In Embers (The Ember Series Book 3)

  “Max, we need to get you home,” he insisted, and began shoving me toward my truck parked just a few yards outside the building.

  “What’s going on, Lewis?” I asked, still upset at the arrival of Asia and her impossibly addictive essence.

  “You’re already all over the news, and the internet…”

  “Huh?” I mumbled, as he opened my truck door and shoved me in.

  “There’s at least a dozen cell phone videos of your…umm…public heroics,” he said, wildly.

  “Oh. Crap.”

  “Let’s get you out of here, we’ll figure out what to do later.”

  My truck roared to life and he climbed in the other side. Straightaway, I drove home still wrestling with the image of my haunting rainmaker. As we pulled up to my trailer, Asia was already waiting for me.

  “She looks pissed,” Lewis swallowed hard.

  “Yeah, I tend to bring out the best in her,” I sulked.

  “You were right, Max, she’s gorgeous,” he said too loudly, and Asia flinched at his words. “I mean, she’s the kind of woman that men start wars over,” he stated, this time a little softer. She still heard him though and crossed her arms impatiently.

  “Love is war,” I whispered, and jumped from my truck. She met me before I could even get my feet settled below me. The wind rushed over me, almost knocking me over with its sweet smell. From the cab of the truck Lewis gasped, “She even smells like heaven!”

  Shaking my head, trying to ignore him, I let my hair fall back in my face. She stepped up directly in front of me, just a breath away from touching me, and her twirling winds slid my bangs from my face. There we stood, staring into each other’s souls. She did not move or falter. Her face was sad, but strong, and looked as if she hadn’t aged at all.

  Lewis exited the truck and cautiously walked to my front door. When he reached the door to enter, it popped open with Star standing there with Oz in her arms. He looked cozy and happy. His wet nose sniffed the air as Asia’s familiar scent reminded him of early days back on Maui. A small whine slid from his snout as if to say that he missed her too. Lewis stepped into the house and pulled Star inside with him.

  “I think they need a moment,” he said, just before shutting the door. He was right, but I was terrified to open up these old wounds.

  Suddenly, Asia spoke. “Max…”

  “No!” I exploded. “You don’t get to talk! I get to talk.” Her eyes pulled together and I could feel her electricity slithering along her body. It reached for me, taunted me. I wanted to embrace her, but I fought the craving. She leaned into me and I stepped back from her. I had to. If she had touched me I wouldn’t had been able to continue with my selfish anger.

  “Why did you leave Maui? Why did you leave me?” I pouted.

  Her eyes wilted a little when she saw the pain it caused me. I had suppressed the pain for five years now, and it was all erupting to the surface. The pain was emotionally shattering. I tried with all my might, but a fiery tear crawled from the corner of my eye and blazed down my face.

  “Why?” I asked with my voice breaking. Thunder shook the ground, but it was no longer menacing, it was the opposite. She reached out and swiped the burning tear from my face and her fingers squashed it out like a dying ember between them. A single curl of smoke spun from her fingertips.

  “To save the girls,” she whispered. Her hand cradled the side of my face. Her touch felt like an extension of my body. I pulled away again afraid of her words. “Remember Max, Avery was close to finding them again. The only way to truly protect them from him was to go into hiding. So we left Maui. No one could know where.”

  “I remember,” I said, hurting. “But I could have went with you.”

  “Is that so?” she cut me off. “With a new daughter to care for?” Her words shut me up quickly. “How could I ask you to leave Madi?”

  “It doesn’t matter anyways, she left me too,” I almost choked on the words.

  “I know,” Asia said, as if it had hurt her just as much. “I never stopped watching over you.”

  With a new fire building deep inside, I asked, “All this time, all these lost days. Why now? Why come for me now?” Asia took a deep breath in and slid her hand inside her designer top. Tucked within the fabric was an envelope. She slowly pulled it out and placed it in my hands.

  “What is this?” My tone was dreadful. She closed her eyes and nodded down to it silently. Carefully I studied the white envelope with my hands before turning it over and revealing the three most horrible words I have ever read.

  YOU’RE LOVINGLY INVITED

  The delicately placed handwriting was a dead giveaway…a wedding invitation. Steam twisted from my clothes as I ripped it open. Asia reached for me, but I stepped just far enough away from her to embrace the foregone conclusion; I was moments from a full-blown supernova. Staring at the familiar handwriting, my worlds collided again. Max the fire-starter, Max the father, Max the lonely.

  “No…” I whispered. In my hands was a wedding announcement for Sam and Kai. It was just under a week away and would take place on Maui at sunset. The pain in my chest was overwhelming, but I smothered it down with my building inner flames. My eyes read the invitation three more times, and every time with the same result. Rage.

  I crushed the invitation in a balled fist and let it burst into a flash of red and white fire. Asia’s eyes came alive. She may have been keeping an eye on me all these years, but seeing my powers reignite seemed to wake her from a long sleep. Her face washed over in a new reserved excitement.

  “Max…your fire…” she smiled.

  “No!” I roared. I didn’t want to talk about my stupid curse. I wanted answers. “You only came back to give me that? Why? For a good laugh? To tell me, I told you so…what is it, Asia?”

  “Settle yourself,” she warned, and dark skies crawled over us.

  “Tell me how you have an invitation to Sam’s wedding and why are you telling me about it?” I yelled.

  “Your mother.”

  “What?” I almost fell over. Flames rippled along my fingers trying to climb up my hands. Asia stepped closer to me again.

  “Vivian was the only person I was still in contact with. She’s a good person, Max,” she said, soothing. It only made me angrier.

  “My mother!”

  “Yes. Sam contacted her about the wedding and insisted I be there…for Madison’s sake. She and I share…”

  “A connection, I know.” I turned from her and thunder signaled Asia’s state of mind.

  “Anyways, Vivian thought you should be there too, for closure.” Asia placed her enticing fingers onto my overheating chest. “And I agree, Max.”

  “Closure, huh,” I snapped.For who? Them. Fire began to creep along my arms with spinning embers dripping to the ground. The flames danced within Asia’s longing stare.

  “I only want what’s best for you, and closing that chapter of your life is best,” she said, coldly.

  “Go home,” I growled. Angrily, I ripped my body from her touch and stomped off down the road. Lightning sliced the sky and Asia followed close behind.

  “Don’t run from me!” she scolded. With her warning I literally exploded. Fire and smoke circled me like a burning snake. I began to run and the flames stretched behind me as if I were an angel that had flown to close to the sun.

  “Leave me alone!” I screamed. From over my shoulder she slammed a bolt of white fire into the surrounding desert walls and promised…

  “Never.”

  TWENTY-FOUR: HEARTS OF FIRE

  ~ Forever Can Be: Ashes Divide ~

  Asia stood across from me in a abandoned gully just a mile away from my house. Our chase lasted only a minute before I stopped to face her here. By the look in her eyes, she would have never stopped chasing me. If she would not let me go, I would make her leave. Unfortunately, she wasn’t backing down. Now, like two gunslingers, we stood apart from each other with our powers engulfing everything around us.

  As
ia had removed her shirt revealing a thin black tank top with spaghetti straps. Her matching shoulder tattoo revealed that it was no longer matching. She had added colorful flames to it that intertwined with the tribal markings. The same crimson markings I had on my shoulder, but now, they were different. She stood strong on her expensive boots that ran half way up her denim covered legs. She slid her hip to one side as the wind spun around her like a tornado. Rain and sleet painted the ground in all directions sending the smell of her storm into my lungs. Her long black hair glistened with the twinkle of trapped raindrops throughout. Her eyes held back tears and her lips caught me in their forbidden pout. Black skies blanketed the scene and the floor of this battlefield shook with her emotional thunder. She placed an open hand directly in front of her and waved for me to power up.

  My fires engulfed me, flickering like an enormous flame that reached up into the darkening sky three-stories high. The sizzle of my inferno destroyed every raindrop that dared to touch me. I flipped my hair away from my eyes and slapped my hands together. With a annoyed smile, I pulled my hands apart revealing a burning ball of fire. It twisted within my fingers, growing larger with each of my breaths. When it reached the size of a basketball, I called out my warning.

  “I don’t want to hurt you. Please, leave me be.”

  “Hurt me? You wish. I’m not going anywhere without you.” With an angry smile, she stepped forward and placed her arms at her sides. Electric arcs of light shot from her fingertips into the drenched ground. “There are much better ways to prove how much you care for me, Max. Much safer ways.”

  The wind grew stronger and pushed up against my wall of fire. It felt like she was holding me in her arms. My powers dimmed for a moment before I found my resolve.

  “I don’t care about anything anymore, or anyone,” I lied.

  She laughed wildly and took another step closer. “Prove it,” she dared.

  Instantly, I unleashed the fireball from my hands. It ripped through the falling rain with the force of a locomotive. Spinning with dripping flames it headed directly for Asia’s torso. She quickly shoved her arms outward, sending two bolts of lightning into the approaching death sphere. It doubled in size and turned a brilliant hue of white and yellow that exploded into smoke and steam that washed over her. She stepped through the devastation and winked at me. Swiftly, she slammed a fist into the ground and the sky above came alive. The black clouds swirled together and pulled into a large funneled spout that stretched down in front of me. It cut through the dirt like a knife and slithered around me in a dizzying dance of destruction.

  I intensified my wall of fire and reached out with my arms. My bright flames smashed into the twister, turning it into a fiery finger from heaven. I stepped into it and took a deep breath in. The burning tornado became part of me and my flames. She was powerful, but so was I. She didn’t know that my fire-starting abilities were stronger than ever. With a tilt of my head, I took a step away from Asia and dusted the excess embers from my shoulder and waved.

  “Your turn.”

  My wicked rainmaker smiled bigger and ran her hand through her hair. I found my eyes stuck on her outline like a stalker. She bit her bottom lip and turned away from me, keeping her eyes locked onto mine from over her shoulder. With one hand she snapped her fingers and the heavens cracked open. From the sky fell an ocean of rain. I’m talking biblical proportions. A wall of water poured like an enormous wave over the desert floor and then, me. It blackened everything in sight. Everything but her silky shadow in the distance. When the rush of water stopped, all that was left was a flooded floor below me and the spinning trails of smoke from my shoulders. The rolling clouds calmed themselves and her signature scent assaulted me once more. I was helpless to her storm.

  From across the new pond, Asia whispered, “You done?”

  ~ Eternal Flame: The Bangles ~

  As I attempted to ring out my hair and find my fires again, she flipped her wrist and the collected floodwater below me raised up and slammed into my back. The cold liquid slid along my legs and waist, wrapping itself around my stomach tightly. I tried to fight its force, but it was no use. Asia was much too strong.

  Urgently, the wall of water pushed me toward her and she ran directly for me. I braced myself for the worst, but found I was never really in danger at all. She had been just playing with me. Asia’s body wrapped itself around me. Her arms lovingly held me as the wave fell away to nothing. My clothes were drenched and clung to my steaming torso. Her hips snapped into place with mine like a puzzle piece and my hands instinctively grabbed her waist. After all these years of running and hiding, we were one again.

  She placed her forehead against mine and a cool fever teased my skin. Softly she spoke and her breath felt like ecstasy on my lips.

  “I’ll mend your broken heart.” Her eyes settled into mine with a tragic truth. “Under one condition,” she promised.

  “And what is that?” my voice fell to a whisper. She ran her hand along my cheek, tracing it down to my lips.

  As one single tear carved a line along her amazing face, she scolded, “No more running, no more hiding.”

  “Asia…”

  “Max, I will never leave you again. Never.” She pressed her full lips along mine, breathing in my essence, my fire. I embraced her with everything I had, my arms, my body, my soul, my inferno. At that moment everything seemed clear. We were opposites on the elemental scale, fire and water, but we could only truly be whole if we were together. Only if we were one.

  “I love you with all my fire,” I said, absolute.

  She let the rest of her tears out, at least five years worth. We held each other in the middle of the Arizona desert healing one another. First with our words, and then with our touch. Slowly, she removed my rain-soaked shirt and then hers, before pulling me into her again.

  Sensually, she whispered, “My love for you is forever.”

  The rain began to fall again, this time much softer. It was warm and inviting. I let my inner heat radiate all around us and quickly undressed both of us. Asia shuddered as if it were our first time together and I traced every line of her hourglass with my burning hands. As the sun fell away, surrendering to the new night, we made love like the last two souls on Earth. Melting into forever.

  Hours later we collected ourselves, not saying a thing. I used my overheating abilities to dry each piece of clothing before she put them back on. I took a little longer than needed with her lacy underwear though. She held me from behind as I did and traced the lines of my arms with her fingers. She ran her fingertip over the tattoo she had given me back on Maui. The one with the spinning waves and Chinese symbol of the date that we first met. A sigh escaped her mouth, settling along my neck and shoulder. It filled me with excited goose bumps. I turned to her and helped her slide her tank top over her chest and stomach. When I took a moment to study the tattoo along her shoulder again, she frowned a little.

  “You’re wondering why I changed it, aren’t you?” she asked, and leaned into me. I looked down at the new artwork perfectly painted in place.

  “Yes.”

  “When I decided to leave Maui without you, I thought the best way to deal with not having you by my side was to start over. And one of those things was changing are matching tribal markings.” A new frown appeared along her lips and I quickly kissed it away.

  “Didn’t the matching tattoos mean we were promised to each other, like marriage?” I asked, quietly. She placed a hand along my tattoo and quickly kissed the top of my shoulder, leaving her head there afterward, resting softly.

  “Yes, as long as we wore the same markings, we were one.”

  I began to laugh, “So, basically, we’re divorced now.”

  Her sultry laugh followed and she playfully nudged me. Thunder rumbled along the horizon and I pulled her back into my arms.

  “You could put it that way.” She smiled. Her intoxicating smell hit me all of a sudden and it reminded me our special place back on Maui, the lookou
t.

  “So, how’s the tree?” I asked, playfully. She took a second before she answered. It rattled her slightly, but she gathered herself and answered.

  “Still no cherry blossoms. I’ve never seen a tree like that take so long to bloom.”

  “Stubborn, huh. Funny, that reminds me of someone,” I joked, with a roll of my eyes.

  She laughed softly and slid her tattoo along mine, comparing the new changes against the original pattern. They actually still looked amazing side by side.

  Both of us shared a quick glance and it was apparent we were thinking about the same thing…the wedding invitation. I finished dressing myself and turned away from Asia.

  “I’m scared to go back.” My neck filled with stressful heat.

  “Because of Sam?” she asked, dryly.

  “No, not exactly.”

  “Madi,” she said, knowing me better than I knew myself. Finding her crystal eyes with mine again, I wilted.

  “Yes.”

  “Max, you need to see her. You’ve been away from her much too long,” she said, and pulled me to her.

  “I’m afraid she won’t remember me…or worse,” I swallowed hard.

  Asia let a small giggle out. “Not possible, handsome.”

  “I’m serious. Madi is six now. She’s officially a little woman. I have no idea how to be a father to her,” I finally admitted. “I’m terrified.”

  “You won’t have to do it alone, Max. I’ll be there too. Always,” she smiled, convincingly.

  We gathered ourselves and walked back to my humble trailer. She held my hand the entire way and I felt whole once again.

  My fires were back, and now, so was their kerosene.