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

and said a silent prayer.
    Gina stared into Ember’s eyes, and blinked away a distant look into outright hostility as she stepped away from the door. “Get in this house. Stay away from Acton—you’re trouble, and he has enough of it on his own. I don’t want that kind of mess on my hands.”
    As Gina held out her hand, pointing toward the stairs, Ember stood and peered through the door, looking for the trap. Like a shy animal, she eventually edged over the threshold, and bolted for escape up the stairs.
    “Ember!”
    She froze. She could feel Gina’s eyes boring into her back.
    “Don’t knock on this door after dark again. Thalia needs her sleep, and it gives her nightmares.”
    Ember sighed, turning around. “You can’t stop me from going out.”
    Gina crossed her arms; the same distant look she’d had before was on her face. Her jaw hung slack for a moment, but then she pursed her lips and looked down at the floor.
    Ember turned back to go up the stairs. She took three more steps.
    “I’ll get you a key.” Gina finally said in a high whisper. “But you have to promise to use it. Don’t knock. I don’t want you going out after dark, but if you’re going to do it, you’re going to use that key to come back in every night.  I want you to have a way to get inside this house, when you want to.”
    Without turning or looking, Ember nodded. She went up and put her muddy clothes in the bathtub, and went to bed.
    When the key appeared on her nightstand the next morning, she couldn’t bring herself to touch it.
    Small and bronze, it sat there on the nightstand; Gina had attached it to a length of string, wound into a ball and laid neatly along the side. Ember stared at it as though it were a coiled snake about to strike.
    In the morning chill, she looked around her room. It was darker than it should have been on account of the taped up window, but there was still enough light to see without flipping a switch. It was a small room, and Ember was nearly sure it wasn’t the one she had been in when she was a child; the memories were hazy, but she thought that she had shared a room with Thalia, and there surely wasn’t enough space in this room for two beds.
    Ember pressed her eyes shut and concentrated. She could remember the nighttime routine—dinner was eaten, the table cleared, the dishes done, and then there was family time in the den. Nan would sit with the paper, and Ember would either read it over her shoulder or sit in the corner with a book. Gina would run a brush through Thalia’s hair, and then the two would sew clothing or plant potted seeds that would grow in the south-facing kitchen window until spring, when they were transplanted to the garden.
    When it was time for bed, they went upstairs and brushed their teeth. They changed into their pajamas, Gina read them a story, and then tucked them in to bed, and sang them songs until they feel asleep.
    Ember opened her eyes; she could remember the smell of Thalia’s hair as they laid in bed. She always slept with it in a braid, and it looked so much like a fancy braid that Ember often found it hard to keep from touching or smelling it. They had shared a bed when they were little.
    Now, Thalia could hardly stand to be around her.
    Ember looked back at the key on her nightstand, and her clothes strewn about the floor, and suddenly didn’t want it. It made her feel like she was falling into the sky, as through gravity had shut off.  The key meant that she had no anchor anymore. She could leave when she wanted, and return when she wanted, if she wanted, because Gina wasn’t looking out for her anymore.
    Refusing to touch the key, Ember slipped out of the bed, holding her comforter around her like a poorly-fitting winter jacket to keep the morning chill off of her skin. She picked up some clothes from the floor and went to the bathroom to shower, turning the water so hot that it made her skin pink and painful to touch.  After too much hot, the cold felt