by Liz Long
Despite standing over Ruby holding a scalpel over her heart, the man’s free hand went up to his heart in wounded disappointment. He shook his head, made a tsk, tsk noise.
“I do love her,” he said, looking down at Ruby with affection. Those watery eyes met hers, pride and adoration clear in his gaze. She fought off a cringe and the man looked back up at Michael, a knowing smile playing around his lips. “I love her even more than you do.”
Michael’s tone could not have been more serious as his eyes flickered to Ruby for a split second. “I doubt that very much.”
“She and I don’t keep secrets from one another.” The man’s eyes narrowed at Michael, his tone somewhat suggestive.
“You won’t hurt her.”
X tapped his scalpel on the metal table, making Ruby’s eyes twitch with each loud bang. “You’ll have to try harder than that.”
Michael’s right arm swung out in front of him and a crossbow appeared. Ruby knew that weapon, a special piece Michael’s grandfather had built that shot wooden bullets instead of arrows. Her heart thumped painfully in her chest, every nerve in her body screaming in fear.
“All right,” Michael said, his tone deadly calm. “Get. The fuck. Away from her. Now.”
“You would shoot me? After everything that’s happened?”
“Especially because of what’s happened,” Michael spat back. He cocked the crossbow and aimed towards X’s heart.
The killer roared, his left arm flying up above his head. The scalpel in his hand caught the florescent light, winked at her. X moved to bring the blade straight into Ruby’s chest. She screamed, her brain going blank as she braced herself for the pain.
Then a short bang sounded in her ears, a loud pop that brought her scream to a shriek. Michael had pulled the trigger. After the longest three seconds Ruby had ever known, she opened her eyes and turned her head to look.
Courtney’s murderer appeared stunned, his body doubling over as he clutched at his stomach. Red seeped into his shirt as he crumpled down to the floor. He looked at Michael, his expression a mix of surprise and anger.
“You shot me.” Blood spilled over his fingers onto the concrete ground and he growled like a wounded animal. “You’re going to regret that.”
“It’s a different kind of crossbow,” Michael replied, his cold tone unmistakable. “For a different kind of witch. These bullets have a potion on them. You’re not going to like how this ends.”
“M-Michael,” Ruby stammered. She pulled at the ropes on her wrists, waited for Michael to walk over and untie her. Instead, he remained where he stood, gave her a calm look and a slight smile.
“We got him, Ruby.”
The killer’s was furious, his eyes focused on Michael. His ugly face twisted in anger as he threw his words out.
“You won’t get anything if I die. You can’t finish what you started.”
“Be quiet,” Michael told him. He aimed the crossbow at the killer’s head to silence him.
“What? What did he just say?” Ruby jerked her head from side to side to see both of their faces as they talked.
“Nothing.”
Ruby looked back at her captor, whose murderous glare at Michael made Ruby’s hair stand on end. When he felt her eyes on him, he repeated himself.
“He killed all those people for nothing. He doesn’t deserve you.”
“Shut up!” Michael shouted.
“Michael, what is he talking about?”
“He’s not who you think.” X coughed and red appeared in the corner of his mouth.
Ruby struggled against her ropes. “Michael…”
Crossbow still trained on his target, Michael turned his attention back to Ruby and gave her an apologetic look. “He shouldn’t have said anything.”
Ruby hardly recognized her panicked, shaky voice. “What is going on?”
The murderer heaved a sigh, a choking, wet gasp that told Ruby his lungs were filling up with blood. Michael had chosen a potent and painful poison on his bullets. Had Ruby not been terrified for her life right now, she might’ve almost spared sympathy for the psycho. Almost.
“Ruby…my angel…I wasn’t entirely honest with you,” X said from his bloodstained spot on the floor. A dribble of blood spilled onto the ground. “I’ve had some help the last few years.”
Ruby ignored the sharp pain her neck as she twisted her head back to look at him. She struggled to keep her voice even. Considering that he was a powerful dark witch and she was still tied to a table, he still had the ability to kill her at any second.
“What do you mean?” she asked, her mind refusing to connect his statement. “I thought you were the mastermind.”
Michael barked out a sharp laugh that made Ruby’s blood run cold. “Mastermind? Please. Xavier couldn’t formulate a plan if his life depended on it.”
The man bared his bloody teeth and Michael stopped his chuckle, perhaps realizing he shouldn’t push a dark witch too far no matter how close to death. Ruby saw her opening.
“Xavier? Y-you can’t possibly be working with him. He’s…on an entirely different level.” She hoped that was enough; to her relief, satisfaction crossed the man’s pale face.
“And I told him you were not part of the deal,” Michael spat out. “He could never have you because you’re already mine.”
Ruby’s head jerked so fast to look at him that she whacked her cheekbone on the table. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I suppose now is as good a time as any to start being honest with each other,” Michael said in a casual tone. He did another check on the killer, who didn’t move from his fetal position against the wall. Michael’s posture loosened as he lowered the crossbow and walked over to touch Ruby’s face, caress it the way he used to - the way a lover would. Then he stepped back to keep an eye on the half-breathing lump on the floor.
“Why?” Ruby’s chin quivered, part of her not wanting to hear any answers. “Why would you do any of this?”
“I never liked her, you know,” Michael said “Courtney, I mean. She did everything she could to break us up.”
“I don’t…you didn’t have to kill her.” Anger replaced terror, invaded her vision with a red sheen. Her body shook, whether from anger or fear, she didn’t know.
“Of course I did. Her death gave me power and more conveniently, got her out of your life. Now we’re free to be together again.”
“We didn’t break up because of Courtney, you idiot. I dumped you because you cheated on me,” she said. “And then you brought Rebecca into our coven.”
“You’ve mentioned that,” he said, tapping his hand against his leg in impatience. “And I’ve already apologized, so we need to move past it.”
“So not how that works,” Ruby muttered.
“We had other problems, long before Rebecca came along, I understand that. But with her and Courtney gone, now we can address those issues and move on.”
“Sure, I’ll go first. You’re a control freak. Apparently a big thing with serial killers. Boy, do I feel dumb.”
Ruby fought back a hysterical laugh. Terror coursed through her and an image of Cooper flashed through her mind. He would never be okay if she died, too. She suspected even if she died tonight, Michael would never let Cooper walk away unscathed.
“I admit I’m a bit…old-fashioned,” Michael interrupted her thoughts. “I like things a certain way. But you were always so wonderful at everything. I was so lucky to have you and - as I’ve said before - I’m so sorry I broke your trust. But Courtney whispering into your ear…you would never let me back in if she kept up all the lies.”
“Courtney had nothing to do with us!” she shouted.
“She took up all of your time,” he snarled back. He swooped in, hovered over her and gripped her arms into the table. He made her look him in the eyes, his expression full of self righteousness. “Don’t you see? There wasn’t enough room in your life for both of us, so I made the decision for you.”
“Right, like you always did.” Ruby rolled her eyes, almost surprised. Had they not been discussing Courtney’s murder, it’d be like a regular ex-couple arguing at the bar. Minus the whole heart-ripping-out ritual and general terror.
“I know what’s best for you.”
“No, you don’t! You never did, what don’t you get about that?”
Michael sighed, used a calm voice as though he were speaking to a child. He backed off, rubbing her arms in a loving way.
“Ruby, darling, of course I do. You have such a gift. You’re no longer more powerful than me, but still. Courtney was holding you back. I can make you more powerful than ever before. You’ll be able to do more than tiny windstorms and flickering lights. We can control anyone we want, do anything we want to do.”
“Not interested.” Ruby looked away, back to Courtney’s killer who sat unmoving. It appeared he had died sometime in the middle of their argument.
“Well that was anticlimactic,” Ruby muttered, the brief flash of relief gone. Michael didn’t hear her, continued talking as though she were being silly in her decision against dark magic.
“You’re only saying that because you’re angry right now. In a few days, when you’ve had time to mull it over, you’ll change your mind. Think of the potions you’ll be able to make.”
“You’re going to rot in hell for what you’ve done to those girls.” Ruby turned her head back to look Michael in the eye. “Tell me why. Why did they all have to die for you?”
That superior tone didn’t waver. “With a witch’s heart in a ritual, you get power. Dark magic courses through your veins, makes spells and potions easier than ever before. I can transport places without making a potion now, whenever I want. I can see the future in dreams, of who I need next.”
“Good for you.” Ruby tried to tug at her ropes without him noticing. “I hope you were upset when I popped up in your murder vision.”
Michael’s bottom lip formed an exaggerated pout. “I’m hurt - you think I would let him kill you? He was never supposed to take you, to obsess over you like that.”
Ruby scoffed. “I guess you planned on taking Lacy or someone else in the coven.”
“I had it all planned out. Then he went and ruined it.”
The murderer’s insistent, raspy voice came back to her. I didn’t kill Rebecca. She had no power, nothing to give me for the ritual.
A brief memory of Michael’s apartment came back to her, a flash that surprised her and gave more evidence to his guilt. The words left her in a groan. “The roses.”
He spared her a confused glance. “Pardon?”
“Rebecca. There were roses in the apartment. Did you try to win her back after I turned you down? Is that how you tricked her? Killed her?”
Michael growled, an angry sound that made Ruby instantly regret her accusations. A tiny gasp escaped her; the slight admission of fear seemed to calm Michael down. Convinced he maintained control again, he relaxed and adopted his loving tone again.
“After you told me you needed some time,” (Ruby squeezed her eyes tight, willing her mouth to stay shut), “I decided I might as well continue about my normal routine. Rebecca was happy to put our disagreement behind her. Then she called me that night, said a man had called asking for me, threatening to tell you the truth.”
“Me?” Ruby squeaked in surprise.
“Yes, you,” Michael replied. He stroked her cheek, brushed the hair out of her eyes. “You can imagine she lost her temper. I came home with roses but she didn’t appreciate them the way you did.”
Ruby remembered - any time they’d fought, he would bring her roses with his apology. She used to think it meant he cared and would simply need more time to see the error of his domineering ways. Now she knew it was only bribery for more silence.
“So you hit her? Beat her up, killed her?” Ruby’s voice went flat as sheer disgust came over her. Rebecca hadn’t deserved any of that no matter how many dirty looks she threw. Awful as Cooper’s old “pals” were, they’d been killed and framed thanks to Ruby’s past instead of Coop’s. “You went to a lot of effort to cover your tracks there considering.”
“I did it for us, of course. I had to take her heart, make it look as though he had gotten her. Plus I got to rid myself of those idiot lackeys. Everyone wins.” His voice went low, a smooth, charming purr that Ruby had never been able to resist when they’d been together.
Never again. She gritted her teeth. “Except Rebecca. I thought you loved her.”
Michael let out a low chuckle. “Of course not. I know I hurt you by dating her, but it’s over now. She won’t get in our way any more.”
“Because you killed her. Does that not about sum up how crazy you are?”
His back straightened in a jerked motion as he stamped his foot, a warning sign that Ruby noted as Michael was anything but childish. Even in their worst fights, he didn’t resort to such behavior or temper tantrums. She winced as he barked at her in anger.
“This isn’t how this was supposed to go! You weren’t supposed to show up with Cooper that night at my place. You were supposed to help me in my time of need which in turn would help get us back together!”
“Yikes,” she muttered under her breath. Michael didn’t hear her and continued ranting.
“Then when we scried, I wouldn’t see anything about Rebecca because I knew the truth. You didn’t see her because you still want to be with me! Don’t you see? Your subconscious wouldn’t let you find Rebecca so that we could be together.”
“More like I was simply looking in the wrong place,” Ruby spat back. “I looked for the killer instead of Rebecca, but I had the wrong guy. No wonder Cooper found them so fast, you practically set him up to find them all that way. Did you plan ahead for that too?”
Michael sprang at her, leaned over her so close his lips touched her cheekbone. When he spoke, it sounded like a growl through his clenched teeth.
“I meant for you to come over alone. You were supposed to comfort me. I would apologize - for the four hundredth time I might add - and you would see that we belong together. I should’ve let them kill Cooper when they had the chance the other night.”
Ruby’s blood ran cold. “You were there the whole time?”
“Oh darling,” he whispered. His soft lips planted a light kiss on her jaw. “I never left you.”
Ruby turned her face away from him which displeased him. He grabbed her face, his fingers hard on her cheeks, and forced her to look into his eyes.
“You don’t see it now, but you will. We had a moment back there, didn’t we, after we found Rebecca’s body? I know you felt it, too.”
He let go, took a step back to survey the area. Ruby thanked the goddess she hadn’t eaten in so many hours or she would’ve been sick several times over by now. Michael had faked his way through all of it, acted as though he was devastated over Rebecca’s murder, when he was the one who’d put her there! He continued to talk as though nothing were wrong.
“I’ll be expanding the coven soon. I’ll lead us into a new chapter of magic. We need fresh blood, others who can help expand our powers.”
“You mean other dark witches.”
“I’m willing to meet those with open minds,” Michael said delicately. “The ones we have now are…lacking in certain skills.”
“What do you even get out of all of this? Why do you want power so badly when you have all the money and resources in the world?”
Michael looked at her almost surprised. “Don’t you think I want that to continue? With dark magic, I can take away free will, make anyone do anything I want.”
“You’re a fucking control freak,” Ruby spat out.
He waggled a finger at her. “Don’t make me kill you, Ruby. I really don’t want to do that.”
The calm tone he used creeped her out. His attempt at reason would be over soon and he’d revert to violence. Ruby didn’t want to die, especially not at the hands of her stupid, asshole ex-boyfriend. But how did she stop him
without killing him? She wanted him to go to prison for a very long time, suffer for what he’d done to her best friend.
“Now, I’m going to run out and grab another witch for her heart. You were never supposed to be in danger.” He sounded regretful as he shot a look at X on the floor. “I knew I’d have to kill him.”
She couldn’t knowingly let him go kill another witch. She tried to distract him. “What exactly do you plan to make people do once you’ve got superpowers?”
Michael held his arms out wide, crossbow in his right hand. He waved it around enthusiastically as he spoke. “Anything. Everything! It’s all within my grasp now, all I have to do is demand it.”
Ruby guffawed. “You sort of already do that, having had everything given to you for your entire life.”
He sighed. “I don’t think I’ll miss your sarcasm much. You’re very hurtful sometimes.”
Confusion came over her. “What?”
“I told you, I want us to be together forever. With a fifth heart, I’ll make sure you never leave me again. We’ll use your telepathy to double the power. You’ll feel better about the whole situation.”
Ruby froze, realized what he meant. He would put her under his spell, take away her free will and force her to be with him forever. She’d be his love puppet on a heartstring, using her power to control others for him. She could never be with Cooper, would probably never leave Michael’s sight. Alive but imprisoned in her own mind, she’d watch herself suffer. It was worse than death.
“I’ll find a way to kill you. Or I’ll kill myself,” she threatened.
“If you don’t want to be with me, I’ll take your heart.” He shrugged, though looked pained.
“So what, if you can’t have me, no one can?”
“That’s one way of looking at it. Though it’s more like if I can’t have you, then I should use your heart to give me the most power possible. Even in death, you’ll help me become greater and move our coven beyond seances and sleeping potions.”
“Go ahead.” She jerked her head towards the scalpels on the table. “I’ll never be with you willingly and I’ll find a way if you put me under, so you might as well go ahead and take my heart right now.”