Page 85 of Ember and Ash

The room seems to pause for my reaction, and I don’t make them wait. My response is remarkably simple. “I want them alive long enough to know what they know about my life. Which brings me to the need for answers.” I glance around the room. “I need to know what the Knowledge Keepers said to all of you.”

The room goes silent once again. I seem to be good at rendering them all wordless, and Micah leans forward, elbows on his knees. “Ember deserves to know what the Knowledge Keepers had to say. Speak freely.” He lifts his chin at Zeke. “You start.”

“There’s a proper way of the universe,” he says. “Ember must choose the light or the darkness now that she’s of age. The serpent cannot interfere, and that’s exactly what has happened. The Judgement Tree will right what is wrong and give her a fresh start.”

“Same,” Braylon adds. “I heard the same.”

“As did I,” Gabriella says, “but with more details.” All eyes turn to her as she continues. “I was told that Ember must go to the Judgement Tree, but she cannot go into the kingdom without the serpent being bound, or the serpent will be freed in our land with disastrous results. She must go to the Diviner of Amherst and plead for a drink from the magical Amherst River. The river will bind the serpent until the Judgement Tree can free her.”

“This river can do that for me?” I ask, glancing at Micah for confirmation.

“Yes,” Micah says, but his jaw is steel that looks to shatter.

My hand goes freely to his arm, and on some level, I know this blows the minds of his trusted followers, his friends, but I don’t seem to care, not in this moment, not in a lot of moments. “What’s wrong?”

“The Diviner will want a favor,” Silas answers for him. “And not one you will want to give.”

“Like what?” I ask, my attention back on Micah.

“I’ll handle the Diviner,” he assures me.

“There’s more,” Gabriella states, drawing all eyes back to her. “Ember can control the serpent long enough to get to the Diviner, but she must realize her full power to do so.” She grabs my hand. “Which is dangerous for you and us because you will still have the serpent inside you, and you will feel him trying to corrupt you.”

There’s a pulse of apprehension in the room. “I’ll fight him,” I vow. “I’ll beat him. We will beat him.” My attention lands on Micah. “We will beat him.”

Approval floods his eyes. “I know we will.”

My lips curve, and I pick up my glass. “A toast.”

There are murmurs of agreement, and Braylon refills our glasses. When the glasses are sloshing about with amber liquid and hands have lifted, I deliver a toast from the heart. “To new friends. To defeating the serpent. To the light. To saving the world.”

Everyone shouts out approvals, and we all drink. “Oh shit,” Silas says, eyeing his watch. “The football game started.”

I laugh incredulously. “What? Here? What football game?”

A TV appears out of nowhere just above the fireplace, and to my shock, the Green Bay Packers and the Broncos are playing, and per the scoreboard, Green Bay is winning. “Fucking Broncos suck again this year,” Braylon grumbles.

Everyone starts talking sports, with the exception of me and Gabriella, who draws me into a conversation about living among humans. I, in turn, tell her about Oliver and our friendship. “Just friends?” she asks, her gaze probing.

“Yes. I swear. I never felt any other way for him.”

“But he did you?”

“He thought he did. One day, he’ll find the right person, and he’ll realize that was never the case.” I tilt my head, studying her. “You know, you two might be good together.”

She holds up her hands. “Oh no. I fell in love with a human once. That can go nowhere good. You can’t tell them the truth. You can’t stay with them.”

This punches me in the teeth, and I feel as if they’re rattling about in my mouth. I can never tell Oliver the truth. And if I see him again, I can’t see him for long. I won’t age. He will. But it’s okay, I tell myself. He was eventually going to find a wife, and she would never have approved of me. He needs to find a wife and settle down.

He was never for me. That world was not my world.

A rush of dizziness overtakes me, and I decide wine is not for me and I need a bathroom. I stand up. Micah catches my hand. “Where are you going?”

“The wine is bothering me. I’m going to the bathroom,” I say. “I’ll be right back.”

His brow dips, and he studies me a long beat, troubled by whatever he thinks he reads in me, but he releases my hand. He pushes to his feet. “I’ll walk you.”

“I’m fine. Stay. Please.” I reach for the path between us and add, I don’t want to look like a silly drunk to the others. I’ll be fine on my own.