Drowning with Fire #3 ✔

Chapter 3 - Ember

After I recovered from seeing him, and the other three had had a discussion, we decided to stay in a hotel for the night. I, for one, did not have the energy to head home and face my mother – I had no idea how she would react to everything that happened in Montana, and to how she'd react to knowing that something was wrong with Kaden.

I hadn't even texted her to let her know I was coming home...I guess it slipped my mind considering everything that'd been going on.

There never seems to be any rest in the supernatural world.

Even in sleep, my mind still races, still worries, still fears.

The one escape I thought I'd found was quickly slipping away from me once again, and this time, I had no idea what I'd done wrong.

"Hey, Theo." I ran to catch up with him as we neared the closest hotel to Lake Oldoy without actually being in the town itself.

"What's up?" A half-turn, a mere glimmer of affection.

Linking my fingers through his on impulse, I asked, "Are you alright?"

"Just peachy." His sarcastic tone was gruff, but he didn't pull his hand away from mine.

"Are we alright?" I rephrased my prior question, earnestly searching his face for answers.

He stopped, letting Thea and Ryder walk on past us – "We'll catch you up in a minute or two."

"Have a fun fallout!" Thea rolled her eyes, before mumbling something to Ryder about how relationships are hard work and ultimately a waste of time.

Not wanting to push him, I stayed quiet and let Theo start talking in his own time.

"You don't understand what we could be up against here." He told me, finally turning to me and setting his steely gaze upon my eyes. "And I don't want that innocence of yours being harmed."

"I'm hardly innocent, Theo." My words came out much softer than the message they conveyed, "You know I've hurt people in the past. You know I've killed."

"It's more than that." He stroked the side of my face, tucking away some loose hair.

"Back at the ranch, in Montana, you were the one who made me promise that I'd stay by your side – and now it feels like you're not letting me stay by your side." I admitted, throwing my thoughts out into the open and hoping that Theo would be my safety net this time and catch me before I fell.

"I'm not going to let you get hurt. We'll stay together." A pause. "I love you, Ember." He caught me.

"I love you too, Theo." I whispered back the words and knew then that I would be his safety net whenever he needed me; especially when he didn't think so himself.

Theo closed his arms around me in a tight embrace and pressed his lips to the top of my head as I hugged him back.

"We'll make it through this." He told me.

I couldn't figure out if he was lying to me or not, but I let it slide.

At that time, I had no idea of the darkness the four of us would face. Darker than what Theo had been accused of doing the year before when he came to Lake Oldoy; darker than the hunters' plan to 'cure' supernaturals; darker than anything I'd ever known or ever faced.

And it was my so-called 'innocence' that got me in trouble so quickly.

~

The night in the hotel was stuffy and uncomfortable, but I managed to get a decent amount of sleep and to decide that I had to go home and see my mum.