Fire in the Darkness (26 page)

Kennedy was kneeling in front of Ryan. He had stopped crying, but his face was carved with pain. “I wish she had trusted us enough to tell us
,” Ryan muttered.

Reaching up, Kennedy rubbed Ryan’s arm soothingly. “Would you have believed her if you hadn’t seen it first hand? I don’t blame her. For any of it. This is not something you can confess without people thinking you’re nuts. She was already fighting that.”

And just wait, Kennedy. You will be joining me on the list of nuts. My eyes closed briefly in fear. Please don’t let the Queen find out what she really is, I chanted in my head.

Ryan snorted, “Yeah, I guess. We always sensed something was different about her, but this . . .” Ryan rubbed his head. “I feel like I
don’t
know who she is anymore. Our friend is not human. Oh God, my brain hurts again.”

“What is Em exactly?” Josh directed his question to Jared. Jared pressed his lips together. His natural reaction was to stay silent. “Come on, man. We know she can explode things and take down cities . . . what will it hurt to tell us?”

Sitting up, Jared sighed. “Fine.” You could tell he didn’t want to talk. “She’s a Dae.”

“A what?” Josh replied. “What the shit is that?”

“She is half Fairy and half Demon.”

Kennedy’s hand went silently to her mouth.

“A Demon? Are you kidding? She’s seriously a Fairy and a Demon?” Josh exclaimed.

“But it doesn't mean she’s bad.” Jared immediately turned defensive. “Demon’s aren’t always evil. Ember’s cool. But Daes are illegal in the Otherworld. Ember technically shouldn’t be alive and that’s why she was hiding with us. We were protecting her. Like I said, Ember wasn’t lounging on some beach. She stayed away from you guys on purpose. She didn’t want you to get involved because she knew it was dangerous.”

Josh scoffed, “Too late for that.”

The room went quiet.

Josh stomped his feet onto the stone floor excitably. “Holy shit . . . this is insane. The Otherworld actually exists. What would all my counselors say now? They thought I was wasting my life with the videos, World of Warcraft, and now I am the one going ‘suck that bitches’. Wonder if I can actually kill some real trolls.”

Kennedy, Ryan, Jared, and I stared at him with our mouths open. Josh was taking this way differently from how I imagined he would.

“Ember, your Earth night is coming to an end. We have to go,” Torin said kindly.

Nodding, I scanned my friends once again. I missed them so much it hurt. “I will get you guys out of here,” I vowed to them, and then turned, letting Torin lead me away.

We were back in the forest where our first dreamscape took place. Without words, I went up to Torin and wrapped my arms around him. He gave me more than he could ever know, even though seeing and hearing them hurt more than I imagined. To know my family was all right meant everything to me. They were being treated better than I thought. The urge to rescue them was still strong, but it was clear to me it would be foolish to rush in. I would do this right, with a plan.

Torin pulled me in tighter. “I am glad it helped.”

I tilted my head back. “You have no idea. Thank you, Torin.”

“You are welcome.” His eyes lowered, locking onto my mouth. Suddenly aware of how tight and close our bodies were, tension filled any sliver of space left between us. I couldn’t deny I was curious to know what it
would feel
like to have his lips on mine again. “I would do anything to protect you and keep you safe. It is my job.”

The warm feeling vanished as my head lurched up. I stepped out of his hold. “Your job?”

“Yes.” His eyes narrowed in confusion at my sudden mood alteration. “I told you, now that I have found you, you are my priority. Since the day you were born, it was my job to protect you. Now I can. You are mine, Ember. We are destined.”

So many aspects of his words bothered me. His romantic, sweet words earlier seemed to sour in my stomach. “Why do you keep saying we’re destined? It’s freaking me out. No one controls my life. I decide. And, I am nobody’s to own, and I am not your job.” I crossed my arms.

A pained expression creased his forehead. “It is something I want to do. I only want to keep you safe and protected.”

“I can take care of myself. You cannot guard me from everything, nor do I want you to. I don’t need a protector; I need a partner.”

“I cannot stop my desire to do what is right. To do my rightful duty.”

“Rightful duty? Who says stuff like that anymore?” I shook my head, taking a deep breath.

“We were intended for each other before you were even born. You are my betrothed.”

“You're WHAT?” I sputtered in disbelief. “Did you say betrothed? Like in marriage—an arranged marriage?”

“Ember, please, calm down.”

“Calm down? I’ve had to process a lot of crap lately, but this one might push me over the edge. Did time actually stop in the Otherworld? Are you still using the ‘Beginning of Time’s Handbook’? Arranged marriages. Are you kidding me?” My voice rose higher.

“It’s not like that. We are noble. The god and goddess brought us together. Most Fae can marry whomever they want, but you aren’t most Fae. Your bloodli—”
He stopped, dread filling his face. “She’s coming . . .”

With that I was shoved back into blackness. When my eyes popped open, I was on the floor in my room at Lars’ compound. The bed, only feet away, was perfectly made. Sinnie had struck again.

I had been betrothed to Torin? Was that before they realized I was the devil’s spawn? My mom had been extremely independent and raised me to be as well. Was it something beyond her control? If I wasn’t a Dae, would I be marrying Torin right now? I cared for Torin. It wasn’t him I had the problem with. It was the fact I had no choice in it.

Huffing, I got up, climbing back into my crisp, clean sheets.
What did Sinnie do, starch and iron them while I was unconscious on the floor?
Plopping back into my pillows, I pulled the covers over my head.

My life had been a constant revelation—in a continual state of change. I knew we would have to fight the Queen. I needed to be ready for what I knew was coming—both mentally and physically. But there was so much I couldn’t prepare for. After everything, why did I feel the worst was to come?

NINETEEN

The morning came faster than I wanted. Well, if you could call it morning—the moon, still suspended in the sky, told me it was not a time I should be up or functional. “Roosters would find this time of morning offensive,” I whined when Alki barged into my room, blinding me as he flicked on the lights. I preferred the night. I wasn’t surprised Demons were nighttime creatures. My hatred of mornings and night owl preference had established itself at a very early age. Unfortunately, training for a war did not follow my bedtime preferences. I needed to bring this up at the next Otherworld council meeting.

“This is when training starts. Get up. Dress now. I will be waiting downstairs,” he barked at me before he left.

Sleep had not come easily for me. I felt as if I had just fallen asleep when Alki came barreling into my room. Now I pulled a pillow over my head. I would not even last a week if this was the time I had to rise every morning. Wonder what would be the punishment for backing out of a Demon deal?

Images of Mark and my friends invaded my head.
You selfish bitch, get up.
The disgust at myself for even teasing about quitting—just because I didn’t want to get up early—produced enough anger to get me out of bed, dressed, and downstairs within minutes.

“First training so you will not eat.” Alki motioned me to keep moving for the door.

I wasn’t exactly hungry yet, but couldn’t stop myself from asking why.

“Because, it will be wasted. You will only throw it up,” Alki responded.

Oh crap.
I knew I shouldn’t have asked. Training was going to be even worse than I imagined.

Two hours later, I was pretty sure I had greatly underestimated that sentiment. Military training would have been like going to a spa compared to this. Alki was relentless and appeared to enjoy causing extreme pain a little too much. Maybe this was his “vice.” I wouldn’t have been surprised. He had me running up hills, stairs, through mud, doing sprints, and long distances till I threw up. Then he started me on weights until my arms and legs could barely move. And that was only the warm-up. Next we started on my first lesson in martial arts. Within the first hour alone, I had already contemplated quitting about twelve times.

By the time Koke and Maya came in, I had thrown up four more times, all bile and a tiny bit of the power drink he allowed me to have.

I spent my lunch break trying to find a way for the sandwich to make its way to my mouth—without moving my arms because they ached so much. Not an easy feat. After lunch, Maya worked on my earth powers, but Alki was in charge of my overall training so he remained, pushing me to my limit.

“Concentrate,” he commanded.

“I’m trying.”

“Ember, you must not only be able to connect with the earth but be able to regulate what it gives you. It has no filter. You have to become the filter,” Maya spoke sharply. English was not her first language and she pronounced each word carefully.

“I’m filtering. I’m filtering. I am filtering all over the place.” I rolled onto my back, rubbing at the headache pounding in my temples.

“Sit up. We are to go again.” Maya sat on the ground across from me, her legs folded. She was in baggy, brown cotton leggings and a loose-fitting shirt. Today her short hair was wild and natural, sticking out over the leopard-print scarf wrapped around her head like a headband. Her skin was a rich caramel color. She was gorgeous, full of confidence and strength, and definitely commanded attention. Even though she was connected to the earth, I could sense her powers weren’t always used for good or for healing. She could probably take down countries with a tiny curse, destroy crops with a hex, and turn a cheating husband into a snake. I had to be careful around her.