Lost in Embers (Rising From Ash Saga #1)

Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

A slight, faint knocking on my bedroom door wakes me. Without hesitation I yell, “Come in,” knowing full well that it is my mother on the other side of the door.

“Good morning, sweetie. I’m sorry I did not get to see you when you came home. By the time I got back home you were fast asleep, and I didn’t want to wake you.” She makes her way to sit down on my bed and Laila jumps to stand over me, growling, stopping my mother before she gets any closer.

“I take it you and Laila didn’t do much bonding while I was away.” My dog is impossibly hard to get along with, yet she’s such a sweetheart to me.

“I’m telling you that dog is possessed by a demon.” She rolls her eyes and stands, arms crossed, looking down on me in disapproval. Is it possible that my dog is really a demon? Again, like she’s answering my question, Laila licks my face and snuggles into me.

“Definitely… not a demon, but more like a sweet angel. Look at that precious face.” I squeeze her into me for a big hu g, which is reciprocated with yet another eye roll from my mother.

“So, tell me everything about your trip!” It’s just like her to want to know every single detail about my life.

Thankfully, all of the contents of the box are back, safely hidden under the floor. The last thing I want is for my mother to find a letter from my long-lost father. She never talks about him. Whenever I bring it up, her response is the same: “Clearly I didn’t know him that well, or he wouldn’t have left.” Seems odd to me. She has known him for centuries yet never has a good thing to say about him? I keep my mouth shut about all this, until I figure a few things out.

“It was amazing! The beach was beautiful. Ryan and Shawn were complete goofballs as always, Sofia looked radiant and ended up getting married to a guy she met there, and Dino had every woman eating out of the palm of his hand.”

“Sofia got married?” Even my mother is shocked and in disbelief. There is no way she would allow for me to do something like that. She’d kill him, then kill me.

“She did. She looked beautiful. David, her husband, is a sweet guy from what I can tell. The important thing is Sofia is happy.” I shoot my mother my biggest megawatt smile and hop out of bed. Laila follows, always standing in between my mother and me. “I’m actually going to go for a run before I head to work. I need to get back on track after a lack of exercise and excessive drinking.”

“You probably never left the dance floor; there was your exercise.” So true. Even when everything was happening to me, I just wanted to dance the night away.

“Right you are, Mum, right you are.” She leaves the room, and I hastily brush my teeth, tie my hair back, and throw on my running clothes and sneakers. That conversation put me a little behind schedule, but I’m not worried about it. Without hesitation, Laila follows me down the stairs and out the front door for our traditional morning run. The brisk wind hits my face, yet I feel no need for a jacket in this cool autumn weather; my body is still running hot.

Instead of running the direct road, we go into the woods for some trail running right behind our house. It is a beautiful scenic view as the leaves are falling to the ground. Noticing everything around me, even the sound of the leaves as they fall and the swinging of the branches hitting against the trees, entrances me. My feet barely make a sound and my breathing is steady as I approach the creek nearly five miles from my house. My watch reflects five minutes; that cannot be right. Neither Laila nor I have the capability of running that fast. I didn’t even break a sweat.

I take a seat on a rock nearest the water and touch my fingers to the cool creek. My hands cup in the water, and I fill them to take a refreshing sip. The water feels amazing running down my throat but is not needed. I’m not thirsty despite the pace at which I ran. I shift onto my knees and look into the water, tracing my finger gently against the top; not one ripple has been made. Laila bends down to drink some water and it’s the same thing: despite her tongue going in and out, no ripples are being made.

Nature seems to be surrounding me, but in a way that makes me feel like part of it. The wind flows through my ponytail releasing my blonde hair down past my shoulders. Wariness randomly takes over my body, and I look up. On the other side of the creek is one of those white, furry, sinful monsters that was by Victor’s side at the airport. Looking closely, they indeed do not have eyes. Just black holes. The talons are different colors this time, bright yellow. I hold a gaze with this creature for what seems like an eternity without blinking, until it makes a sudden movement toward the creek. I maintain eye contact with those dark holes until I make a quick movement to pick up my growling dog. She’s a fighter, but I cannot let her go against whatever is in front of me. I run with all my might back to my house.

I do not think of anything but my destination as nature gives me a push back to my house. Looking back into the woods from the safety of my porch, the trees move slowly in my direction. The force of my running has made them lean this way. The yellow nails and white curly tail of the beast are just visible at the edge of the trees, waiting, surely for my return.

“Good to have you back in the office, Ava. You chose a Friday to return to work, don’t think I don't know that was on purpose.” He laughs between his words, “How was your trip? Hope you had a great birthday!” Harrison is awfully excited to see me, I love the warm welcome. He looks like he wants to give me a hug, but he steps back, clearly realizing that he would be crossing a boundary. Shame how we have to be extra cautious these days as to not offend anyone. Just a touch, and everyone is suing you.

“Looks like you guys have been doing fine to me.” I smirk at him as I open my office door and place my bag on the desk. He follows me inside as I continue. “I had a great vacation, but I’m excited to get back to work and normalcy.” I hand him over a little surfboard that has Mexico written on it. I got it from the airport gift shop when I was leaving. It reminds me of his surfer-like attitude.

He loves it. “Don’t lie, you just missed seeing my face while you were gone. This is going right on my desk and never will be taken off.”

I giggle and immediately cover my mouth. He doesn’t mean anything maliciously; he’s just a playful being. He’s a breath of fresh air in a company where egotistical men surround me.

“That is one perk of my return here.” I make sure to flash him an honest smile.

“You’re killing me, Ava.” My words hit his heart. Literally, he places his two hands on his chest and lets out a playful groan. “Now, if you would stop distracting me, I have a business to run. Let’s get lunch today, on me for your birthday.”

No. Yes. Truthfully it will be nice to have lunch with a normal person, who has a normal life and that works hard; it will help me adjust back to normalcy. He throws out a time, and I nod my head. Harrison more or less told me where we are going, what time, and what we are doing. A quality that I seem to only find attractive in Aidan. I miss that man.

“Well, aren’t you persuasive. One it is.” I shake my head at him, now standing in the doorway.

“Before I forget, the guys and I were talking about you while you were gone. You have met many of their significant others; we cannot wait to see who you bring to the charity event. Hopefully he can make it through all of us.” I completely forgot about a date to the charity event. I did ask Aidan to go with me while we were on vacation, but that’s void since he left me. Who am I going to bring? Dino will already be attending the event. That only leaves me with one option .

“Feeding him to the lion’s den,” I joke. It’s strange how close I have gotten to these men, and they have become protective over me. It’s sweet. Harrison laughs his way out of my office with a dark laugh that he has never done in front of me before.

While I have been sitting here for a few hours, it amazes me I’m able to get anything done since the guys keep coming in and out of my office to say hello or offer the occasional “I missed you.” With only an hour left until my lunch with Mr. Greene, I close my office door and pull my cell phone out of my cardigan pocket. Can I do this? The ringing takes over my nerves.

“Yes.” Short and snipped. A deep, masculine voice throws me for a loop.

“Hi…” I stutter, “Hi— This is, um, Ava.” I don’t know what else to say, and that is hard enough. How am I sure he will even know who I am? That letter was written when I was just a baby.

“I have been waiting a long time for this phone call. Ava, my name is Marcus Fawle.”

“Nice to kind of, sort of meet you, Mr. Fawle. I’m not sure what to say. I just found this letter from my father, and it instructed me to call you.” God, could I sound any more insecure? Doubtful.

“Ava, call me Marcus. There is no danger here. I have known your father for centuries. I will help you hone your new skills. Tonight 7:00 p.m.. The warehouse.” This is the second time today I have been given no say in the matter. I jot down the address he tells me, hoping he can help and enlighten me a bit more as to what is going on.

“Perfect, see you then. Do you mind if I bring my dog?” If it’s in the middle of nowhere, there is no chance I’m going alone. I shouldn’t have even given the courtesy of asking. I’m going to bring her regardless of what he says.

He chuckles, good to know he finds me funny. “I wouldn’t expect you to travel anywhere without your dog, especially in these times. See you at 7:00.” And just like that the phone is dead on the other end. No good-bye. There must not be time for pleasantries anymore. A weight is lifted off my shoulders, yet at the same time I’m nervous beyond all doubt.