Synergy (28 page)

Monroe’s eyes grew sad as that thought crossed my mind, which just made me
angrier
. She trusted too much.

“Monroe,” I said quietly, feeling the stares of the others, “do I need to step back into that string with you? Do we need to go home?”

She reached for my arm, and with h
er touch I found myself in The R
ealm. I watched as I fought to get to Land
en and Drake. I watched as the E
scorts that were sent to stop me fell to the ground, blood running from their ears. I felt the promise that I would save them, one way or another. I was mad that she didn’t answer me and pulled myself out of that vision.

“I can do that from home. Are you telling me to leave?”

“Please don’t go,” I heard Ashten say. I looked away from Monroe and found his blue eyes pleading with me. “We need you, all of you.”

I glanced at Draven, the others, knowing that I whatever I decided would be what we all did, knowing that I was leader of this group. My eyes found Ashten. “I’ll help your son, but I can do that from wherever I am. This child is who I have to figure out how to help. We’re her last line of defense. Your son has thousands of people fighting to defend him; we don’t have that luxury.”

“You do now,” Ashten said, stepping closer to me and Monroe. “I don’t kn
ow much about you.
I’ll admit
that, but I can tell you that somewhere in time you asked to be here, all of you did. Your path was predicted. You are now a part of this family, this war. Monroe is safe in our care.”

“Did you not see what just happened?” I asked him. “That was her father. He followed her here, and if he manages to capture her, whatever predictions you’ve seen or heard will have no meaning because none of us wil
l have an emotion to our name. W
e’ll have no desire to fight for anything.”

I felt Draven’s arm go around my waist and the sympathetic stares from the others.

“He didn’t follow her here,” Ashten said confidently. “That was the ghost of Donalt, a man that ruled this dimension for over four million years. My son killed him, and now we fight his memory, his ghost; we fight a curse he put on this family.”

So that is why Willow didn’t seem surprised by what just happened. We really were fighting the same evil.
“You have no idea how special she is. This is not a normal child,” I said breathlessly, furious that I was right. I had walked her right into a trap, into the lair that her father lived in.

“If you could see me, then you would know that I already have three children in my care like Monroe,” Ashten said, leaning down and allowing me to look as closely as I needed to.

I asked “Who?” in my mind, and instantly I saw Preston, that little boy. Then I saw Brady’s daughter, then another little girl that was Preston’s age. Libby - that was her name; she was Willow’s baby sister. I saw how those children led them, how they would offer simple phrases that predicted what would occur, how they let them continue on a path that would bring tragedy, yet in the end this family was stronger because of that act. Then Silas’ words echoed in my mind, and I knew that Monroe was the same, yet different than them.

“They were born of light. Monroe has both light and darkness within her,” I said quietly, pushing my point, but being careful of his feelings. It was obvious he would lay down his life for any member of this family, even Monroe’s.

“Which means she should be with us,” Ashten said.

I looked at Draven for some kind of help. He was staring at Grayson. “Let’s get Landen back,” he said quietly.

Before I could argue, Ashten turned to lead us out of the room.

“Are we not going to talk about this?” I whispered
harshly
, not believing he’d just committed us to staying there.

“Not with him. Find August. Aden and I will go to where Landen and Drake’s bodies are. If I can’t help them instantly, then you need to take Monroe to Chara.”

“I’m not leaving you here.”

“Fine,” he said, locking his jaw, knowing we didn’t have time to argue. “Then find a way to get her there. Find people you trust here.”

I looked down at Monroe to see agreement in her dark eyes. I took her hand and followed Ashten down the hall. He looked over his shoulder. “I’ll take you to a room where you can put your things down first.”

Draven nodded to Grayson and Aden. They both moved to the right side of the hallway, purposely pushing Madison to the left side. Draven was trying to block her from something. There was no doubt he’d already looked deep into everyone around him. He knew where Landen and Drake’s bodies were, and he was preparing to break off from us and find them.

The hallway we were in was vast. The ceiling was over a hundred feet high, and paintings of angels and demons at war decorated the space above us. Madison was completely captivated by the art. There were countless doors, couches between them, and tables. This was the most elegant place I’d ever been in, a palace that was trapped in time.

Draven reached for my hand and squeezed it once, then kissed my temple. Before we reached the next doorway, he let go of my hand and reached for Aden. The two of them stopped, and I looked over my shoulder to see him nod for me to go on.

My heart started to race; I knew we were only feet away from where Drake’s body was. I looked forward to see that Madison was still captivated by the art around us. It took her a second to notice that she couldn’t feel Draven or Aden anymore. I nodded for her to walk ahead, that we were taking control of this out of control situation.

Ashten stopped five doors down from where Draven and Aden had left us, then opened the door to the right. Winston and Grayson stepped in first, then the rest of us. This was a massive, elegant bedroom. A bed with a canopy centered the wall to the left, and a large sitting area with a fireplace was to the right. It was like a small apartment.

“Where are the Taurus twins?” Ashten asked as we let our bags fall to the ground.

“Helping,” I said, letting go of Monroe and nodding for her to go sit on the couch.

Ashen quickly stepped back into the hallway and looked in both directions, then looked back at me before glancing at all of us. “Listen, I don’t know what you can see or already know, but you need to be careful. Don’t wander off. We have this wing secure, but anything could happen if you step out of the safety perimeter we’ve established.”

“You mean like Dear Old Dad stopping by for a visit?” Winston said as he collapsed into one of the couches.

“No,” Ashten said firmly. “I mean anything.” He looked at Austin. “Keep them here. I’ll send food and find someone who can help us understand this,” he said as he glanced at Monroe.

“Good luck with that,” Winsto
n said. Grayson gave him an murderous glance
, then looked at Ashten. “Thank you,” he said. Ashten nodded, then he left the room.

“This sucks. W
here’s the TV?” Winston asked.

He wanted me to kill him. Didn’t he.
“Listen to me, you evil bastard,” I said, throwing my bag down. “I don’t know if you’re rebelling or if this is some kind of middle child syndrome, but you’re going to straighten up right
now. Your sister is in danger. D
o you even care?”

His eyes instantly turned black. I didn’t care if he was trying to see me; I was sure he knew more than I did. A second later, a laptop appeared in his lap. He wasn’t trying to get information, to try and understand what was going on; he’d seen his way home, picked up his laptop, and brought it back just to entertain him while we saved the world.

Grayson looked at me. “Ignore him.”

“Trying.”

“Go find him,” Grayson said.

“August?” I whispered, making sure that was what I supposed to do. Grayson and Draven com
municated so quickly sometimes that
it was hard for me to grasp it.

“We
need to stay here,” Austin ordered
. “They aren’t joking; this is the most dangerous dimension we could be in.”

“Yet we’re here,” Madison said sarcastically.

Austin ignored her and looked at me
for understanding
.

“Listen,” I said, “I know what I’m doing. If I can’t find who I’m looking for, I might need you to take them to Chara. Can you do that?”

I could see how nervous he was; it was easy to notice because he’d never been that way around me. He stepped closer to me, urging me away from the others. “Taking you there, the four of you, was never a fear of mine because I love all of you. You’re family, and no myth would reject you from my world because I felt that way. I don’t know them. I have sympathy for them, but I can’t tell you that I love them enough to protect them if that myth has any truth to it.”

“He doesn’t,” Madison said, coming to our side. “I can feel what you’re saying.” She looked at me. “His emotion is just not strong enough. He’ll protect them, but love isn’t there.”

“Then I need to find someone who understands them and can keep them safe.”  I reached for Austin’s arm. “Stay right here with them. I’ll be right back.”

“We’ll be right back,” Madison corrected.

“Madison, you of all people need to exercise caution.”

“Then I’ll exercise caution at your side.”

“Fine.” I looked across the room at Monroe and said, “I’ll be right back.” She didn’t say anything to stop me, so that gave me the courage to leave.

I turned to leave before Austin could stop me. When I left the room, I turned the opposite way from where we’d come. I knew Draven and Aden were the other way, and he wouldn't have told me to look for August if he were in the same room with Landen and Drake’s bodies.  Madison lingered close to me in the wide hallway. “I really hope you have a plan, Charlie. This place is massive.”

“I don’t, but I saw this palace in Willow’s memories. They spend most of their time on this hall. I think there’s a study ahead; I saw August there a lot through her.”

“Must be nice to see her,” she mumbled.

“I told you to stay behind, didn’t I?” I said, getting tired of her sarcasm.

“I’m not going to let you walk these halls alone.”

“I’m not talking about the freaking hallway,” I said in a harsh whisper. “I told you to stay at home. I’m not going to sugar coat this for you anymore. You have a huge awakening coming.”

“What does that mean?”

Ok fine keep acting like you don’t know what’s going on. Fine. Whatever.
“Does this feel like it could be your home?” I asked, still finding it hard to find the blunt words I needed.

“Nope,” she said shortly.

I rolled my eyes. She had to know. The man that ruled this palace now was the same man who ruled her dreams.

“But I can definitely see why our dear friend Bianca wants these boys: this place reeks of power.”

The hallway was ending, and before us was a large double doorway that led to a room I was sure was the study where everyone usually gathered when they were here. As I went to step in, Olivia stepped out with a guy at her side. He was rather tall and had sandy blond hair that was curly. He had an innocence about him, but he also carried that same protective energy that I felt around all of Willow’s family.

“So, this is Chrispin,” Madison said, noticing that his eyes were wide with shock as he stared at he
r. Madison looked at me and explained
, “Olivia’s soul mate. They all seem to have one; goes well with that blind spot they have.”

I elbowed Madison, telling her to put a lid on the sarcasm. She was starting to get on my nerves and no doubt looked like someone she wasn’t to these people.

Chrispin let a shy smile come to his lips. He was clearly mesmerized by Madison’s resemblance to Willow.

“What --
what are you guys doing?” Olivia asked, obviously concerned that she’d found us wondering the palace. “
Where’s everyone else?” she asked
, looking behind us down the hall.

“Helping,” I said, glancing over my shoulder and seeing that Aden, along with others, were leaving the room that the bodies were in. They were far enough away from us that none of them noticed us at the far end of the hall.

Madison had glanced over her shoulder. She gripped my arm, then pulled me into the study, almost knocking down Chrispin and Olivia.

“What is it?” I asked her, seeing that she was
petrified
.

“The Great Witch,” Madison said, daring to look around the corner.

I peeked around the side of the door but didn’t see anyone that looked like a witch. Brady and Aden were down there, so were two older people. The man had a black cloak on, but the woman was in black slacks and a button up black shirt. There was another man, too, but he wasn’t as old as the others. I asked the instant question of who they were and saw that the older man’s name was Jason. He was Willow’s father, a doctor from what it looked like. The older couple was to hard to see because they were so vast, like they’d lived forever, but I didn’t see any harm in them; it seemed like they were helping, or at least trying to, but I wasn’t going to let my guard down until I was close enough to see deeper into all of them. I knew Aden was doing just that as he lingered near them. I assumed that Draven and Willow were still in that room.