Free The Spider Catcher (Redemption by A.L. Tyler Book 1) by A.L. Tyler

with a laugh. “I will arrange some outings, which you will attend and participate in. I will deliver you back to the Gillespie household, safely and with escort, every evening. Your participation is entirely voluntary, and you may decline any invitation you wish.”
    Ember leaned against the stack of boxes next to her, trying to unfold all of the sentences as the alcohol made each one slip from her grasp. “I should go home.”
    “So you’ll go with it?”
    “Go with what?” She half-whined, laughing and shaking her head. “It sounds like dating. I don’t understand what you’re getting out of it…”
    “It’s just a wish of mine, Ember. Like a birthday wish—I can’t tell you, or it might not come true. Will you help me get my wish, if I help you get your family?” Acton smiled genially. He reached out to take her hands, and slowly helped her to her feet. “You and I, we’re not worthy. It would pain your mother to think that the two of us were together, because it would be a threat to her tiny kingdom. It would mean that the two of us might stand to take it all away from her, and her precious Thalia, because she wants Thalia to have it all. You deserve your half.”
    “My half?” Ember laughed as she stumbled in his arms towards the door. Acton grabbed the book on their way out, shoving it deep into one of his pockets. “Why should I do this?”
    The rain outside had slowed to a cold drizzle; the mist was so fine that it seemed to sneak right through her clothes to land on the skin beneath.
    “God damn—why is always wet here?” Ember spat. “Maybe I don’t want half of this. Why should I help you hurt my family?”
    Acton turned her, holding her up by her shoulders as she swayed on her feet.
    “You’ll help me because they aren’t your family.” He said earnestly. “I’m your friend now, and the Knoxes are your family. We want you, and you don’t know for a fact that anyone else ever will. The Gillespies won’t. You’ll help us because we are your family now, and because that’s what family does.”
     
     
     

Chapter 5
     
    The trip home was a mess; despite Acton’s best efforts, Ember managed to slip and fall twice, covering herself in mud. At least the cold and the damp had sobered her enough to stand on the stoop, alone, when they arrived back at the house.
    The misting rain was collecting on the leaves, eaves, and pines, and every so often a drip would drop with a splat to the forest floor. It made Ember wince and glance around her; even though she knew it was only rain, the sound was unnerving. It was like a hundred tiny fairies, snapping twigs and crunching leaves as they surrounded her in the dark. With the clouds blocking all the stars and the moon, the only light was cast from the one dim bulb above the door, and it only served to make Ember feel like she was under the interrogation lamp of the universe.
    She only had to knock twice. When the door swung open, it was Gina standing on the other side.
    “You’re going to wake up your sister.” She said. Her eyes had narrowed in annoyance, and her voice was stern. “You smell like beer.”
    Ember shrugged and nodded.
    “Thalia told you to be home by dark.”
    Still standing in the rain, Ember once again nodded.
    Gina looked her over, pausing on her wide, tired eyes. “You broke the rules. Good night, Ember.”
    And she started to close the door. With a yelp, Ember lurched forward, shoving her body in the disappearing gap. She felt the heat from the house as it flowed past her and into the night.
    “I’m sorry!” She squeaked; Gina hadn’t stepped back when Ember had forced her way between the door and the frame, and their faces were close. Ember could see the twitch in her mother’s left eye. “I meant to be back on time, but I ran into someone, and we were talking, and—“
    Gina lowered her gaze. “Who?”
    Ember paused, trying to figure if she should lie. Gina was waiting.
    “Acton Knox.” Ember licked her lips