Ember (49 page)

“Scared?”

I nodded.

He scoffed. “Of what?”

My eyes narrowed gravely on him, then to
Ikovos, and back. “
Trusting
someone.”

It hung fiercely in the air, the room dead
silent.

His jaw clenched.

“Let her go, Jaden,” said Ikovos, drawing
both our heads over. He was still sitting at the table.

Jaden's grip loosened slightly and Ikovos
nodded his head over.

“Come on.”

My brows lifted, surprised, uncertain. I
checked back at Jaden. He was eyeing Ikovos hard. Then I stepped
carefully over to the table, as the thunder echoed once again
throughout the room.

I sat down across from him where Jaden had
been.

He watched me all the way then looked at me
with a blank face. “Do you have a dad, Evelyn?”

The question took me by surprise. My brows
knit for a moment, unsure of his meaning.

“You've talked about your mom before. Do you
know your dad?” His tone was calm.

I checked over at Jaden, his arms were
crossed now. He was standing in the same spot by the door,
expression cold.

“Ah, yeah.” I shook my head out. “He lives at
home. I mean, he works a lot, but . . . he's around I guess.”

Ikovos nodded, then one corner of his mouth
pinched up slightly, gaze downward. “I was pretty close to my dad .
. .” he focused back on me. “He worked a lot too, like yours. But
he ran a library so I still got to see him.”

The blood started to pulse quicker in my
veins. I saw Jaden shift out of the corner of my eye.

Ikovos continued. “It was a big place, a
couple stories, the only one in our town. We all ran it together:
me, dad, mom, and my two sisters—” he smiled, looking to me again
“—
Younger.
They used to run around making a mess of
everything. I'd follow after, putting all the books or whatever
they'd trashed back in place. I never really got mad about it
though, I guess I liked taking care of them, even when I was just a
kid . . .”

My eyes held on him, heart sinking at his
falling countenance. Suddenly he shook his head, nodding up and
over.

“Ah, one day, when I was about seven I guess,
we closed up the library early. It was my sister's birthday, she
was turning six and she wanted to go to this fancy restaurant in
town.” He looked at me again, a sparkle in his eyes. “Her name was
Lucy, she was a lot like you actually. Sweet, but independent to a
fault. I remember being so anxious that night, we were in a bar
after all, and she was running around everywhere. She was so
excited because there were traveling musicians performing in town
that night. A man and his wife, she sang, he played.” He chuckled,
looking off again. “Lucy decided that they were there just for her.
. . . They had a son, too, a little younger than me.” His eyes
shifted over to Jaden, smirking. “Disreputable-looking boy in my
book, but of course Lucy latched onto him right away.”

For the first time since Ikovos had started
my eyes moved off of him, over to Jaden. He was backed against the
wall now, arms still crossed, jaw clenching as hard as hard as I’d
seen it yet.

My skin shivered all over, hardly able to
register what I was hearing. I forced my gaze back to Ikovos
gravely, afraid of what would come next. He was starring out the
window, smirk falling to a cold line.

“We were playing tag when we first heard the
screams from outside. They told us to stay in the building. I found
my parents. Mom was holding onto the three of us tightly, blocking
my sister's eyes. Dad stood above us. Everyone was huddled in the
same corner. I remember seeing the musicians’ son standing with his
parents . . . he didn't look scared at all and I didn't know
why.”

“When the first Meoden came in, no one knew
what it was, we'd never seen or heard of anything like it, so we
couldn't have known . . .”

My eyes dropped to the table.

“I watched my dad die first. He was trying to
fight them off. The Meoden kept coming until all the men were dead.
I stood out in front of my mother and sisters, but the monsters
just grabbed me and pulled me away from them. I can still remember
Lucy's face. My mom tried to . . . but they held her off. They
grabbed the other boys too. When they tried to take the musician's
son from his mom, she wouldn't let go, so they killed her while she
was still holding him. Then they threw him over with the rest of
us.”

I looked back up.

“We weren't strong enough,
none
of us
were strong enough. . . . I didn't even get to look back before
they took us outside. Then they locked us in a caged wagon.”

I could barely breathe.

Ikovos narrowed his eyes. “The boy was next
to me screaming, he hadn't stopped since they'd killed his mom. I
just kept banging my arms against the bars, trying to break
through. I don't know how long it was. My hands were bloody by the
time the fires started. I swear I could hear my sisters screaming,
but the wagons pulled out before the building had even finished
burning. I never saw my family, or my home, again.”

Lightning continued to flash from the window,
but it barely registered in my consciousness. The boy across from
me took a heady breath.

“We were in the wagons for days without food
or water. By the time they stopped us, there were only seven of us
left alive. The musician's son was one of them. He hadn't said a
word since the first night. When the Meoden directed us out of the
wagons I forced him along. At the time I told myself that it was
because I didn't want him to be left to die with the bodies, but .
. . I think I just couldn’t bear to let go of the last bit of my
old life.”

My eyes dropped again.

“We were brought into the Meoden dimension
soon after, one of their larger strong-holds. There were other boys
there, some older, some younger, most of them were really strange,
twisted. The seven of us stayed together at first, but over the
next few months . . .” I saw him tilt his head up, maybe to check
my face “. . . You can't describe what they do . . . it was
torture. . .
sometimes.
Other times they'd talk to us in
human form. This was almost worse. The lies, the confusion. They'd
blur the lines between right and wrong, good and evil . . . so many
of the boys gave in, even the ones we'd come with. They grew
steadily worse until they were as screwed up as the Meoden
themselves.”

“Somehow me and the musician’s son held it
together . . . not that we didn’t pay for it.” His mouth tipped
without humor. “It was easier if you gave in to them, you see. In
fact after a year the five boys we had come with were actually
released. That's how it worked . . . just not for us . . .
we
got moved to a separate compound for labor, didn't want
us leading any new acquisitions astray.”

“We escaped soon after that . . . sort of. .
. . At the time we pretty much just thought we'd die on the frost
planes. There was no way to get to a portal and return to our own
world. Still, we decided it was better to die then continue on with
the life we were living.” He smirked dryly. “We were close to it
too . . . too far to go back, and no food or water left in our
supply. That's when we came across a burnt-down camp, one of the
Meoden’s. Master Thoran found us then, he'd been the one to attack
it. After we explained our situation, he fed us, cured us . . .
then took us back to the lodge.”

I let out the smallest breath as his eyes
turned up.

“I think you know the rest of the story from
there.”

The rain seemed almost muted beyond the
window, maybe it had stopped. My eyes turned to the table. I was
tracing a knot in the wood with my finger.

“So now you know.”

I didn't respond. What could I say? There was
nothing I could do or recommend to make it better, no consolation
that would change anything, change what had happened . . . was it
just selfish of me to ask in the first place? . . . Thinking I had
a right to know, what about them? . . . What could be done for
them?

“Hey.” He reached a finger across the table
to bring my chin up, eyes quite at ease. “Don't go second guessing
yourself now. You're my friend and it was right that you asked. . .
. In fact I probably should have told you sooner. I just didn't . .
.” His features twisted.

For the first time since he'd started, tears
began to fill my eyes.

He lifted his expression immediately, hand
pulling back. “Come on, now, don't cry on me.”

I sniffled, wiping the tears as he
smirked.

“We turned out okay, right?”

I nodded, sniffling again. “Yeah.” Then he
wiped a stray drop from my cheek and laughed shortly.

“Just gives us more motivation to fight the
suckers.”

I tried to join in his lightening, but it
didn't work well. He turned his head off to the right then Jaden
spoke.

“Come on, it's late.”

I hadn't forgotten he was here, but the story
and his part in it . . . it was almost too much to bear to even
look at him.

I slid out immediately, obediently.

“See you tomorrow, okay?” checked Ikovos, his
tone assuring.

I nodded and he lifted a hand.

Anything I could think to say wasn't enough .
. . I just followed Jaden quietly out of the room, trying to keep
myself composed. It didn't seem, after all, his ideal that I find
out.

He lead the way forwards at a slow and even
pace. His back turned, with no opportunity to catch his expression.
When we got to the room he waited for me to unlock it, then went in
to check it . . . for the third time tonight.

I walked over to the bed straightaway,
expecting him to leave without word when he'd finished. As I pulled
back the blanket, his voice came behind me.

“You're probably going to have nightmares
now.”

I spun around. He was standing a couple feet
away, smirking slightly. It seemed so arbitrary given the
situation.

I frowned. “I'm sorry that I—”

“It's fine.” He began to walk forward, eyes
intent. “Vos was right, you deserved to know.”

I faltered a bit. “But I thought you—”

“I didn't.” He was still moving closer.

“But, then, um . . . Is the room safe?”

He nodded. Very near now. I was forced to
back up till my legs hit the bed.

“Th-then what are you still doing here?”

He took my hand firmly, causing my chest to
rush. “Getting your mind off of what you just heard.”

When he lifted my palm up, a purple flame was
floating brilliantly. I had to force my gaze away from his dark
eyes to rest on it. Still, as soon as I did, I felt better . . .
comforted.

He let go. “Helps, right?” He asked it
lightly.

My features twisted for just a moment, then I
forced a smile, head bobbing. “Yeah . . .”

He backed off then, eyes distant. “Night,
Eve.”

Before I could even get up the courage to
reply, he was gone.

The click of the door felt like an emotional
release. My eyes turned foggily towards the fire. I must have been
wrong about the rain stopping because it sounded very loud now,
even behind the curtains, light could be seen flashing.

I dropped into the bed, eyes still glued on
the flame.

This is a good. A good distraction.

I slid myself back till I was braced up
against the pillows. I don't remember turning the lamp off. But the
only light was my purple flame, so I must have.

With the storm thundering around me, I
squeezed my body closer, cradling my hands around the fire.

Ikovos was right, they were okay now. Just
look at all they do to help others because of what happened . . .
The flame flickered. An image of their families flashing through my
mind.

They're okay.

Tears filled my eyes. I squeezed closer.

“They're okay.”

The flame dimmed smaller. My lips
quivered.

“They're—”

It vanished, and in the next moment I broke
into sobs, covering my face with my hands.

I went on like that for a while, eventually
falling asleep cradled up on my side. Tanis cuddled up beside me
too for once, he'd been staying up all night usually. When I awoke
in the morning he was still there.

My hand lifted up to my eyes reflexively. The
skin around them felt all puffy and moist. I sniffled once, then
leaned up, trying not to wake Tanis in the process.

When my eyes moistened again, I immediately
reprimanded myself. This was a new day, I really didn't need to be
all weepy throughout it . . . that's not what the boys would
want.

I walked into the bathroom without turning
the lights on. I was right about my puffy eyes. They were blotchy
too. I rubbed them a couple times, then rinsed water into them,
sighing when I looked up. Even the pink on my lips was starting to
wear off, that at least would have helped distract from it. This
thought got the slightest smile out of me, though it almost just as
quickly turned into a contorted frown.

I put my dried clothes on, then straightened
the bathroom up dutifully. . . . I was just going to have to deal
with being a little over-emotional today.

When I walked back into the room I pulled the
curtain back, streaming light across the area, then went over to
pat Tanis.

“Come on, boy, you gotta wake up at least
long enough to get into your pack.”

He didn't budge. I sighed.

*

Thirty minutes later I was making my way down
the last story of stairs. Before heading down, I'd cleaned the room
and packed all my bags, but forwent checking on the boys. I didn't
want to wake them if they were sleeping, and knew they'd find me
soon if they weren't.

I was a little surprised when I hit the first
floor just at how packed the place was. There was a sign hanging
above the right wall that read
“continental breakfast”
below
which ran a long table piled with food and lined with people. The
smell was mouthwatering. Almost all of the couches and tables were
full of eating people.