Page 1 of Twilight of Embers
PROLOGUE
HAYDEN
PAST, AGE ELEVEN
The flashlight beam shifted against my makeshift tent, and I reached out to adjust it, pulling the blankets higher over my head. Any glimmer of light from under my door, and my parents would be in here in seconds to confiscate my book.
I rolled my lips over my teeth as I glanced at my watch. Eleven-forty-three. I’d turn out the light at midnight. But, for now, Nancy Drew had a mystery to solve, and we were just getting to the good part.
Voices sounded from downstairs, and I frowned. My parents were night owls, but they were usually quiet as mice. The only way I knew they stayed up was that I’d been caught reading more times than I could count.
Footsteps pounded on the stairs, and my eyebrows pulled together. What the heck was going on?
My bedroom door was wrenched open. “Hayden!”
My mom’s single word was part whisper, part yell. I threw the covers off myself, and my flashlight tumbled to the mattress.
“Mom?”
Her violet eyes looked wild as the light from the hallway hit them. The same violet eyes that she’d given to me. She grabbed my hand and tugged me out of bed. “Hurry.”
“What’s going on?”
My father shouted something from downstairs in a language I didn’t recognize, and Mom’s face went pale. We shared our fair complexion, but this was a sickly hue. One I’d only seen the time she’d accidentally sliced her finger while cutting carrots. She’d never liked the sight of blood.
Mom tugged me into the hallway and toward their bedroom.
“Mom?” I croaked.
She pulled me into their small closet and tugged a cedar chest into the middle of the space. Climbing on top of the chest, she pushed on a panel in the ceiling. I blinked a few times. I didn’t even know there was an attic in this house, let alone a door in the ceiling.
My mom’s gaze locked with mine, and her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “I’m going to lift you up, and you’ll shut the door behind you. Don’t move, and don’t make a sound. Whatever you hear, don’t come out.”
My own eyes filled with tears. “What’s happening?”
She hauled me up onto the chest and hugged me tight. “I love you more than you’ll ever know. You’re my miracle.”
My tears came faster. “Mom—”
A bang sounded downstairs, and my mom jerked.
“Up. Now,” she ordered as she lifted.
My mom had always been strong, but tonight, it was as if I weighed no more than a feather. I grabbed hold of the opening and hoisted myself up. “You come, too,” I told her.
She shook her head, blonde hair cascading around her shoulders. “I need to help your dad. Remember, don’t come out no matter what you hear. Not until the police are here. Listen for the sirens.”
My tears fell, one landing on my mom’s cheek, but she didn’t move to wipe it away. “Don’t leave me.”
Pain streaked across her face. “Never. I’m always with you. Always here.” She placed a hand over her heart.
Another noise came from downstairs, one that almost sounded like an explosion.
Mom jumped down from the chest, shoving it back against the wall. “Close the door, Hayden.”
I didn’t move for a moment. Couldn’t.
“Please,” she begged.
