Derive (10 page)

A noticeable shudder came over her.

“It is nothing wicked. It’s just me using my energy. Do you understand?” One nod. Good enough for me.

We didn
’t pass anyone until we reached the front hall, and then it was only the AM Selected shift coming on duty. It wasn’t odd for them to see me strolling with Seneca; to them, this was just our normal stroll before dawn.

Outside there was no one, but I felt like I was being watched. I could feel a cold stare. I walked her far past the gates that led out of our domain. I found the shadow of a large oak and pulled her behind it, noticing how frail she was.

“Hold on.”

I hadn
’t actually ever been to the Falcons’, only passed by a time or two. So, I stopped us a few times on our path to make sure we were on target.

The sun rose before we made it to the door. I told the girl to keep her hood down until Guardian or I told her otherwise. I was sure she was starting to question how honest I was. I had moved her all over the place, trying to throw off anyone who might be following me.

When the manor door opened, I heard a roaring argument echoing in the background.

The boy standing before me was my age, with rather long, curly hair and the strangest brown eyes. He was twirling drum sticks in his hand. I assumed this was the drummer Guardian said he lived with, perhaps a cousin of theirs.

It didn’t take me long to know that I was hearing Guardian’s voice bellowing at Sebastian, arguing that he had to return—and no, he was not insane—that he left his life there. Sebastian was arguing that the other realms were going to close The Fall and the last thing he needed to worry about was Guardian on the other side.

“Seneca?” the boy in front of me said as he tensed and moved to take her from my arms. I stood before him, which only seemed to enrage him.

What the hell was going on here? How did he even know her? Why was he acting like I was blocking him from his woman?

He reached his energy out to her, but I repelled it.

“That’s not Seneca,” he said as he eased back. “Who is she?” he asked as he decided to reach to pull her hood up.

I raised my hand before he became a fool and touched this girl and subsequently became a victim of Guardian
’s.

“I need to see Guardian,” I demanded.

He nearly scowled at me. “Did you bring boxing gloves? Because, brother, let me tell you, he is
livid
! Been like this all night long.”

“Where is the girl that was sent here with him?”

With that question, the girl next to me looked to her side. She didn’t like hearing that.

“The one that keeps disappearing?”

Panic. I felt panic. “What do you mean?”

The boy laughed, and it took all I had not to hit him.

“She just keeps vanishing. Genevieve follows her through some wave of light. We freak, then she pops up next to the baby trees.”

“Baby trees?”

“Yeah, they were just planted a few hundred years ago. If she has not moved again, then they are that way,” he said, pointing his drum sticks. “I think the others were building her a makeshift shelter, trying to calm her down. Wicked rhythm that girl has. I’ll tell you that much.”

“Rhythm?”

“Yep, she keeps zigzagging. Genevieve has been focused on her, which is the only reason those two clowns upstairs are still arguing. Maybe if you can handle that girl, Genevieve can break them apart and you can do your Selected evaluating thing.”

“Guardian!” I bellowed into the house. I was desperate now. I had to figure out where Skylynn was.

The yelling ceased a second later. I saw Guardian emerge on the upper level. Apparently, stairs were overrated because he jumped over the rail. A few seconds later, the girl next to me was in his arms against the wall, and it didn’t look like he was coming up for air anytime soon.

The boy in front of me was pounding his sticks on the door frame.
Bada bam bada boom
. “That solved that.”

“I need to see Skylynn.
Now.”

“I
’m telling you, man. Go that way.”

I tore off in that direction. Before I knew it, I was in a field full of purple flowers.

I could see Genevieve just ahead of me, walking toward a tree that I would not call a baby; it was near fifty feet in the air. A quilted tent was just below it.

I moved to her side. Genevieve jumped when she saw me, then gripped my arm and laughed at herself.

“What’s going on?” I asked her.

“I really don
’t know. She hasn’t spoken much. All night, she moved.”

“To where?”

“Why, you,” she said with another warm laugh. “I saw your back tonight, staring at that ocean, over and over again. I think she wanted to check on you, but nevertheless she kept returning us to a spot that was not where she left from, but always on the manor property.”

“Yeah, the guy inside told me. Trees or something?”

“Yep. Different one every time.” She glanced to her hands, where she had quilts laid across her arm. “Don’t laugh, but when I could not get her to come in I built a tent around her. I know it’s not too terribly cold or anything, but I sense a snow on the horizon. I just want to put a roof over her head.” She glanced over her shoulder and pointed to the second story balcony doors that were open. “That is the room I gave her. I would appreciate it if you could get her in it, or at least keep her comfortable,” she said, handing me the blankets. “I have a war between two stubborn men to stop now.”

I smirked. “Guardian is going to be just fine.” She went to walk away, but I held her arm. “I would not tell anyone why he is now calm, for I assure you they will take his reason away.”

Genevieve nodded once with a confused gaze.

I started to move across the field of wild flowers that reminded me so much of Skylynn
’s hair. I could hear the sweet sound of the violin playing on the wind. Genevieve was serious; she had brought everything to Skylynn: shelter, blankets, pillows, a well-kept fire, even a basket that was overflowing with fruits and breads.

I let a smile linger on my lips as I stood before her. Her eyes were closed, but I watched her breathe me in. I watched her slowly open her eyes to question her senses.

Slowly, she stopped playing, my lavender beauty sitting in a field of flowers that were competing for her grace, but failing.

“I hear that indoors are an issue for you.”

She laughed at that.

I moved into the tent, noticing how warm it felt. I slid out of my jacket coat and went to my knees so I could lean in and touch her lips with mine.

I felt pain behind her kiss, a growing distance. “What troubles you?” I whispered, caressing her hair as I moved to her side.

“How worried you are.”

“I brought her home. All is well now,” I assured her, letting the back of my hand caress her arm.

She laid the violin in its case and leaned into me. We lay back on the pillows, staring out into the field that would take anyone
’s breath away.

“I understand the appeal of being out here now,” I said in a low murmur.

She was lying on my chest and angled her head up to see me. “I was trying to protect it.”

“Protect?” I asked.

“This place...I recognized Genevieve, I recognized the manor.”

“From the visions?” I knew I didn
’t focus much on the surroundings of those visions, but I know I didn’t see one single image that would have reminded me of my world; if I had, I wouldn’t have worried that we would ever be separated for more than a few hours’ time. Everything I saw in Skylynn’s visions had a different energy, a different feel that could only belong to the dark reality.

She nodded against my chest. “Just outside the gates of The Selected palace, Sebastian and Guardian started arguing. Genevieve was confused but boldly stood between them. I shied away. I didn
’t like the feelings I felt.”

I tensed. “Did they say something to make you uncomfortable?”

“No, not really. I don’t know why I felt that way. I just recognized them, and a rush of fear and guilt washed over me. Genevieve saw that I was on edge and told them to go on. We traveled alone in silence, and that, too, felt wrong, yet also familiar.”

Now I was really confused. I was good at judging people
’s energy. I felt purity in Genevieve. I assumed this was just that timid side of Skylynn, one I needed to quell so she would feel safe as I traveled to the other side. I didn’t even plan to be gone a day’s time in our world, but I knew my soul would not be at ease if she were not.

“Tell me why,” I whispered.

“She was protecting me, like a mother. It felt backwards, like it was my role.”

I kissed her temple. “Because you are strong, fearless, protective, and you fight for what you want.”

I heard her breathe a smile, noticed how easily her body eased into that expression. She knew what I was doing.

“I don
’t know,” she said after a moment. “I remembered something about the trees, some kind of connection. It was a star or something that I was glad to see there, but I didn’t sense that mark when I was here, so I made one.”

“A star?”

“One of protection. I kept trying to make portholes or whatever you said I made when I moved, but each time I went to move to another tree I ended up at The Fall. Just behind you.”

I was a bit worried about her right now. If Camlin or anyone ever figured out how to use the passages Skylynn made, then they would be led to her, to The Fall. They had at least five ways to get here now, but I didn
’t want her to worry about that.

“I felt you,” I confessed, feeling guilty for not turning around last night when I did feel that sensation.

She smiled faintly as she reached to trace my collarbone with tender fingers. “I feel accomplished. I feel the star now.”

I tightened my arm around her. “I want these visions to ease you. If you saw this home, this family, then maybe we are altering what we saw.”

“Perhaps. In those fleeting images of the Falcon brothers, they did not see me as timid. I’m not sure I liked the way they did see me.”

I was starting to wonder how many of her tethers escaped me yesterday. When they first started, my image was what I saw; by the time I forced my focus on her, they were already fading, at least the details were. No doubt, I would have recognized either Guardian or Sebastian there. I would have found peace with them being in her life; they are family to be revered.

I assumed that all the emotions Skylynn felt in those visions were melding, and her seeing the way the Falcons were yesterday, even today, made it easy for her to see them in a defensive light.

“The Falcons are merciless when they decide to help someone. I
’ve seen them find the will and desire to help those that have crossed them in the past. They would never hurt you.” I pulled her a little closer. “They are a little consumed now. Sebastian was told he would never know the brother he sent over there again. I didn’t have much time with Guardian last night, but he didn’t seem that different. They’re confused.” I let out a sigh. “I’m sure they feel a civil war on the horizon, one that only they have the words to stop.”

She was quiet for so long that I felt my eyes growing heavy, sleep claiming me. I tried to fight it, but I was sure I lost my battle when I saw those visions we witnessed together playing out in my mind. I wasn
’t an outside witness in those dreams. I was living, breathing, and enduring them. It was a frustrating dream because I was searching blindly for the completeness I had already found.

The maddening dream turned into a nightmare when I saw my twin within a breath of Cashton
’s sister. In that vision, I felt evil all around us. Darkness and malice surrounding us. I didn’t understand my emotions in the dream because in some way I felt like I was aiding Cashton’s sister in saving my twin, which was opposite from any outcome that I could hope for—or that was predicted.

None of it made any sense, why Cashton
’s family would be pulled into the time of compromise that had loomed over me for so long. I could not fathom how it all connected.

I
’m not sure what caused me to open my eyes, but when I did I saw Skylynn sitting up. The sun was setting just to her left, basking her in a warm glow.

I leaned up and then reached to pull her into my embrace. It took me a second to realize that she had been crying.

“What’s wrong?”

“You spoke in your sleep.”

I tried to hide a smile. “Did my silent thoughts frighten you?” I asked as my hands moved along her legs and gently squeezed her thighs.

“You
’re going over there.”

I stopped the seductive slide of my hands across her. I didn
’t want to fight about this.

“I have to.”

“Then who we are right now will never be again.”

“Nothing will ever change the way we feel about each other. I swear to you.”