Insight (36 page)
“The power has to have the two of us, we couldn’t leave her behind, and she couldn’t come with us,” Landen continued.
“Her?” Ashten asked.
“Libby,” I whispered, still staring at Landen.
The room was still, and all at once they understood Libby’s bond with us.
“Is it over now?” Clarissa asked.
“No. She said that there are eight beyond the sun and moon, and that there are more trials ahead,” Landen answered.
I closed my eyes and lay on Landen’s chest, too tired to worry about the next time that I or we would be tempted. I felt the others find their way to their feet, wanting to move past this revealing morning.
“Ashten and I are going to take the girls home. You all need your rest,” my father said.
“I’ll go, too. Olivia wants to say goodbye to her family,” Chrispin said.
“We’re going, too. I want to see my family,” Dane said.
They all left silently one by one. I felt Landen carry me up the stairs, and thunder clapped as he laid me on our bed. I opened my eyes as he settled next to me. Quietly, we lay side by side, staring at each other. Lost for words, we drifted to our place, hiding from the grief that awaited us when we woke. Landen never asked what happened when I was alone with Drake. It would have been too painful for the both of us.
In our waking hours, the next few days went by in a haze as mourners flocked to say goodbye to Livingston. My parents, along with Landen, and me went to Infante to mourn Monica’s loss with my friends. Everyone was given the space they needed to digest all that we’d been through.
Today, Chrispin and Olivia are to return home to be celebrated. My mother hosted this celebration, letting Aubrey ease into her life with a new little boy. Landen spent the day with Marc and Brady, and I helped Felicity and my mother set up the party. As I critiqued the bouquet I’d just made, my thoughts took me away to the dark images that Drake had shown me, and a shiver ran down my back as I wondered where he might be. My mother must have been watching me; I felt her concern as she put her hands on my shoulder to comfort me.
“Willow, I want you to understand that love is the most powerful thing in this universe, and it will be what you’re going to have to call on again and again, but you’re going to see your way through this.”
I hugged my mother tightly and buried the dark images deep in my memory, only to be used as a weapon against Drake’s touch. I stared at her for a moment, taking in everything I’d learned since I found Landen.
“I just don’t understand it all. Doesn’t it bother you about Libby? I mean, I just can’t comprehend it,” I said, almost to myself, wanting to remember something about another life just to make this all make sense.
“Willow, take comfort in knowing that no matter what life you live, you’ll always have the ones you love the most near you. That’s how I see it,” my mother said, smiling.
I breathed in and wondered what other roles she’d played in my life.
I dressed for the party at my mother’s, remembering how nervous I was going to my own celebration, not knowing my family.
The minutes passed by too slowly. When I walked down the stairs at the end of the banister; I saw Landen was waiting for me. His smile went through me, bringing a unique light to my eyes, and I fell in his arms, welcoming him after a day of absence.
We took our place in the crowd and cheered as Olivia and Chrispin were introduced as one. We raised our glasses, soaking in the harmony that this dimension had bore. Landen took my hand and escorted me to the dance floor, where we danced, lost in each other, thankful that for the first time, the spotlight on our love had dimmed and given way to a new one.
Across the floor, I smiled as I watched Chrispin and Olivia. Brady took Felicity’s hand, and Dane and Clarissa swirled past us all. Watching and smiling were my parents, alongside Rose and Karsten.
Above everyone in the room, we could feel an overpowering peace. Looking to the source, we saw August standing with Ashten and Marc. We approached them, grinning. Seeing our attention being taken, others surrounded August. He looked across at each of us, then down to Libby and Preston.
“Libby and Preston asked me to bring them something. At first, like a fool, I doubted their words, but I listened to my heart and brought you this little one,” August said, staring down at Libby.
She smiled proudly up at him, jumping in place. August then opened his bag and uncovered a long branch with light green and pink blossoms and handed it to Libby.
“This branch comes from a beautiful Willow tree that’s now in Donalt’s center court,” August announced.
The crowd gasped, then everyone leaned in to look closer at all the color the branch had on it.
“It seems it grew overnight, and each time they cut it down, it grows just as tall and faster than before,” August proclaimed.
Landen’s arms were around me. As I closed my eyes, he kissed my hair, and I imagined color in the gray world; the first mark I’d left on this universe, a victory that could be looked to for inspiration long after my days on Earth.
The attention of the crowd quickly returned to Chrispin and Olivia, but Landen and I stayed locked in a stare with August, waiting for him to tell us something. He searched our eyes wildly with a profound amount of bliss and said, “The moon on the wall burned that night, did it not?” We nodded. “Then that was indeed the end of the first trial.”
“What’s the significance of the moon?” Landen asked.
August wrapped his arm around Landen and me and guided us away from the crowd. In the darkness under the stars, he gazed at the heavens for a moment. “The moon is in the fourth house, the house of home and family. It represents your conscious mind, the emotional energy. We all find our own contentment with the moon.” He stepped forward and turned to face us. He then looked at Landen and me and smiled in absolute wonderment.
He continued, “It is true that we choose our life, but it’s also true that we can choose at any moment to change our path. Within the passing of this moon, you found each other, as well as your home and family. You were given a choice. You were tested.” August looked in Landen’s eyes. “You could have surrendered to the turmoil, given away what you desire the most for a chance to change Esterious.” August looked at me. “You could have believed that the only way to protect the ones that you loved was to surrender your soul.” His eyes drifted back to the heavens above us. “You both chose love. Love is prevailing. I can only wonder where every dimension would be if they followed your lead.”
“Did we make the right choice? Are those people going to suffer on because of us?” Landen asked, tightening his jaw, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.
August chuckled a little under his breath, then put his hand on Landen’s shoulder and looked deep inside him. “The people in Esterious are no different from any others. They have a choice, and for now they’ve chosen the fate they live,” he answered.
“I don’t understand,” Landen said in a low tone.
“It is true that there are times we all need to be inspired to change, but it’s foolish to assume that you have the power to think the thoughts of another. Live in your bliss, and you give others permission to find theirs,” August said, smiling widely.
“What are we supposed to do now? How do we inspire?” Landen asked, glancing at me, then back at August.
“Love one another. The stronger your love grows, the more powerful you become. In fact, Jason has a theory,” August said in a delighted tone.
I looked quickly back to the party to see my father and Ashten looking in our direction, full of peace and harmony. My father raised his glass and nodded in our direction. I turned back to August.
“Each time you part, your bodies are damaged. Each time you help another soul as one, your bodies rejuvenate. In theory, if you continue to ‘help,’ then you’ll never age or grow ill. Having immortality in one form will grow undesirable to you one day, but for now enjoy your youth,” August said, laughing under his breath.
I stared at Landen, wide-eyed. He tilted his head and grinned impishly at me. The feeling we received when we joined as one was extraordinary; knowing that it suspended us in our youth was breathtaking.
Laughing, August patted Landen on the back, then turned and walked into the darkness, gazing at the sky. The peace we always felt from him seemed to grow stronger.
The music from the party shifted to a soft lullaby. Landen reached his arm slowly around my waist and pulled me to him. In the darkness, under a diamond blanket of stars, we swayed. Our eyes fell into one another. We both felt overwhelmed with gratitude. He was real…I was real. We had loved each other across time. He reached down and kissed my lips softly and thought,
“I love you, Willow…I always have.”
I pulled him closer, thinking, “
I love you…I always will.”
Special note to the reader:
The Insight series is part of the “Web of Hearts and Souls,” where all of my series combine into one large story. All series can be read independently or as one. The reading order for the Insight and See series combined is: Insight, Embody, Image, See (See series), Witness (See series), Vital (Insight series), Vindicate (Insight series), Synergy (See series), Enflame (Insight series), Redefined (See series), at this point the first book in the third series comes into play: Rivulet (published on 10/7/13), Imperial (1/14/14), Blakeshire (2/10/14), Derive (2/14/4)
Thank you so much for reading my daydreams!
Please enjoy this preview of Embody, book 2 in this series.
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Chapter One
I couldn’t breathe. A sickening sensation slowly began to creep through every part of my body. The room seemed to be spinning out of control.
Impossible—isn’t it? How can this be possible?
I thought to myself as I stared at the image of Drake and me in the black and white photo. I ran my fingertips across the singed, tattered edges and trembled as the memory of the first time Drake was alone with me played before my eyes—he said he had seen me love him. I thought he meant in his mind, not in real life. I sighed, remembering his warm, mesmerizing touch. A chill ran down my spine as the dark images he showed me came to life again.
“Willow, you better calm down. Landen will come in here,” Olivia warned.
I glanced to the window. Landen and Chrispin were playing football with little Preston. Libby was cheering them on from our porch.
Landen and I can now use each other’s gifts as our own. He was sure to feel my panic, my fear. As my eyes landed on him he froze in mid-play and looked in my direction. I walked over to the window, smiled and pushed my fears away so he would think I was all right. As he fought with his natural instinct to protect me, he hesitated at first, then finally nodded and resumed playing the game.
I turned and walked slowly back to the table and stared down at the photo. An eerie sense of déjà vu haunted me as I gazed at the image from long ago. I could have never loved him—could I? The past months came rushing through my mind: the day Drake had found me at the lake, our fight in the string, and finally the moments he held me, shielded by a white glow. Until now, I had let myself relish in victory, but I was a fool—this was not over.
I felt Clarissa’s intent to see me, her emotion moving closer to my front door. In a panic—wanting to hide any evidence that connected me to Drake Blakeshire I grabbed the photo and ran to the stairs. Stunned by my sudden outburst, Olivia chased after me.
“Where are you going?” she yelled.
I nodded my head to the open door that Clarissa was about to walk through. Olivia then turned and saw her walking toward my front porch. “Wait,” Olivia shouted. “Clarissa was with me when I found the photo. She already knows.” By the time she finished her vain attempt to comfort me I was already at the top of the stairs. I turned, gazed down at Olivia and swallowed hard, assuming they had told Chrispin and Dane. That I was the last in our circle to know how horrible of a soul I was in my past.
“Just us,” Olivia swore, cautiously climbing the stairs, not trusting any reaction I may have.
Hearing Olivia’s promise, Clarissa stepped shyly through the threshold. Olivia gave Clarissa a guilty glance, then motioned for her to follow us. I turned and crossed the open hall to the room I was escaping into.
This was my studio two walls were all windows, large doorways led to the second story porch. Blank canvases lined the white walls. Landen told me it was the first room he designed for this house. A shy smile emerged on my lips as I thought of him, how aware and connected he seemed to be with my every desire. I didn’t deserve him—this photo in my hand proved that.
I shuffled my feet across the floor and opened the doors to let the fresh air in. I needed to breathe. It felt like the world was closing in around me.
“I guess you showed her,” Clarissa muttered as they caught up to me.
Olivia nodded. Regret was dominating her emotion. Sometimes I wish I could turn off this insight of mine, feeling others so clearly, it robbed me of the ignorance I wanted to hide behind.
“Where did you find it?” I asked under my breath.
Clarissa walked over to me and put her hand on my shoulder. “We told your mother we would bring back things that were salvaged from your childhood home each time we went to Franklin. We were packing boxes up when an envelope fell over. That photo fell out.”
I wasn’t over the pain of losing that house, which Landen and the others had to burn to the ground in order to stop Drake from owning anything that connected him to my essence. I wasn’t over the idea that dark magic really did exist in this world. That I was, in a sense, at war with it.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Olivia said, walking to my side.
“I just don’t see how it’s possible. How this could be real?” I whispered, looking down at the photo in my hand. Drake’s image was breathtaking. Perfect in every way and my image could not be happier to be at his side. A sick feeling rose and settled in the back of my throat. I struggled to remain calm to fight back the emotions that would send Landen to my side.
This felt so wrong. The idea of me and Drake as a couple felt horribly wrong, for a host of reasons that I could not begin to explain. It was as if my soul knew secrets and did not trust me enough to speak of them.
“It’s a photo. It doesn’t represent a life with someone. It could have been taken before you found Landen,” Clarissa assured, rubbing my back while trying to hide the lie in her voice. She knew, like I did, that somewhere in time I must have loved Drake. I couldn’t figure out why she was so at ease with this. Landen was her brother; her heritage taught her that soul mates are eternal. Clarissa should be full of rage for the fact that apparently I had forsaken a universal vow.
I wanted to hide behind her lie and believe that I’d only loved Landen, but the sickening feeling was growing more unbearable. I knew that it wasn’t true. I nodded to give them peace, even smiling a little to hide my raging emotions beneath a calm surface. I was getting good at that, pushing down my fears and putting on a strong front. I had no choice. My entire life had been flipped upside down without warning. Though I had found Landen, I knew there was a long dark road ahead of us.
“You haven’t told Dane and Chrispin, have you?” I questioned.
They both said no at once. They knew that lying to me was useless. I had almost mastered Landen’s insight of hearing truth in words. I could only sense truth as they spoke.
“Chrispin doesn’t need another reason to hate Drake,” Olivia said, feeling remorseful.
Chrispin had lost his father, Livingston, by Drake’s hand. The salt in the wound was when we all learned that Drake was one of Livingston’s sons, binding Drake to all of us by blood.
“And Dane is just as eager to hate Drake,” Clarissa added.
Dane’s vengefulness was for the nightmares I’d endured. Honestly, everyone yearned for retaliation for the painful images that had haunted me through childhood.
“So what do I do with this?” I asked.
“Forget it,” Olivia said, taking the photo from me and ripping it into small pieces. “Look, we all think Drake is going to come back one day. We just didn’t want him showing up and throwing this in your face,” Olivia finished.
“We thought if you knew in advance, he wouldn’t be able to play with your mind. We were only trying to give you an advantage.” Clarissa added.
“I’m glad I did show you. Downstairs, you looked weak when you saw it,” Olivia said, putting the small pieces of the photo in her pocket.
Their twisted logic almost made sense. My only problem now was finding a way to forget before Landen read it all over my face.
“I brought some stuff from my house, too. There are some photos of Monica. Do you want any?” Olivia asked.
I nodded and followed them downstairs. Through the window I could see the guys still playing a demanding game of touch football. Olivia opened the box she had brought with her then handed me a photo of Monica and me at the lake last summer. She was so full of life then. I didn’t think I would ever move past the grief I felt when her memory surfaced. Olivia laid out a few other photos from our senior year, then walked over and hugged me.
“I have to go. I promised your mom I would drop these boxes by before dinner,” she said.
“Wait, I’ll help you,” Clarissa said. Before she left, she looked at me, “Willow, really, forget the past. Don’t let it hurt your present.”
As they left I slid further down into the chair I was standing in front of. As I stared at Monica’s photo everything I’d faced over the past few months—all the emotions I’d felt as my world was turned inside out consumed me.
The walls seemed to close in around me. I imagined my future—another huge ordeal, my family and friends put in harm’s way. My mind spun as I took in the awe of a past I couldn’t remember.
I needed to get away. I abruptly sat up in my seat and pushed back from the table, then went to the hall closet and pulled out Landen and my travel bags, which carried four changes of clothes and currency for different dimensions. I was setting them by the front door when I felt Landen walking in the back door. I glanced down the hall and saw him hesitating at the table as he looked over the photos. I felt his remorse as he saw Monica’s face. In a way, I was glad I had left those photos out. I knew that he would not ask me why I was upset earlier. He would just assume it was over her.
Landen walked slowly up the hall, tossing the football casually from hand to hand. His intense blue eyes landed on the travel bags at my feet. I knew he could feel my intent to run. Seeing how certain my resolve was he tucked the ball under his arm. I felt him fighting with the urge to ask me what Olivia and Clarissa had told me. He forced a calm smile, bringing his perfect dimples to life.
“Are we going somewhere?” he asked playfully.
I sighed, looking down and knowing that if I looked into his eyes, his calm would take me over and I would find a way to stay. I wanted to run. To run away with him.
“I don’t care where. I just need to get away. Just me and you.” I said in a pleading whisper.
He stepped closer and leaned his forehead to mine. He then reached carefully for my wrist and traced my Ankh tattoo—avoiding the brand of the star. We had not been anywhere alone since we had learned that this star was a marker placed on me by Drake. Chara was the only dimension in which I was safe.
“Landen, we don’t even know if he is alive. We can’t be prisoners here,” I pleaded as tears came to the corners of my eyes.
He let my hand fall then reached for my face and wiped away the tears before they had a chance to escape.
“I would hardly call this a prison,” he whispered, trying to make me smile.
“You know what I mean,” I said, trying to remain serious.
Landen tilted his head toward the phone in the kitchen. “Can I at least call someone and tell them that we’re leaving so they don’t think we’ve been kidnapped by scary monkeys?” he asked lightheartedly.
I held up one finger. We would be here all night if he called everyone in our family and all of them would either tell us not to go or find a way to follow us. He smiled and nodded, then walked to the phone. I ran upstairs to close the balcony doors and all the windows. When I came back downstairs Landen was closing up the last window. When he saw me, he walked over to the bags, picked them up, and opened the door.
“How long do we have before the Cavalry comes?” I asked, raising my brow. “Not long,” he said with a wink.
I grinned then took off in a sprint. We raced through the field of flowers to the large windmill that led to an opening in the string. Breathless, I stepped in. As the hum of energy pushed through me I felt renewed. The white light gently lined in colors was so beautiful to me. When I was in the string I felt like I melted into the energy of the universe. Landen took my hand and began to lead us away from Chara.
“So who did you call?”
I thought.
Landen smiled down at me. “
Brady. Just so you know, I had to promise him we’d be home the day the baby is due,
” he thought.
I immediately felt guilty. I’d promised Felicity that I’d help her. That I would calm her through the pain.
Landen wrapped his arm around me.
“They think we deserve the time alone, too,”
he thought, washing my guilt away.
I leaned into him so thankful that he was real, that I had found him.
A few feet later he stopped at a bright yellow light. We then stepped through, out onto the summit of a large mountain. Behind us a home was built perfectly into the peak. It was made of a deep red wood. The entire front of the house was glass, which mirrored the sunset back at us as we looked into it.
“I think this will do for tonight,” Landen said, guiding me up the stone steps. He moved a piece of wood from the front steps, reached in, and retrieved a key. “Wait here. I need to go turn on the generator,” he said, setting the bags down on the steps.
I watched him walk around the side of the house, then slowly sat down and gazed at the last moments of the sunset, taking in its beauty.
Suddenly, my guilt came back over me. I had left without saying goodbye to my parents. I wondered for a moment if Libby had told them that I had left, if they would understand. Behind me, lights came on and shined through the glass front of the house. Landen then casually walked around the house, smiling at me.
“So who does this house belong to?” I asked him when he got closer.
“All of us. When we take people to different dimensions it’s just easier to have a place that you can call home while you teach them,” Landen said, picking up our bags, climbing the stairs, and unlocking the front door.
“I bet Clarissa has some clothes in here that would fit you,” he said with a bit of a laugh.