11. Silas
Silas
My mornings usually consisted of a smooth, defined ritual, but all normalcy burned away last night when I experienced Ember Vale.
I hadn’t slept because of it, still trying to heal from my own personal form of cauterization.
After taking Ember home, I drove around, trying to clear my mind.
When that didn’t work, I laid down for more than an hour trying to release myself from whatever hold she had put on me.
Each time I closed my eyes, I pictured the way hers had rolled back for me.
I fought the pull and the visions for as long as I could before my body started to protest. Then, it was as if she was wrapped around me again.
It took one second of trying to adjust my dick before my hand wrapped around it, and I closed my eyes to the thought of her riding it.
The flames I hated, the ones I had vowed to suffocate, ended up welding us together.
That possibility, that outcome—had never been my intention.
In fact, I’d started last night with a completely different plan, one I’d placed my confidence in.
Unfortunately, within thirty minutes, that plan had somehow been completely derailed.
To be honest, I was still a little dazed from the whiplash of my own thought process.
One minute, I was in complete control, and the next, I wasn’t.
One thing was for sure, last night had changed everything for me.
The spark inside of her that I thought needed to be extinguished?
I had caught a glimpse of it, and now I needed more.
Her soul. Her anger. Everything about her made me feel alive in a way I couldn’t explain, and I already wanted to watch her flare again.
No, it was more than that. I wanted to nurture the flame until it consumed every piece of me.
I had been misguided in assuming that I’d be the one to ruin her. It was clear to me now that even then, my obsession had been solidified. An obsession that had originally been born out of anger but now, fueled by something else.
I had lived my life in darkness. A vast, hollow wasteland where I continuously searched for anything that would make me feel.
Yet, in one night, I had experienced it all.
By awakening my anger, Ember had involuntarily caused me to thrive.
I wanted to feel more. I wanted to experience everything she could offer. Most importantly, I wanted her.
In fact, I needed her.
A flash of her skin from my memory caused my blood to smolder.
Last night she looked at me like I was the gasoline she needed to light herself on fire, and yet I was the one who had willingly been burned alive.
My skin itched just thinking about it, and a small groan escaped me as I realized just how fucked I was.
Rolling off my couch, I reached for my phone and sent a silent prayer to whatever deity was listening that I’d at least been able to bridge the connection that was formed.
Scrolling to the app on my screen, I clicked on the icon I was looking for and immediately found her marker.
A slow grin spread across my face as I looked down at the blinking dot.
No matter where she went now, I would have her location, and that settled something in me.
The emitter was specially designed, smaller than a grain of rice and extremely hard to notice.
Knox and I had come up with various plans on how to plant it but lucky for me, I had completely worn her out.
That made things pretty easy for me on the drive home when I installed it under her phone case.
Clicking on her picture, she was at the same address I’d left her at last night.
Rolling my head around in a small circle, I locked my screen and moved to my desk for the small bottle of pain relievers in my bottom drawer.
The lack of sleep was starting to affect my mind, along with my muscles.
Chasing the pills down with the only water I had, I found some extra clothes I had stored near my new favorite corner—the same one I’d held her up against.
Then I checked my phone and the multiple texts I’d sent Knox throughout the night.
The first one wasn’t that bad, but as the hours passed, so did my desperation.
It was clear to anyone who could read that I was obsessed, and I was positive that he would have something to say about that, especially with what I was asking.
I sent one more text asking him to call me, before I dressed quickly and headed downstairs to assess the aftermath of the masquerade.
Taking the stairs, I could immediately tell that most of the mess had already been cleaned by my crew.
While I had spent the early morning hours spiraling in my office, they had started disassembling.
Mostly everything had been taken down or removed.
The only things left were some decorations and scattered glasses strewn across tables.
Grabbing as many as I could carry, I moved them to the sink at the bar and filled it with water.
A soft snoring grabbed my attention from somewhere under a table.
I followed the noise and soon found myself standing over my brother.
Kyrin was fast asleep, sprawled out like he had fallen at one point and just stayed there. It was no surprise he had slept through the cleaning, he had always been like that.
I sat down on a chair across from him and nudged his shoulder with my foot. “Get up.”
He groaned, then cracked one eye open to glare at me. “What day is it?” he muttered to himself as he pushed himself off the floor.
I leaned back into the chair and watched him, letting out a quiet sigh. A small part of me envied him for whatever amount of time he’d been able to sleep.
Rubbing his eyes and blinking rapidly, he looked over at me speaking through a yawn. “I’m glad Ember showed up. I thought you were gonna go on a killing spree.”
Her name coming from his mouth triggered a whole-body reaction from me I didn’t see coming. The feeling was instant and almost violent. That’s not good. “Yeah,” I said slowly, forcing myself to breathe through it.
Kyrin's head tilted slightly, as if my short answer amused him. “Nothing else to say about that? Nothing at all?” He stretched his arms out in front of him before moving them in small circles. “Okay, so we’re just gonna pretend that nothing happened?”
I looked at him for a few seconds, debating on which way I wanted to go with this conversation.
Knowing she would eventually be a part of his life too, I chose the truth—just like she had last night.
“Ember happened. She showed up in that mask, and I couldn't just let it go… I can’t seem to let her go.”
He nodded, as if my short explanation was enough to make him understand everything.
“I get it. It’s always the ones that drive us a little crazy, huh?
” Shrugging his shoulders, he pulled his eyes away from me and stood.
“You don’t have to explain anything else to me, including the fact that last night has been permanently erased from my memory.
The number nine? It means nothing to me now. ”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Throwing a punch into his shoulder as he passed me to collect his things, I mumbled a quick “thank you.”
A ping from my pocket alerted me that Ember had left her house. Without any direction to do so, my hand moved on its own. Soon, I was looking down and following her dot as it moved.
Glancing back up at Kyrin, he was just standing there, smiling at me.
Asshole. I ignored him and the smirk that formed in the corner of his mouth as I grabbed my keys off the counter.
Closing my hand around them, I swore I heard him laugh.
His amused voice hit me just before the door shut.
“Just keep doing the finger thing, she seems to like that.”
I didn’t know whether to be thankful for who he was or beat the shit out of him for not knowing boundaries. Just as I was debating the answer, Knox called me.
I answered, putting him on speakerphone while I shot a text to my lead manager, explaining that I had some business to attend to and outlined instructions for the rest of the clean-up.
“Hey,” I said, typing the last of the message out.
“Oh, hey there. I’m looking for Silas Solstice? I think his phone might have been stolen or maybe he acquired a certain head injury that left him unstable.”
And here we go.
“Can you just let me know if it’s doable?” I locked the door to the club and started walking to my car, pulling up the map that showed Ember’s location.
“Doable? Yes. But do you really want me to ‘hack anything needed’ so you have a full-time feed to her? That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
He’s not wrong, but I needed to be able to see her. “Is it a yes or a no, Knox?”
The line went silent for a few seconds. “Are you on drugs?”
I was already irritated from this conversation, but if anyone could help me, it was him. “Knox.”
“Do you plan on killing her?”
“KNOX!”
“Okay! Okay. I was just making sure! This will be a little bit tougher than your last request, so I might need an extra day. Do me a favor and don’t go too crazy, okay?”
I was twenty-two minutes away from her location, but I could probably make it in eighteen. “Yeah, got it,” I answered, as my foot pushed harder against the gas pedal.
He hung up once I agreed, leaving me with the silent map on my screen.
Within seventeen minutes, I found myself parked in a small lot listening to the engine tick as it cooled.
Flexing my fingers over the wheel, I pushed the button to uncover my sunroof and surveyed the area around me.
Everything here seemed common, including the high school that Ember was inside of.
Considering the time of year and her photography contract, I put together that this was something to do with graduation.