The Spider Catcher (Redemption by A.L. Tyler Book 1) (22 page)

Ember was lying on the floor in his bedroom. He didn’t know why Zinny called it a bedroom, but she did. She was the only demon in the house to keep a bed, and she hardly ever slept in it. Watching Ember’s sleeping form, curled into a fetal position on her side in a nest of blankets and clothes that he had thrown down as an afterthought, he supposed he might need to get a bed.

The house was empty now, and probably would be until dawn. Zinny liked to cook breakfast for herself, and all of her fancy foods were at the house. He had told Asher and Isaac to stay away for the evening.

Acton sighed, lying down next to Ember. She groaned slightly; four glasses was probably too much, but she talked too much when she was sober. He liked listening to her stories much more than he liked avoiding her questions, but it was hard to illicit one without the other.

Her eyes fluttered open for a moment, rolling around the room before settling on Acton.

“Staying with me tonight?” She yawned. “No spider?”

“No spider,” he said quietly. She was already gone again, but it didn’t matter. He examined her face, and laid one hand on her cheek. This time, it was her breath that reeked of apple schnapps and stomach acid.

Slowly, he brought his lips to meet hers, just for a second, and then moved away again, pausing to consider the experience. It wasn’t the kiss that he enjoyed; rather, it was more accurate to say he didn’t enjoy it any more or less than just having her near. He liked her smooth skin, and the smell of her, and the soft warmth that she produced, like she had Gina’s fire hidden inside of her.

The feel of his hands on her skin made him calm in a way that he had only rarely experienced before. He rolled her back onto her side in case she threw up, and carefully worked his hands under her shirt, pulling her back to his stomach in the mess of shirts and blankets around them.

With his hands flat on her stomach, absorbing the heat from her, he didn’t ever want to leave, and he didn’t know why. She was only a girl, one of Gina’s girls, who would doubtless have a great desire to see him in an inferno someday, but for now, she was just a girl. He wondered if he could find another girl like her, but he doubted it. Other girls would have drowned, or choked, or become witless at the sight of some of the things she had been through, but not
this
girl.

She had something to prove. She was magic, and warmth, and Acton was almost sure that he would still want to feel her pressed up against him the day she took a knife to him on purpose.

Zinny had often insisted that he was still very young, and he had spent his whole life trying to act older.  He was more powerful than almost everyone he had ever met, and the restraint and responsibility had aged him. Maybe it was only a vicarious thrill, but Ember had a way of making him feel his youth.

Running his fingers through her hair, he wondered how long she would survive on the island, and if he should worry about Asher. Isaac was the more likely threat—he had killed more people unintentionally than anyone else on the island, and it was only by Acton’s cleverness that he stayed out of Gina’s fire. But there were the others, and the strangers. Humans never stayed long on the island; they could sense the danger.

Ember, however, wasn’t a human, and she was attracted to dangerous things. Her inability to protect herself was a possible end to the short and painful story of her life.

Leaning in to smell her hair, Acton wondered if that was what intrigued him—she wanted to get burned as badly as he did. She wanted the end, but it wasn’t likely that any demon on the island would stay her execution the way that Gina had stayed his.

She was going to find her ending, with or without his assistance, so he curled up around her as tightly as he could, counting her ribs and playing with her delicate fingers while she snored. He wasn’t going to waste the opportunity to enjoy her while she was still warm.

Chapter 23

“Where were you last night?”

Acton looked up very slowly; Asher knew very well where he had been. He just wanted to make him say it out loud.

“I was with Ember,” He said plainly. “Here.”

“Doing what?” Asher leaned back against the kitchen counter, crossing his arms. “Screwing her?”

“Yes.”

“Liar.” Asher sighed, throwing his hands in the air before taking a seat at the table across from Acton. “Jesus, Acton, what are you doing? You’ve picked a very inconvenient time to start acting your age, and it’s annoying.”

Acton turned his slow gaze on Asher, staring just long enough to make his brother shift uncomfortably. He stood back up from the table.  “Acting my age?”

Asher’s lip curled just a little, but then he snorted.  “You’ve finally found a girl you want to chase, and you have no idea how to go about it, so instead you’re wasting time while Joseph is out there jacking around with everyone.  Half of them don’t even know what day it is, because you’re too obsessed with your plaything to care.”  He leaned against the refrigerator and made a mocking gesture with his hands.  “Zinny is just over the moon with how cute it is, and Isaac has so jealous I’m surprised he hasn’t taxodermied her into a—Jesus, I don’t know—an end table, or a freaking chandelier, or something.  You’re children.  All of you.”

Acton walked to the window, trying not to let Asher catch a glimpse of his uncertainty.  He was very perceptive, and not for the first time, Acton found that he was jealous of Asher’s experience.  Asher knew what came next in the pursuit, and even young and naïve, Ember seemed to know, too.  “What do I do?”

“Just screw her already.”  Asher’s voice was filled with exasperation.  “And then move on.  You won’t be half so interested when she’s turned like Gina, so just do what you have to do and move on with your life.”

Acton swallowed, and tried to stop himself from shaking his head.  Asher was wrong—it was her potential that made her so exciting, and she was nothing like Gina.  She was nothing like Delia, either.  “She’s going to be around for a while.”

“Fine.” Asher nodded, wiping his hands compulsively on the front of his shirt. “Do what you want. But this is weird, even for you. If you’re not going to screw her, just go back to Delia and get it out of your system—”

Without another word, Asher stopped, turned, and walked from the room. Frowning, Acton went back to sit at the table as he continued looking out the window. He had known for some time that people found his hobbies unusual; it had never bothered him before, and it didn’t bother him now. Asher had made it evident that he was bothered by his interest in Ember Gillespie. What bothered Acton was that
he
was bothered by his interest in Ember Gillespie.

Asher came walking back through the door, straightening his shirt and pursing his lips as he glared.

“You know I don’t like that, Acton,” he said, walking back to the table. “You don’t want me stealing Isaac’s toys again, do you?”

Acton’s eyes flicked up. He sat back in his chair. “Isaac is over what you’re doing with Kaylee. He thinks she’s in on it. He doesn’t care, and neither do I.”

“He’s smart.” Asher crossed his arms and lifted his chin, but his frown showed the dent in his ego. “Maybe I should aim higher…”

“Touch her, and you’ll never see it coming, Ash,” Acton said with a serious frown. “I’ll let you do it, and I’ll let you get away. I’ll wait for some day when you aren’t expecting it, when you think I’ve forgiven you, and I will skin you alive and give your hide to Isaac.  He’ll probably make a quilt out of you. Then I’ll take whatever is left, and—”

“Yes, yes, I get the picture, but I hardly take it seriously. You forgave me for Delia.” Asher sat down. When Acton didn’t respond, he sat back in quiet contemplation. “But Delia was a whore. Who is Ember Gillespie to you?”

Acton closed his eyes, shaking his head. Asher was amongst the most merciful demons he had ever met; it was a subtle irony of the universe, given his sordid first life. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to kill a girl since he had turned, except for the ones that reminded him of the girl who had bitten him. He let them go, even the witnesses; Acton had asked him why once, and he said that the guilt was too much. He saw his victims in his quiet moments, screaming, and pleading, and they haunted the faces of the living.

“She’s no one.” Acton insisted, looking sharply back at him.

Asher stared at him, and nodded. His joking smile fell into a careful expression of indifference as he slowly rose from the table. He brought his hand to his face again, and then dropped it back to his side as they both looked up to toward the stairs. She was awake.

“Is there anything I can get for you?” Asher asked. He looked back at Acton, taking a deep breath, and trying not to shake his head. “Or for her?”

He didn’t know who Ember was to him, or why he enjoyed her so much. He could think of only one way to decide who she was to him.

“No.” A sudden, small smile graced his lips. “Just keep Zinny away from the house today.”

Lying still on her side, pretending to sleep, Ember didn’t hear when the door opened, but she felt the air move. She knew Acton was standing behind her.

“I know you’re awake,” he said quietly. “You should take a shower.”

Shuffling in the mess on the floor, Ember rolled over to face him.  Her eyes fell on the rolled up pair of pants that had been her pillow, and she picked up a sock and stared at it. “Did I sleep in a pile of dirty laundry last night?”

Acton’s eyes moved around the room before he sighed and nodded. “Yes.”

She groaned, blinking as the light from the hallway struck up the headache that came with her every hangover. “Where am I?”

“This is my house.” He came into the room, kneeling down in front of her to help her sit up with her back against the wall. “I do most of my living out there, but this is where Zinny keeps our things. We each have a room, and this one is mine.”

“You don’t have any furniture,” she said pointedly.

Acton looked at her and smiled ironically. “You don’t even have a room. You don’t even have a house, or a family.”

Shrugging and nodding, Ember held her face in her hands.  Her head was throbbing now, but at least she didn’t feel sick. Acton’s eyes wandered over her, wondering how long it would take before she felt well again.

He had never come to identify with a victim the way that Asher could, but he had turned several against their own families. He could hardly believe that she was in his bedroom.  Having stolen her all the way from across the country, she was sitting in his bedroom. She believed that they were friends. Gina had practically gone crazy, disowned her, and then been banished from her own island.

It was beyond spectacular. Acton smiled; he had outdone himself, and he wasn’t even done yet.

“Come here—” He leaned in to wrap his arms around her, and she wrapped hers around his neck as he helped her to her feet. “Come on. You need to shower. I’ll find something for you to eat.”

He helped her to the bathroom, and got her towels. When he returned from Zinny’s bathroom bearing a selection of shampoos, soap, and conditioner, she smiled feebly at him from where she was sitting on the edge of the tub. She looked so weak and tired, almost as though she was about to fall backwards into the bathtub, but she smiled at him.

Acton hadn’t realized that he had paused. He set down the things that he had brought, and turned to go.

“Acton…”

He stopped in the door, looking over his shoulder.

She was running her fingers through her hair, trying to brush it out as she gripped the edge of the counter to stand. Unbuttoning her jeans with her other hand, she looked over at him again and smiled, shaking her head.

“Thank you. Thank you for taking care of me.”

“You’re welcome.” He closed the door behind him, pausing again. It was going to be an interesting day.

The water was sobering. She let it run hot over her face and body, wondering what it meant to become one of Acton’s favored few. He had given her a look, just before he closed the door, glancing down as she had started to undress; it hadn’t been wanton. He was curious.

A boy had never looked at her that way before.  She had never known any boys well enough that they would stop looking out of respect, even if they wanted to keep looking.

She washed her hair, wondering what her future held. For the first time in weeks, she was oddly hopeful that it might not be awful, or that at least she wouldn’t be alone. She might return to school, or she might not. Her fate was in Acton’s hands now, and though the thought made her smile grimly, it was a comfort not to have to make the decisions herself.

Wrapping herself in a towel, she realized that she didn’t have any clean clothes to change in to. Still wrapped in her towel, she wandered down the stairs.

“Acton?”

She peered around the corner into the kitchen, but no one was there. She turned in the other direction, walking into the living room. There was a large sofa, and a love seat situated around a big screen television, but they were the only items in the room that looked new. Everything else was old but maintained—the house was furnished with antiques.

Acton was standing by the window.  The trees had been cut back to allow for a rough perimeter around the house.

“Acton?” She asked, timidly stepping up next to him when he didn’t look at her or respond. After glancing uncertainly at his face, she readjusted her towel and followed his gaze out onto the rough between the house and the trees.

“Joseph is smarter than I thought he was. I thought he would come for me by now,” he said quietly. Looking over at Ember, he smiled. “I thought he would come for you by now.”

“Me?” She asked, scanning the trees again. She squinted, trying to see further in the dark, but it was no use. “Why would he want me?”

“Jealously.” Acton turned and walked back into the living room, gesturing for Ember to sit next to him on the couch. “The two of you were in it together, for my amusement. You were my favorite, and that’s a reason to be jealous. You were his favorite, too, but you picked me, and that’s another reason to be jealous.”

“I picked you?” Ember’s eyebrows rose; she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know what Acton was talking about. She knew she was missing time, but she had only recently started to realize how much was gone.

“I did terrible things to you.” He leaned back, bringing a hand to his lips as he looked away across the room. “You were willing to go further than most people I’ve ever met. You were so desperate for the attention, and you’re stronger than I thought.” He leaned forward again, and Ember shifted uncomfortably, tightening her towel. “But those days are done.  How did you sleep?”

He reached to touch her face, but she turned away, glancing back at him hesitantly when she realized that he might perceive it as an insult. Acton dropped his hand, and his eyes, looking at her legs for a moment before rising from the couch to pace back to the window.

Her heart was pounding as she stared at the elegant gold inlay on the coffee table, the ghost of Acton’s hand brushing her cheek sending goose bumps across her flesh. She wasn’t sure if it excited her or frightened her.

Realizing that she wanted to know, she looked over at him, preparing to speak.

“I’m sorry for the things I did to you,” Acton said quietly. Ember closed her mouth. “I won’t say it again, but I mean it.  It’s important that the others see me in a particular light.  And I know that you’re afraid of dying in a cage. I promise you that I won’t cage you. You can leave here whenever you choose to, and I will let you go. But I want you to stay, and I will take care of you.” He turned back to her. “I’m not going to change. I’m not going to become a kind person, or even a good one. I’ll never ask you to change. I will always want you, even though you’re broken. I like you that way.”

Wide-eyed and taken off guard, all Ember could do was give him a curt nod. “Okay.”

“Will you stay?” He asked, his jaw clenching.

Ember licked her lips, looking back down at the coffee table, and then quickly back up at Acton. She tried to smile, but it didn’t feel right. There was only one answer, because she had nowhere else to go. “Yes. Yes, I’ll stay.”

He didn’t smile.  Returning her nod, he went to turn back to the window.

“But—”

He paused, looking back to her. His stare was as intense as ever, and his eyes were still dead. They were like the eyes on a rabid dog, staring down a threat.

“What did you do to me?” Her voice was a hoarse whisper; she swallowed, wondering why her throat had suddenly gone dry. “And what did you do to make Gina hate you so much?”

He considered her question for a moment, weighing how much he wanted her to know, and then went back to sit with her on the couch. He was careful not to sit too close.

“I took away your innocence, and your trust, and your life. I pretended to be your friend, and I was never your friend. I’m only your superior.” He hoped that she didn’t want the particulars. “You’ll never be naïve again, and you’ll never be the same. But in return, I’m giving you a family, and I’ll watch over you, and that’s everything you’ve ever wanted. As to your second question, I did the same thing that you did to make your mother hate you so much. I did nothing.”