by AR Colbert
“That’s not all.” I began pacing, my fear replaced with manufactured confidence. The familiar sense of power that tickled my mind the last time I’d done Emmaline’s extreme blocking maneuver was even stronger now. I was in complete control of my emotions. In fact, it felt like there was nothing I couldn’t control, including Milo.
“Remember those weapons you asked me about before? Well, my position has changed since we last met. Thank you for that, by the way. They were very pleased with me for leading them to your capture.”
Milo raised one eyebrow.
“Anyhow. The weapons... I can get them for you now.”
Rider’s eyes widened. He looked at me like I’d grown a second head. He didn’t understand—I wouldn’t get Milo real weapons. Not deadly ones. But I could certainly arrange for Emilio to make him more stun guns if it would convince Milo to release Raf and Frank back to me. Growing the Embers was my number one priority.
Milo laughed, louder and louder, throwing his head back in a dramatic display of insanity before sighing. “Hoooo-boy. You’re a funny one. But you’re too late. Connie here already got me my weapons.”
I looked over at the man, his skin faded into a sickly gray. His dark eyes were full of despair and regret. But I couldn’t feel sorry for a man who’d set himself up for this. If he’d never come near Classen City or the Embers with his weapons to begin with, he wouldn’t be in this situation now. Kill and be killed.
That’s when it clicked. The first time I saw Conrad on the motorcycle, he wasn’t alone. He was with another man. Could it have been Milo? I was so distracted by the mark on his neck that I never considered who he might have been riding with.
Conrad’s “consulting” with Justice Hines could have all been a ruse—an excuse to get close enough to tap into Milo’s knowledge about the Outsider camps. The only person who knew about the Ember camp locations and accessibility better than the Embers themselves would have been Milo. He would have been the best person to help the Supreme Leadership plan their attacks.
“So Conrad gave you weapons... Was that before or after you turned on him?”
Milo chuckled again. “Getting warmer, Princess. But I haven’t decided to turn on him, yet.” He cut a sharp gaze over to Conrad, who dropped his eyes to the table top in front of him. “He can still redeem himself. He can still join us.”
“Who is ‘us?’”
The side door opened. “The Flames.” Frank walked out, smiling. “Isn’t that clever? It’s a play on the nickname your brother came up with.”
I saw him with my own eyes, otherwise I wouldn’t have believed it. Physically, this was the same Frank I’d grown to know and respect. But inside, something was off. Way off.
He laughed. “The Embers are what remains after society burns its trash. The Flames are what will bring the system crashing to the ground.”
Milo laughed too, and clapped Frank on the back. “So cheesy,” he said. “Why not just call us what we are? Anarchists.”
“That works, too,” Frank agreed.
I shut my gaping mouth and cleared every confused feeling rushing through my brain. Then I zeroed in on Frank. “Are you working with Conrad, too?”
The men both laughed. “Conrad was working for us, sweetheart. He just didn’t know it. We shared a common goal—eliminating the people who disagreed with how things should be run. Or not run.” Frank laughed. “We helped him destroy the camps Outside of Classen City. Now we know where the Supreme Leadership’s weapons are stored, so it doesn’t look like we’ll be needing his help anymore.”
Frank tilted his head, examining me in much the same way Emmaline had so many times before. Like her, he wasn’t merely looking at me, he was searching me deeper somehow.
But I was ready this time. Frank would find nothing. I was emotionless. An icy monolith.
He smirked. “You’ve gotten better at blocking.”
“And you never mentioned you were an Empath.” He was blocking just as well as I was—probably better. I had no idea what he was feeling. I didn’t know what he could have been thinking either. This man was a stranger to me.
The corner of his mouth quirked up. “She never told you. Huh. It doesn’t matter now, anyway. I’m going to give you one fair chance, just like we did with the leader here.” He motioned to Seth. “You can work with us toward building the freest society of all. Every man for himself. No rules to hold anyone back. Or you can choose to become our enemy. But you should know—we don’t hold back against our enemies.”
“We have the same goals. We’re all working toward greater freedom. There’s no reason to harm anyone.” My voice didn’t quiver in the slightest.
“So you don’t mind if me and my men join your camp?” Milo touched his hand to his chest. “Aren’t you just the sweetest? Can we be roomies?”
My stomach revolted at the thought, but I pushed it back down. “You’re a murderer. There’s a difference between freedom and lawlessness.”
“But is there?” Frank asked. “I mean, true freedom means not answering to anyone for anything. Does it not?”
I swallowed. This wasn’t the Frank I knew. And I wasn’t going to play his mind games. “Is Raf still alive?”
“For now. I hoped you’d be able to bring him around. I actually like Raf. The problem is, we have to eliminate anyone who resists us and tries to keep us under control. All those rules and regulations... they’re exhausting. And we’re tired of trying to convince them otherwise.”
“So now we just kill them.” Milo grinned. “Good thing I’m such a happy murderer, as you put it.”
“And if I resist? What then... will you kill me, too?” It was a bold question with an obvious answer, but something told me it wouldn’t be so easy for Frank to kill me. Neither he nor Milo held a weapon, and underneath that thick layer of crazy, he seemed like he genuinely wanted me to join his side.
A muscle in Frank’s cheek twitched. It was barely perceptible, but I noticed. “If we must. But I really hope you’ll consider my offer. Your dear old dad abandoned you, and with Cato dead, I hoped I might be able to step in as your family. We’d be quite powerful together, you know.”
A knock sounded at the door, and Jeremy popped his head inside. After a quick glance at Conrad’s blood-soaked neck and Seth tied up on the floor, he turned toward me with a look of horror. “Do you need help?” he asked.
“No Jeremy, we’re just finishing up here. Go keep the others safe, and we’ll be right out.”
“About that, it’s getting chaotic out there. We’re not sure who to fight and who to protect.”
Frank laughed. “Sounds like a common problem for all of you.”
I glared at him. “Call down your men. The people here don’t deserve this. They want freedom too. Let’s work this out together.”
“No can do, Princess.” Milo looked at his watch. “Any minute now, Frank.”
“Look, we’ve got to go.” Frank moved toward the door. “Think about what I said. I’m certain we’ll be meeting again soon. And if you decide to join us before then, well, you’ll see our calling cards all across the nation. You can come find us.”
His calling cards?
Rider stepped closer, holding his weapon point blank at Frank. “Not so fast.”
BOOM!
The cabin shook with enough force to knock me to the ground. I scrambled to get up, cutting my finger on some broken glass from a fallen mirror that shattered off of the wall. My ears were still ringing from the sound. It must have been an explosion, but the cabin was still standing.
I searched the room frantically. Raf was already on his feet, peering out the door. “I lost them.” He cursed under his breath before jolting outside.
Seth never moved. He still lay on the floor, covered in dust, but he was breathing. Conrad was also on the floor now, his fear threatening to strangle me. It was such a strong emotion from a Leader of his rank. What had Milo done to him to bring about so much terror? Or worse, what had Frank done to hi
m?
Jeremy stuck his head back inside the door. “Claren, I think you need to see this.”
“Wait.” I stood and rushed to the back room. Raf was inch-worming his way to the door, the skin around his wrists and ankles raw and bleeding from rubbing against the ropes that bound him. I untied the gag around his head. “Are you okay?”
“Claren. You’re alive.” His eyes glistened. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to protect you. I can’t believe this. Frank is a traitor. He tied me up.”
“I know.” I rubbed his hair, trying to soothe him before starting on the ropes. “It’s okay. We’ll get him.”
“Is he gone?”
“I think so. Rider went after him, but I think they got a pretty good head start.”
“What was the explosion?” He stretched his arms and I noticed a slight tremble. Poor Raf. He was so brave even in the most awful situations.
I finished cutting through the last rope on his ankle with a broken shard of glass, and we stood. “Let’s go find out.”
We rushed out to the porch to find Jeremy, Chad, and Joy all staring off into the distance. The fighting within the camp had concluded. A number of men were running for the exit while others stood frightened among the rubble that had crashed down from the shock of the explosion.
I followed our friends’ gazes over the horizon and gasped. Rising high up into the sky was an enormous mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke. It towered over the land where Louisburg once stood, its ominous shadow nearly reaching our camp, blotting out all the light from the sun—all the light from our world, it seemed.
Joy collapsed to the ground before me, overcome by the sobs wracking her body. Rider came strolling back toward us, his eyes a mixture of rage and regret.
“They’re gone.”
CHAPTER 35
“We’ve got to go back,” Joy cried. “Asher is still in there! We’ve got to save him.”
I met Rider’s eyes and confirmed my sad suspicions. There was no one there who could be saved. Not anymore. And we would probably be killed if we went back into the wreckage.
Frank said he would eliminate anyone who stood between him and total anarchy. That meant the cities of New America would all be leveled, starting with the District Capitals.
I turned back to the cabin and found Conrad still on the floor. His body was limp, and a sheen of sweat covered his pale skin. “Help me get him into the chair.”
Raf and Rider lifted the man under his arms, and plopped him back into his spot at the table. I walked around the perimeter, arms crossed in front of my chest. “That explosion was intended for this camp, wasn’t it? The Supreme Leadership is trying to bomb the Outsiders out of existence.” My chest rose and fell with hot, angry breaths. Every lungful only seemed to fan the flames burning inside me.
“But they played you. Frank made you trust him. Made you believe he was on your side.” I scoffed. “How many more weapons are there?”
Conrad’s brows turned up in the center, ashamed. I’d forgotten he couldn’t speak with the damage dealt to this throat.
“A lot?”
He nodded.
“Are there more bombs?”
Another nod.
“And they have access to them?”
A tear rolled down Conrad’s shiny ashen cheek. He closed his eyes and nodded once more.
“Do you know where they’re going? Where I can find them?”
His eyes never opened. He rested his head on the table before him and shook it, softly. We were losing him.
I looked back to the sorrowful faces of Raf and Rider. Like before—all the emotion I had tucked down deep inside came rushing to the surface. Fury, the strongest of them all. There was no containing it anymore.
“I’m going to kill him.” I whispered.
I stomped out onto the porch. Jeremy sat on the stoop with his arm wrapped around Joy, who was still sobbing into his chest. The love of her life had just been killed. I understood the pain of losing someone you loved. I’d experienced it more than once with my family.
Chad stood off to the side. I met his eye. “Are you still willing to join us in our fight?”
He looked over his shoulder at the billowing smoke, and returned his eyes to me with a steely gaze. “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.”
“Good. Grab the guards and the rest of your people. Dusty, you get the rest of the camp gathered over here as well. I’ll be out in five minutes to address everyone.”
Back inside the cabin, Rider had untied Seth and Raf was rubbing a cool wet cloth across his forehead.
“Will he be alright?” I asked.
“I think so. But the other one is gone.”
I looked at Conrad’s still form slumped over the table. I wouldn’t mourn for him. He was a part of the problem. Emmaline’s words played across my mind: some will have you dancing on their graves. Let the music rage on.
“Raf—you probably know more about surviving in the wild than most. I’m going to need you to lead these people, at least until Seth has recovered. Help them get only the necessities so we can leave. This settlement is on the Supreme Leadership’s radar. It’s only a matter of time before they attack again. And if they don’t, Frank and Milo will.”
He nodded.
“And Rider, I’m going to need you to train up the others—any citizens who escape the damage in Louisburg, all the people here who are willing to fight, and any stragglers we find along the way. We need to build an army with as many able-bodied people we can find.”
“Of course.”
I grabbed a wooden chair from the table and walked back out to the porch, watching as hundreds of new faces gathered around me. Their cheeks were streaked with blood and sweat and tears, mingled with dirt and debris. But these were resilient people. These were fighters. These were exactly the kind of people I wanted on my side.
Once the crowd settled down, I stepped up on the chair and called out to them.
“My name is Claren Greenwood. Like you, I have felt the pain from a society who doesn’t care about its citizens. I have lost people I love, I have been cast out of my house, and I have been tasked to do horrible things against good people. But like you—I am stronger than they think I am.
“There are dark times coming. Evil is at work. The Supreme Leadership views us as a threat to their world. They will stop at nothing to eliminate us. But there’s another threat as well—the men you fought so bravely against today. They also see us as a threat. And they should. Because you and I will not go down easily. We will not accept a lifetime of mediocrity. And we will not succumb to a world of evil—of death and destruction. They can try to burn us down, but we are like Embers, still glowing bright at the bottom of the rubble. With patience, we will grow strong again, into a roaring fire they cannot defend against.
“Seth is inside. He’s alive, but injured. We are doing our best to restore his health. In the meantime, Raf here will help you gather your things and lead you to a safer destination. Rider will train you up and help you prepare for what is to come.
“I can’t promise you that everything will be alright. I wish I could. But what I can promise, is that I will live every second of the rest of my life fighting for you. And they’ll have to kill me before they can harm you again. I’ll make sure of that.”
I stepped down and turned back to Raf, ignoring the murmurs of the crowd behind me. There wasn’t time to answer questions now. I had men to find and establishments to tear down. I’d been fooled too many times. It wouldn’t happen again.
A part of me—the old Claren—urged me to reach out and stroke Raf’s face. She wanted to tell him she loved him. She wanted to taste his lips on hers once again. She craved the comfort of his embrace in these scary times.
But the new Claren... I felt no love. I had all the strength I needed on my own. And the look on Raf’s face said he already knew it. He was stoic, looking at me as though I were a different person. And I suppose I was.
My soul was
thirsty for revenge. Frank could not destroy an entire city and get away with it. The Supreme Leadership could not eliminate everyone who believed in freedom and live to tell about it. These games of back and forth had gone on long enough.
It was time for war.
THANK YOU for reading!
The war is coming in BOOK 4 of the Ember Society series. From the Flames is set to release in early 2021.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Dearest readers, once again, I couldn’t do any of this without you. Thank you for making my dreams come true. I hope I can continue writing stories that pull you in forever.
Debi and Luise, no other editors would be able (or willing) to take my constant calls like you can! Thank you for your unending support and help with these stories.
To Clint and my kids- you guys are my why. Thank you for constantly cheering me on, giving input and advice, and for your never-ending patience when I’m a screen zombie.
Christian Bentulan, my cover designer... you are so very talented. Every cover you design for this series blows me away. Thank you times a million!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
AR Colbert is a wife, mother of two, and life-long daydreamer from central Oklahoma. She believes in the magic of a good story and would love nothing more than to spend the rest of her days getting lost in books. Her other hobbies include baking, cheering on the Oklahoma State Cowboys, and obsessively scrolling through Zillow.
