Page 80 of Stealing Embers
Her gentle hand squeezes my knee before she slides from my bed. “I didn’t tell you that so you’d stop being friends with Greyson and Sterling. I don’t think you should let Steel’s fears get in your way. Like I said before, monsters and dangers are a part of our reality, and Steel needs to come to terms with that on his own. He can’t put a protective shell around everyone he loves.”
A protective shell. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was something he’d tried.
“I just wanted you to know where he was coming from so you don’t take it personally. Just because we’re part angel, doesn’t mean we’re perfect, ya know?”
I huff out a half-laugh. “Yeah, that’s for sure.”
She glides to the bathroom, but turns back before closing the door.
“Don’t let him get to you, okay? I think you’ve spent most of your life with people telling you you’re less-than, or not worthy somehow. But, that’s a lie. You are worthy of friendship, and loyalty, and love. You’re worthy of all the good things life has to offer. You’re building true friendships here—don’t let them go easily. You, probably more than any of us, know how special they are.”
My throat clogs with emotion, so I simply nod and offer as much of a smile as I can muster. It’s not much, but it’s enough for Ash.
The moment she disappears from view, I allow the moisture prickling at the back of my eyes to seep through.
She’s right: I’ve spent a lifetime with people who belittled my very existence. Friendship is a precious gift I’ve been denied, and I’m the last person who should take it for granted. But knowing what Steel has already lost, can I knowingly endanger one of his loved ones simply to chase after something I desire?
And if I do, doesn’t that make me the monster in the end?
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ipoke at the gravy-drenched chicken breast on my plate. It’s probably cold by now, which is a shame. I happen to like chicken and I’m not in the habit of passing up free food. But who can eat while they’re being watched?
Not this girl.
At my last school I used to take my lunch down to the basement to escape the prying eyes of my fellow students. It was always dank and smelled like mold and sometimes dead rodents, but for a moment of peace I’d pay that price.
Disappearing acts have always been my specialty. I wanted to pull one tonight, or skip dinner altogether, but Ash is a bossy little thing and won’t hear of it.
“I promise, no one is staring.”
I lob my drill sergeant a miffed look, one laced with as much annoyance as I can infuse into my features. I only have to twist my neck a quarter notch to the right or left to catch at least six sets of eyes covertly stealing peeks at me.
Blaze and Aurora aren’t the only two who caught wind of what happened over the weekend. I’m the freaky new girl all over again.
Academy students murmur behind their hands. Their whispered conversations itch my eardrums. Their glances weigh heavy on my back, burning through my clothes like hot coals and singeing the skin underneath.
The worst was during PE, when Seth tried to get me to phase. I managed to blink into the spectrum world a few times, but no magic wings or gilded armor appeared. When I returned to the real world, the students’ faces were stained with disappointment. I was tempted to ask if they wanted a refund on their tickets, because they were obviously counting on me being the day’s entertainment.
“Just ignore them, Em. They’ll find something new to talk about in a day or two.”
Fisting my knife, I stab my chicken and then hurl a pointed look at Sterling. I’m pretty sure he took bets on whether or not I would transform during training.
I point my empty fork at him. “Nothing out of you.”
He has the good sense to press his lips together and tuck his chin. Greyson breaks out in a boisterous round of laughter.
“I told you not to use Emberly’s experience to further your gambling addiction, bro. You brought her wrath upon yourself.”
Half of Sterling’s mouth lifts but his cheeks darken. “Naw. I’m too charming. Emberly could never hate a face as pretty as mine.”
Unfortunately, he’s not wrong—he is annoyingly impossible to hate.
What am I going to do with him? What am I going to do with his entire family?
I can use this betting thing as an excuse to put distance between myself and the middle Durand twins. The pretext would be flimsy, but I can use it to drive a wedge between us.
An ache pulses in my chest, and I scrub at the spot.