Mirror of Embers (Book 1)

t w e n t y - n i n e

☾ Ember ☾

MY NAILS DIG INTO MY BESTFRIEND'S BACK AS HE HOLDS ME TO HIM. My mind whirls and screams at me to say something. To talk to him. To ask him why he's here－how he got here. But I can't seem to say anything, not as we both hold each other tightly. I can't remember the last time Lokas and I ever hugged. We were never touchy, especially me. I was terrified to touch him. I thought he'd see my feelings for him and push me away. So I never touched him. Never hugged him. I wish I had, I wish I could've put my feelings aside and been myself around him. But I never did.

Emotion so raw and terrifying spirals through me. These past weeks have been awful. We never patched things up. I left angry. I was petty and didn't want him along. I wanted him to stay home and not come. I ruined everything between us, because of how I reacted to everything.

I've missed him so much, it's been so hard to not have him here. To not have him to talk to. I had Royal and Shann, but it wasn't the same. I wanted to be around him. Loke. He's my best friend, one of the few people I trust. Not having him around was a punch to the gut. I felt so alone without him and Faune around. But now they're here. They both are. I feel more complete. Having both halves of me back and in my life.

I blink back the plethora of tears surfacing. No more crying. I've done enough of that today. I can't do it anymore.

Lokas slowly pulls away, he grips my shoulders. I get a good look at him. His hair is a bit longer, his face is clean shaven, which is good because he's tried growing out a beard before, and it did not go well. It looked so bad. He looked like a goblin. But his shaved face is really attractive. You get to see all of his brown skin, and his angular jaw, his thin mouth. I get to see all of him when he's like this.

He looks relatively the same. He looks tired though, and his black clothes have dirt on them, but besides that, he looks intact.

He seems to catalog me too, he scans my body quickly, looking for any possible injuries before meeting my eyes again. His hazel eyes light up when our gazes meet.

"I'm sorry." He says, his voice low and quiet. "I'm sorry."

I shake my head. "I'm the one who should be apologizing, I was acting like a bitch－"

"No, it was all my fault. I'm so sorry." He shakes his head. "I'm sorry."

He pulls me back into a hug. I hug him back, my arms tighten around his back. Someone scoffs from behind Lokas which grabs my attention.

"As much as I'd love to stay and watch this lovely reunion." A female voice snaps. Lokas sighs. "We really need to get moving."

Lokas disentagles himself from me and moves to the side. His eyes lock with Faune and they both walk up to each other and begin to hug. I smile at them. Before I used to snarl or bristle when I saw them like this. But now it brings a smile to my face. Those hateful feelings I used to have for them when I thought of them being together are nowhere to be seen. So are my feelings for Lokas. They have ceased to exist. I think they left the minute Royal came into my life. The minute he－

"Ember."

My gaze slides over the room, landing on the pair of brilliant green eyes. The eyes that belong to the voice.

My knees quiver, my heart stumbles, my mind halts. Everything seems to stop when I see him. Finally.

He's here. He's really here.

I open my mouth to call his name, but my voice is silenced by his lips finding mine. He moved to me faster than light.

He folds me into his arms. His lips kiss mine feverishly. My arms come up and around his back. I rise on my toes to fully reach him. My hands tangle in his hair. He shudders against me before he lifts his lips away from mine and buries his head into my shoulder. He takes deep long breaths before pulling away to cup my face.