Then Sean walked in.
“Hmm...,” he mumbled, his lips pressed firmly together while his brow furrowed. “It seems as though you didn't receive my text.”
“What? What text? I didn't get a text,” I protested, wondering how in the world I had already done something wrong. While I rifled through my purse for the phone that had let me down, Sean continued.
“The one I sent to inform you that all business meetings in this apartment were to be carried out naked from now on.”
I looked up to see him grinning wildly at me. The twinkle in his eyes told me that discussing anything of consequence was not going to be easy that night.
“Nude or not, I have to tell you something―something important―and you have to promise not to freak out until you hear the whole story,” I replied, putting my most serious face on. There would be time to play later, but first we needed to sort out the McGurney debacle and figure out exactly how to deal with Alan's involvement. A plan that wouldn’t involve assassinating Alan was needed.
Seeing my distress, Sean put his playfulness aside, trading it for his darker half's persona. The one who got things done. The handler.
“What has you so on edge, Ruby?” he asked, coming to join me on the couch, fully dressed.
“You didn't promise not to freak out yet.”
He sighed heavily.
“I promise to do my very best not to 'freak out' until you finish.” It was the best concession he could make, so I took it and ran.
“Okay. So, back when Scarlet was gone―the day I lost my sight―Alan came by. He had a note...from McGurney. He wanted me to read it, but once it was apparent that that wasn't going to happen for obvious reasons, he attempted to tell me what was in it and failed. Cooper walked in, and he clammed up.”
“All right...”
“Today he stopped by the shop at closing time and showed me the note again. He had warned me originally that it contained the ramblings of a crazy man. He insisted that whatever McGurney had gotten into drove him mad enough to write what he had. He wants to know what that is, Sean, and he's not going to let it go. Alan wants someone to pay for this, and he won't stop until that happens.”
“What did the note say?” he asked, his interest clearly piqued.
I sighed, not really wanting to go into details.
“McGurney saw a werewolf...possibly several. He saw them Change and everything. From what I could gather, he stumbled across an attack, but it sounded so strange—almost choreographed. I didn't know what to make of it.”
“And Alan has this note now?” He did little to hide his concern.
“He does, but―”
“Unacceptable, Ruby. I need that note—now.”
“I know that, but it's not like he's flashing it around, Sean. He didn't really want to show it to me, even—I could tell. He's embarrassed for his mentor. I don't think you need to be overly worried about him exposing something—at least not yet. And he doesn't believe it, anyway.”
“What do you mean? How do you know that?”
“Remember your promise,” I threatened, moving away from him slightly on the couch. “Alan was drilling me for answers. It was terribly apparent that he wasn't going to let up, so I did the only thing I could think of.”
“Which was?”
“I told him it was true.” As I winced away from him, I could hear the frame of the couch protesting against Sean's grip on it. “Hear me out!” I exclaimed before he could start telling me how stupid I was. “I had a feeling he wouldn't believe me. I thought if I acted like I was humoring him, he would see that I had no intention of giving him what he wanted. Ever. I know it was a harebrained idea, but I didn't know what else to do. I panicked! I'm sorry. The good news is that it seems to have worked, though he's wicked pissed off at me for mocking him like that. The bad news is that he's in total vigilante mode now. He's likely going to take whatever sane-sounding information he can from that letter, which thankfully isn't much, and try to solve this mystery with it. He's going to get himself killed. I can't have that, Sean.”
He said nothing at first, only stared at me from across the couch. I hadn't realized that, during my confession, I had fully retreated to the other end. While I waited for him to break the silence, I contemplated the best way to share the last, but most crucial, tidbit of information I had.
“Though your plan was poorly thought out, reckless, and potentially a death sentence for Alan, it seems oddly well played.” His tone was flat and emotionless, but I was learning that dark-eyed Sean was just that way. It wasn't anything personal. It was how he dealt. “Is there anything else I should know about?”
I suggest choosing your words carefully with this one, Ruby.
“I know,” I muttered under my breath, which was met with a tweaked eyebrow and a condescending glance. “It would be so much easier if you could just hear her too, you know.”
“Is she in a talking mood?” he asked, leaning forward. The shade of black his eyes turned at the thought of getting Scarlet alone to “chat” made my blood run cold, if only for a second.
“No. Definitely not.”
“How unfortunate,” he replied, settling back in his seat a bit. “You were about to say?”
“I was about to tell you that, yes, there was something else. Something weird, and I don't know what to make of it.”
“Leave that to me.”
“No arguments there,” I quipped. “McGurney kept saying things, random things, about the government. Knowledge—involvement even. There were no names or places, but my takeaway message was that whoever these wolves were, they were working for someone. Someone on Uncle Sam's payroll.”
“I don't like the implications here, Ruby. I need to see that note.”
“I know, I know,” I protested, “but I didn't want to make a big thing out of it at the time. If I had, Alan would have known something really was up. We know he doesn't trust you. At all. So I couldn't say, 'Hey, let me just borrow this and run it past that criminal I'm dating'.”
“I realize that, but I need to see McGurney's exact words. This might be the connection to Keith James that we were looking for originally.” His eyes narrowed slightly as if something had just occurred to him. “Ruby...when did Alan get this note?”
“After McGurney was already dead. Alan was rambling on about it while I was reading the note. Something about McGurney sending the note to his daughter in a sealed envelope with instructions to give it to Alan if anything ever happened to him. So a little after McGurney showed up dead, it arrived in the mail.”
He growled.
“I don't like this.”
“I don't like it, either, but Alan is hellbent on giving the family closure. As far as they know, McGurney was murdered in cold blood for no reason at all.”
“I need time to sort through this. And I need that note.” He looked pensive and concerned, stealing an uneasy glance at me.
“Sean. What are you going to do?”
“I'm going to get it.”
“Sean,” I said in a cautionary tone, “you can't. I can't let you hurt him.”
“And I won't if he doesn't make me.” My doubtful glare was met by an unfazed expression. “I'm going to break into his house and take it. Preferably when nobody is home, but...”
“But? But what?” I asked frantically. “I don't like the 'but'.”
“But if he's there, I will deal with that.”
“You know I hate it when you use the term 'deal'. Nothing good ever comes of it.”
“I need the note, Ruby. End of story. Whatever it contains is a PC matter. Like it or not, I'm going to have to retrieve it, come what may.”
I closed my eyes, tried to slow my breathing, and reminded myself that the looming argument was one we would always have if I didn't learn, at some point, that Sean's job required certain actions be taken at times. He loved me and would never do anything deliberately to hurt me. And killing Alan would do just that. However, he had a duty to uphold for
the greater good. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, that greater good covered my ass as well.
“Promise me that you will only harm him if there is absolutely no other way.”
“Ruby,” he replied, his voice softer than before; his vibrant, newly green eyes reflected his sincerity. “I don't want to hurt Alan. If something happens, it will only be because my hand was forced.” With a great inhalation, I nodded once, expressing my satisfaction with his answer. It earned me a sad smile in response. “So, do you have any other drama to lay on me before we get to implementing my new meeting dress code?”
“You're not going to go over there right now?” I asked, my utter disbelief written across my face.
“No,” he said, closing the distance between us in the blink of an eye. “You handled him well enough for tonight. Now, I think it's time someone handles you...”
Giggling wildly while he pinned me on my back to the sofa, I soon realized just how much I liked being interrogated while naked.
Chapter 8
I drifted off to sleep in Sean's arms, the sensation of safety and calm twining round me softly. In the space between wakefulness and slumber, my mind wandered casually. But this didn't last long. I was asleep in no time.
And that's when I heard it.
A murmuring, low and distant, subtly wove its way into my subconscious. Voices echoed through my mind, amplifying slowly, though still distorted. I could not recognize them, though I sought the source of the mysterious conversation with fervor. There was something about the voices—they were familiar, yet not.
“Interesting,” a male voice drawled.
“Can you do it?” the woman replied.
“I can do anything...”
I ran through the darkness of my mind now, hoping to happen upon the scene that was unfolding audibly while I slept―the memory just barely eluding me. With every mental step I took, my anxiety rose.
“Fine. What now?” she asked, the husky tone of her voice becoming clearer.
“Now we make arrangements.”
A silhouette. I could finally make one out as the memory came into focus. A man, large and imposing, stood in the lifting darkness.
“Make them quickly. I can't subdue her forever.”
Scarlet. It was Scarlet talking.
“You understand that there will be no turning back,” he warned as if he had before.
“Just make it happen.”
Every nerve in my sleeping body fired.
Ares. She was talking to Ares. The two of them were conspiring in the darkness―a darkness that was no longer caused by my sleep-hazed mind. The memory was too clear. I could make out where they were, but I did not recognize their location.
“Outside assistance will be required in this endeavor. I'm sure you understand,” he said, his sly smile twisting his expression into an evil mask of delight. As if on cue, a shadow slowly emerged from the pitch black, causing every survival instinct in my subconscious to want to flee the situation. Terror like I'd never felt in my life shot through me like lightning. More disturbing still, I could feel that fear shoot through Scarlet as she stood before the enemy, asking for his aid, though to what end I couldn't begin to fathom.
The oppressive shadow drifted nearer until my sanity started to waver in its presence. Scarlet itched to escape it as well, but she stood her ground like the crazy bitch she is. The second its inky form reached for her, my mind snapped closed, slamming the door on whatever I was seeing.
I shot awake with a scream.
“Don't let it touch me!” I shrieked, batting away an assailant that was not present. “Don't let it touch me! Don't let it touch me!”
“Ruby!” Sean yelled, shackling my arms in his hands to keep me from scratching his naked chest wildly. After a moment of staring at him in the dimly lit room, I realized that he was not the enemy. The shadow existed only in my mind.
Or did it?
“What's wrong? What did you see?” Sean pressed, thrusting his face toward mine. His eyes tried their best to see the answers I was unable to give him in that moment. Terror paralyzed me in every way possible. “Ruby, you must tell me.” His words were soft and caressing, but they were an order nonetheless. My green-eyed god was no longer in charge. The handler was emerging, and he would not be sated until he had the answers he needed to keep me safe.
“I don't...I don't know what just happened, Sean. It all seemed so real.”
“Tell me what you saw.”
“Ares. I saw Ares. Scarlet was talking to him. I could hear them....” Panic wracked my body yet again. “Oh my God, Sean. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't a dream at all. That actually happened,” I rambled, my brain working overtime while adrenaline surged through my body. “Shit! Holy shit, Sean! They were planning something. Something awful, I just know it.”
“What was said?” he asked, his voice low and menacing. “Don't leave anything out.”
“She asked if he could do something, and he said yes, that they needed to make arrangements, and that someone else would have to be involved.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes...but it doesn't make much sense. I couldn't tell where they were, but it was dark and shadowy, and I swear one of the shadows moved—it reached for Scarlet. It scared me shitless, and that's when I woke up.”
My breathing was harsh and erratic, my body heaving with every inhalation.
“I want Scarlet out here. Now. I am tired of these fucking games of hers. She will answer my questions, and she will do so until I am satisfied with the details she has provided.”
I closed my eyes, wanting to calm myself before trying to convince Scarlet to come forward. She had never alluded to what she had done while she was out and I was locked away in my mind. All she'd maintained was that it was over—no sense in dredging up the past. Sean and I clearly disagreed with her, and the time for leniency with her tight-lipped behavior was long past.
The caged bird was going to sing, whether she liked it or not.
“You can't hide from this anymore,” I said aloud to her.
You do not trust me, do you?
“How can I when I hear and see things like what I just relived?”
Not all is what it seems, Ruby. I have told you that it is all over now. You need not worry about that which can no longer harm you.
“I'm going to find out though, can't you see that? Whatever barrier once existed is crumbling. Why not just tell me now?”
Because some things are too difficult to explain.
“And what I saw?”
Was a mistake. You have made many in your time. Would you hold me to a standard that you yourself cannot live by?
“Did Ares deliver what you asked for?”
He did.
“So you're in his debt?” I asked, my voice high and shrill.
I am not. I owe him nothing.
“And the shadow? What the fuck was that?” I could feel her fear spike at the mention of it.
That too is a thing of the past. Sean is wasting his energy by pursuing this, of that I can assure you. Getting a handle on London would be a much better use of his time. It seems as though everyone has forgotten that I can keep you safe. His services are not required in that endeavor.
“His services sure are if it's you he's trying to keep me safe from!”
As I have told you during recent weeks, that is not the case.
I sighed, exhaustion setting in while my body came down from its adrenaline high. Sean stood by, assessing me while I finished my conversation with Scarlet. He never interrupted us once. When it came to Scarlet, he knew that he couldn't force her hand, though it frustrated him. He would not hurt me to get to her. He'd done that once, and the guilt he'd felt that night—and every night since—was nearly suffocating at times, if he dropped his guard enough for it to come through.
“She insists that whatever happened is done with, Sean. I can't seem to compel her to tell me any more than you can. I don't know what to say...or do, for that ma
tter. It's a stalemate, plain and simple.”
He growled.
“Do you believe her?” he asked, and I shrugged. “No, Ruby, think. Do you believe her? What do you feel from her?”
I considered his question in more depth.
“There's a sadness to her that was never there before the night she blocked me out. She's been sullen, despondent, and distant. She rarely talks to me even when provoked. Her side comments are nonexistent, even when the boys do ridiculous things.”
His eyes narrowed.
“That sounds like guilt to me.”
“Or shame,” I added. “She said she made a mistake, Sean. One that she seems convinced will no longer have repercussions. She implored me to see that I too fuck things up quite regularly. And, let's be honest, she has a point.”
“Regrettably, she does.”
“She said your energy would be best focused on London.”
“I bet she did.” He looked at me for a moment, silently calculating something in his mind. I knew enough not to interrupt him when he was so deep in thought, though it made me nervous as hell. Sean contemplating anything that long didn't bode well.
“I think I may have a solution to this problem, but I need to look into something first. For now, I'll drop it, but Scarlet cannot hide forever. If something happens to you because of whatever 'mistake' it is that she made, know that I will punish her. There will be no end to my creativity in finding a way to serve up her just desserts, does she follow me?”
Indeed...
“Yeah, she's following.”
“Good. Now, it's too early to get up; shall we go back to bed?”
The thought of drifting into Scarlet's memories scared the shit out of me, but at two in the morning, what else was I going to do? I crawled back under the sheets, snuggling up so tightly against him that there wasn't room for the shady images that Scarlet was withholding from me. I laid my head on Sean's chest, listening to the slow and controlled beat of his heart. It lulled me, calming my anxieties, but sleep never found me. For hours, I stared across Sean's body and out the large windows in his bedroom.
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