Rise from Ash

by Fleur Smith

  That desire, I could understand.

  Now, I was going to do the same thing. I intended to kill the shadow before he could hurt anyone else. The innocent deaths had to stop. Because I was the only one that had ever seen the creature, it had to be me to end it.

  There was almost no light in the forest, the sun barely filtered through to cover the top third of the trees. The covering of pine needles crunched under foot with every step I took, but I couldn’t hear any other sounds. I walked in the direction I’d last seen the shadow heading, glancing side to side as often as I dared just in case the creature had circled around behind me.

  I stopped walking a few hundred yards into the forest, but the crunching sound continued to my left. I raised the gun steady and moved in that direction. Laughter filled my head and then he was visible again—right in front of me. It was like looking at someone through a gauze filter, the features not as refined and clear as they should be. Without allowing myself to second guess my choice, I aimed in his direction and pulled the trigger.

  The crack of the gunshot echoed louder in my ears than I’d expected it to and caused me to scream. In my hand, the gun kicked back harder than I’d thought it would, sending a violent shockwave coursing along my arm. The shadow disappeared an instant before the bullet sailed through the spot he’d been standing a fraction of a second before.

  “Show yourself!” I demanded again.

  A fluttering wind whirled around me, whipping up the pine needles and sending them crashing roughly against my legs.

  “You coward!” I screamed.

  Footsteps ran across the bracken, rushing away from me. I raced after the sound until I caught sight of the black, menacing figure standing a few yards away. He stood motionless, as if daring me to try again. I lifted the gun and pulled the trigger again and again as I fired into the spot where he’d been standing.

  Three times.

  Four.

  Each shot missed him, and he laughed again, the sound flooding the area around me. I twisted around, firing shots in the direction of the sound. The last one I fired connected, cutting off the laugh. The noise morphed into a pained howl, which was so loud I had to press my hands against my ears to block it out as I fell to the forest floor in pain.

  Revealing himself again, his mouth stretched open to form a gaping chasm as he issued the high-pitched keening, he walked toward me with his hand pressed over a wound in his side. When he was close enough, he kneeled before me and lifted his free hand to reach for the gun in my hand, but I pulled it away at the last second, raising it in both hands instead and firing three shots into his stomach in rapid succession. The final kickback was amplified by my awkward kneeling position and it sent me toppling off balance. The shadow clutched at his stomach and fell to the ground in front of me. The wind whipped up again, lifting the debris and sending it hurling around my body and into my face. Ignoring the screaming that still issued from the man, I steadied myself, holding the gun out in front of me steady in both of my hands, and aimed squarely at the shadow’s chest.

  I fired again.

  Everything stopped.

  The wind, the noise, everything.

  Is he gone?

  I glanced around at the silent forest, not willing to believe it could be over so easily.

  Did I kill it?

  I pulled myself up onto my feet and took a step toward the place where the shadow had been. There were drops of blood on the bracken, so I’d definitely shot him. The sensation of being watched was gone, replaced with an absolute stillness.

  A footstep on the bracken sounded behind me. I twisted around and instinctively pulled the trigger before realizing as the gunshot cracked through the air that I’d shot at Clay.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  “SHIT, EVIE!” HE shouted as the bullet smashed into a tree beside his head. “What the fuck are you doing?”

  I stood panting with the gun in my hand until it began to feel too heavy and slipped from my fingers. The instant it smacked heavily against the ground, I started running.

  I hurtled toward Clay and leaped into his arms.

  “I got him,” I murmured. Then my voice increased in volume as the truth in my words echoed through me. “I got him. He’s gone.”

  “Christ, Evie, did you go after the shadow on your own?” He clutched me tightly.

  “I didn’t mean to, I wasn’t going to, but he was here, Clay, he was here.” The stress left my body in shuddering sobs. I buried my face in his neck to hide the tears. “I couldn’t let him get you.”

  Clay’s body was rigid. “How could you be so stupid!” he snapped.

  I stepped away from him. “W—What?”

  “You can’t just run into these things blindly. Some things can’t be killed by bullets or by knives, or by any manmade object. There are creatures that are impervious to all manner of weapons. Others would even laugh in the face of your fire. You have to know what you are fighting.”

  “I—I got him. He’s dead.”

  “Where’s the body then?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “He disappeared. But he was bleeding. He’s hurt.”

  “You have to include me in your plans.” Clay growled. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to wake up to an empty bed with screaming and gunfire outside?”

  I shook my head as the guilt crept in. I hadn’t even considered what would happen if he’d heard the noise. It wasn’t like I could blame the sunbird for taking control either; it was me who’d wanted to keep Clay safe. It was me who’d grabbed the gun and it was me who’d ended it all.

  “I can’t go through that again. I can’t lose you, Evie. Dammit, I just can’t.”

  “I’m sorry,” I murmured.

  “You. Have. To. Trust. Me.” Each word issued from him in a seething rage. “If I tell you to stay by my side, it’s because I have a damned good reason for it. In there, I could have protected you.”

  I shook my head. He knew no more about the creature than I did. He had no more guarantee for my safety than I did facing off with the creature alone. If anything, he might have been more susceptible because we weren’t sure whether he could even see the damned thing.

  “How?” I challenged.

  “What?”

  “How would you have protected me? You have no better idea of how to kill this thing than I do. At least I can actually see it.”

  “You can see it,” he bit back in a sarcastic tone, “because it’s stalking you. Because it wants you dead.”

  Tears blocked my vision. I reached for his arm but stopped myself at the last second.

  “Just go inside,” Clay’s voice flooded with disappointment.

  “No!” I snapped. “You don’t always know better! You might have some training, but I have my instincts and you know what? They work. I kept myself alive for years without you by my side. I survived despite your sister hunting me. I survived despite every single damned obstacle that was thrown at me. And there were many.”

  “You were damned lucky! That’s all. Any one of those things could have killed you.”

  “But they didn’t,” I spat at him as I strode past, pacing toward the house with quick and deliberate steps, desperate to be away from him before my anger spiked any further.

  By the time I’d reached the back garden, I was running. The stress of the hunt, the belief that I’d somehow failed Clay, and the anger that burned through me at his reaction caused my tears to flow in a rapid stream. I raced into the bedroom, slamming each of the doors shut behind me before pressing my face into the pillow to cry in peace.

  It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He’s meant to love me. I assumed he’d support me; that we’d help each other.

  My stomach twisted as my dry throat protested in agony to the sobs that issued from my chest.

  I thought he trusted me.

  Sometime later, Clay walked into the bedroom and sat on the bed opposite me. He placed his hand on my side.

  “Evie, I’m sorry,” h
e murmured.

  Unable to shake the sting in my chest that his earlier words and displeasure had caused, and worried that my anger would spiral again if I tried to confront him about it all, I twisted away from his grip and pulled the pillows tighter to me.

  He pulled back the blanket on his side of the bed and climbed underneath. “It just scared the hell out of me.”

  I sniffed back the fresh bout of tears that were fighting their way to the surface as he rolled over onto his side, facing away from me.

  “How could you be so stupid!” His words repeated themselves through my mind.

  I saved his life.

  I saved both of our lives.

  How could he react that way?

  At some point, I must have fallen asleep. My dreams were filled once more with smoke and fire, and with the mask of hatred I’d seen Clay wear before.

  I woke with a gasp to an empty bed.

  Did he leave?

  Cold fingers reached into my chest and strangled my heart. Had I driven him away with my choice to try to save him and free us of the relentless pursuit? Had the silent treatment I’d given him the night before been too much for him to handle?

  A whimper escaped me at the possibility that I’d driven him from my life again.

  So many stupid choices!

  I sat up and looked over to the corner of the room where we’d dumped our backpacks. If he’d left, he would have taken that with him.

  They were both gone.

  My fingers twisted into the blanket that covered my lap, and it heated rapidly.

  “Good morning,” Clay’s warm voice said hesitantly.

  “Clay,” I breathed as I turned toward the sound. A smile touched the corners of my mouth and my fingers loosened their strangle hold on the blanket, saving it from combustion.

  He stood near the bathroom door watching me carefully, fresh from a shower and clean-shaven. Losing the beard had knocked at least five years off of his appearance and made him appear almost boyish again.

  “I thought you might have left,” I admitted.

  He leaned against the door jam. “It’s going to take a hell of a lot more than one silly fight to drive me from your side.”

  He crossed the room and sat in front of me.

  “I am sorry about yesterday,” he said, brushing my cheek lightly with the back of his finger. “I was an ass.”

  “You were an ass, but you were right too.”

  He raised an eyebrow at me.

  “I didn’t know what I was fighting. I rushed headlong into it, and it could have gotten me killed. It didn’t,” I added before he could claim too much of the victory. “But it could have.”

  “I need to trust you more too,” he said. “I left you once because I was certain you could look after yourself better than I could protect you. I guess seeing you in the hospital, twice, made me realize you aren’t invincible.”

  I frowned. I hadn’t even considered that he’d come so close to losing me before. Between that and his training, the desire to protect me was only natural.

  “I’m sorry too,” I whispered.

  He leaned into me, brushing his smooth cheek against mine. “It’s been a hell of a week.”

  A sarcastic bark of laughter left my lips. “You can say that again.”

  “I think you’re right though,” he said. “I think you might have got it. There was a lot of blood on the bracken down there.”

  “We can only hope. When should we check in with Ethan again?”

  “If you see it again, we’ll call him. Until then, it’ll just be us. Eth doesn’t need to know where we are or the direction we’ve traveled.”

  I nodded. “Just us? I have to say, I like the sound of that.”

  His eyes trailed my body. “I thought you might.” His hand caressed my cheek and he tilted his head slightly to brush his lips over mine. When he shifted, the towel that had been wrapped around his waist fell away.

  I hummed. “I really like the sound of that.”

  I WAS JUST finishing dressing after a shower when there was a knock on the front door. Almost in the same instant, Clay charged into the bathroom and threw my packed bag at me.

  “Evie, we gotta go,” he whispered, his tone full of urgency. “It’s the police.”

  We crept to the back of the house with as little sound as possible, peeking out the window to ensure the police weren’t in the yard yet. When we pushed the door open, shouts of surprise indicated that someone was watching for us.

  “Just run!” Clay cried out.

  “You don’t need to tell me twice.”

  I wrapped my fingers in his, and we rushed into the forest, heading past the place where I’d fought the Shadow, racing ever deeper into the gloom until it looked as though we’d wandered into the middle of a fairyland. I could almost imagine the fairy rings that Aiden had shown me during my time at the court bringing them to places like this.

  They’d sure come in handy right about now.

  “Through here,” Clay said, indicating a darker patch between some trees.

  We rushed toward it, running as fast as possible until the shouting and clamor behind us started to die down and eventually fell away. Even though the sounds of pursuit had disappeared, we continued to run, climbing over rocks and boulders that rose randomly throughout the forest.

  “I think we need a car. They’ll have the dogs out for us soon.”

  “You think they were there for us?” I asked. “Because of Zarita?”

  “Who knows? It’s more likely to be to do with the gunfire and screaming, but maybe. If they’re not, it won’t take them long to realize it’s a stolen vehicle. Even if Zarita hasn’t been found yet, it won’t be too long before she is.”

  We slowed down a little in order to save our legs and breath in case the police caught up with us sooner than we expected. Eventually, we left the confines of the forest, near the small village of Ottenhöfen. Locating a car on a quiet street, Clay set to work getting it started while I kept watch. As soon as the engine was purring, I climbed in and threw my backpack onto the backseat.

  “We’re just like a modern day Bonnie and Clyde,” I remarked as I twisted my head to see whether there was anyone watching us.

  “Don’t.” His voice was harsh.

  I turned to meet his eye.

  “Just don’t compare us with them,” he murmured. “Their story doesn’t exactly have a happy ending. Besides, we’re nothing like that. We’re not just doing this for shits and giggles.”

  “I know,” I said, brushing my hand across his cheek. “I was only joking.”

  His mouth pressed into a hard line.

  “Let’s get out of here,” I said.

  We didn’t stop for anything but gas. We turned away from the country roads, heading first for Stuttgart and then north until we eventually found ourselves in Hamburg with a choice, continue north to Denmark and Sweden or turn east toward Poland. Either way, it was a risk. Either way, we could be caught.

  Eventually, we decided to risk heading toward Sweden, hoping to find somewhere completely secluded. We drove without a specific city in mind, just an idea of finding absolute seclusion; somewhere we could hide for a few months until we were ready to decide our next step.

  Unlike our last reunion in Detroit, when we’d tried to settle among the masses, we were determined to find somewhere so remote, so isolated, that we’d be able to see and hear anyone coming long before they arrived. We wanted to find a hideaway where we wouldn’t need money or jobs to survive. Somewhere defensible, just in case the shadow wasn’t dead and came back to haunt us, or the Rain found us.

  After days of driving and searching the Norrland area, we found the perfect place. It was a tiny, abandoned log cabin nestled upon hectares of forested land about fifty miles from Kiruna.

  It was clear from the first glimpse at the dwelling that it was totally ramshackle and falling to pieces, but it had promise. Even without a detailed inspection, the repairs required were obvious. Th
ey would take weeks of hard work to make it even barely habitable. By the time we really comprehended the work involved, we were already in love with the character of the place and the land surrounding it. It was worth whatever effort we needed to make to make it ours.

  During the first few days, it had done little more than provide us with shelter from the elements, but we knew we’d have all the time in the world to fix it up. During the daylight hours, we sawed wood and painstakingly repaired all of the damage caused by the years of neglect. The tiny cottage would never be five-star accommodation, but it was everything we needed.

  “DID YOU mean what you said back in Charlotte?” I nestled my head against Clay’s chest as I asked the question. “About teaching me self-defense?”

  “Of course. Why?”

  I rolled onto my stomach so I could see him better. “I just thought while we’re here . . . alone.”

  He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me onto his chest. “I can think of better things to do with our alone time.” He kissed my forehead.

  “I bet you can, but I can’t exactly use those skills if I’m threatened.”

  He chuckled. “It might be interesting if you tried.”

  “You say that now but you’d sing a different tune if it actually happened.”

  His brows furrowed as my words registered with him. He hummed. “You’re probably right about that. You’re mine, I don’t want to even think of anyone else being that close to you.”

  “I don’t want anyone else.” I kissed the corner of his mouth before peppering light kisses along his jaw.

  “Okay, we’ll start your training tomorrow.”

  “What’s wrong with today?” I asked, kissing his neck just below his ear. I’d made the mistake of “one day” with Dad; I didn’t want to do the same with Clay. “Isn’t there some saying about today and tomorrow and stuff?”

  “I have other plans for today,” he growled before flipping us both so I was on my back and his body pressed against mine.