The Ruby Kiss

by Helen Scott Taylor

  Dragon glanced at Devin and Ruby with a smirk. “No one’s stopping you.”

  “I want to talk about Rhys.”

  “Tired of him, are you? Kids are damned irritating until they reach about eleven or twelve. If you want rid of him, he can return to live with the Teg in Wales for a few years.”

  “No. Give up your rights to him.” His determination to protect Rhys was bringing welcome strength back to his muscles. “Seal the bargain with a blood oath.”

  Dragon threw back his head and roared with laughter. Nightshade breathed slowly, steadily, kept his temper under control.

  “Why would I want to do that?”

  “You’ve just said you don’t like kids.”

  “You keep him while he’s a kid—till, say, fourteen—then I’ll have him back.”

  Hot anger built in Nightshade’s chest. “You’ll never get your hands on him.”

  “Who’s going to stop me, pisky boy?” Dragon stepped closer, using his height and bulk to intimidate.

  Nightshade’s fingers slid into the front pocket of his jeans and touched the bag where he kept his father’s stones. This was the moment to play his trump card, to demand a blood oath to give up Rhys in exchange for the return of his father’s Magic Knot. But while Nightshade was weak, Dragon would probably need all of ten seconds to wrest the Magic Knot away. His only option was to wait until he was fit enough to bargain.

  Dragon’s eyes scoured Nightshade and settled on his pocket. “Do you have something to trade?” He moved a step closer. “Let me see what treasure you think will buy Rhys his freedom.”

  Nightshade silently cursed himself for stupidity. Their last encounter should have taught him that his father wasn’t stupid. He weighed his options, yet he could see no way to deny he had a bargaining chip. He drew the small black bag from his pocket and held it in his fist.

  Twister chose that moment to rouse from his stupor. He scrambled to his feet and staggered to the nearest chair to sit down. “Glad to see you, Dragon,” he said. “I wasn’t sure you’d make it in time to help.”

  So the Unseelie king had called on Dragon’s help. It figured. Nightshade blinked against the pounding in his temples, then uncurled his fingers to reveal the bag. He caught movement from the corner of his eye, and he saw Devin shaking his head, expression grave. But this was the reason he’d come to Scotland in the first place. What other choice did he have but to try to strike the bargain?

  “This, in exchange for the blood oath to give up all rights to Rhys,” he said, loosening the drawstring closure on the bag. He paused for a beat, and the room itself seemed to hold its breath, then he poured Dragon’s red-speckled stones into his palm.

  Dragon leapt into the air, landing a foot in the center of Nightshade’s chest. Nightshade’s breath whooshed out from the kick. He jackknifed over, curling around the pain with no strength to fight back. His father seized the Magic Knot with a triumphant roar and slammed a fist against his jaw. Nightshade staggered sideways, going down on one knee.

  Ruby screamed his name. Out of the corner of his eye, Nightshade saw Devin holding her back. When Dragon stopped, Devin released Ruby, and she ran to Nightshade’s side and put her arm around him.

  “That’s enough, Dragon. You have your Knot, now go,” his friend said.

  Dragon backed off, staring at the stones in his hand. “When your friend took my Magic Knot, I swore I’d make someone pay.” The nightstalker’s gaze snapped up as he pushed the stones into his pocket. “In recompense, I claim your woman.”

  “No!” Twister was out of his chair and beside them in an instant. He took up a defensive posture in front of Ruby, blocking Dragon’s path. “She’s mine. Think of another forfeit.”

  Dragon grunted. “Very well, the woman doesn’t interest me anyway. Let me think on it.” He headed toward the exit.

  Twister scooped Ruby up and threw her over his shoulder. She swore and battered his back as he followed Dragon toward the Bunker with Ares and Apollo yapping at his heels. Nightshade closed his eyes on a bitter rush of powerlessness. He couldn’t even protect the woman he loved.

  Devin crouched at his side, a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, ya rajol. It would have done no good for me to intervene. This matter must be settled between you and Dragon.” He administered another fingernail shot of pain-numbing poison. “I need to get you into bed.”

  Nightshade tried to shake his head, but he could barely move. “Check on Ruby first,” he croaked.

  Devin hooked Nightshade’s arm over his shoulders and pulled him to his feet. “Twister won’t hurt her. I’ll check on her once you’re sorted.”

  Nightshade’s heart raced and skipped unevenly while sweat soaked his face and pooled beneath his arms. He was sick and getting worse by the minute. Which meant . . . when Twister made Ruby face Fenrir, there was no way he’d be able to protect her.

  * * *

  Chapter Ten

  Ruby paced back and forth in her room, too wound up to sit still.

  Twister had locked her in, and she’d hammered on the door, shouting until her arms ached and her throat hurt. Exhausted, she had collapsed on the bed and fallen asleep. How long had she slept? What was the time now? Was Nightshade all right? Where were her dogs?

  “Damn, damn, damn.” She kicked the empty log basket beside the cold fire. She wasn’t sure who she hated most, Twister or Dragon. They were both monsters.

  The door handle turned. Ruby dashed across the room, fists clenched, ready to belt Twister if he didn’t let her see Nightshade. But Devin stepped through the doorway, and at the last moment she hauled back her burst of angry energy with a frustrated squeal. She grabbed the lapels of his purple coat.

  “Ruby, are you all right?”

  “Where’s Nightshade? How is he?”

  “In his room. He’s asleep.”

  She let go of Devin and stepped back. The tense ache in her shoulders eased a fraction. “Do you know what happened to Ares and Apollo?”

  “They’re with Nightshade. Twister wouldn’t unlock your door earlier, so I couldn’t bring them to you. I left them with Nightshade, as he seems to like having them around.”

  “Twister’s mad.” She gave a harsh laugh. “Did he think they were going to help me escape?”

  Devin held out a red backpack. “I’m sorry it’s turned out like this, Ruby.”

  “Is this mine?” It looked like the pack she kept on the coat pegs by her back door at home. When Devin nodded, she accepted it. Inside she found a pair of her jeans, a jersey, and underwear, all folded neatly atop her favorite leather boots.

  “I thought you’d be more comfortable in your own clothes, so I nipped over to your house. I hope you don’t mind that I rifled through your drawers.”

  A sob caught in her throat, and she pressed a hand over her eyes. Ever since Twister had thrown her over his shoulder and taken her from Nightshade, she’d buried her fear and vulnerability beneath her flaming anger. Crying was a useless waste of time that would only make her feel worse, yet in the face of this unexpected kindness, emotion surged up and overflowed. Tears poured down her cheeks.

  “Thanks,” she mumbled.

  Devin opened his arms. Ruby stepped into his embrace, hugging her backpack and pressing her face into the incense-fragranced fabric of his coat. She didn’t care if he could torture people with his thoughts; her senses told her he was good and she liked and trusted him.

  After a few minutes, she recovered and dragged the back of her hand over her eyes, and from inside his coat Devin produced the baseball bat she kept under her bed. “Nightshade told me this is your weapon of choice. I thought you might need it.”

  I have a weapon of choice? What an incredible concept. She almost laughed, thinking back to her first meeting with Nightshade. “It’s a baseball bat,” she explained. Perhaps Devin had never heard of baseball.

  “I know. It works well as a weapon. It’s extremely similar to the wooden clubs used by some of the troll clans, in fact.”


  There were troll clans? She didn’t even want to think about that. She took the bat gingerly and hugged it to her chest with her bag of clothes. After a moment she asked, “So Twister’s still set on me trying to change Fenrir?”

  Devin nodded. “I’ve just spent three hours arguing your case with him, but Dragon’s still around, and he makes it impossible to get anywhere. He’s a spiteful bastard. He’s not interested in Twister’s father, either. All he wants is some entertainment.”

  Ruby’s heart lurched while nausea burned the back of her throat. Would she really have to face that huge wolf without Nightshade to protect her? “Will you take me to see Nightshade?”

  “Twister’s asked me to fetch you, but we can stop at Nightshade’s room on the way,” Devin promised.

  “Will Dragon be with Twister?”

  “Too much to hope he’s buggered off.”

  “Good,” Ruby decided. “I’ve got a few things I want to say to him.”

  She dumped her pack on her bed and pulled out her clothes, keen now to get moving. She intended to tell Dragon exactly what she thought of him.

  “I’ll wait outside while you change,” he said.

  “Devin.” She grabbed his arm as he turned. The locked windowless room was getting to her. “Leave the door ajar.”

  Ruby rid herself of the leather dress before donning her other clothes. She hugged herself, comforted by their familiarity.

  When she went outside, Devin led her to Nightshade’s room and opened the door. Firelight lit the interior. Nightshade was a dark shadow on the bed.

  “Lights,” Devin said softly. Six flared to life on the wall. “I’ll give you two a moment alone.”

  Ares and Apollo jumped up from the rug by the fire and dashed to Ruby, tails wagging madly. She gave them each a quick pat before moving to Nightshade’s bedside. He stirred, and she skimmed her hand down his arm.

  “How’re you feeling?”

  “Better than I was.” He levered himself up on an elbow and gripped her hand. “How about you?”

  “Ready to give Twister a thump.” To ease his concern, she grinned and held up her baseball bat with as much bravado as she could muster. “Devin said you told him about my weapon.”

  Nightshade smiled. It looked like an effort. Lines of tension bracketed his mouth, suggesting he was still in pain. Ruby rested the bat against the wall, climbed onto the bed at his side, and put her arm around him. She examined his wounded throat. Although it still looked bad, it had healed incredibly fast. But his skin was hot and clammy beneath her fingers.

  “You’ve got a temperature.”

  “I’ll be fine,” he said. “Tell me what’s happened about this Fenrir nonsense.”

  She needed to play it down so Nightshade stayed in bed as long as possible. “Devin’s taking me to see Twister in a minute.”

  Nightshade grunted and started to sit up. “I’ll get dressed.”

  “No.” She flattened a hand on his chest. “You need to recover. I’ll come back and tell you what he says.”

  Nightshade eyed her skeptically. “I’ll only stay here if you’re certain Devin will be with you the whole time.”

  She wanted to tell him she could look after herself, but he’d probably hurt his throat laughing. She said nothing.

  “Get the djinn back in here, will you?” Nightshade said.

  Ruby went to the door and called Devin. She hoped he wouldn’t say anything that prompted Nightshade to leave his bed.

  “Don’t let her out of your sight, djinn. I’m trusting you with her safety.”

  Devin patted Nightshade on the arm. “We’re only going to talk. I’ll bring her straight back.”

  Nightshade’s fingers squeezed Ruby’s hand. He whispered her name.

  She leaned closer, brushing her lips across his. Deep warm longing spiked with loss ran through her. How she wished she hadn’t kicked him out of bed that night at her home. Or messed up the other night . . . Those might have been their only chances to make love.

  “We’d better go before Twister sends someone to look for you,” Devin remarked.

  Ruby clung to Nightshade’s hand as she backed away, only releasing her hold at the last moment.

  “Come straight back and tell me what Twister says,” Nightshade demanded.

  “Of course.” She was glad to see he was regaining some of his normal attitude. And she wouldn’t face Fenrir without seeing Nightshade first.

  * * *

  When she and Devin reached Twister’s study, a Whip stood guarding the door. He narrowed his eyes on the djinn and flexed his fingers around the handle of his whip.

  “Step aside,” Devin ordered.

  The two stared each other down for long tense moments before the guard pointed his whip down the corridor. “Twister wants you to go to the Troll’s Armpit.”

  Devin turned and put his hand on Ruby’s back, ushering her in the direction the Whip had pointed. His expression was taut, his lips pressed together. “Not good,” he said under his breath.

  A dark chill of unease passed through her. “What is the Troll’s Armpit?”

  “A bar. Another place where Twister and his cronies gather. But this one is inside the magical protection of the bunker so I can’t use my powers.” Devin glanced back over his shoulder at the Whip just before they rounded the corner. “I thought Twister wanted to see you privately to discuss his plans. I hoped we could still talk him out of this madness.”

  “Now we can’t?”

  “In that bar he’ll have buddies egging him on.”

  Ruby pulled up. Devin halted at her side with a lift of his eyebrows as she said, “Time for some straight talking. I can’t get out of the Bunker, right? Even if I could escape, Twister would come after me.”

  “That’s about the size of it,” Devin agreed.

  “So we either get him to back down or I’m dog food.”

  Devin glanced down before he spoke. “Your words, Ruby, not mine. But yes, it looks as though you’ll have to face Fenrir. I could get you out of here, but now Twister knows you can force the change on him, he’ll pursue you until you try it on his father.”

  “No! I won’t leave without Nightshade.” Ruby’s breath trembled. Fear quivered in her chest and ran through her limbs. She flattened her hands together and pressed her index fingers to her lips to hold back the swell of helplessness. Until that moment, she’d believed they would persuade Twister to back down.

  This was crazy. She struggled to get her numb brain to process the reality. “Can I get out of this alive?”

  “Yes,” Devin said without hesitation. “I’ll guard you. I can use my powers, because the pit’s outside the Bunker’s protection.”

  The words edged back the bleakness threatening to overwhelm her. “Okay, then. But we must stop Nightshade from getting involved. He’s too sick.”

  Devin sighed. “Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it.”

  He took her elbow and drew her down the corridor toward an open wooden door. The sound of raucous male laughter burst forth from beyond. Above, a painting of a troll sniffing its armpit hung on a metal curlicue. Ruby grabbed a breath and steeled herself before they stepped inside.

  The room was the size of any ordinary bar she’d seen, with scattered chairs and sofas positioned around numerous tables. A quick head count revealed Twister had eight friends with him, including Dragon, the cyclops, and three Whips. As the door banged shut behind her, she pivoted to find the Whip who’d given them directions. He was now blocking the exit.

  “At last,” Twister said, rising from his seat. “I was about to send someone to discover where you’d got to, Devin.”

  The Unseelie king’s gaze settled on her. Remorse flitted across his face, then his jaw tightened and his expression hardened.

  All conversation in the room died as everyone stared at her. Ruby focused on Twister and crossed her arms. She wanted to curse him to hell and back for hurting Nightshade and locking her in her room, but rathe
r than argue and inflame the situation, she used her righteous anger to bolster her courage.

  “I assume you’ve asked me here to apologize.”

  “Such a tone! That’s no way to speak to your betrothed,” Dragon said with a malicious hint of amusement.

  Twister shot him a quelling glance, his eyes glowing gold. Then he returned his attention to her. “Come here, Ruby.”

  Devin leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Careful. I don’t know what they’re planning.”

  “Why don’t you come over here?” Ruby suggested to Twister. She didn’t want to walk into the midst of his supporters.

  Twister’s jaw clenched, but surprisingly he came to her. “You changed me from wolf to man. You will do the same for my father.”

  Ruby’s heart thudded. She kept her gaze fixed on his face and said nothing. She wasn’t going to berate him so that he lost his temper and felt less guilty about endangering her. She wasn’t going to make this easy for him.

  He rubbed a finger over the scar on his chin and glanced away. “I understand your reluctance. Facing Fenrir will be dangerous. I’m not heartless. I have no wish to see you suffer,” he admitted.

  “Then let me go,” Ruby replied. “Once I’ve learned how to use my power, then I’ll come back and have a go.”

  He continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “I can give you some measure of protection. Fenrir is familiar with me. Often he’s docile when I go to him. If he senses me in you, there’s more chance you’ll get close enough to touch him.”

  “No!” Devin interjected. His fingers gripped Ruby’s upper arm, and he jerked her back against his side.

  She pulled away with a frown. “What do you mean?” She glanced from Twister to Devin, sensing there was a power struggle she didn’t comprehend. “Spit it out, one of you. In words I understand.”

  “He’s proposing to bond with you,” Devin said, his words laden with accusation.

  Ruby swallowed hard before she was able to reply. “I thought we’d knocked that stupid idea on the head.”

  “It’ll protect you,” Twister said.