Ember (59 page)

He laughed heartily.

“You
never
talk to me,” I
presented.

He smiled, amused, but curious. “What does
that have to do with anything?”

“Well, when you lo . . . when you like
someone, shouldn’t you
talk
to them a lot?”

“It’s love. And, no, not necessarily.”

I furrowed, attempting to ignore the way his
fingers were shifting around mine. “You’re sort of mean to me.”

He smiled, then swiveled his eyes around in
consideration. “. . . Yeah . . . what’s your point?”

“
What?
”

“You lost me, baby.”

Baby.
I moaned.
Oh, that was
unfair, now I’ve completely lost my train of thought. I knew there
were more reasons. . . .

There was a long pause in which he waited
patiently.

“I drive you crazy.” I pointed out, freshly
confused.

He raised a devilish brow, then tightened his
grip on my back. “Well, obviously.”

“
Jaden.
”

“If you insist on being stupid, I’m going to
go with the
‘more convincing’
idea.”

I met his eyes hard then. And what I saw
stopped me solid.

It didn’t matter how little sense it made
that he could
possibly
be in love with me. With the way he
was looking at me it was undeniable. He just . . .
was.

I suddenly felt deeply angry with him.

“You took too long,” I said, brow narrowed
lamely.

He laughed. “Well, we sort of got
interrupted. . . . Plus, I didn’t think you didn’t know.” He
brought my hand up to his lips. I could feel his warm breath, nice
against the cold.

“I’m dense remember.”

He smiled, then kissed it. “I’ll try to be
more transparent in the future.”

Somehow I didn’t see that happening . . . I
nodded anyways, biting into my lip.

Then it got quiet and he lifted his brows
like he just might kiss me again. Before he could, a wet ball of
fur hopped onto his shoulder, causing him to back up and release my
body.

Tanis squeaked twice and Jaden eyed him
derisively. Then I reached for him with a short laugh. He was
soaked and must have been very cold. I enclosed him in my hands,
holding him tight against my stomach to warm him.

“Thanks a lot,” said Jaden.

I checked back up at the boy. He was giving
Tanis a resentful expression. I pursed my lips, then lifted the
little guy up, making a small hole and peeking inside.

“He’s cold,” I defended.

“He sabotaged me,” countered Jaden, features
narrowed.

I smiled, meeting his eyes till he gave me
look that made my blood quicken. Then I searched around,
lightening, aware once more of my surroundings. The trees, the
wind, the silver sky . . . it all looked different though, very,
very
different.

“Uh-oh,” I said, halting in my excitement.
I’d just remembered something.

“What?” asked Jaden. I noticed now that he
was wearing an all black outfit. Dark leather pants. Dark cloth
shirt. Leather jacket over that.

“Ikovos,” I explained, turning towards the
path. “I told him I’d be right back, he’s gonna be—”

“I already ran into him,” said Jaden. “He
knows I’m with you.”

I settled. “Oh. . . .”

He was smirking.

“Did you kill him?”

His brow furrowed. “Would have. . . . I was a
little preoccupied.” He looked at me in that way again, and my
knees got all shaky. We had moved away from the rock. I was closer
to the path.

“I guess I’m not in trouble any more, right?”
I asked it with a sugary-sweet smile. He was narrowed at first,
then it disappeared completely with a head shake.

He laughed. “That’s so wrong.”

Tanis wiggled in my grasp. I tried to
maintain my innocence by tightening my lips against a smile. Then a
shiver took me, cold wind flaring up. He didn’t miss a beat,
stepping forward and wrapping his arm around my body. We started
walking.

I thought of all the things I’d like to say
or ask, like how long he’d felt this way, why in the world he did,
what was going to happen now, oh, that was the big one. But we were
going to run into Ikovos any second and I already didn’t know how I
was going to handle the situation.

When I saw him up ahead, I pointed a loose
finger and looked over to Jaden. The dazzlingly gorgeous boy, that
had all the more affect at such a close proximity, simply smirked
knowingly, leaned down to kiss the top of my head, then released
his arm, putting a slight space between us.

My skin felt hot.
He could have left off
the head kissing part.

I didn’t have time to compose myself before
Ikovos looked towards us. He eyed me, then Jaden. We both walked up
slowly, me going to lean back against the rock Ikovos was sitting
on. Jaden sat across from us.

I cleared my throat, continuing to stroke
Tanis, then turned up.

Ikovos grinned immediately at my face.

“Jeez, what’d you do to her, Jaden?” he
asked, looking to the dark-haired boy.

I blushed. Jaden sent rock flying at his
head. He ducked it easily, lips drawn and looking to me.

“And he's not even angry anymore.”

That's why he just threw a rock at
you?
But when I checked over, a smile was leaking through the
obviously forced glare. It made me warm thoroughly.

“I
should
be.”

“Hey, I didn't know you were back,” defended
Ikovos, meeting his eyes then gesturing over. “
She's
the one
that lied.”

“Traitor!” I yelled, disbelievingly.

His face scrunched, head shaking. “Not
really, he won't get mad at you.”

I flushed again, eyes dropping. Then I looked
over at Jaden. He was shaking his head down and chuckling
softly.

I guess Ikovos was right. I looked at the
light-haired boy and he pointed haughtily. My eyes narrowed once,
then I walked over to grab my jacket.

“Whatever, doesn't matter,” said Jaden in a
rush. “What exactly is it that you guys are doing here?”

I slipped Tanis into the inner pocket, then
shrugged it on. My skin was all tingly and numb from the recent
ordeal.

“You didn't know before you came?” asked
Ikovos.

I turned back in time to see Jaden crossing
his arms.

“I heard about it,” he said. “It just doesn't
make any sense to me.” Then his gaze moved over to me,
lingeringly.

I cleared my throat and headed back.

“How did you know where to come anyways?”
asked Ikovos.

“Master Thoran.” Jaden shrugged.

Both of us shot up instantly.

“He
knew?
” I questioned.

Jaden just smirked at me.

“He told you?” added Ikovos
incredulously.

“Getting information works better when you
don't have obvious intentions of using it to disobey the person,”
said Jaden, tilting his head.

Ikovos lifting his brows in realization.
“Then he let you come?” It was more of a statement.

“He knew I would go after you guys
anyways.”

I hummed with a thrill at the words. I knew
they were talking, and I knew this was all important stuff. But all
I could focus on for any surmount of time was that the picturesque
boy sitting on the rock five feet away had just told me he loved
me.

Had he? . . . I wasn’t dreaming it up was I?
. . .

Ikovos shrugged. “He should have known we
would have either way too.”

“I think he did . . . ,” said Jaden, face
fixed off in thought. Then it turned grim and he looked at me.

We were all quiet until Ikovos leaned
forward. “He did talk about the Gaeln with me there . . . he could
be torn between what's best for the order and what's safe for . .
.”

He stopped.

Then Jaden hopped up, confidently. “That's
why I'm here. Nothing stands a chance against three artisans.”

I narrowed down. Ikovos exhaled
knowingly.

“What?” asked Jaden.

Ikovos took a breath. “She hasn't been able
to do anything since the attacks.”

I frowned, but when I looked up Jaden's mouth
was tipped ruefully.

“Well, I can fix that up,” he said, then he
walked towards me.

I warmed at just the thought of it. If this
actually worked though, I was going to have to admit to the fact
that I was completely dependent on him for everything.

A loud strike of thunder interrupted him. We
all looked up.

“We may want to try and reach the summit
before this gets any worse,” noted Ikovos.

“How much further is it?” asked Jaden.

Good thing Ikovos climbed that tree. The wind
blew up fiercely.

“Twenty minutes,” answered Ikovos.

Jaden nodded. Then the other boy hopped off
the rock, going to grab the packs. I held Jaden's eyes for a
moment, then went to grab my own bag. He stopped me, stepping
forward and grabbing my hand.

Okay. I hadn’t dreamt it.

“Don't be brave,” he said, tone serious.

My stomach twisted. “That's interesting
advice.”

He gave me a “you-know-what-I-mean” look . .
. And I did. Then he lifted my hands up to kiss them and went to
help Ikovos get the bags.

My breath shook as the thunder rumbled again.
I straightened up.

Twenty minutes . . . then all of this would
be over, everyone would be safe. Just twenty minutes.

~ ~ ~

THE STORM WORSENED as we made our way to the
top. My mind was scattered. The Gaeln, the mission, the boys back
home, and Jaden. . . . He stayed close as we walked up to the top.
I started to remember my dream at one point and I wished I had told
him about it. Though just the memory of him socking Sylvanus made
me feel safer. I also wished that he had gotten to help me conjure
a flame, but we were in too much of a rush . . . there would be
time for that later.

The sky was darker with clouds when we
reached the top. The scene was breathtaking. As soon as the trees
broke, the ground leveled out to a peak of flat, smooth, rock -
with not so much as a plant across it. It was higher than any of
the surrounding mountains, maybe a hundred feet in diameter.

A carved statue stood atop a platform on the
other side, easy to spot since there was nothing else on the grey
slab. When my eyes hit it, I felt suddenly focused: single-minded.
My pace quickened unconsciously.

“Whoa,” said Ikovos, stopping me with a hand
across my stomach. “Let's be careful with this.”

Jaden kept past us. “Yeah, and
you
stay off till we check it out.” He lifted his eyebrows meaningfully
to me.

I furrowed. That’s so unfair, I was the one
that had us come. Still, I obeyed, following slowly, a bit behind
them. Inside my pocket Tanis was twirling in circles. I don't think
he liked the intense wind
or
the almost constant rumble of
thunder.

We stopped about five feet back. Jaden walked
up first, looking the stand over, then Ikovos followed. I just
hugged my arms, sighing and fully aware that if I tried to go up,
I'd get yelled at.

“Are there any specific directions about
what's supposed to happen once you get here?” asked Ikovos, feeling
around the slick piece.

I shook my head. “Just to come here and speak
with them, then they'll be a—” my eyes darted to Jaden. He cocked
his head in question. I swallowed. “Then they'll help.”

A sacrifice, a test, a trial, different
portrayals every time, but always
something
.

Jaden started towards me, I know to
interrogate me about what I'd just omitted. Ikovos saved me when he
straightened up suddenly.

“The book,” he said. Then he gestured to the
statue. “It's a podium, it's for the book.” He declared it dumbly,
like we should have thought of it from the beginning.

I laughed. “Oh, yeah.” Then gave Jaden a
quick glance and turned around to dig through my pack. The silver
tome was near the top. I could see it glowing even in the daylight.
I grabbed it, took a breath, preparing to make a case against
Jaden, then started up to turn around.

Before I could another flash lit the sky,
followed by a crack that sent Tanis leaping out of my jacket.

“Tanis!” I shouted. He kept running. I
glanced around at the boys. “Just a sec.”

Jaden looked dismal, I think irritated that I
was still avoiding his question. Ikovos nodded then started saying
something to the other boy that I didn't catch. Too loud up
here.

I ran along the stone after the little
troublemaker. He kept on till he was at the edge of the summit,
then darted under a bush. I bent down, quickly seeing that he was
hiding shakily in the thickest part of it.

“Oh, I'm sorry, Tanis.” I said, reaching for
him. “We're almost done I promise.”

He squeaked.

“As soon as we get back, I'll let you have a
go at the entire pantry. Just come with me, okay?” I put my palm
out.

His round, dark, eyes blinked hesitantly.
Then he crawled onto my hand.

I smiled, eyes closing against a heavy,
leaf-filled, gust of wind that had just come through. Then I bent
up.

Ahead of me now were the woods, and what I
saw made my body freeze. At first I thought I was just remembering
my nightmare, but I blinked repeatedly and it wasn't changing.

A man, flawless complexion, light hair,
nicely-spaced features, and a pressed smile.

Sylvanus, in his human form. . . . I hadn't
seen it in so long . . . but it didn't look much different from the
monstrous version now.

His eyes were the same.

The pinkish lips curved up at each side and a
gasp escaped my lungs. Then I tried to force control of my body,
burying Tanis deep into my jacket first, then spinning on my feet
to run back.

The attempt was futile. His arms were wrapped
around me before I even took a step.