I woke up to see the bloody scraps of rabbit shredded amongst the three of us. We must've collapsed from fatigue in the early hours of the morning, as we were nowhere near where we'd left our clothes.
My body was weary and ached as I sat up. A few dry bloodstains marked my bare skin, and I cursed, realising that I was still stark naked.
Desperately wishing that no early morning hikers would come along and see a strange, naked guy in the middle of the moors, I ran over to where we'd left our clothes. I gathered them up quickly and ran back – stopping a few metres away from Ryder and Thea to throw on my shorts.
Both Ryder and Thea had gone to sleep curled up, so I just threw their clothes into a heaped-up pile on top of their bodies.
I shuddered when I remembered the metal image Thea had transmitted to me; the two of them together, naked and touching. Ryder could be like my brother, but it would tear me apart if the two of them ended up together.
I wasn't sure quite what it was. Probably the innate brotherly sense to protect my sister from anyone that could end up hurting her; particularly potential lovers.
But what if they're each other's mate? The thought lodged itself in my brain, persisting until I remembered that Hayden was Ryder's mate.
I'd thought that Jade could've been my mate...but was it possible to have more than one mate in your lifetime? More than one soul you were destined to be with?
My mind flitted to Ember; my heart finding agony in her distance – both physical and emotional.
As Thea awoke and quickly pulled her clothes on, I snapped back to the present.
"You okay?" I checked, helping her up to her feet.
Turning away from the torn-up rabbit shreds, she paled; "I almost lost control last night, didn't I?"
"Almost, but you didn't entirely." I pulled her into a hug, before feeling the urge to offer, "You know...if there's anything on your mind that's bothering you, you can always tell me."
I'd never been the best at lending a listening ear, but when it came to Thea, I knew I'd have to help her however I could.
Thea pulled away from me; her thoughts became a blank wall of silence that I couldn't penetrate.
"There's nothing."
"Well, if there's anything in the future..."
"Yeah, I get it." Thea's response was a hair's breadth away from a snap, but before we could descend into a full-on sibling argument, Ryder woke up.
"Would you two please stop bickering? It's too early for that shit..."
A frown implanted itself on my face as I caught a scent of smouldering wood.
Ember?
I turned and walked towards the scent, drawing close to the thicket once again. Only as opposed to last night, the trees and undergrowth were scorched black.
With no Ember in sight, I turned to Thea – "Did you...?"
"No, I didn't..." She squinted at it and stepped close, bending down to examine the branches.
Surrounding the thicket, I noticed that strange lines of heather had also been burnt to ashes.
"Did either of you see what happened?" I asked, knowing that I had no recollection of it.
Thea shook her head, as Ryder responded, "When I went to sleep last night, those trees were all still fine..."
"But...?" I sensed it in his tone, he must've seen something.
"But I thought I saw an ember spark up." He shifted from one foot to the other, "I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me 'cos I was so tired."
"What if it had something to do with whoever...or whatever...we met last night?" Thea suggested, stepping to stand beside me.
"I think it does..."
"Hang on." Ryder took a few steps back so that he could see the thicket from a distance.
"What is it?" I asked, wondering what he was seeing.
"There's a pattern." Ryder noticed.
"A what?" I rushed over to him, eyes scanning the charred ground.
"A pattern..." He repeated, raising his arm and tracing a pattern with his finger.
A single straight trail led from where we were stood, before splitting off into a horizontal line, then encompassing the circular thicket in an oblong loop. Fire had scolded the pattern into the moorland – seemingly forever.
It has to mean something...anything.
"What does it mean?" Ryder asked once he was sure I'd seen the same pattern.
"I don't know." My head suddenly weighed down heavily on my shoulders; exhaustion and confusion were taking over.
Thea picked up on my fatigue and placed her hand on my shoulder. "Let's get back to Hopecliffe and see if the witch and pixie know anything."
~
Hopecliffe was relatively quiet as we walked through the streets towards the hotel. We'd payed for one more night's stay in the hotel – last night.
The harsh twinge of stress settled in the pit of my stomach as I realised that we would have to find somewhere else to stay that night. We were running dangerously low on money and, since none of us had bothered finding work, we couldn't afford to stay in hotels anymore.
Hell, we were practically broke – I just hadn't gotten around to telling the others yet.
"When we get back to the hotel, you both need to pack." I told Ryder and Thea, "We...can't afford to stay in a hotel any longer."
"That's okay, man." Ryder placed a hand on my shoulder, "We get it."
"Yeah, it's all fine, Theo." Thea forced a tired smile at me. "Where will we stay instead?"
"We'll find somewhere, somehow." I spoke as if I knew what the hell I was going to do next.
I had no idea whatsoever. I was completely at a loss and everyone seemed to be depending on me.
At the hotel, Ember was still sleeping.
She looked so comfy and warm cosied up in bed, and I was so exhausted and so tempted to slide into bed with her, and hold her until she woke up.
Instead, I sank down to my knees beside her bed and stroked her cheek softly, whispering her name, "Ember... Ember, wake up, baby."
I took a punt calling her 'baby' – I had no idea if she'd like it or get annoyed with me... She's being so unpredictable lately.
After a few moments, she still hadn't moved, yet her breathing remained steady. Strands of her hair clung to her forehead, a thin layer of sweat visible – she clearly hadn't had as much of a comfortable sleep as I'd thought.
"Ember? Em, baby, we need to get going." I whispered to her again, not adding on the fact I was pretty sure the hotel owners were going to kick us out – especially after the muck Thea, Ryder and I must've tracked into the carpets on our way in.
"Theo...?" Her eyes slowly opened.
"Hey." I smiled down at her; she looked so peaceful when she wasn't frowning, almost like she wasn't mad at me. "We kinda need to get going."
"Join me?" She offered, stretching her arms out to me.
I was dying to join her, even just for a morning cuddle, but I knew we couldn't hang around.
"Maybe later...tomorrow, or something." The peace shattered and stress sunk back in, "But I'm pretty sure we're going to get kicked out of the hotel if we don't clear out soon."
"Stop stressing and come here." Ember grabbed my arms and pulled me down to her. "We'll figure things out."
"Well, I don–"
She pressed her lips against mine, shutting me up and drawing me closer to her. I fell deep into her ocean of silent forgiveness and closed my eyes tightly as her mouth eased mine open. Our tongues slid together and a moan slipped out of her mouth.
Her moan seemed to reverberate around my entire body, heightening my attraction and love for her – all my exhaustion seemed to have died away.
Our kiss intensified – going from sweet to sexy in a millisecond – and I somehow found myself starting to climb into the bed with her. My hands found the hem of her top and started pulling it up; she wrapped her legs around my waist and forced our bodies close together.
"Em..." I was torn in two; half of me wanting to shut the rest of the world out and be with her, and her alone – the other half knowing that I couldn't be so selfish, not with all the shit going on.
There's not going to be a perfect time, I remembered Ember telling me before we had our first time with one another in that little hut near the lake at the ranch in Montana.
My body throbbed for her as I thought of how incredible it'd been – so incredible I wished it was my first time. And, of course, the way she pleased me the other night whilst in that motel near Lake Lanier...
Fucking hell.
"Em, we can't do this right now." I forced out the words, hating myself immensely as I did so.
"Theo, please." She blinked her tired eyes up at me.
I kissed her fast and hard once more, before climbing off the bed.
"There are too many things to do." I started listing, turning away from Ember yet the scent of her hurt rolled off her in tidal waves – crashing over me again, and again, and again. "We need to get out of this hotel, find somewhere else to stay for a while, talk to Halia again and see if she'll tell us anymore..."
"I'll be ready to leave in five minutes." Ember's voice was cold, but in such a way it sounded like she'd had to choke back tears.
"I'll give you some space." I lied – all I wanted to do was to diminish the space in between us.
Quickly, I threw all my clothes into my duffel bag then practically sprinted out of the room.
"Not cool, man." Ryder shook his head at me, presumably after eavesdropping.
"Whatever." I pushed past him, but even I knew that what I'd done to Ember was so, so far from being cool.
~
We met up with Halia and Al at some café along the seafront. Wednesday was helping her grandmother, who she was apparently staying with.
I winced as Ember, Thea and Ryder all ordered coffees and cookies; dreading how much every little thing would add up to.
Exhaustion was well and truly settled into my bones, but I pushed myself to finally ask Halia the question: "What's the pattern behind all the murders?"
Halia blinked at me, fishlike in her manner, "The pattern...behind the murders."
"Yes, the pattern." I repeated, staring at her intently. "We need to know if we're going to help you at all."
Halia hesitated, her face turning downwards as she struggled to process the words.
"I'll just tell them." Al butted in, "The pattern behind the murders is that all the people were related to Kaden. All his family, and then if they weren't, they were in his immediate travelling community."
"His...family?" Ember echoed, looking just as empty as she sounded.
Ryder grabbed hold of my arm and dragged me to one side, hissing in my ear, "This is what Kaden was on about. When he was talking about his parents. About how it was unfortunate what happened to them? So, his parents must've been murdered as well."
I froze for a moment. "...and?"
"And we should tell the others!" He exclaimed at me, raising his voice.
I cast my eyes back to the others as they frowned at the two of us. "Not yet." I told Ryder. "The murders might not be related to Kaden any more than them being his family."
Not telling Ember about seeing Kaden on the beach was...harder than I'd thought it would be. Though I hadn't directly lied to her about it, I was still evading the truth at every turn.
It was disgustingly hypocritical of me to expect her to tell me everything, whilst I wasn't telling her anything.
I could only hope it wouldn't tear us apart.
"Thank you for telling us, Al." I told her when Ryder and I came back to the table we were all sat at.
"No problem." She rolled her eyes and shook her head, the scraggly bun on the top of her head jiggling as she did so.
"I...have to go." Halia stood up, ran along the seafront and dived into the ocean before any of us could move or say anything.
"Well, that's her gone." Al commented.
"Al...do you know anywhere we could stay?" Ember asked her friend, "We're kinda running low on money, and you know I'm not turning to my mother unless I can help it."
"Well, Wednesday is living with her grandma, but there's no more space. Tiny little cottage, two bedrooms, barely even big enough for the two of them. Halia's living in one of the coves, or the sea – we're not really sure." Al paused for a moment, musing, before continuing, "I am living with a troupe of pixies in some woods not far from the moors."
"A troupe?" I burst out, laughing, "What, do you do dance routines together or something?"
Al's face grew red with anger, "Well, at least I don't spend full moons chasing around my tail and barking at any moving thing, mongrel."
"Damn," I shook my head, "I was really hoping you'd forgotten about that."
"Not a chance." She grinned at me. "You're still a mongrel."
"Where could we live then?" Ember spoke up, "We've still not figured that out."
Thea stayed silent, probably mulling over the fact that, out of all of us, she was most like a dog, and therefore most like a mongrel.
"Right, so," Ryder proposed, "I was thinking either a cave, or an abandoned house."
"A cave?" Al laughed loudly, "That would suit quite well considering how two of you become Neanderthal men from time to time."
"We'll find an abandoned house that won't collapse on us." I stated, "Agreed?"
"What about money, though?" Ember avoided my gaze. "I'm not calling my mum asking for her to help us out. All she does is cause trouble."
"I'm not working." Ryder crossed his arms, "I worked my arse off for weeks to get here, and I don't plan on doing any more work for quite a while."
"Wednesday's grandma is pretty loaded." Al finally decided to be useful, "And she knows about the supernatural. I bet she'd lend you a bit."
"Thanks, Al." Ember smiled at her.
"Has anyone seen an abandoned house around here?" I asked, aware that we'd need to find somewhere to stay tonight.
Al thought for a minute, before responding, "There's this old, overrun property a bit up the road from here. Big enough to give you four a room each."
We're gonna need separate rooms at this rate, I thought as Ember kept avoiding me entirely.
We'd have to talk about what happened earlier at some point, but right now I was just too tired – taking things one step at a time was a lot easier.
Al got to her feet and dropped a couple notes on the table, paying for all of us. She waved away my thanks before the words had even fallen out of my mouth.
"See you lot later, I guess." She left.
After a moment stuck in my thoughts, I jumped up to my feet and managed to catch up with her. "Al, wait."
"What's up now, mongrel?" She turned to face, a smile playing on her lips.
"Al...is there anything else that you can tell us about Kaden?" It was a tricky question to ask, knowing how hesitant Halia had been to tell any of us anything. "Anything at all that might help us?"
"I'll tell you something Halia doesn't want anyone knowing, something not even Wednesday would let me tell you." She said under her breath, and I followed her out of the café as she beckoned me.
"Then why are you telling me?" I frowned, checking behind me as she led me into a white-walled alley.
"Because, Theo, you're changing." She eyed me seriously, "Becoming more responsible, more in control."
"I don't feel it..." I muttered, my eyes dropping to the ground.
"Well, you are." She stated bluntly, "That's why I'm telling you this. 'Cos you have to know – even if the others don't want you to."
I swallowed, pressure weighing down on me again. But, instead of being overwhelmed, I took a deep breath and let the weight settle; let my mind be at ease with the responsibility that I'd been avoiding.
"Kaden's changed, too." Al told me, her voice wavering unevenly, "It's more than just a darker side of him, it's like he's a completely different person."
Fear building within me once again, I asked, "Does it have something to do with him coming back from the brink of death?" – even though I was pretty sure I knew the answer already.
"Yes. That's the whole reason we've gotten into this mess." Al shook her head, "We don't even know what triggered it."
"Anything else you know that I should know?"
"If you meet him, and you don't recognise him as Kaden, he has another name." Al closed her eyes before snapping them open again; her chemosignals acknowledging her anxiety.
"What's his name, if he's not Kaden?" I dared to ask the question, watching Al intently even as she made a move to leave.
"Killian."
~
It was in a dazed state that I returned to the café table. Al's words were still sinking in... Even though she'd told me a fair bit, I couldn't wrap my head around what to do.
Whether to tell the others or not – I couldn't decide.
"Guys, we need to get to that abandoned house." Standing, I hesitated. "Em, something happened last night whilst we were up on the moors."
Her eyes searched mine intently as she stood up, and I felt a pang of guilt for not telling her about meeting Kaden on the beach. "What's wrong?"
"How long have you got?" I let out an exasperated laugh.
She stepped close to me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders in a tight embrace.
"Tell her, man." Ryder nodded at me from over Ember's shoulder.
"Not here." I took Ember's hand in mine and led her out of the café, and onto the beach.
I was getting to know Hopecliffe surprisingly well, though it was hardly a large town – more like a village, really.
"Last night, there was someone up on the moors with us," I started telling Ember, watching intently as she tucked her hair behind her ears, "Someone...something, we're not quite sure. But we came across them in this small patch of woods, then chased them but they came down into Hopecliffe and we couldn't risk it with Thea's bloodlust."
Ember swallowed, "I heard someone scream last night. It woke me up."
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" I grabbed her arms, but only just refrained from shaking her.
"It...didn't seem important." She stuttered out, frowning at me, before stepping away and shrugging off my arms.
"Anyway, the patch of woods was burnt to a crisp when we woke up–"
"It wasn't me." She spat out, eyes narrowing.
"I know it wasn't you." I reassured, "But there was a pattern – in the ashes, I mean."
"Draw it on the sand." Ember suggested.
Remembering the pattern I'd seen up on the moors, I crouched down and drew it out on the sand beneath us.
"It's Egyptian." She said, after a moment of frowning at it.
Standing, I shot a glance at her, "How do you know?"
"I did a research project on the meanings of hieroglyphics back at Challis High. Because the Phoenix comes from Egypt, I figured it was kind of an important part of my history."
"Ember!" I exclaimed, pulling her close to me, "You're incredible, you know that, right?"
Her arms raised to hug me back, and I felt her blush burn against my shoulder – my own body feeling extra aware of hers. "Whatever."
"Listen..." I bit my lip in worry and pulled back from her, "We'll figure things out between us. Things might be tough right now, but life always has a way of coming back around to the good stuff again."
Burying her face in my shoulder, she murmured, "I hope you're right."
Me too, Em. Me too.
"So, you can tell us what the pattern means?" I checked, nodding back to the shape on the ground.
"Yes." She faltered for a moment, "I mean, it depends on what context we're looking at it from... But, yeah I can."
"Let's go see the other two." I took her hand in mine and walked back up the beach.
After walking up the slipway, I saw Kaden walk past.
"Wait here." I dropped Ember's hand in an instant – she instantly began to protest. "No, I mean it. Stay here."
I took off running after Kaden, following him down a maze of small streets. Hopecliffe was suddenly empty of people, and the high walls between the streets somehow cut off the sound of the ocean – only a faint scent of it remained.
"Kaden!" Calling after him, I wondered where he was going, and why he was walking so goddamn fast. I cursed him silently.
He turned a corner into a wider courtyard area and I lost sight of him. Rounding the corner, my stomach dropped.
He was gone.
No trace of him left behind.
I knew then, in that single instant, I wasn't chasing down Kaden.
I was chasing down Killian.
And he had me running in circles, chasing my fucking tail.