Page 74 of Ashes to Ash’s

Pyro slammed the knife he’d still been holding on the table surface, making at least half of the group jump.

“I’m not a fucking slave!”

He stormed out of the room, and silence fell, as each of us tried to figure out exactly what his problem was.

“Nix?”

He sighed. “I’ll go after him, but he’s so angry lately. I don’t know if he’ll even talk to me.” His lip trembled a little and he swallowed hard. “I miss him. He’s part of me.”

Dad Dory nodded, standing up and heading out of the room after our brother, and Em reached over and patted Nix’s hand, something she would never have done before she and Ethan broke each other.

“He’ll be okay, I promise. We all are. We have our bad days, but we have way more good ones. Right?”

“Fuck, yeah!” Her demented husband Ethan declared, grinning widely as he tried to describe the murders he’d committed earlier today. Murders of Cal’s family. Did the man have no discretion?

“You okay, baby?”

Cal shrugged. “Got to be, right? This is my life now.”

“Want me to get under the table and blow you?”

“If I get a vote, that’s a no,” dad Gray said, laughing as mum, Em, and Ethan all agreed. Ren was watching us closely, probably still trying to figure out how to fit into a crazy large family like this. A family that didn’t think twice about inviting him in, no wait, welcoming him in. Maybe I would help him kill his folks, if that’d help him heal too. That’s what dads do, right?

Cal

I think Ash’s family are literally all a little insane, but you can’t deny the love and support in this family. Need a lift? You’ve got one. Need someone to help you gut and burn your enemies, they’re all up for it.

I was worried about fucking Ren up, but I think that ship might have sailed long before we even met him. For now, he looked like he was still pinching himself at how he was just added to the family without a second thought. Just like I’d been. I was afraid they were going to turn on me, because of what I’d done to Ash, but his mum put it so plainly. He’d forgiven me, so they would too. Maybe one day I’d even forgive myself too.

“Any more bacon?” I asked, feeling delightfully filled up on food and family, and a little desperate for it to never end.

“I think that’s the last of it. I can fry some more up?”

I shook my head at Ash’s mum, because I’d never ask her to do that. I wasn’t even sure I wanted bacon at all, just for this to last forever.

“Wilms, why don’t I get a couple of blowtorches, and I can-”

“NO!”

Gray practically pouted beside his wife, and yet, he didn’t go rogue and do it anyway. He didn’t even really argue. I’d been terrified of the guy, was still borderline terrified, but it seemed he was actually willing to listen to reason, and to follow someone else’s lead. Maybe only hers, or Dory’s, but it still counted.

Dory returned, looking a little tired and frustrated.

“He okay?” I asked, even though it wasn’t my business, but clearly we all wanted to know.

Dory sat down, dragging his lukewarm coffee closer, even as Gray removed it and went to top it up for him. Dory waited until he returned before he answered.

“Believe it or not, he’s pissed at missing out on the killing, and especially the fire.”

From the shocked silence in the room, I had a feeling that wasn’t the norm for Cole, or Pyro, as they seemed to be calling him now. With this family’s penchant for renaming people, and fire names, I had no idea who’d decided on it, but it definitely wasn’t the time to ask.

“He… I don’t know what’s more shocking. Murder or fire. He’s never been interested in either, just like Nix isn’t.”

Nix shrugged, looking so much more childlike than normal with that gesture.

“He likes to draw dead things.”

Uh oh. I’d say we’re heading for the good old homicidal triad here, but then the whole family’s already batcrap crazy. Maybe this is just par for the course.