Chapter 39
Seph
When I woke the next morning, a small gift lay at the end of my bed, like someone had slipped in during the early hours. It was wrapped in black silk, without a note or card attached to it.
I picked it up slowly and unwrapped it.
Inside, shimmering with onyx gems in the hilt was a stunningly crafted dagger.
The balance was perfect. Of course it was. Dev had once told me a blade should feel like an extension of your hand.
I dressed quickly in my fighting gear. I ran out of the room, down the path towards the garages.
But just as I got there, I saw the cars leaving the lot. One, then two. Then more.
The last car disappeared through the gates.
They were gone.
I ran to Elliot’s office, only to crash into Jess in the hallway. In her hand she held a bottle of tequila, a couple of glasses and a wilted flower.
“Tequila?”
“Better than nothing. So, take a shot because I have a day planned you won’t want to miss.”
“Since when are you a birthday girl?”
“Since always! Birthdays are the shit. So, here’s my plan.
We run the obstacle course downstairs until we puke.
Then volcanic pools all afternoon. Then, we sneak into Elliot’s office and raid the place for movies.
Hopefully something like The Shining or Scream.
We load up on snacks and pretend everything is alright until they come back. What do you think?”
I smiled, unable to help myself. “Why the obstacle course?”
“Have you seen it? It’s like a goddamn treetop safari. Ropes, ziplines, nets, climbing walls. Plus, you know, you’re a little out of shape.”
“Hey!”
“Come on! It will be fun. We’ll do it slow. What do you think?”
I grinned at Jess. “Sounds great, let’s do it.”
Jess shoved the flower in my hand. “By the way, this is for you too. Happy birthday, Seph.”
I took it gently. “Thank you.”
She shrugged and mumbled something incomprehensible.
**
The course was as fun and painful as Jess had suggested. I hung wildly from a bar at least twenty feet off the ground, swooping my way across.
Jess was already sweeping through, the muscles in her arms pronounced.
When I finally made it, I dropped to the ground beside her gasping loudly.
“How the hell are you so good at this stuff?”
She shrugged. “I always liked sport. I used to run track and play hockey before my incarceration. I had to stop once Jack came to live with us.” She looked away.
“I wish I could hurt him for you,” I said softly. “I hate what he did.”
“You and me both.” Jess pulled her lighter from her pocket and started fiddling with it.
Click.
Click click
I watched her carefully. “Do you need to burn something?” I asked her.
She quickly looked at me. “I’ll do it later.”
Click
“You can do it now. I don’t mind.”
Jess fidgeted with the lighter again. She bit her lip. “There’s a place Sable showed me…”
“She did?” I asked carefully.
“Do you want to see it?”
“Ok.”
Jess led me to a basement room with a large pit in the centre. To the side was a pile of discarded papers and photos. The walls were stained with old smoke, the air faintly smelling of ash.
“What is this?”
“This is the room for the fire users. These,” she picked up some documents, “are records, photos and items that we burn to purge our past. Like permanent records. Forced contracts. Photos of abusers. They get dumped down here by the people who live here. And each day, someone comes down and burns stuff.”
She picked up a leather whip that smelled of old blood. Then dropped it.
“Do you have a pile?”
“We share it. All of this is free to take.” She picked up a catalogue for the Council of Light. The symbol of the sun almost filled the front page.
On the cover was a picture of my father.
“Here. You can try it.”
I hesitated.
Jess watched me closely. “It can be pretty freeing.”
I screwed the paper in my fist. “Maybe another time.”
“Suit yourself,” Jess shrugged. She threw a pile of junk into the grate, then pulled her lighter out.
Click.
I felt her power spark before I saw it. Heat rolled through the room. And the small flame that flickered on the lighter suddenly exploded.
I flinched.
Jess’s eyes gleamed in the light. She shifted on her feet, watching the flames lick higher. Her hands flexed.
It was like watching a fire spirit trapped in human form.
The light blazed, dangerous and destructive.
It always did. The vents pulled the shadowy smoke tendrils away from her face.
Like they were never there.
My hands tightened around the catalogue. My breath hitched.
And I wondered what could ever take my darkness away.
If the light could ever be a safe place for me again.
Or if my own shadows were here to stay.