Forged in Fire (The Forged Chronicles Book 3) (16 page)

“But he is dead.” His death haunted all of us.

“We will go to the realm of the dead,” Elron said nonchalantly.

“We are really going there?” Ainsley sighed. “I hoped we could avoid it.”

“Do you want to stop the poison?” Elron spoke to her with familiarity I did not like.

“Yes. But more than that I want to get rid of the darkness. I want James returned to normal.”

“Then you are going to have to get over your fears.” Elron leaned toward her. “Just like the height, you can handle this.”

“The height?” How had so much happened in such a short period of time? Had she experienced so much without me? “What are you referring to?”

“I don’t like heights all that much—and I had to climb all the way up to a castle in the clouds. It was a little touch and go for a while.” She ran her hand up and down my chest. “In other words, don’t sign us up for skydiving.”

It was strange to hear her joking again. Things were so tense it felt out of place, but it also relaxed me more than I had been in days.

“She did marvelous.” Adaline beamed “She needed to believe in herself, which is what she needs to do now.”

“You were in North Loriet?” It made sense. She was with the Elves, but I never imagined she had left Energo.

“Yes. It seems I am getting quite the tour.” Ainsley rolled her eyes.

“But you are back in Energo.” Thankfully. I had been an idiot to send her away. I was realizing that more than ever now.

“I am. I’m back with you.” She rested her head on my chest. “No pushing me away again.”

“I only did it because it seemed to be the only choice.”

“And in the end it was the right one. I may not be able to get rid of the poison, but we can stop the darkness from consuming you.” She picked up her head.

“Yet you seem to believe the poison will kill you. How can you be so worried about the darkness but not the poison?”

“The poison will not harm you,” Ainsley looked down.

“I have nothing without you. I cannot live without you.” The words I spoke were completely true. My life could not continue without my kindred.

“Don’t say that.” Ainsley pushed away from me. “Stop.”

“Why?” I pulled her back into my arms. “Why should I hold back the truth?”

“Because I need you to.”

“That makes no sense.”

Talen cleared his throat. “A storm is coming.” He pointed up to the sky.

“It is.” Adaline nodded. “We should find shelter for the night and head back to North Loriet in the morning.”

“We can stay with my people,” Talen suggested.

“That is generous of you.” Adaline nodded at him.

“I am staying with James.” Ainsley grabbed my hand. “No trying to talk me out of it.”

“Yes, you will be.” I squeezed her hand. I was grateful we were both on the same page about that.

“That is fine. We will allow you two some time alone, but at dawn we will continue with our journey.” Adaline took authority of the situation. I saw no reason to argue because she was giving me the time with Ainsley that I desperately needed.

* * *

T
he storm raged on outside
, but we were safe inside Talen’s home. He had insisted on taking the first watch, and giving Ainsley and I some private time. He might have been doing it because of the poison, but it mattered little. I was finally alone with my Ainsley again.

“I’ve missed you.” Ainsley curled up in my arms. Her bare skin felt heavenly against mine.

“I have missed you since the moment you left my side.”

“No sending me away again. I can’t handle it.”

“You are not the only one.” I kissed her forehead.

“The haze is gone.”

“That is good. At least it does not show up every time you are in my presence.”

“Nope. What happens every time I am in your presence is different.”

“Oh yeah?” I ran my lips over the sensitive skin of her neck.

“And that just makes it worse.”

“There is no worse about it.” I cupped her breast with one of my hands.

“Normal couples don’t need to have sex this often.” She slipped her hand down my body.

“And who ever pretended we were normal?”

“No one.” She kissed me lightly on the lips.

“But you are wonderful.” I ran my lips further down her neck.

“As are you—most of the time,” she teased.

I had missed her teasing so much.

“It is really still you though, right?” She pulled away from me slightly.

I tried not to let her doubt hurt. “It is me. My heart will always be true to you.”

“I want all you to be James. The real you.”

“But if it that was impossible?” I asked a question that I was unsure I wanted an answer to.

“I am with you, James. But that is a question we don’t need to worry about anyway. We are going to get rid of the darkness.”

I said nothing. I had no desire to destroy her optimism even if I knew how likely we were to fail.

I could hold the darkness at bay, even if only for one more night. I lay with my Ainsley in my arms. She was warm and safe—exactly where she belonged. I barely knew myself anymore, but I knew her. And I knew in my heart we would make it through this nightmare no matter the cost. Our love was strong—and it would help us defeat the darkness—and anything else that came our way.

“James! Ainsley!” Loud shouting came from right outside the door.

“What is it?” I snapped at Talen. I recognized his voice, although I had never heard him so worked up before.

“You must come now. Get up!”

“Why?” I jumped into my pants. What could possibly be so urgent in the middle of the night?

“What’s going on?” Ainsley asked sleepily.

“Stay here.” I made sure she was covered up before I slipped outside into the snowy night.

As I looked up, my heart completely stopped. Through the falling snowflakes, I could vaguely see countless rows of soldiers. Glowing torches illuminated the massive army that appeared ready for war.

There was only one person other than the Cipher that could command an army that large—and she had once been my best friend.

Charlotte had sent an army after us. She was determined to destroy the darkness even if it meant destroying me.

I felt rage spreading through my veins. How dare she? Did she not have any faith in me? Destroying me meant destroying Ainsley. I could never allow that. I had been foolish to think she cared for anything other than herself.

I would never make that mistake again. I took a slow deep breath, closed my eyes and embraced the darkness. It was the only chance I had to save the woman I loved.

J
ames and Ainsley’s
story concludes in Forged in Light (The Forged Chronicles #4), coming soon.

P
lease keep reading
for a preview of
Hunt (The Grizzly Brothers Chronicles #1)
a New Adult Paranormal Romance by Alyssa Rose Ivy

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T
here's
a new Alpha in town and he just found his mate, she just doesn't know it yet.

Welcome to Crestview, Montana. Population ~1000 and not all of those are human.

After his brother is murdered, Ian must step up to become Alpha of his bear shifter pack. At the same time law student Mara shows up in town, and Ian knows she’s destined to be his mate.

When a rival pack lays claim to Mara, Ian and his brothers will stop at nothing to protect her.

I
n the space
of a few moments I went from kissing Ian to being held in rough arms as I was carried up toward the sky.

Disoriented and petrified, I watched Ian’s ranch disappear below. I tried to scream, but I was breathless from the shock. Instead I held onto the creature carrying me, both hoping he’d release me and terrified he would let go and send me falling to my death.

Less than forty-eight hours before I was a normal law student. Now I was falling for a bear shifter and kidnapped by a guy with wings.

It turned out my summer in small town Montana wasn’t going to be so quiet after all.

N
o one should be laid
to rest alone. Even if you’ve been forced to walk the road of life with no one by your side, you deserve to have someone present at your burial. At least that’s what my grandfather taught me when I was a kid. Somehow even at twenty-three I couldn’t shake the lesson, which is why I was standing in the pouring rain without an umbrella.

The weather report hadn’t called for rain. I’d checked twice before leaving the house dressed in the black cotton dress I saved for these sorts of occasions. The material was too thin for the cool Montana morning, but I didn’t have any other options in my closet.

I’d made the slow drive over to the old cemetery just outside of town for the first time since arriving in Crestview six days before. I’d witnessed far more burials in the same time period when I lived in Philadelphia, but it seemed most people in this small town had someone around to bury them. I hoped people would be able to say the same thing about me when the time came.

The rain had started innocently enough. A few drops landed on my wavy brown hair while I watched the gravedigger work. I ignored the water, watching the surprisingly upscale wooden coffin sit beside the hole in the ground that would become its new home. I’d been to plenty of these burials before, but this one felt different. Usually it was older people who had money but no family. This man was in his thirties. Had the dead man bought himself a high-end coffin before he died? Most thirty-year-olds I knew weren’t preparing for their own death.

The small drops of rain became larger, but I refused to run back to my truck. It couldn’t take that much longer. These burials never did. There was no one around to make speeches or to play music. There was something beautiful about the simplicity even though the reason for it was depressing.

The worker turned the crank and lowered the coffin into the hole. I walked closer, still keeping enough of a distance that he might not notice me. Explaining my presence was the most awkward part of these things.

I looked up at the sky, letting large droplets of rain splash down my face. Was my Grandfather watching me? He’d never told me much about his belief in the afterlife. He’d always been more concerned about his life while on earth.

“Miss?”

I startled at the sound of a voice. The gravedigger paused with the coffin midway into the hole. He was older than I expected. At least seventy something with a weathered face that suggested he spent a lot of his time outside in the sun.

“Yes?” I brushed my wet hair way from my face.

“You should get on out of this rain.” The man squeezed water from his soaking wet t-shirt.

“So should you.”

He frowned. “This is my job.” Then his expression softened. “Unless. Are you a friend of his?” He pointed to the coffin.

“No.” I shook my head. “I’ve never met him.” And I’d been unable to find out anything about him. Some might call it stalking, but I called it honoring. I always researched the deceased in an attempt to know them in some small way. Even if you are alone at the end of your life, you still did something, and someone should acknowledge, even if silently, the imprint you left on the world.

“Then why are you here?” He tilted his head slightly.

“Because someone should be.” That’s what my grandfather used to say. Of course it sounded better coming from him. More sage.

“Well, I’m here already, so why don’t you go ahead home.” He gestured with his hand for me to leave as if shooing a fly away.

“Ok.” I accepted his logic half to be polite and half because the rain had picked up even more. “You do an important job.”

His body stiffened. “No one has ever said that to me.”

“Now someone has.”

“Get out of this rain before you catch a cold.” His expression was serious.

“That’s not possible.” I shook my head. “It’s an old wives’ tale.”

“I believe the old wives. There was a reason for every story they told.”

“There’s also a reason for science.” I may not have gone into the sciences, but I had a lot of respect for people who did.

“Is that why you’re here?” His brow furrowed. “Standing in the rain at the burial of a man you never met?”

“Maybe.” I shrugged before walking back toward my truck.

And that’s when I saw him standing underneath the trees only a few feet away from me. Tall, dark, and with intense emerald green eyes so bright they almost gleamed. The intensity of his eyes was only matched by his scowl that seemed born more out of sadness than anger.

I looked away, despite my desire to study his handsome face. Handsome faces brought heartache with them.

I resisted the urge to look back as I made my way across the parking lot to my truck. I’d chosen to park in the furthest spot in the lot. Given the rain, it wasn't my best decision. I manually unlocked the door and stepped up into the Chevy S-10 truck that had been my grandfather’s only months before. It was nice to have my own vehicle, but I’d had far preferred his company. I’d learned to drive in this truck, but somehow now that the title bared my name it felt different, less like mine.

Choosing to spend my summer break working in a small town in Montana probably didn’t help matters, but it sounded good at the time. I needed to get out of the city. There is something soothing and healing about silent, dark nights. They are the kind of nights that only exist in the country, and even though I hadn’t lived in the country since I was eighteen, it still called to me in a way the city never would.

Besides, it gave me the opportunity to spend more time with Connor—also known as Professor Daniels, the one person who knew my Grandfather almost as well as I did. And even if all my law school classmates were convinced I was sleeping with Connor, I didn’t care. I wasn’t, and I had no plans to ever change that.

I pulled out of the freshly paved lot and onto the bumpy road. I was glad I had a truck with good clearance. I’d have bottomed out a regular car at least a dozen times already. I took a quick glance back out toward the rainy cemetery. I was too far away to see the grave, but I assumed it was being covered up. The attractive guy was gone, and a small voice in my head wondered if I’d completely imagined him. It wouldn’t have been the first time.