Let Me Burn (Angel Sands 1)

She shook her head, still saying nothing.

“What happened?” Janice asked, joining the crowd to see what the fuss was.

“Nothing, I dropped a glass,” Lucas said, shooting Ember a glance from the corner of his eye. “Do you have a broom somewhere?”

Janice disappeared, and Lucas turned to Ember, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Ember, can you say something?”

Could she? She wasn’t totally sure. Her lips were stuck together and it took some effort to pull them apart. Frowning, she tried to remember how to form words on her tongue and make them come to life with her voice.

“Do you think she’s in shock?” somebody to the left of her asked.

It was as though somebody had covered her in cotton wool, making everything around her muted and fuzzy. When she finally opened her mouth to say something, she didn’t recognize her own voice. It sounded as sharp as the glass that had shattered on the floor.

“I want to go home.”

24

Lucas pulled his car into her apartment parking lot and put it in park, turning the ignition off before he turned to look at Ember. She hadn’t said a word for the entire journey home. Okay, it had only taken seven minutes, but it had felt a hell of a lot longer in his opinion.

The only sounds he could hear were the short intake of her breaths and the louder thumping of his heart. When he turned to look at her, she was sitting ramrod straight in the passenger seat, her head turned as she looked out of the side window.

“Ember?” he said, his voice gentle. “We’re here, you’re home.”

She nodded, still saying nothing. It had been almost twenty minutes since she’d said anything other than she wanted to go home.

He reached out to touch her arm. In spite of the desert-like heat outside she felt cold, almost clammy. He had no idea what was going on in her head, but whatever it was he didn’t like it one bit. “Are you okay?” he asked her.

“I don’t feel well.”

He wasn’t sure whether to be delighted she’d finally answered him, or afraid of the lifelessness in her voice.

“Thank you for the ride,” she said, still monotone. “I’ll see you later.”

“Wait.” He reached out and stilled her hand where it was pulling at the door handle. “I’ll see you up.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I’ll be fine, I just need to be alone for a little while.”

“I don’t want to leave you when you’re feeling like this. At least let me make sure you’re okay?”

She didn’t reply, just kept her hand hovering by the handle. Lucas sighed, rubbing his temples with his fingertips. Somebody had suggested she was in shock, and he knew those symptoms well enough. The feeling of being frozen, of being half a step out of time with the rest of the world. Of everything pushing in on you until you weren’t sure you could even breathe any more.

But there was something else bothering him. If she was in shock, what did that mean? Was she upset about Will and his new fiancée? About the news they were having a baby?

Was she still in love with him, even though she said she wasn’t?

His mind was full of questions that he had no idea how to ask. Maybe because he was afraid of the answers. But even though he felt paralyzed by the thought of her still being in love with her ex, there was no way he was going to let her be alone.

“I’ll take you up,” he said again, his voice firm. “And if you don’t want me to stay, I’ll call one of your friends to come over, okay? There’s no way I’m leaving you on your own tonight.”

“Okay.” Her voice a whisper, but he’d take it.

“Come on then. Let’s get you home.”

* * *

“How is she?” Ally asked as Lucas opened the door to her. Ember glanced over her shoulder at her friend. Even with her tall stature, Ally had to stand on her tiptoes to peer over Lucas’ shoulders and into Ember’s apartment.

Ember was sitting on the sofa, her back as straight as it had been in his car, perched at the edge of the seat as if she was going to stand up any minute. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed since Lucas had brought her home. She remembered him pouring her a glass of water and offering it to her. Eventually, he gave up and put it on the coffee table. And she remembered him using her phone to call Ally and Brooke, but after that everything felt a little blank.