From Ashes

by Amanda Perry

  Caleb tenses beside me, my dad fixing a scowl his way. “I kept him away from you after that. I promised you I would, and I did.”

  Memories of the hospital race through my mind in fast-forward. I try to grasp a single one at a time, but they jumble together. I struggle to make sense of them. “It was all so crazy, and I did my best to push everything that happened out of my mind.”

  “Why don’t you try to walk us through what you do remember, honey,” Leanne suggests.

  I nod, but I don’t bother starting from the beginning. “Everything you guys said sounds close to what I remember. Except for the reason I left...” I drop my head, unable to look at any of them. My behavior was selfish, and I’m embarrassed by it. “Caleb and I had a misunderstanding. I was upset, and I just needed to get away. I didn’t mean to scare anyone, but I wasn’t thinking straight. It was a huge mess.”

  “We get it, sis,” Jaxon says gently. “Don’t worry about that, okay?”

  With a deep breath, I nod and continue to relive those few days. “At one point, I woke up, and I was alone. I thought everyone left me, and I was upset. A doctor came in and said he wanted to check me over, but then...” I gasp when the memory hits me like a ton of bricks. “The nurse!” I whisper.

  “Nurse?” Dad asks as he searches around the room, wondering if anyone else may understand me. “What nurse?”

  “Th-there was a-a—” I can’t finish my thought. My body shakes, and my head spins. I remember what happened now. I know who hurt me.

  Caleb wraps his arm around me and tugs me to his side. “Baby, you’re safe now. Remember that. No matter what happened, you’re here with me, with us, and we won’t let you get hurt.”

  “Take your time, kiddo.” Dad pats my knee, his brow drawn together. “Just work on deep breaths and go slow. We aren’t in any rush.”

  I do as he suggests, pulling in deep breaths and letting them out slowly. I remind myself over and over that I’m not in the hospital anymore and the nurse isn’t here. I’m safe with my family. I’m safe with Caleb. After several moments of focusing on my breathing, I’m able to explain everything. “There was a nurse who came in when the doctor did. He was...wrong.”

  “What do you mean, wrong?” Cassie asks.

  I shiver as I remember the evil he emitted. “He was a Fallen. I’m not sure how I knew, but he felt evil. My skin crawled when he came closer to me. It was like every part of me wanted to run away from him.”

  “Shit.” Jaxon’s whispered curse draws my attention. “What did the fucker do, Riley? Is he the one who hurt you?”

  I nod, my eyes burning with tears. “The doctor left to get medicine, and the nurse grabbed me. He held my face so I couldn’t move, but I still tried to call for help. He said he’d kill me if I tried, so I shut up. He was sent by Samael to let me know they’d be paying me a lot of visits from now on. The doctor came back and wanted to give me the sedative before he could say anything else. I tried to refuse it, but he wouldn’t listen. I was so desperate to get them both away from me, I burst the pipe to distract them. It didn’t work, though.”

  “He must have slipped out and gone the opposite way,” Cassie growls. “We would have sensed a Fallen if we’d passed him in the hall on the way to your room. Stupid scum sucking ass-clown.”

  Jaxon snorts. “You have such a way with words, darling.”

  “I know, right!” Cassie smirks over her shoulder at him.

  Dad ignores the two of them and keeps his attention on me. “One thing still doesn’t make sense. If it wasn’t Caleb who hurt you, then why did you tell me to keep him away?”

  “I didn’t.” I emphasize my words with a vigorous shake of my head. “I heard him.”

  Dad frowns, but Caleb voices their combined confusion. “Heard who?”

  I turn and blink up at Caleb. “I heard you. You called for me. At first, I thought you’d come back for me. I called back to you, but then I realized it was probably my imagination or the medication. I wasn’t telling my dad you’d hurt me. I was calling for you.”

  “Well, hell,” Dad huffs and leans back. “That wasn’t your imagination, kiddo. Caleb did call for you. He’d stepped away to call his parents and give them an update. When he came back, there was chaos all around. He was trying to push his way through the doctors and nurses to get to you. Then you told me he hurt you, or I thought that’s what you were saying.”

  “Your dad was a little pissed off at my brother.” Cassie cringes. The look she sends Caleb is full of guilt. “I was kind of pissed off, too. We wouldn’t let him back into your room.”

  “That didn’t stop him from staying the whole time,” Jaxon teases.

  Caleb kicks at him with his foot. “Shut it, Jax.”

  Jaxon catches my confused frown and chuckles. “Caleb was updating his parents during the whole pipe bursting incident when Cassie and Dad thought you were hurt by Caleb, Dad kicked Caleb out and told him not to come back. Caleb technically listened, but not really... He sat on the floor outside your room for the majority of your stay. He only left when we told him you’d been discharged. He actually waited in his truck and followed us home.”

  “I didn’t see him,” I admit quietly, side-eyeing Caleb. “I thought you were keeping your distance on purpose.”

  “Never, baby.” The strength behind his words warms me all over. “I sat in my truck for a long time after you got home, waiting for your dad to call me and tell me that you’d forgiven me.”

  Leanne leans forward and rubs my dad’s shoulder as he hangs his head. “We talked about it for a while. We knew you’d have withdrawals from Caleb and how bad they’d be if we kept him away from you.”

  Dad nods. “I decided to let you make the decision. I told Caleb he could come talk to you, but he had to respect your wishes. I didn’t know what else to do. I thought he hurt my daughter, yet I knew it would hurt you to be apart from him. It was an impossible decision to make.”

  “At the time, I thought he was done with me. I was sure he came back because he wanted me to be friends with him and keep the peace between the two of us for the sake of Cassie and Jaxon.” I let out a sigh of relief. “Caleb and I talked, though. It was a really big, really bad misunderstanding.”

  “I’m so glad you finally talked,” Leanne says. “It was horrible watching the two of you suffer like that. You’re our little girl, Riley, and we never want you to be in that sort of pain.”

  Knowing Caleb suffered as much as I did hurts, but I can’t let it get to me. It’s over and done with. We’ve cleared everything up, and we can move on. At least, I hope that’s what happens.

  Caleb hugs me to his side, and I snuggle closer to him, breathing in his fiery scent. He kisses the top of my head, and I bury my face into his side with a big smile. If I could, I’d stay in this same spot for the rest of forever, but unfortunately, there’s more to discuss with everyone.

  I let out a groan, already wishing I could go back to bed. I slept for an entire day, but I’m still run down. I haven’t been nice to my body for the last month, and now, I’m paying for it.

  “What’s wrong, Ri?” Cassie asks.

  I huff into Caleb’s side, and he squirms around. I pull away from him and raise a brow in question. He wiggles around again, this time with embarrassment. “That tickled.”

  Interesting. I didn’t know Caleb was ticklish. I’ll have to remember that in the future.

  “Ri?” Cassie calls to me again.

  “Oh, I’m just tired,” I admit with a shrug. “I slept a long time, but it’s like I don’t have any energy.”

  “Go rest, kiddo,” Dad suggests with a pat to my knee. “You’ve had a long month. You’re allowed to rest.”

  “Actually, we have more to talk about.” I drop my head onto Caleb’s shoulder and yawn. “I’d rather get it out of the way now before I forget anything important.”

  Leanne gets to her feet and stretches. “We should all have something to eat, especially Riley. I don’t know the last ti
me I saw you eat more than a couple bites of anything.”

  “I’m not sure I’m that hungry,” I protest while Caleb gets to his feet and pulls me with him.

  Caleb narrows his eyes at me and frowns. “You need to eat, baby. You’re making yourself sick.”

  “That’s the problem,” I protest softly. “Lately, when I eat, I feel sick. I can’t stomach a real meal.”

  “That’s the withdrawal from Caleb,” Cassie explains as she passes us on her way to the kitchen. “He had a hard time with it, too. All the crappy feelings have been from that. The sleepless nights, no appetite, aches and pains—all of it is from the emotional and physical distance between you and Caleb. Imagine if you two were physically attached, then something or someone grabbed you from either side and ripped you apart. That’s basically what happened to your souls. Not fun.”

  “Yeah, I was told about that.” Caleb leads me into the kitchen after his sister. He points wordlessly to the stool at the bar and waits for me to take a seat. “Does it just go away instantly? Because I’m still not feeling the best.”

  “It’ll take a bit of time, but the more time you spend with each other, the better you’ll feel.” Leanne works on making chicken salad sandwiches while she explains further, “Until you’re fully bonded, being away from each other will be more difficult, though. It’s like your souls are afraid to be apart. At least, that’s what they say. We’ve been lucky and never had to spend time away from our soulmates before we were fully bonded.”

  “Who are they?” I ask.

  “It’s actually an entire class each Elemental takes in high school,” Jaxon answers for Leanne. “Remember how I told you there are schools for Elementals?”

  “Vaguely.” I nod. “There was a lot of information to take in, but I do remember something about a school.”

  Jaxon chuckles. “We skimmed over that one. You had other things to learn first.”

  “So, how are the schools hidden?” Leanne sets a sandwich in front of me with a quiet smile, and I send her a thankful one in return. With food in front of me, I expect my stomach to revolt. It’s a little uneasy, but not nearly as terrible as it has been lately, which is a pleasant surprise.

  “They’re considered private schools to the rest of the world.” Dad grabs his plate and kisses Leanne on the cheek before he slides onto the stool at the end of the bar. “There are some human private schools, but when you hear people talking about the ones that are difficult to get their kids into, that’s generally a school for Elementals only.”

  “Everyone else just thinks it’s a fancy elite school,” Cassie adds around a big bite of her sandwich. “They’re really just like regular schools, but with extra classes about our affinities, the Fallen, the gods and goddesses, and other crap you’ve been learning about.”

  Caleb grimaces as he watches Cassie talk with her mouth full. “You’re such a fucking lady, Cassie.” She opens her mouth wide and shows him her half-chewed food. He makes a sound of disgust and turns away. “Really cute.”

  “Cassie, chew with your mouth closed. Don’t make me call your mother,” Leanne playfully scolds.

  A sudden thought occurs to me, and my mouth moves before I consciously make the decision to ask the question. “Do your parents hate me after what happened?”

  Looks are exchanged around the room, but no one speaks at first. My heart thunders in my chest as the silence stretches on. I was supposed to meet them a month ago. Instead, everything went wrong, and I don’t know what their thoughts are about it. They might think I’m nothing but a troublemaker.

  Caleb catches me shifting uncomfortably in my seat and takes my hand in his. “They don’t hate you, baby. No one hates you. They’re worried and desperate to meet you, though. They’ve been bugging everyone about it for the last month. They keep trying to make up reasons to come over and meet you, but we all knew you weren’t in a place to meet them yet. They’re terrible at waiting or being patient, but they respect that you weren’t ready.” He kisses the back of my hand, causing sparks to shoot up my arm and into my chest. When I draw in a sharp breath, he smirks as if he knows what his kiss just did to me.

  “Oh.” I clear my throat and turn away from him. All I want to do is jump on Caleb and kiss him senseless, but it isn’t the best time. “So, erm, they’ll be here for Thanksgiving next week, then?”

  “We haven’t given them an answer yet. You asked for time to think, and they understand that, baby. Don’t feel rushed.” Caleb’s consideration of my feelings makes me feel cherished and cared about.

  I want to tell him that I’m fine with his parents coming for Thanksgiving, but I just don’t know if I could handle it yet.

  Chapter 11

  “What else did you need to talk to us about, kiddo?” Dad asks as I take my last bite of the sandwich Leanne made for me. I didn’t think I’d be able to finish the whole thing, but I nearly inhaled it. It was delicious. I noticed Caleb ate two sandwiches, which makes me happy.

  All I want to do is curl up with Caleb in bed and never move, but the meeting I had with the gods and goddesses is more pressing than sleep, but just barely. “I met with Hakan, Niyol, Binda, and Mikaia again.”

  The room freezes. No one so much as breathes, and I sort of understand why. The last time there was a meeting with the gods and their goddess mates, it was to scold my family for their lack of faith in me.

  “It wasn’t bad,” I assure them quickly. “They wanted to talk to me about the progress I’ve made, and the fact that word has spread about the Chosen being real.”

  Cassie lets out a relieved sigh and leans into Jaxon. “Well, at least we aren’t in trouble.”

  The rest of them breathe out their own relief, and I giggle. “You guys are scared of them.”

  Jaxon nods vigorously. “Hell yeah, we are. Hakan burned my foot, and they yelled at us!”

  “We deserved it, though,” Leanne counters. “We needed a wake-up call.”

  Jaxon glowers. “Whatever, he didn’t have to burn my foot. I have a scar for fucks’ sake.”

  “Aw, my poor baby.” Cassie places one hand on each of Jaxon’s cheeks and squeezes to give him fish lips. “I won’t let the big bad Fire god burn your cute, little tootsies again.”

  “Thanth, thweethard,” Jaxon mutters around her hands. He sticks his tongue out and tries to lick her hands on his cheeks, but it only makes him look like more of a goofball.

  “I’m sure you’ll live, son.” Even as Dad laughs at their silliness, he pushes the conversation back on track. “So, what did they say when you spoke with them, kiddo?”

  While I relay the information to them, I grab my plate and slide off my stool to put it away. Caleb grabs it from me before I can take more than one step. He points to the stool and tries to give a stern look, though he doesn’t hide his grin well. I bite my lip to hide my smile and watch him walk around the bar to the sink. “They said I’m making great progress, but I shouldn’t worry as much about winning physical fights. I should utilize my affinities more.”

  Leanne considers this for a moment. “That makes sense. You have four affinities for a reason. We should help you work on using them all.”

  “Agreed.” Dad nods. “We should lay off the physical stuff for a while, anyway. I know you wanted to jump right into it, but I worry about you overdoing it. You’ve had a hard time lately, and you need to take things slow.”

  I don’t dare mention my late-night sessions in the garage with the mannequin. Now that I’ll be beside Caleb again, I may not need them, anyway. At least, I assume I’ll be back with Caleb. He hasn’t said otherwise, and I certainly don’t want to be apart at night—or during the day—anymore. “They told me Caleb and I won’t need to worry about the Fallen’s abilities when...” I pause and cover my burning cheeks. I hadn’t planned on mentioning that part of my conversation with the gods and goddesses with the rest of the family. I wanted to talk to Caleb privately at some point soon, but now, I have the attention of everyone in the room. />
  Caleb wraps his arms around me from behind and rests his chin on my shoulder. “When what, baby?”

  “Erm...” I clear my throat and stare at a spot on the wall, unable to look anyone in the eye. Caleb doesn’t realize his touch makes it more difficult to focus, but I love being in his arms. I don’t want him to ever let me go. “When we, uhm, complete our bond.”

  Caleb’s arms tighten around me, and he inhales deeply. I shudder as sparks leap from his fingertips and land on me.

  “Easy, sparky,” Cassie teases. “You’re not alone, remember?”

  Cool air swirls around us like a breeze from the air conditioner kicking on. I raise my eyebrows at my dad who simply shrugs. “It’s warm in here.”

  Leanne lightly smacks his shoulder. “Quit that, Mark.”

  The cool breeze stops as suddenly as it started. Dad crosses his arms and pouts as Leanne snickers. “Did they explain what they meant when they said you two won’t have to worry about the Fallen and their abilities?”

  I shake my head. “They were kind of cryptic about it.”

  “I guess we just have to wait and find out.” Jaxon eyes Caleb sharply. “Wait a long, long time to find out.”

  Caleb’s body shakes with silent laughter, but he doesn’t respond to his best friend. Thankfully, he pulls the subject away from the two of us. “We’ll talk about it later. What else did they have to say?”

  “They mentioned Samael.” Caleb stiffens behind me. I put my hands over his arm around my shoulder and squeeze to give him some comfort. He hates Samael almost as much as I do. “He found out I was blessed, but they aren’t sure how. They think it was either a traitor they can’t sense, or Nukpana somehow figured it out and told Samael. Samael told me at the park he always knew who I was and what I’d become. I can’t believe a word he says, though, because he’s always been so full of lies. Either way, Samael spread the word throughout the Elemental and Fallen communities.”

  “So, the cats out of the bag, then?” Jaxon crosses his arms over his chest and plants his feet farther apart, appearing ready for a battle with invisible enemies.