Chapter 3
The Wolf & Waife
Ember, Fen and Killian made their way through the sea of children and out the front doors of Heksheim.
She breathed a sigh of relief as the fresh air hit her lungs and the afternoon sun warmed her face.
She took in a deep breath, letting the feeling wash over her as she leaned her head back and smiled.
“Need a minute to recharge?” Killian asked with a smirk.
Ember opened one eye and squinted at him with a smile. “Yeah, just a minute,” she sighed.
“While you’re over there photosynthesizing,” Fen grumbled, “I am currently dying of hunger. Can we go please?”
Ember rolled her eyes as she laughed. “Alright, fine, lets go,” she replied, and the trio walked down the path toward the end of the wards.
“I could go for a Moon Cider.” Killian shrugged. “We should pop into town before we head home for the day.”
“I like how you think.” Fen grinned mischievously.
Ember furrowed her brow. “We were specifically told to go straight home,” she scolded. “I don’t think stopping in town for drinks will go over well.”
Fen stopped directly in front of her, putting on a show complete with puppy dog eyes and a quivering bottom lip. “But, Em,” he pouted, “I’m parched. I won’t make it home. I need sustenance.” His bottom lip stuck out as he grabbed both her hands and tried his hardest to produce tears.
Ember rolled her eyes as she shoved his shoulder with a laugh. “You’re worse than Maevie, you know that, right?”
“I’m famished, Em,” he continued.
“We don’t have a choice, Starshine.” Killian grinned, feigning concern as he felt Fen’s forehead. “It’s a matter of survival at this point.”
Ember rolled her eyes as she shoved past the boys and continued down the path. “Fine,” she shouted back to them, “but you’re paying!”
The Wolf & Waife sat on the end of Waterware street next to Botánica Mágica.
It was a quaint little pub, not run down, but nothing to write home about, either.
Standing on their hind legs, front paws stretched on in front of them to create an arch over the front door, were two beautifully carved wooden wolves.
Ember ran her hands down the long-dead tree and breathed a sigh as she playfully cut her eyes at Killian.
“Quite realistic if you ask me,” she teased. “Though, these are a little scarier than the one I’ve become acquainted with.”
Killian cocked a brow, and he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wolf opposite her. “These are all bark,” he said, as he patted the wooden leg, “and I think you’ll find that I have a bit more bite, Starshine.”
Ember felt a chill run down her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as he sent her a wink, and the invisible tether connecting her to him seemed to vibrate wildly, like it was a harp string being plucked.
“Ew, gross, that’s my sister,” Fen said, as he gagged dramatically. “Can we just go inside?”
Killian opened the door, and the trio made their way into the pub, quickly sliding into a booth toward the back. Fen went up to the bar and ordered a round of Moon Cider as Killian and Ember settled in.
“So, do you have the day marked on the calendar yet?” Killian asked, as he leaned back in his seat.
Ember furrowed her brow. “What day?”
“The day you become a Kitt.” He grinned, crossing one leg over the other and resting his ankle on his knee.
“Oh… yeah, that day.” She nodded. “I mean, I’m being adopted, that doesn’t mean I have to change my whole identity.” She said it a little meaner than she meant to, evident by the confused look now on Killian’s face.
“Who said anything about changing your identity?” Killian asked, as he rested his elbow on the table.
“Everyone just expects me to change my last name and forget who I am and who my parents are. When I do that, if I do that, it’ll be like they never existed. Like we never existed.” Ember swallowed the lump that was steadily building in her throat as her chest began to rise and fall rapidly.
“Whoa there, Starshine,” Killian said, as he laid his hand on hers. “No one said anything about forgetting your parents or changing your last name. You don’t have to do anything you aren’t comfortable with.” He furrowed his brow, and suddenly Ember felt far more dramatic than she meant to be.
“Right, right, of course.” She nodded as she shook her head, plastering on a small smile. “I’m just in my head, I’m sorry.”
Killian smiled as he leaned forward, his hand still resting on hers. “Nothing to be sorry about, love.”
“I come bearing gifts!” Fen announced behind them.
Killian pulled his hand away quickly and leaned back in the booth, which resulted in him smacking his elbow against the back of the seat. Ember yanked her hand into her lap and felt heat creep up her neck as she stared at her nails.
Fen squinted between the two, three bottles of Moon Cider still swinging in his hands. “Stop being weird,” was all he said, and then he set the bottles down on the table and took his seat in the booth beside Killian.
“How long till they lock down the whole island, ya reckon?” Killian asked, as he sipped his cider.
Fen shook his head. “I don’t think anyone would be able to get onto the docks, let alone on a ferry to the mainland with a missing child in tow. Too many variables. Whoever, or whatever, is doing it lives here somewhere. It makes the most sense.”
“Whatever is doing it?” Ember said, as she furrowed her brow. “Please don’t tell me you’re buying into this whole ‘Fae kidnapping’ nonsense too.”
“I mean, we have to consider all possibilities here,” Fen said, as he tilted his bottle to his lips and took a swig.
He sat his bottle on the table and cleared his throat.
“Only a handful have businesses in town, and the rest tend to stay in their territory. How much do we really know about them?” He took another sip of his cider and leaned back in the booth.
“It could be a rogue Fae, like with Rowan’s dad and brother.
” He chewed on his bottom lip thoughtfully as he tapped his foot.
“Or it could be a conspiracy. Maybe they’re trying to take back the island slowly, one by one, slowly weakening our forces. ”
Ember rolled her eyes and kicked him under the table. He let out a grunt, gripping his shin and spilling cider all over his flannel shirt.
“Stop it, Fenrir Kitt,” she scolded. “Spreading terrible rumors like that won’t help the situation at all. Rumors like that can ruin lives.”
Fen had the sense to look properly abashed as he hung his head.
“Well, whoever it is,” Killian interjected, as he leaned back in his seat, “they’re doing a wonderful job at leaving behind no evidence if Chief Thornsten is this worried. We’ve never had a town meeting, not over something like this.”
Ember chewed on the bottom of her lip as she slowly sipped her cider.
She didn’t want to believe that the Fae had anything to do with the disappearing children, but she also didn’t want to believe there was a Vala running around snatching children and leaving no trace, either.
She rubbed the bridge of her nose like she did when she felt a headache coming on.
If she was being completely honest, neither felt like wonderful options.
She leaned back in her seat and let out a sigh as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Maybe this wouldn’t be such a peaceful year after all.
The trio changed the topic of conversation, steering clear of missing children and evil plans, and before they knew it, they had drunk way too many Moon Ciders, and the sun was slowly beginning to drop on the horizon.
“Bloody hell,” Fen mumbled, as they stepped outside, “Mum is going to kill us.”
Ember rolled her eyes with a laugh. “I don’t know what you mean by ‘us.’ I was very clearly taken here against my will.
” Fen cut his eyes at her and stuffed his hands in his pockets as they headed toward the Echopoint.
Walking through the Yggdrasil Terminal and directly into their house didn’t feel like the best plan
“You wouldn’t dare,” he whispered.
And just like that, a small blue ball of light whizzed in front of the trio, floating in the air ominously. Ember knew who the Helio was from before the message even began.
“Fenrir Kitt! Ember Lothbrok! Come home this instant!”
The sun was quickly setting behind the house as Fen and Ember walked up the long drive.
Dread pooled in her stomach as she prepared for the firestorm they were about to walk into.
They hadn’t sent anyone a Helio, didn’t let anyone know they would be making a pit stop after school, and she knew they deserved whatever wrath the Kitt matriarch decided to unleash on them.
Fen scratched furiously at his arms beside her and pulled the collar of his shirt away from his neck.
“Are these hives?” he asked erratically. “Do these look like hives to you?”
Ember rolled her eyes as she glanced at his arms. “I don’t see anything,” she replied, “and I don’t know why you’re the one panicking when going out for drinks was your idea.”
Fen let out a sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Felt like a better idea from the safety of school if we’re being honest.”
The front steps creaked as they slowly made their way to the door, each step feeling like they were inching closer and closer to the guillotine. The door creaked open as they walked into the foyer, both stopping to glance at each other.
“Ready?” Fen whispered.
“As I’ll ever be.” Ember nodded.
The house was quiet, far too quiet for a September afternoon.
Ember listened closely for the sounds of life she had come so accustomed to, but instead, she was met with silence.
Maeve couldn’t be heard chattering away in the kitchen, and the sounds of pots and pans and dinner plates weren’t ringing in her ears.
Otto’s laugh was absent, as well as Eira’s sing-song voice she had grown so used to hearing every night.
The silence was deafening.
“This can’t be good,” Fen mumbled.
“No, I suppose it can’t,” a voice said from the dining room.
Fen and Ember spun around to see Eira sitting at the table, both hands folded calmly in front of her.
“Four hours,” was all she said as she looked up at the both of them.
“Mum, I can explain—" Fen started, but he was cut off.
“Four. Hours,” she repeated, as she closed her eyes.
Ember’s breath hitched as she noticed how puffy and red Eira’s eyes were. She bit her lip as she dropped her head, the remnants of all of the Moon Cider suddenly tasting sour in her mouth.
“That’s how long it’s been since school let out,” she continued.
“That’s how long we have been wondering where you were.
That’s how long I have been beside myself with worry, racking my brain with terrible thoughts of what could have happened.
” Her voice was shaking as she spoke, and Ember felt like her heart had shattered into a million pieces.
“Mum, we’re sorry,” Fen tried again. “We stopped by the Wolf & Waife and just lost track of time.”
Eira put a hand over her face and took a breath.
“I know. Don’t you think I deserved the respect of one of you letting me know where you were going?
” She dropped her hand and looked between the two teenagers as tears ran down her cheeks.
“Children are going missing every day. Your father and I couldn’t even get a Helio to go through for several hours because of all the extra wards that have been placed around the island.
” Her crying grew louder, and soon, her shoulders were shaking.
Ember’s heart dropped, and she felt bile rise in her throat.
“We had no idea what happened to you, and for all we knew you could’ve been—"
Ember rushed across the room and wrapped her arms around Eira’s neck, holding on tightly as if her life depended on it.
She buried her face in her foster mother’s shoulder as the woman’s tears soaked into her shirt.
Eira wrapped her arms around Ember’s neck, and then Fen’s as he came up beside them and embraced them both.
They stayed like that, for just a few minutes, before Eira pulled away and ran her hand down each of their cheeks.
“Do not ever do that to me again,” she whispered at them both. “I don’t know what I would do if something happened to any of you.”
Ember straightened up, wiping the stray tears off her cheeks. “We won’t do it again.” she promised. And she meant it.
“We promise.” Fen nodded in agreement, and Ember knew he meant it to. His chest shook briefly as he turned his head and rubbed his hand under his eyes. He furrowed his brow as he turned back to his mother. “Wait, you said you knew where we were. How did you know?”
Eira cocked a brow as she looked between the two teenagers. “After our Helio’s failed to find you, I decided a small tracking charm was in order. It’s easier for a Helio to make it to you if I know your exact location.”
Fen’s jaw dropped as he stared at his mother. “You… tracked us?” he whispered. “Honestly, Mum.”
Ember rolled her eyes as Eira let out a small laugh.
“If you don’t want to be tracked, I suggest you not give me a reason to do so next time.
Your father will be back with Maeve shortly.
I sent them to pick up takeout from Florin’s.
Go wash up.” She kissed both of them on the forehead and shooed them out of the room.