From the Earth (Ember Society Book 2)

by AR Colbert

“How much trouble are we in?”

  “I don’t know yet. I think we’re about to find out.”

  Emmaline approached us with her head tilted to one side as she examined the dried blood on my neck. Based on her expression, it looked quite a bit worse than Felix let on.

  “Have you been cleared by the medic yet?”

  I followed her gaze to the tall man tending to Emilio’s leg.

  “Not yet,” I admitted. “But all things considered, I’m fine.”

  She nodded, her brows still furrowed, unbelieving. “For now, I suppose.”

  I brushed dirt off my pants as though it might help me look better in her eyes. I didn’t want to be tended to at the medical center. I just wanted to go home. But I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.

  “Come on.” She extended a smooth ivory hand to me. “Let’s get you cleared so we can get back to the city. Justice Hines will be waiting on us there for the full report.”

  “Maybe it would be better if we waited to meet until tomorrow,” Felix said. He was normally so persuasive, with his deep voice and commanding presence. But Emmaline was one hundred percent unaffected by his charms.

  “Sorry, Mr. Walsh. We can’t have any delays. We’ll need to get the facts straightened out with enough time to notify the press before your big announcement.”

  I raised my brows. I’d forgotten that Felix was going to be promoted to Senator so quickly. He didn’t look too excited about it. I guessed he and I were both stuck with carrying out decisions made on someone else’s timeline.

  I begrudgingly accepted Emmaline’s hand and she pulled me to my feet. “Let’s get moving then.”

  Once the blood and grime were cleaned off, my injuries really didn’t look so bad. The medic suggested I may have experienced some psychological shock, but I disagreed. I didn’t have time to be fussed over. If we kept Justice Hines waiting too long I’d have much worse things to worry about than shock.

  Felix and I rode back with Emmaline in her coupe, while Rider rode with Dimitri. I wasn’t worried about Rider divulging our secrets. He may have made some mistakes with Felix in the past, but I trusted him. The Embers would be safe with him. Hopefully Felix could come around to trusting him one day again, too.

  The Protectors took the Exiled survivors to a holding cell, and Emilio and Aiden both left with the medic.

  “I know you must be very tired,” Emmaline said as she pulled into the parking lot of the municipal building, “so I will try to help this meeting move along quickly for you.” I nodded and she looked at Felix before we climbed out of her vehicle. “Hopefully we’ll all be able to get home and rested up before your big day tomorrow.”

  Tomorrow? Something must have happened while I was gone. There was no mention of his promotion taking place so soon when I left that morning. I glanced at Felix as we walked toward the building, but he shook his head as if to say, “not now.”

  Felix had been training for the position of Senator his entire life. But now that it was time for him to step into the role, he looked miserable. I understood how he felt. It was no fun being shoved into a position you didn’t want.

  Dimitri, Rider, and Justice Hines were already seated in the conference room of the Triple-T headquarters when we arrived. The room was cold. Or maybe it was just Justice Hines who left me feeling that way. Her angry brows sent chill bumps up and down my arms either way.

  She was the only member of the Triple-T team who didn’t meet us Outside. And while we were all dealing with a vast assortment of emotions after everything we’d just seen, Justice Hines had no patience for any of it. And we knew it. It’s probably why none of us interfered with her leading the meeting. Even Emmaline kept her mouth shut.

  “Well this is certainly not how I’d planned to spend my day.” Her stare cut straight through me. “But since we’re all here now, let’s cut to the chase. Why on earth did you leave Classen City this morning?”

  Her face wrinkled into a hideous grimace, like she was speaking to an incompetent fool. Covered in fleas. With a highly contagious disease. But at least she wasn’t hiding how she felt about me.

  “I worried the leader we sought would get away if we didn’t act quickly. He knew we were on to him after the last attack. I worried he’d either retaliate or flee the area.”

  “Oh, you mean the attack where you disappeared for two days? Yes, let’s go back to that for a moment. Where were you then?”

  Felix’s shoulders tightened beside me. I wasn’t sure what he’d told her, only that I needed rest after I returned home.

  “A kind Outsider found me unconscious and helped me recover enough to get back to the city.”

  “There’s no such thing as kind Outsiders,” she spat the words like weapons. They burned like weapons, too. I needed her to understand that there were two separate groups Outside. One was good. The other evil. I needed her to spare the Embers, but she would never believe me. So I didn’t mention the other camps to her. Maybe if I gave the impression that there was only one person tending to me she wouldn’t go looking for others. She wouldn’t find my dad.

  “The men Dimitri returned with are definitely not kind. You’re right about that.”

  “But there are more, aren’t there? There are still many more Outsiders who were left unscathed from today’s events.”

  I raised a shoulder. “Possibly.”

  “So why aren’t you eager to get out again? Why aren’t you trying to locate them as well, if you’re so loyal to the cause?”

  “Martha,” Emmaline started. “You know—”

  Justice Hines held her hand up in Emmaline’s face. “It’s fine. I don’t need her to find them. I have my own methods now.”

  She sneered and the dark V of her eyebrows deepened even further. She almost gave Milo a run for his money when she looked like that.

  “I could keep you here for hours, you know?” Her fingernails drummed on the table. My heart raced and the corners of her mouth turned up. She was trying to intimidate me. “I’ve got loads of questions. Why didn’t you notify us that you were leaving? How did you escape the city without our knowledge? What is your connection to John Michael Stobbe?” She laughed, cruelly. “I’m sorry. What was your connection to him? I could go on all night. But it wouldn’t matter. I can’t get any truth out of you, anyway.”

  “Justice Hines, that’s enough!” Felix’s lips were set in a hard line, daring her to continue.

  She turned on him, instead.

  “Oh, I’ve got questions for you, too, Mr. Walsh. And I’ve got a little over twenty-four hours to bring justice to this situation as I see fit. You’re not a Senator, yet. Right now, you’re just an accomplice.”

  Emmaline stood. “This meeting is not productive. I know we’ve all had a difficult day, so I’m willing to forgive your highly inappropriate behavior for now, Justice. But I won’t tolerate an outburst like this again. I suggest we go home and rest. We can reconvene at another time.”

  “Isn’t that convenient?” She smirked, sarcastically. “And I suppose that later time will be after Mr. Walsh’s promotion?”

  “There won’t be time beforehand,” Emmaline replied coolly.

  “Then another time, it is!” Justice Hines stood abruptly, knocking her chair down behind her. “But this isn’t the end of it.” She glared at me once more before storming out of the room.

  Dimitri blew air through his teeth. “Well that was exciting, wasn’t it?”

  I exited the room at my first opportunity, eager to get back to Felix’s house. But I was startled to find another familiar face waiting around the corner.

  “Edgar?”

  He seemed so out of place, like he was from a different life. He was friends with a different Claren. A softer Claren. He wouldn’t like the person I’d become now.

  “Hi,” he said, shyly. “Do you have a second to talk?”

  Normally I would have said no. But there was something in his expression that told me I needed to hear what he had to
say.

  “Sure.” I glanced at Felix behind me. “Go on downstairs. I’ll meet you in the lobby in just a minute.”

  Felix eyed Edgar for a moment before reluctantly nodding and moving forward. “Okay. I’ll have them go ahead and bring the car around.”

  Edgar gestured for me to enter the control room where he and Georgia were training with the others on how to monitor the amplifiers. The room was empty except for us.

  “Claren, I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry for what?”

  Edgar frowned. “I heard. We all did.”

  “What do you mean?” I took one of the seats in front of a screen. “What did you hear?”

  “You,” he said quietly. “Your mind.”

  I gasped. No. It was impossible.

  “It wasn’t clear,” Edgar added quickly. “But I could recognize you. It was strange.”

  My head was shaking back and forth. “I don’t understand.”

  “When you were taken by the Outsiders, one of them turned the amplifier on. I think it was the leader. This room erupted when it happened. They were all so excited they could barely contain themselves. That was the moment we’ve all been training for.”

  “And it worked?” I asked. “You heard their plans?”

  “Not exactly.” Edgar took a seat across from me. “We understood general concepts. Each of us could pick up on different aspects of what you and the men were thinking, but it wasn’t totally clear. You were the most difficult, actually. But they didn’t care. Everyone else in the room was too busy trying to be the hero who took down the Outsiders to bother listening to you.”

  “But you did?”

  Edgar nodded.

  “And what did you hear?” My voice barely registered. So many things had crashed through my mind that day. Any one of them could potentially be damaging.

  He hesitated. “Hope. When you realized you were being rescued, you had hope.”

  My shoulders relaxed. “Of course I did. I was so grateful when Rider and Dax came for me.” Dax. A knot twisted in my chest at the thought of him. Was he really only shot a few hours ago? Was this real?

  Edgar shook his head. “No. That wasn’t it. You hoped it was someone else. Someone from the Outside.”

  I froze. I wouldn’t say another word until I understood where Edgar was going with this. Had I been caught?

  Edgar allowed the silence to fall between us for longer than was comfortable. “I don’t think Georgia heard. Or anyone else, for that matter. But I’ve got to know. Is there hope for something more? Do the Outsiders stand a chance?”

  I remained frozen. Emilio and Felix had been very cautious in these rooms before. They acted as though we weren’t safe here. I didn’t think Edgar was trying to set me up. I knew him better than that. But I did think he may have been a little too trusting of his superiors. Maybe he would make a great Ember at some point. But it wouldn’t be today.

  “No.” I shook my head. “I’m not sure what you thought you heard, but there is no hope for the Outsiders.” I stood, choking down my emotions the best I could. “I’ve got to get going now. Felix is waiting.”

  “Right.” Edgar stood as well, looking embarrassed. “But Claren? Please be careful. There are dangers everywhere.” He looked down at his shoes, unwilling to say more.

  It was probably for the best. “Thanks, Edgar. I will.”

  CHAPTER 28

  Politics took priority over mental health in Classen City. We’d lost two men—Dax and John Michael—but both names were deleted from our daily conversation as though they’d never existed to begin with. I wasn’t given any time to grieve at all. No downtime. Instead, I was given a formal gown and a list of talking points.

  “Felix is the star of the show tonight, but the people are clamoring to hear from you as well.” Emmaline and her young assistant stood in my room at Felix’s house. It felt like a total violation of my privacy. I should have put a sign outside my door that read: No Rattlesnakes Allowed.

  The silent assistant hung a plastic bag with the garment I was supposed to wear for the evening inside on my bathroom door. She set another small handbag on my bathroom counter and began shuffling through its contents as Emmaline continued.

  “Do not give any specifics of the mission. The people know that you have gone Outside and helped capture a rebel leader who was responsible for the attacks on Classen City and our missing people. They do not know that he is still alive.”

  The assistant shot a sharp, worried look in our direction.

  “In custody,” I added, mostly to ease the poor girl’s nerves.

  “Right. We will not mention the casualties. And as far as they know, the problem has been handled in its entirety.”

  “Understood.” I was supposed to be vague so we could keep our people in a peaceful cloud of ignorance.

  “Now for the dinner tonight, I’d like you to remain near Felix at all times. His promotion will come as a surprise to many of our citizens, and you will help them accept him more readily into our Leadership.”

  “So my job is to make him look good?”

  Her lips tightened into a suppressed smirk. “Yes.”

  It was all a show. A game. I wasn’t a player. I was just a game piece. But not for long. Now that I’d accomplished the mission for Triple-T... sort of... I would be going back Outside. My dad was alive and well, and I was no longer needed inside. I wanted to be free. I wanted to go home to my dad. I would play along for tonight, for Felix’s sake, but then I was done.

  “There will be a number of news cameras and journalists at the event. They will be very interested in both you and Felix, so please try to maintain the appearance of a Leader.”

  I snorted. Emmaline frowned.

  “Alice here will help you get camera-ready. I need to go home and get ready myself. I will see you shortly.”

  I glanced at the timid girl in my bathroom and tried to smile. This wasn’t her fault. She was just doing her job.

  An hour later, I gaped at the stranger staring back at me from the mirror. Emmaline’s assistant was a miracle worker. She’d somehow transformed me. I looked like a real Leader. Her bag was full of magic—creams and tints and brushes that left me looking flawless. My skin was smoother. My lips were redder. My eyelashes stood dark and long extending as high as the heavens.

  And suddenly it all made sense. Leaders weren’t genetically superior. They weren’t naturally more beautiful than the rest of the people. They could just afford special cosmetics to enhance their natural features. And now I was another modified face of the Leadership, sitting high in the Center to be admired by those from the outer edges. It was gross. And yet, I couldn’t pull my eyes away.

  Neither could Felix. I exited my room to find him standing open-mouthed at the foot of the stairs. My golden, floor-length gown shimmered with every step I took, giving the illusion that I was floating, gliding along the floor. In just an hour, the assistant gave me grace, poise, and beauty that I’d never had before.

  Felix wore a black suit, and golden threads accenting his tie coordinated perfectly with my dress. We looked like we belonged together. A false portrait of perfection. Emmaline certainly knew what she was doing.

  It didn’t go unnoticed at the dinner. Heads turned to follow us as we entered. Conversations stopped. Smiles erupted. And cameramen made a beeline toward us. I took a deep breath. This was going to be a long night.

  We still hadn’t had an opportunity alone. I was woefully uninformed on why this was all happening to begin with. I didn’t know why Felix was being tossed into his father’s position so quickly. But here we were.

  “Felix! Claren!” Emmaline met us just steps inside the door of the event center where the dinner was held. She smiled brightly for the camera, her pretty pink lips highlighting her glowing white teeth. “You made it.”

  She reached out to shake each of our hands, then gestured for us to follow her away from the reception area. The people parted for her like dust in the wind, clearing
our way. “You two look marvelous,” she said over her shoulder. “Well done.”

  I glanced at Felix, whose cheeks had flushed with the comment. He was so handsome and confident on the outside, but inside he was a nervous wreck. Surely Emmaline felt it, too. I reached over and took his hand, giving it a small squeeze to remind him he wasn’t alone.

  Emmaline led us across the room toward a set of double doors next to the stage where a band played. “There’s someone who would like to speak to you both before the events of the evening pull you away.” She pushed the door open and Felix’s heart tried to pound itself right out of his chest.

  “Hello, Father.”

  “My son!” Felix’s dad looked much happier to see his son than Felix looked to see him. They shared the same white smile, but his father’s eyes were much darker than Felix’s. They were a deep stormy blue—almost black.

  He brought Felix in for a hug, then turned to extend his hand toward me.

  “And you must be the famous Claren Greenwood.” I shook the man’s hand. His grip was firm. Powerful. This was a man who liked to be in charge. “Everett Walsh.”

  “It’s so nice to meet you, Senator. I appreciate you allowing me to stay in your home. Your staff has been very good to me.”

  “Call me Everett. And the pleasure is all mine, my dear.” He held my hand for a moment after we stopped shaking. Felix stood stiff and uncomfortable beside me, anxious to break away. I dropped his father’s hand and stepped a fraction closer to him. He didn’t need to worry about me.

  “I was so surprised to hear about Ms. Yoder.” Emmaline’s voice caught me off guard. I’d forgotten she was behind me.

  “Ah, yes.” Everett frowned. “She was a good woman. It caught us all by surprise. I definitely have some big shoes to fill. As do you, son.” He winked and patted Felix on the upper arm. Felix swallowed, leaving his father’s smile unreturned.

  “Well I don’t intend to keep you kids from the fun of the evening. I just wanted to be sure to say hello. I’ll need to take off right after the announcement.” He turned back to Emmaline. “Please say hello to Martha and the others on my behalf. I won’t have time to socialize, I’m afraid.”