Ruby was quiet for a long moment as she regarded Beth, those dark eyes studying her. “Come inside.”
Beth glanced at Kaleb. He was hesitant but followed behind her. Ruby wouldn’t harm Beth, she'd made that clear when she'd sent Kaleb fifty thousand volts without ruffling a single strand of hair on Beth’s head.
They went to the breezeway door where the barn was attached to the house and Ruby pushed it open. As soon as the air from inside the house hit his nose, he grabbed Beth's arm and pulled her back.
“Vampires, Ruby?”
Ruby stopped in the doorway and faced them. Beth’s arm was trembling under his hand. The poor girl was being hammered with more information than her brain could process.
Ruby rolled her eyes. “One vampire.”
Kaleb scented the air again. It was too powerful. “One?” he snorted. “You’re either lying or that’s one nasty motherfucker.”
His beast may have been wounded by the electricity but now it was pacing inside him again. He wasn’t going to bring Beth into a house with vampires. His fingers itched where he held onto her, nails slowly changing into claws.
“Relax, Azarov,” Ruby snapped. “I'm not explaining his presence to you. As you can see, the curtains are open. He’s not going to be entering this part of the house until the sun goes down.”
Beth pulled her arm out of his grasp and took a deep breath. “Kaleb?” She was asking his permission to go inside.
He didn’t like it, not one bit, but he nodded his reluctant approval. She stepped inside first, and he followed close behind her. A large pot simmered on the stove, steam rising and filling the air with an odd fragrance. It may be a potion, it may be lunch. One never knew with witches.
If Kaleb had to guess, it was there to cover the scent of the vampire. It was upstairs, judging from the strength of the odor.
“Where's Carey?” Beth asked when Ruby waved at her to sit at the kitchen table.
“Upstairs,” Ruby replied. “She’s not going to come down right now.”
Beth inched away from Ruby, on guard. Kaleb read between the lines but wasn't going to lay it out to Beth that her friend was most likely feeding, or recently fed, the vampire.
The information helped him relax. A starving vampire was one thing but one with a full belly wasn't going to look at Beth as a food source until he was hungry again. There was no way in hell Ruby would ever let something happen to her granddaughter. If she was allowing the feeding, he was a vampire she trusted with both their lives. Or she was a fool, but he didn’t think that was the case.
“Sit down," Ruby said. “Let me get the cards.”
“Cards?” Beth asked, looking toward Kaleb when Ruby scampered out of the room.
He shrugged, pulling out a chair for her and then sitting down himself. It didn’t take Ruby longer than a minute to come back into the kitchen carrying a small wooden box. Sitting across from Beth, she pushed the box toward her. It was covered with carvings, symbols he didn't understand.
“Open the box, Beth," Ruby said, her voice low. “Pick up the cards and shuffle them.”
Slowly, Beth opened the box. When she looked inside, she jumped. There, sitting on top of navy cardstock sat a rattlesnake's rattle.
“It's not going to bite you. The teeth are found at the other end,” Ruby said with a laugh. “Just brush it out the way.”
“It's creepy.”
Ruby shrugged. “It's for protection. Made you not want to touch those cards, didn't it?”
Kaleb lounged back in the chair, his hands behind his head as he observed the interaction between the women. He never had much exposure to the practices of witches. There was common knowledge, such as the use of potions, spells, and divination, but he'd never seen much of it used in person except for the occasional spell. The pain from the earlier jolt may be gone, but even now the static lingered.
He didn't need any more exposure to spells.
Beth pushed the rattle off the top of the deck and picked up the cards, holding them in her hands. Ruby pulled the box out of the way as Beth began shuffling, her hands clumsy.
One card fell out, face down, while she shuffled. When Beth went to pick it up again, Ruby stopped her.
“No,” she said. “This one is important.” Without turning it over, Ruby slid it away from Beth.
“How long should I shuffle?”
Ruby shrugged. "Are you done?”
“Yes?”
“Then put them down and cut them into three separate piles.”
Beth did as she was instructed, and Ruby sat up a bit more in her chair.
“Pick a pile and hand it to me.”
Beth hesitated a moment, her eyes going from one pile to another before finally choosing the one on her right. She picked it up and held it out to Ruby.
Ruby took the cards from her and began laying them out on the table. “Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit," she muttered under her breath. Her knowing eyes darting from one picture to another before glancing back up at Beth.
“Why is it bullshit?” Kaleb asked.
“Hush, beasty, I'm concentrating,” she snapped at him before turning her attention back to Beth.
Ruby put the cards back into a single pile with the exception of the one that had fallen out and handed them back to Beth.
“Close your eyes, Beth. Clear your mind and stop worrying about everyone else. Stop worrying about Azarov, for one. I don't need to see his intentions, I already know them.” Dark eyes cut to him and he looked away from her, unease flowing through him.
Ruby knew more about him than he probably knew about himself. Uncomfortable didn’t even begin to describe what he felt when she looked at him.
“I need to know about you,” she said when she looked back at Beth. “Focus on your own path. Your past, your present, and your questions for the future."
Kaleb didn't miss the small shake of Beth's hands as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. After a second, she started shuffling again, this time her movement was smoother. More graceful. Repeating the process, she cut the deck in three before handing the pile in the center to Ruby.
Ruby spread the cards out in front of her again.
“Better,” she murmured as she surveyed the results.
Kaleb leaned forward. The pictures were dark, none of them denoting what he would think of as being a good outcome. Some just had roman numerals on the top, others had actual words.
Two cards stuck out to him more than any of the others. This first one depicted a skeleton in black armor riding a white horse. The horse trampled over the corpses lying in a field as it headed toward a setting sun. Or was it a rising sun? The word ‘death’ was written across the bottom.
The second was a medieval tower. A large bolt of lightning was shown striking the top of the tower. Fire spewed from the windows as people, screams of terror etched on their faces, jumped to their deaths on the rocks below.
He didn't know which card was more unsettling.
“Let me guess,” he said with a snort, “you're going to predict she’s going to fall out a window and die.”
The static on his skin turned from a light tickling to a sharp zap. It didn't last for longer than a second but it shut him up.
Beth studied the cards almost as hard as Ruby did. She may not know what they meant but it was apparent she was curious as to their meanings. The scent of the magic clinging to her skin intensified.
After what seemed like an eternity, Ruby sat back on the creaking chair and focused on Beth. With a sigh, she said, "You're in trouble, but it's different than what we initially expected.”
Kaleb listened with interest. What trouble had Ruby expected?
Pointing to the death card, she continued, “This isn't death in the true sense, it denotes rebirth. It is the death of your old way of life but I have a feeling you already knew your life would never be the same.”
Beth nodded. “How could it be?”
"Exactly.” Ruby turned her attention to the tower.
“This card, however, I didn't anticipate.”
Flipping over another card, Ruby placed it on top of the tower. A person laid slain on the ground, ten swords protruding from his back.
“Someone wants you dead," Ruby said, “and they're going to succeed if you're not careful.”
One more card was turned over, followed by another. The cardstock snapped against the wooden table top. Beth’s hands were shaking more than they had before.
He had to tell her about Gabriel and Lila. He had to tell her about their plight. While he didn't expect the council enforcement to descend without first learning about Gabriel, it was still an unavoidable future judging by what Ruby was probably seeing on the cards.
“Listen to me, Beth,” Ruby said, leaning forward and taking Beth’s hands in her own. “Right now, you control your own destiny to a certain extent.”
Beth let out a quivering breath.
“This,” Ruby said, releasing one of her hands and pointing to the death card, “is inevitable. However, the rest of it? It can be manipulated because now you know it's coming.”
“How?” Beth asked as Ruby dropped her other hand and climbed to her feet.
"There are many different ways but you only need one." Ruby began opening drawers in her kitchen, shuffling around their contents as she looked around. “The future is a peculiar thing. There are so many different options, so many different possibilities, and right now that card is the direction in which you’re heading.”
Ruby put a tiny black bag on the counter. It was too small to hold much of anything, but she set to work, clipping stems from the dried herbs that hung over the sink.
Muttering unintelligible words, Ruby filled the bag. She disappeared from the room only to scurry back a few seconds later. There were two small stones in her hand, and she held them out for Kaleb to see.
“Black tourmaline and labradorite,” she said before dropping them into the bag.
His knowledge about the stones was lacking. The only thing he'd ever learned was that they were both for protection. Cinching the bag shut, she pulled the long strings, tying them together. It looked like a giant, ugly necklace. Ruby grasped Beth's hand and placed it on her palm.
“Keep it on you at all times, understand?”
Beth nodded.
“I'm serious. Wear it around your neck. Shower with it. Do not take it off.”
Beth put it around her neck, letting the satchel fall in between her breasts. She adjusted her shirt, hiding it beneath her scrub top.
Ruby nodded, satisfied, before turning to Kaleb. “You need to know that the spell she wears is temporary. You have about three days before its power is spent. It will help keep her safe but it will not keep her alive if someone comes for her. Only she - and you - can do that.”
Something was coming for them. Kaleb wondered how much Ruby saw and how much she wasn't telling them. Maybe she didn't know what it was. She didn't say and he wasn't going to ask, certain he wouldn’t get an answer.
“What about Carey?" Beth asked, rising to her feet.
Ruby waved her hand, dismissing Beth's concern. “Sweetheart, you’ve been friends with Carey for how many years? Twenty?”
Beth nodded. “Something like that."
“It was when you started school," Ruby said, a smile playing on her thin lips. “I remember her coming home, telling me she'd met a human girl she could trust named Beth. She told me that you’d never betray her, she'd seen it."
“I would never.”
Ruby nodded. “Exactly. Carey has been open with you - all of you - about what she is since she was small. Of course, none of you ever believed there was any real merit behind it. She was just a little off.”
Beth's cheeks flushed.
“Oh no, don't be embarrassed,” Ruby told her with a chuckle, “Carey is considered out there, even for a witch. She’s brilliant, she’s powerful, but her greatest asset is all of you. Trust me when I say that at this juncture in time, you don't have to worry about Carey. You'd help her by helping yourself. Keep yourself safe so she doesn't have to waste precious energy worrying about you.”
“Andrea—” Beth started.
Shaking her head, Ruby stopped her thought. “Beth, Andrea is fine. You may not realize it, Andrea may not even realize it. You remember what spell you girls cast?”
Beth nodded. “It was a love spell.”
“No, it wasn't. It was a binding spell. All of you repeated the Latin, although I supposed you didn't understand it,” Ruby said with a sigh. “You girls bound yourselves to custos bellator. A guardian warrior. A protector. Andrea has found hers, whoever he may be, just as you found yours."
Kaleb was on his feet, listening to Ruby in disbelief. When she held out an arthritic finger in his direction, Beth turned to face him, eyes wide. He'd agreed to be her protector - her guardian warrior - but he'd done it of his own volition.
Hadn't he?
He was one to always believe he controlled his own destiny. Listening to Ruby, he began to doubt his previous beliefs. Gabriel was determined to protect Lila, Declan had agreed to watch Natalie without a single argument. He might have dragged his feet about Beth but he wouldn't have left her floundering. Never.
The spell cast by Carey and the women had sucked him, his brother, and his cousin into this...whatever this was. The spell that had put the women in danger to begin with was the same one used to keep them protected.
He scratched his head.
“What's really going on, Ruby?” he asked her.
Fear flashed in her dark eyes and in that second, she confirmed it was much larger than one little binding spell. “I’ve said enough. You have all the information you need. It’s time to go.”
As much as he wanted to argue with her, the static running over his skin reminded what happened to him when he pissed off the witch. Kaleb touched Beth's shoulder, steering her toward the back door. She opened the door and then hesitated. Turning, she looked around Kaleb's arm.
“Ruby, thank you,” she said. “Please, tell Carey I love her.”
“She already knows, sweetheart,” he heard Ruby say as they stepped outside.
Once the kitchen door closed behind the werewolf and her granddaughter's human friend, Ruby went back to the table where Beth's cards laid.
Something was coming for Beth and it wasn't the warlocks as she’d anticipated. Beth would be lucky if she survived the upcoming altercation. The spell would help but it wouldn't be enough to sway her destiny in one direction or another.
Sitting down at the table, she turned over the remainder of Beth's cards, trying to determine what other information she could glean about the girl but there was nothing of substance. With a sigh, she picked up the single card that had fallen from the deck the first time Beth shuffled. When she had been too fixated on the werewolf sitting next to her to focus on her own destiny.
She turned the card and immediately recognized the significance.
A man and a woman stood together, exchanging their goblets. Two of Cups.
Azarov could save her, just not in a manner any of them would've anticipated. Ruby erupted into a fit of laughter.
7
There was so much Beth didn’t understand about the world around her but at least now she knew Carey was safe as was Andrea.
She shivered in her seat as Kaleb drove them back to the bar. What had Carey done? The dominos were falling all around her and she no longer knew what to think. The accidental spell was no accident. Her life was in danger but she already knew that.
Nothing made sense so she stopped trying to make everything fit into pretty little molds, complete with labels. There were a few constants in her life at that moment and she clung to them. First, Kaleb was her protector - her guardian warrior - who was bound to her.
Weird.
Second, her friends had their own protectors looking out for them. They didn't require her fretting. At that moment, the only people she had to focus on was herself and Kaleb. The knowledge was oddly fr
eeing.
Her life before the binding spell and Kaleb was no longer recognizable. Just that morning, she’d been so focused on going to work. Obsessed with earning enough money to get out of her shitty little apartment with her crazy roommate. But now, what did it matter? It didn’t if she was dead.
Disgusted with herself and her actions, she stared out the window. Trees and bushes threatened to overtake the narrow two-lane road. Even the town looked different to her. The two-story hospital wasn’t the same. The small independently owned businesses that had been there her entire life didn’t hold the same rustic charm.
The people in town? She didn’t know who was friend or foe. Faces she’d known since she was small hid all kinds of secrets. Hell, she’d known Kaleb for years and never knew he was a werewolf until that moment in Lila’s living room.
There was so much she didn’t know. Cantor had once been a haven to her. That was a significant reason why she’d chosen to stay, willing to battle the harsh winters alone rather than following her parents to sunny Florida.
Glancing at Kaleb, his large hands gripping the steering wheel as he drove, she wondered what he was thinking. She didn’t want to talk to him about what Ruby had revealed to them. Part of her felt guilty about inadvertently dragging him into this situation. She’d completely upset his life.
“I’m sorry,” she said as he parked the truck in the alley behind the bar.
He had his hand on the door, about to push it open, when she spoke.
Dropping his hand, he turned to face her, brows furrowed in confusion. “Sorry for what?”
She was sorry for so many things, she didn’t know where to start. Taking a deep breath, engrossed with his questioning green eyes, she unloaded. “I’m sorry I stole your truck. I'm sorry I didn’t listen to you. I’m sorry I’ve been nothing but a nagging pain in the ass since I got here. You don’t deserve it. And more than anything, I’m sorry you got dragged into this mess.”
She blew out a long breath, relieved to get her thoughts off her chest. She’d been so anxious for all the wrong reasons. Why now, when Ruby had warned her of impending doom, did she finally feel relaxed?
Wild and Untamed (Netherworld Series Book 4) Page 12
