Page 48 of Ember and Ash

“Do you know?” I counter.

“I know what I speculate.”

I tilt my head incredulously over his word puzzle and his avoidance. “Which is what?”

“Nothing I’m ready to voice.”

“I’m certain you know how infuriating that answer is to me.”

“You’d be surprised how equally infuriating it is to me.”

The past few days and weeks rush over me like a windstorm rocking me to my core. I’d taken pride in being in control of my life only to discover control had been a facade. None of this seems real. “I don’t want that thing inside me,” I repeat. “And I don’t want to be your enemy.”

“Then don’t be my enemy, Ember.”

“Is it that simple?”

“I didn’t say simple.”

“I want answers,” I say, and my voice is demanding, bottled up and ready to explode.

“As do I, and the sooner we get where we’re going, the sooner we’ll both find the answers we seek.”

Magic fills the air again, and I blink, and we’re sitting at the booth again. He transported me. He transported us both, and when I offer him an incredulous look, his eyes dance with amusement. The man is amused way too much to live life killing demons. “Rifting,” he says again. “And just showing you what you’re missing by not—”

I point at him. “Don’t say learning,” I warn. “I thought you weren’t willing to do that with me,” I add, referencing him declaring himself unwilling to transport me by way of magic.

He slides his coat back into place. “A few feet is not a world.”

“A world? What does that mean? Where are we going?”

“I told you. Someplace safe.” He slides out of the booth and stands, and when I don’t follow, he rotates on his heels and starts walking.

Damn him and his walking off.

I grab my jacket and rush after him. I’m really going to enjoy the next time we fight.

The Sacred Book of Nephilim

The Kingdom of Nephilim is a safe zone, a glorious place where we all wish to roam, but it is not our destiny, it is not where our duty is served. Those who fail that duty will pay a price, and the price is to never see paradise. As for the Elysium, the beauty has a price.

Chapter twenty-four

After fifteen minutes on the road, the cold vanishes and my awkwardness over my body pressing to Micah’s fades, and I actually enjoy the ride, the snow fluttering about as if dancing upon our approach to each new mile. About an hour into the ride, we pull into a small country store for gas, and I’m remarkably agile as I slip off the bike and remove my helmet.

For just a moment, I’m allowed an opportunity to appreciate Micah with that bike between his legs, and the truth is his hotness factor is off the charts. He throws his powerful thigh off the bike and removes his helmet, his dark hair falling in wild disarray, and I like it a little too much. “Can you control how I see you?” I ask. “Like, change your appearance?”

He laughs, a boisterous rumble from deep in his chest. “If I could do that, just think of the games we could play. A Crystal Seer is not easily deceived and that means you. Humans are another story.” He holds out his hands to his sides and says, “What you see is what you get, Ember. Hopefully you like me as I am.”

Only time will tell, I think, but I ask, “How old are you?”

“Sometimes, I think I’m too damn old,” he says and reaches in his pocket to produce his wallet and removes a card. “If you need the bathroom, I suggest you use it. It’s all country roads the rest of the way.”

“In other words, you don’t want to tell me how old you are.” I don’t give him time to counter. “Can’t you just magically fill the gas tank?”

“It’s out of the magical budget,” he jokes, and then says, “I can, but humans cannot, and we can’t protect them if they fear us, and they usually fear anything that is different. Therefore, I’ve learned to live inside their limitations.”

“Like you are mine, right now?”