Down in Flames (The Earthwalker Trilogy Book 3)

by Jennifer Siddoway

Charley grinned, “Well, it’s the middle of the afternoon on a weekday. I guess that’s the demographic this time slot tailors to.”

  I sighed as we heard Lacey squeal and dive behind one of the dividers. “Alright, let’s do this.”

  My hands shook slightly as the tremors of magical withdrawal came back. I wiped some sweat off my forehead and gripped the hilt again, flexing my fingers painfully. Don’t think about it, I repeated internally.

  Charley glanced around the corner and gave me a subtle nod, letting me know the coast was clear. We flanked each other on either side and went all-out hauling down the hallway, stalking the group of twelve-year-olds. She was unnaturally adept and blending in to the shadows and crept up behind them silently, taking sadistic pleasure in hunting them down one by one. Her red eyes glinted like fire in the darkness as she put her finger to her lips and smiled.

  The boy she’d been tracking had no idea she was climbing up the wall beside him, her eyes glowing red on the other side. The last thing he saw before she tagged him out of the game was her crouching menacingly from above with a twisted smile on her face.

  Oh well, it’s her bachelorette party.

  Lacey, Charlene and I sat at one of the tables in the concession stand, eating an impressive spread of greasy fried foods and fountain drinks. Dirty napkins littered the chrome finish of the table with a ketchup and mustard bottle. I’d never been one much for chocolates, but anything battered or deep fried was my weakness. “Man, what a group of crybabies,” Charley mentioned flippantly.

  “Yeah, well they’re also twelve,” I reminded her, swinging the base of my swivel chair with the heel of my shoe. I was a nervous fidgetier, so drumming my fingers against the table, or kicking my feet beneath my chair were a constant habit I have yet to break.

  We’d all changed back into our street clothes after the game was finished. Charley had a white lace vest that added a feminine charm to a navy-blue t-shirt she was wearing, and a pair of diamond earrings. Her engagement ring twinkled on her finger and she reached out to get her drink and demanded, “So?”

  “So, was it really necessary to pin them down and shoot them repeatedly in the chest while cackling maniacally?”

  She shrugged nonchalantly and bit into an onion ring. “It is the way I play. They put on that uniform, they knew what they were getting into.”

  “That’s not … okay, we’re going to have to talk about what’s socially acceptable some other time, and find you another hobby. Right now, I wanna catch up with each of you. I was gone so long it feels like I missed out on everything.”

  Lacey smiled at me from across the table, her blue eyes misting with emotion. “We missed you, too. One day you and Caleb were at my parent’s house for dinner and then….”

  As she spoke, the waves of her pale green aura swelled out wide towards me, filled with love and sadness at the same time.

  I cleared my throat uncomfortably and grabbed a mozzarella stick from the basket on the table. “Yeah, that’s pretty much how it happened. I didn’t have a whole lot of time to think, let alone plan a means of escape.”

  Charley sat back in her seat and nibbled on an onion ring, trying to hide her smile. I looked up at her across the table of half-eaten food and fountain drinks. I’d forgotten how much I loved the gooey-melted cheese of mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce. There was nothing else quite like it in the whole world. Food up here was so much better than in the Demon Realm, everything tasted incredible. I’d never acquired a taste for any of the food at Aidan’s banquets.

  “Is something funny?” I asked her stubbornly.

  “No, it’s just ... I knew it. I knew that Lucifer was going to try some sketchy crap like that. He doesn’t like playing by the rules. You were winning, that probably pissed him off and he knew the only way you’d go with him was if he cheated.”

  I smiled slightly, thinking back to my first impression of her and how much I hated that she and Ryan were together. I was convinced she was going to ruin him, or create trouble out of nothing.

  I had never been so wrong, they were perfect for each other.

  Charlene was nothing I expected her to be, she was an ordinary girl like me. Except she was strong, smart, and had complete control over her demonic powers. She was completely in love with Ryan, and I was lucky to have her as my friend. Who else would have come to rescue me in the underworld? Charley did.

  Lacey balked at her, squinched her face in anger and picked some french fries off the table. “If you knew that was going to happen, why didn’t you say anything?”

  “She did,” I assured her instantly. “At least to me. You’d been hinting for weeks that I needed to go underground and learn the way he thinks. I didn’t realize it at the time, but after I’d been down there for a while I realized that’s what she’d been telling me all along. Anywho, it was a long eighteen months. I can’t thank you enough for coming back for me. I’m very lucky to have friends like you.”

  “So, much is changing,” Lacey murmured. “I’ll be going back to school in a couple of weeks after the wedding, and Ryan will be student teaching. It’s crazy.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, Charley and Ryan are getting married, my parents are separated and filing for divorce, and Caleb…” I swallowed hard, fighting back the emotions that were rising. “He, uh, well… he moved on.” I laughed humorlessly.

  Lacey reached over and placed her hand on top of mine with a supportive smile. “Are you going to be okay with that?”

  “I’ll live,” I assured them quietly. “I was just hoping it would be with him.”

  I glanced down at my hands where the scars were still visible from when he’d healed me long ago. They both nodded as Charley stirred the ice in her drink, smiling thoughtfully. “Yeah, but I never thought of you as the kind of girl who gives up that easily.”

  I chuckled. “Thanks. What about you and Phil?” I asked hopefully, turning my attention back to Lacey. “Are the two of you still together?”

  She laughed. “Nah, we broke up ages ago. It was fun while it lasted, but he just wasn’t the one for me.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “How are you healing?” Charley asked, while glancing at my shoulder.

  I snorted, taking a look at it myself. “Well enough. It doesn’t hurt as much anymore, so that’s a relief. And most importantly, there was no infection, so I can’t complain. You did a really good job of it, thank you.”

  Charley grinned.

  “Are you nervous about getting married?” I asked her.

  Charley laughed, taking a sip of her fountain drink. “To be honest, I’m not even sure what this whole ‘marriage thing’ is, except a blood oath. We don’t have anything like that where I’m from.”

  Lacey and I looked at each other while trying to contain our laughter. “We’ll talk about that later,” I assured her with a smile. “Amusing as it sounds, I’m not sure ‘blood-oath’ is the right analogy.”

  She huffed in exasperation and explained, “What else would you call it? All I’m trying to say is that, its new and a completely foreign concept. All I know is that I want to be with Ryan forever. I wanna grow old together and bear his children. I’m scared shitless, but I want to learn. I want to find out what that means and how to love someone that unconditionally.”

  “So, you are scared.”

  “Sometimes,” she admitted.

  “What are you worried about?”

  “Ugh, lots of stuff. I don’t know how to cook, or change a tire, or any of those things, it’s embarrassing. I don’t know how to be a wife,” she laughed. “Poor Ryan, I feel bad for him already.”

  “You’ll get there,” Lacey offered hopefully.

  “You know who’s really good at cooking?” I asked them flippantly, while munching on a mozzarella stick. “My mom.”

  Lacey nearly choked on a piece of ice from her glass when I suggested it. Charlene’s eyes were wide as saucers as she turned to me in shock. “Really? Ryan didn’t tell me abo
ut that.”

  “Wynn’s mom owned a restaurant a few years back,” Lacey told her. “It earned a Michelin star.”

  “What does that mean?”

  I chuckled to myself quietly, remembering that Charlene had only met the baggage I called “Mom” once, so she was not as familiar with her history. It was so easy to forget, because everyone else was well aware of my mother’s history, and her talent for fine cooking. “You know how everyone says their mama’s home cooking is the best? Well, mine’s actually is.”

  “Oh! Do you think that she could teach me?”

  “Isn’t she in New Orleans?” Lacey asked.

  “Well, yeah, but we could go to her. It’s only a two-hour drive. Who wants to go on a road trip?”

  She must have seen the apprehension on my face and said, “It’s okay, we’ve been surviving on frozen meals this far, Ryan and I will have to figure it out as we go.”

  I set down my drink and looked at her seriously, with mixed feelings about what I was about to say. “She would if I asked her to.”

  It cheered me a little bit to know I’d get to see Aunt Nadia as well. I hadn’t seen her for such a long time, and I knew she would be worried after everything that had happened. She was one of the first people I called after arriving at my parents’, but that wasn’t the same thing as seeing one another face to face. She always had a way of making me feel calmer, more confidant, like I could take on the world if I needed to.

  It would have been so easy for me not to bring it up, but Charlene needed help and this was something I could do for her.

  “You would do that for me?” she asked quietly.

  I nodded, choking down whatever remnants were left of my pride and offering her a smile. “Sure. After everything she’s put me through, Mom owes me one. I don’t want you stressing out about this stuff. Here’s what we’re going to do. Lacey and I are going to help you tackle each and every one of these things that are worrying you, because that’s what friends and bridesmaids do.”

  Lacey nodded next to me and smiled. “Absolutely! I could use a little refresher course myself. It’ll be fun.”

  Charley looked like she was going to cry; she was overwhelmed with emotion and wrapped her arms around us in a hug. Tears spilled over her big green eyes as she clung to us and said, “Thanks, girls. You’re the best.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Scream to the Sky

  ML

  “You want me to teach your friends how to cook?” Mom asked me, confused. Her eyes looked darker than usual, more tired. She’d pulled her hair back into a messy bun that hung out in pieces around her face. I’d grown accustomed to the clean and elegant beauty she carried with her at all times, so it was unusual to see her that disheveled. Even when we were growing up, she never let us see her come unraveled – she was that unshakable.

  I imagined being separated from Dad was hard on her.

  As she looked at us in the doorway Nadia’s fat gray tabby, Hemingway, waved in between her heels, purring wildly. I couldn’t’ blame her for being confused at two demons on her doorstep, but that kind of came with the territory of having one for a daughter. Charley smiled, looking up at her with big green eyes, and I could hear her heart melt. Nadia waited patiently in the living room behind her, watching the scene unfold with extreme amusement.

  I nodded earnestly, gazing back at her ruby aura as I dared her to deny me this simple request. It was the least she could do after everything that had happened. “Yes. You said you wanted to do something nice for me, so this is what I’m asking for. Charley is getting married to Ryan next week. It would help a lot if you could show her how to be ‘domestic’.”

  Her eyes widened as I labeled the demon next to me as a friend. She pursed her lips pursed together infintesimally, and I knew that she did not approve. Luckily, I’d given up seeking her approval long ago.

  “… Okay. Why don’t you girls come in?”

  Michele stepped aside so the three of us could enter, and offered a hollow smile. Charlene and Lacey walked in behind me, joining us in the living room. It smelled of Sage and Lavender, with smudge sticks of dried herbs hanging from the windows. The décor and furniture had changed, making room for Mom now that she was living here too. Nadia smiled once I came inside, the skin crinkling around her eyes as she looked me over from head to toe. “Wynn!”

  She wrapped her arms around me in a hug and I breathed in deeply the smell of her Birchwood and Vanilla perfume, trying to imprint it into my memory. These were the most nostalgic memories from my childhood and it was comforting to know that some things never change. Her exotic, mocha-colored skin was untouched by time and her long black hair twisted into long dreadlocks. All sentimental features that I associated with my Fairy Godmother.

  Unlike the other creatures that inhabited this realm, she had no aura from her fae lineage. “I’m so glad that you decided to stop by.”

  “Charlene, did you say?” Mom asked her cautiously.

  “Yes, ma’am, and this is Lacey.”

  Lacey smiled nervously and gave her a little wave. “Alright, ladies, I suppose we could start with something simple, assuming Nadia doesn’t mind us making use of her kitchen?”

  My aunt smiled slightly. “By all means.”

  Mom sighed, searching the pantry to see what supplies were on hand. The pantry was stocked with dried, home-grown herbs in glass mason jars. After taking a brief inventory, she pulled a cutting board from the cupboard below and retrieved a healthy red piece of meat from the refrigerator. She placed it in the center of the counter where all of us could see, with the faint trickle of blood oozing out around it’s edges. “All right, since we’re starting with the basics, I’m going to teach you how to properly cook a steak. That should be fairly simple and the bread and butter in any home.”

  “Sounds great!”

  We took turns flitting around the kitchen and following her instructions, making sure to wash our hands and that the countertop was clear. The sink and countertops were all neat and tidy in the modest space, but it was clearly not intended for use by more than one person at a time. It was slightly cramped but we managed to make it work, bringing most of the actual preparation out into the dining room. Mom watched us and rattled off everything we could possibly want to know about the different cuts of meat.

  “Okay, Charley, since you’re the bride-to-be, why don’t you take this mallet and tenderize it for us?”

  She took the mallet self-consciously and glanced up for clarification. “You want me to beat on it with this hammer?”

  I nodded, giving Mom a sideways grin. “Pretty much. Have at it, girl.”

  A smile spread across Charley’s face as she started pounding mercilessly on the helpless piece of flesh. All of us watched in horror and amusement as she got more and more excited, clearly enjoying herself. Tiny spirts of blood flew everywhere as she hacked way at it, delighted.

  Eventually, Mom stepped in and touched her gingerly on the shoulder. “O-okay! That looks good. It’s already dead, you don’t have to beat it into the ground.”

  “Oh, sorry…” she offered sheepishly, once she realized what had happened. Lacey and I watched her, both trying not to laugh. “I guess I got a little carried away there, huh?”

  I reached over and started inching it away from her. “It’s alright, I’ll just … take that over here.”

  It was wonderful to see Mom shining in her element again, totally in charge and running a kitchen the best way she knew how. I could tell it was wearing on her patience having to dumb everything down for us, but I appreciated the effort she was making. She was really trying.

  My eyes inadvertently drifted to the witch’s mark still emblazoned on her arm, with hundreds of different cuts from when she activated the bond with her demon master. The sight of it made me queasy, so I cleared my throat and looked away before anyone else noticed.

  Lacey took over, rubbing the mix of spices into the meat while the oven heated up and I got started peeli
ng some potatoes. “You said you’ve got a job out here,” I mentioned hopefully. “Where is that, and what are you doing there?”

  Michele smiled back at me, her green eyes twinkling. “I’m the executive chef at Mon Petit Cheri. It turns out Louisiana has a penchant for French cuisine, which I happen to be fluent in. I met with the owner several months ago, and once he realized I studied at Cordon Bleu, I was hired instantly.”

  “Well, that’s great!” I cheered happily at the serendipitous French cross-over.

  “I did have to change a few of my recipes, to blend with the culture, and learn some new ones too. It’s been an interesting experience.”

  Once the oven heated, she rattled off some more trivia about the process and showed us how to sear it on each side before putting it in the oven. According to her, it was an important step because it locked in all the juices and kept the meat from drying out too quickly.

  We chatted happily while waiting for it to cook and Charlene entertained us with the wedding details. Mom nodded and smiled along with us, checking the timer casually. “Well, you’re certainly in better shape than I was for my wedding,” she mentioned. “The day Wynn’s father and I got married, I was a nervous wreck.”

  I grinned. “I imagine.”

  “It was a whirlwind, that’s for sure – lots of strong emotions. I think you and Ryan will do just fine.”

  “You think he would be impressed?” Charley asked her with a grin.

  “Oh, it doesn’t matter. One bite of this and you’ll have him wrapped around your finger,” Mom assured her playfully.

  “I don’t think he’ll need much encouragement,” I informed her with a grin. “Charley’s already got that happening.”

  Mom smirked and told her, “Good girl.”

  I smiled, listening to her talk about the days when she and Dad were getting married. When I put it all in context, it was difficult to imagine what that must have been like for her. Mom had always been flaunted as one of the most beautiful women in the south, and she knew it.

  What would she have been like back in those days? I wondered. Young and full of life, she must have been a vision to behold. Michele was beautiful now, so she could have only been more so in her prime. Dad fell in love with her when they were kids in high school, but Aidan … he fell in love with the woman she became.