Embers (The Wings of War Book 1) (33 page)

I breathed out in relief when the opposing team took to the field.  They were dressed in yellow and black uniforms.  I wouldn’t have to make a run for my life to the opposite side of the field after all.

I used to love watching the Bengal’s games with Dad and Timmy.  We’d been season ticket holders most years and even though this high school stadium was miniature in comparison to that experience, the sounds, smells and crisp air reminded me of those good times.  A knot developed in my throat and I tried to swallow it down.   I suddenly felt lonely, wishing that my dad and brother were sitting beside me now. 

My old life was long gone. 
I could never go back. 
Yet, even though it crushed my heart, I wasn’t going to allow the depression to drag me down.  I’d decided the day that I’d fallen off of Cricket in the hayfield that I wasn’t taking that road again.   

Pulling myself from the past, I focused my attention on the game.  Preston was dropping back.  As the opposing team’s linebackers rushed him, his arm shot forward.  The ball soared about twenty yards before being caught by a receiver from our team.  A tingle of surprise rushed through me.  Preston was a
good
quarterback.  I couldn’t help but wonder for the hundredth time why the star player showed me the time of day.  

After several more plays, the roasting hamburger smells drifted through the air to the top of the bleachers and my stomach rumbled.  Unable to wait any longer, I followed my nose and carefully picked my way through the sardine-packed bodies until I reached the ground.  I aimed in the direction of the concession booth with single minded determination. 

I bought a cheeseburger, fries and a cola and sat on the end of a picnic table set up for the event.  I was hungry, and chucked the food down quickly, hardly even tasting it.  

Standing up, I drank the last of the cola and covered a little burp with my hand. 

Then I felt it. 

The butterflies fluttering in my stomach and the slight rise in my temperature told me Sawyer was nearby. 

I frantically searched around, studying the sea of faces for any sign of him.  Then I remembered the easy way. I closed my eyes for a few seconds and located him right away.  

I marched out into the parking lot and found him sitting on the Hummer with his sidekick, Ivan, beside him.  The vehicle was parked in a position where they could have seen me at the picnic table
. 

My temperature continued to rise at the sight of Sawyer’s wicked grin.

“Are you spying on me?” I directed the question at Sawyer.

“The last I heard, this is a free country.  Ivan and I decided to check out the game.”  Sawyer’s smile was masked in feigned innocence.  Again, the contrast between Sawyer’s sad dream face and the rude one that was staring down at me made me wonder which personality was the real him.

“Why would you be interested in watching a high school football game?”  I demanded.

Sawyer’s smoldering eyes roamed over me, before he said, “It was pretty dull at the compound.” He shrugged. “We decided to come into town for a little action.”

Adrenaline rushed through my veins. I stared back at him, determined not to be the first to look away. 

Sawyer and I were lost in our own little world until Ivan remarked, “Do I sense something is going on that I don’t know about?”

I had to look away, taking a deep breath to steady myself.  With no better options popping into my head, I climbed onto the Hummer and sat beside Ivan, well away from Sawyer’s teasingly muscular and infuriating body.  

The same as little pin pricks along my skin, I could sense Sawyer’s own growing frustration with me.  The air around the Hummer was volatile. But I didn’t glance in his direction.  Instead, I made small talk with Ivan.

“How do you like being here for the game?” I asked Ivan with a flip of my hair to shield myself from Sawyer’s intense gaze.

“It is a new experience for me, but I think it is pleasant,” he answered.  His head flicked back and forth as he watched all the people moving about. 

Joining Ivan in the human-watching pastime, I made the silent observation that when anyone did wander too close to the vehicle, they would glance up at the three of us and then steer wide of the Hummer.  Somehow, instinctively they knew there was danger here.  It was impressive that basic survival instincts were still working so well among the common people. 

We sat in relative silence, except for Ivan occasionally asking me a question about the game.  From where we were positioned we could only see a small portion of the field, but when the action was there, Ivan studied the players with interest.

Sawyer didn’t say a word and from the corner of my eye, I could see that he sat rigidly.  His face was still as stone.  A tremble tickled my insides.  My traitorous body was revolting against my sound mind.  I suddenly wanted to be sitting closer to him, absorbing the electric current coming from his body into mine. 

I had to get away from Sawyer.  He was driving me crazy.

Thankful for the opportunity, I slid down from the vehicle when the crowd began leaving the stadium.

“Looks like the game’s over.  I better meet up with my friends,”  I said, turning to go. 

In a flash, Sawyer grasped my arm.

“What are you doing?” I growled. “Let go of me!”

He stared fixedly at me as if he was a predator and I was his dinner.  “I’d be happy to give you a ride back to the valley if you want,” he said quietly, so quietly in fact, that the sound of pleading was seeping through.

“Why would I want to go there?  I have plans with my friends tonight,” I said firmly. After the first pull to get away was unsuccessful, I gave up struggling.

“You know this isn’t where you belong, Ember,” he said in a low, husky voice, bringing his face inches from mine.  Close enough to kiss.

The heat stirred within me.  I wasn’t sure if it was because I was really pissed off, or really turned on.  I tried again to twist away from him, using the heat to my advantage.  But he held my arm tightly, uncomfortably so. The throbbing beneath his fingers didn’t feel good at all and that caused the heat to change to
definitely
pissed off. 

There were too many people around for me to lose hold of the fire and I struggled to remain calm.  I closed my eyes for a minute, counting from twenty backwards.  It was a little trick that Ila had mentioned.  She’d probably be thrilled I had a chance to test it out.

“Hey, what the hell’s going on here?” 

The angry voice belonged to Preston and he wasn’t alone.  Randy and Colby backed him up.  Preston was stained and sweaty from the game.  He still had his uniform on and held his helmet under his arm.  And he was glaring at Sawyer.

Ivan slid from the Hummer to stand beside Sawyer.  The action didn’t escape me. 

Was Ivan nuts?  He was willing to take the side of a jealous Demon? Looking at the testosterone filled bodies around me, I was suddenly aware that the situation could explode into something far more sinister.

I stared up at Sawyer using my mind to compel him to release me.  When that didn’t work, I begged with my eyes.  The darkness of his gaze swirled, and a blink later his face softened.  The same face from my dream stared back at me and I abruptly changed my mind.  I didn’t want him to release me.  That’s when he let go and took a step back.     

I stood rubbing my arm, but I wasn’t able to breathe normally just yet. Sawyer was still close enough that I could feel the chaos raging beneath his skin.   

I turned to Preston. “It’s nothing, really. These guys live near me on the mountain. Uh, this is Sawyer… and you already know Ivan.”  I tried to sound cheerful, as if nothing in the world was amiss, but the little stutter probably gave me away.

Preston came closer, putting his hand on my shoulder.  “Come on, Ember,

Maddie and Lindsey are looking for you.” 

I chanced a look at Sawyer’s face at the same time the whisper of an animal growl sprang from his mouth.  The muscles in his jaw were taut and his normally warm brown eyes were black and dangerous.  He was ready to do something terrible and I couldn’t let him.

If it came to it, I’d have to fight him.  How, I didn’t know, but I couldn’t let him kill Preston and his friends— and all because of me.  I took a chance, allowing more of the fire in, hoping Sawyer would notice something. But it was difficult to keep the flames under control.  The fire wanted to surge free.

“I’ll see you both later.” My gaze didn’t leave Sawyer as I said it.  His eyebrows rose, then his penetrating eyes narrowed.

Sawyer was deliberating.  I could tell by the emotions playing on his face; anger, jealousy, amusement.  After a few seconds of excruciating silence, Preston tugged on me, guiding me away.  As we walked back toward the stadium, I braced myself for Sawyer’s wrath.  But when I peeked over my shoulder, the Hummer was driving away. 

I finally breathed.

“What was the deal with that guy,” Preston demanded.  He still had his arm around my shoulder, which now that the danger had passed, was annoying the crap out of me.   

“Don’t worry, it was nothing.” 

By the time we reached Maddie and Lindsey, Preston had managed to snuggle me deeper into his embrace and I was having none of it.  I pulled away, but not before Maddie had seen.

She grinned at me.  “Did you enjoy the game?”

The game
—I didn’t even know who won.  I looked up at the scoreboard and read, Home-24, Visitor-17. 

“It was great. Good job guys,” I said, extending my hands with the thumbs up.   

“You can come to the lockers while we change.  Hannah’s waiting there for us.”  Maddie took my hand and began pulling me to the school.  When we were far enough away from Preston, she said, “Wow, girl, you work fast!”

“What do you mean?”

“You looked pretty cozy with Preston.  When did that happen?  I mean he seemed too busy playing the game to have had time to make you his girl.” Maddie smiled and the confident lift of her eyebrows angered me further.  

“You got it all wrong.  He was just walking with me and…well it’s difficult to explain that’s all,” I trailed off.

“I bet it is!”  Lindsey put in, laughing us right into the building.

The girls were perceptive enough to see that the subject of Preston had soured my mood.  They let the matter drop and focused their attentions on changing quickly.  The four of us made our way in Maddie’s car through the heavy traffic to the restaurant. The town’s inhabitants were euphoric about the win, displaying their zeal with beeping horns and excited shouts between slowed vehicles. 

A twinge of a headache throbbed at my left temple and the pop/rap song that Maddie had blaring from the radio only heightened the discomfort.  As I gazed out the window at the festivities, I wished that I was sitting on the front porch with Ila, watching the lightening bugs blinking in and out above the grass.  At this hour, the valley would be silent, except for the tree frogs whistling their mating calls.

I wanted to be away from the noise and bright lights of the town.  Worry had continued to grow within me from the moment I’d seen the Hummer leave the school and now it consumed me to the point of exploding.  Did Sawyer get the wrong idea about me and Preston when he’d seen me walk away with him? 

If he did, why should I care? 

At first, I was just happy to get the football players away from the Demon.  I’d been terrified that Sawyer would do something horrible to them.  Now I was all torn up worrying what
he
thought.  I needed to get my priorities straight.  And fast.  But the idea of Sawyer believing that I was linked romantically to Preston was not what I wanted either.

When we arrived at the Dairy Queen, it seemed that the entire football team was already there, and most of the cheerleaders.  I squinted when we entered the brightly lit building. Blinking, I followed the girls to the booths in the corner.  Squeezing onto the seat, Maddie bumped me with her hip, directing me into the spot where I ended up being pressed tightly into Preston’s side. 

“Let me get you some dinner.”  Preston spoke into my ear.   

“I already ate at the game,” I replied absently.

“I’m not taking no for an answer.” He winked at me and slid out of the booth.

When he returned a few minutes later, he placed a large ice cream sundae in front of me. 

I had to smile, couldn’t help it.

If I continued to hang out with Preston, I’d grow into a balloon.  He obviously believed the way to a girl’s heart was through her stomach.  The air floating above the sundae was refreshingly cool.  I leaned in closer to the ice cream for a few seconds enjoying the sensation. 

It wouldn’t be the end of the world if I ate the dessert. 

“Thanks, Preston,” I mumbled.

The sides of his mouth turned up into a wide smile.  When he slipped his arm over the seat behind me, I tensed. 

Anyone passing by will assume that we’re a couple
.

There wasn’t much I could do about it without causing a scene, but I vowed that after I’d eaten, I’d feign illness in the hopes that Maddie would take me back to her house.  It was the least that she could do after stuffing me into Preston as if I was the bread for his Thanksgiving turkey.