Chapter Eight: Betrayal
"I will see you soon," Donovan said, his voice dark and promising.
With those last words ringing in her ears, the next moment Ember felt as if she were woken from a dream.
"Ember?" Adrian was standing in front of her with a look of concern on his face. "Are you ok?"
Looking around desperately for the firelit bed chamber, Ember tried to comprehend what was happening.
"I-I'm fine," she said hesitantly, not sure if she was fine or if she was going completely mad.
"Are you sure?" Adrian asked again, "You were standing there in a daze for a full minute."
The last thing Ember wanted to tell Adrian was that she might have been under Donovan's mind control so she started to follow the rest of the group toward the inn once again.
"It's nothing," Ember said passively, readjusting the luggage she was carrying. Not waiting for Adrian to follow she started to walk away. "I have got a lot on my mind is all."
Despite her words, Ember knew by the lingering scent of cardamom in her nose and the shadow touch on her lips that what she had just experienced was no dream at all.
Moving hurriedly past Malcolm, Turner, and William, Ember stepped inside the inn. There was a bleary-eyed elderly man behind a small wooden desk who looked up at her.
"Ah, your compatriots told me there would be a young lady among their group," he said standing on wobbly feet and closing the space between them. "Your room is just down the hallway to your right."
Just as Ember took the key from the man the others were walking in behind her. Wanting to avoid another conversation with anyone Ember gave the old man a soft smile and said her thanks before hurrying down the hallway to her bedroom.
She fumbled with the key for a few moments, her mind still bewildered at what had just happened outside. Donovan's dark eyes were burned in her memory as he looked at her with longing and hunger.
Finally, Ember got the key in the lock and stepped inside, shutting the door behind her and dropping her suitcase to the ground. Exhaling loudly, Ember rubbed her eyes for a moment, trying to collect her thoughts.
Was it possible for Donovan to have such power?
In the years that Ember had studied vampires and their many powers, she knew that they had supernatural abilities, but had never heard of anything like what she'd just experienced.
Knowing that she couldn't do anything about it now, she decided that it was time for her to get some sleep. Ember had not yet recovered physically from either the long evening on the road or the confrontation with Donovan the night before.
Too exhausted to even try to find something to eat, Ember started to strip out of her cloak.
Just as she had finished undoing the laces on her soft corset, there was a knock on the door.
"Ember? It's me," Adrian's voice sounded from the other side of the door.
It was clear by the tone of his voice that he was feeling rather guilty, but Ember did not feel like massaging his bruised ego.
With a loud exhale, Ember slipped her disrobed clothes into her suitcase and decided not to answer him.
A few moments passed before he called out again. "Ember, please, can we talk?"
Ember had just unlaced her boots and kicked them under the bed and was going about slipping on a night dress when Adrian implored her once again.
"I'm not going to go away until you give me a chance to talk to you," he said insistently, his voice sounding annoyed and determined.
With a small growl of frustration, Ember stalked from the bed and to the door.
Ripping it open, she glared at Adrian who was leaning against the door frame.
His gaze sidled up her body in nothing but the thin cotton night dress, and Ember realized that in her frustration she'd forgotten to slip on a robe.
Rather than scurrying to cover herself, she raised a confrontational eyebrow, daring him to let his eyes linger any longer.
Adrian cleared his throat, realizing that he was gawking, and dropped his eyes to the floor.
"Can I please come in?" he asked a tinge of red on his cheeks.
It was only Ember's long-lasting affection for Adrian that allowed him to enter her room. She closed it behind him with an assertive motion before walking over to her bed crawling up onto it and curling into the blankets.
If she was going to sit through his speech, she was going to do it comfortably.
When Ember made it clear that she had no intention of beginning this conversation, Adrian cleared his throat and moved to sit down at the foot of the bed.
"I know that you are angry with me," Adrian said sheepishly.
Ember forced herself not to snort out loud, but her annoyed expression she did nothing to hide.
"You have to understand, Ember," Adrian said desperately. "The site we came upon last night…" He clenched his fists and took a moment to compose himself. "It was horrible. We all thought you were dead."
Unwillingly, Ember pictured the scene that Adrian had just described. She imagined seeing Adrian in such a state, imagined the site of her parents that fateful night and a shudder coursed through her body. A small inkling of guilt began to grow in her mind before she shook it away and looked up at Adrian with anger.
"Adrian," Ember started sitting up straighter in the bed, her back against the headboard. "You are the only one who knows about my parents, about the revenge that I seek against the night stalkers…"
Adrian couldn't hold her gaze and dropped it down to his hands that were playing with his switchblade, a habit that Ember had always noticed when he had a lot on his mind.
"You before anyone else, understood my plight… understood me," Ember's voice softened at those last words. "Yet, you used the others against me to vote me out. How could you do that to me? How could you take away my choice like that?"
"I did it to keep you safe!" Adrian exclaimed. "I would not be able to live with myself if any harm came to you, Ember. How can you ask me to do that? To put you in harm's way… to watch you nearly get murdered again?"
Ember watched him as he stared at her with worry and adoration in his eyes, before running his hands through his hair and continued, "Yes, I know that I took away your choice. I know that I have risked our friendship… that I've thrown away any hope for something more."
There was pain in Adrian's voice now and Ember swallowed, trying to remain impassive.
"But if that is what it takes to keep you alive, then that is a risk that I am willing to take," Adrian said, his voice lowering.
"That you are willing to take?" Ember repeated softly, "You are not the one who controls my fate, Adrian. I understand that you are concerned for my safety, but I will not allow anyone to dictate my life. Not after what I've gone through. I will fulfill my life's purpose, even if that means sacrificing my life."
A long silence stretched between them before Adrian stood. His hands were clenched tightly as he glared down at her in frustration.
"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" he growled. "I am trying to protect you!"
At this Ember slipped out of the covers and stood as well, her gaze matching his own. "I don't need your protection, Adrian! All I needed was your support. But I will continue my mission with or without you."
They glared at one another for long moments and when it became clear that Ember was not going to back down, Adrian let out a loud scoff.
"Fine," he muttered, stalking to the door. "If you want to get yourself killed, I suppose there is nothing I can do about it. But I sure as hell am not going to watch it happen."
Ember could not find the words to respond, as his voice was full of anger but laced with deep sadness.
She watched him as he stalked toward the door, pausing before opening it. For a moment Ember thought that he was going to say something else, instead, he swung the door open with controlled anger and left the room.
When the door clicked shut, Ember sat back down and cradled her face in her hands, the look of sadness and anger on Adrian's face still lingering in her mind's eye.
The thought of losing his companionship broke her heart, but her desire for revenge burned brighter than any of the feelings she had for Adrian Thatcher.