Embers (The Wings of War Book 1) (40 page)

My heart plummeted.  I was helpless to do anything to stop the raging inferno that was Ember.  

Suddenly, as if in answer to my unspoken prayer, a fog came blowing in.  On the hot, sunny day it was beyond bizarre, telling me that there was some kind of magic involved. 

I watched the cloud descend into the hollow, entering the flames, moving through them.  Whatever was in the mist wasn’t enough to dampen the hot flames that roared back.  They shot straight to the sky, their previous orange and yellow tendrils turning a silvery blue.  Somehow the fire was getting hotter, fighting the fog with everything it had. 

The fire was stealing all moisture from the air, replacing the mist with smoke.  I collapsed to my knees, knowing that Ember would die. There was no way she could survive that kind of heat. 

A gust of wind knocked me onto my back.  I found myself staring at a sky that was full of black clouds that had appeared out of nowhere.   I smelled the rain before it fell, and my heart leaped with joy as the cold wetness seeped through my clothes, saturating me to the skin. 

Crawling to the edge of the ridge, I looked down.  The flames were flowing back into Ember.  The fire was actually shooting from everywhere it had spread, back into her body until there was only smoke and charred earth left around her.

She looked up, straight at me.  I almost didn’t recognize her.  Her eyes were glowing bright red for an instant before they turned back to the blue I knew so well. 

What I’d just seen made me hesitate to go to her.  She’d obviously gotten over her fear and was now a walking bomb, her own weapon of mass destruction. 

I poised on the balls of my feet, apprehension stalling my movement.

Had Ember gone rogue? Was there anything left of the sweet girl I’d kissed, in a body filled with so much destroying fire?

Was she any less a monster than the rest of us?

When she collapsed, all doubt left me.  I ran down the hill, no longer concerned about what she was.

I reached her in an instant, scooping her into my arms.  Her body was extremely hot and my skin blistered where it touched her.  Ignoring the pain, I carried her away from the burnt ground that was melting the soles of my boots with each step I took.  I knelt among some fern leaves that had escaped the blaze, gently laying her onto them. 

Ivan squeezed in beside me and began licking her face.  Since we didn’t have any water available, his tongue would have to do. 

After a few seconds, she started to cough.  I pushed the wolf away and picked her back up, cradling her in my lap.  The heat had diminished and I could hold her now without my skin sloughing off. I hugged her close and smoothed back the sweat-drenched hair from her face.  She was as pale and limp as a rag doll. 

“Ember, what can I do to help you?  What do you need, my love?” I said wiping the soot from her face with my fingers.

She tried to speak, but her voice was hardly a whisper.  I brought my ear close to her mouth. 

“Please, bring me to Ila,” she murmured before her eyes closed.

She was lifeless in my arms, and for the first time in my existence, I knew true fear.

Exodus 23:20

Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place

which I have prepared. 

Sawyer ~ Thirty-Eight

E
mber was still limp in my arms, but she was breathing when we reached Ila’s cabin.  Ivan, now in his human form, burst through the door and I followed him, but the old Watcher wasn’t there.

“What’s happened?” Ila’s distressed voice called out from behind us and I turned around.   She marched up the porch steps, wearing a straw sunhat and a serious frown. 

She moved quickly and placed her hands on Ember’s face. “You must tell me exactly what you know,” she ordered.

As I carefully lowered Ember’s body onto the sofa, I told her what I’d witnessed.  The old woman’s eyes went wide with surprise.  She obviously wasn’t a part of Ember’s foray into the Demon world.

“I was hoping you could tell me why Ember came down to the compound today and barbequed two members of my community?”  I asked tersely.

She said nothing at first.  Instead she worked her hands on Ember’s body the same way that Ember had healed me.  When she’d finished, I could see the old Watcher was exhausted, but Ember was breathing easier and the color was flooding back into her cheeks.  She looked all right, except for the soot covering her from head to foot and her clothes being in tatters.

Ila brought her attention back to me and said plainly, “As far as I can gather, she went there to avenge her friend’s death.  It’s quite strange to me that I didn’t foresee what Ember was up to.  But then the girl’s powers have baffled me from the beginning.” 

“Which friend?”

I let the questions about Ember’s powers go, focusing on what she’d said first.  An image of the blonde football player sprang to mind.               

“The girl’s name was Hannah.  She was only seventeen and
your
friends murdered her, along with another girl and two boys,” she spoke forcefully, her words carrying invisible solidness that slapped me back a step.

She didn’t have to accuse me directly.  I knew what she was thinking.  And I was too ashamed to look at her.  Instead, I turned my head and gazed at the fluttering curtain over the kitchen sink. 

I should have tried to save the humans.  Even if I’d died in the process, at least I wouldn’t have to live with the guilt of the terrible deaths that they endured before the nightwalkers took their souls.  And maybe then, Ember wouldn’t have felt the need to go to the compound and seek vengeance.  I’d failed to anticipate how she’d take the news, or what she’d do about it.

“Actually, they weren’t my friends,” I said. 

Since I wasn’t about to leave Ember, I decided to be honest with Ila. 

“There’s been a fracture in our community.  In the past we were always gentle with our victims, keeping them in a trance while we fed.  They didn’t even realize what was happening to them.  We picked the type of people that the human society wouldn’t miss much—criminals and the like.  It made the whole process easier to bear.”  I breathed in and continued, “Recently, many began developing a craving for the hunt, and our leader allowed it.  Needless to say, the blood lust is upon them now.  They’re out of control, stalking the town’s people.”

Ila’s face showed no emotion as I spoke to her, except for an occasional twitch of her lip. 

“I knew of their plans to go to the lake.  I went there ahead of them to make sure Ember wasn’t among them.  But she was there, and I took her away, to protect her.” 

I didn’t think it was necessary to mention the interlude in the woods with Kimberly and Donnelly. 

“And you left the other humans there unprotected?” she said in a soft voice, barely reaching a whisper.

I shrugged, unable to take back my actions and undo the outcome.  Bending down, I touched Ember’s face.  She was the only thing that kept me from falling apart and feeling the emotions of remorse.

Her lips were slightly pursed and she was taking deeper breaths. “When will she wake?” I looked up at Ila, who was staring at me with razor sharp appraisal that raised the hair on the back of my neck.   

“She will sleep for a long time.  Why are you here, Sawyer?  What do you want with Ember, except a romantic tryst?”

Angered, I rose to my full height and looked down at the Watcher.  I had no doubt she could kill me as easily as Ember could. 

“I want more from her than romance,” I said in a low determined voice, “She will eventually be my bonded mate.”

Ivan, who was standing by the door quietly observing, gasped and said, “You can’t bond with a human! It’s impossible,” he proclaimed.

“Do you want her for yourself, is that it?” I asked in a low voice, trying very hard to control the jealousy that snarled within me.   

“No, of course not, she is my friend, and I don’t want her to get hurt,” he said defensively.

“Well, in case you haven’t noticed, the only one hurting that girl is herself,” I said pointing at Ember.

Ila looked between Ivan and me and said, “Let’s get back to you, Sawyer. Are you truly serious about your intention to bond with Ember?”

“I can’t live without her.  Once I can convince her that she belongs with me, I’m going to take her far away from here, to somewhere we can live in peace.”

“Unfortunately, you’ll never live in peace, I’m sorry to say.  Ember’s destiny is another path, a dangerous one…to hell and back.”  She spoke as if she was a prophet foretelling some doom to come, reminding me of Garrett’s similar, yet more zealous proclamation.  Of course, Ila and Garrett probably grew up in the same time period, making them a bit more dramatic than those who’d only been on earth for the last two centuries or so, like myself.

“I will not allow you to put her in danger,” I threatened, meeting her gaze.

For the briefest instant, my eyesight was clouded and a much younger, lovely blonde woman stood before me.  She was dressed all in white and the brightness that shimmered off of her nearly blinded me.

I blinked and the old Ila was standing there again. 

“The end of the world as we know it approaches and Ember is destined to be a part of the collapse.  When heaven and hell have their final battle, Ember will be there.”

“That’s impossible.”  I shook my head.  The old woman was insane.

But the grim look on her face told me she believed what she was saying wholeheartedly. 

Without hesitation, I rushed the words out, “Then I will be there by her side.”

Her laugh filled the air and I saw Ivan cringe from the corner of my eye.  The sound made a chill crawl over me.

I swallowed hard and met her gaze again.

“You and your kind are descended from Lucifer, the greatest of all the fallen angels.  When the time comes, you and Ember will be fighting on different sides.”               

Revelation 12:7

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the

dragon and his angels fought.

Sawyer ~ Thirty-Nine

I
sat down in the closest chair and dropped my face into my hands, rubbing furiously. 

“Well?” Ila said impatiently.

“I need a minute to adjust…give me a second,” I growled back.

“We don’t have many minutes, Sawyer.” 

When I looked up, Ila’s sadistic smile was gone.  It was replaced by a stony stare that made me sit up straighter.

“What do you want from me?” I said with apprehension.

“Oh, I don’t want the least thing from the likes of you.  As far as I’m concerned, your kind are diseased, a cancer on this planet that should be eradicated.” She paused and glanced at Ember, hesitating.  “It’s obvious from your reaction to the news of your origins that the Hammonds didn’t share the truth with you.”

I shook my head.  “No. I was told that we were descended from the offspring of angels, but not from the devil himself.” 

“Blasphemy,” Ila spit out.  “How could you believe such nonsense?”

Shrugging, I said, “It sounds a lot better than the alternative.”

“Lies…they lied to you.”

“Yeah, I know, but it doesn’t matter.  I
can
take Ember away.  I can keep her safe.”  

“Ember can’t be hidden from her fate.  She can’t escape it.  No matter how far away you take her, destiny will find her.” She paused and spoke softer, “She hasn’t been here very long, and look at all that has befallen her.  She’s started up a romance with one of Lucifer’s children and become friends with a Growler.  She has killed.  For someone as young and early into her training as Ember is, she should never have been able to do what she did today.  No Watcher could draw or handle that kind of power unless they were older and more experienced.”

“She did though. I saw it with my own eyes,” I argued.

“Oh, I believe you.  I’ve seen the girl do amazing things with the power, before she should have been able to even grasp the idea. The power comes so naturally to her in both fire and earth, it’s alarming to me… and I sense there is much more yet to come.”

“What do you mean?” I wasn’t really sure I wanted to know.

“I’m not certain, but I feel she is touched by air and water also.  If that is the case, then she will be the most powerful Watcher born in a millennium.

“The balance on the earth has shifted and evil is rising.  Mark my words, the end is near.  The angels are gone, and the Watchers are the only ones who will be able to stand up to the dark forces when seals are broken and they’re released.”

If she’d told me the same thing the day before, I would have laughed, but after seeing what Ember did to Kimberly and Donnelly, I felt compelled to believe her.  There was also the conversation I’d had with Garrett, who said pretty much the same thing, only he was looking forward to it.