Emanate: Insight Series ((Insight) Web of Hearts and Souls) by Jamie Magee Page B

despise that emotion. How it robs courage, robs fate.
    I’ve never feared the dead, but it has always been hard for me to speak or mingle with them. I intimidated them for some reason, which was crazy because I saw myself as the nice brother when Phoenix and I stayed almost constantly in the Veil. I saw myself as the laid-back Rampart Warrior when my father would send me to this border to watch for the dead’s approach. My father is a fierce, close-minded man, but if we were side by side these spirits would merge to him before me.
    I use d to think it was because I could see them and other warriors could not. They could always feel them; seeing…not so much.
    Phoenix said it was my eyes, that they were too bright. He found it downright hilarious that the dead would recoil from me, before and even now.
    There was an old man lingering a few feet from me. Every time I took a step toward him, he took one back and acted like he did n’t see me. It was ridiculous. He was even whistling.
    I wanted to ask him if he had seen anyone out of place around here or heard anything. I needed to figure out how much I needed to fortify this border. My gut was telling me, ‘All hands on deck.’
    I stepped forward again and held out a sandwich to the old man. He couldn’t consume it, but he could take in the touch, smell, imagine it well enough that he could pretend to eat it. This was a rare treasure to the dead, finding something they could no longer have but once loved.
    I assumed it was a favorite of his because I’d seen him linger outside of this makeshift shop before this day.
    The sandwich in my hand was the real deal. I went out of my way to find him one.
    I felt like I was holding out a handful of nuts to a skittish squirrel. I kept my eyes down, not wanting to scare him. Right as he reached for it, Phoenix appeared and the old man ran—but not before snatching the sandwich from my hand like a starved stray dog.
    M y shoulders fell and I let out a curse as I glanced at Phoenix, who belted into laughter.
    “What are you doing dancing with the dead, mate?” he asked, trying to stifle his smile.
    “Nothing now—you have any idea how hard it was to get that sandwich?”
    “No, no I don’t. Surely, it was simple, though, for you would not have gone through all that trouble when you could have just asked me, Skylynn, or even Draven to ask the dead whatever information you were hunting.”
    “You know I can sense you , therefore, you know that I knew you were indisposed.”
    The only time I could not sense Phoenix clearly or he could not sense me was when …well, when we were involved with our lovers. When moments like that occur, our energy is focused on one point and has one goal. If he was blank to me, that meant he was ‘busy.’ Basically, it was a supernatural sign that said, ‘Do not disturb.’
    He pursed his lips. “Well, I’m not now. So, what’s going on?” he asked, glancing to my chest.
    “Too much. I’m trying to figure out Donalt’s next play .”
    He shook his head once. “What’s going on ?” he said again, with a nod to my chest. “Burning?”
    I nodded once .
    He cursed under his breath. Phoenix had a universal view, rather a dual universal view. Not once did he ever think it was wise to play the games that Esterious or present time Chara was putting before us. In his mind, this reality was not our home; we were just temporary guests trying to restore balance.
    My take on it : sometimes you don’t choose to play, the game chooses you. The only way to bring balance is to play the role before us.
    “I can’t figure a way around it,” I said to him.
    He nodded for me to pull up my shirt.
    I raised my shirt, showing him the burn that in effect was tattooing my skin. It was a mix of triangles, circles, and stars, all moving together to show the dagger of a bleeding heart. At least that was what my people called it.
    A bleeding heart is a flower that dies when it blooms and creates the massive