Page 110 of Ember and Ash

“I’m not going after him, Ember. I’m ready if he comes after me. I’ll come back when I’ve dealt with the demon activity. Just don’t forget, it’ll seem longer to you than me.”

“No,” I breathe out. “I don’t want you to go. And I want to say—”

“Save it for when I get back.”

“No. No, I was stupid and childish and—”

“No. I was hard on you.”

“You were trying to save my life. I know that.”

He’s silent a beat. “There is a lot for us to say to each other, a lot I want to say to you, Ember, but now can’t be the time. I really have to go.”

“Why is it so urgent? What do you know that I don’t?” He pushes to his feet, and I follow, aware that I’ve already lost this battle. “How will I know you’re okay?”

“You won’t be able to speak to me through our link, but you’ll be able to feel me.”

I round the table, and he turns to face me. “I have a bad feeling about this, Micah,” I repeat.

He catches me to him, and it’s as if my body sighs in relief with the feel of him next to me, his hand sliding to my face. “Every decision I make is about saving you, Ember.” The words vibrate with emotion from somewhere deep in his soul, his torment palpable, his fear for me with it.

“I know that.”

“Do you?”

“With every part of me.”

His mouth closes over mine, and the sweep of his tongue is silk and fire at the same time, moaning through me with such passion I’m trembling, the flutter of butterfly wings in my chest. I sink into him and wrap my arms around him, but too soon, he’s torn his mouth from mine. “We’ll do that again when I get back.” He brushes gentle fingers over my cheek, and then he’s gone.

The Sacred Book of Nephilim

Pray you never meet an Archdemon, but if you do, pray even harder for your next breath.

Chapter forty-seven

Iknow the minute Micah leaves Elysium. It’s as if the world itself wails inside me and then goes silent. I rift to the lighthouse, desperate to talk to Gabriella and Silas, desperate to plead with them to help me protect Micah. I check every room, frustrated that neither of them is anywhere to be found. Utterly at a loss, I rift back to the house and find them sitting at the kitchen island, the fireplace fired up, flames of orange and blue licking at the glass.

“Cellphones are underrated,” I say, rifting to the island.

Gabriella exposes the tattoo on her wrist. “That’s why we have these. You need one. We need to be able to communicate.”

“Agreed,” Silas says, remarkably serious at present, and I suspect he’s not happy about Micah leaving him here. “We can’t keep you safe if we can’t find you.”

“That’s not going to happen,” I say in instant rejection. “We all know the serpent is coming for me. I don’t want him coming for either of you.”

“At the very least, we need to link up, Ember,” Gabriella argues. “We need to be connected. Your fire. My water. I can halt your destruction if you turn. Not that I think you will.”

“If I did, and I knew you could halt my destruction, I’d find you and I’d kill you. No tattoo. No tracking spells. Nothing.”

“You’re not going to turn,” she argues. “We balance each other. A link is necessary.”

“I’m all in, too,” Silas says. “You turn naughty, I’ll turn nasty. I’ll come for you.”

“No to both of you. When we leave Elysium, we can use cellphones. Right now, I need you both to go to the Underbelly with me.”

“Why the fuck would we go to the Underbelly?” Silas demands.

“I don’t know what Micah told you, but he went after Jeremy.”