Page 51 of Dark Embers

I snickered and shook my head.

“I’m sorry,” Ashlyn said, squeezing my shoulder where her hand still rested. “I know it’s hard. This is my first Thanksgiving without my mom, too. But my memories of her aren't great. So, I focus on the good part of this holiday, like when she would give me money to go shopping so I would leave her to drink in peace.”

Ashlyn shrugged and looked down at her feet. “I guess that was why it was such a big deal for me to go out today. It was a way of forgetting her when she was alive, so I’d hoped it would help me forget her now that she’s dead.”

My heart wrenched for Ashlyn. That was just awful.

“What exactly happened to your mom?” I asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

Ashlyn had only ever talked about the accident flippantly, like it was some boring tale that didn’t merit revisiting. But I could see the pained look in her eyes every time she dismissed it. I wanted to be there for her if sharing was what she needed.

She didn’t answer, and she was quiet for so long that I assumed she wasn’t going to, so I was resigned to let it go.

“It was my birthday,” she said, a distant look in her eyes as she stared fixedly at the seats across from us. “She had already started drinking early that morning, so when I woke up, she was not in a celebratory mood. I had to remind her that it was my sixteenth birthday. And not once did she wish me a happy one. Instead, she used it as a countdown for two separate occasions.One was how many years had passed since dad left. And two, how many more years until I could move out.”

My eyebrows shot up, and I had to blink to dissipate the tears welling on my eyelids. I never realized how bad things had been for her.

“I, uh, upset her, and she threw her almost empty bottle of liquor on the ground where it broke into hundreds of pieces,” she went on. “As I was cleaning it up, she went upstairs. Well... she was saying some really harsh things under her breath. It broke me, more than I thought I could handle.”

One tear escaped, but Ashlyn caught it before it could fall.

“I didn’t know that I was a phoenix then, and I didn’t know that I could make fire come out of my body. Her words just...paralyzed me. Before I knew what was happening, it was too late. The entire downstairs was lit with flames. I heard the bottles in her liquor closet crashing to the floor, and I knew it was going to blow. I walked out of there without a scratch, without a single burn, without my mom. When I went outside, my dad was just pulling up. I passed out and only woke up when we got to the Dome.”

I wiped away tears that treacherously spilled down my face and pulled Ashlyn into another hug. “Ash, I am just so sorry. No one deserves to go through what you went through. I hope you didn’t have to deal with that all the time.”

Ashlyn squeezed her lips in a tight line, nodding to sadly confirm the worst. “Dad left when I was four. My mom didn’t take it well. At all. It took a year for her to completely hit rock bottom. I guess I could say I’m lucky because I had to learn how to take care of myself at a young age. I mean, I know he had to leave. The school’s safety is important. I know that now. I just wish Iknew that growing up, too. He speaks so highly of ourSummerslineage like it’s enough of an explanation. I want to forgive him... It’s just hard.”

I couldn’t begin to know how she felt. Ashlyn had known her dad when he left. She’d felt abandoned by him, and she harbors that same abandonment now that he’s back in her life. I had never known my dad or even who he was. I didn’t miss him because he pretty much didn’t exist to me. If he suddenly showed up now trying to play that role, I wouldn’t handle it well, either.

I gave her a half-smile. “I want to apologize for what you went through, but I know that won’t help. All I can do is appreciate you. I’m thankful that you’re here. And even though your dad is a giant military robot”—she snorted a laugh at that—“I can tell how much he loves you and how sorry he is. Second chances are worth it.”

Ashlyn’s tears were on the verge of pooling out of her eyes, so she pushed her palms into them. With another deep breath, she pulled her hands away and tucked them into her lap.

“Thanks, Arya. I know you’re right. And it is kind of fun to put him through the adolescent hell he avoided for so many years.” She laughed, and I laughed with her.

The train came to a stop at the end of the platform, and we got off. The walk from the subway to Magnificent Mile took about fifteen minutes, and Ashlyn decided to turn the topic of conversation to shopping, commenting on the clothing displayed in the windows of the shops we passed.

I was grateful for the shift in subject, ready to forget my problems for a day and spend copious amounts of money on shit I didn’t need—okay, correction, I absolutely didneeda new wardrobe.

As we got closer, I checked my phone to message Shea for her E.T.A. She had agreed to meet us at the start of the mile.

“Arya!”

I looked up to see Shea waving from the other side of the intersection. And just like that, my heart filled with joy. It felt like forever since I’d seen her, and so much had happened in that time. We had alotof catching up to do.

Chapter 19

Shea

I had been debating all morning whether to share my magical news with my best friend, but as she came up to greet me with a hug, I was still firmly on the fence.

Because telling her about the grimoire would mean telling her how I got it. I had made a deal with a vampire. After vampires had killed her mom, she probably wouldn’t take that news lightly—hell, who would?

I already felt like a huge traitor for trusting Julian and for being so damned attracted to him, too. There were lots of things wrong with our arrangement, and yet, I didn’t have it in me to stop. He’d been telling the truth about the grimoire, and I also believed he’d been honest about having leverage where the school was involved.

Though how, I couldn’t imagine. If shifters hated my kind so passionately, how could they make an alliance with a vampire? Who at that school could Julian have ties to? No way in hell it was that prude mermaid teacher. And the way Caesar had talked about vampires the first night I met him, it was a pretty safe bet it wasn’t him, either.

Caesar. That was another thing I hadn’t told Arya about: the fact that I had a pretty significant and pitiful crush on her school director. And that we’d both seen each other naked at this point. And that, if his erection the other night was any indication, he was pretty damn into me, too, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

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