CRACK!
The sound drew Ash's attention away from Eli and up the beach where a bright red explosion shot through the air, followed by purple sparks which bounced towards the bonfire. Shouts and screams erupted from the gathered crowd on the other side of the fire where they'd been patiently waiting for the initiation to conclude.
Ash ducked behind Eli, her thoughts finding the worst conclusion. This was it. The Establishment had come. But just as the gathering was about to dissolve into full-blown panic, Miki stood and moved calmly to the centre of the commotion, thrusting her hands in the air. "Nobody panic. It's just Shorty's homemade fireworks."
Shorty's answering, "Blast!" from down the beach, at the source of the explosion, confirmed her statement. A few seconds later he came into view, smoke rising from his clothes, smelling of singed hair. "It's okay everyone. Don't panic. They're just my homemade fireworks."
Miki rolled her eyes. "As I said."
"Thought I'd get this party started."
Gunner, who was standing beside the crowd of onlookers on the far side of the fire pointed. "Shorty, you might want to check your rear end."
Shorty yelped and clutched his backside from where smoke made curdled wisps in the air. As he twisted and turned, trying to see the extent of the damage, the rest of the gathering were subjected to an interesting view of his bright white bottom through his robes, where the embers had burned two perfect holes, one on each cheek.
The crowd burst into peels of laughter. Even Ash gave a little hiccupping laugh.
Miki, however, was not impressed. "Are you an idiot?"she said, striding over to him with her arms folded over her chest. "The Establishment is looking for us and you think it'd be a grand idea setting off some explosives for fun?" Her voice rose. "You scared us shitless."
"More like he scared himself pantless," Ollie said.
Shorty turned, held out his arms and bowed, giving the gathering a full moon view of his buttocks again.
Once more, the gathering dissolved into peels of laughter. The only one not laughing, was Miki.
"One day you're going to get yourself killed pulling a stupid stunt like that," she said.
Shorty grinned. "Can't think of a better way to go."
And just like that, Miki strode forward and shoved Shorty backwards with such force, he almost landed on his bare bottom.
"What was that for?" Shorty cried.
Miki shook with anger. "Don't you dare say that again," she said. "We need you for more than your stupid stunts. You're just so ..." she struggled for words. "Selfish." She stormed away, down the beach and back to the Aqua Mizuri cliffs.
Shorty stood stunned in place for a handful of seconds before winding a path into the forest towards Spiritus house.
"Love," Eli said, turning back to Ash. "One day they'll realise it."
Ash's chest fluttered.
Celebrations began with food. Lots of it. Skewered vegetables gently charcoaled on the pyre, sticky rice steamed in banana leaves and seasoned with dried seaweed flakes, fish stuffed with root vegetables and sprinkled with an assortment of herbs, boiled seabird eggs dipped in a fermented bean sauce, and fresh fruit juices squeezed straight from the pawpaw or the mango and topped with tiny purple berries that popped in the mouth, exuding a burst of tangy sweetness.
After stuffing themselves silly, the earth wielders took up instruments—drums and handmade guitars—while the wind wielders blew on conical instruments made from clay and painted with intricate designs. The ensuing music was a captivating clash of hollow beat and wafting melody—exciting and evocative—like a stone skimming the surface of a lake.
Those who weren't too full to move got up and danced—hips swaying, shoulders bouncing, feet stamping the ground sending plumes of dirt into the air. Others talked and laughed around the fire, occasionally prodding the coals with long sticks and watching the sparks.
Ash joined Apple and Ollie on the water's edge and listened to them squabble over everything, from who collected the most firewood for the pyre to who could jump the highest, throw a seashell the furthest, or hold their breath the longest. Ash tried to follow the thread of their arguments but kept losing herself to the moon, the stars and the stillness of the water. Everything reminded her of Eli—his lips, his body, his smell.
She glanced over to where Eli sat on a log next to the fire, deep in conversation with Miki. From the set of his jaw and the brace of his shoulders, she could tell they weren't talking about the party or the dancing. They held coconut husks filled with Oroton's precious vintage red, which they sipped intermittently. Eli kept rubbing the scar tissue around his collarbone as though it still caused him pain. His skin still glowed with the fine dragon scales wherever the fire graced it the hottest.
As though sensing her gaze, he looked up and caught her eye. For a moment, she was suspended by his gaze. Then, Miki tapped his shoulder, drawing his attention back her and Ash could've sworn the water wielder shot her a warning glare.
She told herself not to be ridiculous, that the things she'd experienced during the initiation weren't real. But then she remembered their water lesson and how Miki had purposeful set out to make her fail. Miki didn't like her. That much was clear. But why? The initiation had dredged up all the questions and doubt she'd had for a long time but hadn't allowed herself to think about until now. The memory of Heather had muddied the waters enough to leave her suspecting every lurking shadow to be a shark.
"Where's Jacob?" she said suddenly. When she thought about Eli and the unanswered questions that seemed to follow him around, Jacob immediately sprang to mind. He was always so nervous around the fire-wielder, turned into a blithering mess when they brought him up in conversation and she wondered why.
Ollie pointed to a cluster of trees a little way down the beach. "Over there. Being a fun sponge as usual."
Ash nodded and stood. "I'm going to talk to him."
Apple held out a coconut husk of red wine. "Take this," she said. "It might cheer him up."
Ash took the bowl of wine and headed over to where Jacob was sitting, propped against the trunk of a nutmeg, staring out onto the water. It was like he was in some kind of a trance and he barely reacted when she sat down next to him.
"Wine?" she said.
He shook his head, not taking his eyes off the horizon.
Ash placed the wine in the sand and chose her words carefully. "Not a dancer?" she said.
"I got in a fight with Apple and Ollie," he muttered. "And no. Not a dancer."
"They care about you," she said.
Her words were met with a penetrating silence.
She took a deep breath. "Jacob, I want to ask you something about—"
"Eli?"
Ash leaned back. "How?"
Jacob shrugged. "I guessed you'd question it eventually. That you were smart enough to know he's not what he seems. That there's more to him than he lets on. I honestly thought you'd figure it out sooner, but I guess that's the effect he has on everyone."
Ash took pains to brush the sand from around her ankles before crossing her legs, the sand sticking right back where it had been. "That's why I came to talk to you. You're the only one who seems to be afraid of him.You go quiet every time he's around. You won't look at him. You change the subject whenever someone mentions him."
"I just don't understand why nobody else thinks it's strange. Nobody questions it."
"Thinks what's strange? Questions what?"
Jacob expelled his breath in a loud, angry puff. "How do you think Heather died by self-immolation when it's impossible for someone to die by their own flame?"
Ash blinked. The simplicity of his observation was stunning, like a slap to the face in the same place Freia had hit her. "Perhaps she was the exception to the rule," she said weakly. "She'd figured out a way to do it."
Jacob scowled. "That's what everyone thinks... and I guess she was powerful enough to make it seem likely. But she was no exception."
"Tell me what you know, Jacob." She resisted the urge to shake him. "Please."
Jacob shook his head. "I can't."
"Please," she said again, this time, she did shake him, albeit gently.
There must've been something desperate in her voice that made him soften. His shoulders went slack, and his chin fell to his chest. He didn't speak for many minutes and when he did, it was as though there was a great weight crushing his vocal chords, between which his words slipped out, taut and hoarse.
"It happened a couple of years ago," he said. "Three years maybe, just before the Spring Equinox. I wasn't supposed to be wandering around so late. Everyone was in bed. I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk down to the lake." His voice hitched. "She was yelling at him. The canoe shook. She beat the sides with her arms. I couldn't hear what she was saying. Eli just sat and watched her lose it. He didn't move until—" His voice trailed off.
"Until what?" Ash's heart was pounding.
Jacob coughed and dipped his face into his hands. "Steam came off the water. I couldn't see properly. Next thing I knew, the boat was in flames. The whole boat, Eli, Heather, everything. She didn't even scream."
Ash had stopped breathing. She wanted to walk away, to block her ears from what she was hearing and what she suspected she would hear next, but she was suspended by horrified fascination.
"I ran." Jacob's chest heaved. "I didn't tell anyone what I'd seen. The next day, Oroton told us Heather was gone, that she'd been struggling with depression for many years and had chosen to take her own life. Eli disappeared for weeks, buried himself in his trading company. I didn't say anything to anyone. I was a coward. I am a coward."
"You're not a coward."
Jacob looked at her, his glazed expression clearing. "I thought you were like her. I was worried Eli might try to do to you what he'd done to Heather. But you're different. When I saw you burn that clearing, I realised you were more powerful than Eli. And I hoped ..." His voice trailed away.
Ash waited for him to finish.
"I thought you'd be able to stop him before he hurts someone else."
Ash shuddered. "There's got to be another explanation..." she began, but stopped when Jacob slammed his fist into the sand.
"I knew you'd say that!" He stood and brushed himself off. "Forget it. Forget it all."
"Jacob..." Ash began, but Jacob was already striding into the forest, leaving Ash alone, floundering in the repercussion of his words.
Jacob was telling the truth. She knew that much. He had no reason to lie. Which meant she was right about darkness in Eli she'd suspected all along. He was a murderer... just like her.
Was that why he'd offered to help her with her force? Did he feel sorry for her in some sick, killer-kindred way, or did he have something more sinister in mind?
A bad taste, like that of bile, filled her mouth. Looking for something to wash it down, she picked up the coconut husk of wine and drained it in four, long gulps. She expected it to be sweet, smooth, kind of like forest fruits. Instead, it was potent, bitter, like cocoa powder mixed with the skin of a sour grape. Still, it was enough to mask the vile taste in her mouth and momentarily distracted her from thoughts of Eli.
She leaned back against the trunk of the nutmeg and stewed in the warm tingling sensation the alcohol left behind. She'd had a similar experience with alcohol once before. Back in Outer Band, she'd traded a couple of tin cans for a bottle of home-brewed vodka from a secret black market stall in the Marquiet. It had been horrible, had burnt her oesophagus and given her a cough that lasted for a week. But the hour of numbness it afforded—sixty long minutes of carefree bliss—had almost been worth it.
She walked back to the fire, looking for a refill.
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