Ash and Ember: Book 2 of the Scorched Trilogy

by Lizzy Prince

  Mari went over to Maggie to fuss over her and it didn’t take more than a simple touch before Maggie was crying into her shoulder softly. Moving toward her, I placed my hand on Maggie’s back, my heart full of pain because she was obviously hurting, and it was because of me. She never would have been in the accident or even on Hattie’s radar if not for me.

  “Mags?”

  “I’m fine, Annie, but my mom is going to kill me.”

  Ryan came into the room in time to hear Maggie’s despairing cry and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “I’ll give her a call and talk to her, okay? Is that alright?”

  We both nodded, and I saw the fear reappear in Maggie’s eyes before she quickly snuffed it out. Wiping her tear stained face with the edge of her shirt, she took a deep breath and released it slowly while she pulled herself together.

  “Let’s get you guys cleaned up and then we can talk,” Ryan said.

  “Where is she?” I asked, needing to know where they had put her.

  Ryan looked tired and like he was suffering his own brand of heartache. Sometimes I forgot that this was his sister, and I sensed the responsibility that both he and Munro felt for her actions, even though they had nothing to do with them.

  “She’s in the den, at the back of the house. Lola’s in there with her now, so you’ll be safe. Go get cleaned up.”

  My eyes darted down the hall past the kitchen to where I knew the den was. I’d never had a reason to go in there before, and it was probably my imagination, but I thought the hallway looked darker and more shadowed than I’d noticed in the past.

  I nodded in affirmation to Ryan and turned to follow Munro and Maggie upstairs. Munro got some clean clothes for us and showed us where we could shower. I let Maggie go first since her quiet countenance and pale face told me that she needed to rid herself of the remnants of the crash more than I did. I was feeling shockingly numb to everything that had just transpired. I wasn’t going to think about any of it until we sat down for our staff meeting downstairs to discuss how the hell we were going to stop this madness from happening again.

  Munro had taken us to his room, and I sat on his uncomfortable desk chair waiting for Maggie to shower. I didn’t want to get anything in his room dirty and tried to confine myself to the small space by his desk. I was staring down at the swirling grains in the wood of the desk, completely zoned out, when Munro came back in the room with another stack of towels.

  “I wasn’t sure if there were any more in the bathroom,” he said in explanation as he set the towels on the desk.

  As he turned, I saw a wince on his face that he quickly tried to cover but failed to conceal before I noticed.

  “Are you hurt?” I asked, confused because I didn’t see any visible injuries.

  “It’s nothing,” he said quietly.

  I reached out to grasp his arm. “Munro, are you hurt?”

  His gray eyes locked on me, and I could have drowned in all of the emotion pooling there. He was a man conflicted. There were anger and fear, despair and disgust all fighting within him. I wanted to ease his tension and take away the pain, but I couldn’t, there was still this invisible barrier between us that I didn’t know how to tear down. Or maybe I wasn’t ready to tear it down.

  “Really, it’s nothing.” He ran a hand through his dark hair, wincing again at the movement.

  “You’re hurt. Let me take a look.” I let my bossy voice come out and pointed him toward his bed and ordered him to sit.

  “Where?” I asked as I came to stand in front of him with my hands on my hips as I tried to exude as much authority as possible, which was admittedly not a lot.

  He hesitated briefly as if he wasn’t sure what to do but must have come to a conclusion because he pulled off his shirt, slowly. I was almost certain it was meant to torture me. Or maybe it was because his entire right side was completely scraped up.

  I sucked in a hissed breath when I saw the road rash on his side and bit my lip in a little grimace. “Ouch.”

  Munro grunted in response, and I quickly schooled my features and got down to business. “Do you have some peroxide?”

  “Yeah, it’s in the bathroom.” He indicated the bathroom where Maggie was taking a shower.

  “Okay, I’ll go grab it. Stay there,” I commanded and went to the bathroom.

  “It’s under the sink,” Munro called out, and I raised my hand in a little wave letting him know I’d heard him.

  I cracked open the bathroom door and steam assaulted me from the hot shower. “Mags, it’s me. I just need to grab something from under the sink.”

  “Geez, I should have locked the door,” she shouted back at me.

  I quickly grabbed the peroxide, a washcloth and found a decorative bowl with some soaps stacked in it. I emptied it out and rinsed it with hot water until Maggie squealed in the shower.

  “Sorry!” I yelled at her. Obviously, the hot water couldn’t handle being diverted to two places at once.

  I filled the bowl with water and went back out into the bedroom. Munro was still on the bed but was leaning back on his forearms. The position stretched his muscles, and I became very aware that he was shirtless. I’m not sure how that didn’t click before. His muscles were taut and lean, and the v of his obliques was pulling my eyes down the hard lines of his body. Munro cleared his throat, surprising me out of my daze.

  “Yep, sorry. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

  I reprimanded myself silently while I tried to focus on cleaning his side instead of drooling over it. I soaked the cloth in water, ringing it out before I approached the bed, feeling suddenly self-conscious as I thought about touching him. He must have sensed my hesitation because he looked up at me with his brows raised in question.

  “Do you want me to get someone else? I can probably grab Lola.” He shifted as if he was going to get up.

  “No!” I shouted and then cleared my throat again and replied a bit more calmly, “No. I’ve got it.” I moved to sit on the bed by his torn-up side.

  “Can you shift onto your side?” I asked, and he turned to lay on his uninjured side so at least I didn’t have to see his face while I touched him.

  Up close, his side didn’t appear to be a critical injury, but it did look like it hurt like hell. I smoothed the cloth down his side, trying to gently clean it. Munro’s shoulders stiffened slightly, and I placed my hand at the top of his back, to steady the slight tremor there and offer comfort. Although I wasn’t sure if I was comforting myself or him.

  His skin was warm, and our dull pulse of electricity tingled between us. I felt the tension ease out of him, and I only just stopped myself from caressing his back. His breath came in deep inhales as I continued my ministrations and the rise and fall of his back beneath my hands was astonishingly intimate. Once everything was cleaned, I soaked the cloth in peroxide and wiped it down his side. I took longer than necessary, unwilling to release the small bit of contact with him but after a while it was obvious I was prolonging things, and Munro rolled onto his back. The only problem was that I had been right behind him when he’d been on his side, so now he was practically laying in my lap.

  His gray eyes were darker than usual and swimming with the beginnings of a tempestuous storm. He didn’t speak, he just looked at me, drinking in my presence. My hand was still on his back, now trapped under the weight of him, pulling me down slightly toward his body. The air was heavy around us, and I had to keep reminding myself to breathe because it was like my body couldn’t even remember that it had to do that in order to live.

  “Annie,” Munro whispered and raised his hand up to touch my cheek, but the bathroom door swung open abruptly, reminding me of our surroundings. Reality came crashing back down on me like a soul-crushing wake-up call.

  I jumped off the bed like a world-class ninja and turned to find Maggie sucking in her lips and pressing them tightly together as she tried desperately not to laugh. Thankfully she kept her mouth shut because I didn’t need to hear her mortifying commentary on wha
t she’d just walked into.

  She was drowning in the borrowed shirt and shorts from Munro. I wanted to give her another hug for staying quiet, but I was still covered in car parts and dirt and didn’t want to get her dirty again.

  “You look like shit. Go clean up,” she finally said affectionately, and I rolled my eyes at her as I headed for the bathroom, avoiding looking back at Munro.

  Munro gave Maggie a sheepish grin that looked guiltier than made sense, as he got up off the bed and grabbed his shirt. His muscles flexed with his movements until I swore sweat was starting to bead my forehead.

  “I’ll see you downstairs.” This time his smile was for me, and I felt a cadre of butterflies take off in my stomach.

  I could feel Maggie’s laser focus on my face and turned slowly to look at her with a raised brow. “Go ahead, get it out of your system.”

  Maggie’s mouth parted as if in shock. “I didn’t say a thing.”

  “You’re saying it with your… vibes, or whatever,” I said, waving my hand in her direction.

  “Hmm, vibes or whatever. I can see how this witchy stuff is totally second nature for you.”

  I chuckled and shook my head. “I know, right! I’m totally killing it.”

  Maggie pushed at my shoulder playfully. “Um, hello, can’t you guys heal each other with your touch?”

  I wrinkled my face up, confused by her question. “Well, yes, except that I can’t with my magic on the fritz.”

  Maggie sighed and rolled her eyes. “Exactly, Annie. We are in a house full of witches who can heal each other, and Munro just let you rub all over his frickin’ road rash. All so you’d touch him.”

  My mouth formed a silent oh, and I whipped my head toward the door that Munro had walked out of a few minutes before.

  “Uh huh, there it is.” Maggie gave my shoulder a little squeeze before she walked around me to head downstairs. I was left feeling confused and emotional, which seemed to be my default setting any more.

  I showered in record time, feeling ridiculously aware of the fact that I was naked in Munro’s house. That was the only thought penetrating the fog of my brain. That, and I wondered if he was thinking about how I was naked in his shower while he was downstairs doing who knows what.

  After I dried off, I pulled on a shirt and pair of baggy sweats that smelled of Munro. I pulled the fabric up to my nose and inhaled, letting the scents of sandalwood and rainy forest wash over and comfort me. Even if I wasn’t ready to let him comfort me, being wrapped in his scent still gave me a sense of well-being.

  I headed back downstairs while I combed through my hair with my fingers before wrapping it up in a messy bun on top of my head. I found everyone already waiting in the living room, radiating various levels of anxiety and tension. Munro and Ryan were standing in front of the fireplace, Munro with his arms crossed while Ryan leaned against the stone mantle. Butch had returned and was sitting in the chair that sat to the right side of the coffee table. Mari and Maggie were sitting on the couch, with Theo perched on the arm nearest Mari.

  Munro saw me first and stood a little straighter, a question about my well-being bright in his eyes. I gave him a little nod to let him know I was okay and went to sit on the couch between Maggie and Mari.

  No one spoke at first and before I could lose my nerve, I asked all the things that had been bothering me for so long. “Why is Hattie coming after me? Why did she kill my parents? My mom obviously went into hiding because of something to do with Hattie. Why? After all this time, why is Hattie still trying to get my magic? Aren’t their bigger fish to fry? And what the hell are we going to do with her?”

  All of the questions I’d been sitting on or questions I’d asked and never been given an answer to came tumbling out in a flurry of words.

  “Hattie waited around for two years, trying to prod my magic to the surface, pretending to be my damned therapist. Why?” By the time I spat out the last question, my voice had gotten loud and was filled with anger.

  My face was flushed with emotion as I stared at a crack in the top of the table in front of me. It was fractured like a fork splitting in two opposing directions, and I consider how my own life felt splintered right now as I tried to calm down. Maggie reached out and grabbed my hand to hold it, offering her silent show of support.

  Ryan was the one who answered, “I’ll try to answer your questions as best I can, but there are still some things we just don’t know.”

  He looked tired standing there. One of his arms was propped up on the mantel, and his head was all but resting on it as he ran his hand through his short hair. It was so similar to what Munro did when he was stressed that I nearly smiled. Or I would have if this situation wasn’t so jacked up.

  “Caroline was our neighbor growing up. Hattie is my older sister and the same age as your mom. I’m sure I was the typical little brother, always being a pest and getting in the way.” A sad smile touched the corners of his lips before the darkness of memories wiped it away.

  “It was pretty much the same at our house. I always tried to tag along but usually, that just meant Ryan and I got ditched and called annoying,” Mari said, smiling in Ryan's direction. There was an old familiarity between them that came from being friends with someone for nearly your entire life.

  Ryan continued, “I don’t know exactly when they started dabbling in dark magic. Our families came from magic, so we knew about it growing up. Well, we knew how to control the magic, but it wasn’t an integral part of our parents’ lives. We didn’t live in a magical community, it was just our two families, so it was more important for us to try to keep our magic secret than it was to try to use it to benefit our community.”

  “That’s how it used to be when the clans lived together,” Butch interjected.

  Ryan nodded and continued, “I think Hattie and your mom both felt confined by the need to keep our magic secret. They begin pushing the boundaries of using magic. First, it was small spells, like glamours or a love spell.”

  “Love spells?” I frowned, thinking that a love spell didn’t sound like something small. Manipulating the way someone felt about you? That just sounded skeevy and gross.

  Mari leaned forward and gently grabbed my knee. “They were more like a flirtation spell. You’d blow them in the direction of someone you had a crush on and if they looked back at you that meant they had feelings for you. You couldn’t force the feelings, it just sort of exposed them.”

  Ryan cleared his throat as if uncomfortable with the turn our conversation had taken. “Anyway, when Hattie and Caroline graduated from high school, they went off to college together. With them out of sight, it was hard to say what they were doing. They rarely came home for visits except when Hattie came home to announce she’d gotten married and brought Dermott, that’s Munro’s dad, home with her to meet the family. Needless to say, it shocked everyone.” Ryan looked at Munro as if apologizing for sharing part of his history with a room full of people.

  “For a while, things were normal and then… we don’t really know what happened.” Ryan’s eyes clouded over as if he was remembering something dark. “I got a call from the police telling me that Dermott’s body had been found and they had Munro with child protective services.” Ryan swallowed heavily, and my eyes darted over to Munro who glared out at the room unseeing, his own eyes shuttered and unfocused.

  “My parents had moved back to Ireland to be close to my grandmother who was ailing, and Hattie was missing, so I had to identify Dermott’s body. He had no other family here in the states,” Ryan said quietly as if all these years later that thought still wrecked him. “When I went to identify him, I could sense the magic on him. And I recognized it.”

  My brows furrowed at this for a moment, but when I thought about it, I had sensed Munro’s magic and even Ryan’s when I’d made the effort. Considering Ryan had grown up with magic and probably knew what he was doing, it made sense that he’d be able to recognize his sister’s magic.

  I hated to ask the n
ext question because I sensed that Munro was in pain, but I also needed to know. A remembered conversation I’d had with Ryan flashed into my mind. The night after the incident at the warehouse Ryan had driven me home and I’d asked about Munro’s dad. He’d told me to wait for Munro to tell me that story, but I hadn’t had the chance to have that conversation yet. And now, we didn’t have the time to wait for the right moment. There were no more right moments, we were working on pure necessity now. That still didn’t ease the guilt I had for airing their family’s dirty laundry in front of everyone.

  “How did he die?”

  Ryan’s eyes flickered down, his head bowing slightly before he took a breath and looked at me. “He had his heart cut out.”

  My pulse tripped and sped up as I thought about how many lives Hattie had ruined. Unease crept under my skin when I considered what role my mother might have played in this nightmare.

  “And then my mom disappeared?”

  Mari cleared her throat and leaned forward a little. “Not exactly. After the news of Dermott spread, your mom came to see me. She told me that her life was in danger and she had to disappear.”

  “But why?” I asked, the frustration leaking out into my words. What had happened to set Hattie down this awful path and how was my mom involved?

  “I’m sorry, sweetie. I don’t know. She wouldn’t tell me. Just that she was in trouble and had to leave to keep us safe.” Mari looked at Ryan and the pain was evident on both of their faces. Neither one of them knew, and it must have eaten them up over the years.

  “So that’s it?” I asked, my aggravation clawing at my insides and festering like an open wound. The whole room looked defeated as they stayed silent.

  “What now? I know we need to unlock my magic, but to be honest, isn’t it safer bound so Hattie can’t get to it?”

  Munro had been silent this entire time, and I could sense that all this talk about his mom, what she’d done to his dad and the thought of her harming so many others, was hurting him too. We were just twisting a knife that was already buried deep. But he shifted to face me more fully, looking conflicted as he spoke.