KIngdom of Embers (Kingdom Journals Book 1)

by Tricia Copeland

  “I’m so sorry,” I whispered in her ear.

  The man beside her put a hand on my back. As I stepped away from the embrace, he spoke. “You are Alena.” He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. “Ganby wrote this. I’m sorry.”

  He held it out to me, and Mother took it.

  Straightening my back, I looked at each of them. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” I couldn’t say more as my legs began to tremble, and my knees threatened to buckle.

  Mother fitted her arm around my waist, urging me to move on. Looking out into the sea of faces seated in the pews, I found Sophie, Nick, David, and Annabelle.

  “Can we go home? I’ll take flowers to the grave later,” I whispered to Mother.

  “Sure, dear.”

  We walked out into the sunshine, and I thought it cruel that it was such a beautiful day. Mother invited Hunter to spend the rest of the day with us, and I folded my hand over his, happy to be able to spend time with him without sneaking around.

  Gathering in the family room after changing our clothes, Mother brought me Ganby’s letter.

  “You should open it.”

  Unfolding the page, I read the words he’d scribbled in pen. I’M SORRY ALENA. NO ONE DESERVED TO BE PICKED ON LIKE I DID YOU.

  Picturing Theron forcing the thoughts into Ganby’s head, I ran to the hearth and threw the note towards the logs, lighting them as it hit.

  “Wow. I didn’t even notice you had started the fire, Elizabeth.” Mother’s nervous laughter stopped my tirade.

  “Yes, I thought it a nice day for a warm fire.” Elizabeth stood and poked the sizzling logs.

  My phone buzzed on the couch beside Hunter with receipt of a call.

  Hunter held the device out to me. “It’s Theron.”

  “Come to my office.” Mother shuffled me into the next room. “Put it on speaker.”

  I answered the call. “Theron, hi.”

  “I’ve been calling for days.”

  “It’s been pretty rough. I’m really upset about my friend.”

  “Your friend? Wasn’t he the guy that picked on you all the time?”

  “Yes, Theron. My friend.” Mother waved her hands in the air, indicating—I guessed—not to use a harsh tone. “I mean, he picked on me, but it was you know, just his thing.” I glared at Mother.

  “Oh, well, I’d like to get together soon if you can. I’ve been thinking about things, you know. I mean, we are these special beings. No one has been like us since Hitler. What a genius, I mean, commanding all those people. And it took a coven of one hundred witches to bring him down.”

  “Wow, I didn’t know that. I thought he killed himself. I didn’t realize he was a hybrid.”

  “My father has so much information. You should come use his library sometime.”

  “Yeah, that’d be nice. This is a bad week, though, with the funeral and Mabon.”

  “I was hoping to see you before then. I have something I need to tell you. It can’t be over the phone.”

  Mother shook her head and mouthed no.

  “I’m really sorry. Mom always has a huge party, and she needs a lot of help with it.”

  “Oh, right. I forgot, I think we got your invites. I can’t make it. I will be with my father that night. That’s what I need to talk to you about. Can’t you spare an hour?”

  “Sorry, Theron, I can’t.”

  “Is that your final choice?” His tone grew hard.

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, well, your loss then.” He cut the connection.

  “Hitler?” I asked Mother.

  “Shh.” She put her index finger to her mouth. “Yes, that is why beings like you are forbidden.”

  “What have you done? I’m a monster.” I leaned against her desk.

  She put her hands on my shoulders, shaking them and forcing me to look at her. “No, Alena, you’re not. You are a child of light. You won’t be like him.”

  “What of Theron?”

  “We act as if nothing happened. We don’t need a feud between the witches and vampires.”

  Tucking all the bits of information in my brain, I opened the door to the sitting room. Elizabeth had arranged a plate of cheese and fruit.

  “The gentleman said he liked everything,” she commented as she passed plates to us.

  After we’d eaten, I asked Mother if Hunter and I could be excused to my room. She agreed, although we were instructed to keep the door open.

  Passing into my room, I turned back to Hunter as he stood, mouth agape.

  “This is your room? My whole apartment could fit in here.”

  “Come on.” I pulled his hand. He walked to each wall of windows as I raised the blinds.

  “I would never leave. How do you ever leave?” He spun to face the wall that held my bed. “Violet?”

  “Violet.” I smiled, thinking of my nickname from when we’d played as kids.

  “Come here, this is the best.”

  I took his hand, and we walked up the step to my bed. I made him stand with his back to the bed, and with arms outstretched, we fell back onto the down comforter.

  “This is so soft.” He pulled off his shoes and let them drop to the floor.

  I sat beside him as he lay on his back. Pulling out my phone I texted him a message. NO MAGIC. NO TALK OF WITCHY STUFF. THEY CAN’T KNOW ABOUT YOU.

  I FIGURED. NO KISSES? He added a frowny face to the message.

  I rolled my eyes and lay beside him. With his cool body beside me, I relaxed for the first time in days. I wondered why I felt safe with him. With my magic, speed, strength, and fighting skills, I was stronger than any being I’d met, save Theron or Chalondra perhaps. But I still viewed myself as small and vulnerable. I wondered if the fear of my identity being revealed kept me scared, looking over my shoulder, waiting for a catastrophe.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” Hunter asked.

  “A million for yours.”

  “I’m proud of you for going today. That was a strong thing to do.” He sat up and tapped my phone. WHAT DID THERON SAY? He wrote in a dialog box.

  HE WANTED TO SEE ME. SAID IT NEEDED TO BE BEFORE MABON.

  MABON?

  CELEBRATION OF THE FALL EQUINOX, BALANCE BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARK, THANKING THE GODS FOR THE HARVEST, WELCOMING WINTER.

  YOU CELEBRATE THAT?

  IT’S MOM’S BIGGEST PARTY OF THE YEAR.

  WHY DO YOU THINK THERON WANTED TO SEE YOU BEFORE THEN?

  NO CLUE. SAID HE’D BE WITH HIS FATHER THAT NIGHT.

  WHEN IS IT?

  FRIDAY.

  I’LL TALK TO HIM. SEE IF I CAN GET ANYTHING OUT OF HIM. HE LIKES TO BRAG SO HE MIGHT SAY SOMETHING.

  GOOD PLAN. CAN’T WAIT TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR FORTUNE-TELLING EXPERIENCE.

  TOMORROW? LUNCH?

  I DREAD GOING BACK TO SCHOOL. MAYBE I’LL SKIP. MOTHER MAY LET ME.

  Hearing Orm’s shuffling feet in the hall, I looked up to see him shaking his head. “Kids these days. Never talk to each other.”

  “I should go.” Hunter stood. “Mom will be getting up to go to work.”

  I erased our texts and followed him out.

  After taking him to say goodbye to Mother, Elizabeth, and Orm, Hunter and I rode the elevator down.

  He slid over to me. “Now can I get a kiss?”

  Pointing to the camera on the ceiling, I laughed. “Not yet.”

  As soon as we were out of the elevator, he pulled me to him and kissed me. It earned us a throat clearing and cough from the lobby attendant, but I didn’t care. Nothing felt wrong with the world when Hunter held me.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow. Text me.”

  “I will.” I waved as I got on the elevator.

  Upstairs, Mother caught up with me as I walked to my room. “You really like him, don’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Be careful. We don’t know what Theron is capable of.”

  “I have Hunter’s bracelet, and he has mine.”

  “But you won’t be able to
get to him in time. Shall I have a staff member guard him?”

  “Theron doesn’t know about Hunter. I didn’t see or text Hunter when I was wearing the necklace.”

  “That is good.”

  It was doubly good because it wouldn’t do to have one of Mother’s men following Hunter.

  “Is it okay if I skip school and have lunch with Hunter tomorrow?”

  “No and yes. I know this is hard, but you have to move forward.”

  School, an empty seat formerly occupied by Ganby, and the outpouring of sympathy from every student I passed had me on the edge of my seat waiting for the bell to ring before lunch.

  Sophie caught me in the hall as I tried my escape. “Are you going out for lunch?”

  “Yes, sorry I’ve been a horrible friend this weekend.”

  “Are you kidding? You were covered in Ganby’s blood. How do you get over that?”

  “But I only knew him for a couple of weeks. You guys have been with him since forever.”

  “And most of us have hated him forever.”

  “I’m sorry.” I gave her a quick hug. “We should talk soon. Tonight, or something. I have to get food.”

  In two blocks, I caught Hunter’s scent. I sneaked up behind him and covered his eyes with my fingers.

  “Oh, my goodness. You are like a ninja.” He wrapped his hands around mine.

  “That big guy Dimitri at the bar has been teaching me moves. Speaking of that night…”

  “Yeah, I don’t know. Everything she said sounded like spiritual mumbo jumbo. Something like a child of light born before the dawn of the millennium would herald peace for his people.” He shrugged. “I have no people. There was something else she seemed concerned about, but she wouldn’t share it. Like another piece was missing.”

  “Dimitri told me the people in the witch community are nervous.” I exchanged witch for vampire, thinking it but a white lie.

  “Enough witchy stuff. You need to eat.” He dug in my bag and found my lunch.

  As with the previous week, I trained with Dimitri in the afternoon. “That Hunter friend of yours has Chalondra all riled up,” he commented as we walked to an abandoned building.

  “I’ll have to ask her about it.”

  “Good luck with that. She doesn’t talk to vamps much. Only Fahim and Eden.”

  Dimitri hung a punching bag from the rafters, and I practiced hitting it. “So how do you fight a witch?”

  “You hope they aren’t as strong as you, or you run. Fahim may be able to fight one.”

  “So, is Fahim like a leader?”

  “Sort of. Nothing official. He’s the oldest vamp in this area. Us unregistereds tend to fall into the order of the old days.”

  “So, you would fight with him?”

  “Guess. Sure wish we knew what we were up against. Mabon’s coming, and it’s giving everyone the heebie jeebies.”

  “Mabon? Like the fall equinox?”

  “Read about that in the books, did you? At least we don’t have a full moon for this one. Going to be dark as heck, and that works in our favor.”

  With preparation for Mother’s Mabon party, tension ramped up as Friday drew near. There were caterers, florist, entertainers, and costume designers in and out of the house from sunup to sundown.

  “Hold still, child,” Elizabeth scolded as I craned my neck to see the back of the gown Mother had picked out for me.

  “I have to change into my uniform and get to school. Fridays are game days.”

  “I know, child. I’m almost done. Tell me, you don’t seem as excited for the event this year.”

  “It’s the funeral and worrying about Theron.”

  “Your mother has doubled security. You have nothing to fear.”

  “I wish I could bring Hunter.”

  A rare giggle escaped her lips. “You want to bring that luscious boy into a house of vampires?”

  “Did you call my boyfriend luscious?”

  “He smells of grapes and honey. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.”

  “Okay, maybe a little.” I rolled my eyes and spun my head to face the mirror.

  “And why can’t I come to this party tonight?” Hunter asked as we sat in the garden at lunch.

  “It’s Mom’s work party. She’s very particular. She does this every year. Besides it’s Mabon already, and you still haven’t heard from Theron. Chalondra has been chanting in that room of hers all week. Something is going on. Don’t you feel this tug? I can’t explain it. And I’ve been having these strange dreams.”

  “Dreams? What kind of dreams?”

  “I don’t know. I see images, some horrible, some of historical figures.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “Hitler, General Patton?”

  I gripped his arm. “Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Abraham Lincoln.”

  “Moses, Longinus, although I don’t know how I knew their names. I just did.”

  “What if the sword is real?” I wondered to him.

  “And what if we’ve been reading way too many books?”

  “Theron and your father are evil. Whatever they’re doing, we have to stop them.”

  “If I act like I want to talk to him, he won’t respond. I sent the message Monday. Every time I see him, it’s on his terms.” He paced away from me and back. “I’m worried about him being at the game. I should go. I could help protect you.”

  “Mom has ten guys going to the game. He won’t get anywhere near me.” I stood and hiked my pack to my shoulders. “We should get back.”

  Outside the gate, we stood hand in hand. I hated leaving him. Turning to face him, I took his other hand. “Please be careful.”

  “I will. You too.”

  “Okay.” I forced my smile. As we backed away from each other, he loosened his grip on my hand until he held the tip of my finger. “We’re being really sappy.”

  “I don’t care.” He dropped my hand and snatched my wrist, pulling me to him. “I … you are important to me. I don’t want to lose you again.” He ran his finger down my nose to my lips and bent down and kissed me.

  My heart fluttered. “You won’t.”

  “Bye.” He kissed my forehead, spun and walked away. I watched him leave, dreading my next class. How could I feel so happy and so broken at the same time?

  The teacher had rearranged the seating assignments in both of the classes I had with Ganby, but it didn’t make a difference. The rest of the students didn’t perceive it, but his scent still hung in the air, and all I could picture was his mangled face, my fists beating his chest, my arms covered in his blood.

  “Miss Scott. You’re late again.”

  Glancing back at the desk Ganby once occupied, placed on the back row, I wiped the tears from my eyes. “Sorry.”

  My desk was the farthest from his chair. Still, his memory haunted me. Annabelle shot me a small smile as I slid into my seat. I knew it would come, since it had every day. After I stored away my sadness, anger boiled up. The vampire urges in me took over, and revenge filled my thoughts. Probably I should have been attending some type of vampire-witch hybrid grief counseling. Orm had me in sessions every night practicing meditation to let go of the feelings, but they were still there the next day. Dimitri’s solution had been to intensify my workouts, Fahim gave me a spirituality of healing book, the school counselors turned our cheerleading practice into a therapy session, and Elizabeth doted on me. Mother, well, being the executive she was with a huge gala to put on, doubled security.

  “Alena.” The teacher called my name as he excused class.

  “Yes.” I approached him.

  “I know this is hard, but...”

  “I’ll try harder. I need to get to my next class.” If I started thinking of Ganby again, I would not get through the day.

  After Spanish, I crossed the campus to meet Sophie and the rest of the cheerleaders at the bus. Approaching them, I saw Hannah spinning her armband on her bicep.

  “This thing is hideous,” I heard fr
om across the lawn. “Can’t we be done with this yet?”

  Slipping my calming oils from my bag, I smeared some on my wrists, wishing Hannah would make some comments so I could slap her face. No, Alena, I chided myself, you are not a violent vampire like Theron. You are a stable human being that happens to be in high school.

  Reaching the group, I put my hands on my hips. “Is everyone as ready to get this over with as I am?”

  “Couldn’t have said it better,” Sophie remarked.

  We loaded the buses for Palisades High. A group of cheerleaders rode with each of the two football buses, and Sophie and I found David and Nick. Wishing I could warn him about Theron, I decided the best thing I could do was to stay as far away from Nick as possible.

  “Good luck.” I hugged Nick before he got off the bus.

  “Wow, you hugged me. I thought we were sort of done.”

  “I need friends, Nick, especially after…”

  “Yeah, I get it. I can do that.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled at him. “Now, go kick some Pali butt.”

  Seeing Mother’s suited guards at various locations in the stadium, I relaxed. Keep an eye on Nick, and your nose up for Theron, I told myself. Taking a deep breath, I set my backpack down next to Sophie’s and joined the squad to warm up.

  By the end of the first half, I relaxed, thinking he wouldn’t show. After a halftime break and the first cheer, I settled on the grass to watch the game. A gale swept through the stadium and with it the sharp scent of musk. Theron.

  We were supposed to keep our eyes on the field, but I lowered my head and looked behind me to the right and then to the left.

  I’m outside the stadium. Theron’s voice echoed in my mind.

  How are you doing that?

  My father is Thanatos. I am very powerful.

  I didn’t respond, and he spoke again. I am sorry about your friend. Will you meet me after the game?

  My mother has a huge party. I can’t.

  Right. I think my mom ended up with something else in her schedule. If you change your mind, call me. The wind stopped, and his scent disappeared.