Chapter 25
Three days passed without incident. Zinny counted every minute of every day. Ember accepted their way of life with a quiet grace that was admirable, and even when she was horrified, she was grateful. Isaac and Asher never made a harmful move against her. Acton was experiencing what was probably the longest stretch of non-boredom in his life. Perhaps most importantly, Gina never came knocking.
Zinny waited, every moment of every day, for everything to fall apart, but it never did.
Acton hadn’t engaged in her idea of a family life since he had become old enough to struggle free and strike out on his own, but now, he had traded his overnight haunts and illicit trips away from the island for late nights at home with his brothers. He didn’t have to go out looking for trouble when he had it living in his home.
Even as Ember’s presence brought the dark shadow of Gina’s ever present threat to hang over the house, Zinny found herself relieved. She hadn’t known a moment without fear since Acton’s birth, but now, at least, he was at home. They were all together, and that was how things should be.
The girl was the miracle she had prayed for. When the movies came on, she would bring a book down from the bedroom and sit next to Acton, reading and looking up occasionally. She sat right next to him, with his arm around her, and acted like it was nothing.
No one had ever demonstrated such trust. Acton had never allowed anyone to trust him to that extent. When she fell asleep next to him, he would lie with her on the couch. He allowed her to follow him wherever he went, and walked on her behalf so that she could keep up. He hadn’t even extended that privilege to Isaac.
Someday, one of them was likely to be the death of the other, but the calm that ensued when they were together was so overwhelming that it was hard to do anything but watch, wait, and breathe a deep sigh of relief after so many years of tense risk.
Ember gave Asher an audience when he wished to entertain. She ate the food that Zinny cooked, and sat around the fires at night while Isaac skinned rabbits or cleaned the empty carapaces of dead crabs. She was never afraid. Isaac was still suspicious, but with every trinket she left outside his door, he was slowly coming around.
At odd times of the day, Acton would offer to walk with her, and they would leave the house for hours. Zinny wasn’t so naïve that she couldn’t guess what they were doing. Asher mocked them for it. Isaac became sullen and jealous that Acton’s new toy had so thoroughly captivated him. But that was just it—Acton had brought home many new “friends,” but none of them had held his attention like Ember. The others were toys, but Ember was different.
He wanted to buy furniture, for his bedroom. For her. Zinny had tried not to laugh at him when he had broached the subject. He was making plans.
After every outing, when she returned slightly disheveled and he was only quiet, Ember would pause as she walked past Isaac’s door on the way to Acton’s bedroom. She found little things in the forest. They were insignificant to everyone else, but she had figured him out. Isaac was a hoarder, and each smooth stone, piece of oddly shaped bark, and tiny rabbit skull was a small gift.
It was unlikely that she would ever fully win him over, but she had at least broken even on the day that she left him a swatch of her pants leg with dried blood on it. She had caught her foot on a jagged branch during one of their nature hikes, and though the cut was unremarkably superficial, the stain had dried into an odd resemblance of a seagull.
Almost a week later, Isaac came home to announce that there were visitors on the island. Ember looked up from her book on the couch, and then glanced at Acton.
“They know about me?” He asked without looking over.
Isaac nodded. “They want to meet you. At the bar.”
“I’m busy.”
“They have questions about the—“ Isaac paused, staring with consideration at Ember. Them; that was the word he liked to use. When he finished, Zinny was surprised. “The Gillespies. They have questions about the Gillespies.”
Acton stretched as he got up from the chair, and started walking to the stairs. “Zinny, you’ll need to find something appropriate for her to wear.”
That was how Ember came to be dressed in a traditional geisha’s kimono and obi on a late Thursday afternoon. Her hair was too short to do anything fancy, but Zinny had styled it all the same. She overdid the makeup, which made Ember laugh. The significance of being dressed like a geisha wasn’t lost on her.
Zinny had a somewhat twisted sense of humor.
In a far corner of Zinny’s bar, they had pushed together three of the small, circular tables. Isaac was sitting at one, and Kaylee was sitting in his lap, her legs crossed as she filed the nails on her remaining fingers, awkwardly clutching and maneuvering the instrument. She had taken to wearing a glove on her damaged hand to hide her missing digits until they grew back, and smiled overly civilly at Ember when she caught her staring.
Ember sat back in her chair, letting Acton’s form block their eye contact. Zinny was on her other side, wearing a gold Elizabethan era dress with a collar that would have made the queen proud, and Asher was on her other side. The people standing in front of them looked like homeless bums.
Their eyes darted back and forth across all of the attendants at the table, assessing whether or not they were to be trusted. Both of the men had shaggy beards and crazed eyes. Ember wondered if they were brothers.
“Well?” Acton prompted.
The one on the left barred his teeth in a snarl, revealing yellow and brown nubs where his teeth had been. “You’re Acton?”
He nodded.
“You own this island?” he pressed. “You live with the hunters?”
“There are rules,” Zinny said in a cool tone. “They leave us alone and we—well, they leave us alone, as long as there isn’t any trouble with humans. Interfere with the humans in a harmful way, and they will return the favor.”
Ember tried to suppress a snort. Zinny had almost asserted that they left the hunters alone. That clearly wasn’t the case anymore. When her attention returned to the strangers, she saw that all four of their pale, shallow, bloodshot eyes were focused on her.
“She doesn’t carry the curse,” the first brother said.
“She’s mine,” Acton said forcefully. Ember didn’t see Zinny move, but the tension coming off of her was palpable. She was preparing to launch herself across the table.
“You keep her for fun?” The brother cracked a smile.
“I keep her for my own purposes.” Acton did not look entertained. “Don’t touch her, and don’t try to make your own pet. She’s the only exception the hunters have allowed, and they only make exceptions for me.”
The smile turned to a sneer, and Ember felt her heart start to race as the second brother remained silent. His expression hadn’t changed at all since the talking had started, and Ember was beginning to wonder if he was mentally handicapped or mute. But as their eyes met, a slow smile spread across the second brother’s face, and his eyes narrowed and they wandered up and down.
Ember shuddered, looking away.
“And why are you so lucky, boy?” The first brother was asking.
In a blur, the second brother lunged, but stopped suddenly, turning his hungry gaze back on the first brother, who was beginning to look increasingly uncomfortable. The crazed brother’s teeth snapped inches from his face.
“I don’t like people who disregard my rules,” Acton said calmly. “So now you’re warned. Try it again, and I’ll make you do to each other what he was going to do to her.” His eyes turned cold and serious. “That’s why I’m so lucky.”
The first brother seemed sufficiently convinced, but he wasn’t happy about it. “You said humans were protected…”
“She’s not human,” Zinny said quickly, and Acton looked over. He was annoyed, though it was hard to say if it was because of Zinny’s constant interjections or the brothers’ general existence. “She’s the second daughter of the resident hunter, which is
another reason to leave this one alone.”
Ember swallowed hard, trying not to let the smell and appearance of the two men scare her. They looked and acted like human incarnations of rabid, mangy dogs. She glanced back and forth between Acton and Zinny, and realized that they were trying to align themselves with the power of the hunters with her presence. She hoped it worked.
“Bullshit…” The first brother said.
“She looks exactly like her mother,” Asher added, and for the first time, Ember didn’t see him smiling. As if he heard her thoughts, he suddenly sat up straighter, and a gleam appeared in his eye. “Still looks a lot like her sister, too, despite my best efforts. There’s the other daughter.”
The two brothers turned, and despite her fear, Ember stood up to see around them.
With half her face covered in black and blue bruises, Thalia was standing in the front entrance to the bar, with the late afternoon sun glowing around her silhouette. She was alone, and must have been terrified, but she didn’t look it. Across the crowded room of demons, she was only looking at Ember.
Acton gave her a quick nod as she looked over without a word, and Ember rushed from behind the tables to the front of the bar, grabbing Thalia into a hug. The older girl placed her arms lightly on Ember’s back as she nearly had the breath squeezed out of her.
“Thalia!” Ember said, finally letting her go, and stepping back to examine her. The bruises were bad. “Are you okay?”
“I will be,” she responded, looking at the floor. Her hair was done into herringbone pigtails, which was much fancier than the simple braid or bun that she usually wore. “Mom was afraid because I couldn’t see out of my eye for a moment. The doctor said I had a mild concussion, and some shock, and I broke my cheek, but just a little. I lost a tooth.”
She pulled back her cheek to show Ember, who cringed, and then hugged her again.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”
Thalia nodded. “It’s okay. I know it wasn’t your fault. But Ember, I need you to come with me.”
Ember looked at her seriously. “I’m not leaving them. They take care of me. They’re my family now, too, Lia. As much as you are.” She took a deep breath. “Maybe more, even.”
Thalia looked like she was going to cry as she shuffled her feet and stared at the floor. She mumbled something.
“What?”
“I said,” she started louder. “I think something bad happened to Nan. Can we just go for a walk, and I’ll tell you?”
Ember frowned. If Ethel hadn’t returned yet, then she had been gone for at least two weeks. “Sure.”
She followed her out onto Main, and then into the forest. Ember knew that Thalia was leading her back to the house, but decided she would hear what she had to say first. Acton knew where she was, and she was sure he would come if she called. Even if he didn’t owe her any loyalty, she had added a new aspect to his power that she was sure he wouldn’t give up easily.
“Are you okay?” Thalia asked.
“I’m fine,” Ember responded curtly.
“Are they taking care of you? Feeding you?” Thalia asked urgently. “Did they hurt you?”
“Yes, yes, and no,” Ember responded. “They’re not evil, Lia.”
“Then they’re manipulating you.” Thalia seemed certain. “Acton is very good at manipulating people. He only wants you until you give up whatever it is he needs.”
“He’s not the monster you think he is.” Ember turned around, taking care to hold up her kimono. Main had disappeared in the trees. It was one of the few days on the island where the fog and clouds weren’t threatening to drench everything, and it was beautiful. It was exactly the kind of walk, on exactly the kind of day, that she had imagined taking with the sister she had always wished for. “Well, yeah, he kind of is, but not to me. We have a deeper relationship than that. I kind of get why he does it.”
“Why?”
“Mom,” Ember smiled sardonically. “Have you met mom?”
Thalia didn’t look amused. As she flashed Ember a shocked glare, the contrast of the white of her eye against the black and blue swelling of collected blood beneath it made Ember cringe. “If you knew what he did…”
Ember rolled her eyes. “Am I the only one that doesn’t know? Please, Lia, tell me what he did.”
Turning to face Ember, Thalia stopped. The look on her bruised face was sad and serious. Whatever Acton had done, it must have been unimaginably bad.
Thalia finally shrugged, looking away. “Ember, I am so sorry. It’s just that you can’t help yourself.”
Ember didn’t even have the chance to yell before the cloth landed over her nose and mouth, and she felt strong arms keeping her from running away. The kimono tangled around her legs, and she felt her body going gently to the ground. Her mother’s voice was in her ear, filled with sadness as the darkness fell around her.
“I’m sorry, Ember, I’m sorry…there’s just no other way…”