Kelly Gay - The Hour of Dust and Ashes

I smoothed her hair, kissed her forehead. My shoulder was already wet with her tears and her cries were loud and keening, like a young child with no inhibitions. The pain that came out of her was raw. I cried so hard that I only saw Rex as a blurry form that sat down beside us. His head rested on the back cushion. He put his hand on her back.

And we stayed like that for what seemed like forever.

I stood on the closed-in front porch, staring out at the soccer field across the street and biting the inside of my cheek. Supper was almost ready and the smells from the kitchen were warm and spicy.

Hank was gone. The chief had confirmed that the sirens passed through the terminal last night before the call went through to stop them. It appeared that Hank had gone willingly. With his badge and law enforcement credentials, he didn’t need a visa or a permit. He could go wherever he wanted. And he did. He was gone. An entire world away, and no doubt in Fiallan.

I kept trying to convince myself that the Circe wouldn’t put him back into the grid, but who was I kidding? To him, it was a punishment worse than death. To the people of Fiallan it was the best way to achieve their lame idea of justice. Tears pricked my eyes.

I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.

Sorry because I couldn’t leave. Not when my kid was grieving, not when she needed me.

We’d stayed on the couch for hours. Then Emma had slept for several more. Now she was awake and in the shower. During her nap, I’d called to check in with Aaron, the chief, Sian, and then with Marti to see how Amanda was doing. The best bit of news, though, was the fact that Sian had been able to fly in an exorcist from Canada, and he’d already started interviewing the ash victims. No cure as of yet, but living with an addiction was far easier when you did it without a parasite pulling the strings.

The nobles had yet to show up. And during my conversation with the chief earlier, he said he’d notify me as soon as they came through the gate.

If we could convince the nobles that Bryn had gone into Telmath possessed by Solomon—and we had plenty of witnesses here to attest to that—and stuck to the story about Solomon jumping into the noble Carreg had killed, then my sister might actually come out of this okay.

I bit down harder on my cheek, crossing my arms over my chest as I watched a couple of teens tossing a football.

My thoughts turned to the shadow creature. After using Nwyvre in the ballroom, it was very clear the creature only showed up when I used my own power. Nwyvre was never mine. The last time I used my power had been at the portal in Charbydon. Wherever that thing was now, I knew it’d be back. Going into Fiallan to save Hank was going to require everything I had, and I’d be damned if that creature was going to stand in my way.

I bit the inside of my cheek, wondering if there was a way to thwart the creature’s radar. Maybe I’d pay another visit to the Grove to see if Pendaran had learned anything new. I could pick his brain about his time in Gorsedd with Hank and mbe gain some insight into the sirens of Fiallan.

It wouldn’t hurt to remind him to stay alert, too.

Grigori Tennin was not going to give up the search for the First One.

And with Solomon out of the way, Tennin would step up his plans. He’d continue to wage his battle for control over Charbydon. Or Atlanta. God only knew what his true goal was …

A week later, I walked into Bryn’s shop in Underground. I needed a break after being on Solomon Street all morning, overseeing the search warrant for Darkling Properties and Rentals—it had finally come through. The search of property records and files was just one more link we were building in our case against Grigori Tennin.

It was slow and tedious work—countless files to go through, statement after statement from eyewitnesses putting Tennin at Helios Tower on the winter solstice, reports linking him with Mynogan and the drug ash, anything to pin down hard evidence of his involvement with the Sons of Dawn. It was like trying to build a case against a mob boss, one with serious connections, wealth, and power—we had one shot to get this right, to accumulate so much evidence that no judge, no lawyer, and no political envoy could dispute the charges.

The door jingled overhead as I entered and weaved my way around merchandise and stacked bookshelves, heading toward the back counter.

Bryn’s back was to me, auburn hair pulled up in the usual sloppy-romantic twist. Soft murmurs came from her as she gently pruned dead leaves from a strange green plant.

“They’re never going to talk back. You know that, right?”

She turned, suppressing her smile. “Shows how little you know about earth crafting. They always talk back.”

God, she looked better. Standing before me was a vibrant, beautiful, feisty, softhearted person with a contagious smile and intelligent copper eyes. An earth mage with a gorgeous green aura layered with Caribbean blues. There was still the cloud of gray due to the ash addiction, but she was so much better now that the positives far outweighed the negatives. And she and Aaron had begun talking again. Talking was good. Those two were going to make it, I was sure.

“Why are you smiling?” she asked, reaching below to pull out her bowl of M&M’s so I could have some.

“No reason. Anyone here yet?” We’d finally planned a meeting today—a sort of powwow to figure out our next move concerning Hank. “Where’s Em?”

“I am in the back doing inventory, ” came a very bored voice from the open stockroom door, which then mumbled, “I’d rather pick up hellhound poop from the backyard.”

I winced. “Wow. She must really hate inventory.” Because she sure as hell hated cleaning up the backyard. I winked at Bryn and called, “Well, there’s plenty of that left to do when you get home.”

“Ha. Ha. Mother, you are so no funny.”

Bryn laughed at me. “You’re so mean.”

I popped some candy in my mouth and smiled while I chewed. “How did the deposition go?”

Her eyes rolled. “Boring as usual. There are only so many times and ways the nobles can ask me what happened. I feel like if I have to tell that story one more time, I’ll turn into a toad or something.”

“Hey, I’ve had to sit there and repeat it, too. At least the nobles are accepting our story for now.” And Carreg was being hailed as a hero.

Bryn’s brow lifted in agreement, but a shadow settled over her—something I felt rather than saw. I knew thinking of the last few months really got her down.

I gestured toward the stockroom and lowered my voice. “How was she today?”

“Good. I think she really needed to get out of the house. I’m glad you let her come. The sadness will lift; you just have to give it time. I think you should consider putting her back in school soon. It might help. Be a distraction at least.”

“Yeah. About that … Emma,” I called in a stern voice, “can you come out here, please?”

“One sec!” After some shuffling and a bang, she stepped out of the stockroom and blew a strand of wavy brown bangs from her eyes with a huff. “What?”

I reached into my pocket and handed her a plain white envelope over the counter. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she opened it. “My birthday isn’t until next week.”

“It’s not a birthday present.”

She sighed and read the letter, her brow furrowing deep and then slowly easing the farther she read. Her big eyes lifted, utterly bewildered. “I don’t get it. You said I couldn’t go. You said we didn’t have the money and—”

I leaned across the counter, grabbed her face with both hands, kissed her forehead, and then looked her in the eyes. “I know what I said. But I’ve thought about it a lot. If this is what you want, then it’s what I want, too. And just so you know. I signed the papers before I went to Charbydon.”