Living with Embers: (Son of Rain #4)

by Michelle Irwin

  Another guard had obviously reacted to the whistle and a shiver of panic ran over him. At almost the same time, a cacophony of noise burst into my skull. Panicked thoughts and genuine fear sent my heart racing.

  As I took down the third guard, I wondered what the hell was wrong with my aim. It was like the arrows themselves were throwing me off. Each time I lifted one into place, my head spun and nausea twisted in the pit of my stomach. It made it harder to focus on the direction of the final shot. I kicked myself for not practicing with these particular arrows, but Dad had only given them to me at the last moment.

  Each fae I took down lessened the panicked screams that raced through my skull. There was something more at work, and I could only assume it had something to do with the phoenix. I hoped it didn’t mean she knew I was there.

  I took down the fourth and fifth guard seconds after they saw me. Each had the same treatment of St John’s Wart to knock them out and a makeshift gag in case they woke up. While I was wrapping the gag around one of their mouths, the door to the phoenix’s house cracked open and Ethan stepped out. I hid in the shadows while I waited for Evie to close her door behind him. If I was right in my guess—and I had no reason to suspect I wasn’t—his departure would leave her alone and unarmed.

  The possibility of bringing him on to my side toyed at the edges of my mind. If I could make him see the truth, we could do what Dad said we did best—fight side by side. I was about to approach him when he madly patted his pockets and shook his head. He headed back to the phoenix’s door, and I used the opportunity to race for the cover provided by his car.

  He apologized to her as he left for the second time. When the door was shut and he was far enough away from it that she wouldn’t hear him unless he shouted, I stood and revealed myself.

  Thankfully, he didn’t shout or cry out. Instead he stared with wide eyes. “Holy shit, Clay?”

  “Help me, brother.” I hoped playing the family card would get me further than reminding him he was practically a stranger to me.

  “Where have you been?” He twisted back to consider the house. “Come with me, we’ll get—”

  “No. Help me get rid of the creature and the abomination growing inside of her, or face the consequences.”

  His brow dipped. “Creature? Abomination?” He glanced back at the house. “Do you mean your wife?”

  “She’s not my wife!”

  He held his hands up in a sigh of surrender. “Okay, maybe we can talk.”

  I raised my bow with an arrow already nocked. “No talking. You’re with me or you’re against me.”

  “To kill her?”

  I gave a single nod.

  “Then, dude, I’m against you—”

  I didn’t let him get another word out before I let my arrow fly and leapt for him. It was as if he hadn’t expected me to attack. His eyes widened and his breath left in a rush as the arrow struck his chest. Before his senses returned, I’d covered the distance between us and had taken a wild swing at him. The instant my fist connected, I twisted in place and got behind him, wrapping both of my arms around his neck to choke him out. There was no remorse in my body at the action, because he might have been my brother once, but now he was under her spell, willing to go against me to save her. That made him the enemy.

  Readying my bow for another shot, I moved to the phoenix’s door and knocked.

  “What did you leave—” Her words died on her lips as she caught my gaze.

  I didn’t give her a chance to argue or plea, I just let the training I’d endured for the last day and a half take over as I released my shot, sending an arrow flying straight toward her heart.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  THE PHOENIX TWISTED out of the path of my arrow almost too easily. The arrowhead claimed a chunk of skin from her shoulder, and I had to claim that as a victory. I couldn’t focus on the small win though because it wouldn’t kill her. It didn’t even seem to incapacitate her the way it had the fae outside. At least, it hadn’t straight away. I could only assume she was susceptible to iron the same way the fae were, even if it took longer.

  I released my second shot, once again feeling dizzy and more than a little sick with the arrowhead near me. One day, I would solve the puzzle of why that was the case, but for now it was more important to destroy the threat.

  My third shot went wild as she kicked the end of my bow, causing me to lose the carefully planned trajectory. When my eyes followed the arrow up, crumbling plaster filled my vision. At the same time, the phoenix attempted to disarm me. When she tugged at my bow, I tugged back harder. I yanked it so hard from her hold that I staggered backward and had to work to get my feet back under me so she couldn’t knock me off balance.

  “What did you do to him?” she screeched as she stared beyond me, no doubt at the lump in the driveway that used to be my brother before’d he betrayed me.

  She tried to push past me, but I used the action to my advantage, catching hold of her throat and squeezing my fingers around it. I shoved her up against the wall, just high enough that the full weight of her body was pinned between my hand and the drywall behind her. It wouldn’t take long to choke her to death, and then I would be free. No one was coming to save her this time.

  “Your little pets are dead. They won’t be coming to your rescue this time.” I was trying to throw her off kilter and make her give up. If she had nothing left to fight for, she might just die. I was sure some of the fae might survive, but I couldn’t say they all would. It was something we could sort out after she was gone. When Dad and Abe came, we could work out who needed to die and who we could safely let free.

  Her fingers scratched along my arm, but that just gave me more incentive to press harder and squeeze tighter. It would be tougher for her to try to seduce me with her silver tongue if she had no air to make the sounds.

  “Now you’ll pay for what you did to me and my family.”

  Instead of giving up and accepting her fate, she started to kick. Between her knees, her feet, and the hands that clawed at me, it was impossible to try and hold on to her. When one of her fingernails—one that felt more like a talon—raked a trail of skin off my wrist, my hold loosened. It wasn’t much, but enough for her to get her feet on the ground. The instant she did, she lined up a kick to the back of my knee.

  I tried to grab for her again, but the motion left a wide open space for her to head past me to the door. Not wanting to fail Dad twice, I side-stepped and got between her and freedom. Without stopping, she wheeled on the spot and raced off in the opposite direction.

  To ensure she couldn’t creep past me and escape, I spun to close the front door as fast as I could, barricading the handle with my bow. Then I charged through the house to find the phoenix.

  Remembering the layout from the last time I’d been in the house was easy—with just a few rooms, it was hardly a Ritz-Carlton. I crept through the silent house, using all the stealth I had to make as little noise as possible as I hunted the phoenix.

  As I searched, I headed for the back of the house, ensuring she hadn’t escaped through the door I’d used for my exit a few days earlier. It would not do to have her escape. I couldn’t fail Dad again.

  When I saw the door was closed and locked, I was satisfied she hadn’t left the house.

  Just when I was about to call out to taunt her, I heard a series of faint button-press tones. I charged toward the sound, assuming she was calling for help. I couldn’t let her finish dialing.

  I followed the sound to the breakfast bar in the kitchen and heard her shaky exhalations from the other side of the bar. Without pause, I leapt onto the counter, reaching over to tug the phone handset from her hands. The instant it was in my grasp, I hurled it at the wall opposite us. If it was broken, I wouldn’t have to worry about her trying to dial out again.

  She climbed to her feet, raising a knife between us. Her fingers enclosed the hilt with a death grip. It wasn’t enough to stop me though. In fact, it gave me purpose. She was directl
y threatening my life, nothing would stop me now.

  I circled around the breakfast bar and reached for her, hoping to catch hold of something substantial. When my fingers curled into a clump of her hair, I used it to my advantage, ripping her to one side to throw her off balance.

  When she landed, an exclamation left her and the knife flew from her hand. It was too perfect. She was going to die by the blade she meant to kill me with.

  Almost as soon as she landed, she tried to crawl away from me. One of her arms rested against her stomach while she used the other to drag herself across the floor away from me.

  “Clay, please!” Her voice came as a choked sob, and for less than half a second, I paused before I managed to shake off the sensations that rocked through me in response. I couldn’t pity her—it was no doubt part of her set of charms that would see me back in her command.

  After I’d collected the knife, I stalked after her.

  “Please don’t do this!”

  Another momentary shudder rushed through me, dragging pity and concern behind it before I was able to shake it off. “Why shouldn’t I?”

  “Because you don’t know what you’re doing.”

  “I know exactly what I’m doing.” I was ridding the world of a foul beast who’d ruined my family. She continued to argue, to plea for her life, but I wouldn’t listen to any of it. The words would eventually turn to spells and she would try to ensnare me again. I couldn’t let that happen.

  “I’m not a threat to anyone. You know that.” She was edging closer to the hallway. I couldn’t let her go that way, because who knew what booby traps she might have laid around there that she was trying to access.

  I reached forward and grabbed at one of her legs, ripping it out from underneath her so I could drag her back into the open, away from any possible weapons she might have hidden. “I know what you did to me.”

  “I didn’t do anything to you.” Her voice was almost hysterical “I love you!”

  The words were like gasoline on the fire in my body and tore me straight down the middle between the part that trusted Dad and the part that had been drawn to her from the first time I heard her voice. I tried to ignore the divide, reminding myself that the split would disappear the moment she was gone. With her last breath, her influence would be wiped away and I’d be free.

  She continued to spin her lies—talking about wanting me to stop, all while kicking and fighting in return. When she got in a lucky kick, straight to my stomach, I lost my grip on the knife.

  The instant she was free of my hold, she rushed off, heading in the direction of the front door. Taking a second to grab the knife again, I raced after her.

  I couldn’t let her escape.

  Before I even closed the distance, she fell to the floor with a scream on her lips. I stopped and assessed her. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and panted between her screams.

  “Clay.” Her eyes implored me as her gaze sought me out on the opposite side of the table. I was struck with pity once again. “I know you don’t remember me, and I know you want to kill me, but please, spare our baby. She’s in danger.”

  I staggered backward for a moment. What the hell did she mean by our baby?

  It had to be a trick, some way to sink her claws in again. That was all. I tightened my grip on the knife and moved around the table to close the distance between us.

  “That baby is not mine,” I ground out through clenched teeth. “I would never be stupid enough to be with a freak like you.” Even as I said it, doubt crept in. Maybe that was why she’d seduced me—was there some trait I possessed that she’d coveted? But the books didn’t mention anything about fathers. In fact, they made it seem like the reproduction was completely asexual. Even if it was my child, there was no way I would have been a willing participant. “At least not of my own free will.”

  She used a chair to drag herself to her feet before shoving it in my direction. At once, she ran away, twisting to race for the back door. I charged after her, determined to catch her before she could reach it. Even if she managed to get there first, I wanted to be close enough that I could get my hands around her neck as she tried to unlock it.

  Halfway to the door, she fell to the ground again with another pained cry on her lips. I didn’t see her go down until it was too late to stop my momentum and I went straight past. Just as I managed to slow enough to stop, the phoenix swept her leg under me, knocking me off my feet between her and escape.

  Before I could even get back up, she was heading in the opposite direction, racing for the front door.

  “Just give up already!” I climbed back to my feet and gave chase.

  Moments later, she fell to the ground again and rolled onto her back as another strained scream left her.

  I smiled. Finally, something was going right. Whether it was my words, or something to do with the iron in the tip of the arrow, I couldn’t say, but she was incapacitated and that was the important thing.

  Toying with her a little, making sure she knew who was in control, I tossed the knife from hand to hand as I met her wide-eyed gaze.

  She looked like she was about to back away, but then her mouth opened again, her hand flew to her stomach, and she cried out.

  I dropped to my knees at her side and lifted the knife. Holding the hilt tight in one hand and letting the blade stick out from the bottom of my fist, I took a few deep breaths.

  Just do it.

  All I had to do was drive the blade down between her ribs. With the angle I had over her, and her open position, it would’ve been simple enough to do. I just needed some force behind the swing and it would be easy to plunge the blade into her heart.

  So easy.

  I clenched my jaw and steeled myself.

  Just goddamn do it!

  Another breath passed with her writhing beneath me. There was nothing more to it. If I didn’t do it now, it might be too late. The creature might have birthed the abomination and then I’d have to battle flames to destroy them both.

  I drew one more lungful of air and forced the knife down.

  “No!” Her hands lifted and clutched at my wrist. She held on so tight, each of her fingernails dug into my skin.

  As she tried to push me off, I put more strength behind my attack. I leaned all of my body weight onto my arm. The instant she stopped fighting, the full force of my strike would fall down on her.

  During the struggle, the sharpened blade tore at her wrists. I hoped it would be enough to wear down her reserves, but she had a strength that seemed impossible. Almost as if she were possessed.

  Finally, the moment I was waiting for came. Her elbow bent and my strike fell.

  With an inhuman cry, she raised her hand again, stopping the fall of the knife right before the fatal strike. It cut into her shirt and sliced a gash in her chest, but wasn’t deadly. Worse, it would be harder to drive the blade deep enough into her chest without the momentum I’d had before.

  Tugging my arm loose of her hold, I drew the blade back again and struck once more.

  This time, she didn’t resist.

  Instead, she grabbed my arm and twisted beneath me, directing the knife deep into the floorboards beside her head. Because of the weight I’d put behind the strike, her motion threw off my center of balance and I flipped onto my back. In almost the same move, she swung herself on top of me and pinning my arms by my side under her hips. She was surprisingly lithe for someone so heavily pregnant.

  She drew the knife from the floorboards and held it to my throat. I used the rage that burned within me to try to free my arms, but then she cried out in pain once more and the knife slipped ever closer to my jugular. Another half an inch—maybe less—and it would slice into my throat.

  There was no way to exact my revenge if I was dead, so I stilled beneath her. Somehow, despite the whole absurd situation, it felt right to be beneath her that way. My body reacted to the weight of her on my chest in ways that were not entirely unpleasant, but didn’t make sense g
iven the circumstances. Unless it was the lingering effect of the spell she’d cast over me—one she hadn’t recast despite having me beneath her at her mercy.

  My head spun through the seemingly endless possibilities for what that might mean.

  “I could easily kill you,” she growled at me as she struggled back from whatever pain had held her captive, and all thoughts of pleasant sensations evaporated from me. “Couldn’t I?”

  “Go ahead and do it then.” I wasn’t scared of her and, despite the reaction my body had pinned underneath her, I would kill her when I was free.

  “No,” she whispered with a small shake of her head. “I could kill you.”

  She swung the blade in a graceful arc above her head. As it fell, I thought my time was done. I apologized to Dad in my head for failing to reunite my family again. I closed my eyes so that I didn’t have to see the death strike.

  A thud somewhere beside my head drew my focus. Tilting my head to the side, I saw the knife blade buried deep into the floorboards just a few inches away.

  “But I never would,” she panted before collapsing down over my chest as she growled in pain again.

  As if her words had broken some barrier inside her, the groans and cries of agony gave way to a flood of tears. The shift shocked me and disarmed the anger I’d been holding onto in order to exact revenge.

  “How could you do this to me, Clay?” she screamed as she pulled away from me and beat at my chest and shoulders with her fists. “Why did you have to leave us? Why! I loved you! I was happy! We were happy! Weren’t we? Why did you have to ruin it all?”

  I tilted my head away from the barrage, surprised by the sudden outburst. It was not the work of a skilled seductress. It was ugly and gritty; emotional and real. The agony she was in made the barrage of hits she rained down on me seem like nothing more than a light sprinkle, and it spoke to something deep within me. Without knowing why, I wanted to comfort her. My heart ached for her pain and my arms longed to wrap around her shoulders and hold her tightly while she let out her heartbreak.