Chapter 41
41
Ashley
T he first thing Ashley noticed was a gentle burning in her side. The sensation morphed into a slicing pain as something was tugged from her. She hissed instinctively, but her fangs still wouldn’t descend.
“Ashley?”
Gentle fingers touched her cheek, and she turned her face, urging the cool touch to soothe the throbbing building in her skull. It felt like a house had fallen on her.
“I think she’s waking up.”
“Esther?” Ashley croaked. She hardly recognized her own voice, her throat was so dry and scratchy. She coughed and tried to pry open her eyes, but they were just as dry.
“I’m here, Ashley.” Cool fingers encased her hand. “We’re all here. You’re going to be okay. Are you almost done?” The last comment sounded like it was to someone else.
Who was here? Ashley was having a hard time remembering.
“Just about.” Ashley didn’t recognize the second female’s voice.
She tried opening her eyes again, but they remained cemented shut. Rubbing at them left her free hand coming away sticky.
“Uther,” said Esther’s voice. “Can you get a wet cloth for her face? Hang on, babe.”
Moments passed while she tried not to think about how she physically could not open her eyes. She startled when a damp cloth, soft like a T-shirt, touched a corner of her eye.
“Sorry, sorry.” Esther’s quiet coos were as soothing as the fabric cleaning her. A few swipes and some heavy blinking and she could see again.
“Esther,” Ashley sighed.
It was dark, the shadows deeper than they should have been. She just made out Esther’s face, the cut on Esther’s cheek. A movement behind Esther drew her eye to water running from the ceiling then the piles of debris littering the floor.
Everything came back in a rush.
“Esther, are you all right?” Ashley tried to sit up, but her side burned, and a hand on her shoulder pressed her back down.
“I’m just about done here.” The voice was gentle but firm.
Ashley followed the hand to the source. The woman was familiar, but in this setting, she couldn’t quite place her. Her dark curls were braided back into a low halo, her button nose focused down on her work. The hand that wasn’t on Ashley’s shoulder hovered over a torn slit in Ashley’s blouse where a bouquet of tiny white flowers sprouted from Ashley’s torso.
“What the hell are you doing to me?”
“August…” the woman said, not looking up from her flowers.
August jumped to action, bracing his hands on Ashley’s shoulders and gently but firmly holding her in place. “Give her another minute, Ashley. We don’t need you opening it back up again.”
“What are you doing here, witch?” she snapped. She tried shaking him off, but another wave of nausea had her seeing spots. “Did you bring your witchy friends to finish me off this time?”
“There,” the woman proclaimed, wiping her hands together and inspecting her work. “That should hold for now. Try not to move too much, and it should fall off naturally in about a week. You’ll probably have a decent scar from this though.”
“Would everyone stop touching me,” Ashley said, “and just tell me what is going on?”
“Ashley.” Esther reached for her hand and paused, presumably because of Ashley’s demand for people to stop touching her, but that was hardly the case for Esther.
Ashley took Esther’s hand and waited for her to continue.
“I don’t know how to explain this.” She was smiling, and tears carved tracks through the dust on her face. She placed Ashley’s hand on her chest. “Just feel this.”
This was a weird time to share a new kink. She lifted a brow to Esther.
“Not that,” she laughed. “Do you feel anything different?”
Her chest was warmer than she was used to without Esther to warm her. She waited a few seconds then felt a small, rhythmic tapping. Was that the flower growing out of her stomach? What was inside her?
“Ashley,” Esther said, “you’re alive.”
“Alive?” She looked between the familiar faces, Esther to August to Uther, trying to find someone to deny what Esther had said. “Are you saying the potion worked?”
“Of course the potion worked.” Another figure walked forward.
This one, she recognized as the witch that had caught Esther’s vial. Ashley hissed, but again her fangs didn’t come.
“Not of course .” August left Ashley’s side and went toe to toe with the witch in the Carhartt. “The first batch…that one didn’t work.”
“Yeah, it did.”
“Meg.” The witch with the flowers scrunched her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose like she had a headache coming. “Stop being curt and just explain it to them.”
“The potion reverses the effects of the vampire disease.” She looked incredulously at them like this explained everything and they were all being obtuse.
The flower witch planted her face in her hand and sighed. “What Meg is poorly explaining is that, once the virus is removed, the effects it had on the body are removed. Advanced hearing, eyesight, speed. All gone. As well as freezing your age. So, if you’ve been a vampire for two hundred years, once the potion takes effect, you’ll age two hundred years.”
“So, if I’ve been a vampire for twelve years.” Ashley sat up, and this time, no one stopped her. “Are you saying I’m in my thirties now?”
The witch placed her hand sympathetically on Ashley’s knee. “I’m afraid so. You’ll want to watch your alcohol and get a good eye cream.”
“Esther,” Ashley called, even though Esther was sitting right next to her. “Guess who’s the older one in the relationship now.” She shoved a thumb at her chest. “This guy.”
Esther broke out in laughter, and it was music to Ashley’s ears.
Holy shit, she was human.
“Christ almighty, what in the ever-living fuck happened to my house?” another voice said.
Everyone turned to the front door, which was still open. Framed by the twilight was Claribel.
“Well,” said the flower witch, clapping her hands together. “It’s been lovely, but I think that’s our cue to leave. Don’t forget to take it easy for a couple of days—two weeks to be safe. No heavy lifting. Meg?”
She held out her hand to the grumpy witch, who helped her up, before the two of them sidestepped around Claribel and out the door.
Claribel stepped inside and slammed the door behind her. A small chunk of plaster fell loose and plopped to the floor next to her. “Who is responsible for this?”
“Okay,” said August, standing and pulling Uther with him. “That’s a long story, and a lot of people, so I think we’ll leave you to that, Ash.” He had the audacity to shoot her finger guns and wink as he hurried past.
“Et tu, August?” Ashley yelled as they scampered out the door.
Claribel’s steps echoed as she approached, her eyes scanning the debris and the chasm where their home used to be. By the time she reached Ashley, her shoulders had slumped, and her face had fallen. “What happened to you, Ash?”
“Esther, can you tell August to bring his car back while I catch Claribel up?” Ashley said. “We’re staying at his place today. All of us. That witch owes me big time.”
Esther nodded and started texting.
Right, thought Ashley, looking at Esther’s legs. Neither of them would be very mobile for a while.
“Is that the necklace I gave you?” Claribel touched the silver charm around Ashley’s neck. In all the confusion of the evening, she’d forgotten that she’d put it back on. “Did you get her to fill it for you?”
Ashley laughed until her side hurt and she worried she’d split it back open again. And even then, she held it in agony while trying to hold back her giggles.
“Oh boy, did she ever,” Ashley said, wiping her eyes. “Listen, Claribel. There’s something you should know.”
By the time she’d finished explaining the cure, Cynthia leaving, the fight, the deaths—with Esther filling them in on Hannah—the boys had returned with the car. August carried Esther, while Uther acted as a crutch for Ashley, and they all limped their way to the car. Claribel grabbed an umbrella from the surprisingly still intact front closet and claimed the middle seat, ordering August to step on it before she burned to a crisp and set them all on fire in the process.
Back at the house, Ashley set August and Uther to work light-proofing a guest room for Claribel.
“It’s been a long night,” Claribel said, turning down Ashley’s offer to keep her company and help her settle in. “We can talk in the evening. For now, I want to forget everything and just sleep.”
Ashley was exhausted as well and left the boys downstairs to their brunch and snuggle or whatever they got up to on a day without schoolwork. She continued past Claribel’s room and across the hall before knocking and peeking inside.
Esther was propped up on the bed, her legs properly bandaged and tucked under the sheets. “Do you get your knocking etiquette from your mom?”
Ashley smiled and leaned against the doorway, grimacing slightly when she bumped her flowers. “I can go back and try again.”
“Get in here. I want to be with you for this.”
“For what?” Ashley walked inside and carefully crawled onto the bed next to Esther, cautious not to jostle her legs.
Esther turned back to the window facing the bed. “For you to see the sunrise.”
Ashley gasped as the sun slowly rose over the house across the street. Muscle memory told her to run for cover. She had to fight the instinct and stay in place. Cautiously, Ashley reached out to the sunbeam that tracked its way onto their bed. Her fingers dipped into the light, casting shadows, and her hand warmed with a gently soothing touch she’d nearly forgotten.
“It’s beautiful.” She turned back to Esther to see tears in her eyes.
“Ashley, I’m so sorry. You gave me your heart, and I…and I betrayed you in the worst way possible. You’re this sunbeam that deserves everything good in this world, and I don’t know how, but if there’s anything I can do to earn back your trust, I’ll do it.”
“Shh.” She ran her thumb along Esther’s cheek, wiping away the tears. “Sweetheart, that’s not how this works.”
She pressed her forehead to Esther’s, and a tear trace down her own cheek.
“I love you, Esther. If someone was going to be my downfall, it had to be you. It’s all right. We’ll figure this out. Together.”
“All right.” Esther nodded, and they kissed as the morning light filled the room.