Page 14 of When Embers Become Ashes

“See.”In Latin, she shows me all the bad things in her life, trusting me with every ounce of her being.

It’s like watching the worst of foster care in fast forwards. No wonder she has given up and tried to end it all. She’s good at keeping those she cares for out of view or fuzzy. I decide as the reel starts to slow to her time here in the pit that I will save her, even if it takes a month for her arms to heal. As she gets to the end, I see why I scared her when I looked up.

I tell her I will get us both out and that she should try to get some sleep. Thankfully, she does, somehow trusting I won’t hurt her even in this form.

Ember

It’s been two weeks since my Dark Angel saved me.

My arms are nearly healed, and he made me make a shadow promise that I would never try to take my life. I now have a small black rune on my forearm; if I am ever close to death, he will know and come for me. Apparently, when I showed him the bad cliffnotes of my life, he also saw all of my oddities, including how I knew he was showing as a lower level than he actually is.

I understand why he does it, and I don’t care.

We start to plan our escape. He insists on taking me with him as he doesn’t trust Bodhi or the other guards but Troy while he’s finding someone to help.

One night, after the lights go out, there is banging and yelling in the hall.

Our door is flung open, and before I can blink, my dark angel shadow travels us. I feel my consciousness slip. We’d been on bare rations, only getting fed every other day.

“Hello, she needs fluids but no drugs. She’s allergic.” I black out before I hear him finish telling the nurse, but I did notice he had shifted to his human form, but because of the angle, I couldn’t see anything but his hand around my leg.

CHAPTER SIX

Ember

“Good morning, Miss. Today is a sunny day and a new month. It’s July 1st. I always love this time of year.” I hear shuffling, and then the kind female voice sounds again. She has an accent, but I can’t place it,

“I do hope you wake up today, or they are going to try drugs, and your friend said that would make you worse.” I lick my dry lips,

“I’m awake! What, friend?” My voice is raspy and more of a croak. She squeaks and spins to face me before smacking the doctor’s bell and then getting a plastic cup with a straw and holding it to my lips,

“Small sips,” she says with a smile before answering some of my questions,

“The nice young man said you called him Dark angel!” She smiles again,

“Odd nickname. His hair was so blonde it was nearly white. He said he would come back to check on you, but he had to find his baby brother first.” The doctor comes in and does my vitals. I try not to flinch, but Nurse Shield stays with me because of my obvious fear of doctors.

They want to keep me in for a bit to get my weight up and my appetite back to healthy, rather than in small amounts, like I’m used to.

Nurse Shield is lovely, as I don’t have visitors, she brings her lunch or cup of tea in during her break and has a chat with me about her hobbies, whether she’s trying to decided which knitting pattern to try next or a recipe she isn’t sure she will like, she did completely loose me when she was talking about her garden as she was using the Latin names, I speak Latin but I have no idea about plants.

On my fifth day, her husband pops his head in because she left her phone at home. I end up choking on my own tea when I see him. He is a Gold and Green Dragon; I breath out a shakily and wince as I realize my mistake,

“Highness” while averting my eyes and dipping my head.

Mama Lou had home-schooled us and told us about most of the Royal lines.

His eyes go wide as Nurse Shield quickly closes my door.

“My name is Dantillian Scaith or Dan Shield, and this is my mate, Elise. You’re not in trouble, but how do you know I’m from the royal line?” I look between him and his mate, who is very human and looks worried, and take a deep breath.

“All my life, I have been able to see what people are when they have an alternate form. I can see your dragon side as clearly as your human face.” I went on to explain. I keep some things back not ready for all of my oddities to be on show. Somewhere in my life, I gained the ability to know if someone would harm me if they knew my oddities or if I was safe. After some extra questions, I explained to Dan that my social worker was bad news and gave him pretty much my entire history, including the confirmation I’ve had DNA done but they just don’t want me. He was satisfied and reached out to a lawyer friend to see where I stand on getting help. It takes a gentle look from Elise for him not to track down my Bio family, and pointed out that could alert my social worker to where I am.

On July 8th, Dan and Elise took me home. They found a trustworthy social worker, and I was, for the first time in my life, legally placed in a foster home. It was odd as hell, and I felt like Dan and Elise always looked at me with sympathy and anger that wasn’t directed at me. Elise burst into tears so often that I started to feel like I was causing problems, it stopped after a few months, when we all realized I was safe.

I have my own room, new clothes and shoes, three hot meals a day, school, and two people who care about me.

The money the government gives to those who foster Dan and Elise decided they would put it in a bank account in my name to use for whatever I wanted. They also gave me an allowance that I got paid for getting good grades and helping with chores.

---