Alpha Ember (ALPHA KANE BOOK 2)

14. I Take in a Stray

Ember

"What kind of problem is it?" I asked Jett. I tried to step out of the room but Kane blocked me with an arm.

I looked up at him in question but his attention was on Jett. "I'll be downstairs in a minute, wait for me there," he told him.

Jett didn't move. "Ember should be present too."

Kane's brow twitched. "Ember should be resting after getting kidnapped."

"Ember is right here and can speak for herself," I said dryly.

Kane's blue eyes snagged on me and my spine straightened on reflex. I grimaced at the reaction, shuffling my feet uncomfortably.

"You're tired," he said.

"I can't sleep, I might as well come with you," I replied, trying to regain my composure.

"You'll stress yourself out more."

"She was more put-together this last few hours than you were," Jett said.

Kane glared at him. "Which is why I'm making it up to her and letting her rest."

Jett turned to me. "He'll use that excuse for the rest of eternity if you let him. Whatever you decide, I'll be downstairs."

He walked away, boots thudding down the staircase and fading.

"Ember?"

"What?"

"Bed."

I blushed at the potential meaning of that order, but managed to roll my eyes. "I'm going to help you."

"You can help by staying safe and not getting kidnapped."

"Other than your mom and Arius I doubt there's anyone else willing to try it," I replied.

His expression turned grim. "I'm mad after all. Next time I see Arius he'd better run fast."

You don't have to tell him, I thought. He's more than capable of doing it on his own.

"Come here, Ember," Kane held out his hand.

I hesitated. If I agreed with him I could get some shut eye, but I wouldn't find out what was going on until morning. The curiosity would probably keep me up all night too.

I took Kane's hand, gave it a firm handshake. "Let's work well together." The surprise was just registering on his face when I ducked out of the room.

I heard him curse but he made no move to stop me.

I smiled, waited at the top of the staircase for him to catch up.

***

I wasn't smiling when we got downstairs. In fact there wasn't a smile in sight: Jett was frowning while leaning against the archway between the kitchen and dining room, Bluebell was frowning as she got several mugs from a cupboard, Helen was frowning by the stove where she was putting a kettle on and the small man sitting alone at the dining table was frowning too. It didn't take long for me to deduce the reason for all the frowning.

The man at the table was injured and unable to heal from the nasty tang of silver that drifted in the air. Normally silver bullets would be the automatic assumption for the silver- I would know- but there weren't any bleeding wounds on him, no visible cuts where the silver could've gotten into his bloodstream. All I could see were the obvious signs that he'd gotten beaten up. Badly. His left arm hung unnaturally at his side, his left eye was blackened and swollen almost shut, his bottom lip and both cheeks in the same miserable state. Hell, maybe his whole body was bruised- the dirty tank top that might've been white once upon a time showed enough scars and discolored pale skin to back up the claim. His brown hair was clean but choppy at the ends, as if it had been hacked off by scissors, his good eye empty of any emotion as it studied each of us- but oddly returning and resting on Helen every time.