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EMILY
Ember and I couldn’t sleep again. It was almost time for dawn and we were both feeling tense. I knew I wouldn’t be able to shake it until light filled the apartment. We drank more water and sat mostly in silence. I expected it to be uncomfortable but it wasn’t; I was stuck in my thoughts and so was Ember. We were trying to work through what had happened and so far I couldn’t come up with anything. The feeling of doom had vanished as soon as the thing had disappeared, but the air was heavy. There was a putrid smell, tinged with the normal smoke that came from something burning. The best way that I could describe it was death; it smelled like death and I suddenly felt dirty.
“I’m going to take a shower. I feel disgusting.” I turned to leave and paused. “You can borrow some clothes if you’d like to freshen up too. Our taste is a little different though.”
Ember snorted and nodded toward the basement door. “Not that different. Thanks.”
I nodded and rushed off to the shower. I scrubbed a few times, and then a few more. There wasn’t anything physically on me, but it was like a film of invisible tar had settled over my skin, no amount of washing could scrub it away. After another try, I gave up and climbed out. I pulled on my favorite oversized sweater and torn jeans. I shoved my feet into a pair of ankle boots, pulled my unruly hair into a bun, slathered eyeliner and mascara on, and doused myself in perfume in an attempt to chase the stench away. But it wasn’t on me, it just hung in the air like an unwelcome guest. Ember shut herself in the bathroom as soon as I came out. I left some clothes on the bed that were the closest to hers but I was a cream puff compared to her sultriness.
The apartment was quiet. Most of the time I enjoyed it, but at the moment, I really wanted sunrise to come faster so that Griffin and Cassian would join us. When I met Ember, irritation gripped me. I always thought Cassian and I told each other everything, I knew about every one of his flings and his friends, but clearly, he left her out. They looked so comfortable around each other yesterday and I was immediately hit with a wave of jealousy. I was caught between Griffin and Cassian and I had no idea what I wanted, but the idea of someone else coming in and getting close to either of them made me angry. I wanted to slap her, but there was also something about Ember that I liked. I just wasn’t sure what it was yet.
Ember emerged from the bedroom and I chuckled at the sight of her in my clothes. She was undeniably beautiful in a rock ‘n roll type of way. Yesterday she looked seductive in the skin tight leather pants and barely there camisole. Now she looked like a rebellious youngster—my black jeans hugged her long legs and the deep red sweater hung loose on her frame. I really loved sweaters, especially the big ones, and I expected it to drown her but she was tall and it actually looked good on her. Her hair hung in red curls, barely touching her shoulders, and the dark eyeliner made her hazel eyes pop. She chewed her lip and sucked the piercing in before letting it pop out again.
“Don’t laugh. Does it look that bad?” She asked hesitantly.
“No, you look really good. A lot less bad girl. Your hair was straight yesterday.”
She shrugged and took a seat at the counter. I slid a freshly brewed coffee to her and she sighed happily at the smell. “Yep, I usually keep it straight. Curls are a pain in the ass.” Ember moaned loudly when she sipped the warm liquid and I smiled. There was nothing more comforting than a fresh, hot mug of strong coffee. “Thank you for letting me use your stuff.”
“No problem.” I sighed as I indulged in my own mug. Ember scratched at something on the counter, her brows knitted together and she bit her lip again. Clearly deep in thought. The silence that followed was excruciating and I was about to fill it with random small talk when Ember suddenly looked up at me.
“You have nothing to worry about, you know. Cassian and I had a fling a really long time ago and now he’s just a friend, and as gorgeous as Griffin is, he’s not my type… Actually, neither of them are. After Cassian, I figured out that I like girls a lot more.” Ember came across as a confident woman but right now, she seemed self-conscious, like she was worried that I would judge her. In actuality, I was relieved.
I raised an eyebrow at her though. “What was all the flirting yesterday?”
Ember snorted again. “I like making waves. I would like to be friends though, even though your lives seem a little chaotic.”
“A little? You have no idea. A friend would be nice, especially a non-male friend.” I laughed and spun my mug a few times. “We’re going to have to tell them about what happened.”
“This is going to sound really weird, but has anything like that happened before? It felt like it recognized you, which is really weird because it was just a huge black blob.”
I hesitated for a second, I hadn’t told anyone about the few times that I’d seen a black mass. “Uhm, yeah. I haven’t told the guys yet… I’ve woken up to something like that a few times. It looked more like a person though, but it smelled the same and it gave off serious bad feelings. Do you think it was looking for me?”
“I’m not sure, but when you moved on the couch, it moved toward the door. That’s how I got caught up in it. I wanted to get to you before it did but, well, we know how that turned out.” Ember through her hands up.
“If you wanted to be friends so bad, you could’ve just asked. You didn’t have to throw yourself into certain death for me.” I smirked, trying to break the seriousness. Ember laughed, and I decided then that I liked her, she had a genuine air about her.
“Well, I figured Cassian would be pissed if I just let you die at the hands of an angry blob. And like I said, I like making waves.” We grinned at each other for a moment, and then her expression darkened again. “What’s up with Morgan?”
Her question caught me off guard. In the last few days I’d actually lost track of Morgan. After our training session, she just kept to herself. It was a huge change from her hanging around Griffin almost all the time and being passive aggressive. Now, she seemed distracted. I’d expected her to be rude and mean to Ember last night, like she was to me when we met, but she barely took notice. Morgan just ignored Ember except for the one or two questions about the tracking, and then she just disappeared. It wasn’t normal. Maybe she realized that Griffin didn’t like her the way she wanted him to and now she was giving him space. Doubtful…
I told Ember everything about Morgan and how our group came together. I filled her in on the trip, my powers, and everything that happened until now. She listened intently and asked questions. It was nice to get everything off of my chest. Well, almost everything. I didn’t tell her about Griffin and what happened in the ruin. I felt incredibly guilty when I saw Cassian, and I was sure it was written on my forehead. I’d tell him eventually, but not right now.
“Do you feel anything, like bad, around Morgan?” Ember asked, circling back to the witch.
I thought for a second and shook my head, “Not necessarily. Her bad attitude is quite potent though. Why?”
She seemed to hold back for a moment and then really looked at me as if she were considering if she could trust me or not. I wanted to tell her she could, but she’d made up her mind and straightened her shoulders. “I don’t share this often, or at all really, but I can read people really well, and I can see auras. And when Morgan walked in last night, I could tell—”
Ember was cut off by the basement door swinging open. I looked at the windows and sure enough, the sun was rising in the distance. The guys looked exhausted. Both of them waved at us and took turns showering. Once done, they gulped two mugs of coffee each before sitting down on either side of me and Ember.
“You two look like shit. The most attractive shit, but shit all the same,” Ember said through the quiet. I snorted into my coffee, splashing the hot liquid onto the counter.
“Thanks, Ember. Such a charmer.” Cassian nudged her with his elbow.
Griffin threw her a half smile. “If I had any energy, I’d have a witty comeback.”
I locked eyes with Ember, and then looked between the guys. “Why don’t you two sleep for a bit. We can plan and whatever else when you wake up.”
