Ember: Next Gen (Snakes Henchmen MC Book 12)

by Alivia Grayson

  Hannah snuggles into me. “Are we gonna get out of this, Colin?” I wrap my arm tighter around Hannah. “Please, don’t tell me everything is gonna be okay if you don’t believe they will be,”

  “Don’t give up hope, Hannah. We’ve all gone through something traumatic, but we will fight until there’s no fight left. I know that we’re gonna be okay. I have faith that we’ll find our way out of this forest, and we’ll get help for the others. Trust me,”

  “I trust you with my life, Colin, I always have. I love you, so remember that I’m here for you as much as you are for me.”

  I kiss her head. “I know, baby.”

  I only hope my confidence is folly. I have to get us out of this, no matter what it takes.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Lydia

  “Dun’s Dungeon Rock star couple Marco Russo and Ember Marshall have been killed as their plane crashed down last night over the Scottish Highlands.

  Guitarist Colin Montgomery and his wife Hannah, bassist Saint Shakespeare, and drummer Bob Rhys have also been killed ...”

  That’s what I heard when I turned the radio on this morning. Ember was killed in a plane crash. I can’t bring myself out of shock. I’m numb, and I don’t want to breathe because I know it will crush me completely.

  I don’t know how I’m holding myself up. I never got to tell Ember how genuinely sorry I was for what I did. I’m a terrible person. I stole her man and took my love away, leaving her all alone. I was horrible to Ember, and it’s killing me.

  “Lydia!” I can hear my husband calling my name, but I can’t answer him, I can’t breathe properly. “Lydia. Baby.” The second he grabs me, I crumble. I’m sobbing in his arms, only on my feet because he’s holding me so tightly.

  “She’s gone, Toby! She’s gone!”

  “I know. I know. Shh...” My husband is crying; I can feel his chest shaking with sobs against my head. He feels the pain as much as I do right now. We wronged our best friend when we fell in love. We promised her that we loved her. We went behind her back because we had no fucking will power to do anything else. There are no excuses other than I loved Toby too much to stop myself needing him. If I’d been a stronger person, I would have spoken to Ember before giving in to my feelings. But I didn’t because I didn’t want to hurt her. How stupid of me to think that would work.

  Ember left here knowing what we’d done. Then we didn’t even call Ember to tell her we were getting married, and we didn’t tell her about the baby. But I didn’t think she’d take our calls; she hadn’t any other time we’d tried.

  We sent Ember a wedding invitation, but she wouldn’t come to our wedding, not that I could blame her, but I wanted her there so badly. We’d planned our weddings since we were little girls. Ember would be my bridesmaid, and I would be hers. It was always us. No one else ever mattered.

  Ember trusted me always to be honest and true, and I let her down so badly. Now I will never get to tell my beautiful best friend how much she has always meant to me and how sorry I am for everything.

  The only thing I can draw comfort from is the fact Ember was with Marco when she died. It was apparent just how in love, there is no way either of them was ever that good of an actor. Those pictures didn’t lie; the love between them was powerful.

  I hope she didn’t suffer, and I hope deep down she knew how loved she truly was.

  * * *

  This week has been a blur. The whole family is devastated. Nova and Tank look like shells of the former people they once were. Eagle is as brokenhearted as the rest of us; more-so because he’s Ember’s brother.

  My cousin Jessica, who is also Ember’s cousin, came home from the classical convention she was attending. She’s a wonderful pianist. Like Ember, Jessica has always been gifted in the world of music.

  Jessie isn’t taking it at all well. She broke down last night, and no one could console her. In the end, Jett had to take her home. Jessie means a lot to my dad, and it hurt him to see her so broken.

  Hell, we’re all broken right now.

  Ember’s body still hasn’t been found. None of them have been found. But after a week of searching, the police in Europe have finally given up.

  There won’t be a body for us to bury at Ember’s funeral today. We may never find her body if the plane when down in the ocean, and co-ordinates suggest that happened. But Ember’s grandfather, once president of the Snakes Henchmen MC, said it would be good for us all to have a memorial for Ember. We need to say goodbye, somehow.

  But I don’t want to say goodbye; I’m not ready.

  Yet here I am, sitting with my family, my husband’s arm around my waist to hold me up, saying goodbye to the girl I loved more than life itself. It’s breaking my heart to know she died hating me.

  Hearing the words of love coming from all these people, seeing Ember’s mother crying so hard, is killing me. Soon it will be my turn to say a few words, and all I can think about is telling the truth and getting it all out there. They can judge me; I don’t care.

  “It’s okay, baby, I’m here with you.”

  “It’s not, okay, Toby. Ember died, hating us, hating me. My best friend all my life and look at what I did to her.”

  “What we did to her,” His tone is firm. He’s pissed with me for bringing this up again, but he just doesn’t understand. He really doesn’t.

  “Please don’t be angry with me.”

  Toby’s hand slides against my face, and I look up at him. His eyes are shining with tears. He loved her just as much as I did. We still love her. But we fell in love and couldn’t deny it any longer. You have no idea how much I hate myself for it. I wish I’d done things differently. I wish we’d talked to Ember sooner. But nothing will change what happened; I know that. However, it doesn’t stop it from hurting badly.

  “I am not angry with you. I love you, don’t you know that?”

  “Of course, I do. I love you, too. But I sometimes wish that I didn’t. Maybe Ember wouldn’t have left. Maybe then she’d still be here.”

  Toby says nothing; just rests his forehead against mine as we both cry. He feels it too. Love isn’t supposed to be a punishment, and it isn’t supposed to be this painful. But then, it’s not the love that hurts; it’s the betrayal we caused the one person we should have cherished the most.

  “Now, Lydia would like to say a few words.” The preacher smiles at me.

  I get out of my seat and waddle to the podium. I stare at the large picture of Ember that stands proudly on an easel. She’s smiling so widely, looking like she belongs on the cover of GQ magazine. Her hair all wild around her face, makeup was so professionally done she literally looks flawless. Her blue eyes were sparkling so bright it warms your heart, especially with that beautiful smile on her face. The same picture Ember sent home to her parents after she’d posed with Marco for a magazine shoot to promote their first album.

  My heart aches just to look at it. After everything Toby and I did to Ember, she was still smiling, still able to trust and fall in love. The only comfort I have is the fact she fell for Marco hard. I’ve never known two people look at each other the way they did.

  They were like a modern-day Romeo and Juliet. I can imagine them staring into each other’s eyes as that plane went down. Wanting each other to know they were loved and that they weren’t alone.

  Thank you, Marco, thank you for showing my best friend, true love. Thank you for making her last moment on earth count.

  I clutch the sides of the wooden desk that stands on the altar and breathe deeply. My stomach is really tight; my dress feels too tight; everything is tight.

  “It’s not a secret that Ember and I have been distant of late. I know you all know the real reason why and just haven’t said anything because Ember probably asked you not to. I know none of you really believed me when I told you that Toby and I hadn’t hurt Ember. You didn’t because you knew that was a lie.”

  No one makes a sound, but they’re all looking at me. They knew already. Hell,
how could they not have known?

  “I did the most despicable thing. I fell in love with my best friends man. Though we were in love long before Toby met Ember, we should have been honest with her the moment we realized. We tried not to give in to what we felt, but we did, and we hurt Ember in the process. She lied to everyone to protect Toby and me because that’s the kind of woman she was. But I lost my best friend because of it. However, I hoped that one day she’d come home and we’d sort through it all.”

  Tears fall from my eyes because I know that can never be now.

  “I don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for me, or to forgive me for what I did; I deserve every ounce of hate you have to give me. Ember never hurt anyone in her life. I was supposed to protect her, to love her, never hurt her, and I did just that. You don’t have to forgive me because I will never forgive myself.

  “The only comfort I have in Ember’s passing is knowing how much she was loved and how much she loved Marco Russo in return. God knows how much they loved each other. Ember always used to say that life is for living and we should live it to the fullest. Live every moment and make it count. That everything happens for a reason, and that reason is to lead us exactly where we’re supposed to be. To the person we’re meant to be with.” I swallow a sob,

  “The reason Toby and I fell in love, the reason God pushed us together, was so that Ember could find Marco. It isn’t an excuse for what we did to her, but I believe Ember’s destiny was always to find Marco.” I breathe deeply. My hands are shaking; my whole body is.

  “Ember was my best friend my whole life. I know I wasn’t much of one at the end, but I hope she knew just how much I loved her. There won’t be a day that goes by where I don’t love her. I’ll tell my children all about Ember, the perfect angel she was.”

  I suck back a sob, and tears fall freely and unashamedly as Ember’s voice sings out from the speakers, Fallen Cambridge. The song Ember wrote with Marco about her time with Toby and me and how much we hurt her. No one understands the meaning behind the words, they’re subtle, but Toby and I know. Or maybe they do know, the video certainly was telling enough. Perhaps that’s how they all worked out what happened between us.

  I’m not talking to the people here anymore; I’m talking to Ember, wherever she is now. “I will always love you, Ember. My only hope is that you knew that deep down. Oh, god,” I’m sobbing so hard and falling to my knees, someone’s arms catch me before I hit the deck.

  I turn in Toby’s arms and sob while clutching at the cut of his suit jacket. “I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you.”

  “Toby, it hurts, it hurts so much!”

  “I know it does. I’m so sorry.” He kisses my head hard. But this hurts so much, everywhere hurts so much.

  “Lydia, let’s get you out of here.” My daddy is right beside me as I lean against Toby. I can’t answer him because I’m in too much pain, not just my heart, my whole body. My dad must be so ashamed of me right now - ashamed of what I did to my best friend. “Toby, we need to get her out of here. She’s exhausted.”

  “Come on, baby.” And he’s on his feet, lifting me in his arms and carrying me away from prying eyes. How he’s doing that the size of me, I will never know.

  “Toby,” I groan his name. I am in severe pain. I know now isn’t the time to complain, I’m at the bikers’ clubhouse, this is Ember’s memorial. But as my husband lowers me into our car, I scream in agony.

  “Shh. Shh. Draven!” I hear feet rushing over gravel, my husband climbing in beside me, my daddy’s hand on my face, and I feel like I’m losing my unborn son.

  It would be nothing more than I deserve. After everything I have done to my best friend, maybe this is God’s way of punishing me.

  “Lydia, what’s going on, baby girl?”

  “My baby, Daddy. It hurts.”

  “Shit!”

  Toby lays his hand on my belly, but it hurts so badly. “Ow!” I scream.

  I’m sobbing, and he’s kissing my head. “Shh... I’m sorry, baby. I’m sorry. Draven, we need to get her to the hospital right now!”

  Oh, Ember. I know I have no right to ask anything of you, my beautiful best friend. But I know you’re up there, looking down on us today, and I know you’re an angel right now up there in heaven. Please, my beautiful friend, please help my baby boy. Don’t let God take my innocent baby from me. Please, Ember.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Ember

  It’s so cold out here. No matter how much I cuddle up to my man, I can’t get warm. Saint, Colin, and Hannah have been gone for days, and I’m not sure they’re coming back.

  Marco managed to find some food in the wreckage, those horrible pre-packed meals they serve on the plane. They’re not too bad when heated.

  Bob builds a fire now and again, just a small one that he manages to keep going, only while he’s warming the food through. He doesn’t seem to have the strength for much else.

  But the food is almost out, so is the water from the bottles Marco found that first day. We haven’t had a decent drink of anything since we got here. We sip it to make it last, but it won’t last one more day. Plus, Colin took some with him to keep the three of them hydrated until they found help.

  I don’t think they found help, however, and I know we’re going to die here. There is no doubt in my mind, even with my broken leg splinted up, so it doesn’t heal the wrong way, I know it was pointless. I can’t move for myself, Marco has to carry me beyond the trees and helps me to use the toilet. It was embarrassing at first, but that faded fast. Marco loves me, and he doesn’t care what he has to do to help me, he just does it.

  But he’s getting weaker as the hours pass. He tried to hide the fact that he was injured. We don’t think he broke his ribs, but they are bruised, and carrying me around won’t help them heal. His entire left side is black and blue. I’ve never seen bruising like it, and my dad’s a biker; he used to come home bruised up a lot after a job he’d done with his club.

  I’m so scared that I’m going to lose Marco. I don’t know what to do to help him because there’s nothing in the way of help out here.

  The nights are so cold, and I can’t feel my body most of the time. Marco and I snuggle up, trying to keep warm, but it’s no longer effective enough.

  I’ve been thinking a lot about Lydia and Toby while I’ve been here. I’m no longer angry with them about what they did. I’m not because I’ve let it go. I let it go, and my heart feels lighter.

  I only hope Lydia and Toby know in their hearts that I love them. I’ll always love them. Lydia has been my best friend all my life, and as much as I should hate her for what she did, I just can’t. I’m not saying our friendship will ever be as tight as it once was, but I miss her, and I wish more than anything I could see her again. I want to tell Lydia that I forgive her and that I hope she and Toby have a love like Marco’s and mine.

  I wondered at first if anyone knew I was missing. I wondered if they believed me to be dead. I thought a lot about my parents and my brother, wondering if they also think me to be dead. I wondered if they were crying and asking God why.

  It tore my heart apart to think that I’ll never see my family again, but I had to be strong for Marco. I knew he was thinking the same thing about his family. His parents, his brother and sister, his little nephew, even his sister and brother-in-law, wondering if he’d passed away in that plane crash.

  “It’s so cold.”

  Marco’s arm around my shoulder pulls me closer. My leg throbs, but I won’t complain. We have no form of painkiller because we just simply couldn’t find the medical kit that should have been on board the plane, but then half the stuff on the plane was lost when the back blew out. Marco curls into me, his big body is warming me as he strokes my face with his other hand. “Gonna be okay, baby.” His voice is so low. His face is contorted in pain, and I know he’s slipping into the unconscious.

  “Marco, wake up. Please, try and stay awake with me right now.” He groans softly, and I know
it’s too late. “Oh, Marco,” I cup his face and kiss his head.

  “They’ll be coming soon, Em. We’ll get Marco out of here. I promise.”

  “Don’t make promises...” The words die on my lips. “Did you hear that?”

  “Yeah, I did!” Bob pulls himself up the best he can with his bum leg. Voices are getting closer, people yelling our names. Oh god! “Over here!” Bob screams.

  “Marco, baby, we’re saved.” He doesn’t even stir. “Please hold on, Marco. Hold on.”

  “Miss Marshall?”

  “Yes,” I sob in relief. The guy in front of me looks like Search and Rescue. He’s Scottish, I can tell from his accent. The guy checking out Bob and the man and woman now prizing Marco away from me all have the same accent.

  We’re in Scotland. Why the fuck are we in the Scottish wilderness? Why would we fly over Scotland to get to London?

  Maybe that’s just the way the pilot went, Ember. What does it even matter right now?

  It doesn’t.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart, we’re here to help.”

  “Marco. You have to get Marco out of here. He won’t wake up.”

  “My colleagues will take care of him. Let me help you now. My name’s Michael,”

  “My brother’s name is Michael.” I smile at that man in front of me. I feel a little delirious right now. God, I bet I stink, we’ve been out here for days!

  “It’s a good name.” His smile is beautiful. His dark skin and chocolate eyes are welcoming, and it’s so easy to trust him. He just gives off that vibe.

  “Did my friends...”

  “They raised the alarm, yes. They are at the hospital right now. They’d been walking in circles for days. Finally managed to find the road and flag a car down for help.” All the while he’s telling me this he’s checking my blood pressure, my temp, my leg.