by Lizzy Prince
Mari gathered her wits before anyone else. “Annie? Are you alright? What happened?” She looked around as if the walls would provide some clues about what had gone down.
“I’m okay. Really. Come sit down. We’ll tell you everything, but first, how are you?”
Butch must have gotten sick of Mari’s pathetic attempts to walk because he grabbed the crutch from her and tossed it aside, bending to swing her up into his arms. Mari made a squeaking noise, and her face fired up with embarrassment.
“Here now. That was much easier,” Butch said as he settled her down on the couch. “Let’s get you all healed up.”
He knelt by the side of the couch, grabbed her hand and began to heal her. I’d never actually watched anyone be healed before. When I’d healed Munro I hadn’t known that was what I’d done at the time. It was fascinating to watch. All the small cuts and bruises on Mari’s face and exposed arms faded and healed as if she was put on fast-forward. Her bruises turned from mottled purple to green and yellow and finally faded away altogether. It was so strange and incredible.
Mari sighed in relief, and I imagined the lack of pain was probably why. “Thank you,” she said to Butch and there looked to be an extra twinkle in her eyes before she turned them on me, narrowing them suspiciously.
“Now, you. Tell me what happened.”
Munro and I walked everyone through what had happened after we left the hospital. Well, most of it. We left out the part where we were making out like fiends. We told them about our plans to head to Ireland as soon as Ryan got the tickets. That Hattie was planning on resurrecting the first witch. Just as the prophesy had talked about.
“Sweet. I always wanted to go to Ireland,” Theo said from one of the chairs, where Lola was sitting on his lap. Okay then. I guess they were an actual thing.
Part of me wanted to tell them they should stay back here, to stay safe, but who was I to turn down help if it was offered. I knew almost as little about magic now as I did six months ago. This weird little crew was my family, even bitchy Lola. Although I suppose if Theo and Munro thought she was decent, then maybe we needed a fresh start. One with less judgment, on both sides.
I caught Munro’s eyes across the room. He was as dirty and bloody as me, but there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Belief in me and in us, that together we might be able to stop Hattie and get our lives back to normal. At least as normal as they’d ever be. I smiled at him, pouring all my feelings in the wordless gesture before I looked around the room at all of the waiting faces.
“You know what, safety in numbers. Let’s do this.”
The end of Ash and Ember: Book 2 of the Scorched Trilogy
Acknowledgments
I can’t say thank you enough for all of the amazing support and kind words from friends and strangers alike on Scorched. It’s weirdly exposing and intimate to share your work with others and I chucked Scorched out in the world and then ducked and covered with my hands over my ears, afraid of the feedback. I’m still keeping my head under the covers most days, but the encouragement has been nothing short of amazing. Thank you to everyone who read Scorched and then kept on going and gave Ash and Ember a try. Huge hugs and kisses to my husband who is always supportive and knows when to leave me alone so I can get some work done. To the other indie authors out there, thank you for being so generous with your knowledge. And a second thank you to the readers, I really hope you love these characters as much as I do and come back for book 3, Ascent!
Biography
Lizzy Prince lives in the Midwest with her lovely husband, her two beautiful and terrorizing kiddos, and two lap dogs that weigh 15 and 90 pounds. Her favorite things to do include reading. Sunny day-read outside, rainy day-read inside, snowy day-read inside under the blankets. She’s aspired to be a writer her entire life and couldn’t be more excited to share all the ideas swirling around in her head.
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Ascent, Book 3 of the Scorched trilogy coming Fall of 2019
