Embers of Darkness (Through the Ashes Book 2) Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Bonus deleted scene

  Books by J.A. Culican

  About the author

  Contact me

  J.A. Culican

  Copyright © 2018 by J.A. Culican

  All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without the express written consent from the author, except in the case of a reviewer, who may quote brief passages embodied in critical articles or in a review. Trademark names appear throughout this book. Rather than trademark name, names are used in an editorial fashion, with no intention of infringement of the respective owner’s trademark.

  The information in this book is distributed on an “as is” basis, without warranty. Although every precaution has been taken in preparation of this work, neither the author nor the publisher shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book.

  The characters, locations, and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarities or resemblance to real persons, living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Edited by: Cassidy Taylor

  Cover Art by: Rebecca Frank

  ASIN: B07DF884ML

  www.dragonrealmpress.com

  For Korie.

  Bells and Jaekob walked through the outskirts of Philadelphia, heading deeper into the city to reach the protected Dragon District. They passed one empty block after another and the red, spray-painted "H" surrounded by a circle, the symbol of the anarchist surviving humans, grew more common the deeper they went. She pointed at one as they walked past it, and Jaekob pressed his lips tightly together until they were just thin lines. He said nothing in response.

  Bells grew worried. She didn't know him well enough to tell what he was thinking, but she did know he could derail their whole objective if he got it in his head to find and punish the ones vandalizing the city. Best to head him off before that thought occurred.

  She said, "With this fungus infecting the city and threatening to escape into the wide, wide world, we have to make our top priority to get to your manor. We can plan things there and maybe get more of an idea about what we're up against. It should be safer, too, right?"

  He seemed to speed up. "Our top priority has to be to get back the Sword of Fire, not get ourselves back to safety. If the elves figure out what the sword does, can you imagine the harm they could do with it? Not just to all the other Pures, but even to dragons. Without us, you fae will have no one to protect you and you really will be slaves, not just servants."

  Bells didn't answer. "Servants" was far from the right way to describe an entire race that the other Pures could kill without any repercussions, people who couldn't leave their village without some other Pure's permission. "It shouldn't be okay to force fae to be servants just because of our race," she muttered low enough to be sure he wouldn't hear it. Louder, she said, "Your manor is protected by the strongest Wards outside of Safeholme itself, right? And Philadelphia has access to the Warrens, I imagine. Your tunnels run deep through the Earth's crust, and I'm well aware that you could hide every dragon in the world down there."

  "So? Protecting the world is our duty. You think dragons are going to run from a fight for the world just to go huddle in dark tunnels and caves?" He clicked his tongue against his teeth, irritated.

  "No. But if things get really bad, you have a place to live, to fight another day, and maybe even room for whatever fae are free by then."

  "Maybe."

  "But before things ever come to that, you should get your father to help you. Only you and the First Councilor can get all the dragons working together to fix this problem, but not until he knows what you know. We have to tell Mikah."

  "That's why we're going back to my manor. Unless you had another reason?" His tone was carefully neutral, but his aura flared with a tinge of red. It didn't reach his eyes, though—they stayed free of any glow, thankfully. His eyes were scary when he was angry.

  "Who do you think is really behind all this? The sword gone, the fungus, it all has to be related. For all this to happen so close together seems like a big stretch to be a coincidence."

  Jaekob didn't reply, just shrugged. She couldn't blame him. It was hard to have the motivation to talk when the desolation was all around them. The city was in chaos, and humans were taking advantage of that to rampage all over the outskirts. When Bells saw a pile of Pure corpses, it was clear the humans were lashing out at those who took their world from them. Each corpse had been tagged with the rebel symbol.

  At least Jaekob was still leading her toward the Wards protecting the Dragon District. He'd made it sound like that was his destination the whole time, but his shifting their heading proved otherwise. Even if his pride made him take the credit, she was glad he listened, though she grew irritated anyway. He just seemed so arrogant.

  They rounded a corner and she and Jaekob both stopped mid-step. She stared in awe as, up ahead, three connected buildings laid out in a "U" shape seemed to be crawling with elves and weres. Cargo trailers had been stacked around every side, blocking the open end of the U, leaving only a small gap in the front guarded by weres and elves with human guns. At least one of the elves was clearly a battle-mage, too, his reddish aura visible to her even from a hundred yards away.

  Outside the makeshift gate were dozens of corpses, human and Pure alike—even elves. Jaekob blurted, "By Creation, the elves are in cantonments. How can this be allowed?"

  "What's a cantonment?" It sounded military, but she couldn't be sure.

  "When a unit in hostile territory creates a defensible fortification to hold out until things get better or they're relieved, and they control the surrounding area. Harsh winters are usually what cantonments are built to outlast, though, not other Pures like themselves."

  "This seems pretty harsh," she replied, eying the poor bodies. There were also unarmed fae among the dead. She imagined the elves' servants, deemed useless to their survival, left outside to be slaughtered. A shudder went down her spine. The display made an effective warning to others, too, killing two birds with one stone.

  Her temperature rose and her eyes welled up, not from sadness but from helpless rage. "Elves are evil. They're worse than humans. Jaekob, you and the dragons have to give them the justice they deserve. You have to. Look at what they've done."

  He took her arm lightly in his hand and led her around the corner, out of view from the urban fortress. "No, we don't have to, and we're not going to. I told you, I'm not fighting. Do you think scared elves protecting themselves from a plague is more evil than us slaughtering them?"

  At the moment, she would have said yes. "They seem to be doing plenty of slaughtering on their own."

  A block later, he star
tled her by grabbing her again, this time around her waist. He leaped into an alley, dragging her with him. She let out a surprised squeak as he shot through the air, carrying her like a ragdoll, to land behind a dented, rusty dumpster in the alley.

  He hissed into her ear, "Be silent," and squeezed harder.

  Bells' heart raced again, this time from fear, not anger. Would he hurt her? He already was hurting her a little from squeezing too hard, though he didn't seem to be aware of it. She bit her lip to keep quiet through the surprise and pain. She decided he was warning her for some other reason, but her fuzzy, fearful emotions told her he was going to hurt her, even though she knew he never would. Obedience was the best defense, so she didn't resist. At least, she told herself that was the reason.

  They lay together on the ground behind the dumpster in total silence except for her frightened breathing, but then she heard voices. Growling werewolf voices. When a small pack walked past the alley mouth, they were too far away for her to make out what they said, so she sent her senses toward them. She didn't have much hope of success at that distance, but if she could at least read their auras, she could get a sense of how much danger she was in.

  When her senses reached the weres, she sucked in a deep breath, overwhelmed with a sudden sharp spike of fear. They were hunting, and everything about their auras screamed anger—but surprisingly, also fear. That was the perfect combination to trigger their famed berserker blood-lust, even with no full moon coming for weeks.

  In the back of her mind, she wondered what would make a whole pack of weres feel fear bordering on panic. They were apex predators, so hunger affected them differently than other races, which could explain their rage. But that led to yet another question, since they could only be that hungry if they hadn't eaten in days: Why not?

  It seemed like it took forever before the weres passed from view and then beyond the range of Bells' other senses. The muscles in her neck and shoulders ached fiercely, drawn tight like guitar strings from sitting in one position so long.

  "They're gone," she whispered, trying to keep the shaking out of her voice. She didn't want Jaekob to know how terrified she'd been.

  He grunted as he rose to his feet and then helped her up, too. "I don't know if they would have turned on us when they saw who I was, but with the chaos going on in the city, I definitely didn't want to risk it. We'll wait a couple minutes before we get going, just to be sure they're long gone."

  At least he had some common sense. She said, "They were hunting, but they were also terrified. I think everyone's afraid, and it seems like everyone is joining into small groups that are turning on everyone else."

  Jaekob pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "I can't blame them. The other Pures are turning on each other, but it's no different than what dragons are doing with the Wards to keep everyone else out. And can you blame them?"

  "No, I can't. If I was anything but a fae, I might have the same instinct."

  "So, we have to be more careful from here on out. We're in more danger here than I had expected. Let's get moving," he said, then added, "Bells, be ready to use your shadow-walk ability at a moment's notice."

  She couldn't have agreed more. "The sooner we get to the Wards, the sooner we can get out of this hurricane of tragedy. I'm just glad you're in front. After you, oh mighty dragon."

  He gave her a grim smile and they resumed walking through the increasingly lawless city.

  It didn't take much longer to reach the Wards. Instead of showing joy, Jaekob squinted at the magical barrier, his lip twitching as faint puffs of smoke trailed from his nose.

  "What's wrong?” Bells asked. “We made it back and we're finally safe. Shouldn't we hurry through?"

  He shook his head, his eyes never leaving the Wards. "No. Look more carefully. What do you see?"

  She stared at the shield, trying to see what he saw. Try as she might, she couldn't find anything wrong with the view. The magical power was still flowing, the Wards still up, the red-and-black mesh of lines embedded within it pulsing with energy. Wait... Black lines? "The shield would kill anyone trying to force their way through, right?"

  "Yes, of course. In a crisis, we stop people from getting in by killing any who try. That's pretty standard."

  "So what's wrong with the Wards? I think you're going to have to spell it out for me." Well, killing people without warning was pretty wrong, but that was dragon business, not hers, and Jaekob surely wasn't the one to start that.

  He shoved his hands in his pockets, glaring at them again. "No," he snapped, turning to face her suddenly. "No offense, but you're not looking hard enough. I mean, look at it—the fungus vines grew ten feet up the wall without even dying. Nothing living can touch the shell right now without burning to cinders, and yet the infection is doing just that."

  "That does seem odd."

  "What I meant, though, was that there's supposed to be a gate here. Do you see a gate? Because I don't. Unless your fae vision can see things I can't, we're not getting in through here even if we could get through the infection."

  Bells felt her cheeks burn. It was so simple once he explained it to her. She felt pretty stupid. More than anything at that moment, she wished she were near a shadow so she could just disappear. "Please, don't be angry. I'm sorry I didn't see it. I mean, it seems so obvious now that you pointed it out." She reached up to her peasant blouse's collar and pulled it up, trying to cover herself. "Don't leave me here. I swear, I'll try harder."

  Jaekob rubbed one ear. He swallowed three times, quickly, and stared at his feet. "O,h Bells, don't say that. I promised I would protect you, didn't I? You shame me. I wasn't angry at you, just at the situation. I didn't even think of leaving you behind."

  "I—"

  "Look, it's not your fault. I'm just frustrated. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. Let's just forget it happened, okay? Seriously, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm sorry." He looked up and smiled wanly at her.

  Well, Jaekob was a good man. What other Pure, much less a dragon, would ever apologize to a fae? Besides, he was under a lot of stress. Of course, so was she, but she was only a fae. She reached out hesitantly, putting her hand on his arm, but withdrew it as soon as she felt the fabric of his shirt. What was she thinking? A fae should never touch a dragon without being invited. This day was going from bad to worse, and quickly.

  She forced herself to smile back, looking into his eyes. "You shouldn't apologize to me. Let's just focus on getting home, okay?" Her cheeks flushed hot red, and she blurted, "I mean your home, not ours. We don't have a home together." Her fake grin turned real, a natural reaction for her terrible embarrassment. She couldn't have made that more awkward if she'd tried.

  Instead of laughing at her, though, he simply nodded and headed west. "Come on, let's go check the next gate. I know there was a small one about two blocks from here used mostly by our couriers."

  She fell into step beside him, wondering what had gotten into her.

  Bells followed Jaekob as he walked toward a street corner by a small warehouse. She had to scramble to keep up with his long-legged stride.

  "Almost home," he said, speaking fast and a little too loudly, but he didn't wait for her before making the turn. If anything, he walked even faster, like he had a sense of urgency now that he didn't have before. But when she rounded the corner, too, she almost ran right into him. He had stopped suddenly and now stood staring at the Wards.

  This time, she saw immediately that there was no gateway. "What happened? You said there was a gate here. And how do they even take out a gate?" Bells asked as she peered around him to see the magic shell.

  He leaned against the building and crossed his arms. So quietly that she had to strain to hear him, he muttered, "A total travel ban is the only thing that makes sense. How they take out a gate isn't easy to explain. It can only be done with some truly powerful casting, and to take out these two gates—and probably all the rest—would've required Mikah's entire battle-mage force. And while
they were taking out gates, they weren't reinforcing the Wards against the fungus."

  "So that's why it grew so high up the outside of the Wards." Her heart sunk. If there were no gates, then there was no way she could get in. When push came to shove, Jaekob could always take his chances flying up and over the Wards, but he certainly wouldn't let her ride him while he did it, not in front of everyone. With the sky patrols flying thick over the Dragon District, there was no guarantee, even, that he could get over it alive. Mikah must have been desperate to lock the prince out.

  Maybe she should just give up and tell Jaekob to get home however he could. There was no point to them both dying out here from the infection.

  She shook her head to clear all the negative thoughts. Even though she had a hard time believing it, she knew Jaekob wouldn't really leave her out here. "Okay, so what do we do now? You can't fly over, right?"

  "It'd probably get me killed."

  "Okay. It may take an hour or two, but we should walk all the way around the barriers to double-check for gates. They could have left one gate open. Maybe?"

  Jaekob shrugged. "Maybe." He looked up at the sky, his eyes shifting quickly back and forth—probably scanning for the air patrols—but when he grit his teeth, her heart sank. He said, "Too many patrols, too close. There's not even a way to try a mad dash over it."

  Under her breath, Bells spat a curse. It was maddening, being so close to safety and yet so far, especially with the sword that was supposed to save the world now gone to parts unknown, with elves who could be loyal to the White King just as easily as to the Black Court. The White King would use it to enslave the others, to create order—with him in control, of course—while the Black Court would do what they always did and try to conquer or eliminate the White King and his people.

  Either way, it wouldn't be used to do anything good. Jaekob had told her several times that he didn't feel the sword could be used for good. He almost sounded glad it wasn't in their possession anymore.