To Match A Dragon’s Fire (Sulfur & Spice #1)

3

Ember

Cheap Wine and Chocolate

“Scientists are recording more activity at Yellowstone this year and experts warn yet another volcanic erupt––”

I turned the radio off as I drove my faded saffron ’98 hardtop Bronco onto the gravel road. The Bronco—like most everything I owned—had seen better days. But the goat still held strong and the rumble of the engine was steady.

Riley stood from the front stoop of the trailer. Her brown hair used to be long, back in college, but now it was cut short and framed her thin face.

She wore a suede crossbody purse over her jean jacket and thick wool sweater, burying her slender figure in layers of fabric. In one hand was a beat-up suitcase, and the other held her cat carrier.

If Dobby, the mean old orange tabby, was coming, things were serious.

Riley kept her face lowered until I switched off the headlights, but the interior light came on when she grabbed the door handle.

I reached for my hatchet. “Did he do that? ”

The red swelling spread across her right eye. Riley quickly lowered her face again. “It doesn’t matter.”

Drew had never hit her before, not that I was aware of, but I knew he was capable of it. We’d been trying to get her to leave him for the past two years.

A few times it’d been close, but after this, I was never letting her go back. No matter what it took.

My grip tightened on the hatchet. It was dull from rattling around the back seat for years. Perfect for my intended use now. “Where is he?”

“Dead.”

Eyes wide, I dropped the hatchet. “So we did need a shovel.” I swallowed, looking around the yard. “Do you still have that rug under the table? We can roll him in—”

“You used to be able to take a joke.” Riley climbed onto the passenger seat.

“This one isn’t funny,” I deadpanned, leaning forward so I could inspect her face. “I’m going to kill him. Where is he really? We need to call the cops and file a report to get this documented.”

“Probably not the best idea.” Riley pulled her face away and reached into her purse for a pair of sunglasses. “I drugged him.”

“You what?” I gasped.

“Drugged him.” She nodded. “Slipped him an Ambien. He’s passed out. Can we just go?”

Gritting my teeth, I backed out of the driveway. Dobby hissed in his carrier and started a low meow. The cat was not a friendly one. I’m surprised she even got him in the crate.

Riley stared at the darkened windshield through her sunglasses. Anger boiled in my veins .

“He’ll be okay,” Riley said as we bumped along the dirt road. “I propped him up on pillows and pulled a trashcan over in case he vomits.”

I couldn’t care less if he choked on his own puke. A part of me hoped he would. “We can still burn the place down and make it look like an accident.”

A smile teased Riley’s lips. Just the ghost of one, but it was there. It was gone in the next instant. “He said some things.”

Drew was always saying ‘some things,’ and I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was mostly bullshit.

“Rumor is they’re shutting down the interstate and putting out a curfew next week,” Riley said.

“They as in…” I waited for her to explain.

“The government,” she whispered as if they or Drew could hear us.

Riley used to be so loud.

Somehow, she’d gotten quieter over the past two years. Less sure of herself.

It was such a subtle change. I wondered how it’d happened without us noticing. I wanted to call Drew out for the way he treated her, but that hadn’t gone over so well before.

So, I treaded lightly, “He would know.”

The bastard had worked an IT gig with a group of jerks as lovely as him until they’d all been fired for some harassment issue.

I’d met them at a party last summer, and that’s when Willow and I started to suspect that Drew wasn’t telling the whole truth.

But Riley didn’t want to listen before, so now I wasn’t sure how to approach the topic .

“It’s good timing.” Riley wouldn’t look at me. “Not like we needed another excuse to leave. Is Willow ready?”

“She’s been ready.” Nausea burned its way up the back of my throat. Shouldn’t have eaten so many pepperoncinis.

“I know you don’t want to go,” Riley whispered when the trailer park entered the rearview mirror. I hated how scared she sounded.

Riley was too good. She was kind. A CNA who worked at the retirement home down the road. I never understood how she got mixed up with Drew in the first place.

“It’s not that.” I shook my head a little too forcefully. “I just…”

Headlights passed us by as I turned onto the main road. The streetlight was out, but the gas station was lit up beyond it.

“Let’s get some snacks,” I said.

“Snacks?” Riley’s eyebrows shot up past her sunglasses.

“It’s going to be a road trip, right?” My palms were sweaty on the wheel as I pulled the Bronco into the parking space. “We need snacks.”

“I’m sure Willow has snacks.” Riley slammed her door shut and followed me to the shop. The old-school doorbell chimed above our heads.

“But she doesn’t have cheap wine.” I snagged a bottle of red-blend off the bottom shelf in front of the cash register, waving it in Riley’s direction.

She grinned again. Bigger this time. “Maybe we should get a few bottles.”

“And we need chocolate,” I said, searching the barren aisles for something sweet .

Chocolate and cheap wine wouldn’t fix the apocalypse, but they could sure make it more palatable.

Riley was still smiling as we met back up near the cash register with arms loaded full of our haul.

I couldn’t imagine the night she’d had and, despite my petty problems, I’d do anything to make sure she never went through something like that again.

That meant I was going home and taking her with me. It was past time for us to get out of the city.

The lights flickered above and the clerk paused in ringing up my candy bars. I kept my eye on the handheld calculator, watching the total, as he returned to punching the numbers.

“And I’ll take a bottle of Tylenol,” I said, counting out the cash from the tips I was carrying tonight. The hangover from this was going to be brutal, but I was willing to risk it for a little liquid courage.

“The ATM is out,” Riley sighed as she yanked her card from the machine. “I should’ve gotten more money. Maybe I’ll go back and—”

“No,” I growled.

The clerk jumped.

Riley looked away. “Is the card reader working?”

“For now.” The clerk slid my candy into a paper bag, eyeing me like I was going to pounce on him.

If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have used cash. But the machines were usually down so I didn’t bother putting all my earnings into the bank.

Riley hurried over to pay for her wine as the lights above us flickered again. “Sorry. I just don’t want to be a burden. ”

“You’re never a burden.” I grabbed her by the shoulders, staring into my reflection on her sunglasses and searching for her eyes underneath. “I want you to promise me that you won’t think that about yourself. You’re a badass bitch who doesn’t deserve anything that’s happened. We’re done with Drew and we’re getting out of here.”

The ground started to shake beneath us.

“Not again,” I whined.

We both ducked down under the ledge of the counter, waiting as the earthquake rocked the gas station.

The light bulbs went out all at once. Shelves that were bolted to the floor rattled, but they stayed upright. Wood dust came down from the ceiling, but the beams remained in place.

“At least six points,” Riley said as she held my hand. I nodded in agreement.

By this time in our lives, we all had a general idea of the magnitude of the various earthquakes. And they were getting more frequent. Bigger. Scarier. I wasn’t sure how much longer the world could keep patching things together.

The aftershocks eased. Riley and I both stood, leaning on each other to get up.

The clerk switched on a lantern and returned to his calculator. “The card reader is out. Cash only tonight.”

∞

“I’ll pay you back,” Riley said again as we grabbed the bags and Dobby’s crate out of the trunk of the Bronco .

“It’s fine ,” I stressed the word.

But no amount of me telling her that eased her discomfort. I hated Drew for what he’d done to my friend. She used to be so vibrant. So bold. In college, she was the first to jump naked into the icy lake. The sarcastic one with all the crazy plans.

Now every step she took was on eggshells.

Part of me wanted to sneak back over to the trailer park and burn him alive. But being a good friend sometimes meant standing back and picking up the broken pieces. I needed to be there for her when she made her choices.

She wanted to leave. That meant I had to get over my own shit real quick.

I sighed as I closed the tailgate, heading to the darkened house.

Willow lived in a cul-de-sac of single-story homes in the suburbs outside of Portland. She and Sam had gotten it dirt cheap years ago, before inflation shot interest rates through the sky.

I’d been crashing on her couch for the past month. Robberies in the area were getting worse and she’d wanted some extra eyes on the place. Since I got off late and had decent aim with my pistol, it all worked out.

Giving up my studio apartment felt like one step closer to this inevitable day, but it wasn’t like I’d been attached to it anyway. I’d moved so many times that none of the places I’d rented over the years felt like home.

“What took you so long?” Willow stood in the open front doorway .

Dim candlelight flickered in the living room. Her straight blonde hair was tied into a braid that fell down the front of her silk lavender pajama set.

Even without makeup, she had a regal face that would’ve been better suited to a royal court than a PTO meeting.

“Did you message her?” Riley tossed an accusatory look over her shoulder.

I put my hands in the air. “I did not.”

“So you purposefully didn’t tell me something was wrong. Don’t worry. I felt it in my gut.” Willow stepped to the side to let me and Riley in. When we both stopped to stare at her, she shrugged. “Fine. I called McKay’s and they said Ember got fired for leaving to pick up her friend.”

“You lost your job for me,” Riley choked out as she carried Dobby to the laundry room and set him inside.

Damn it. I glared at Willow. “What are you still doing up anyway?”

“I’m a mom. I don’t sleep. Especially not when I’m worried sick about you two. And the shake woke Harper. I just got her back down.” Willow stood as Riley made her way over and crumpled onto the couch.

The frown on her face deepened as she stared at Riley’s sunglasses. I pulled out a bottle of wine from the bag and handed it to Willow, motioning with my eyes for her to chill out.

Willow took the hint. “I’ll get the glasses.”

“Why did you get fired?” Riley pulled her knees to her chest. “You don’t always have to be the hero. I could’ve— ”

“What you can do is stop worrying about what anyone else thinks or does.” I sat next to her and rubbed slow circles on her shoulder, trying to get her to relax. “We’re leaving anyway. Right?”

“Right.” Willow moved fast, coming back from the kitchen with three glasses and the cork twisted out. “Everything is packed. Harp and I are ready to get out of here.”

I poured an extra-large dose of wine.

“But Ember doesn’t want to go,” Riley whispered as she took a sip. “Maybe this isn’t the right time. I know we’ve been talking about it forever, but we can wait a little longer.”

I chugged half the glass and wiped my lips, staring at the flickering flame of the candle on the coffee table. “Didn’t I just tell you to stop worrying about me?”

“Should we be worried?” Willow frowned.

Great. Now I was the center of attention.

I swirled the rest of the wine in my glass. Despite the anxiety twisting in my gut, I knew this was the best plan.

“We’re leaving,” I said. “The last six-pointer was less than a month ago. They’re getting more frequent. McKay’s is out of almost everything. So are the stores. Traffic was backed up into and out of Portland. There’s some sort of new protest going on southside and construction crews were clearing debris north of the 5. That’s what took us so long to get here.”

“Drew said they’re going to shut everything down soon.” It was hard to tell if Riley was looking at us through her sunglasses, but she definitely lowered her face. “Not that I care what he thinks anymore. ”

I put my hand on her knee and gave it a pat.

“The gas went out after the shake. I turned off the main, but I don’t know what the damage was to the underground lines this time.” Willow sipped her wine.

I finished mine and poured some more. “If we stay here any longer, we’ll end up wrapping the house in barbed wire to protect us from the outside world and be trapped inside as it crashes down on our heads.”

“Someone broke into Mrs. Waterman’s house earlier today and stole her husband’s Jeep from the garage,” Willow said. “Her son is coming up to move her out. That only leaves two of the original homeowners on this street. The rest are squatting.”

That should’ve worried me more than it did. But as it was, I just nodded.

I kept thinking about all the chaos we’d been through for the past decade. We were pretty much numb to it, but I couldn’t let us get complacent.

If anything happened to my friends, I’d die. They were what made this crazy, screwed-up life worth it.

“We’ve waited too long,” I said, ignoring the panic knocking at my chest. “I don’t care who lives there. He doesn’t own that town. Even if he did, the cabin is miles away from everyone else. We can avoid them all. It’ll be okay.”

“And we’ll be there with you.” Riley smiled. The wine was loosening her up.

I swallowed the rest of my second glass. “Damn right you will. I’ll need help if we’re going to get things running again.”

Ugh. I sounded like my father—rest his soul .

The last I’d checked on GPS satellite maps, the ranch was an overgrown mess. I’d paid yearly taxes on it since my dad passed away and left it to me, but I hadn’t wanted to go home and deal with the land yet.

Willow and Riley remembered the ranch from when we’d stayed there after my father’s funeral. They were the ones who’d come up with the idea that if things kept going the way they were, we’d make it our new home.

It’d be a lot of work to turn the land around, but we could do it.

I could do it.

I wasn’t the innocent girl who’d left that town with dreams of a wonderful future. Now I was hardened. Roughed up a little. Old enough to know I could handle whatever came my way.

And I couldn’t care less that my ex-husband was there with his cheating, homewrecking wife while the entire small town knew every bit of my business.

Yep. I was a mature, independent woman.

I bit into a piece of gas station chocolate to chase my sip of wine, wondering if we should risk cracking another bottle.

“Do you mind if Sam comes?” Willow asked as she stood, grabbing the empty wine bottle to cart it away. She’d be the first of us in bed tonight and I was sure the Bronco would be packed and ready to go by the time I woke up.

“Why would we mind?” I glanced at the mantle where the urn sat with Sam’s ashes. I hadn’t liked the guy in life, but he wasn’t such a douchebag in death.

Plus, he’d helped sire Harper and she was my favorite little kid. He could travel with us if Willow wanted .

“Guess we’re all going.” Willow nodded at the urn on her way to the kitchen.

“You know, this feels meant to be.” Riley sighed, leaning back against the couch. Her shoulders were less tense as she stared up through the sunglasses at the ceiling.

“What does?” I relaxed beside her.

“We’re the most screwed-up group of women I’ve ever met.” She chuckled. “It’s fitting that we’re doing the apocalypse together.”

“We’re not that messed up.”

Riley pointed to her face and then to Sam’s urn before motioning to me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“Come on.” Wine sloshed to the rim as she held up her glass. “Don’t pretend you aren’t afflicted with our awful taste in men. Even if we ignore the string of bad hookups you’ve left behind, I’m pretty sure your ex-husband ranks up there with the worst of the worst.”

She wasn’t saying anything I didn’t already know. Which is why I don’t want to go...

But it was too late to back out now.

“It’s a good thing we have each other then.” I clinked my glass against hers in salute, laughing softly at the ridiculousness of it all. “To bad choices and surviving the end of the world with my slightly damaged, hot-mess best friends by my side.”