Ruby Morgan Box Set: Books 6-10

by LJ Rivers

  “Fudging Jumpers,” I said under my breath as I kneeled next to Erica and placed my hands on her. Her wounds closed up ever so slowly as my healing seeped into her. Before they were fully healed, she staggered to all fours, bowed her head at me, then set off towards Jen, who was now wrestling another wolf. Her opponent had beautiful copper fur and was slightly bigger than Jen. Erica snarled, but when Jen snarled back, she lowered herself to the ground without interfering in the fight. The copper wolf pounded its paws into either side of Jen.

  I sucked in a breath, then staggered back as the bear scrambled to his feet. He turned his enormous head to me and his feet slammed against my arms, forcing me to the ground. I found myself trapped underneath him. His heavy paws made me unable to move my fingers, let alone my hands or arms, and his sour breath caught in my nostrils and left my face damp. I wriggled and kicked to no avail. Spit trickled onto my forehead and I stared into his open muzzle. This was it. Death by bear. Of all the ways to go, I had not imagined this to be it.

  Resigned to my fate, I closed my eyes and waited for the bear’s final, lethal strike. It never came. The weight on my arms vanished, and I opened my eyes again to see the bear roll away from me inside a force field. Mum’s force field. I tried to push myself upright, but winced and cried out at the sudden agony in my arms. White bone was protruding from my right forearm, and my left looked distorted, twisted at an impossible angle. Tears sprang from my eyes in desperation as Mum moved towards me. Her hair had come undone, and her strawberry-blonde locks, crimson in the eerie light, whirled around her face. Her eyes were blazing with heat, though she had no fire in them. They were a strikingly clear and sparkling blue in the night. Her moss-green dress billowed around her feet as she came to crouch beside me, yet there wasn’t much wind at all. She turned her head this way and that, then placed her hands on my arms. A bright white light blinded my vision. I could hear bones snap into place as her energy seeped into me, soothing every nerve and cell of my body. When the light dimmed, I sat and stared at my healed arms.

  “Thanks, Mum. That was—”

  Mum smiled wearily, then swayed a little, and beads of perspiration coated her brow.

  “Mum?” I reached for her. She had spent far too much energy.

  Blue sparks cut through my vision. With my hands inches away from touching Mum, the world around me stilled. I grasped for her hand, but couldn’t get through the bubble I found myself in, so I conjured a force field around myself. I knew the Blacksmith had to be close, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Mum. Her mouth moved so slowly, it barely registered. Something changed, and I found myself on the other side of the time bubble. Then it broke. Bewildered, I took a step forward and reached for Mum again. But she was gone.

  Three wolves padded to my side. Jen raised her head and stared at the copper wolf, who whined and fell flat on the ground next to Erica. Then Jen looked at me.

  I shook my head. “Did you see where she went?”

  The bear was gone, too, and I couldn’t see Blackie or Gemma either. The rest of Blackie’s goons, however, stood by the Barracuda entrance, looking up. I followed their gaze and clasped a hand over my mouth.

  No!

  Fire flared in my veins. “Back up,” I told Jen.

  The two submissive wolves took their alpha’s lead and followed Jen closer to the entranceway on the far side of where the goons were standing.

  I couldn’t contain it. The fire burst out of me, flames licking around my feet. The ground nearby glowed like embers as my anger rose.

  “Release her,” I commanded.

  On the roof of one of the capsules, all the way on the top of the Eye, stood the bear, holding Mum limply in his arms. For how long had Blackie slowed time?

  “Back up, little Fae-Sorceress. Or I’ll tell him to drop her.” Blackie’s voice made me cringe.

  I snapped my attention downwards. He was sitting on the spiral staircase railing, his whip dangling by his feet.

  “Release her,” I repeated.

  “Leave now and take your wolves with you. When I’m sure you’re gone, I’ll release her. You have my word.”

  I scoffed while tendrils of flame snaked closer to the entranceway and Blackie’s goons. “Your word is worth nothing. Release her, and I might consider not torching the lot of you.”

  He tutted. “One false move, and I’ll merely stop time again. You might be able to secure yourself in a force field, but mummy dearest will be dead.”

  I glanced at Mum. She was so far away; I didn’t think I could reach her in time before Blackie made his last words come true. With more than a little effort, I called my fire back inside. Mum moved a little in the bear’s arms, and I let out a puff of air. At least she was OK for now. A ring of blue sparks lit up around her neck, and she spasmed in the bear’s hold. My relief had been premature.

  “Get that thing off her,” I yelled.

  “Now, now. That collar is my insurance. Can’t very well have her using her powers either, now can I?” Blackie laughed, a low raspy sound at the back of his throat that made me want to gag.

  The ground stirred, and he jerked, gripping the edges of the rail with one hand as the Eye started shaking.

  More Elementalists?

  I looked for them, but couldn’t see anyone. Of course, that didn’t mean there weren’t any left. Another tremble, bigger than the first, shook Blackie from the railing. He howled, worthy of any wolf, as he plummeted into the water.

  A flash of light stung my eyes, and I shielded them with my hand. The night lit up as if the sun was rising from above, and I fixed my eyes on Mum again. She glowed like a beacon, flashes of brilliance floating out of her in rippling succession. She was the light source? She shone like the brightest summer sun, flooding the sky in glowing waves of luminescent light. A touch of blue shimmered around her neck, and the sparks sailed down towards the water. I caught a glimpse of the broken electric collar before it disappeared from view.

  The bear backed up and slammed his head into the rim, dropping Mum on top of the capsule. Stumbling, he fell off and crashed through the mesh of steel bars, then tumbled into the spoke cables. Blood spurted from his body as one cable after the other sliced through him. He fell limp and dismembered on top of the bottom rim while cut-off chunks of him sploshed into the water below.

  I searched for Mum again but couldn’t see her, though I could still see the light she was shedding.

  “Jen,” I called, but the wolf had already bounded onto the glass roof. My breathing quickened, and fear ensnared me. Above her, the amber fox was charging up the cables. “Hurry!”

  Jen leapt onto the rim, alternating between it and a capsule, then another. Gemma the fox was already halfway to the top, however, and she was moving fast.

  There was no way I could catch up with either of them, so instead I bolted for one of the lamps and climbed up, hauling myself to the glass roof. It didn’t work as intended, as my view wasn’t much better from there. I sprinted across the roof and hurled myself onto the spiral stairwell, almost missing the platform. I climbed the stairs, but eventually they stopped, too. Leaning out, I turned my head up. The fox bounced from the rim and planted her feet on the capsule where Mum lay, disappearing from my line of sight.

  Jen was closing in, but not fast enough.

  Peeking over the edge, Gemma, now in her human form, stuck her head out. The flashes of light had dimmed, leaving a gentle burning hue in the sky. Gemma grinned at me as Jen leapt onto the nearest capsule.

  My crazy ex-flatmate bared her teeth, then shoved Mum off the side of the capsule just as Jen entered it. The white wolf bounded past Gemma and didn’t hesitate before jumping after Mum.

  It was as if I were inside one of Blackie’s time bubbles. Time was moving disturbingly slowly. My fire wanted out, and it was battling my emotions along with every other power in my possession. Searching for the right strands of magic, I managed to grab hold of my force fields and hurled two of them into the air. The first one wasn’t quick
enough. It swooped above Mum, who was still plummeting limply towards the treacherous surface below. The second, however, wrapped around Jen and left her hovering about fifty feet above the water. Holding onto Jen, I sent another force field out. Mum hit the surface with a sickening crash, as if she had slammed into stone, and my force field swept above her a fraction of an instant too late.

  I pulled Jen to me with more force than I intended and released her about a foot off the ground on the walkway. Staring into the dark depths, my body shivering, I climbed over the railings. My heart thumped in my chest as the thought of the water enveloping me made the hairs on my neck prick up. But I couldn’t linger. I had to jump. So I did.

  The rails slipped from my hands, and I landed feet first in the tepid water. All the sounds of the night disappeared, leaving only my thoughts and my sight. My heart raced, and I blinked my eyes rapidly. Pushing my fear to the side, I conjured a globe of flame in my hands, released it, and kicked with my feet. The water held me in its dreadful embrace while I kept kicking myself further into its murky depths.

  My head throbbed as I traversed the darkness. Shadows and darkness. The shadows called out for me, begging me to merge with them. I let myself sink further; the fireglobe was flaring somewhere above, shedding a gloomy light through the shadows.

  My hands connected with the bottom, and I released another globe. I had no idea how deep it was, but to me it felt like the bottom of the Atlantic. There was nothing here, only sand, rocks, and trash. My throat clogged, and I jerked, grabbing for air. As I gulped down a mouthful of muddy water, I turned so my feet could kick against the bottom. My arms flailing, I swam through the shadows again. And again, they called for me, whispering in my mind. I looked for the hand that had pulled me out once before, though I knew he wouldn’t come. And yet, I called for him. Somewhere at the back of my mind, I screamed his name.

  Auberon! Help me, Father!

  The shadows gathered around me, swallowing my fire, clutching onto me as if aiding my ascent. As if pushed by an invincible force, I rushed against the surface and shot out of the water. No, I shot through the shadows. Surrounded by prisming images, I saw him. He was there only for an instant before I tumbled back out on the ground in front of the Eye.

  Coughing, I expelled the water that felt like it came from my lungs, then heaved for breath. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. Shakily, I got to my feet and went back to the stone rails, my heart thumping in my chest.

  Where are you, Mum?

  Had she come back up while I searched for her? Had Auberon saved her, too?

  Snarls sounded behind me, and I spun back around. Three wolves bent low, their tails in the air. Between them and the wrecked boat stood Blackie’s goons.

  I hissed, “Get them!”

  The wolves didn’t hesitate. Together, they leapt forward in a ferocious attack. Blood rained under their claws and teeth.

  Leaving the wolves to their carnage, I went back to look for Mum in the water when someone else caught my eye. Blackie. Past the gangway, all the way out on the Thames Rockets dock. He was heading for one of the remaining RIBs.

  By all the powers of my Morgana blood, I wouldn’t let him escape. Not this time. He was the reason Mum was—I didn’t even dare think the words. She had to be somewhere. But Blackie was also the man who had murdered Dad. Fury consumed me the instant Dad entered my mind. Today was exactly eight years since his death. His murder. Mum and I were supposed to grieve him today, to celebrate his life and remember him. But we wouldn’t have had to do that if it wasn’t for Blackie. And Mum wouldn’t be missing, either. Without reaching for it or considering what I was doing, my fire roared through me. It flared from my skin, bolts of flames careening through the air. I screamed, spreading my arms wide, allowing the flames to do as they wished. Abandoning control, the fire charged across the gangway, grabbing onto everything in its path.

  Blackie stared at the oncoming inferno. He turned for the water when a wall of flame barged around the edges, blocking his path. With the fire reflected in his eyes, he took one final look at me, then bolted for the stairs. The flames followed. Heat filled the air, and steam rose from the water. The flames latched onto the rim, the capsules, the wires. Everything was on fire. The Eye creaked alarmingly as Blackie ran out of places to hide, and the inferno finally caught up with him.

  His skin was bubbling and blistering underneath his leather vest. Flesh melted away from his body as he stood in the midst of the raining embers. The flames tore through my dad’s killer, and Blackie’s mouth opened and twisted as he burned, blackening slowly, like a pig that had been roasted way too long. His broad face shrunk and shrivelled, pieces of flesh torn out by the licks of flame. Little by little, my dad’s killer fed the hungry flames until there was nothing left of him but ashes sailing in the wind.

  Another creak issued from the Eye. A few wires popped free from their over-dimensioned anchors at the rim, and the construction staggered as if it were a wounded animal. It shouldn’t have been possible, but the Eye was melting. Every last piece of it. The A-bars gave in, and the remaining spoke wires looked like spaghetti as the giant circle crumpled into a heap of melted steel, glowing white and yellow and hundreds—if not thousands—of degrees hot. Sparks and embers lit the nearby trees and bushes of Jubilee Gardens. White clouds of glass rained from the exploding windows of the closest buildings.

  “Enough, Princess,” a voice called.

  “No,” I shouted. “You’re not allowed in my head.”

  “Enough!” Auberon’s voice bellowed from the shadows.

  Staggering, I dropped my arms. The sound of him snapped me out of my trance to see what I had done. I reeled my fire inside and took a few steps back, stumbling to the ground, My raging fire was back in its cage, but the Eye would burn for hours to come.

  “Enough,” I whispered to no reply as I hugged my knees. He was gone again. And I wanted him to be gone, didn’t I? Still, I acknowledged, a small part of me yearned for his embrace in that moment. More than anything, though, I needed Mum.

  Where was she?

  Warm hands folded around me, and my breath hitched. “Mum?” I asked expectantly.

  “Just me,” Jen said.

  My heart dropped. “I have to find her.”

  “You’ve done all you can. I hear sirens, and we need to make ourselves scarce.”

  I twisted myself from her hold and faced her. She was herself again, wearing nothing but what nature had given her, though she was covered in soot. “Not without Mum.”

  “If Elaine is—I mean, she’s a resourceful woman. She’ll know what to do and come find us.”

  Erica, also buck naked, stood behind Jen. The alpha turned to her and nodded, and together they hooked their arms in mine and dragged me past Jubilee Gardens towards Belvedere Road. I tried to object, but my body was limp in their hold. I couldn’t even muster a force field to pry myself away from them. Unleashing my fire had emptied me.

  I briefly registered the rivers of blood and the bodies in the grass before a car pulled up ahead and the window rolled down.

  “Get in,” a gruff voice said. “Now.”

  “Paddock?”

  “There’s no time.” Paddock closed the window again, and Jen pushed me ever so gently into the back seat, then climbed in after me. Erica, however, lingered by the door. She gave Jen a look I couldn’t decipher, though apparently Jen could.

  “It’s all right,” Jen said. “You’ve done good tonight. Go, help your people, and take care of Jack.”

  Erica nodded, then closed the door.

  Paddock immediately stepped on the gas and sped off.

  I blinked through heavy lids. “Jack?” I croaked.

  “The copper wolf,” Jen said. “He’s mine now, too.”

  I curled up, and Jen placed an arm around me. “Hush, now, little pup. Jeannine is here.”

  I buried myself in her embrace—naked as she was—grateful for her presence, but couldn’t help but think that thoug
h Jen was there, Mum wasn’t.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  There were voices. Far away, but close, somehow. My head bobbed from side to side as the car turned right, then left, then hard right again. Paddock’s low, raspy voice said something. Jen responded. Buzzing voices, like a bumblebee I had caught under a paper cup in the kitchen once. Back home.

  “—watched the whole mess on the telly,” Paddock said. “When the fires started, I knew it had to be you.”

  Me?

  “How did you get here so fast,” asked Jen.

  “I’ve sort of hung out at this rehab place just down the street. Travers arranged it. Lots of coppers need help, but it’s better if we stay out of the more public places, so to speak.”

  “I see.”

  “So I jumped in the car and hoped to find you, which I reckoned shouldn’t be so hard with the bonfire you lit up, Ruby. Don’t worry, I’m not one to tell. In fact, I never liked that stupid wheel, anyway. But it’s made of metal. How could you set fire to metal?”

  “Shut up,” I muttered. “Please. Shut up.”

  “Aw, come on. Don’t give me that false modesty. It was—”

  “I said shut up!” I buried my head in my hands and leaned on the headrest of Paddock’s seat.

  “Ruby’s in shock,” Jen said. “Elaine, her mum, is—missing.”

  “Missing?” Paddock swerved back and forth between traffic, the engine of his car roaring and screeching with every step on the gas and brake pedals.

  “She fell into the river from the top of the Eye. She might have been hurt on impact and pulled downstream.”

  The seriousness of Jen’s words hit hard. Hurt on impact. Mum had fallen from over three hundred feet into the dark, muddy water. And I had missed her with two force fields. I could have saved her.