Ash and Ember: Book 2 of the Scorched Trilogy

by Lizzy Prince

  “Holy shit, Annie.”

  “Tell me about it,” I replied and started laughing. How had this become my life? Crazy, chaotic day trips to New York to meet family members I hadn’t even know existed. “Can we just go home and put on pajamas and watch TV while we eat our weight in pizza?”

  I shook my head in disbelief over everything that had happened recently. It was as if I were watching an action movie version of my life, and I could barely believe I was living it.

  Maggie pretended to sigh, finally putting the car into drive and heading home. “Oh, I suppose, but I really need there to be something sweet in the mix to make it worth my while.”

  “I’ll make you brownies.”

  “Sold.” She smiled brightly, and I laughed because I could have asked her to hang out in a sewer with me and she would have agreed. That’s just the kind of friend she was.

  We turned the corner onto Plymouth Avenue, and the bright lights of a huge truck blinded my eyes. I barely had time to scream lookout before the truck was plowing into us from my side of the car at full speed. My arm flew out across Maggie’s chest as if we’d made a sudden stop and I was trying to keep her from lurching forward, but that wasn’t what was happening.

  Time slowed to a crawl as the approaching truck smashed through the passenger door of the car in slow-motion bites of time, sluggishly coming closer to crushing me and Maggie. I hadn’t been able to access my magic the day before, but there must have been some protective instinct that flared alive inside of me. I felt a shield, just like the one I’d formed at the warehouse, surround me and Maggie as the car began to close like an accordion around us. Then, as if time righted itself and sped back up, the truck was slamming into us with a brutal force that thrashed my body against the restraint of my seatbelt while the car bent around my shield.

  “Annie? Annie! Are you okay?” Maggie gasped out frantically next to me.

  “Mags,” I said hoarsely, the edges of my vision darkening as I felt exhaustion flood me. “I’m here. Are you okay?” I said, forcing myself to stay awake.

  “I’m okay. I think,” she said with a small voice that broke my heart. Maggie never sounded meek.

  The car was totaled and it bent in odd ways around the shield I’d created. It wasn’t a round bubble protecting us, but it molded closely to our bodies, which meant the car had crunched and compacted down close to us. Glass fragments had blown over us both, but they lay like little diamonds sparkling under the glare of the streetlight. Our headlights pointed down the empty street, shining into a men’s clothing storefront that was closed for the evening. I stared stupidly at the illuminated mannequins posed in their large front window and their blank faces stared back.

  “Can you move?” I asked, squirming a little only to feel jagged pieces of metal and plastic digging into my legs. I wondered if Maggie was as stuck as I was. There was no way I’d be able to slide out of my seat.

  “I think so,” she said, and I heard the tinkling patter of pieces of the car falling from Maggie as she attempted to move.

  I’d been so focused on us and on what was going on inside of the car, that I hadn’t even looked outside. That changed the instant the truck that had hit us was abruptly separated from where it was smashed into Maggie’s car. With a screeching scrape of metal tearing from metal, the truck was wrenched free from our car. Before I could see what was happening, my door was yanked off its hinges and thrown somewhere I couldn’t see. But I heard it land with a grinding crunch.

  A hulking man stood at the door staring at me with a blank and unseeing gaze. My first thought was to wonder if he’d hit his head in the accident, but those thoughts scattered when he grabbed my arm and tried to pull me from the wreckage. A little squeak was all the sound that came from my lips as he violently jerked my arm, but both my seatbelt and the car buckled around my legs kept me from moving more than an inch. He reached over and unbuckled my seatbelt, all while I sat dumbly, confused by what was happening. Was he trying to help me? Because he wasn’t doing a very good job if that was the case.

  Once my seatbelt was freed, he pulled again and this time his brute strength moved me. I yelled as twisted metal dug and scraped across my jeans, ripping through the fabric and leaving deep gouges trailing down my legs.

  “Annie!” Maggie screamed, panic breaking her voice.

  “Maggie, get out. Go!” I shouted back as I struggled against the man who continued to tug and yank until he had me out of the car and falling onto the street.

  I tried to twist my arm free from his grasp, but his fingers dug into my flesh in a steely grip. Gasping in pain, I tried to hold onto the mangled car, but the serrated pieces of metal sliced into my palm, and I couldn’t get purchase. Once out of the car I tumbled to the ground. The man was still holding my arm but nothing else, causing me to fall, jerking my arm back at an odd angle that sent pain screaming down my shoulder.

  Trying to find my breath through the pain, I looked up and saw her. Standing next to the truck, with the front end completely smashed, was Hattie. She looked far less put together than normal. Fly-a-ways from her bun were floating wildly around her face, and her shirt and pants were wrinkled as though she’d slept in them for a few nights. But it was the look in her eyes that really terrified me—it was wild and determined and completely devoid of emotion.

  I cried out as the truck driver grabbed at my hair and arm, dragging me to Hattie. I scrambled to keep up as my scalp was set on fire with pain, burning where his violent grab held roughly at the roots. My arm wasn’t faring much better, with his fingers grasped so tightly around the flesh there that they bit into me like sharp daggers. Even with my sweatshirt as a barrier, the hold was painful, and I knew there would be bruises.

  The man hauled me in front of Hattie and tossed me down before her. I fell to my knees, and my hands scraped the pavement as I tried to keep from falling on my face. The skin on my palms and knees shredded, and I could feel blood soaking through my pants from all of my injuries.

  Lifting my head, I found Hattie staring down at me, but there was no emotion there, only cold calculation. From the car behind me, I could hear Maggie screaming, but the sound faded into the background as Hattie moved toward me. She grasped my chin between sharp fingers, her nails digging into the soft skin of my face.

  “I’ve been patient, Annalise, over and over, but you are an adult now, and it’s time to own up to your responsibilities.”

  I tried to pull away from her hand, but the man held my shoulders down while her fingers dug deeper into my face.

  “What are you talking about?” The words came out in a pained gasp.

  “Your magic is still bound! Release it. It belongs to me.” Her cold eyes turned frenzied, and I sensed power surging from her in erratic bursts. Where Munro’s magic was a verdant forest before a gentle rain, Hattie’s felt like… decay. Like flowers left too long in dank water. It was nearly putrid, and I was amazed I’d never sensed it before.

  Her magic started to wrap around me like a dark blanket, covering every inch of my exposed skin. It was seeping inside of me, like a cloth absorbing water. It felt oily and was thick and cloying. Struggling to breathe I began choking for air as her magic closed around my throat, an invisible vice slowly suffocating me.

  Now that it had breached the surface of my skin, I could feel her magic crawling through my veins like a weed, spreading its dirty, tangled roots through every inch of my body. It was invasive, and each tentacle surged forward like a searing burn, as it traveled with the ultimate destination being my heart. I wanted to fight back with my own magic. There was a base need to combat the oily substance with light and cleanse my body of this dark parasite she’d let loose within it.

  “That’s right, Annie. Set it free. There’s no point trying to fight it. It belongs to me,” she cooed softly, encouraging me to let go of my magic.

  The pain of her invasion was crushing any thoughts I might have had. Her magic was burning me from the inside, and if I didn’t do so
mething soon all that would remain would be a burned-out husk of my body.

  Then the pain ceased, and I collapsed on the ground, my face meeting with the cement in a sickening thud. Sound returned, and I heard people shouting and the grind of steel on cement behind me. I rolled onto my side to see what was happening, and the sight made me question how hard I’d hit my head.

  The truck driver was slumped on the ground, passed out and forgotten by Hattie. Munro and Ryan were facing Hattie, who had her hands lifted to the sky as though she was giving praise, and I could make out her lips moving though I couldn’t hear her words.

  The ground beneath us started to rumble and shake as though an earthquake was about to level us. The concrete waved and rippled, causing me to tumble back down. I was desperate to figure out what I could grab hold of when Munro swiped his hand through the air in a slashing movement and flames erupted at Hattie’s feet. The ground stopped moving, but the fire flared up angrily. Ryan pushed both of his hands forward in a stop motion, and the flames rose higher, caging Hattie within the burning prison. She screamed out in frustration, thrusting her hands down to her sides and the flames died out. With another flick of her wrist, she sent pieces of the mangled truck flying toward Munro and Ryan, who barely managed to dive out of the way to avoid the flying metal.

  Hattie was stalking back toward me, and all I could do was stare, dumbfounded as they wielded their magic with little more than a thought. Ryan and Munro were scrambling to their feet just as Hattie was about to reach me, when vines erupted from the ground, spearing through cracked concrete and twisting around her legs. She must have used some magic on them because they began to burn and turn to ash, but new ones kept growing to replace those that were destroyed. Until finally, her arms and hands were trapped by her sides as the vines wrapped around her like a python squeezing the life out of its prey.

  Tipping my head up, I saw Butch standing over Hattie looking ferocious and wild, his jaw clenched in anger and concentration. In all our interactions he had been so gentle, but this was a whole different side of him that told me I knew next to nothing about him. It reminded me how little I knew about magic altogether.

  “I’ve got her. You go get Annie-girl there.” Butch tilted his head in Munro’s direction but didn’t take his eyes off Hattie, whose face was turning red with fury as she tried to fight against her living bonds.

  Munro was by my side in an instant, helping me to sit up and gently cradling my face in his hands. “Annie? What’s hurt? Are you okay?”

  There was panic in his voice, and his eyes had a frantic look in them as they took in my face and darted over my body, assessing where I was injured.

  “Maggie?” I croaked and started coughing as though that would expel the darkness coating my throat.

  My throat felt like I had swallowed a dozen razor blades. In fact, that was how everything inside of me felt. What the hell had Hattie done to me?

  “She’s okay, just a little banged up. Butch got her out of the car.”

  “How… why… you’re here,” I said finally, not even sure how to phrase my question.

  “Maggie called. You didn’t make it far from the house, and we were able to get here quickly.”

  His hands were still on my face, and I could feel the energy from him soaking into me, attempting to heal the cuts and bruises that littered my skin. I didn’t know if it would help scrub my insides clean though. They still felt oily, and I wondered what Hattie had done to me. Had she marked me as she’d done to Munro?

  “Hattie touched me,” I told him as I became more aware of my surroundings.

  I could hear Butch asking Maggie questions and heard Ryan’s voice as well. The ground beneath me was freezing, and I realized how badly I was shivering. Most likely from a combination of the cold and shock of everything that had just happened.

  “It feels wrong, like there’s tar inside my veins. Is it like what she did to you?” I asked, fear coating the words.

  Munro shook his head. “No, she wasn’t trying to control you, but your body is working to expel her tainted magic. It has to heal too.”

  The relief I felt was immense. Whatever else happened, I didn’t want Hattie to be able to control my actions as she had with Munro. If she forced me to hurt someone I loved, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to come back from that.

  “Can you stand?” Munro started to pull his hands away from my face, and I was mortified when a sob escaped my throat.

  “I’m not leaving you. I just want to get you and Maggie out of here,” he said, quickly reassuring me.

  His hands moved to grab mine, and I realized they were already healed from when I’d sliced them on the car and shredded them when I’d fallen to the ground. Munro pulled me up and kept a steadying arm around my waist. Some small part of me still wanted to pull away from him, the rational part of my brain that said he hadn’t earned back my trust, but I couldn’t do it.

  I wanted to rely on him. I needed to be cared for by him. It was a yearning that nearly burned up my heart with the strength of its need. At least for now, while I was vulnerable and weak, I would allow myself to lean on him until I could stand on my own.

  Chapter 7

  We loaded into Munro’s white Ranger while Butch agreed to stay and wait for a tow truck for Maggie’s car. There was only a bench seat in the small truck, and I sat in the middle, so Maggie wouldn’t have to squish up against Munro. But that meant I was pressed against him from thigh to shoulder.

  My clothes were bloody and dirty as was any visible skin. Once we were settled in our seats, Munro gently grabbed my hand, giving me the option to pull away. I understood that he wanted to help me heal, and no matter how much all of this was messing with my head I still ached for his touch. Not just because of the physical need to heal, but because there was a space in my heart that had been cold since the night of the warehouse.

  On my other side, Maggie was pressed up against me just as tightly, and I sensed she needed to fuss over me or else she would lose her shit. Tear stains trailed through the dirt on her cheeks, and she looked fragile and small.

  “Are you okay Maggie?” I asked, my voice still raspier than normal.

  “I’m fine, just shook up. What about you?” Maggie wasn’t even trying to joke which told me how scared all of this had her. She observed my hand in Munro’s with a worried crease of her eyebrows, so I grabbed her hand with my free one to reassure her.

  “I’m okay. Munro’s helping,” I said.

  Her mouth formed a silent oh as understanding dawned on her. I’d told her about how he’d healed me before, but hearing about it and seeing it were two totally different things.

  Her voice dropped, although it wasn’t like Munro couldn’t hear her in the small cab of the truck.

  “Annie, was that her? Because that was some scary shit. When she touched you, it was like.” She paused to consider her words. “Like you... disappeared.” She shook her head as if trying to deny what she’d seen.

  I bit my lip as tears threatened to spring up because that was exactly what it felt like. As if Hattie had been sucking the life out of me. I was so sick of feeling helpless and emotional, I just wanted to have a normal, quiet life. This was not something I’d ever asked for or wanted. Maggie didn't speak again, obviously seeing me trying to contain my emotions, and wanting to let me get control of myself. She just held my hand tightly until we pulled up in front of Munro’s house.

  Munro turned around to look at us. “Is this okay? I thought it best we all talk and figure out a plan.” I nodded and waited for Munro or Maggie to get out of the car so that I could too. But no one moved, and I realized that neither one wanted to relinquish their hold on my hand.

  Extracting my fingers from Maggie’s tight grip, I pushed her toward the door.

  “Come on. Let’s get inside.”

  Reluctantly, I pulled my hand from Munro’s and felt the absence of his touch like a frigid wind. Scooting out of the truck, I stood in front of the house feeling unba
lanced. Hattie was in there—at least I assumed she was. Munro came to stand at my side, and I looked up at him, his dark hair disheveled and wild, but his eyes were calm as they peered down at me.

  “Is she in there?”

  “Yes, Ryan brought her back here. We thought it safest and this way we can always have someone to watch over her until we figure out what to do.” His eyes searched my face as he spoke, and I sensed a yearning in him to touch me, but he held himself back. Though I was beginning to wish he wouldn’t.

  Mari came running toward me the moment we entered the house. “Are you okay?”

  She looked shaken and pale, and like she wanted to hug but she was uncertain how I’d react. I wouldn’t have minded the hug, but I knew if she pulled me into a fierce motherly hug that I would break down. And I couldn’t do that. Not here and not now. One of these days I’d find a dark private corner, and I’d let go of all of it. I probably wouldn’t emerge for a few days of ugly crying, but there was no time for any of that now. Right now, I needed to suck it up and push away the emotion in order to stay focused.

  I reached out to clasp my hand around her arm, providing as much contact as I could without losing it. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”

  She nodded, and her lip trembled before she pressed them tightly together as if to stop the emotion from continuing to leach onto her face. With a haggard sigh, she returned the small touch and clasped my arm. Even that small show of kindness had me welling up with tears, and I pulled away quickly before they could escape my eyes. Once the tears started, I wouldn't be able to stem the avalanche.

  “I’m okay, really. Just a little banged up.” The lie fell from my lips with ease as I stepped back from her touch. Mari frowned, biting into her lip, but she finally dipped her head, accepting my bullshit because she didn’t want to push. I caught Munro looking at me from across the room and could tell he saw right through me. Physically I might be a little bloodied, but my mind was a mess, trying to sort through everything that had just happened.