by H G Lynch
“Yeah, shopping sucks,” she muttered quietly, relaxing into the sweet smell of him and the solidness of his chest.
“I bet, and using your powers must take a lot out of you,” Reid murmured, rubbing his thumb up and down her arm. She tensed at his words. She hadn’t told him about her training sessions with Owen – she hadn’t even told him Owen was a warlock. So how did he know? Oh…oh god, that was bad.
He must’ve felt her tensing because he pulled back to look her in the eyes and gently tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Relax. It’s okay. I get it; you want to control your new powers, and you didn’t think I’d react well to knowing Owen was a warlock. I don’t care about that. It’s just that…I figured out what last night was about.”
Crap, he did know about her dream. She felt guilt bite her hard. “Look, I’m so sorry! I don’t know what…I mean, I felt so bad and I just…I really don’t like Owen like that! I don’t! I…” Ember tried to explain, stumbling over her words, and failed. Her lip trembled and she clamped down on it, shutting up. She was so worried he’d be hurt, and she felt so guilty and just a little confused about how she felt about Owen. She shouldn’t have let him touch her earlier, damn it!
Reid just blinked at her, his eyebrows raised into his hair. “Whoa, Ember, I’m not mad at you. You don’t have to explain. I get it. It’s not your fault. And I can hardly be mad at you for last night ’cause, regardless of your reasons, it was…fun.” He smiled that arrogant, suggestive grin of his and arched a brow. She looked away, biting her lip, and felt a slight blush colour her face.
She shook her head to knock away the memory of his lips crushing hers, and muttered, “Okay, whatever. So this isn’t about my stupid dreams. Then what is it you want to talk about?” She pulled away to sit on the end of the bed.
He sighed and shrugged. “I was just going to tell you I know about the dream and I know that you felt guilty about it. But I want you to be careful around Owen. Warlock or not, he has a thing for you and it makes me feel kind of…” He stopped, frowning thoughtfully.
“Uh, jealous? Is that the word you’re looking for?” Ember raised an eyebrow.
He scowled at her. “Yeah, I guess that’s the word. But if you tell anyone I have that kind of insecurity, I will so–”
“You’ll so what?” she asked, smirking. “What could you possibly do to me?”
He looked thoughtful for a moment. “I could ask your mother your for your hand in marriage,” he said, the corners of his lips twitching. Her smirk fell and she glared at him.
“She’d kill me,” Ember pointed out.
Reid nodded. “I know.”
“She’d kill you too.”
He paused, sighed, and shook his head, making strands of silky blonde hair fall into his eyes. “Okay, good point. I’m not sure it’s worth dying for.”
Ember folded her arms and gave him a look. “You don’t think marrying me is worth dying for?”
He blinked, as if he realised what he’d just said, and then his eyes widened. He started spluttering. “That’s not…I mean, I’m not…you’re…we’re just…”
Ember started laughing, and he seemed to realise she was joking. He stopped spluttering and glared at her. “You’re evil.”
She nodded sagely. “Yep, I know. Isn’t it part of my charm?”
“What charm?” “Ouch!” Ember pretended to be hurt, pouting mournfully. Reid just rolled his eyes, unimpressed. She rolled her eyes right back at him and flopped back on her bed, stretching. “Are we done here? ‘Cause I am seriously worn out now. Oh, and try not to kill Owen please. He’s a pain in the ass, but he’s still a friend…sort of.”
There was a pause, and then Reid said reluctantly, “Sure. I won’t kill him.” Then he leaned over her, drawing one finger over her lips. Her heart tripped over itself and she forgot how to breathe.
Suddenly Reid straightened, and a spark lit his blue eyes. “How about we take the rest of the day off?”
Ember blinked at him. “What do you mean?” “Well, I’ve been thinking about it, and between school and your mother and you Turning, we haven’t exactly had a lot of time together recently.”
“We see each other every day,” she pointed out. He rolled his eyes. “And we always end up talking about the witches, or being interrupted. I mean, we haven’t done anything normal in a while. Hell, think about it, we’ve been going out for, what, a few weeks now? And aside from that trip to the pool with Sherry and Ricky, we haven’t had a real date.”
Ember eyed him skeptically. “You want to go on a date?” Reid nodded eagerly. She stared at him, trying to figure out if he was serious. His expression was earnest. He really meant it. And, honestly, he was right. They hadn’t been on a real date, and they rarely spent time alone together – when they did, someone always interrupted, or he got pulled away by one of the guys to deal with some supernatural emergency, like a pixie invasion into the meeting den, or a ghoul making a mess of the town hall. (She’d learned very quickly that there were a lot of things out there she’d never imaged could be real, and that they were drawn to Acorn Hills for some reason, so the boys – being the only ones aware and capable of it – were often busy dealing with troublesome supernatural beings.)
“Ember?” Reid asked, and she blinked, retuning her attention to him. Some of the eager light was fading from his eyes, uncertainty creeping in. It was rare for him to look so anxious, and it was sort of adorable. Finally, she nodded. “Okay, a date. What did you have in mind?”
He beamed, and it lit up his entire face. He looked genuinely excited, and Ember felt a grin spread across her own lips in response to his enthusiasm. He took her hand, sliding his long fingers between hers. “It’ll be a surprise. But I swear, you’ll love it,” he said, tugging her off the bed. Ember laughed as he pulled her close and cupped her chin to place a swift, sweet kiss on her lips. “Come on,” he murmured, pulling away reluctantly, his fingertips lingering on her cheek. “We should go before some new crisis pops up.”
Chapter Thirteen
** Ember **
True to his word, Reid refused to tell Ember where they were going. She stared out the window of the Aston Martin, almost bouncing her seat with curiosity. The last time Reid had insisted on surprising her was after Joseph Rian attacked her, and he’d taken her to his family’s private stables – she smiled as she remembered that day; the was the first time she’d gotten a glimpse of the sweet, funny boy Reid Ashton could be underneath all that attitude and reputation.
She’d learned since then that Reid’s parents lived in a manor house on the edge of town, that they were not born vampires like him but they’d been Turned some time in the seventeenth century, and they, along with Ricky, Brandon and Perry’s parents, helped build the town as a safe place for vampires and other supernatural beings while the witch hunts were going on – she’d also learned that, given a few centuries, money accumulated for vampires like dust bunnies did for normal people. But Ember had noticed that, despite his family’s wealth, Reid didn’t let all that money go to his head – his mother, he’d told her, was a painter and his father was an architect. Ricky’s parents owned a restaurant in town. Perry’s mother was a music teacher at the university. Brandon’s parents also worked at the University, but his father taught biochemistry, and Brandon’s mother was a researcher. All of the boys were only children because it was hard for vampires to get pregnant, Reid had explained, but none of them were spoiled. Because of what they were, they were brought up learning to be careful about how they acted, how to feed, how to fight.
They had to be responsible, Reid said, though he’d given her a wry smile when he said it, showing he recognised the irony of his own words. Reid Ashton was the least responsible person she’d ever met. He was reckless and temperamental, stubborn and – until he met her – completely hedonistic. But, she admitted, he never seemed spoiled or snobbish. He wore ratty jeans and faded t-shirts and always the same pair of unraveling fingerless gloves; he didn’t
look down on those with less money, didn’t attend the posh kids’ parties. If anything, he seemed to enjoy slumming it at bars and nightclubs, and when she’d asked him about it, he’d just shrugged and said, “Money doesn’t matter to me – to any of us. Designer labels would just make us stand out more than we already do, and that’s the last thing we need. We aren’t human, no matter how much we act like it. No amount of money can change that, even if I wanted it to. And I don’t.”
“Here we are,” Reid said, pulling the car to stop in front of the plain-looking building that housed the leisure centre where they had gone swimming. Ember cast him a wary sideways look as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “You know, I didn’t bring a swimsuit.”
He grinned, popping the driver’s side door open. “Won’t need one. There’s a lot more to this place than just the pool – you’ll see.” He got out and shut the door, coming around to open Ember’s door before she could. He bowed as she slid out, trying not to smile as she rolled her eyes. After locking the car, Reid took her hand again, and she followed him into the leisure centre. He held the glass door open for her, and they stepped inside, instantly wrapped in warm air and the smell of chlorine and sweat. The reception area was round, with a curved oak reception desk, and blue and green tiles on the walls and floor. Several hallways led off the reception area, and signs pointed toward the swimming pool, the gym, the indoor tennis courts, etc. Ember wondered which they were going to this time.
Reid squeezed her hand before letting go, telling her to stay put while he went to talk to the woman behind the reception desk. Curious, Ember started to listen in on what he was saying, before realising that she sort of did want it to be a surprise, so she turned away and began examining the tiles on the walls. If she tilted her head, she could make out an abstract design in the blue and green and white, almost like waves and fish. She turned and looked at another wall – the design was different on each wall, and this one looked like a blue sky dotted with fluffy clouds and angular birds. “Coming?”
Ember jumped as Reid’s breath tickled the back of her neck. He chuckled, sliding his fingers through hers, and began towing her down one of the hallways, which were decorated in the same sort of bright, abstract designs as the lobby. She tried to read the signs they passed, but Reid put a hand over her eyes. “No cheating,” he said, laughing as he pulled her along. Blind but smiling, she let him. Finally, after what felt like a bunch of turns and a short eternity later, they came to a stop. She felt Reid’s lips brush her ear, his hand still over her eyes. “Are you ready?” he whispered, and she shivered. She nodded. He lowered his hand and stepped back, and Ember opened her eyes.
At first, the light was so bright after the darkness of her temporary blindfold that all she could do was blink. But then her eyes adjusted and she realised what she was looking at. An irrepressible grin stretched her lips, excitement bubbling in her chest. Reid stepped forward and shoved his hands in his pockets, his smile hesitant. “What do you think? Willing to give it a go?”
She flicked him a glance, then returned her gaze to the intimidating climbing wall in front of her. It was so high, it almost touched the roof, and the fake-rock surface was bumpy and ridged, dotted with brightly-coloured handholds. A few other people were already on the wall, clinging to it like lizards or swinging on their safety harnesses. Ember had never told him, but she had always wanted to try this. She wondered how he’d known. Then she realised, from his hesitant expression, that he didn’t. She turned to him and nodded eagerly. “Definitely. I bet I can even beat you to the top.”
His hesitation melted away, replaced by a grin. He laughed. “We’ll see about that.”
*
Ember perched atop the climbing wall, high above the shining linoleum flooring, and the handful of amused onlookers – including Reid, his blonde hair shimmering like brass under the lights. Even from up here, she could see he was grinning, his teeth flashing white as he laughed. In his hand, he held his phone and he pointed it toward her, taking a photo. His voice chimed in her head: six minutes, thirteen seconds, he said, I can’t believe you beat my time by four seconds.
Smug, Ember fluttered her fingers down at him in a cheeky wave. He shook his head. Reid had been so sure she couldn’t beat his time – he was a vampire after all, inhumanly quick and agile. Obviously, he hadn’t counted on her new-found supernatural agility, or her mad skills from climbing trees all the time.
Come down from there now, he muttered into her mind, crooking a finger up at her. Smirking, Ember turned and began climbing back down. Her fingers curved around the plastic handholds, her feet finding safe purchase step after step. Then her foot was dangling over twenty feet of open air, and she pressed her body close against the fake rock wall. Her fingers started to slip, sweaty and aching from the climb up. She cursed, looking down to find the next foothold, only to realise it was further down than she’d thought.
Biting her lip, she stretched her small body, cursing again at her own shortness as the toe of her foot finally found the next foothold. This was not the way she’d come up, she realised, but now, looking around for a close enough handhold, her fingers slipped and suddenly she was falling free through the air. A scream caught in her throat, and she instinctively twisted in the air, trying to right herself. It felt like she fell forever, but it must have only been a second before she jerked to a stop, swinging and spinning wildly, still at least fifteen feet above the floor. Her heart pounded insanely, and she waited for her body to catch up with her mind and realise she was no longer falling. The straps of her harness bit painfully into her thighs, and her head spun with dizziness when she looked down. A couple of people stared up at her with shocked expressions, hands over their mouths. The man holding the rope for her harness was pale, his fingers white around the black rope, the only thing keeping her from hitting the hard floor. Not, she thought, that it would do any permanent damage. A broken bone, maybe, but it would heal swiftly. Still, it would put a dent in what had been an awesome date.
Carefully, she was lowered to the ground, spiraling slowly. Her eyes searched for Reid amongst the surprised watchers, but she couldn’t see him. The ground swirled up toward her, and then her feet touched the floor…and then arms were around her, and she sucked in the smell of spiced apple on a startled gasp. Reid crushed her close for a moment, and then pulled back, his hands gently framing her face as he searched her features for damage. “Are you okay? Ember, are you hurt anywhere?” he asked, his voice slightly uneven. She blinked, startled by the panic in his eyes. A breathless laugh escaped her and she nodded. “I’m fine, Reid. I just slipped. I didn’t even fall for more than two seconds.”
Reid sighed in relief, and then brought his mouth down on hers. Caught by surprise, she gasped against his lips, and then melted into the kiss. Her heart was still pounding, adrenaline from the fall bubbling through her veins like a brilliant drug; it ramped up the sensitivity of her nerves, so every brush of Reid’s soft lips over hers was enough to make her knees weak. His hands were still butterfly light against her cheeks, but she tasted the panic in the frantic pressure of his lips. By the time he pulled away, her heart was pounding so fast it felt like her blood had been replaced by champagne, and she felt dizzier than she had when she fell; she looked into Reid’s bright, azure eyes, surrounded by thick dark lashes, and thought, I’m still falling, and I never want to hit the ground.
“That,” Reid whispered, still holding her face gently, “was the scariest two seconds of my life.” Ember started to laugh, sure he was joking, but when he didn’t smile, she stared at him. She shook her head. “Reid, I wasn’t in any danger. I was wearing the harness, and the guy had hold of the rope the whole time. And even if I did hit the floor, it’s not like it would’ve killed me.” Sweet as it was, she couldn’t understand the fear on his face. He knew she was more durable than a normal human now. She was in more danger on a daily basis, back at the school, when she climbed her tree without any sort of safety harness. He’d seen her in real dang
er, when she confronted the witches in the woods and they tried to kill her, and when Joseph Rian attacked her in that alleyway…
Reid shook his head. “I know. But seeing you fall like that…all I could think about for a second there was how you looked the day after the witches…did whatever they did to you. You looked so small and helpless, lying in bed, barely able to move.” He huffed out a breath, tilted her head down so he could place a kiss on her forehead. “God, Emz, I didn’t even know I could feel panic like that.” Surprised by his sincerity, Ember lifted a hand and placed it gently against his cheek. “Reid, it’s okay. I’m fine, see? You don’t have to worry about me.”
One corner of his mouth tipped up and he relaxed, stepping back. As he started undoing her harness, his head bowed, she could have sworn she heard him whisper, “I always have to worry about you, Firefly.”
Chapter Fourteen
** Ember **
It was the fourth day after Owen’s arrival, and Ember’s third lesson in controlling her powers. She was getting better at levitating things, but that was all she could do. She still hadn’t discovered any other powers, aside from mind Compulsion, but that was a vamp thing, not a witch thing. Her vamp abilities were easy to figure out. All the usual stuff really, aside from the bizarre feeding habits which could pounce on her at any moment.
“Ugh, I’m so bored of this. Isn’t there anything else I can do? Wow, I can make a leaf float a few feet off the floor. So can the wind. Not a great skill really.” Ember sighed, bored of doing the same thing over and over.
Owen grinned at her. “Well, I’m sure there’s plenty of other skills you have, but they may or may not be linked to your witchiness,” he said soothingly, but there was that damned undertone that he seemed keen on taking with her. She knew what it meant, and it was starting to really bug her. Uh, hello, I have a boyfriend! she thought, grimacing. Reid was already looking for an excuse to give Owen a kicking. If Owen didn’t watch himself, Ember wasn’t going to be responsible for what her boyfriend would do.