Page 21 of Embers in the Wind

Her voice is so soft that even with my keen hearing, it’s difficult to hear everything that’s said, but I catch most of it, making me wonder what her game is and why she’s come alone. “I’m Belinda. The witches knew you would come one day, and with everything that happened with the vampires recently, we should have expected your arrival, but still it caught many of us by surprise.”

Embry is quiet for a moment, just digesting the fact that her venture into the woods was already known. “Do Willow or Raven know?” Embry asks softly, pulling her cape around her shoulders against the sudden coolness that breezes through the forest.

Belinda shakes her head. “No, Devora asked us not to mention it to anyone, more out of respect for you. To allow you time. She thought if your whereabouts got back to Raven or Willow it would inadvertently get spilled to their mates, and Masters Romano and Campania would say something to Lucianna and Descallia. ‘Better to let Embry have time and space to wander, and determine where she wants to rest,’ that is what Devora said.”

“Please tell her thank you for me. I won’t let anyone know I’m here from outside the forest until I’m ready, but what about my gramma?”

The witch reaches out and places a hand on Embry. “Are you sure you saw her, dear? Things in the forest have a way of not being at all what they appear to be.”

“Did you or the witches put my clothes in the closet and blood in the refrigerator? Of course you did! You knew I was coming.” Embry sighs heavily. “I’ve been so distraught I almost led myself to believe that Gramma was here, even though she passed years and years ago. I just wanted it to be true so very much. She was always my best source of comfort and at a time I need it the most, maybe I did just conjure the whole thing up in my head. Wait until Raven and Willow find out. They’re going to laugh at me, or make fun of me.”

She laughs. “Probably both.”

My jaw tightens. The head witch Devora has known Embry has been in the Mystic Forest heading her way, and while she swore to Overmaster Descallia to put all feuding aside, with the exception of the land, here she is keeping secrets about someone everyone in the vampire world is searching for in every area of the world. “Blasted witches,” I say beneath my breath.

I feel you, vampire.

The trees above me begin to sway, and the oak begins to crawl with large insects and worms, swarming all over the trunk.I swipe at my cape, pushing the pesky creatures onto the ground, quickly moving to another area to get away from the invasive pests.

But the wind begins to blow, knocking down branches, behind and in front of me. Embry turns to the witch. “Tell Devora thank you and that I will take her offer of refuge up until I’ve determined my place in the land. And thank you, Belinda. I’ve heard Willow talk about you before with a lot of love and affection.

Embry stands, and the witch disappears, leaving Embry to make her way toward me. Streaks of gold flash amidst the purple of her eyes. “If I had wanted you with me, I would have invited you. I need time, away from the vampires and from life in general. Just an escape.”

My eyes capture hers, holding them hostage, knowing it’s as hard for her to turn away as it is for me. This damnable connection destiny has put in our way.

Embry’s eyes swirl with purple, gold flecks sparking. “You don’t have the right to follow me. You don’t own me, have any rights to me or anything of the sort. We slept together. Maybe it was pleasurable, but that doesn’t give you the right to stalk my every move. If I had wanted your help or intervention, I would have asked.”

She gestures toward the fire that has magically gone out as though the flames never existed. “These are my friends. Friends of friends. There was a time, and I’m ashamed to admit it, that I thought the witches simply couldn’t be trusted. But that was before I met the mates of the masters. Each and every one of them have become a friend. And they are also friends of Lucianna, our queen, so I would advise you to pay some respect, regardless of your feelings toward witches in general.”

My growl is low. “And what about the vampires who took you in, saved you from certain death, transitioned you and made youone of us? Vowed to protect you and keep you for eternity? Now you turn your back on us and shelter with the enemy, at the time you need us the most?”

Embry pins me with a stare. “They turned their back on me, not the other way around. I lost everything, threw everything away for them. Went after Lucas on my own, knowing he was dangerous, but thinking that I could talk him down and get the best of him. I chose them over him, and what did they do in return? Treated me like a prisoner, like an enemy.”

This is what she hasn’t talked about, not one word in her own defense to the vampires, to Lucianna, and instead has remained steadfastly silent when called to the masters of the consulate board. Saying not one word in her defense, not a damn single word. “Tell me.”

Her eyes fill with tears, the light of the moon shining down through the clearing in the treetops above and making them glisten in the night. “They didn’t even come after me that night. They waited, thinking that I had it under control. I didn’t but still I tried.”

Embry’s small body is wracked with emotion, and it takes effort not to sweep her into my arms and transport her back to our bed. Instead, I wait, giving her the time needed for her to process what she wants to say, and perhaps what she doesn’t. Embry needs this as much as I need to hear it.

She looks pointedly at me and swipes at her tears. “I’m supposed to be a badass warrior, and I was. Until Lucas broke me. That night, I couldn’t get the upper hand. No matter how good I was at wielding my sword, that fucker was better. Every swing he anticipated, every time I moved it was like he knew before I did it where I would land. He’s never been better than me with a sword.”

I don’t say a word. This is her time, and Embry will decide when she’s through, when she wants input, or my thoughts, butit takes every bit of self-control I have not to speak before she’s ready.

Her breathing starts to return to normal, but slowly, stretching out like hours instead of mere minutes. “Why couldn’t I beat him in battle like the hundreds of our enemies before him? I’m a warrior, a trained warrior. I let everyone down, including myself and he won the night. Why?”

And now she’s invited me, invited me to do more than listen, asked for my input, but we’re not having this conversation in the middle of the fucking witches’ forest. I scoop Embry into my arms, cradling her against my chest. “Hold on.”

She does not hesitate. Her arms wrap tightly around me, hanging on for security of the transport. But it’s more than that, I can feel it and so can she. The minute we arrive in the cavern, I set her down on the barstool and hand her a quart of ice-cold blood. “Drink this first, and I’ll pour us a glass of red to take the edge off and recharge, and then we talk.”

Embry is quiet, but I assume she’s gathering her thoughts, contemplating exactly what it is that she wants to say while I’m pouring the Descallia Red, and what she is not yet ready to divulge to someone who’s barely been in her life a few days.

I turn to hand her the tall glass of nourishment, but Embry is no longer sitting on the stool, but instead has vanished into thin air again. “Embry?”

Chapter 19

Embry

It’s too soon…

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