Burning Ember

Chapter 24

Hale burst through the door. The chain at the top rattled against the wood as he slipped it back into place. Rushing from the kitchen I asked, "Where—" stopping when I saw the bleeding wound on his cheek. "What the hell happened?" Taking his face in my hands to make sure he was alright; I saw in his eyes that something was wrong. He shook free and walked around me, slumping into the chair in the living room with a large envelope in his hand.

Turning to look at me, he sighed, "I'm sorry Ember. I thought—" he paused, "I thought I could just threaten him, but I lost control." My body stilled as my mind flooded with thoughts of what he could have done, if he had killed Gabriel . . .

"What do you mean?" I staggered a few steps closer.

Hale held up the envelope and said, "He told me that . . . you're still married to him."

Fear and anxiety screamed through me as I stuttered, "No, that's impossible. No." I backed away, as if running could make a difference.

Hale stood walking toward me with slow deliberate steps. "He said you left without signing one of the papers and then changed your number so they couldn't get ahold of you. Then when it came time for the hearing over correcting the document filings, he convinced the judge to throw it out completely."

My hands had been covering my mouth and I didn't even realize it. My body shook and I felt as if I were made of glass that had been put together with glue and the slightest touch would break me. Hale took me in his arms as we stood in the foyer. The thought of Gabriel still having some kind of hold on me, filled me with not only fear, but rage. How could he be this cruel? What was there left to even take from me? "Did you hurt him," I asked, my body vibrating with all my conflicting emotions. He nodded. "Did you . . . kill him?" With how upset he seemed and panicked when he came it, it seemed like a real possibility.

"No, but I can't say I didn't want to," he said as he ran his hand down his face, wincing as he grazed the cut.

"You should have . . ." I said aloud, even though I only meant to think it.

His eyes locked on me. The blood on his face and the seriousness in his eyes made me still. "Listen to me, if he comes here, you have to do whatever it takes Ember."

"What do you mean?" I asked not fully grasping the situation with my panicking mind and the urgency in his voice.

He placed his hands on my shoulders, his breath ragged and worry spilled across his face. "I'm going to jail. I assaulted him, there's witnesses to prove it was me. I fucked up, but you have to promise me that you will protect yourself, do whatever it takes." My body was shaking, and I wasn't sure how I could possibly face this on my own. It was one thing knowing that Hale would be there, but without him, it felt as though that security, the confidence I had been building just slipped away.

His lips crushed to mine and I sunk into his arms. "I can't—"

"Yes, you can Ember. I know you can." His hand slipped to mine, his thumb rolling over the ring he put there. I nodded my head as tears streaked my cheeks.

"I love you," he said as his hands came up to cup my cheeks before his lips were one mine.

"I love you too, Hale." His lips moved desperately across mine, as if he were kissing me for the last time. Like I was the last drop of water in a vast dessert, and he couldn't get enough, but I couldn't get enough of him either. It felt like I was losing him, not knowing what was going to happen or long I would have to be without him, and he had done it for me.

He pulled back, his fingers tracing the line of my jaw as they slid to the back of my neck. "I don't want to be apart from you." Those eyes of his, so icy blue like the purest water searched mine intently. I felt the rapid beats of his heart as I placed my hand on chest.