Page 50 of Falcon's Prey

“For the real reason we are here today…Ember, or should I say the Embers.”

As Silas mentioned my name, everyone and their mother turned their head toward the table. I gave a small smile and a wave.

“Come here.” Silas waved me over like a dog.

I was walking his way when his words made me sick and want to vomit.

“Since my brother is not here, it’s up to me to take care of his little girl.”

I did not let his words hurt me, not right now. Yes, they haunted me, but for now, I had to put them out of my mind.

“Now today is also a very special day. My dear Ember turns twenty-five.” Silas’s hand came to where the jewel rested. “And who better to make her shine on this night than her namesake?”

People cheered and applauded, and I stayed next to Silas until he gave the last of his speech. When he was done, he put his hand around my waist and led me to talk to the investors. I tried not to think about the way Silas held me and instead focused on the heat at my back. Ren’s gaze was heavy like a cloak covering me in darkness.

When the tenth person asked me how I was feeling about my father, I told them I had to go powder my nose. I’m sure half of them thought I meant I was going to snort some coke, which wasn’t a bad idea. I held to my dress and walked past everyone, aware that it didn’t matter where I went, at least not tonight. I was a prisoner.

“Ember!” I heard Marcus shout.

I ignored him and kept walking to the grounds behind the gala’s museum. They were beautiful, flowers everywhere, statues and tranquility, something I wasn’t used to. I walked to the tall bushes, ignoring the shouts that came after me.

I ran until I was deep in the maze away from everyone, and it was just me and the darkness. I wasn’t like normal girls; the dark didn’t scare me. Everyone always showed their real face when they thought no one was watching. What I was scared of was looking in the mirror and seeing how pathetic I looked.

“Shut the fuck up,”I told Marcus, and pulled him back. “You screaming bloody murder isn’t helping anyone.”

He was pissed, but I was fucking livid right now.

“Well, she’s alone with a—”

“You think I don’t fucking know that? But you yelling for her to come back will only put her at risk.”

“No one would dare come here. We have top-notch—”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence, because I punched him. His arrogance was a downfall.

“Fuck.” Blood was spilling from his nose.

“Someone is always watching,” I spat at him before I left in the direction Ember had taken off to.

With my gun drawn, I made my way in, trying to do it as quickly and quietly as I could. Only Ember could be this fucking reckless. She was the most self-centered woman I had fucking met. I swore to God when I got my hands on her I was going to—fuck, I didn’t know if I wanted to fucking yell at her or fuck some sense into her.

I stopped dead in my tracks as the emotion—one I only ever read about but never truly felt—coursed through me. I was afraid. It was something I didn’t think I’d ever feel, at least not about someone else. Yet here I was in a fucking maze in a thousand-dollar suit hunting down a princess.

I was about to keep going when I saw her. Far in the corner, seated on a bench, her ridiculous dress too uncomfortable to sit down in, but somehow she managed. She didn’t even notice me come; she was too busy staring blindly forward. In her hand was a blunt, and the smell of grape filled the air.

“Save your sermon for someone who cares,” she said when I got closer.

“How did you know it was me? It could have been someone else.”

She gave a humorless chuckle but didn’t look at me. “Ever since you came into my life, you became like a fucking shadow. Following me around, judging me, wrapping around my being like a cloak. Everywhere I go, there you are. Even when you aren’t, I feel your stare. I feel your want.” She turned to look at me with defiance. “So now the question is, what are you going to do about it?”

The question here was, what wasn’t I going to do? I was too busy walking toward her that I didn’t notice what I’d stepped on until I felt something under my foot. Upon seeing the blood-like red, I stepped away. I crouched, and in my hand, I held a gem people would kill for. The Ember would solve all my problems and then some.

The chain that held the jewel was broken, from where Ember pulled it to get it off her body.

“When I’m done with you, you’re going to hate me,” I said, looking up at her.

“When you’re done with me, you’ll be like everyone who came before you—nonexistent.”

---