“Dreams are practice for the real world, Brianna. Even the basest of creatures use them to prepare for the hunt, or to learn when to run.” Her gaze narrowed on the sky, a brief glance reminiscent of someone checking their watch, and in the small interval of silence, the white-blonde woman’s eyes flicked to Kara.
Brianna opened her mouth to speak, but the center woman’s words cut her off. “Rest now, Miss Drake. Enjoy the anonymity these times provide you. There will be occasion for answers later.” Her smile returned, dazzling. “There are some futures we cannot escape.” She reached a hand forward, where it curled low, a smooth pattern that must have been another shadow gesture foreign to only Brianna and Emily, and said, “We will meet again soon, for it seems our paths are irrevocably intertwined.”
The woman’s smile faded as she turned, walking through her space in their line to leave Brianna and the Seven in bewildered silence, and the remaining prophets inclined their heads as they turned to follow.
Those who hold the prophecies hold the future.
Brianna had borne her share of secrets. She understood what it was like to see the things that were coming. But she knew the statement had meant more than this woman had let on. It was something deeper, more sinister than she cared to contemplate just yet.
They watched in silence as the prophets disappeared into the line of trees, no one speaking despite their apparent safety. The stillness wasn’t broken until Brianna moved, turned to her sister beside her to stare into her eyes, the same deep green as her own.
It should have been over. They should have been safe.
Chapter Thirty-four
Brianna
Brianna slept for three days. The fourth was spent helping Aern make the best decisions for his Council plans with the aid of her new, clearer visions. There would be no more Division, because no dissention remained anywhere among the ranks of the Seven Lines. They all followed Aern now, their rightful leader, and, Brianna suspected, held just as much allegiance to Emily. Eric and Seth had taken up the slack on some of the security issues now that Council held both the Division properties and their own. Kara had been doing her part, as well as remaining loyal to Aern, but Brianna had not forgotten the look that had passed between her and the blue-eyed prophet. Wesley was given a seat among the Council elders, and he and Ellin were working to make the changes needed now that the old threats and their old leaders were gone.
Brianna had tried to avoid worrying over the shadow’s message, done everything she could to handle the tasks at hand and not dwell on what might be. But she had not managed to keep it farther than the back of her mind, a constant reminder that there was more to come. They had said those who held the prophecies held the future, and she was not oblivious to the possibility that the prophets could have set the whole thing up so that they would be the last remaining ancients. So that they could have all the control themselves.
Yet she didn’t know the entire story. She didn’t know if even that much were true. There were conceivably more shadows hidden among the Seven, certainly more shadows beyond their own little world. And Brianna couldn’t foresee whether they were ancients or simply on a level with Ava and the soldiers they’d fought on the Council lawn. She didn’t know about the other prophecy, about the prediction that she and Emily would destroy their world. But what bothered her more than anything was that her visions had disappeared on the floor of that concrete warehouse, deserted her when she’d needed them most. They had come back to her shortly after, true, but she had been completely blind to the future, unable to see for that brief stretch of time.
She might never know if it was the cost of battle, the price for using a power that negated all others, or more disconcerting, if it had been their presence. The five ancient shadows with a power of prophecy that might surpass her own.
It was on the morning of the fifth day that Logan approached her as she stood before a window overlooking the south lawn. His arms wrapped around her as he pressed a cheek to her hair, and she savored the feel of him. It was not just the strength of his arms and the warmth of his chest. She could feel something more, something wholly Logan. She couldn’t be certain exactly how the bond between Aern and Emily worked, but she knew this was different. Brianna did not sense what Logan was thinking, didn’t catch his emotion or feel those pushes from him—she assumed those facets of the bond must have stemmed from Aern’s power. What she felt from Logan was only their connection, that absolute surety of it, the way it felt safe, true. She sensed when he was near, knew when he reached for her, but beyond that awareness was the sensation of completeness, an ease and wholeness that only intensified when they touched.
She leaned into him, silent as they watched the rising sun throw shadows across the yard, and he brushed his lips across her cheek, pausing at the base of her ear.