7. Ivy #2
“Where are the others?” I repeat, and she holds her hand up higher, flames dancing across her skin, curling around her fingertips, scalding Ember in a flash of purple.
My sprite whimpers in pain, and I relinquish all my fight for control.
“He showed me the first phoenix,” I blurt, heat flooding through me as panic takes root, and my mother purses her lips. Thankfully, the purple flames extinguish, but her grasp on Ember remains. “Why does it matter?”
“Shut up!” she hisses, dragging her free hand down her face.
I take a step toward her, certain I can catch her off guard and retrieve my sprite, but the second I do, her eyes latch onto mine. My nerves simmer, pleading for more. Of what, I’m not entirely sure.
“I deserve an answer,” I breathe. To which specific question? I don’t really care; there are plenty that have gone unanswered.
“You deserve nothing,” she retorts, and I rear back, her words like a slap across the face.
“Were you always this delightful?” I croak, emotion getting the better of me, and I can’t seem to control it.
My mother cackles, the sound menacing as her knuckles whiten around Ember, who writhes in pain.
“When your father hears…”
My jaw falls slack as I gape at her, the rest of her sentence unheard as I blink at her, my pulse too loud for her words to register.
“You don't know,” I breathe, and she snarls.
"Don't interrupt me.”
Ice washes over me as I shake my head softly. “You don't know,” I repeat, a whisper of empathy running through me.
“What don't I know?” she snaps back, extinguishing the sympathy that coated my veins a moment ago.
“Father,” I rasp, and her eyebrows furrow as she purses her lips.
“What about him?”
I take a deep breath and let the two words fall from my mouth. “He's dead.”
She freezes in place, her grip slacking around Ember enough for her knuckles to stop turning white, but Ember can't seem to break free, and despite my need to help my sprite, I’m worried any sort of movement from me could send this woman into a purple inferno.
“No, he isn’t,” she declares, shaking her head, and I gulp.
“I saw it with my own eyes,” I promise, and she huffs, unable to take me at my word.
“No one would dare,” she insists, and I suck in a deep breath.
“It was Leonardo.”
My words hang in the air for a split second before my mother's eyes roll and her hand falls loose.
A flash of red begins to fall from her hand, and I move on instinct this time, diving across the room just in time to catch Ember before she hits the floor.
I barely save my chin from smashing into the ground as I cradle Ember, aching inside at the sound of her pained whimper, while my mother combusts in a rage of heat, her eyes wide, and her whole body consumed by an inferno.
Panic floods my veins as I hurry to my feet, ready to make a run for it and protect Ember, when my bedroom door bursts open, revealing a snarling white tiger standing at the threshold, making my heart lurch in my chest.
In the blink of an eye, my mother shifts, her burning aura unraveling into a phoenix, just like last time, as she darts for the window.
I'm close, my free hand moving on instinct as I reach for her, to do what, I have no idea, but stopping her is impossible. Her feathers ghost over the tips of my fingers as she launches through the window, leaving destruction in her wake once again.
With Ember pressed against my chest, I stand in the open space, gaping at the flash of red that flies off into the distance. My heart beats wildly as I try to wrap my head around what the hell just happened.
Movement from behind me reminds me I'm not alone as the door clicks shut. I glance over my shoulder to find my white tiger standing guard, but I quickly redirect my attention to the wounded sprite in my hold.
“Ember?”
“I’m okay,” she whispers, her voice thick with anguish, and it cuts me up inside.
“Ember, I’m right here. It’s going to be okay,” I promise, emotions gathering at the back of my eyelids, but I refuse to shed a tear and reveal my weakness.
Not for my own vulnerabilities, but because Ember deserves all of my strength.
“I’m so sorry, Ember. So sorry,” I repeat, and she shakes her head.
“It’s not your fault,” she promises, and I scoff.
“She’s my mother. She was hurting you to hurt me. It’s definitely my fault,” I insist. “What can I do to help you?”
The sadness consuming me is uncontrollable, but I want to remain strong. Then a memory floods my thoughts. I exhale slowly before taking in a deep breath, and when I exhale for a second time, I let my emotions get the better of me.
Tears swim at the bottom of my eyelids, spilling out without caution or fear, and I let them.
I make no attempt to stop them as they roll down my cheeks, forming like droplets on my chin before they meet their intended mark.
Ember.
I feel weightless, watching as her eyes close and her tension dissolves.
I sniff, too scared to move, when she darts from my hand, rising enough to look deep into my eyes.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she insists, her voice light and chipper like usual, and I smile, finally swiping at my cheeks.
“You’re my sprite,” I clarify, reiterating the similar words she spoke to me.
“And you’re my person,” she replies, understanding what I’m referring to, and I nod.
“I won’t ever let her hurt you like that again.” It’s a vow, one I intend to keep, and she smiles.
“I don’t know how she got in here, but I will make it my job to ensure she never does again,” she declares, and I shake my head.
“That’s not your responsibility.”
She shrugs. “Maybe, maybe not, but I’ve made it my responsibility now.” Her gaze travels to the white tiger at the door for a moment before returning to me. “Actually, if you don’t need me, I’m going to go and chat with Coal. Maybe he could offer some input on the matter.”
I want to insist that it’s not necessary, but I think she needs the connection to the other fire sprite right now, and this is the perfect excuse for it.
“Whatever you need,” I murmur, and she hums, leaning in close to perch herself on my shoulder before she speaks.
“Do us both a favor, Ivy, and lose yourself in that man right there. If we have any chance of surviving the storm brewing around us, taking their strength and support is going to be the elixir that prevails.”