Page 71 of Into The Darkness

He threw up his hands. “Okay, Boss,” Rain said, and I let out a deep sigh.

The truth was deeper than that. I was terrible at hiding it, but there was something. I was just too tired to put a finger on it and needed my own space to come up with a plan. Even though Rain was my brother, there were some secrets that were better left unsaid.

“They will come around once you initiate her. She is branded, so the initiation should have come sooner.”

“And what’s the fucking plan for the spring, then?” I demanded.

“We are using her as bait, son. I should have taken you fishing more when you were younger so you understood this concept.”

“I get it.” I wanted to fucking punch him in the throat. “I gotta go for a run.”

I was over everyone in this fucking house and didn’t give a fuck if it was winter outside. Somehow, the two of them agreed that I needed some space and left the room so I could change.

Before I threw on my running shorts, I pulled out my phone.

“Fuck it.”

Me:

I really miss you, mi sol.

Chapter twenty-eight

Returning to campus after break had been uneventful. Winter break had unfolded with no drama or fear, passing by as smoothly as I could have hoped. The dog, dressed in the same ridiculous Christmas sweater, trotted around, my dad donning the same silly Santa suit as before. Even Walsh’s presence was tolerable, and the holiday was essentially the perfect college-homecoming scenario I had envisioned. Yet, in the midst of it all, there lingered a sense of absence.

I despised the mundane and monotonous nature of it. The entire experience seemed to ring false, a facade that didn’t align with my expectations. It was as if something vital was missing from the picture, something intangible. I knew my dad and Walsh were involved in something illegal from the way that we always had security, they seemed to have weapons on them often, but I never thought the family business would bring me to this point.

A piece of my heart was missing from my chest. It was walking on this earth because I had somehow let it go. At the end of the day, I was sad. I was so distraught from having let the one person who held that piece in his hand go.

He almost shattered me too. Sometime during winter break, a text arrived from him, and I found myself on the verge of typing a response. My fingers hesitated over the keys, ready to plunge into the familiar dance of conversation, but a resolute awareness stopped me. This was my decision, a conscious move toward a placid existence. I craved the unremarkable, the uneventful routine. Yet, despite my longing, it felt like something was amiss, like the pieces no longer fit seamlessly together, and I grappled with understanding why.

Walsh had bugged me a few times over break, asking me if I was getting any closer to Ash, but I shooed him away because I didn’t want him a part of the conversation nor did I need to tell him the truth behind the veil I wore. It was like this for all of break, and now that I was back in Isles, it seemed so much harder to avoid seeing Ash, the places that held memories for us, and the danger that lurked ahead.

“Earth to Ember.” Maddy snapped her fingers in front of my face, and I blinked a few times.

“Oh, sorry. I was daydreaming.”

“Clearly.” She huffed. “I was saying that I was going to order a pizza for us before class starts this week. Want to have some? I invited Beatrice, too.”

“That’d be awesome. Lemme know how much I owe you.” She nodded.

“You were staring out into the trees for a weirdly long amount of time,” Maddy said, walking over and sitting next to me.

“It was a strange break,” I admitted.

“Did you hear from Ash?”

“Yeah, he texted saying he missed me.”

“Whoa. Did you respond?” I shook my head. “Is it really over between you guys?”

I had to think about that question for a moment. Did I want it to be over? I guess the logical, rational Ember would have said yes, it was over. The Ember that had suddenly blossomed when she came here would have told you absolutely not.

“I think so, but I don’t know.”

Maddy offered me a friendly pat on the shoulder, then there was a rasp at the door, and she jumped to get it.

“I missed you guys.” Beatrice squealed from the door. I stood up to greet her, and the driver showed up with two extra large, extra cheese pizzas.

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