Ruby’s Pride

by Romy Lockhart

  I don’t want to feel sorry for him, but I can’t seem to help it. He’s been waiting all this time for something and when it comes along he can’t keep it. “I wish I could stay.”

  He looks me over, double-takes at my bikini as if just realizing I changed, and shakes his head. “You will be in great danger if you stay, Ruby. We need to find a way to get you home.”

  “The thing that tried to drown me didn’t try to come for me last night,” I say. “Do I have to be in water for him to get me?”

  Corwin shakes his head. “It is one of the few ways he can attack during daylight, but the water must be deep. He moves in darkness. I believe you were lucky last night. He must not have been present in our world.”

  “Wait, what do you mean?” Not present? Like he isn’t always here?

  “We do not know what he is, but he is not of Oz. He came here several years ago seemingly intent to rid this world of its magic. Our world was just beginning to get over the chaos caused by the evil witches who were killed during Dorothy’s first visit. We were rebuilding. Things were becoming so much better. Now, there is evil once more in this place. It came for our good witches and they are no more.”

  “No more?” I don’t like the sound of that.

  “We do not know what became of the witch from the south. She has never been found. The witch from the north is frozen in ice. Attempts have been made to free her, and all that happens is her would-be rescuers are cursed with the same fate.”

  I look up as the floorboards creak behind him. Ax walks in with a plate. I smell the food and sit up, removing my hand from Warner’s mane.

  “What smells so good?” I ask, taking the plate from him. It looks like small chunks of beef with a colorful salad. There’s an old looking wooden fork and he places a cup of water on the nightstand.

  “It is cooked,” he tells me. “We know humans do not eat raw meat.”

  I take a bite and less than a minute later I’ve devoured the entire contents of the plate. I don’t really know what it tasted like, I realize, and I don’t care. My stomach isn’t aching from hunger any longer and I don’t feel so weary that I could sleep all damn day. I drink the water quickly.

  I realize they’ve all been watching me as I put the plate down.

  “Thank you, Ax.”

  He nods, his smile giving away how pleased he is that I’m grateful. He’s adorable really. Away from Ransom, I mean.

  “Leave us, now,” Corwin tells his blond brother, mild irritation in his gaze.

  “But...”

  “I know you did not know what Ransom’s plan was, but you still conspired with him to take Ruby out of Oz without mine or Warner’s council or consent. We are her chosen mates. My trust in you has been shaken. As I’m sure Ruby agrees. Leave us, now.” His final statement is made firmly.

  Ax leaves the room with his head down.

  “He was shocked when he realized what happened out there,” I tell him, trying to defend Ax a little though I probably shouldn’t. Corwin is right. Those two conspired together. Maybe Ax hadn’t realized exactly what he was conspiring to do, but he was still complicit.

  “I am sure he was, but we are your mates, Ruby. We must protect you, even if that is against one of our own.” He leans in to kiss my lips briefly.

  I realize he doesn’t know Ax is apparently also mated to me because I let him finger me and lick me out. Since he wasn’t actually the one who caught us before. It makes me wonder about the whole ‘mates’ thing though. I mean, I’m apparently mated to Warner without having done a thing with him.

  “How does mating work, exactly?”

  He raises an eyebrow. “I believe you know exactly how it works from what we did in the woods together.”

  “No. I mean, I know how to mate. Obviously. I just don’t understand what makes me mated to one of you, like why am I mated to Warner?”

  He smiles. “Aside from becoming wet and ready for mating when he lifted you to carry you here, your eyes flashed gold at him while we were talking about mating on the walk to this cabin.”

  “They flashed gold?”

  “It is a sign of compatibility, of acceptance. They did the same when I drove you down onto my cock in the woods. It doesn’t always happen right away, but when it does, it means there is no doubt.”

  “I didn’t even notice it happening,” I say, wondering if it happened when Ax was tonguing me. He seemed pretty sure I was his mate after that, and Ransom had seemed to agree, even if it made him irritable.

  “I’m not sure what happens with humans, but when lions meet the mate they are meant for they know it right away. There is no tell-tale physical sign. It is as if our hearts are suddenly full, our spirits are suddenly made whole. That is how I felt when I laid eyes on you. I am certain it is how Warner felt too.”

  Warner is still in lion form beside me, keeping me warm and looking content with his head down and his good eye closed. It would be so easy to lay down between these two and go back to sleep. I feel safe and warm. I don’t need anything more than this.

  They want me to stay. I want to stay. So what’s the problem? I mean, besides the ghost thing that’s been trying to kill me and the denial I’m in by trying to stay in this fantasy?

  I need to find a way out of here and I know it. The Well wasn’t the answer, but I’m certain there are other options I can try. At least if we try, staying won’t seem like such a sin when it doesn’t work out.

  I think of the note that was in my bag, and the witch from the north who’s been frozen. I think I know what I have to do.

  “How far is it to get to where the good witch is frozen?”

  “It is many days worth of travel. Across some treacherous plains. Without shelter at times.” Corwin sounds uncertain as his mouth sets in a firm line. “It will be dangerous.”

  “Then we should prepare for that,” I tell him, changing my outfit into a skin-tight cat-suit. I picture black but it turns white immediately. Damn. No-one ever looks bad-ass in white.

  “I like your method of preparing,” he tells me, stroking the material at my ankle. “Mostly because your other outfit was extremely distracting.”

  He gets up and leaves the room, allowing me to see how distracting my bikini actually was. These men are too good to be true. Damn them for walking around entirely naked one hundred percent of the time.

  I turn to Warner just as he shifts form beside me. His cock is just as engorged as his brother’s. I feel myself getting damp between the legs as his sleepy gaze pierces mine.

  He reaches out to stroke my face. I close my eyes and feel his lips brush mine. His arms lift me from the bed to bring me closer to him. I feel the shaft of his cock against my leg and I moan softly, wishing he’d rip my outfit and bring it home. It’s the briefest of torturously sexy kisses but I savor every second of it.

  He gazes at me for a few seconds before he gets up, holding out a hand to help me to my feet. I take it and slip into my heels while he’s still supporting me.

  It’s time to earn my way out of this place. Just when I was really getting to like it too.

  Chapter 15

  We’re ready to go within a few minutes. Considering these guys are used to wandering around naked there’s not much to pack, but I’m quickly informed they’ll need to bring some supplies to start fires for any food they need to cook for me. Since I feel about a million times better after my breakfast than I have in the last day, I’m happy to wait the extra minutes to leave. It’s only around the time that Ax is putting things into a woven bag for me that I realize something that causes me to panic.

  “Wait!” I say, looking around the living room area that joins to their kitchen. I lock eyes with Ax as he pauses what he’s doing, one hand inside the bag. “Where’s my purse?”

  “Your purse?” He seems confused for a second before understanding lights his eyes. “You dropped it at The Well.”

  Hell no. “And you didn’t think to pick it up?”

  Corwin seems to ca
tch the annoyance in my tone. He frowns at Ax just as I do the same.

  He shakes his head. “All I could think about in that moment was how badly Ransom had betrayed us. I was in shock, Ruby. I almost caused your death because I trusted him. I had to get you as far away from him as possible.”

  Okay, that kind of kills some of the anger that was building over the thought of losing my cards and my phone and... Shit. Wait. My cell. Why the hell haven’t I tried to use it yet? Maybe I could figure out what was happening if I could speak to Crystal. Maybe that’s what it would take to break me out of this fantasy. A cold, hard shot of reality.

  If I hadn’t already misplaced the damned purse, I might be hanging onto some kind of hope right now.

  “I need to get it back,” I tell them.

  “Then we will correct our course to pass by The Well,” Corwin assures me.

  “It’s not the same direction?” Of course it wouldn’t be. That’d be too easy.

  Corwin shakes his head. “It is a little out of the way, but perhaps it would be a good detour. There are abandoned houses we could sleep in at night, and it will be reaching nightfall when we arrive.”

  “Or perhaps Ruby is able to transport us there with her magic,” Ax says as he slings the bag over his shoulder.

  “Um, what?”

  “You were able to transport yourself in front of Ransom when he walked on far ahead of us.”

  Good point, Blondie. “I don’t know if I can do that for all of us.”

  But it does make me wonder if I could do it myself. I shiver as I think of The Well. That out of control falling feeling wasn’t pleasant. Thinking about what might have happened if my magic hadn’t worked was even less so. Yeah, I didn’t really want to go back there. But what choice do I have? I need my purse, and my dress!

  “You could try, and it would make our trip less lengthy.” Ax holds his hand out to me, and Corwin follows suit. Warner is still in lion form and barely glances at us.

  I take their hands. “What about Warner?”

  “He will catch up,” Corwin tells me, sounding certain.

  I watch his face carefully. There’s something more relaxed about his expression, about his whole posture, than there ever has been with Ransom. I don’t know how I could ever have mistaken the two of them.

  I nod, closing my eyes. I think about that creepy abandoned town and I picture being there, standing before The Well, on the side I ran to, to watch Ransom drop his stone into the water. It takes me a minute to imagine Ax and Corwin there with me. The air in the room changes and suddenly it’s cold all around me, and a light breeze is ruffling my hair around my shoulders.

  I’m there, and it’s not much brighter than it was last night. If the sun is shining in the sky, it’s not making it through the trees here. I glance around but I can’t see Ax or Corwin.

  “Guess it only works for me,” I murmur, glancing around carefully.

  Once I’m certain I’m alone, I look for my things. There should be a dress that transformed into a bag with red sparkly items peeking out somewhere on the ground. There’s nothing but leaves and twigs, and a weird-ass bug that I instinctively want to squish under my heel. I shudder as it skitters past, glancing at The Well once it’s gone.

  I wonder if Ransom took my stuff, or if there are looters around here. Maybe this little town only looks abandoned. There’s a grisly thought. A hoard of creeps could be watching me through broken windows right now. I should make this quick.

  I look around for a stone and take it with me as I go toward The Well. It’s pitch dark when I peer down, like it was last night. I drop the stone and wait.

  I look all around me every few seconds, until the flash of light from below makes me gasp. The stone went through a portal into an image with that blonde bunny-girl from Wonderland After Dark. The nightclub! Holy shit. Could this really be my way back there?

  “Ruby?” Ransom’s voice from behind makes me stiffen. I can tell by the tone it’s him, and then I can tell by the scowl he’s wearing when I turn his way.

  What if he was right about this portal?

  “Where’s my stuff?”

  “Your stuff?” He raises an eyebrow at me.

  “Everything I dropped when you shocked my magic out of me.”

  He laughs sharply. “You think I shocked your magic away?”

  Oh, screw him. I heft myself up onto the lip of The Well. His gaze barely falters as he watches. One flicker of panic is quickly glazed over with a self-assured, smug little smile.

  “You know what, it doesn’t matter. I’m sick to death of men taking everything from me. I’m out.”

  I’m ready to be free of this beautiful nightmare. I swing my legs over the ledge and I hear Ransom’s gasp when I jump into The Well. My breath catches on the exhale as I fall, gaze drifting upward just long enough to see him staring down at me, his expression hard. I feel the tingle of electricity as I re-enter the nightclub. My ears pop before I land unceremoniously on the black and white tiled floor. I can hear the music, but it’s not close by. The room I’ve dropped into looks like an office.

  I stand up, wondering why the hell I still seem to be wearing a white cat-suit. The ceiling is black and kind of glittery, but it’s definitely a ceiling. The black door in front of me opens and the blonde bunny-girl enters with a sympathetic smile on her face and a tray with two cocktails on it.

  “You have sixty seconds to make your choice,” she tells me, proffering the tray. “Either way, you’ll find the Witch’s Brew will pull you back to Oz until your task is complete. It’s up to you if you decide to go back with help.”

  I frown at her. Her sympathetic smile deepens.

  “So what’ll it be? The red drink allows you to see your friends anytime you like, but you won’t be able to interact with them. The blue drink allows you to speak with them, but you may only choose to do this once each, for Crystal and for Pearl.”

  She clears her throat. “Thirty seconds, Ruby. Tick tock.”

  Chapter 16

  Okay, this nightmare just stepped things up a level. Gee, let’s see, phone a friend or become a creepy-ass stalker. I think of my cell in my purse and wonder how that battery’s doing because I sure as hell don’t want to be taking more drinks off of this crazy bitch.

  “What the fuck was in that first drink?”

  “Twenty seconds, Ruby.” She sighs. “Why do the best ones always waste these chances?”

  “What did you do to me?”

  She smiles patiently. “I sent you to Oz. One of the seven magical realms. You’ve always secretly wanted this. Your friends had other aspirations. They went elsewhere. Last chance to ever see or speak to them again. Ten seconds and counting.”

  “What the hell do you mean, they went elsewhere?” You know what, I don’t care. The clock is ticking, and I might as well go all in. I pick up both drinks and down them in quick succession before I pull bunny-girl out of my path and clutch at the door handle. The damned piece of metal just spins all the way around when I touch it. The door won’t open.

  Then the nightmare flurry of smoke surrounds me and the floor starts to tilt under my feet. I hear laughter that sounds maniacal and I see glowing purple eyes through the smoke.

  Yeah, okay. I get it. I should not have drunk those drinks. What the hell is wrong with me?

  I stagger and fall on my knees, wincing at the hard concrete beneath me. Somehow the cat suit protected me from scraping up my knees but nothing’s going to stop them from bruising. I decide it’s the least of my worries as I get to my feet and gaze around the dark room. No, wait. It doesn’t exactly feel like a room. I reach out and touch the wall. My fingers get wet and a little slimy. Yuck. I use my magic to clean the grossness from my hands, then I turn my gaze skyward. The opening to The Well looks far away. My view of the gloomy wood darkens further as it’s obscured by a moody lion shifter. Damn. Even from all the way down here I know it’s Ransom.

  His muttering voice carries down The Well as he begins ta
lking to himself.

  “That stupid witch. Why would she do this? I should walk away. She must be dead. There’s no way she survived that fall. No way.” He sighs loudly before moving away.

  Then his legs swing over the opening and he jumps. I dart out of the way as he falls fast, stopping him inches from the ground with my magic and watching his eyes widen as his gaze falls on me.

  “You’re alive,” he says, his voice raw with emotion. For a split second, I would have sworn he actually gave a shit about me.

  “And you were almost a pile of broken bones.” I let him drop now that it won’t likely kill him.

  “You saved me.” He seems almost confused by that fact.

  “Well, I’m not a murderer like some people.” I cross my arms, daring him to deny it.

  He laughs. “You seriously think I tried to kill you before?”

  “I seriously do.”

  He shakes his head, all of the humor draining from his body. “We have to get out of here.”

  “What? Why?”

  The sheer terror in his gaze freaks me the hell out. He grabs my arm, a little too hard.

  “Ow! Let me go.”

  “Get us out of here, Ruby. Now.”

  I feel the strange vice-like grip of the ghostly creature clamping onto my ankles. I gasp as I stumble forward and feel the lip of the hard ground, my toes taking an icy-cold splash of water.

  My instinct is to transport myself out of The Well. I hesitate for one reason only. This is the bastard I need to kill to get out of this place. The task I need to fulfill to get home.

  Ransom’s grasp on my arm tightens. “Now, Ruby.”

  The urgency in his voice doesn’t help my fraying nerves. I don’t want to know how deep this well really is. I don’t want to be almost drowned a second time. Hell, almost? There were two big strong shifters to pull me back to the surface that time. There’s only one in here, and he’s enough of a prick to make me doubt he’d help without being forced to by his much nicer brother.