Page 130 of Stealing Embers

“I want to find out what happened so we can prevent an incident like this from occurring in the future.” Eloise Durand shoots her husband a look that dares him to contradict her. “I agree with Sable. I, for one, am glad that my children are back safely and would like a moment to be thankful for that.”

Breaking his testosterone-filled stare-down with Deacon, Laurent rubs a hand up and down his wife’s back. Gracing him with a grateful smile, she goes back to fussing over Blaze’s swollen face for at least the eighth time since we entered the cafeteria.

Watching Eloise is eerie. Her long-lost daughter is almost a perfect carbon copy of her mother, except for about a ten-years age gap in appearance. Eloise has the same glossy sheet of raven hair as Silver, and delicate facial features that make both of them appear fae-like.

Slap a pair of pointy ears on her and she’d be ready for aLord of the Ringsfan convention.

My gaze skips across the room during the momentary lapse in conversation. Greyson and Sterling are seated at the table with Steel. The former is sitting in a backward chair with his arms draped over the seatback. His attention ping-pongs from Sable to the members of his family.

Sterling is sprawled across two seats, his butt in one, his legs propped up on another. With his arms folded in front of him and his head a little askew, I’m not sure if he’s even awake anymore.

Ash told me both middle twins hadn’t slept the entire time we were missing. They had searched in the wrong direction the whole time, so I can understand Sterling’s exhaustion.

I’m at the middle table, splitting the Durand bunch in half. Steel, Greyson, and Sterling sit to my right. Aurora, Blaze, Eloise, and Laurent to my left. Ash sits next to me, and surprisingly, Nova chose to flank my other side.

Everyone looks a little worse for wear. We won the battle, but didn’t escape completely unscathed. We’re a bloody and bruised bunch, but overall, I’m relieved we didn’t lose a single student or teacher during the fight. It’s basically a miracle.

“Will someone tell me something,” Steel barks, causing his mother to start and Sterling to fall out of his make-shift bed.

“I didn’t do it!” he shouts from the floor.

“It was the anomaly that tipped us off,” Sable begins to explain. “It wasn’t long after we realized we couldn’t phase that we discovered there was a geographical correlation. There were certain areas we could phase, and certain areas we couldn’t. We started to test the borders of the anomaly and established it was a circle. Or rather, a bubble. We took a chance that you and Emberly were caught in the middle of the mess, and that you’d found your siblings.”

“Don’t forget the glitter bomb,” Sterling says as he settles back into his chairs.

Sable clears her throat. “Well, yes. There was that, too.”

Huh?

“Huh?” Steel looks as confused as I feel.

“Right, well, there was someone . . . or rather something . . . that helped us pinpoint your exact location.”

“Dude, there was this sparkly glitter bomb that flew through the air, peeing out sparkles or something. It was trippy. Nova found it and convinced us to follow it.”

Everyone’s attention swings to Nova, and for once it doesn’t seem like she’s enjoying all eyes on her. Sinking lower in her chair, she fiddles with her bracelets.

“What? It seemed like the logical thing to do at the time. You see something otherworldly flying through the air, you follow it.” She holds her palms up in aduhgesture.

“Oh, that.” Some of the tension leaks from Steel’s contracted muscles. “We’re familiar with that particular . . . Tinker Bell, wasn’t it, Emberly?” He gives me a side-eye. “It appeared to both of us at separate times.”

I cough into my hand.

“You named it?” Greyson asks.

“That’s rad,” Sterling adds.

“So, what exactlyisit?”

I can’t be the only one who wants to know. Collectively these people are walking libraries of supernatural information. Which is why I’m surprised by the elongated silence that follows my question.

“You don’t even have an idea?”

I turn wide eyes on Sable.

“The council is looking into it, but at the moment, no.” Her hair swings as she shakes her head. “We’ve never seen anything like it. Especially in the mortal realm. We obviously believe it is something preternatural.”

Wow.

---