Page 62 of A Spark in the Ash

I walk out of the conference room. On my way to my room, I look into the vault.

Jaxon is still fully engulfed in light and flames. He’s pacing back and forth inside, talking to himself. His words are very angry.

I leave him be. A lot of shit just went down. He deserves a few minutes to being angry.

My bedroom is comfortingly calm and quiet. I take my time peeling my dress off. I take my time grabbing some more appropriate underwear and a bra. I don’t rush as I pull on some pants and a comfortable t-shirt.

I sink down onto the bed when I’m done. I brace my hands against the edge of it, my elbows straight, my shoulders shrugged up to my ears. My head hangs low.

For more than a century life was kind of boring. Sure, there were the regular kidnappings and every few decades the Kindred showed their faces and we all got our asses kicked.

But it’s been so intense for the last month.

And there’s so much of it that I can’t control.

In a way, it’s so much harder being in a relationship. It’s not just my own drama I have to deal with. He brings all of his, as well. Because I’m in this and I’m committed, I’ll do whatever I can to help him through everything.

But it’s still heavy. It’s still hard.

I let out a long breath and force myself to my feet once more. I walk through the dark passageway, back to the conference room.

Jaxon is still doing his thing in the vault.

Davorian shoots to his feet the second I walk into the conference room. He steps across the space and pulls me into his arms, crushing me into his chest.

Guess he isn’t still mad at me about falling in love with an ultralight.

“I’m so glad you made it back okay,” he says as he squeezes me tight once more before releasing me.

“We were fine,” I say, catching my breath as he lets me go and steps back. Just then, I hear the sound of voices in the tunnel.

I step out and see six of the other agents walking into the bunkroom.

“What’s going on?” I ask with furrowed brows.

“There are Kindred on the way here, and you think we aren’t going to call everyone back in?” Ascelin asks with a raised eyebrow.

Duh.

“Makes sense,” I say instead, playing it cool.

“How about you update us on what’s happened since you and Jaxon left?” Davorian asks as we all sit around the table.

“Apparently, Jaxon’s mother, the one who is a crime lord and seriously bad news, is possessed, and has embraced the dusk,” I say, dropping the biggest bomb I have in my arsenal.

From their stunned silence, I know I was effective.

I lean forward, crossing my arms on the table. “And get this. So was one of his brothers, though he hadn’t embraced it.”

“Damn,” Ascelin breathes out. “That’s rough. Was he at least somewhere private when he took them out?”

A smirk crooks in the corner of my mouth. “This is the part you’ll never believe,” I tease. “He held it together, didn’t lose it, for multiple days, around the both of them.”

They both just blink at me. It takes a moment for the words to sink in, for their meaning to hit full force.

“You’re trying to tell me that Jaxon, the ultralight who couldn’t shift back into human form, even once, for over two weeks, kept from exorcising two dusk? That were in the same room as him? For multiple days?”

I let the smile pull on my lips, and I nod. “He freaking hugged his mother, danced with her. Spent hours with her. Even with her antagonizing him, and me. And he kept it together.”

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