Alpha Ember (ALPHA KANE BOOK 2)

Epilogue

A year later

Ember

"Okay, fess up. What's got you stressed out?" Ian demanded.

"Hm?" I replied, feigning ignorance as I examined the interior of the cave we were in. We'd spent hours climbing the mountain where the cave was nestled among gigantic rocks and thick trees, battling bugs and branches that whacked you in the face as soon as you lowered your guard. The bright side was that the climb had provided some much needed fresh air, the grueling ascent not as grueling with Ian chattering about the recent jobs he'd completed with his mom and how well my comics were selling now compared to the beginning. We ate the sandwiches Jett had packed for us that morning, drank a few bottles of water and jokingly fought over the snack bars.

Overall, it had been a great day and things were about to get even more interesting now that we were in the ogre's cave.

But Ian was ruining things by bringing up the very subject I was trying to forget.

"What do you need from this ogre anyway?" I asked, redirecting him towards the reason he was here in the first place. "I don't see any possible hiding spots for treasure."

The cave was big but not enormous enough that it stretched beyond my line of sight, and it wasn't exactly dark so I could see very clearly that there were no hidden chests, no large doors leading to an interior chamber decked with gold or a trap door where this ogre could be sleeping on a pile of diamonds. Other than me, there was just a stubborn, nosy wizard who was presently giving me a look that said he wasn't going anywhere unless I started talking. "Is it Tyra and Jett's wedding planning? Is that why you've been so jittery?"

I prodded a pebble with my foot, sighing internally. "No, Jett won't let me help out with the heavy work." Not to mention the knowing look he gave me each time I offered to help, not condescending but expectant. It always turned to disappointment when I kept my silence, hugging my apparently not-so secret close to myself.

Momentarily silent, Ian reached back to tie his hair into a small knot at the nape of his neck. His hair had grown longer than its usual floppy style and although the golden strands were straight, they still reminded me of Arius' own hair. The two of them were spending more time together and I sincerely hoped Ian wasn't picking up any other similarities from the Autumn Lord.

"How's Arius by the way?" I asked in a last attempt to thwart his interrogation.

It didn't work. "Are you worried Arius will have a negative influence on me?" Ian asked, stubbornly staying on track.

I shook my head even though that was partly what I'd been thinking about. "You aren't stupid enough to let him get you into danger."

He looked insulted. "Haven't you considered that I might be the one getting him into trouble instead?"

I started at that. Aside from that one time Arius had gotten me into trouble with Light, he's been peaceful ever since, sending me invitations to his huge castle and showing up during my classes or at work when I ignored the invites. (Unlike Aster he had no sense of timing.) We normally drank tea and chatted about random things, he didn't try to drag me along with him to strange places- like an ogre's cave for instance. It made me wonder what Ian actually did when he and Arius hung out. Arius who was a fae king now, with the power and authority to do whatever he wanted within his territory...

Ian grabbed both sides of my face, shaking his own head back and forth. "Stop, don't even board that train of thought. I'm trying to figure out what's got you upset, not make you even more worried- quick, tell me how bad things have been between your parents."