Dance of Ashes and Smoke (Age of Monsters Book 1) (8 page)

W
e rode into town at lunchtime with loud revving motors, opting for a splashy entrance instead of sneaking in. Olivia and Jax had disagreed, but I wanted to instill confidence in those who asked for our help. If we slunk in under the cover of night looking like a trio of bedraggled orphans, they wouldn’t trust us to handle things. Instead, they’d want to take care of us.

It had happened before.

This time, we knew what we were up against, so there was no need for subtlety.

I wasn’t in the mood for it anyway. I was in the mood for dropped jaws and gasps of hope and awe and then, I was in the mood for dead monsters.

Decorated with half our arsenal, we made an impressive sight riding through the country roads even with Jax hanging off the back of Liv’s bike with only my steel baseball bat. It had taken a ridiculous amount of threats and pleading for him to agree to even that.

Maybe we could dump him here once we dealt with their little problem. From the looks on the gaunt and haunted faces of those who came out on their porches and front stoops to watch us ride through, they needed a healer.

I turned onto the driveway with the right number on the mailbox where a man and his young daughter walked out to meet us with wide eyes while we parked and dismounted. Olivia handled the introductions, better at putting people at ease than I was.

She smiled brightly, her tinkling voice at odds with her fierce appearance. “Hello. We’re here in response to what you posted on the message board. You have a sorceress problem?”

The man nodded, shifting on his feet, keeping himself between us and his daughter. “And you have experience with them?”

Liv’s smile dimmed. “We have a lot of experience if it’s who we think it is. And we just dealt with a jersey devil, an enchanter, and some werewolves in Pennsylvania, so we have all the confidence we can take care of it.”

He didn’t appear too impressed or like he believed us, but desperation was a strong force. He nodded again and waved us towards his house. “Come on inside and we’ll feed you and explain everything. Not much for you to do till nightfall anyhow. And don’t worry. No one will touch your stuff.”

I didn’t want to take his word for it, but I didn’t want them to think we were worried about it—we needed to appear confident. I also didn’t want to cause offense. Offended people weren’t very generous with their information. All my most treasured and important belongings were hidden or attached to my person. Shrugging in response to Olivia and Jax’s raised brows, I followed the guy up his front porch and inside.

A cheery fire crackled in the fireplace with books lining the walls of the living room, the house infused with the scents of fresh bread and bubbling stew. My stomach roared in response, the rabbit and cream of chicken from last night long gone.

The man’s lips quirked. “How about I explain while we eat? I’m afraid it’s only vegetable soup. With the witch out there, we’ll be using our canned goods till spring harvest.”

Jax smiled in delight. “That will be more than fine. Thank you.”

The man gestured at the large table in the dining area attached to the kitchen. “Have a seat. I’m Jeremy, by the way, and this is Adele.”

We introduced ourselves and got through the pleasantries. Adele stayed silent, watching us with big eyes as we took our seats. I made sure to choose a chair on the far end, away from Jax and his dancing forest eyes.

“How do you still have power?”

Jeremy pointed at the roof of his house. “Solar panels and a generator. We have a couple gas stations we’ve been able to siphon gas from to keep us fine for now.”

“It’s amazing this is the first problem you’ve had.” I hurried to add, “Not that it’s a small problem.”

“No, we’ve been pretty lucky. All we have is a post office, those two gas stations, and a Dollar General, so it isn’t surprising they haven’t found or bothered us. So far, at least.” He placed steaming, fragrant bowls before each of us, vegetables swimming in a dark red broth.

It took everything within me not to shove my face into the food like it was a trough instead of waiting for Jeremy to serve Adele and himself and sit down. He bowed his head and whispered a prayer with his daughter. A lump climbed up into my throat as I remembered my own family prayers around a different table. Liv’s hand found mine, and we held on tight to our last anchor in the world.

Each other.

After his amen, we dug in, saying little as we inhaled the meal. He had an even bigger surprise for us at the end. Cups of real coffee. Not instant. And even better, a homemade chocolate cake.

I’d thought it would be forever before I got to taste real coffee again. And I’d thought I’d never get to taste chocolate cake again.

I almost swooned like a Victorian virgin at the first bite. I would’ve felt guilty over taking some of his stash if it wasn’t so heavenly. Once I got over myself and focused, I speared Jeremy with a look. “How bad has it been?”

“It started two days ago. Children started disappearing from their beds. No signs of a struggle or broken locks. It’s like they got up and left on their own.”

It didn’t sound like our sorceress. “So, you’ve seen no sign of a monster or witch or sorceress? Just disappearing kids?” Liv and I exchanged a glance. “From the post on the message board, it sounded like a sorceress had arrived.”

He bobbed his head. “That’s what we thought. We thought it was a spell affecting children. Until this morning. We found one child dead from hypothermia. He was the first one who disappeared.”

I gulped hard at the information to keep the anger from boiling over and sizzling across the table. “Whatever it is doing this, it’ll be dead before sunrise.” My promise was dark and certain and filled with blood-rage.

Jeremy met my eyes and searched them for a long moment. “Thank you.”

Olivia asked him a few more questions, with Jax throwing out a few here and there, but I’d stopped listening. I planned instead, my lips curling as I imagined what I was going to do to the creature.

And how I’d enjoy it.

Even if it wasn’t Tashia, it’d feel good to fight back. To have the chance to save someone after failing my brother and friends.

Adele came to stand before me, yanking me from my blood-thirsty thoughts. She said nothing as she studied me. I wondered what she saw in my eyes.

Olivia was the one who always babysat for extra money while I mowed lawns, so my experience with children was slight, but she sure was cute. All golden eyes and tight black curls and smooth brown skin and an incredibly serious expression.

I dipped my voice low so we weren’t overheard. “You scared?”

She nodded.

“I am too. But I’m also pretty mad. Did you lose friends?”

She nodded again.

“I did too. It’s hard. And I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this. You look like a very smart and brave girl though. And you sure have a pretty cool dad.”

She shrugged, and it was a battle to keep the amusement off my face. “Wanna see something neat?”

She didn’t nod or shrug, she just waited. I reached into the inside pocket of my jacket and pulled out a miniature action figure of R2D2. “He’s my favorite character ever. I even named my bike after him.”

Her brow furrowed, and I scowled up at her dad. “You haven’t introduced her to Star Wars?”

He laughed. “Not yet. I guess I should, huh?”

I nodded emphatically. “Yes.” I placed the figure in her hand. “I think you should keep this and keep showing it to your dad until he puts on the movie. And he should really show you the one with Ewoks first because that’s the best one.”

My declaration started off an enjoyable argument around the table and I pretended not to notice when Adele crawled up into my lap, still clutching the figure.

W
e set out after the sun finished its descent behind the horizon and the last colors bled from the sky. It was a cloudy night, the sky gave off little moon or starlight. Olivia and I slipped into the foggy black night and started our search around the perimeter. If we could catch a kid following the spell, we could track them to find the monster and hopefully free the other children.

If they weren’t dead.

It wasn’t as cold as it was back home, but the chilled wet air made my lungs hurt as we walked down the unpaved road sporadically dotted with trailers and houses set far off the road, deep in the woods.

The few lights from the houses on the road flickered out of sight, leaving us in the dark and dank woods, haunted with whistling winds and forbidding shadows. Maybe the monsters caused this or woods like this drew monsters, but based on the quivering up and down my spine, we were not alone.

“I was surprised you agreed to help once we figured out it isn’t the sorceress doing this.”

“You think I’m so heartless I’d leave kids to die?” I couldn’t hide the hurt from my tone.

Liv tripped as vines tried to wrap themselves around her legs. “Not heartless. Determined and focused on one thing.”

I wanted to yell at her in offense, but if we’d had a credible lead on the location of the sorceress, I wasn’t sure I’d have stayed. “Well, you were wrong.”

“I want to get her too, Monet.”

“I know.”

We descended into a brittle silence, both of us frustrated and heartbroken. I knew she wanted to talk about everything, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t open up and share my feelings. They were buried and locked up deep inside me and there they’d remain until my quest was won. There was no way I could talk about everything without falling apart.

And she needed to lock it down if we were going to make it to the other side of this nightmare.

We walked miles through the deepening night, the town sprawled out in all directions. Weariness pulled at me until I couldn’t stop yawning and my eyes burned.

“Maybe whatever it is won’t show tonight.”

Olivia yawned in response to mine before she answered. “Maybe not. We should have napped before doing this.”

“Yeah. At least we were able to talk Jax into staying. I’m too tired to deal with his jabbering right now.”

She snorted, but didn’t reply. I kept my mouth shut, not wanting her to hear whatever she was holding back. Our easy relationship seemed broken, and I wasn’t sure if we’d ever get back to what we were. Too much had happened. We’d lost too many people. We were too broken.

Maybe we no longer fit, both of us changed and warped beyond recognition.

A lonely haunting tune played in my mind, my inner soundtrack always able to find the perfect song for every moment. I lost myself in it, letting the tune carry me away.

I vaguely heard Olivia ask if I heard it too, but I was too far gone to respond. The song swelled, and I had no choice but to dance to it, to follow wherever it led.

And there wasn’t an ounce of regret when I arrived.

I danced in a field of lavender and fireflies, the beauty of dusk water-coloring the sky in vibrant hues of purple and pink and gold. I was clothed in a deep plum dress which clung to me and whispered secrets across my skin as I spun and reached for the heavens.

The song changed to one of triumph and hope. The field disappeared, and I was onstage, the hues of the sky the spotlights aimed at me. The lavender turned to swirls of smoke at my feet. But instead of inside a defiled church and an audience full of monsters, I was in New York. And my parents and brother were in the front row, clapping with proud smiles stretched across their faces.

Pulsing rock music of an electric guitar ripped through me and I sped down the road on Artoo, wind whipping through my hair as Alcott grinned over at me from Chewbacca. We raced down the street, joyous giggles trailed behind us. We were wild and free.

A deep bass drum pounded in silence before a piano joined in and they morphed into a romantic love ballad. I wandered through the bustling streets of New York, arm entwined with Jax’s as puffy flakes of snow fell around us. We ducked into an alley and he pressed me up against the building, ravishing my lips, my face, my neck with kisses. I arched up into him, wanting to be closer, wanting more, wanting him.

A warm and peaceful lullaby took over, and I was inside my house sparkling with twinkly lights, a massive tree taking up most of the living room. My parents, Liv’s parents, Alcott, Jax, and Marie sat with Olivia and I at the table bowing from mouth-watering food. Wine flowed and laughter boomed and a cheery fire crackled in the fireplace.

I never wanted to leave.

I wanted to stay forever.

I was finally home.

I danced through a beautiful life, filled with love and peace and family constantly growing. A future of success and happiness and friendship.

I would dance until I burned.