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I’d made it to the middle of the hall when I came across a painting too large for me to turn on my own; it was of who I assumed was Donalt in his younger years. He was sitting a golden chair, and the back of it raised two feet above his head. The look in his eyes was surprisingly warm. I know from my own work that you can’t paint what you can’t see, and it seemed Perodine was right: at least one time in Donalt’s life, he had the warmth of a soul shining through his eyes. It was sad to think that it was possible for us to forget how to love one another.

Out of nowhere, a gust of wind blew my hair, the doors to the hall slammed shut, and the dim lights fluttered with the vibration. I froze and let my eyes search over the shadows in the hall, then held my breath when a man’s figure began to emerge. When the light came across his face, I saw that it was Drake; a sense of relief came over me because I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, but my eyes questioned why he was there. As he stepped closer, I could see that he was hurt; there was a slash across the side of his neck. l looked from the wound to his eyes, which stared blankly at me, and his face held no emotion; his eyes were so cold.

In one swift step, he reached for me, and when his skin touched mine, I felt paralyzed; his mesmerizing touch was stronger that it had ever been - so strong, I could barley breathe. He pushed my back against the painting I was standing in front of, and I fell limp in his arms as his hands slowly moved across my body. I wanted to stop him, to push him away, but I couldn’t find the strength to move; it was terrifying. As he leaned in and began to move his lips across my neck, I managed only the strength to whisper, “Drake, you’re scaring me.”

His lips hesitated, and he leaned back, then looked at me like it was the first time he noticed me. I watched him try to focus on where he was, then he stepped back - releasing me. I watched his whole body tense, then he fell to his knees and screamed a horrible roar. Suddenly, from deep within him - from his eyes, mouth, and ears - I saw darkness leave; it rushed to the shadows, vanishing from sight. Drake fell forward, coughing and spitting on the ground. The large doors then banged open, and Landen, Dane, and Marc rushed toward me. I could feel August’s urgency to find us in the distance; he must have heard the commotion.

“What are you doing here?” Dane yelled at Drake, who was trying to stand.

Landen wrapped his arms around me and tried to get me to look at him, but I was still, frozen in place.
“What did he do? Tell me,”
he thought.

“
It wasn’t him; whatever it was is in the shadows,”
I thought, replaying the image in my mind.

“
You’re bleeding, Willow,”
Landen thought as he frantically looked over me.

“
No, it’s him.”

Drake stood just as August came to the hallway. He stared at me in absolute disbelief, then looked around as if he was realizing where he was for the first time.

“How did you get here?” Landen asked Drake.

Drake focused on Landen, then tilted his head and reached for the wound on his neck. He pulled his hand away and looked at the blood, then back at Landen. “You brought me here,” he said.

“He was with us,” Marc argued, stepping closer to Landen.

“You would defend him - brother,” Drake said shortly, making a face as if he had a horrible taste in his mouth.

Landen had an amused smirk across his face. “We may not agree with one another, but the likelihood of me locking you in a room with Willow is impossible,” he said to Drake as he looked over his wound.

Drake looked down, then around the room again; he was confused, there was no doubt about it. August stepped forward and cautiously put his hand on Drake’s shoulder, his eyes warily searching over him. Drake returned the stare; it was a seminal moment: August was saying hello to the grandson he never knew. I could feel a remorse coming from August. “Is your mouth bitter?” he asked. Drake nodded. “Marc, get him some water,” August ordered.

Drake looked at me; I could see the familiar pain there. He sighed and looked back at August. “I was asleep, dreaming. Then I was awakened by a sharp pain in my neck.” He looked at Landen and said, “You pulled me to the string.” He then looked at me and said, “And then you whispered my name. I couldn’t move. I felt so heavy, I had to push a weight away from me; it felt like it tore me in two as it left my body,” he concluded, looking back at August.

Marc returned with a glass of water and handed it to Drake. As he stared into Marc’s eyes, a crooked smile came across Drake’s face, and I felt anger surface inside of Marc. Landen reached his hand to Marc’s shoulder to calm him before he lost control. Drake turned the glass of water up and drank every drop, but it didn’t look like it brought him any relief; he made a face as he swallowed.

“It was Donalt, Drake; he’s using you,” August said.

Drake looked at him and shook his head; with his jaw locked, the pain I saw in his eyes turned to anger. “I’ve heard that before; like father, like son - I suppose,” he said with a smirk. The night he lost his life, Livingston had told Drake those same words.

“He’s telling the truth,” I said, stepping forward. Landen and Dane mirrored me, and Marc blocked me completely from seeing Drake.

“Well, this is a little unfair - three against one,” Drake said in a causal tone, tilting his head so I could see his dark eyes.

“No, it’s all of us against Donalt,” August corrected. “He’s counting on all of you being divided. We cannot make this easy for him; you need to stay here with us,” he said.

At that moment, I felt a rush of panic consume me, and I reached for Landen. He looked back at me, and I could tell that he felt it, too; it was too strong to come from one, or even a few - it was coming from a mass of people. Perodine swiftly came through the doorway; she didn’t seem to be surprised to see Drake; in fact, she walked right up to him. “You must stop this,” she said to him.

“You fool, this is what he wants; you’re playing into his web. He will consume you if you do not stop this...let us help you,” Perodine said in a lower tone.

“He’ll use the energy from the anger to make him stronger,” August warned.

“
Let me talk to him,”
I thought. Landen looked back at me before slowly stepping aside.

“Drake...make time stand still,” I whispered.

I’d seen Drake stop time on the streets of New York, and Landen and I had never quite figured out how he managed to do it. Drake looked at me as if the others in the room had vanished, then raised his hands and effortlessly stopped time. While the others stood frozen around us, Drake stepped closer to me, his eyes full of pain, searching over me carefully. “Is it their life you fear for - or mine?” he asked in a low, deep tone.

“I want to help you forget. I want you to forget so you’ll find the one who’s waiting on you; it’s not fair to her,” I said in a quivering voice, realizing for the first time that there had to be someone somewhere that completed Drake.

“I’m looking at her,” Drake said, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Drake, stop them from charging the wall; don’t let the people in Delen pay for my mistakes,” I pleaded with him, stepping cautiously forward. He stared at me; pain was held in every part of his expression. “I will not betray them,” he whispered.

I felt my stomach turn; just a few days ago, when I was lost inside of Evelyn, Drake had told me that this world thought that he and I had betrayed them.

He moved his hands, resuming time, then dropped his eyes and sighed. He then began to walk to the doorway, but Landen stepped in front of him to block him. They stared at each other, then Landen cautiously reached for the wound on Drake’s neck.

Marc reached for Landen’s shoulder to stop him. “You need to save that; you don’t know what’s yet to come,” he said in a harsh whisper.

Landen looked at Marc, then to Drake. “Everyone deserves to be healed,” he said, staring at Drake - fully intent on healing him.

“Not everyone,” Marc repeated sarcastically. “I’m sure that’s the same opinion he had every time he tried to kill you.”

Drake shook his head, staring at Marc. “Kill him? Really? Yeah, that would be the best way to win Willow’s heart,” he said in a slow sarcastic tone.

Marc’s eyes shot to Drake, and they stared at each other coldly. “We all know what you’re capable of,” he said through a locked jaw.

Out of nowhere, Drake charged Marc, and Landen and August jumped in the middle of them. Landen held Drake back, and August guarded Marc. Meanwhile, Dane pulled me behind him, and Perodine put her arm around my waist with the intent of pulling me out of the room. I stood stiffly, though, not allowing her to move me. The tension in the room was a suffocating wall.

“You fool! Do you think I meant to do that?!” Drake yelled over Landen at Marc. Drake stopped pushing against Landen, then stepped back. He looked into my eyes, then to Marc. “I lost everything...I had a beautiful woman, a family that loved me, a throne with my name on it – then out of nowhere I’m told that I’m a monster, a secret too dark to share...in the blink of an eye, everything and everyone I knew changed – and now I have to listen to perfect son ‘Marc’ tell me that I don’t deserve to be healed.”

As Marc took in Drake’s words - seeing it all through his eyes for the first time - his anger suppressed itself. Struggling against feeling sympathy, he gave Drake one nod; Drake then let out a breath that he was holding, and the wall of tension began to fall. Landen tilted his head to get Drake’s attention, then carefully reached for Drake’s neck; I felt a rush of energy and saw a white glow under Landen’s hand. Landen pulled his hand away, then Drake reached up and touched his healed skin. He nodded and walked past Landen.

“If you want our mother to return with me, then you need to come; I can’t guide and defend both her and Alamos through the string,” Drake said over his shoulder to Marc.

“Alamos,” Perodine repeated, stepping in front of me.

Drake stopped and turned around. “If you think I’m going to allow you to read my stars, you’ve lost your mind. He’s the only one that’s never lied to me,” he said.

I could feel Perodine’s emotions going out of control; she was scared, excited, dreadful, and blissful...it was if she had butterflies rushing through her.

Marc looked at Landen.

“Go,” Landen said.

“
What about you? He’s protecting you,”
I thought.

Landen walked over to me and looked over Perodine, trying to judge her emotions. He then wrapped his arm around my shoulder and thought, “
Drake intends on returning within the hour; I’ll be fine
.”

I looked feverishly to Dane, who was looking at me. “It’ll be fine. I’m not going anywhere,” he said calmly.

I sighed and leaned into Landen; he felt my anxieties and pulled me closer as we followed Drake out of the room. He walked down the large hallway, then led us to the room we’d entered last night, the room in which Drake had dreamed throughout his childhood. He stepped in and looked at the bed and candles. I saw him let out a deep breath, then walk to the passage we’d entered. Marc looked cautiously back at us, and Landen nodded, telling him to go. We could feel Marc’s excitement about bringing his mother there; since he’d discovered that she was alive, he hadn’t had a moment that wasn’t rushed with her.

When they disappeared into the white glow, Dane and August began to turn over the paintings of me that were on every wall. Once August was sure all the paintings had been turned, he and Perodine rushed out of the room. I could feel the fear all around me; it sent a chill down my spine. Landen wrapped me in his arms and began to lead us out of the room.
“Come on, let’s go watch the wall,”
he thought as he led us in the direction of the study. Dane followed us; I could feel his placid calm. I looked back at him, and he smiled slightly, then looked to the shadows around us.