Read Online From Burning Ashes (Collector Series #4) by Stacey Marie Brown - Free Book Online Page B

away, to yell over
at Croygen.
    “How about my boot meets your humper.”
    “Okay. Enough.” I held up my hands. “Jeez,
it’s like I’m an animal wrangler at a circus.” I went back to
Lexie. “I know this must be so confusing to you.” My train of
thought stopped when I noticed she no longer listened to me. Her
attention was on Sprig.
    “Lexie, this is Sprig. He was an experiment.
Same as me.” I nuzzled his fur. “He was once a sprite, but Rapava
forced him into this monkey form.”
    “That’s why he talks?”
    “Of course I talk! Do you think I’m
uneducated or something?”
    “That’s not what she means, Sprig. You know
monkeys on Earth don’t talk. It’s a little strange to see at first.
Remember when I first met you?”
    “Oh right.” He sighed in my ear.
    “Come down and say hi.”
    “I only do tricks for food.”
    Lexie leaned in closer. “He is so little. And
so cute.”
    “Cute? Cute?” Sprig exclaimed. “I’ll have you
know, Leanbh , I was a fierce warrior sprite.”
    “No, you weren’t.” Croygen snorted.
    “Shush.” He continued down my arm, his chest
puffed up. “I was hunter, a great champion, feared in the
forest.”
    “Only by the beehives,” Croygen muttered.
    Ignoring Croygen, Sprig bowed and then
reached out his hand for Lexie’s. She looked up at me, and I nodded
encouragement. She giggled, taking his little hand with a finger
and shook it.
    “Nice to meet you, Sprig.”
    “You too, Leanbh .”
    “What is a Leanbh ?” Lexie let go of
his hand.
    “It means child,” Croygen responded.
    Lexie frowned.
    “Don’t feel bad; he calls me girl.” I leaned
in closer to her. “I don’t think he remembers my name.”
    “I know your name.” Sprig put his hands on
his hips, affronted. “It’s... uh... it’s honey—”
    “If you say honey tits, I’m going to mash you
up in banana pudding.”
    Sprig slapped his hands over his mouth, his
eyes wide with horror.
    I smirked and motioned over my shoulder.
“Behind me are Croygen, Ryker, and Amara.” She gave a little nod to
them, then looked back at me. Confusion wrinkled her features.
    “Where’s Daniel?”
    Oh god .
    Her gaze loosely tracked me as I swallowed
and stared down at my feet. She wouldn’t have known about his death
unless Rapava told her. He clearly had not.
    “He died.” I exhaled, surprised at the pain I
still felt recalling the moment of his murder. “The night of the
big storm.”
    Lexie pressed her lips together. Her
expression crumbled into a painful sadness.
    Her response startled me a bit. She had known
Daniel but not well. From what I said and the few times he helped
me take her to some of her appointments, she had grown attached. I
had told her my dreams of the three of us moving away together,
having a life we always dreamed about. I didn’t realize how much
she also had counted on that fantasy. And Daniel.
    “I’m sorry,” I whispered. She nodded,
shoulders sagging. Her lids fluttered, and her face suddenly looked
drawn and tired. “I think you should get some sleep.”
    “Okay.” Sprig responded instead. His form
stiffened and he toppled over, falling headfirst onto the bed.
    “Oh my god,” she shrieked. “Did I kill him?
Is he dead?”
    I laughed and scooped him up. “No. Sprig is
narcoleptic.”
    “He’s also a tremendous pain in the ass,”
Ryker vocalized behind me.
    “And you adore him.” I craned my neck to look
at him. Our eyes met, and for one brief moment I almost forgot
there was anyone else in the room and we weren’t really speaking.
Swiftly his gaze clouded over, he whirled around, and strode out of
the room. The door slammed behind him.
    “And there goes the ultimate pain in
the ass.” Croygen thumbed over his shoulder at the door where Ryker
exited.
    I couldn’t disagree.
    Amara rolled her eyes and followed Ryker
out.
    “And there’s the runner-up,” Croygen
grumbled. “Sometimes they tie.” His crush on Amara seemed to have
diminished