I whispered against his moving lips as I reached my arms for his shoulders. His lips moved across the base of my jaw, then against my ear. “Baby steps,” he whispered.
I stopped myself from slipping into the addicting sensation he was easing through my soul. “No…I’m not gonna be the weak link.”
A boyish grin spread across his face. I knew that look – it was the look he always had when I was missing the obvious. “No…you’re not the weak link.”
“Then show me; show me everything,” I pleaded.
“I will…I promise.” His eyes fell into mine. “I just have to make sure you’re as strong as you can be - I don’t want to scare you.”
He reached for the only acoustic guitar on the stand, then stepped past me. The rock on the nightstand caught his attention as he reached the couch. He gently leaned the guitar against the leather cushions before stepping closer to the rock.
“Monroe gave that to me,” I said as I unconsciously played with the charms on my bracelet.
“My mother had rocks like these,” Draven s
aid as he let his fingers run across the rugged edges of the crystals in the glowing rock.
“Really? How do you know that?” I asked as I walked to the couch and fell into the corner cushion.
“There’re a ton of them in the attic. Nana still has one in her room,” he answered as he came to my side.
I knew what he was talking about in Nana’s room, but that rock was five times the size of this one. I always thought of it as an eccentric lamp that matched Nana’s worldly taste.
“You think there’s more to it? Like, is it magic or something?” I asked in a teasing manner.
The smile that spread across his face was so breathtaking that for a second I forgot the torment we were in. It almost felt like we were kids again without a care in the world, trying to solve the mystery of who we were meant to be.
“Not magic…it’s a natural purifier – from the Himalayas, I think.”
“It must have something to do with energy. After she turned it on, I saw dad, and he was...like, almost solid.”
Draven’s eyes grew curious. “Maybe it does more than purify the air...builds energy – good energy.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “As long as it doesn’t build negative energy, I’m good with it. She made me this, too,” I said, reaching my hand out to show him my bracelet.
His eyes grew warm as he saw what his broken necklace was transformed into. “Does it make you feel safe?” he asked as he moved closer to me and reached his arm around me.
I looked down at the bracelet and turned the pick so I could see it. “It reminds me of you when I see this…gives me balance. Well, for all I know, the rock is giving me balance, so yeah, I like it.”
He reached for my hand and laced his fingers through mine. “If you think it keeps you safe, then it will. It has the power you give it.”
Draven had never been one to believe in lucky charms, and though I thought this bracelet was a unique and special gift, I didn’t think it deserved a comment as deep as that one. I knew he was about to take a ‘baby step’ and show me more of what he was beginning to understand, more about the changes he was fighting.
“How…how do I give it power?” I asked humbly .
He leaned closer and let his lips rest against my temple. I closed my eyes as I felt the warm hum of his skin against mine. “Your mind is your weapon – your power. Your thoughts are powerful enough to move the world...you just have to believe they are.”
I smiled as I heard his alluring voice shape each word as if he were reading a beautiful prophecy.
“My thoughts are erratic and confused. I swear, I’ll never figure out who I was,” I said as the despise I had for Bianca came to mind.
Draven reached for the acoustic guitar and laid it across us. He dealt with my lacking memories the same way he dealt with everything in his life: through music. For the first few weeks after my accident, he would play a song and coax the memories I had around that sound back to life. If it weren’t for the addicting sound of his voice or the angelic way his hands moved across the strings, I doubt I’d have as much of a memory as I do. In a way, Draven saved me from myself - and I was more than sure that before long, I’d have to repay the favor.
He let his fingers tease the strings with the onset of a beautiful song, then looked into my eyes. “I think your problem is you aren’t asking – either that or your question is too broad.”
“What?” I asked as I furrowed my eyebrows. No one had ever told me I had to ask a question.
“When you saw that little boy tonight talking to his dad on the webcam in that vision – did you ask a question that led you there?”
My eyes grew a little wider. I had seen the look Aden had given Draven as he left tonight and felt the tense response in Draven’s body, but I had no idea that I was right – that they could ‘see’ each other that fast. “Aden really did show you everything I did with him tonight – that fast – in just a glance?”
He nodded. “I asked him to. Now, did you ask a question when you were trying to see that little boy?”
“I don’t know…I mean, I was mad that Aden was telling me to look deeper – I guess unconsciously I wanted to know the last time he had seen his dad.”
“And you got the answer you were looking for,” Draven said as his fingers danced across the strings once more.
“So…I just need to ask?”
He nodded. “I think if you commanded an answer to the question, you wouldn’t have to focus so hard or search through so many memories to grasp ‘seeing’”.
I moved my head from side to side. “I’ve been doing this all wrong. I think I’ve just been trying to look at someone and see it all, everything that brought them to that point.”
“What point they’re at is an opinion; the way you see them, others see them – the way they see themselves – are all going to have different points of view. When you see the living, you’re trying to do one of two things: either protect yourself, or help them.”
“And the dead?” I asked as I raised one eyebrow.
“With the dead, to do one...you must do the other.”
“Ask, though? How can I ask them to show me when they felt love – when they’re obviously oblivious to that moment?”
He reached his arm around me so he could reach the neck of the guitar. “If you ask that question, at least they won’t show the most horrid memories they have; they’ll take you closer, help you get the answer faster so you can move on to the next.”
A sinking dread seeped into me as the reality dawned on me that Draven always saw the darkest point in the souls of the dead…this emotion brought forth countless memories that were under the surface of him, having struggled with these images when we were just children. “I’m sorry for what you see…I want to take it away - but I’m scared it’s going to take you away.”
“I told you, nothing is going to take you away from me,” he promised again.
“Show me where you’re going. Teach me that song,” I said as I glanced down at the guitar across us.
“Not yet. Let’s work on teaching you to move to a place you’ve seen,” he said as he began to play a familiar song from our past – the first one he wrote for me.
I felt shut out, and that terrified me. What was there that he didn’t want me to see yet? My body tensed, then my deepest fear surfaced in my thoughts. “Draven…is she there? Is…is Bianca there?”
His jaw tightened, and his hands fell from the guitar as his arms wrapped around me. “What you fear has already happened.”
My heart began to hammer against my chest and my ears burned as a sick feeling absorbed me. I stood abruptly – Draven barely managed to keep the guitar from crashing to the floor.
“What do you mean?!” I yelled. “She came on to you? You’ve been with her?”
I couldn’t say another word. I thought I was going to be sick. I held my hand over my mouth as I turned away from him. I wasn’t going to let him see me cry. Before the first tear fell, I felt his arms go around my waist and his lips against my ear. “You are the only soul I will ever love – I told her that.”
I shook my head as I tried to step forward, but his arms tightened around me and refused to let me run away from him. “I don’t want to know...I don’t want to know...she’s the devil! I’ve seen what she can do to couples – she’s the reason you’re changing!”
“No…” he said in a firm, quiet breath. “She cannot have me – and she knows that. Every temptation, every word she knows has been said – and I’m still yours. You made me too powerful for her to touch.”
The tension in my body began to subside. I turned in his arms and stared into his alluring green eyes. “How did I make you powerful? How do you know that this isn’t just part of some big elaborate plan?”
His eyes moved slowly across my face as if he were looking at me for the first time. The wonder and devotion I saw there was too much to bear; my head was spinning, and my knees were weak. Then he began to explain. “Escorts…they exist??
?but because we are who we are, because we’re wide awake - they can’t work on us.”
“It worked on me – I lost my memory,” I argued.
“That was a clever mind game, one that would never last long on anyone - let alone you. Our souls will never completely forget our memories – you know that. How many dark souls have you saved based on that theory?”
I shook my head from side to side as I gazed into his eyes. I wanted to believe him, but I couldn’t; Bianca was nothing to toy with.
“If they’re not escorts meant to blind us from our purpose, then what are they? Why are they tormenting us?”
“They are escorts, escorts that have been around for a long time - and now they’re seeking a higher power.”
“What are you talking about?”
Draven smiled slightly. “I mean that they’re tired of playing in reality, and they want to control this world that lies in dreams – or at least, that’s where I think it lies.”
“How can they control that?”
“They can’t – not alone.”
“They want to control it together?”
He reached to cradle my face as he smiled slightly at me. I couldn’t comprehend why the way he was looking at me felt so differently. I mean, I’d always seen love in his eyes, but the level of devotion I saw there was beyond anything I’d seen in anyone’s eyes - dead or alive.
“No, I don’t think they care for each other. I think they’re both playing each other for a fool,” he finally said.
“Tell me why...how do you know that they aren’t playing you for a fool by making you think that?”
He let his hand fall from my face. “Because it’s obvious that at one time, Bianca wanted to be with Britain, rule with him – but he refused her, told her that she wasn’t powerful enough for him. ‘Cut from the wrong cloth’ are the words I believe he used.”
“How do you know that?”