Ascent: Book 3 of the Scorched Trilogy

by Lizzy Prince

  A sly grin inched up his face. “Yes, I planned on sleeping in there too.”

  I was too tired to mask my emotions, and I knew I was making a stupid face. “Oh.” I gulped, legit gulped. “Um, will your gran be okay with that?”

  Munro used the elbow that he’d been holding to pull me in closer for a one-armed hug. “Annie, as much as I would love to take you to bed and do all sorts of things with you that my gran would not approve of, I am just too damn tired. We really will just sleep. Gran won’t care.”

  “If you say so,” I murmured, the words mushy in my mouth. It was starting to take too much effort to even speak. “Bed, tired, sleep, please,” I managed to get out, although there was no guarantee that Munro understood me.

  He opened the door, and I was so tired I didn’t even look around to examine the room he’d grown up in. It was a fuzzy blur as my eyes laser focused on the full sized bed pushed up against one of the walls. It was going to be a tight squeeze considering how big Munro was, but I couldn’t give two craps just then. I flipped off my shoes like they were offensive and ripped off my socks a moment later. Or at least, I tried to. Since my balance was totally jacked up, I face planted into the bed just as I attempted to get one of them off.

  “Whatever,” I mumbled into the bed, feeling like I’d landed in a pretty amazing spot.

  I heard a chuckle behind me followed by my socks being pulled from my feet. I groaned in thanks and hoped Munro was able to interpret the noise. He rearranged my legs and settled me more fully in bed so that my legs weren’t dangling off the edge. “Don’t want the ankle grabbing zombies to get you,” he said softly, and I smiled even though I was halfway asleep.

  Moments later, the bed dipped as Munro settled in beside me, wrapping an arm around my waist as he spooned me from behind. “Get some sleep, Annie.”

  “You too,” I commanded back, though my mumbled words could barely be heard.

  Chapter 11

  Waking up over the past week had been a completely disorienting experience. Falling asleep in planes and new homes made it so that I had no idea where I was each time I woke up. My nightmares had thankfully ceased, but my real life basically morphed into a waking version of the terrible dreams. Each time the reality of what had happened sank back in, I wanted to crawl back under the covers and go to sleep. All with the hope that the next time I woke up someone else would have taken care of all our problems. Shit didn’t work like that though.

  Munro was gone when I finally got my eyes to open. It was dark out, but that didn’t give me any hint of the time. I felt grimy, greasy, and rumpled since I’d slept in my clothes. My skin felt tight, and I probably needed to drink about a gallon of water because I was sure I was dehydrated. I desperately wanted a shower and to spend about ten minutes brushing my teeth, but I wasn’t even sure where my bag was, not to mention the bathroom.

  Instead, I fixed my hair up in a ponytail with the hair tie I was wearing around my wrist, finger combing through the snarls as best I could first. Making my way downstairs, I was hit with the pungent odor of black licorice and lavender. It wasn’t particularly appealing, and my hungry and dehydrated body was not a fan, as demonstrated by my rolling stomach and the saliva that pooled in my mouth. And not in a good way.

  Everyone but Estell and Mari were sitting in the library when I finally made it down the steps. Theo saw me first and raised an eyebrow. “Hey, cuz, you’re looking a little green. Not a fan of the eau d’stanky jellybean they’ve got going on in here?”

  “Oh God, don’t talk about it. It just makes it worse,” Lola replied as she stood up and brought me a bottle of water. “You do look like shit. You should probably hydrate.”

  To think I’d almost thanked her.

  “So eloquent, Lola darling,” Theo replied with all of his good-natured charm beamed straight at her. She was obviously not immune because she smiled at him slyly before she walked out of the room. “I’ll get you something to eat.”

  This time, I did mutter a confused thanks before turning to find Munro. He was sitting on a chaise with his legs stretched out in front of him. When I approached, he swung his legs off the side making room for me to sit next to him.

  “How’d you sleep?” he asked softly so only I could hear.

  “Really well actually. You?” I told him before taking a deep drink of my water. Oh God, that tasted amazing. I could practically feel my cells rehydrating.

  “Same.” He smiled at me, and I remembered how he’d wrapped me in his arms as we’d slept. It made my heart flutter like a flag on a windy day.

  “How’s it going in there?” I asked, nodding toward the kitchen.

  Munro leaned into me the smallest bit, his shoulder pressing into mine. “Good, they’re just about done. Everyone else is filled in on what’s going on too.”

  “Good,” I said, and I was glad, because I really didn’t want to have that awkward soulmate conversation again. “By the way, what exactly is it we are going to do?” I asked, because even though Munro had said something about a memory spell the night before, I’d been too tired to ask questions, and I wasn’t sure I actually understood what we were going to be doing.

  “There is a spell that can pull memories from our minds. Usually it’s things that people have forgotten and need help remembering, or memories that are painful that have been repressed, but need to be dealt with. But the same principle applies here. We’ll both take the potion, and it will essentially put us into a sleep state. The spell has been crafted with the intention to pull certain memories, so hopefully that is what will appear to us.” Munro shrugged as if to say, that’s all. Huh, sure, that’s all.

  “And we’re trying to pull memories of the lia fáil and where they are hidden?” I asked, knowing I sounded skeptical.

  “Yes, but also how they were able to put Cailleach in the ground. We know we need the lia fáil because of what Áine told you. But even when we get them, we don’t know how to use them.”

  I didn’t miss his optimistic words. He hasn’t said if we found the lia fáil, he’d said when.

  “Do you want to shower and change? By the time you’re done, it’ll probably be ready.”

  “I stink that bad huh?” I teased.

  Munro leaned away from me, and his cheeks puffed out as if he was holding his breath. “Not at all,” he gasped out, trying not to smile.

  “Ass,” I said as I pushed his shoulder, barely moving him an inch. “Show me where to go.”

  I lingered in the shower for way too long and had a little bit of guilt about all of the water I was using up, but it felt too damn good to scrub away the sleep and grime. Even though I’d showered at Roark’s, I still felt like I hadn’t gotten all of the travel off of me. I was down to my last pair of clean jeans and wondered if we could do a load of wash before we left Estell’s. Then I rolled my eyes, because it felt so dumb to think about doing laundry. I was about to drink a magic potion that would put me in a trance to access my reincarnated soul’s memories. Just your run of the mill, everyday occurrence.

  The gang was gathered in the living room when I made my way back downstairs. Mari looked ready to pass out and was swaying a little on her feet. Butch was standing behind her, probably to make sure someone caught her if she tumbled over.

  I frowned at her. “Mari, you need to get some sleep.”

  “Mmm, I will. Just want to splain how to use this.” She yawned and her jaw opened so wide I swore I heard it crack.

  Estell walked over to her side and took a stoppered glass bottle from her hands, giving Mari’s arm a gentle rub. “Off you go, I’ve got it.”

  It looked like Mari was about to argue, but Butch gently clasped a hand on her arm and tugged. It made her stumble a little since she was tired. Butch shook his head and muttered something under his breath before he wrapped an arm around her waist and ushered her from the room.

  Munro was standing by the fireplace, and I moved across the room to join him, aware of all the eyes tracking me. As if I di
dn’t feel self-conscious enough about all of this. Estell moved toward us and held out the bottle. Munro carefully took it from her hands, his face grave as he looked down at her. “What do we need to do?”

  “This is the one time I’m going to give you permission to go out to the fairy mounds,” Estell said with her eyes slightly narrowed, and I averted my eyes, figuring if I didn’t make eye contact, I would give away that we’d been there earlier in the day. I had a feeling not much escaped Estell’s notice, and there was no doubt in my mind that she knew we’d been there earlier.

  Munro gave her a sly smile in return. “Yes, Gran. What else do we need to do?”

  “Take a blanket and get comfortable. You’re going to take a nap in the woods.”

  We were trekking back through the woods, following the same path we’d taken the day before, or hours earlier, or what the hell time was it even? The sun had set, so it was nighttime, but I was so out of wack I had no real concept of what day it was. Munro and I both held flashlights, him to lead the way and me so that I didn’t trip over my own feet.

  “What day is it?”

  “Like, day of the week?” Munro responded with a chortle.

  “Oh, excuse me. What date is it?” I huffed, emphasizing the word date.

  “Well, I don’t think we’ve really been out on a real date. At least nothing I’d consider a legitimate date, unless you feel like resurrection and midnight strolls to dig up ancient memories are dates. I really do need to take you on a real date.” He looked over his shoulder at me, his joke turning serious. “When we get back home, I’m taking you out.”

  I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “Alright smartass, what I really want to know is if today is the 22nd or 23rd. Just trying not to miss Christmas.”

  Munro slowed in front of me, like he’d forgotten we had the holiday coming up. “It’s the 22nd. I won’t let you miss Christmas, Annie.”

  “I know it’s dumb, and it’s not like we’re going to have a big celebration or anything, but I have to at least call Maggie and Sara. Just don’t let me lose track of the days and forget.”

  “I won’t,” Munro promised as we shuffled along the trail.

  Little weeds and bushes snagged at my pants, and the walk that was so enchanting earlier was starting to feel like a nuisance. I just want to get this all done and over with. The temperature had dropped dramatically, and the borrowed coat I’d grabbed from Estell’s front closet was too small and not even close to thick enough to combat the chill. Small flakes of snow were floating down from the sky, but they were so few and far between that it looked like tiny feathers slowly drifting through the air.

  The trip through the woods seemed to take twice as long this time. When we finally reached the glen, there was an undercurrent running through the place that I hadn’t noticed before. Earlier, it had been all golden and light and smelled of Munro and magic, but now that it was night, there was a darkness here that didn’t have anything to do with the setting sun. The spark of magic that inhabited the woods had a different taste to it now, and it was more seductive but also darker.

  “It feels different here at night,” I said as I hugged my arms around myself to try to contain a nervous shudder.

  “Gran never wanted me out here at night. Hell, she didn’t want me out here during the day, but she would lose it if I was ever out here after dark.” Munro turned to look at me, and his face crinkled as he took in my too small coat. He wrapped an arm around me and briskly ran his hand up and down my arm, trying to use friction to generate some heat. It was an appreciated gesture, even if it didn’t do a damn thing to keep the cold away.

  “Let’s just get this over with. I’m getting the heebie jeebies.”

  Munro’s eyebrows quirked at that, but he must have agreed because he left me to lay out the plaid picnic blanket he’d brought along for our magical experiment. It snapped in the air as he shook it out before he laid it on the soft green grass. He held his hand out to me, and I took it, only to be pulled down a moment later when he sat and tugged me next to him.

  Shifting so I could look at him, he pulled out the small flagon of potion from inside his jacket.

  “Mari said that we’ll each need to take half, and it should bring on a dreamlike state.”

  Nervous energy rippled over me. I trusted Mari, and I knew we needed to figure out how to stop Cailleach, but I couldn’t say I was excited to get started. Munro pulled out the stopper and held up the bottle in a salute to me before he took a long drink. His mouth contorted into a pucker, and one eye closed while the other rolled up as he scowled in disgust.

  “You could have tried to sell it a little,” I gripped as I took the bottle that he practically shoved into my hand. He was making overly dramatic groaning sounds next to me until I punched his shoulder, making him laugh.

  I tried to hold my breath while I drank, reasoning that if I didn’t inhale, I wouldn’t taste it as much, but it hit my tongue like an explosion of sour licorice mixed with old lady perfume. Somehow, I managed to swallow it and keep it down, which was a bloody miracle. The only noise that escaped my throat was a disgusted bletch as I smacked my tongue against the roof of my mouth.

  “Oh God, I’m going to need to bleach my mouth when we get back,” I gasped out.

  “Get in line,” Munro shot back at me, but he was trying not to laugh.

  My teeth felt coated and fuzzy and I couldn’t stop running my tongue over them like that would make it go away. All I could do was shake my head, because that was awful. Hopefully it wasn’t a prediction on how the rest of this was about to go. Most of my attention was focused on the gross potion, but I wondered when things were supposed to kick in.

  “How long is it supposed to take before…” My words trailed off as little streaks of glittery light started zinging around us.

  “Do you see that?” I asked Munro, only then realizing that he’d laid down on his back and had his hand up in the air like he was trying to grab at something.

  “What are you grabbing?” I tried to ask, but the words came out as a mumbled mush. Holy shit, I was high as hell. “Whoaaaa, are you high too?” I looked back down at Munro, but he was gone.

  Panic shot through my haze like someone had stabbed me with a million needles, and I scrambled to my feet only for my legs to give out. I fell flat on my face and onto Munro’s chest. What the hell was going on? Munro was back on the blanket in the same place he’d been before he’d disappeared.

  “Hey, you disappeared?” I said, fisting his shirt in my hand to make sure he was real, and this part wasn’t the hallucination.

  “Annie?” Munro sounded just as freaking confused as I was. And even though I was practically laying on top of him, it was like he couldn’t see me.

  Trying to stop the panic racing through me, I laid down beside him and grabbed his hand, feeling like I might float away if I wasn’t anchored to him in some way. Once our skin made contact, and that electrical pulse of power connected us to one another, the world stopped tilting and flashing in crazy colors.

  “Oh, thank fucking God,” Munro groaned next to me.

  “Amen,” was all I managed to get out, but what I was really thinking was, now what?

  Before I could even finish that thought, the world dimmed around us, and I began to fall backwards into darkness.

  Chapter 12

  My eyes were squished tightly together as I waited to make impact. I wasn’t sure what I was going to hit, but we were definitely falling. Then the feeling stopped and my stomach settled.

  “Annie, you can open your eyes.” Munro was squeezing my fingers together.

  Trying to settle my racing heart, I opened my eyes and found that we were no longer laying on the ground in the glen behind his gran’s house. No, we were standing in the corner of a small dwelling. My eyes scanned over the room, taking in all of the details that were so foreign to me: a packed dirt floor with rushes strewn over the top, iron pots hanging near a hearth, and glass vials lined up on shelves in t
he corner. I knew that we were in a memory, but it was so real, so tangible, that I could smell the sweet hay that littered the floor. The room was small, and there was no separation of sleeping and living quarters. The bedrolls tucked away in one corner told me this was a simple home. There were herbs and flowers hanging to dry in another corner of the room and a fireplace that was cold and dark. As my eyes continued to roam over the room, they found Áine, who was sitting at a small table with her head held in her hands. Her shoulders were slumped, and there was defeat in her posture. I heard her exhale a sorrowful breath as she wiped away a tear.

  For a moment, I forgot that Munro was there with me, until feeling returned to my body and his warm, solid hand in mine became an anchor. I turned to look at him and caught the troubled look on his face as he watched Áine. Our attention was torn from her when the door opened and in walked Cailleach. Just as I could smell the rushes on the floor, I could smell Cailleach and her magic. There was the undeniable scent of crashing waves and midnight, but there was a taint to it, a sour note of infection spreading through the magic.

  When Áine made a face, I knew she could sense it too. She straightened her back when her sister had come inside and schooled her face so it was devoid of all emotions. Cailleach didn’t appear surprised to find her sister waiting there. They were both beautiful, similar in looks and build but still different enough that there would be no confusing them. Their long dark sheets of hair and brown eyes were the same color, but it was the eyes especially that showed how different they were. Where Áine’s were warm and open, Cailleach’s were emotionless and cold.

  “I hope you weren’t waiting up for me, Áine,” Cailleach spoke in a clipped tone, and I knew that the words were not in English, but I could still understand everything she was saying. It must have been some trick of the spell.

  Cailleach hung her cloak on a hook near the door, and then crossed her arms as she looked at her sister with displeasure.