Throne of Ash

by Lena Lee

  “Mira! Over here!” Wyatt yelled from near the water. He was looking down at something, near a rock. No way.

  I was there in an instant. The egg nestled between rocks. “How is this possible?”

  “Don’t touch it, the demons could have put it here.” Rex’s voice came from behind me. “It’s possible they were in your dreams, they were close.”

  “Demons wouldn’t put a dragon egg here. Dragons destroy demons, that’s why they were created in the first place.” Wyatt picked up the egg and held it close to him. “It’s not warm enough here for it.”

  “How do you know all this?” I went to grab the egg from him, but he turned so I couldn’t touch it. I glared at him.

  “I know things, remember.” His explanation certainly explained how he knew exactly where the egg had been, yeah right.

  I looked at the egg, an exact replica to the one in my dream. It didn’t seem to be making any sound from inside.

  “That egg was sent to me, I had a dream about it.” My emotions were running on fumes now and I wasn’t above kicking Wyatt’s ass for the egg. Rex must have sensed my intentions because he took my arm.

  “Let’s take the egg back to the castle and decide what to do. We need to get Jadan back.” Rex was the voice of reason. We looked at Jadan, who had not moved from where Kyra had disappeared from.

  “We need to get Kyra back.” I whispered before approaching Jadan. I knelt next to him and put my hand on his. Kyra was strong, but not strong enough to face Sienna and her demon minions.

  “I can’t lose her already.” He turned towards me, resolve in his eyes.

  “We will get her back. They aren’t going to kill her.” I wasn’t so sure of that but for now I had to hold onto the thought that as long as Sienna wanted me, she knew not to harm Kyra.

  “That’s not what I’m worried about Mira.” Jadan stood and started walking back towards the castle.

  We followed, me keeping a close eye on Wyatt with the dragon egg. The sun was just starting to turn the sky a beautiful purple color, too bad none of us could enjoy it.

  Chapter 19

  After showering and having a few minutes to try to collect myself, I made my way to the large building that held the training facility. Wyatt had decided to take the dragon egg there in case it hatched. Wouldn’t want to burn the castle down or anything.

  I walked in and the egg sat in the middle of a table, nestled in blankets. As if blankets would be enough for a fire breathing dragon. I grabbed a cinnamon roll from a cart near the table and sat as close as possible to the egg. I was the first to arrive and was considering whether to just take the egg and run. I felt an innate desire to protect it with my life.

  I knew eggnapping would be a bad idea though. Edrie and Resa were on their way, I had contacted them and they told me not to touch it. I would defy the brothers tenfold, but not the dragons. They could eat me in one gulp.

  A cup of coffee appeared in front of me as Rex slid into the chair next to me. We didn’t say much, instead we just stared at the egg. Life had certainly taken an interesting turn.

  When everyone was gathered, Jadan spoke first. “What’s the plan? We need to act fast, who knows what they are doing to her.” He looked bad, as if someone had ripped his heart out, squished it under their boot, then shoved it back in his chest.

  “We are trying to contact Sienna to see what her demands are. We know there is one thing she wants though,” Rian said. All eyes turned to me. “The question is how do we give her that without actually giving her Mira.” I was fully ready to trade myself for my friend. I was what was causing this whole mess in the first place.

  “We give her Mira. Mira is strong, she can beat that evil wench.” Before I could stop him, Rex was out of his seat and had Jadan by the shirt. Rex acted like he wouldn’t have the same thoughts if the roles were reversed.

  “Kyra’s father is what got us into this mess in the first place! If you think I’m going to trade Mira for the life a traitor, you can just go back to the hell hole you crawled out from.” The anger from Rex was scary, especially when it was coming in through our bond.

  I managed to put a wall up to block Rex’s intense feelings from infiltrating my insides. He swiftly dropped Jadan and turned to look down at me. “Why’d you do that?”

  “I didn’t sign up for this!” I stood and looked around the table. “I will trade myself for Kyra. All of this is because of me anyways. Maybe my death is the answer to it all.” Sometimes it was best to sacrifice the one to save the many.

  “That’s ridiculous Mira.” Wyatt spoke softly from where he was perched on a table off to the side.

  “Is it? Something about me makes her want to kill me. You showed me yourself! She loved me for all of a day and then she wanted me dead. Maybe I’m the evil one. You all said no one has had more than one power and I have five. Did none of you see the destruction I caused back in the forest? I am an abomination!”

  Wyatt jumped off the table and came face to face with me. Rex started to get up again but I held my hand up to stop him.

  “You have no idea what you are talking about. None of us would be here right now if we thought you were an abomination. We knew you weren’t the second we found you on Earth.” Wyatt’s eyes darkened slightly. I stepped away, thinking he was going to show me a vision again.

  “And I’m supposed to believe you, why? You are nothing but a lie, hiding behind your stupid jokes.” It was out of my mouth before I realized what I had said. Sometimes words have a funny way of slipping away from you when you’re angry and stressed.

  Wyatt just nodded his head and stalked out of the room. Shit. I stared at the door as it slammed closed behind him. This meeting was going great so far.

  “I’ll go check on him.” Jadan stood and started walking to the door.

  “Let me talk to him. I caused it.” I left the group and followed behind his retreating figure.

  He was headed to the courtyard where they had first brought me. I followed him silently at a distance. He had to know I was following him, I was making too much noise. He finally came to a stop in front of a fountain. He turned then, pain written in his expression.

  “What?”

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-” He cut me off.

  “Well, it’s true isn’t it? Just never expected you to call me out on it.” He sat on the edge of the fountain and put his face in his hands. “Just go away.”

  I ignored him and sat down next to him. “What’s your problem? Ever since Apricity you’ve been an asshat. I thought you were the cool one of the bunch.”

  “It’s not you. It’s… complicated.” He looked at me. “Why cause any unnecessary grief. It is my burden to bear.” Pain was written on his face. Whatever he felt was a burden had weighed on him for a while and had reaches its boiling point.

  “What are you talking about, your visions?” He nodded his head. “Care to elaborate?” I had never considered that being able to show people how their pasts shaped their futures would have such a negative impact. It must be hard to see other’s pain and grief. Essentially Wyatt had shared it with them, it would be hard not to.

  He sighed and turned towards me, our knees touching. “I can see the future Mira. Not often, but my first vision of the future happened when I was only four. We kept it a secret… my parents and I.” I gave him a nod to continue because I was a little shocked he would keep such a big secret. “All of my visions form a chain of events that I have slowly pieced together over the years. I have tried to change the course of it all, but it always puts itself back on track. Even now trying to get you to leave me alone.”

  He laughed and shook his head. I reached out and took his hand, a tear had slid down his cheek. My heart clenched inside of my chest. “Wyatt, what is it?”

  “You can’t breathe a word of any of this to anyone, not even Rex.” He took his free hand and wiped the tear away before straightening, his eyes serious. “Sienna is going to come for you. I am not sure when, but i
t will be soon. When she does come… you will have to weaken her in order to kill her. You must kill her soulmate so she is weakened enough. The loss will limit the amount of power she can use.”

  “My father... Sebastian? Surely there has to be another way…”

  He shook his head. “Not him. Your father and mother are not soulmates… there is another that has been kept secret. When the time comes, you must not hesitate to kill him. If she knows your plan to kill him, she will kill Kyra. I know it’s already a lot to think about killing Sienna, but if you don’t do this, she will bring death and destruction here on Scintilla. I know it’s going to be hard for you to have to kill anyone.” He took both my hands in his, pausing before continuing. “Promise me something?”

  I didn’t trust myself to speak, killing someone was not something I had ever considered. It didn’t seem like I was going to have a choice. I trusted Wyatt, so I nodded.

  “Don’t let him suffer.”

  I stared at the ceiling, my hands resting on my stomach. My hitlist was up to two people now. One being my mother, the other being some unknown innocent. I may have powers now, but the idea of having to use them to end lives made me sick to my stomach. None of this would be happening had I just stayed on Earth. Now Kyra was a hostage and I was a potential murderer.

  I shut my eyes, hoping I would wake up and it would all just be a dream, a nightmare. I felt like I was going to have a panic attack. I’d much rather be in my hovel dealing with what I considered normal.

  I felt the pull as soon as I had the thought and cursed as I sat up on my worn mattress in the dark hovel. Teleporting was cool and all until you end up somewhere you actually didn’t intend on going. I shouldn’t have let my emotions get to me.

  Light filtered in through the shutters and under the door, giving enough light to see shadows in the dark room. I touched my hand to the oil lamp and it quickly flared to light the darkness.

  My hovel was a mess. The table and chairs were knocked over as if someone had flipped them in anger. The trunk lid was open, clearly having been rummaged through. I rose from the bed and put the table and chairs back. The note and charm I had left were gone, Theo had done this.

  I would have flipped a table and threw some chairs too.

  I blew out the lamp and tried to teleport back to Scintilla but the pull was gone. I was out of juice. Crap.

  I felt panic welling up inside of me at the thought of not being able to go back. I could barely feel Rex through our bond and quickly blocked out his intrusion into my emotions so he would just think I needed some space.

  The last thing I needed was for him to open a portal here. He would be upset I had blocked him yet again, but sharing an internal connection with someone was still… weird.

  Before I panicked, I flung open the door and entered the alleyway, which was teeming with people. Several turned to look at me and then did a double take. They nodded or mumbled their hellos with wide-eyes but no one stopped me as I took off to the hub.

  I didn’t look that much different. Well if you didn’t count the muscle I had put on, the more striking hair, and crazy blue eyes. I should have maybe put on my old clothes, the skinny jeans and top not typical attire in Blight.

  The people seemed more on edge than usual, and not because they were seeing me reappear in the alleyways after being gone for a while. They moved quickly and disappeared inside homes and buildings without stopping to talk to anyone.

  I entered the hub and Wesley stepped in front of me. I had been so focused on getting to Theo that I hadn’t even noticed the head enforcer was near. He had his hand on the hilt of his knife and glared down at me.

  “We thought you were dead.” He was pissed, it was very clear. His eyes ran down my body and he looked back up at me with disgust on his face. “Where did you get those clothes? A little fancy for here in Blight.”

  “I found them.” I tried to walk further but he moved in my way. I let out my breath in a frustrated sigh and backed up with my arms crossed. “Where’s Theo?”

  “Busy,” he grunted and held his ground. The temptation to throw him out of the way with the flick of my wrist was tempting, but I resisted.

  Wesley had never seemed to like me. Sure he tolerated me, but there had been several times during my training that I thought he was one second away from crushing my throat with his bare hands.

  I turned and walked back down an alleyway before ducking into a dark doorway and cloaking myself. I should have known I wouldn’t be met with open arms. I passed by Wesley who had no clue. I’d make sure when I left that he saw I had outwitted him.

  Theo wasn’t in his house or in the fields, so I made my way to the building he met with the elders. The door was cracked and I slipped inside.

  “We lost almost 500 last week in that attack. This can’t continue, we will all die!” One of the elders, Natasha, was speaking at the round table. She looked tired, like she hadn’t slept.

  “They claim that they had nothing to do with the attack. Seems a little convenient that now they are offering to let us move in.” Another elder spoke, crossing his arms and turning to Theo, who was standing at the table.

  “They want us to swear fealty to them. We will be housed and fed in return for our labor.” Theo started pacing and all the elders watched him. “I don’t think we have much of a choice.”

  “We aren’t their slaves. This is why our grandparents left in the first place.”

  I inched closer to the table not believing what I was hearing. Were they actually talking about the city of Felix? The people of Blight had never been welcomed in the city, no one had ever mentioned that our people left of their own free will.

  “I know that, but they are also offering us a place on their council. We have to start thinking of our people and their lives, not our grandparent’s anarchist ways.” Theo had a hand on his chin as if he is choosing his words carefully. “We can’t go on like this forever.”

  “They are offering you and only you a place on their council. We will be out in those fields picking their stupid food and waiting hand and foot on those people.” There were mumbles of agreement with the elder who had spoken.

  I watched as Theo put balled up fists on the table and leaned forward onto the table. He looked around at each of the six elders before clearing his throat. “Do you not trust my judgement? Weren’t you the ones to select me as leader?”

  No one spoke and Theo pushed off the table and resumed his pacing.

  Natasha stood and put her hand on Theo’s shoulder, ceasing his pacing. “We trust you. We don’t trust them. There’s a reason our ancestors escaped all those years ago. Are we really willing to risk going back?”

  “We can’t sustain ourselves here much longer. It’s not like we can move anywhere else. We know what happens when people wander off in search of something better…” A sadness passed over his face, but it is gone before he turned back to face them head on.

  Their meeting abruptly ended without much else being said and the elders filed out of the room leaving me alone with Theo. He sat down finally and put his head in his hands. My heart ached knowing his pain was because of me.

  My heart also ached because it seems the people of Blight have been duped by the elders and their predecessors all these years. Blight had contact with Felix and it sounded like it was a choice to not live there. Even if our people were on the lowest rung of the ladder, it was better than a dirt filled hell.

  I walked to the door and shut it, flicking the lock. Theo’s head lifted and he looked around the room confused, especially when he spotted the lock in place. His hand went to his knife but before he could unsheathe it, I dropped my invisibility and watched as his face shifted from confused, to surprised, and then to outright pissed.

  Chapter 20

  I knew he would be mad, but the look on his face was murderous. Granted, I deserved it. I had defied his orders, his trust. We stared each other down for several minutes before he sat back in his chair and crossed his feet a
t his ankles. He looked me up and down before his eyes settled back on my eyes.

  “Theo-” He silenced me by holding up his hand. He gestured to the chair next to him and I sat, keeping a little distance between us.

  Closer to him now, it was hard not to notice the tiredness in his eyes. Despite my initial impressions that Blight hadn’t changed much, it seemed it had been a stressful few weeks since my departure.

  My eyes fell to his hand, which was still on the hilt of his knife. Hanging from his wrist was the crescent I had left for him, attached to a string of leather. I gulped back the lump in my throat and looked back at his face. His eyes went to his wrist before meeting my gaze again.

  “What the fuck Mira.” He moved his hand from his knife and ran his hand over his head before rubbing it over his face and his eyes. “What. The. Fuck.”

  I sighed before launching into the details of my disappearance. He stared at me incredulously the whole time, as if I was making the whole thing up. I wished I was making it up.

  “Why are you back then? Scintilla sounds like heaven.” His hand was back on his knife. I thought it was cute that he was suddenly fearful of me.

  “I teleported back here by accident. I was under a lot of stress.” I shrugged as if it was the most normal thing in the world to teleport from here to there.

  “By accident?” He pulled his knife from the sheath and stabbed it into the wooden table, causing me to jump. “You’ve been gone for weeks, against my orders, and just show back up with some magic trick and an outlandish story about being a jilted princess? Are you spying for them now?” From his tone, I knew them was The Establishment.

  Taking a deep breath, I held out my palm and let a small flame flicker in the palm. Theo’s eyes went wide before narrowing in suspicion again.

  “This shows me nothing.” He gestures to my flame but moves his chair back a few inches.