The Ruby Kiss

by Helen Scott Taylor

  “All it’ll do is give Ruby a better chance of getting close to Fenrir so she can touch him.” Devin eyed Twister with contempt. “I thought better of you, cousin. If you want the woman to risk her life, at least be honest with her.”

  “I am being honest. It should give her a measure of protection.”

  Devin grunted in disgust. “I’m taking Ruby and we’re leaving. I’ve tried to talk you out of this madness, but you persist. Nightshade was right; Fenrir has lost his humanity. This is a cruel and pointless exercise.” He turned and started to usher Ruby away.

  The Whip at the door stepped forward. “Your magic won’t work here, Master of the Darkling Road,” he said with a nasty smile. His whip hand twitched, ready.

  Twister snagged Devin’s arm. His voice was grim. “I didn’t want to do this, Dev. But I can’t have you interfering. You’ve left me no choice.”

  Dragon strode up beside the Unseelie king. His hulking form dwarfed everyone except the cyclops. “Without your magic, you’ll have to depend on these, smoky.” He bent his arm, displaying bulging biceps, and his lips twitched.

  “Ebn el kalb,” Devin said under his breath. He released Ruby and stepped away from her.

  The djinn was fit and strong, but he’d be no match for the monstrous nightstalker. Ruby rounded on Twister and slapped him on the arm to get his attention. “How’s them fighting going to solve anything?”

  “Stay out of it,” Twister snapped.

  Dragon feinted one way then the other, laughing when Devin fell for the move. “I can taste your blood already. That smoky tang, mmmm . . .” The nightstalker ran his tongue over long fangs.

  Ruby could hardly bear to watch the awful scene, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away, either. If she hadn’t left her damn baseball bat in Nightshade’s room, she’d have bashed Dragon over the head with it.

  Dragon lunged again. Devin evaded him easily and gave a mocking laugh. Dragon continued, growling, all traces of levity gone. His silver eyes were narrowed. The stabilizing effect of his half-spread wings allowed him to attack at an improbable angle, and his fist connected with Devin’s gut, knocking the breath from him; then he used his bulk to crush Devin against the wall. The djinn’s head lolled forward, his eyes closed.

  Ruby’s heart hammered. She smacked Twister on the arm again. “Stop this,” she commanded when Twister eyed her. “He’s going to kill him.”

  “That’s enough, Dragon,” Twister said.

  Ruby sucked in a frustrated breath. “Are you bloody stupid? He’s not going to stop willingly.”

  Twister motioned two of his Whips toward Dragon and Devin, but neither looked eager to rescue the djinn. Hardly surprising after what Devin had done to them. Ruby scanned the room for some kind of weapon. Frantic, she grabbed a metal tankard off a nearby table and hurled it at Dragon’s back. It bounced harmlessly off his wings and clattered to the ground.

  Dragon yanked Devin’s head aside, exposing his neck, and he bit down. A yucky sucking noise filled the silence. Bile crawled up Ruby’s throat. She didn’t believe Twister wanted Devin dead, but what if the nightstalker took too much?

  “How can you just stand there and let this happen?” she asked. “Devin’s your cousin!”

  She barged past the Unseelie king and picked up a small table. Hoisting it awkwardly, she manhandled it across the room. Twister’s motley collection of friends watched with amusement.

  She was just about to hurl the table at Dragon’s back when he raised his head and turned to look at her. His silver eyes gleamed with a sickly pink sheen. Scarlet trickled from the corners of his mouth, and the metallic odor of blood filled the air. The table slipped from Ruby’s nerveless fingers to crash to the floor.

  Dragon’s gory lips stretched into a nightmare grin. “Lining up for your turn, girly?”

  Ruby stumbled back, the raucous laughter of Twister’s friends ringing in her ears.

  Dragon released Devin’s unconscious body, which slid down the wall into a heap on the ground. “Smoky won’t give us any more trouble,” he promised. “He’s my creature now.”

  Hot fear flashed through Ruby as she backed toward Twister’s side. She hoped he would provide her some limited safety, considering he needed her. “What does he mean by my creature?” she asked.

  “He’s formed a blood bond with Devin,” the Unseelie king answered softly. “Dragon thinks he’ll be able to control him through it, but Devin’s too powerful for anyone to control. Otherwise I’d never have let this happen. I just needed Devin out of the picture for a short while.”

  “Time for you to claim your woman, Twister,” Dragon continued with a morbid grin.

  Ruby stepped away from Twister, wary of him again. Whatever the definition of “claim,” it was completely unacceptable.

  “I’m not going to hurt you, Ruby,” Twister said. “I’m going to bond with you to protect you.”

  “Protect me, my arse.” Ruby sneered. “This has nothing to do with my safety and everything to do with you getting what you want.”

  Twister took a step toward her, and her back hit the wall with a jarring shock.

  “If you relax and accept me, you’ll find the bonding pleasurable.” The Unseelie king pulled his three linked green stone rings out from under his shirt, and he lifted the chain over his head. As he drew closer, the stones held her gaze like a magnet.

  “I didn’t think magic worked in the Bunker,” she said.

  “This isn’t magic. This part of me is as real as my arm or my leg.”

  She flattened herself against the wall, struggling with the concept that touching the stones would bond her to Twister. “Don’t come any closer. It’s Nightshade I want.”

  Dragon gave a harsh laugh. “Where is my useless son? He’s missing the show.”

  Her world shrank to Twister and the damn green stones in his hand. A part of her wanted to reach out and touch them, but while that deep-seated instinct craved connection with another person, her brain stalled in horror at the thought of that person being Twister.

  “Don’t you dare,” she spat.

  “It won’t hurt, Ruby,” he whispered.

  “You’re crazy. We don’t even like each other.”

  His eyes flared gold, drawing her gaze from his hand to his face. He gripped one of her wrists and pinned her against the wall. She tried to jerk up her knee, but he crowded too close. She threw up her free hand to claw at his cheek. He met her blow and clasped her hand. His stones pressed warm and hard against her palm.

  She froze in shock, her frantic breath jammed in her lungs. Silence hummed in her ears as she waited for the world to explode.

  Nothing happened. A manic giggle burst from her lips.

  “Hah! It hasn’t worked.” Was she safe?

  The unbearable tension in her body eased; then a buzzing tingle ran up her arm and detonated a fireworks display in her chest. She sucked in air as the room revolved around her like a crazy fairground ride. Animals filled her head. She recognized Twister’s wolf, eagle, and stag; a huge owl screeched in her brain, making her wince. On the edge of her perception, other animals stalked her: a bear lumbered close, a panther prowled in the shadows, numerous other creatures flitted through her consciousness too fast for her to identify. She was no longer alone inside her skull. The space was full of creatures of every shape and size.

  Ruby opened her eyes and blinked, trying to acclimatize to the strange sensation. “What are you? Bloody Noah’s Ark,” she managed to stutter.

  Twister leaned close to her ear; his scratchy dreadlocks with their smooth rodent skulls brushed her cheek. His breath was warm against her hair.

  “Meet my alter egos, my queen.”

  * * *

  Chapter Eleven

  Nightshade followed the directions a brownie gave him and pushed open the door to the Troll’s Armpit. The sense of unease plucking his nerves since Ruby had left flared to full-blown alarm as he barged in, shouldering aside a Whip who was blocking the door. His glanc
e around the room revealed the few patrons with drinks were all staring in the same direction.

  He followed their gaze and his blood froze. Twister had Ruby pinned against the wall. The three green stone rings of his Magic Knot rested in Ruby’s palm.

  Nightshade’s heart hammered in shocked disbelief. “What . . . ?” He shook his head. “Why?”

  Pain slammed through his chest, cutting off his already thin breath. His aching head throbbed harder. He staggered a few steps before catching himself against a wooden pillar.

  “Ugh!” Ruby dropped the Magic Knot back into Twister’s hand as if it were poison. But it was too late. The bond between the two had been wrought. Nothing short of death would break it.

  Her distraught gaze locked with Nightshade’s. “He forced me to touch those stones. I didn’t want to,” she cried.

  Something inside Nightshade broke. His head dropped forward. He stared unseeing at the ground.

  She was mine.

  Twister might have forced her into the bond, but the whys and wherefores were irrelevant. Nightshade had now lost Ruby. How certain he’d been that she would be his. He would have been patient until she trusted him enough to bond with him. His imagination had already joined them together at Trevelion Manor in Cornwall with their son in the nursery.

  He turned his back, unable to look at her. On the opposite side of the room Devin was slumped on the floor against the wall, an open bite wound leaking trails of blood down his neck. Nightshade blinked, even more stunned. His friend’s predicament helped push all thought of Ruby from his mind.

  He gathered his shredded wits and hurried forward. “Ye gods, Devin.”

  “After my leftovers, pisky boy?” his father crowed from the corner.

  “I tried to stop Dragon biting him,” Ruby shouted.

  Nightshade blocked out everyone except his friend. The strong steady beat of the djinn’s heart eased his tension; Devin looked a mess, but the damage was not serious. Not for one with Devin’s extraordinary powers. Nightshade knelt, gathered the djinn’s upper body in his arms and examined the twin holes in his neck.

  He’d come to ask Devin for blood in the hope it would help him recover from his sickness so that he could protect Ruby when she faced Fenrir, but now he’d have to manage without that help. He couldn’t take more blood from Devin, and nobody else was likely to offer him their neck. Ruby . . . . With a grunt of frustrated anger, he shoved her out of his thoughts and concentrated on the djinn.

  He ran his tongue over Devin’s neck, sealing the fang holes and cleaning away the blood. Pleasure shuddered through him. Devin’s blood had the unusual addictive quality of his father Troy’s, the tangy taste and power a heady combination. If Dragon expected to control Devin through a blood bond, he had a nasty surprise in store. Experience had taught Nightshade how unlikely Troy’s bloodline was to be controlled.

  He smoothed back the dark strands of hair from Devin’s face and licked the last drips of blood from his skin.

  “Get a room, pisky boy, we don’t want to watch you make out with Smoky,” Dragon laughed, but there was a telltale gruffness to his voice.

  “Jealous?” Nightshade threw over his shoulder.

  Dragon stood, scraping back his chair. He was spoiling for a rumble.

  “Leave it,” Twister shouted. “We’ve had enough fighting. I want to get ready for Fenrir’s transformation.”

  Nightshade crashed back to earth. He cast a murderous glance at Twister, sucked in a breath and released it slowly. He would keep his promise to protect Ruby even if she didn’t belong to him. The man to whom she was now handfasted certainly wouldn’t look after her.

  * * *

  “Nightshade, is Devin all right?”

  Ruby’s view of Nightshade and the djinn was blocked by one of the Whips. She shoved Twister away in an effort to escape and get across the room to Nightshade. Twister grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She elbowed him in the belly, but all she did was bruise herself on a stud of his leather jacket.

  “I’m not going anywhere near Fenrir until I know Devin’s okay,” she spat at the Unseelie king, who pulled her toward the door. She dug in her heels and craned her neck to see Nightshade.

  “Ruby, don’t be so damned awkward,” Twister said. Dragon grabbed her other arm, and they lifted her off her feet so she couldn’t resist.

  “Where are you taking her?” Nightshade shouted.

  “To Fenrir,” Ruby answered, going floppy in order to make herself heavier.

  Nightshade rose to his feet, and she was relieved to see Devin scramble upright as well. Whatever the nightstalker did had revived him. The djinn was shaking his head, clearly regaining his bearings.

  “Wait. We’ll come to help her,” Nightshade said.

  Twister gestured to Boulder and the Whips, who moved to stop him. “No. I don’t want you interfering and upsetting Fenrir. Ruby’s bonded with me. I’ll look after her.” Then Dragon and Twister carried her out of the door and started along the corridor.

  Ruby’s breath hissed out in mixed frustration and relief. Although she wanted Nightshade and Devin with her, neither of them was in any state to help. Not now.

  As she relaxed, her strange link with Twister let her see behind his brusque mask. The Unseelie king wasn’t the coldhearted monster she’d expected. His emotions brushed across her awareness: an aching muddle of hope, fear, and guilt.

  “Let me down.” She kicked her legs and forced her two captors to lower her feet to the ground. They kept hold of her arms.

  “Have you decided to be sensible?” Twister cast her a disbelieving sideways glance, and he couldn’t hide his conflicting emotions. He didn’t want her hurt. Couldn’t she trust him to protect her?

  Her anger faded a little. “I sense your feelings, Twister.” His jaw clenched tight, and he stared straight ahead, but his creatures crept back into her mind. The wolf groveled on its belly, whining and begging for her help.

  “I will help with your father if I can, but you had no right to force me to bond with you.”

  “It’s the best way to protect you,” he snapped. The wolf in her head rose and growled, and she sensed he believed this was true. The problem was that the mental link probably worked both ways.

  She imagined pushing the animals out of her head and slamming down a big metal door. “I won’t tolerate you reading my thoughts or trying to control me.”

  Twister jerked to a halt, gave a sharp intake of breath. “You shut me out.”

  “I don’t want you in my head.”

  Dragon guffawed. “I think I like this one! She’s got a backbone.”

  “Butt out.” Ruby cast him a murderous glance, but his laughter just escalated.

  “If you hadn’t claimed her, Twister, I might have entertained myself with her for a few days.”

  He was just trying to get a rise out of her. Ruby didn’t bother to respond. She turned back to Twister. “I mean it. I won’t have you trying to control me. Keep out of my head.”

  “Bonding through Magic Knots doesn’t allow control. It’s more for . . .” He winced and looked away.

  “For luurve,” Dragon filled in with a smirk.

  Apprehension washed through her. “That is so not going to happen.”

  “At least we agree on something,” Twister retorted. “Anyway, the bond is only half formed because I haven’t touched your Magic Knot.”

  “Thank goodness for small mercies.” For the first time she was glad that her father had kept hers.

  The corridor narrowed as they approached Fenrir’s pit. Instead of continuing along the route Devin had taken them, however, Twister angled off down a side turning.

  “I’m going to the gallery to watch,” Dragon said, releasing her arm.

  “If it looks like Ruby’s in trouble at any time, I want you to get her out of there,” Twister said.

  Dragon shrugged. “Anything you say.” But, as he turned away, the sly smile on his lips worried Ruby.

  “If he’s
your backup plan, I’m in trouble.”

  “He’ll do what he’s told,” Twister said, but she still wasn’t convinced.

  “Right,” he continued. “Time to behave like a responsible adult and use your power for someone else’s good.”

  She poked him in the chest, annoyed. “Hey. However much you want to justify treating me like this, you are not in the right,” she pointed out. “You’re forcing me to do this.”

  Twister yanked on her arm, making her stumble. “Just shut up and listen. When we get inside the pit, you wait against the wall until I approach Fenrir and calm him down. I’ll signal you when I want you to come up beside me and put your hand on him.”

  Ruby’s breath caught, and her knees trembled. Sparring with Twister had taken her mind off the trial to come, but now it was all flooding back. “I can’t remember what I did when I transformed you,” she pointed out.

  “Concentrate on the result you’re after. That usually works with magic.”

  “Your guards won’t let Nightshade in here, will they? I don’t want him hurt.”

  Twister frowned, which exaggerated the scars across his face. “I don’t get it. If you feel that strongly about him, why didn’t you let him bite you?”

  Ruby stared at the dirt beneath her boots. A band seemed to tighten around her chest, making every breath a pained struggle to drag air into her lungs. Even now, the risk of being controlled through a blood bond frightened her. But the thought of losing Nightshade was worse. If she got out of this alive, she would let him bite her. He had earned her trust and she would accept him for what he was, no matter the danger.

  “I understand,” Twister said softly. Too late, she noticed the wolf had crept back into her mind.

  “I said keep out of my head!” She thumped him halfheartedly on the arm.

  He caught her hand and held it. “I don’t expect anything more from you than my father’s restoration. Afterward, you can leave with Nightshade. Go to Cornwall with him.”

  Ruby raised her gaze to meet Twister’s. She didn’t know how to respond to this new sympathetic version of the king. She preferred it when he was being a jerk and she could hate him.