Page 11 of Drawn in Blood
The silence was deafening.
“This can’t be good,” Fen mumbled.
“No, I suppose it can’t,” a voice said from the dining room.
Fen and Ember spun around to see Eira sitting at the table, both hands folded calmly in front of her.
“Four hours,” was all she said as she looked up at the both of them.
“Mum, I can explain—" Fen started, but he was cut off.
“Four. Hours,” she repeated, as she closed her eyes.
Ember’s breath hitched as she noticed how puffy and red Eira’s eyes were. She bit her lip as she dropped her head, the remnants of all of the Moon Cider suddenly tasting sour in her mouth.
“That’s how long it’s been since school let out,” she continued. “That’s how long we have been wondering where you were. That’s how long I have been beside myself with worry, racking my brain with terrible thoughts of what could have happened.” Her voice was shaking as she spoke, and Ember felt like her heart had shattered into a million pieces.
“Mum, we’re sorry,” Fen tried again. “We stopped by the Wolf & Waife and just lost track of time.”
Eira put a hand over her face and took a breath. “I know. Don’t you think I deserved the respect of one of you letting me know where you were going?” She dropped her hand and looked between the two teenagers as tears ran down her cheeks.“Children are going missing every day. Your father and I couldn’t even get a Helio to go through for several hours because of all the extra wards that have been placed around the island.” Her crying grew louder, and soon, her shoulders were shaking. Ember’s heart dropped, and she felt bile rise in her throat. “We had no idea what happened to you, and for all we knew you could’ve been?—"
Ember rushed across the room and wrapped her arms around Eira’s neck, holding on tightly as if her life depended on it. She buried her face in her foster mother’s shoulder as the woman’s tears soaked into her shirt. Eira wrapped her arms around Ember’s neck, and then Fen’s as he came up beside them and embraced them both. They stayed like that, for just a few minutes, before Eira pulled away and ran her hand down each of their cheeks.
“Do not ever do that to me again,” she whispered at them both. “I don’t know what I would do if something happened to any of you.”
Ember straightened up, wiping the stray tears off her cheeks. “We won’t do it again.” she promised. And she meant it.
“We promise.” Fen nodded in agreement, and Ember knew he meant it to. His chest shook briefly as he turned his head and rubbed his hand under his eyes. He furrowed his brow as he turned back to his mother. “Wait, you said you knew where we were. How did you know?”
Eira cocked a brow as she looked between the two teenagers. “After our Helio’s failed to find you, I decided a small tracking charm was in order. It’s easier for a Helio to make it to you if I know your exact location.”
Fen’s jaw dropped as he stared at his mother. “You… tracked us?” he whispered. “Honestly, Mum.”
Ember rolled her eyes as Eira let out a small laugh. “If you don’t want to be tracked, I suggest you not give me a reason to doso next time. Your father will be back with Maeve shortly. I sent them to pick up takeout from Florin’s. Go wash up.” She kissed both of them on the forehead and shooed them out of the room.
Chapter 4
A Duel on Dranganir
Time seemed to fly by at the speed of sound as Ember threw herself into school, spending the weekends soaking in the last of the summer sun with Fen and Killian in the orchards. Eira made supper every night, and Ember soaked in the familiar feeling of togetherness that she had become so accustomed to.
It was Friday, the last weekend in September, and Thea was supposed to come over soon to talk about the adoption. Ember was a bundle of nerves walking through the halls of Heksheim after the last class. Bells sounded behind her, and Ember felt herself tense up as Odette walked up beside her.
“You’re looking a little grey today,” Odette said, as she squinted toward Ember, those unseeing eyes piercing her in a way that made the hair on her neck and arms rise. “Or perhaps a tinge of black.” She hummed, almost to herself.
“Black?” Ember asked, as she scrunched her brow, adjusting the bag on her shoulder.
Odette nodded as she continued down the spiraling staircase. “Your aura.” She shrugged, like it should be common knowledge. “It’s normally closer to an indigo, but you seem to be devoid of color all together here lately.”
“You can see my aura?” Ember whispered. “But… you can’t see anything.” Ember mentally berated herself—of course Odette knew that.
“I can see a lot more than many give me credit for,” she replied, almost a whisper, face falling.
“And what about Killian?” Ember asked, trying to steer the conversation in any other direction than the dismal destination it was headed.
“Orange,” Odette nodded, screwing her face in concentration, “sometimes with a halo of red. Very courageous and protective, but sometimes his ego gets in the way.”
Ember chuckled as she nodded—that sounded about right.
