Page 145 of Stealing Embers
Out of the corner of my eye I see Laurent lean forward, his hand reaching for Tinkle.
“I wouldn’t—”
The sound that comes out of the Celestial is straight hellcat screech. He slashes a paw full of sharpened claws at Laurent, who manages to yank his hand away with the speed of a seasoned warrior.
I tried to warn him.
“It doesn’t like to be poked,” Deacon deadpans. He would know.
“Heis not a pet,” Tinkle says, before leaping to the seat next to Sable. Circling twice he settles on the cushion. Sable scoots closer to her armrest. “Now, I’m assuming you all have questions?”
Chapter Forty-Three
Despite their best efforts, the adults haven’t been able to get much useful information out of the Celestial in the last forty-five minutes. All we’ve learned is that Tinkle doesn’t physically age and can render himself invisible in both the spectrum world and mortal realm. The former I don’t care about and the latter is something I could have guessed.
“This has been a very strange week.” Rising from her chair, Eloise shakes her head once, as if to rid herself of bad memories. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to say goodbye to my children. Laurent and I have to leave soon.” She turns sympathetic eyes toward Sable. “I do not envy you right now. Best of luck sorting all this out.
“Laurent, I’ll give you a few minutes to wrap up here, but I expect to see you in Blaze’s room in the next ten minutes.”
Guilt prickles my skin. I need to say something about Steel, but as Eloise floats toward the door, my vocal cords freeze. I manage to punch through the ice covering them when her hand turns the knob.
“Steel’s gone.” The words burst from my chest, brittle but loud. Eloise’s head snaps in my direction.
“What do you mean, ‘gone’?”
I swallow in an attempt to wet my dry throat. Screw Steel for putting me in this position. I shouldn’t be the one who has to tell his parents he’s gone to destroy one of their other children.
“I saw him packing up his motorcycle a few hours ago and went outside to see what was going on. We only talked for a few minutes, but I didn’t get the impression he planned on heading back anytime soon. He left the academy grounds just before sunset.”
Eloise’s eyes dart to the window. The night is so completely settled, only blackness greets us.
“He’s gone after Silver,” Laurent correctly assumes. A heavy sigh leaves his chest. “We should have known something like this would happen.”
Crossing the room to her husband, Eloise wraps her arms around his waist and settles her head against his chest. Laurent lifts a hand to rub circles on her back as they comfort each other.
“When he found out she was alive, it was just a matter of time.” Eloise’s eyes are squeezed shut, but a single tear still manages to break free and run down her cheek. Taking a deep breath, she leans away from her husband and wipes away the wetness. After pressing his lips to her forehead, the pair break apart. “Thank you for letting us know, Emberly.”
“Yes, thank you,” Laurent echoes his wife.
Wait, that’s it?
“I’m very sorry we can’t make finding her a priority right now. I’m sure that contributed to Steel’s rash decision,” Sable says, her voice ringing with sincerity.
Steel’s parents knew he’d gone to Sable to get help locating Silver?
“We understand.” Although not embracing anymore, the couple’s hands remain clasped together. They exchange a look and Laurent nods at Eloise before continuing. “There are bigger priorities right now. We made peace with the loss of our daughter, but I’m afraid Steel never has. He’s not a child anymore. His decisions are his own, regardless of whether we agree with them. Out of all of our children, Steel has always been the most resolute. There’s not much to be done about it except hope he reaches out to someone.”
“We’ll let you know if we hear anything from him,” Sable offers.
“We’d appreciate that. I think I’ll accompany my wife. You have much to discuss.” Laurent and Eloise brush past me on their way out. Eloise offers a sad smile as she moves toward the door, but Laurent pauses.
“Thank you for telling us about our son. It’s better to find out about this sooner rather than later.”
I give a small nod, unsure if he’s looking for another reaction, but knowing I have nothing else to offer him and his wife.
“It looks like I may have been hasty in forming my opinion of you.” He casts a meaningful glance at his wife, who nods encouragingly. “My apologies. Sometimes my protective nature overrides good sense.”
Ah, another personality trait his son has inherited.