I don't trust him.
“You don't trust anyone.”
And that distrust has served us both well, has it not?
“Right. Until the day you went batshit crazy and locked me in my own mind,” I muttered, weaving through the maze of hallways. “Times when you distrust me, we have a situation.”
The reverse of that is equally problematic. When you no longer trust me, things tend to go sideways.
“I didn't betray your trust, Scarlet, but you sure as hell did mine.”
A regrettable consequence of something that was outside of my control at the time. Will you punish me forever for that breach? What penance would you like from me so that we may be over this?
“Tell me what you did.”
No. To do so would be to only worsen the situation, not improve it.
I let out a cry of frustration before pulling open the door to the bar staff area. It was full of PC brothers, murmuring amongst themselves.
“And did their stories corroborate?” a familiar voice asked.
Every hair on my body stood at attention.
Looking through the huddle of warriors, I noticed one in particular standing next to Trey. One that I hardly expected to see there at all. Sean was supposed to be out of town. That's what Jay had told me.
Liar.
I froze in place―I could barely breathe. Ignoring Sean when he wasn't in my presence was one thing. Maintaining that resolve when he was only yards away from me was another matter entirely. Thankfully for me, I didn't have to work hard to avoid him. He barely gave me so much as a sideways glance before resuming his conversation with Trey.
“And about the other matter?” he inquired, his tone as cold as ice.
“I am not sure. I left the room to report on the Virginia situation as soon as she was able to recall the details. You will have to ask Muses about the other.”
Tears stung the backs of my eyes, but I held them at bay. With my head held high, I walked past them while they talked about my little meeting with their resident muse. Because of the tight quarters, my shoulder brushed against Sean's arm lightly despite my best efforts not to make contact. I cringed and contorted my body to minimize the touch.
Once past him, I calmly but hurriedly made my way to the exit door, passing the public bar and the few patrons that had decided to start the night early. They were either fans of happy hour or I had been detained far longer than anticipated. Something about being around Muses did seem to lend itself to disorientation, as if time no longer mattered.
The only hurdle left between me and escape was Jay. He stood before the bank of doors, a look of sorrow aging his normally boyish face.
“I'm sorry, Ruby,” he said in apology, reaching his hand toward me. “I had no―”
“Don't!” I shouted, shrinking away from him. “Just don't.” Consolation from the man that had stabbed me in the back was hardly what I needed. Being far away from anything related to the PC was much more appealing.
I stumbled through the doors as though the building had ejected me. Once outside, I collected my balance and emotions on the sidewalk out front. Thankfully, there wasn't a line of onlookers there to witness my personal struggle. I don't know what I had expected from Sean when I saw him again, but it hadn't been cold indifference. The fact that I hadn't expected that reaction showed just how naïve I truly was when it came to him.
Wrong again, Ruby. Wrong again.
Feeling stupid helped me clear my mind, and once I felt fully composed, I started off toward the parking lot where Cooper was supposed to be waiting for me. I pulled my phone out to see how long I'd been in Vain. Much to my surprise, I'd been locked up with that freaky muse for close to four hours. Cooper was probably scaling the nearby buildings to try and keep himself sane. I had to wonder if Jay was guarding the entrance to the club because Cooper had tried repeatedly to crash Muses’ and my little meeting of the minds. The more I considered that possibility, the more likely it seemed.
The thought made me giggle.
Laughing a little too unstably while I crossed the street, I tucked my phone away and vowed to properly interrogate Cooper about the matter on our way home. It would serve two purposes really: to entertain me and to delay any potential conversation that would lead us to talk about Sean's presence at Vain. I knew Cooper would want to know what was discussed with Muses, but if I could hold it together, he wouldn't find out about just how awful my run-in with Sean had been―for me, anyway. Sean looked pretty damn fine about it.
I hurried around the corner and down the street toward the parking lot. The walk helped cleanse me; the fresh, crisp night air helped rebuild my resolve and my walls. I had previously thought my mind served me better with them knocked down, but I was starting to think that my upstairs loft wasn't the only thing made better by renovation.
I passed a few innocent club-goers and party hounds along my way, their laughter echoing off of the surrounding buildings. It trapped me in such a cage of false lightheartedness and enjoyment that I desperately wanted to surrender myself to the feeling. But I had no time for that kind of carefree living―not that evening. Maybe never. The best I could hope for was a safe trip home without any further disruptions.
That proved wishful thinking at best.
As I approached the final block before our agreed-upon meeting place, there were still plenty of people to be seen throughout the streets, enjoying their evenings. I walked past a twenty-something male, rifling through his pockets in search of something. As I did, he turned to speak.
“Hey, blondie. You got a light by chance?”
“Nope. Sorry. Don't smoke. You know that shit will kill you, right?” I replied with a wry smile before continuing on my way.
“Maybe...” His words drifted off slowly as if he was contemplating the potential outcome for the first time. I was mildly envious. I had contemplated death far more times than I cared to remember.
I glanced across the street, panning the passersby as I neared the lot. In the recessed doorway of one of the old red brick buildings stood a tall, darkly beautiful man. Even in the shadows, his face demanded your attention, and he clearly had mine.
He had Scarlet's too, but for all the wrong reasons.
“So I guess that means bumming a cigarette is out of the question too, then?” the desperate smoker called from behind me.
I want you to listen very carefully, Ruby. Scarlet's words were too calm and controlled for my liking. She, like Sean, was at her most dangerous when she lacked emotion. When I tell you to, you are going to start running and then let me take over.
“Why? What's gotten into you? He just wants a smoke.”
If you want to live, you'll do as I say.
“But―”
That was the second I felt it. A terror beyond belief overtook me―one that I had already relived in Scarlet's memories. It had nothing to do with my empath abilities. No, this was something else entirely.
Something I didn't want to stick around to investigate.
Unable to control the urge, I spun around quickly to see who was approaching. Fully expecting to see the smoker, I was surprised when nobody was in sight. Nobody at all.
Except the beautiful shadow man, his eyes still fixed upon me―his target.
Ruby, NOW!
I didn't need to be told twice.
I sprinted toward the car, letting Scarlet take over the second I could peel my terrified eyes from his. She had us over to and in the car in seconds. Screaming at Cooper to “drive the fucking car,” she helped him by slamming her weight onto his leg, forcing his foot onto the accelerator pedal so hard that he peeled out of the parking lot. While Cooper cussed a blue streak, the shadowy man magically appeared right before us in the street. Cooper yanked the wheel in an attempt to avoid him, but Scarlet righted it in an instant, forcing us to drive the car through the one that had inspired such terror in me―in us both.
I'm not sure what exactly I expected to happen. Mentally wincing away from the
impact I instinctively expected, I was somehow surprised when there wasn't one. I really shouldn't have been. Anything that had Scarlet that anxious to flee wouldn't have been human. A human would have been roadkill when hit by a sports car doing sixty-plus miles an hour; supernatural bad guys, however, were not. For a split second, I couldn't help but wonder when my reactions would be more appropriate for the life I lived.
Scarlet glanced over her shoulder to find the dark apparition staring her down from where he'd stood only seconds earlier. He did not look happy.
“What the fuck?” Cooper shouted, shoving her back into the passenger seat.
Who was that? What does he want? And why the fuck do you want to get away from him so badly?
“Would you two care to discuss your list of questions before presenting them to me? I'd be happy to step back and allow that in the name of efficiency. You know how I hate to be inconvenienced,” she said, feigning annoyance.
“Explain,” Cooper barked out, still driving like a madman.
Yeah. This is no time for your bullshit, Scarlet. If shit is getting serious, then it's time to come clean.
“I thought the 'shit' was over,” she ground out through gritted teeth. “Apparently, I was wrong.” She was fighting with something, though I had no idea what. Inconveniently, I didn't get a mental PowerPoint breakdown of what she was thinking. I needed to figure out how to control our new connection better so I could exploit it.
“What shit? What is this shit that isn't over?” Cooper asked, clearly irritated that Scarlet was ignoring his questions so that she could deal with me.
She paused momentarily before answering.
“Deep. It's really, really deep.”
That's super helpful, Scar. When is it not? Isn't that the only kind we know?
“We have never known shit this deep, Ruby,” she replied curtly. “And there has always been a way out before.”
I did not like the sound of that.
Judging by the rumble of Cooper's growl, which echoed throughout the TT, he didn't like it either.
And this time?
“This time, there is not.”
While Cooper verbally tore a strip off of Scarlet in an attempt to get the details, I rolled her final statement around in my mind, unsure of what to make of it. Scarlet had never given up on a fight. She was the one who had more than scolded me about that very behavior after the Rev attacked Ronnie in the alley and Ares had tried to have us killed. She read me the riot act about never giving up because she would always keep us alive. Hearing her newfound, defeatist attitude was far from comforting. If she saw no way out of the situation, how could I?
So what do you suggest we do? Run? Hide? Roll over and die? Seriously, you have to have some sort of trick up your sleeve.
“I'm afraid I don't,” she admitted, interrupting Cooper's rant. “But I think that perhaps someone else might.”
My skin crawled instantly. The thought of having to go to Sean for aid was unpalatable. I didn't want to see him, let alone beg him for help. I was stunned that Scarlet was even considering it. The fact that she was only further illustrated how desperate she was for a way out the situation she'd gotten us into. Her desperation gave me a far better sense of how deep the shit we were swimming in really was.
It made the ocean look shallow.
* * *
Forty minutes later, we rolled into Portsmouth.
Scarlet was still out, not willing to relinquish control on the basis that if we were to be attacked again it would be best for her to meet it, not me. I was hardly going to argue with her on that front, but if she was seriously worried about the shadowy man jumping into a moving vehicle, then we really were in deep shit.
As Cooper drove through the downtown streets, I was thankful that a thick cloud cover blocked out the majority of the moonlight from above. My windows were tinted, but only slightly. The last thing we needed that night was to have blood-red-eyed Scarlet be spotted by someone passing by.
Cooper, being the smart guy he is, still took side streets to further lessen the likelihood of being seen, but it also made for a rather circuitous route home.
When he started to pull down our road, Scarlet finally spoke up.
“Not home. The docks,” she said curtly.
Scarlet?
“We are going to get answers.”
“Answers from who?” Cooper asked, grudgingly doing as she had ordered.
“Gavin,” was her simple reply.
Before my brain could wrap itself around the idea, Cooper was rolling up to the docks. Once the car was parked, Scarlet hopped out and headed for the houseboat, her senses on full alert. Cooper wasn't far behind. Whoever had come after her had her spooked beyond belief. She seemed hopeful that Gavin would be both able and willing to help us, but I was far less sold on the idea. He knew things―all kinds of things―but he wasn't especially happy with me at that moment, and even less pleased with Scarlet. He also wasn't exactly one for action or exposure. Family or not, if Scarlet and I were going to have to go toe-to-toe with Captain Shadows, I doubted if Gavin would stand on the front line with us. He seemed like more of a keep-your-head-down-and-keep-going kind of guy. It had worked for centuries. It was hard to fault his logic when it had proved so successful for him.
Throwing etiquette aside, Scarlet pounded on the door, anxiously awaiting his response. When Gavin opened the door as his younger self, he looked oddly amused to see Scarlet standing there. Then he looked over to Cooper and his expression soured.
“The jig is up,” she growled, pushing her way into his home.
“What a surprise,” he said smugly.
“Not a pleasant one,” Scarlet sneered. “You and I need to talk.”
“About what? I couldn't possibly imagine.”
“About the one who is coming for Ruby.” Her words were clear, concise, and controlled, and they wiped the look of hubris right off his face. Shit was about to get real, and they both seemed to know it. “I thought that we had escaped her grasp, that I had found an inadvertent loophole to her deal. I was wrong.”
“She has sent someone to collect,” Gavin replied, his voice distant and detached.
“So it would seem.”
Collect? Collect what?
“You, Ruby,” she whispered softly. “He has come to collect you.”
Chapter 33
Holy. Shit. What the fuck did you do?
“We need to focus on finding a way out of this. You can get pissy with me later.”
Way out? You said there was no way out.
“Who did she send? One of her minions?” Gavin asked, an unfamiliar urgency in his tone.
“Deimos.” The way his name left Scarlet's tongue made every hair on our body stand on end, as if the mere mention of it was horror-inspiring enough.
Gavin took a few steps back to lean against the kitchen table, his brow furrowed.
“So it's the worst-case scenario then?”
“That is my estimation.”
The crease above his eyes deepened.
“Somebody better start making some fucking sense here and soon before I get really angry,” Cooper snarled from behind Scarlet.
“If you would like to remain here you will stand silently and await further instruction. Do you understand? We don't have time to waste,” Gavin said. He then turned to look at Scarlet, essentially dismissing Cooper's threat as though it was of no consequence. “I need to know exactly what transpired when you were down there. And this is not the time to mince details. Hiding things from me will only ensure that Persephone succeeds in getting what she wants.”
Scarlet was not pleased, but I could feel that she knew he was right. My mind was jumbled with the amassing questions I needed answers to, but they had to wait. If Gavin thought things were epically bad, I wanted them to hash out a plan before I had my interrogation meltdown. Even I could be practical during life-threatening emergencies.
“Once I arrived in the Underworld, I was taken directly to
her―across the Acheron. Somehow she already knew what I wanted. She seemed exceptionally motivated to give it to me.”
“I'm sure she did,” he muttered under his breath.
“She laid out her offer and the terms. I agreed to them. That was all.”
“What were her terms exactly?”
“She got to personally keep Ruby. She would be hers to do with as she pleased.”
“She always was a vindictive one,” Gavin spat, understanding the apparent subtext that eluded me. Judging by the look on Cooper's face, he was still struggling to keep up with Scarlet's confession.
“I would add determined to that.”
“Yes, well, you made a deal. Persephone is not one to forget that. She will receive payment for it one way or another. It is her nature.”
You made a deal with the fucking goddess of the Underworld? The death magic chick?
“Ruby, please,” Scarlet pleaded, rubbing her forehead in a very Sean-inspired fashion. “Her terms are no longer acceptable to me,” she continued. “I need you to find a way around this.”
Gavin scoffed at her words.
“Me? You would like me to clean up your mess? Perhaps you should have thought of that while you were making your deal with the devil. I've heard those never end well.”
“Apparently not, but you more than anyone else should realize that this not ending well means an eternity of torment for your niece, do you not?”
“Of course I do,” he shouted, tearing the bolted-down table off of the floor and sending it flying across the room. “And situations like this are why I despise you. I knew you were up to no good the second you went to Ares. Why else would you have had to go to someone that you and Ruby both loathed so deeply? I followed you then until I couldn't go any further, but I knew where you were going, and I feared for what you might agree to. You reeked of grief and mourning. Those two emotions make people do horribly irrational things.”
Something about his tone made me acutely aware of the fact that he was no longer just speaking about Scarlet. He had done something ill-advised in his past. I would have bet my life on it.
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