Page 141 of The Ember that Tethers

Sure enough, a woman with curly hair to her shoulders stood several paces away in a white floor-length dress. Like the other souls, the same starry silhouette shaped her. The woman clasped her hands together as she smiled, and just from that glance, from her smile, warm like a streak of sunshine on a cold day, Emmery knew it to be true.

Dez took a small step forward, more of a stumble, and then ran. His arms pumped as if he couldn’t cross the distance fast enough, and when he reached her, he scooped the woman up in his arms, lifting her feet off the ground as he clung to her. He held her like she was a figment of his imagination but he would pray to gods he didn't worship to make this true. To make it real.

He set her down and towered over her in a way that hurt and Emmery had to look away, to tear herself from the love in hiseyes, and vulnerability that now spilled from him. A tiny sob slipped from him when his mum placed a hand on his cheek.

“You’re so tall,” she whispered. She laughed a little sadly. Her eyes traced over his face as if she could memorize this moment and this man that stood before her. But as she studied the thorns that had torn through his flesh and brushed his hair back to study the crown, she asked, “Oh,Dezzy,what happened?”

He shook his head and his throat worked like he barely clung to sanity. Like he wanted to crumple to the ground, wrap his arms around his mum, and stay there forever. His lashes brushed his cheeks as he squeezed his eyes shut, maybe to capture her voice, too, and steal it for grim times when he needed it.

“It’s nothing,” he said, his voice a tragic broken thing.

She grabbed his chin and aligned his gaze with hers. “Destonne Evryn O’Daire. This isnotnothing.”

“I don't—it’s…” He shook his head again as if this was truly breaking him, rattling his foundation, and tearing him to shreds like the thorns did everyday. “I—I miss you, Mum. I miss you too much. There’s so much I want to tell you. And now that you’re here, I don’t know where to start.”

A softness replaced her motherly scorn, one Emmery had seen in Dez, too. A gentle nature he’d worked hard to bury. “I miss you more than you could ever imagine.” She took his face in her hands and said softly, “I don’t have much time. I can only remain here for a short while.” Then her eyes flared and she snagged the crystal that hung from his neck to tug him down to her height. “What in Deimos’s hand isthis? This is bad, Dezzy. Really bad. You need to destroy this.”

“It’s—” He stared at the ground with boyish guilt in his eyes. “I will.” He took it from her and tucked it beneath his shirt before he glanced at Emmery. “Are you done lecturing me soI can introduce you to my—” His brows drew together and he practically choked out, “Friend.”

Not wanting to interrupt their reunion, Emmery stood there, mute, but Dez stalked over and caught her arm, before he dragged her over to stand beside him. “Mum, this is Emmery.”

“Emmery,” she said. She made her name sound like it held the answers to the universe. A smile curled his mum’s lips. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Before Emmery could return her smile, his mum seized her in an embrace. Tears clouded Emmery’s eyes as she tried to remember how long it had been since her own mother held her. This embrace edged far too close to her mother’s bear hugs that her soul craved. She cleared the emotion clogged in her throat and returned the embrace as fully as she could muster without shrivelling to a wilted mess. “It’s … very nice to meet you too.”

Destonne’s mum held Emmery at arms-length and smiled brightly as her eyes glowed in an otherworldly hue. “You are so beautiful.”

“Uhm, thank you.” Emmery’s cheeks reddened, sure she looked like a drowned rat and that forward compliment caught her off guard.

Dez’s mum squeezed Emmery’s shoulders before she released her.

After a quick glance between them, Emmery stepped back. “I’ll let you speak in private.”

But Dez caught her wrist and led her a few paces away. “I’m coming with you.”

Emmery glanced back at his mum whose corners of her eyes crinkled in a smile as she watched the two of them. “You should stay. If I—” She heaved a breath. “If I had a chance to see my mother again, I wouldn’t waste a second. You shouldn’t either.”

Destonne watched her. A tense moment ticked by, before he took an uneven breath and leaned his brow against hers. “Thank you,” he said shakily.

As her insides crumpled, Emmery turned away, folded in on herself, but he snagged her arm once more and pulled her to him. Then Dez wrapped her in his arms in a way she didn’t know she needed.

He held her so gently, for a heartbeat, she forgot everything.

Where they were.

Who they were.

Forgot the prophecy, the terrors they’d endured and were sure to continue, and the world fell away. Emmery pressed her cheek into his chest. Sank into that fleeting peace. Sank into him.

Even if it was only a fantasy.

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

EMMERY

Once Emmery found the inn, the woman at the front desk with eyes like a cat smothered her laugh when she asked where to find clothing and food. The demon didn’t seem to pay her much mind, though she clearly didn’t look like a soul and didn’t bear a demonic trait. Maybe they thought her trait hid beneath her sodden clothes. But she gave Emmery a room, free of charge.

The enchanted room provided everything they could wish for, all they needed was to think of it, place their hand on the handle, and open the drawer to find it there. She produced a green knit sweater and soft black trousers to change into, butwhen Emmery wished forveramintto steep some tea for Dez, the empty drawer mocked her. The small supply he’d brought depleted with his last dose, and his fever would return in only a matter of time.