Chapter 37 Apples, Starlight, and Impulsive Decisions #3
Ember felt her blood begin to boil as the raven-haired girl grinned, her hand wrapping tightly around Killian’s. He winced as he turned to her and gave her a knowing look.
I’ll be back.
Ember checked her growing temper and smiled, the sickly-sweet smile she had been practicing for weeks now.
“Come find me when you’re done.” She smiled at Killian, then let go of his hand. The tether at her sternum pulsed as he walked away, like every part of her magic didn’t want him out of its sight, either. She took a breath and turned back to her mother, smoothing her dress in mock boredom.
“Is Theo here?” she asked Aoife. “I haven’t seen him since I arrived.”
“Yes,” she nodded her head behind Ember, “he hasn’t moved much since we got here.”
Ember turned around to see Theo standing in a corner, twiddling his thumbs.
Her heart sank. She had been over the plan with him the night before several times, and she knew he was scared.
This life, their mother, was the only thing he had ever known.
She knew the dread that came with having to leave it all behind and start over, and it broke her heart to see him like this.
She walked to the corner and nudged him in the shoulder.
“Having fun?” she signed with a small smile.
Theo shrugged. “Not really,” he signed. “Is it time to go home?”
Ember sucked in a breath.
Home.
She truly hoped Theo could find a home at the Kitts’ with her.
She prayed they could find their way out of this together.
Ember nodded toward the table where Fen was still standing with a full plate of food, Odette laughing as he tried to balance it.
“Why don’t you go hang out with Fen and Odette until we’re ready? ” she signed.
Theo nodded with a grin and ran off. Ember made her way around the ballroom, noting the presence of guards and where they were stationed, making a mental note of any exits should things go badly. She was just making another round, going to check on Rowan, when Killian walked up beside her.
“How was your dance?” She grinned, rolling her eyes as he stood stiffly beside her.
“Uneventful.” He shrugged. “I have to keep up appearances unfortunately.”
“Well, everything seems to be in order, so now we just have to wait.” Ember sighed as she looked around the room once more, a smile forming on her face. “I think we deserve to have a little fun before the night delves into complete madness.” Ember nodded toward the dance floor, and Killian laughed.
“I am not inclined to dance,” he shook his head, “and frankly, you can’t make me.”
“Please,” she giggled, batting her eyelashes as she stuck out her bottom lip.
“I thought we agreed that word was off limits,” he whispered, giving her a crooked grin. She stuck out her lip further and he sighed playfully and then pulled her onto the dance floor.
They swayed back and forth to the music, his hand gripping her lower back like it was a lifeline.
He spun her around, and she laughed as he drew her back in, her face just inches from his.
He was magic, and when she was in his orbit, she felt like magic too.
She breathed him in—the smell of spruce and green apples—and steadied herself against his chest. His charcoal eyes bore into hers, the fire from the lamps hovering above them dancing in the smoke.
He grinned as he brushed a stray hair from her face, their movement slowing with the music around them.
Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as his grip tightened around her, one hand on the small of her back, the other on the back of her neck.
She sucked in a breath—the air around them had her feeling like kindling stepping far too close to an open flame.
“Care if I cut in?” Fen stepped up beside them, and Ember realized how hard she was breathing, stepping back from Killian and smoothing out her dress. Killian shot daggers at Fen, nostrils flaring as the muscles in his jaw twitched.
“Sure, Fen,” Ember smiled, clearing her throat.
“I’ll go check on Theo,” Killian mumbled and then stalked away to the other side of the room.
“Are you scared?” Fen whispered, as they swayed with the music.
Ember shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she replied. “We’ve gone through the plan enough times that I think it will be just fine.”
“That’s not what I meant.” He cocked a brow and looked her in the eye. “I mean, are you scared to leave? To leave your mum again?”
Ember averted her eyes. “I don’t think scared is the right word,” she replied, as she watched Aoife mingle with all the guests, laughing and carrying on like she had done it a thousand times before. Emotions warred inside of her—hurt and anger mingling together to form something akin to…
Grief.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.
“No,” Ember shook her head with a polite smile, “not yet.”
The song ended, and Ember wrapped Fen in a hug. “You’re a good brother,” she whispered.
He gave her a nod, tears glistening in his eyes as she pulled away.
“I’m going to go get some air.” She turned and walked outside to the terrace overlooking the gardens. Rowan was in there somewhere, preparing the distraction, and all she could do was wait now.
She breathed in the night air, steadying herself against the stars that burned above her.
Rage had consumed so much of her in the past weeks that she hadn’t given herself a moment to think about the grief that would come with leaving.
When she had lost her parents when she was six, they had been taken from her—swept away by Njord and leaving her lost and alone.
But this time, she was leaving on her own, making a choice to leave behind the life she had begged the gods for since she was a wean on that rocky beach. Leaving behind a part of her family.
The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.
Ember smiled to herself—maybe there was more to family than just who you were born to.
“Taking one last look at the sky before we go underground?” Killian grinned as he leaned on the railing next to her. “I promise these stars will still be there when we get out.”
“Just taking a breather before it all starts,” she laughed. “What are you doing out here? Get tired of Fen’s company?”
“I just had something I needed to finish,” he whispered.
Ember furrowed her brow, but before she could ask what he meant, he had one hand wrapped around the back of her neck and the other around her waist, pulling her so close to him that she thought they might stay tangled up forever.
And he kissed her.
It was passionate—hungry, like if he let go for even a moment, she might disappear. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her closer. Fingers tangled in her curls as he gripped the back of her neck, and she thought she could stand there forever.
She had kissed boys before—one boy, to be exact, when she was twelve years old at the only birthday party she had ever been invited to, for the only friend she had ever had.
It had been pleasant enough, if not quick.
It had happened during a game of truth or dare on his twelfth birthday, and Ember thought she might spontaneously combust right there on the spot.
But kissing Koen Skarsgard when she was twelve was a far cry from this ball with this man on a night where anything could go wrong.
But as Killian pulled away and looked into her eyes and grinned, she realized how many things could go right tonight too.
He tasted like apples, starlight, and impulsive decisions.
He kissed her again, this time slower—deliberate, like he was memorizing the way she tasted, taking his time as he held her against his chest. There was something otherworldly about the way his fingers moved through her hair, twirling around her curls, and trailing down her neck. She wanted this moment to last forever.
Her breathing evened out as he pulled away from her, his smile growing as he brushed his thumb down her cheek, his face turning red.
“Why me?” she whispered. Out of all the girls in the world, why her?
“It was always going to be you, Ember Lothbrok.”
He spoke her name like a prayer.
“What are you lot doing out here?” Fen grinned as he ran up beside them, Theo and Odette in tow behind.
His eyes narrowed, darting between the two of them, and Ember felt her face flush.
Killian’s eyes were wide, his lips swollen and red, and he looked like he wanted to be anywhere other than there at the moment.
Fen’s eyes widened as his jaw dropped in understanding. “What are you two doing out here?” he asked again, but this time it sounded like he would rather not receive an answer.
Before Ember could reply, an explosion sounded in the distance, and screams erupted from the ballroom all the way to the garden.
Ember jumped, grabbing Killian’s hand as she turned to look toward the maze.
A fire burned brightly against the darkness of the night, and Ember shook her head as she laughed.
Rowan had caused an explosion in the middle of the maze.
It would take them ages to get in and out—it was genius.
“You reckon that was the signal?” Fen said with wide eyes.
Ember nodded, grabbing Theo’s hand, and turning toward the door. “We need to go now!”