Page 49 of Tarnished Embers

“Since I was thirteen,” Prince states, his voice devoid of all emotion. Tears sting my eyes and my stomach is in knots at his confession. “Several times a year, maybe four or five, so that makes…” He pauses, clearly doing the maths. “So like forty, perhaps more.”

Bile fills my throat, and I peer at the others. “And you?” I ask Cas.

“I was thirteen too, so started the year after Prince, you know, because he’s a year older than me,” he tells me, his ears red as his shoulders curve in. I want to reach out and hold him, but I hold back, needing to understand all the facts first. Glancing at Oct and Kit next, not sure why I need to discover how long she abused them for, I wait for their answer, and I have no doubt in my mind it was abuse, even if she wasn’t the one to actually do it herself.

“Thirteen for us too, and it felt like a rite of passage at first,” Oct tells me, coming closer and hunching down in front of me, taking my icy hands in his warm ones. “But the excitement soon wore off, and I could never get clean, no matter how many showers I took afterwards. I didn’t feel clean until you, Little Sis.”

A sob tears free from my chest, and I throw myself forward, out of my chair and into Oct’s arms. He catches me, banding his arms tightly around me and pulling me into him.

“I–I’m so sorry she did that t–to you,” I cry out, burying my face against his neck and trying to breathe him in.

“Hey, hey, Pretty Thing,” Kit says from next to me, and I release Oct to twist and pull Kit in for a tight hug. “You’re not mad at us?”

Pulling back slightly, I gaze into his handsome face and see the lines of worry around his eyes, the way he won’t hold me too tightly as if I’m going to walk away.

“No, you were fucking children, Kit,” I tell him, looking into his stony eyes and smoothing a hand down his cheek. “How could I be mad at you for her abuse?”

“Fuck, Ember,” he rasps, tears making his eyes swim, and then he’s crashing his lips against mine in a desperate kiss. I taste our tears, our sadness at a world that lets this kind of thing happen.

Reluctantly, I pull away, knowing that Cas and Prince will need to feel my acceptance too. As if he knows my intentions, which is often the case, Cas is there, pulling me tightly into him. His heart races against my chest, his grip around me almost too tight, but I don’t ask him to ease up, knowing he needs this just as much as I do.

“You are so much more than we deserve, Cinders,” he tells me, and I’m shaking my head before he’s even said the last word. Keeping my arms around him, I pull away enough that I can gaze into his beautiful copper eyes, and then I take a leap.

“I love you, Cas.” The words feel so right leaving my lips, like they were always there, just waiting for me to utter them into the world, but only for them.

His eyes widen, his jaw going slack as his body freezes. Moments pass that feel like a lifetime, then his copper eyes turn molten.

“Say it again,” he demands in a revenant whisper, and the intensity in his gaze has me wanting to shrink back, but I hold firm.

“I love you, Cas. I love the way you take care of me, the way you make sure I’m okay, and the way you know what I need before even I do. I. Love. You.”

“Fuck, Cinders.” His eyes fill with tears, his voice choked. “I love you too.”

A small sob leaves my lips, but unlike before, it’s filled with happiness, and as his lips come down on mine, it’s the salt of love that coats our tongues. All too soon the kiss ends, and while I understand telling him first was the right move, I need to take the same leap with the others too.

Slowly spinning in Cas’s arms, I see Oct and Kit standing, so I step away from Cas and into Kit.

“I love you, Kit,” I tell him, and for a moment his eyes close, his head dropping back, and a smile so beautiful tugs his lips up, outshining the spring sun. He licks his lips and then stares back at me, his eyes a swirling storm of emotion. “I love the way you make me feel so safe, and like I’m the most precious thing in the world.”

“I love you, Ember,” he tells me simply, and my cheeks ache with the smile that lifts them. He lowers his lips, kissing me with all the wildness that he usually only shows in his eyes, and I take it all.

Then I’m spinning, and Oct hovers his lips above my own.

“Tell me, Little Sis,” he orders, the brush of his lips sending tingles racing across my skin.

“I love you, Oct. You are my personal sunshine, brightening the dullest day until all I can know is happiness.” My voice is a breathless whisper as I lose myself in his eyes.

His breath fans across my lips as he exhales a sigh. “I love you so fucking much, Little Sis.” He kisses my lips like he’ll never get enough of their taste, and I’m the same, dragging him closer with my hands tangled in his thick hair. He’s my sunshine, my breath of fresh air, and I don’t care what he’s done in the past, because he’s mine now.

He slowly ends the kiss, pressing his forehead to mine, and then steps back. My heart twists painfully when I see Prince, still sitting in his chair, looking as if he doesn’t deserve my love, his face a mask of anguish.

He watches me as I go to him, taking a sharp inhale when I climb into his lap, my knees either side of his thick thighs, my short skirt floating around us. The soft fabric of his jeans tickles my bare inner thighs, and I grasp his face in my palms, tilting his head until those gorgeous, sparkling malachite eyes are laser-focused on me.

“I love you, Prince you-will-never-tell-me-your-real-name Marshall Brown.” His lips quirk ever so slightly at my teasing, and his hands cup my arse, pulling me closer to him. “We would all be lost without you, and I love the way you take care of us without ever being asked. That you put us all above your own happiness. None of this is your fault. None of it.”

He freezes, his eyes wide, and I know I made the right judgement call. He’s their leader, the oldest, and the others follow his lead so it stands to reason that he will feel the burden of all that’s happened to them most of all.

His jaw works, and then his eyes close as he lets out a long exhale.

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