Fire (Beautiful Ashes Series, Book 2) (5 page)

Lacey was beside herself. Keeley wouldn’t stop crying and E, well, he was in emotional lockdown. She paced outside the door where her sister’s sobs could be heard. Unable to figure out how the hell to help the two people she loved most, she turned and decided a walk might help clear her head. Alex’s home was just as beautiful outside as it was inside. A more modest house for the area. Most were elaborate, but not this quaint home. What made it stunning was the backside. It was all glass and looked out onto the vast Pacific Ocean. Being up on the cliffs made it downright breathtaking. But all of that was lost to Lacey as she tried to think of ways to help Keeley and E.

They both needed to talk but how could she make that happen. Her sister was a clam when she didn’t want to discuss things. And her husband could put an emotional wall up in record time when he felt the need to protect her. So, her stroll quickly turned into a power walk. Needless to say, Lacey wasn’t exactly paying attention to her surroundings and didn’t notice just how close to the edge she was until the ground gave way underneath her feet. The fall happened before she could scream. Instead of going straight down to the jagged rocks below, she found herself on a ledge with a twisted ankle.

Now what?

She eased herself to a standing position and tested her weight. Her ankle protested with a vengeance and she lost her footing. Lacey was in great shape, thanks to dancing, and able to grab onto a small tree root, pulling herself back onto the ledge. Breathing heavily, she reached in her back pocket for her cell phone and noticed there was no service. The adrenaline dump, along with her emotional turmoil and precarious situation, put Lacey into a panic as she screamed for help. The sun was setting and Lacey was shivering from the cold as she pulled into a tight ball. Her voice was long gone. She wasn’t one to lose hope but even she’d admit this didn’t look good, at all. Leaning her head back against dirt and rocks, she silently prayed for help to come.

*****

E finally decided to tell Lacey everything and hope she could find mercy for him. He was not exactly looking forward to this confession but knew he couldn’t keep such secrets from his wife. After searching the house thoroughly, he went outside. It was considerably colder than when they arrived, and he noticed the wind was picking up. Didn’t take long for the thunder to rumble and lightning to flash. A storm was on its way.

Where was Lacey
?

He raced back inside and banged on Keeley’s door, waking her up. “What the hell, E?”

“Is Lacey with you?” he blurted out giving away his panic.

“No. Why?” She rubbed her eyes and noticed the brilliant bolts of light over the ocean. Her eyes widened all of a sudden. “She’s not out
there
,” Keeley pointed, “is she?”

“Fuck. God. No. Please say no,” E bellowed as he ran outside with Keeley on his heels.

The storm was unleashing with a fury, blowing inland. Slanted rain made visibility damn near nonexistent as they searched and yelled for Lacey. Keeley thought to grab her phone and tried to call but there was no answer. E was using his phone as a flashlight. “LAAAAAAAACEY,” he yelled over and over, all to no avail.

Keeley couldn’t believe her sister would be out in this. It didn’t make sense. She went to the side of a cypress tree and the ground slipped from underneath her. Her reactions were swift and she was able to grab a branch to keep from going over the edge. Thunder rumbled so loud she almost didn’t hear E. She cautioned him, “Be careful. It’s not stable over here.”

“Okay. Hang on. Let me grab some rope.”

Keeley nodded keeping her arms locked tight around the tree. She couldn’t help but be mesmerized by nature’s display as the streaks of electricity lit up the sky, blinding her momentarily. She had spots before her eyes and didn’t notice at first the person hunkered into a ball below her. Thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her, she ignored what appeared to be a figure until they moved. Keeley screeched in outright terror unable to discern who or what was on that ledge. Convinced it had to be an animal because no human in their right mind would be out in that kind of weather. She managed to pull herself up to the tree trunk and then scrambled to more solid ground, taking off at a dead sprint in the direction she came from. The rain coming down in sheets made it impossible to see where she was going until she hit a wall. Well, she thought it was a wall until she heard, “Keeley. Fuck. Are you okay?”

“E! Oh my God, run. There’s something down there,” she shrieked.

“What?” He grabbed her upper arms. “What’s down where?”

She pointed to where she’d just come from. E hurried in that direction. With extreme caution he held onto the tree, where Keeley had been, and leaned over the edge. Unable to make out anything but a figure below him. He called out, “Hello! Are you okay?”

A head raised but again E couldn’t tell if it belonged to an animal or a person, until another flash of lighting. What met his eyes sent tremors through his body. Lacey was staring right at him with a fear he never wanted to see again as long as he lived. Finding a calm he didn’t feel anywhere inside, he called out, “Hang on, Sweetness. I’m coming.”

E forced himself off the ledge to find Keeley. Luckily she was where he left her. He grabbed her hand, ignoring her protest. “No. I’m not going back.”

Keeley was left speechless when E’s gaze met hers in a flash of light. He was beyond crazed. What popped her into full throttle were the words, “That’s your sister down there.”

Holy shit!

They raced back to the edge, aware of the danger, as the ground slid from under their feet, taking both to their butts in an instant. They looked down in horror as the ledge Lacey was on also was giving way. E eased over to the tree trunk and locked his long legs around it. “Keeley, you need to go over and grab her.”

Keeley nodded, wondering just how the hell she was pulling her sister to safety with their size difference; yet knowing there wasn’t another choice. Time was running out. His big hands easily wrapped around her tiny ankles as she gradually went over the side and called out, “Lacey. Stand up carefully.”

Lacey used the wall of mud behind her, hanging on tightly to the root as she stood up. Fear gripped her in a vice and she couldn’t do more no matter how loudly Keeley shouted, “Lacey. I need you to turn around.”

She was frozen in place. Keeley knew she was going to either lose her sister that night or die trying to save her. Sacrifice was always the right thing to do. She wouldn’t let Lacey fall to her death, looking around for something to use as leverage. E had a mighty grip on her. How could she get him to let of her? The answer presented itself. A baby tree was growing out between two rocks. Keeley grabbed a hold and yanked so hard she thought her hip popped out. But she managed to get the result needed, and E released her ankles. Using the tiny lip those rocks provided, Keeley was able to reach her sister—barely. “Lacey, listen to me,” she was right in her ear. E is up there waiting for you.”

Lacey blinked but wouldn’t speak.

“Okay. Look up for me,” Keeley directed.

What Lacey saw brought tears to her eyes. Her beloved husband was above her with a makeshift rope of some sort. He reached down as she reached up, locking his hand around her wrist. She ever so slowly turned with her face to the mud and held on to his forearm. With his other hand, he reached down to grab hers then pulled. She finally realized she could help and used her legs to help ease the burden of her weight.

E pulled his wife to safety with painstaking precision. Holding onto her with all he had at the relief of having her in his arms again. But their elation was short lived as a bolt of lightning caused the ground to quake beneath them. Both screamed, “KEELEY!”

*****

There was peacefulness in falling. Odd as it might sound, she felt like a feather floating in the wind. Maybe that was because, in her mind, dying would be the best answer for everyone—including herself. But all hopes of finally ending the pain and misery were dashed in an instant when she came in contact with another tree. This time though she hit with enough force to break a rib or three. Agony shot through her bringing with it what she craved, the high she got. Keeley couldn’t help but notice the demon perched on the limb with her, smiling in that all-knowing way. Seemed for each step forward she made to finding some sort of normalcy, one of these monsters rode in to take it all away. “Why won’t you let me die!” she roared out toward the flashing sky.

The demon nodded as he leaned forward to pry her fingers off the branch. “If you just let go,” he hissed.

But something in Keeley just wouldn’t give in and she locked her fingers down tighter. Between the claps of thunder, she could hear E and Lacey screaming for her. She couldn’t see them but knew they were worried. So she yelled back, “I’m here!” shooting pain through her upper torso. And that was where she found her strength as she called out into the raging storm. The pain providing her with what she needed to hold on.

E scrambled around, he hadn’t found a rope earlier, which was why he stood on the edge of a cliff in his boxers. Being proficient at tying knots, he’d managed to use his clothing as a makeshift rope. But he needed it longer. As if Lacey could read his mind, she began to strip. Keeley was considerably lower than they were and E searched for anything he could attach to give more length. By the time he was done, there were a few bent branches between articles of clothing.

Take that MacGyver.

He knew this was a hail Mary, but didn’t see any other option, as he tossed it over praying Keeley could manage the climb up the slippery cliff. Lacey, even in her worn and tattered state, got down on her stomach to look over the edge, using her hand to give E directions on where to move the rope.

Keeley managed to sit up refusing to look down, not from fear of heights but so she wouldn’t contemplate jumping. Every time the temptation to do just that crept in, a flash of lightning or rumble of thunder would shift her focus. Divine intervention? She couldn’t let herself go
there
either. What she did do was offer up a promise of sorts. “If I’m meant to live, then I will go get the help needed. Just like I planned on doing before this happened.” She glanced around at her precarious predicament as her gaze hit the jagged rocks below her. But the vision that appeared was not the one of her splayed out in a bloody mess. No. What she saw stole her breath. Tar was in some kind of trouble. He seemed physically all right but there was darkness crowding around him, fingers clawing at him like a scene from
Tales from the Crypt
, inching their way along his body. After a moment, she saw where they were heading—straight to his heart. A light, stunning in its blast of brilliantness, was fighting valiantly to protect what she now realized was his soul. Powerful beings stood at his back while dark and massive ones attacked with a vengeance. The horror and beauty brought together in the battle was one she couldn’t reconcile. Lightning shot across the night sky above her and everything she’d seen was gone. Keeley shook her head to clear it.

What was that?

E’s barking commands from above brought her back to the situation at hand. Whatever she just imagined? Dreamed? She’d have to figure out later. Keeley reached up to grab a hold. There wasn’t enough to wrap around her waist, so she wound it around her wrist and tugged. With her other hand, she reached above and used the makeshift rope to aid her climb up. She had just made it to the ledge Lacey was on earlier when the rope gave way. She lost her footing but was able to grab onto a tree root. Lacey was panicked and reached too far over. E barely caught her, pulling her back to safety. He grabbed her face and kissed her hard and furious. “If you do that again, I’ll, I’ll…” God, he couldn’t even speak, she’d scared him that much. Her tears were on his lips as he pulled away and retied the clothing minus branches.

Lacey couldn’t believe she was still alive. She was fully aware she should’ve gone over that edge. Then again, she shouldn’t be up there at all. How any of them were still alive was a miracle. Once more, she eased on her stomach to the edge but felt strong hands on her waist. “Uh-huh, not again.” Before she could argue, her husband assumed the position. She suddenly felt the panic he must have had only a few minutes ago and wrapped her hands tightly around his ankles.

Keeley was able to wrap the clothing rope around her waist and held E’s determined gaze as she climbed and he pulled. Absently she noticed the rain was soft and the thunder was distant. There were still flashes of lightning, but intermittent. Just as Keeley was within reach, the rope gave way. E lunged forward to grab her. Lacey pulled back to hold onto him. Her grip was giving way as she yanked hard enough to hit the ground behind her. It was just enough to give E a chance to pull back with Keeley now on the edge. “One more time, Lacey,” he called. But there was no response, verbal or physical.

What the fuck now?

E couldn’t worry about it as he and Keeley worked as a team to get her back to safety. She scrambled past her brother-in-law toward Lacey, who was sprawled in an awkward position. Keeley screamed when she saw the blood from behind her sister’s head. Even crawled over and began talking to his wife. “Sweetness, come back to me.”

Keeley sat there staring, helpless.

“Lacey, I need you to wake up,” E said more forcefully. “Keeley,” he barked out, “go get help.”