Embers and Icicles

Chapter Twelve

The sky was jet-black, like some overzealous artist took an ink pen to the sky and didn't stop until the whole thing was coated. The stars pushed against the darkness and failed. In the centre of the city, not a single light was visible–a power outage. Strong gusts of wind raced past, as if tearing through trees and destroying power lines had only awakened a deeper hunger. Further north, Sol's apartment's back-up generator had kicked in. A few lamps around the room bathed three faces in soft light.

"I'm sorry guys. I shouldn't have gotten angry like that, but in the moment I was so sure that I was right. The alcohol probably didn't help either."

"It's okay, Sol." Jenny grabbed her hand, partly to comfort Sol and partly because she liked the way it felt. "You did the right thing. It's impossible to know what to do, especially in the heat of the moment. I can't believe that was your first time."

Sol squeezed Jenny's hand back. "You're right. I shouldn't be so hard on myself, but I feel like I messed everything up."

Slate chimed in. "Nah. Frank seems like a bit of a dick, to be honest. You stayed much calmer than I would have, and now we have plenty of information to come up with a new plan. Maybe we should let them develop the serum. Frank is right that it would be good for elementals. The only tricky part will be getting it before Silver can misuse it."

"I think we could figure it out." Despite the howling winds and icy torrent of rain pounding against her windows, Sol felt a warmth from the hand in hers and the support from her new friends–more than friends. It didn't matter that they had only chosen her for how easily she could access Silver, because now they were choosing her again. After only having known her for a few days.

When she moved to Falton–away from everyone and everything that she had built up where she was born–to pursue her career, she hadn't expected more than the opportunities that came with living here. She hadn't expected to find people like this, who welcomed her so openly.

Slate's phone rang, and he checked who was calling. Whatever name was on that screen, it was enough to have him out of the room, phone glued to his ear.

He returned with completely different energy. "That was Amelie. My ex-girlfriend. She needs us–" his gaze landed on Jenny and Helium's interlaced fingers, and got stuck there. "–me to help her with something. I need to go right away. I'll be back in a few days."

"What's wrong? Is it an emergency? You can't go alone." Helium and Jenny both protested as he left, but he wouldn't hear any of it.

"It's really not a big deal. She needs some help moving is all. You two stay here. You've been through enough already. Have you even been on a real date yet?" He saw that the two women were still on the brink of following him. "The world never stops sucking. You need to enjoy the good parts, because not everyone gets to. Take a break, and let me help my ex move."

"Fine, but if anything goes even the slightest bit wrong you call me right away, okay?" Jenny stood up and gave Slate a giant hug.

"Sounds good. Have fun, lovebirds." He winked and ducked out of the doorframe, chuckling as a pillow sailed past his head.

"There will be more pillows when you get back if you ever say that again." Helium was smiling as she said it.

The door shut, and Jenny turned back to Sol with a salacious grin. "You know, it will be pretty cold until they fix the power outage. Tomorrow it's time for a real date. Tonight ... "

Sol was pressing Jenny against the mattress before the sentence went any further. If holding hands had felt warm, joining lips was like a flame sparking between them. Where the last kiss had been soft edges and restrained passion, this one was Sol letting loose completely. She tossed her top off in one motion, and barely managed to stop herself from removing the rest of her clothes.