Burning in a Memory

by Constance Sharper

  “What are you doing, Adam?” he asked. “Tell me that you’re not going after your brother.”

  “I am,” Adam said. Adelaide couldn’t see his face from her vantage point, but she didn’t need to. The steel in his voice said it all.

  “So you’re going to chase a coven of shades that are powerful enough to hold your brother and assume you’re going to make a difference?” Tony followed up.

  “Tony, I’m going with or without you. I don’t care if I’m out of the coven. I fucking refuse to let this happen again. If the shades get Leon, then it’s not far from an all-out war!”

  “It’s already a war!” Tony shot back.

  Adam answered quietly. “We can’t win the war if we don’t fight.”

  The room felt hot and Adelaide felt dizzy. Somewhere in the whispers, she picked up on their unspoken fears. She knew Adam was angry for failing his brother for a second time, but it appeared there was more than one dimension to it. If the Hawthorns turned him into a shade successfully, there would be no stopping them.

  Tony paced away. Finally, upon his third circle in the living room, he came back.

  “Fine. Our coven is broken anyway. I’m not going with you,” he said.

  Priya squeaked. Adam’s face remained stone.

  “That’s fine. I’m going one way or another,” Adam said.

  “I’m going with him,” Angie spoke in support.

  Tony growled.

  “You better be careful, you idiots,” he said at last. Adam’s face lit up with the hint of a morbid smile.

  Priya’s voice piped up next, but it sounded shrill and broken.

  “Adam, if you find my sister there…”

  “Of course,” Adam said, beating her to it. No one in the room dared voice the thought that Preeti might not have even made it alive this long. Tony maneuvered by the others and stopped short. He caught sight of Adelaide again, but gave her little more than a sweeping glance.

  “Tell me that you’re not taking your girlfriend. She’ll be killed,” he exclaimed.

  “She’s not my girlfriend!” Adam suddenly snapped.

  Adelaide flinched. Despite Adam’s quick outburst, it had little effect on the room. Tony’s thoughts wandered quickly.

  “Where is this place? How do you know where you’re going?”

  Angie tossed him her iPhone, but Tony clearly didn’t recognize what was on the screen. He scrolled out to the bigger map and maneuvered it easily with his thumb. With a final shake of his head, he returned it.

  “We have an estimate, but it’ll be easier to see on ground level.”

  “You could still find it through state property records if you wanted too. Especially if the house is as grand as I suspect it to be,” Tony pointed out.

  Adam gave him the already-ahead-of-you gesture. Tony continued listing his concerns.

  “So if you find it, what exactly are you going to do? Kick down the door and take on half a dozen shades in their home environment? They weren’t even stupid enough to do that to us.” His point was harsh but Adelaide agreed. This was suicide without a plan, but this was finally Adam’s turn to shine.

  “I believe that, but if they separated us, then we can separate them. They’ll be too busy to realize what’s going on when it happens and they won’t expect us there. We’re going to free Leon and then they’ll have something to worry about.”

  Angie made a silent gesture to her watch and the message was received. Tony walked through the kitchen, reviewing the last few supplies on the counter. He made a few comments here and there, jostled a few bags, and inspected the details. Adelaide ignored him. In the other room, she could hear the hint of Priya’s broken voice.

  “It’s so weird not to be going together. I feel bad about it. We’re a coven…” she cried quietly.

  “It’s all right. It’s not your fault, you know. It has to be done,” Adam whispered—or at least something to that effect. His words made Priya cry more, and the sounds of her mourning finally drew Tony’s attention. Walking passed Angie he reached his wife and held her. She turned and leaned into him.

  “You should take her home,” Adam said to Tony. “We’re leaving shortly anyway.”

  Tony nodded.

  “I’ll help you pack the car before we go,” he offered. Adam silently accepted and the two men walked to the door. This marked the first time Adelaide had seen them engage in any act of consolidation. A big dynamic was shifting in the coven and Adelaide was just there to witness it.

  Once the door slammed shut behind them, Priya suddenly called Adelaide out.

  “I need to talk to you,” she said, a new strength in her voice. Despite the comment clearly having been directed to her, Adelaide still frantically looked around the room. Angie blatantly busied herself with the fridge as Priya crossed the room.

  “Uh, okay,” Adelaide agreed.

  Since Tony’s arrival, she’d only assumed they didn’t know anything about her mage status. She’d expect Tony would have blown her to pieces on sight if he did.

  “Out back,” Priya added with a small gesture.

  “Okay,” Adelaide repeated but reluctantly moved. The sliding glass door gave way and she stepped out onto the hot deck. Sun blinded her only momentarily, but she slipped into the shade. Priya shut the door behind them.

  “I don’t want to hear this repeated, but I owe you an apology for all the crap we gave you before.”

  Adelaide remembered being pressed up against the wall with the twins and a barrage of overly rude questions. She had to admit the incident jaded her view of them, but the gossip seemed unimportant now.

  “It’s cool. It doesn’t matter,” Adelaide said honestly.

  “No, it does. I heard that you saved Adam’s life back there and I had to apologize. I have to thank you.”

  “Oh no, you really don’t,” Adelaide pointed out quickly. Priya’s cheeks reddened and her eyes seemed glassy again. Certain the woman was one step away from bursting into tears again, Adelaide held her hands out in a pleading gesture. “It’s fine, we’re fine, and I promise you, if I can help him this time around, I will.”

  Her speech only hurried the tears. Priya wiped her cheeks with the back of her hands, but still managed a brilliant smile. “I’d like to see you two together. I think that’d be nice. Adam needs something like this is in his life for a change.”

  Adelaide’s reservation must have shown in her face because Priya spoke quickly.

  “This fear for his brother has just consumed his mind and he’s being stubborn. Try to look beyond that for awhile, would you?”

  Adelaide nodded and then they walked back inside. Once in the kitchen, the mage family made their final goodbyes. Angie whimpered when the front door closed behind Priya and Tony. The three of them stood alone again and Adam addressed them.

  “The car’s packed. Let’s go while we still have daylight. Angie, take the first trip driving. Adelaide, you’re welcome to shotgun. I’ll sit in the back behind you,” he said the last thing with particular emphasis. Adelaide refused to look at his expression, because she already knew what to expect. Adam would be keeping his eyes on her the entire way—or at least until he didn’t need her anymore.

  Twenty-six

  Adelaide couldn’t watch any longer. Her temple throbbed and her eyes burned even after she closed them. Head in her hands, she attempted to restore warmth and stillness to her world.

  “Are you all right?” Angie suddenly asked. It was the first time there was noise in the car other than the steady hum of wind or rubber tires on road. Adelaide stirred and wondered how long her head had been down.

  “Mm…fine…”

  She heard Adam shift to life in the back, but refused to catch a glimpse of him in the rearview mirror. He said nothing. Angie took to regularly drumming her fingers on the wheel.

  “Even to get to the state line, we’re half an hour out. The sun is setting. Adelaide, won’t this be harder to find in the dark?”

  This got A
dam to speak up.

  “The dark also gives us an advantage to sneak in.”

  Angie drummed the wheel harder until the obnoxious thumping overpowered the rumble of the engine.

  “We can’t drive without our headlights on or we risk wrecking. And the headlights will tip everyone off.”

  Traffic had thinned and virtually ended a few hours outside of the last city. Angie employed the unrestricted use of high beams to navigate them down the roads. They’d been driving for six hours. They should have been cruising in around seven.

  “So what, you want to stop and wait till morning?” Adam asked pointedly.

  “I’m saying that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a micro-nap in. We’re all exhausted. Plus, we can time our arrival until a few hours before dawn and the shades are tired too—they’ll be up all night tonight, waiting for us.”

  “Because they won’t expect us after tonight because it will be too late,” he pointed out.

  Angie hunched over the wheel. Fatigue showed more than ever in her face. Adelaide refused to admit she was just as tired, but the whole expedition had made for a long day. If they fought like this, tired, one exhausted misstep could lead to their demise.

  “Not for Leon…” Angie answered quietly. The car suddenly slowed and the red brake lights illuminated. Angie pulled off the road, onto an abandoned access lane, until she could throw it in park. After its long-winded journey, the car gave a guttural moan. Angie put her head in her hands, much like Adelaide had done.

  “I don’t know about Preeti,” she finished the other half of her morbid thought. No one had an answer for her. Adam did lean up from the back and placed a hand on her shoulder.

  “I’ll drive from here,” he finally offered quietly.

  “We need gas too. And rest. Adam, I can hardly keep my eyes open like I thought I could, and who knows how long it’ll actually take us to get there,” Angie wept. The female mage was officially checking out.

  “How about we get a trucker’s motel for tonight and scope out the area. I think it’ll be easier to find with a little local help. And then we can go in the hours of dawn, park the car with its headlights, and walk. That’ll give us an advantage, but I admit, it’ll make it harder for us to get away,” Adelaide submitted.

  The other two shared a look over Adelaide’s suggestion. Angie nodded first and then Adam hopped out of the car. While outside, his head spun on a pivot before he opened Angie’s door and gestured for her to take the backseat. The woman agreed but struggled to snap her seatbelt free. Once the doors shut and the engine purred again, Adam made his decision.

  “We’ll have to do that. But how do you plan to recruit local help to find the place?” he asked directly of Adelaide for the first time.

  “Humans always think those places are haunted.” Plus, with the right amount of cleavage showing and an innocent smile, men were always happy to speak to her. She left out the last part, remembering it wasn’t completely unlike how she snagged Adam. She continued explaining. “I’m sure when we get close enough someone has to have heard of something.”

  “Maybe, but we have to be careful. If we’re in that locality, the locals might also tip off the shades.”

  She nodded. Humans rarely worked with shades, but she believed anything was possible now. As quickly as Adam addressed her, he ignored her again. He shifted the car and put them back on the road. Angie lay down in the back seat with a few whimpers until she fell asleep. Adelaide forced herself to look out the window again, to stare at the green highway signs that flashed by and try to recognize something. It restarted her headache all over again.

  She gave up and closed her eyes. They arrived in another hour. The halting motion of the car drew her out of her daze. Fluorescent lights from outside blinded her, but she could just make out the silhouette of Adam walking from the car’s passenger side. Angie was already up and stretching, but her movements were zombie-like and awkward.

  “I’m going to scout the area for shades so we aren’t taken by surprise.”

  Adelaide’s brow furrowed. She sized up the near empty parking lot. The place itself buzzed with bright lights and a red neon sign, but right outside of the reach of the bulbs was a dark set of woods. A few dirty semis waited in the back and anything beyond that was invisible.

  “Don’t go alone,” Adelaide said quickly. It was far too early to separate now. Adam ignored her, but he did plaster on a smirk. “I’ll be back,” he taunted.

  Angie already let herself into the building. Adelaide followed reluctantly after a few hopeless adjustments to her appearance. She pulled her top down enough to show a hint of the pink bra beneath; it felt more shameless than subtle, but it’d have to do. Only a few steps inside and she knew she was overdressed for the part anyway. She’d stayed in a few truck stop motels in her life, but they never stopped taking her off guard. The scent of mold and stale coffee slapped her in the face. The building lacked central air and the window unit screeched as it blew.

  Angie picked out the first open seat and dropped into it as Adelaide walked to the front desk. A miniature television perched on a pile of magazines, flickered images on the screen. No one sat at the desk.

  “Hello?” Adelaide called out as sweetly as possible. It took a minute for a man to lumber out from the back. A scowl marred his aged face, but lessened when he set his eyes on her. Adelaide plastered a smile on her face, but laid it on slowly. To her, he was a greasy old man and an easy target.

  “Sorry to wake you, but we need a room,” she said.

  “I don’t know if we got one. You a trucker?”

  Adelaide resisted the urge to ask if she could pass as one. After sitting down, the man appeared to awaken a little bit more and changed his question.

  “You and your friend can fit into one room?”

  “Whatever you got,” she answered.

  He nodded, using a pencil and paper to orchestrate it. Then he held up a skeleton key at the offering of her cash. The transaction went so easily and quickly that Adelaide was surprised.

  “Can’t let you keep driving tonight. Not a good place to break down. There’s almost nothing anywhere,” he mumbled as his attention drifted to his television.

  She fingered the dirty key in her hand, flipping it back and forth to study the etched numbers. There was only one floor to the motel and their room was right next to the office. Adelaide lingered at the front desk.

  “I saw a gas station down the road, right?”

  The man shrugged.

  “We got those. Trucker stop.”

  She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

  “Is there anything else around here to see? I’m out here to see the old country. I’m here on a ghost hunt…”

  Shaking his head, he mumbled something like “you ought not be involved in that.”

  Adelaide rocked back on her heels. She couldn’t even get this man to look at her now, much less join her mind game. Maybe it had been something she said. She fingered the key again.

  “Thanks for the room.”

  That didn’t earn so much as a grunt. Her gaze shifted and she looked at the television. The local news flashed on the screen. She thought of something then.

  “Come on,” she said to Angie and opened the door. Adam waited on the other side. She nearly jumped out of her skin upon seeing him in the darkness.

  “That was fast,” she commented.

  His eyebrow rose.

  “You’re telling me. I thought you were getting information,” he said while gesturing inside. She frowned but led them to the room. Adam walked in first before he beckoned them to follow. Adelaide sealed the door behind the group.

  “Look, there might be something about it on the news though. Leon is not going to go without fighting and that kind of fighting will attract attention. Plus, in a place this small, strangers will be noticeable,” she said.

  Adam made a face as he scanned the room.

  “There’s no television here.”

  “Us
e your phone, the car radio, whatever,” she said until Adam finally nodded.

  “We must be close. I couldn’t feel any shades nearby, which isn’t uncommon in a territory of a powerful coven. Any shades around here must be Hawthorn.”

  “Or in line with them,” Adelaide pointed out with half a mind on it.

  “I sincerely doubt they’re working with anyone else. It’s not like them.”

  Adam let himself outside again, but she knew he wouldn’t go far.

  “Boo, Adam,” Angie mumbled as she collapsed onto the lumpy mattress. In minutes, she snored lightly.

  It took awhile for Adelaide to realize that in the entire room, there was only one bed. There was enough room to hop on the other side, but Angie’s company was hardly what concerned her. If they switched off, she’d be sleeping with Adam.

  Now realizing that her and Adam’s shifts could not correspond, she hurried to sleep now and take watch opposite of him later. The mattress surprisingly managed to be less comfortable than it looked, but she crawled into the bed. Eventually exhaustion still won and she fell asleep. When she awoke, it was to her back hurting. She groaned loudly and rolled, managing to fall off the unfamiliar bed. Once her fingers touched the grimy ground, she jumped back up. Awareness came flooding back. Her head whirled to size up the room. Angie slept on the bed still. Adam sat in the corner. She forced her heart to slow and to regain her composure before she spoke.

  “What time is it?” she asked Adam.

  She knew from his posture and the subtle gestures of his body that he was well aware of her presence. Just as she thought he wouldn’t answer, he did.

  “Three a.m.,” he said.

  She blinked. She’d at least slept for four hours, but now that time seemed too fleeting.

  “Feel free to sleep,” she said and waved at the bed. “I can take watch from here and you’ll need your rest.”

  “How do I know you won’t kill us in our sleep?” Adam asked abruptly.

  His statement stung and she just shook her head.