The Ruby Kiss

by Helen Scott Taylor

  “I won’t call him until we need him, because he’s visiting his daughter before he comes here.”

  Ruby reflected on the concept of Troy having a daughter. He was so cold and hard, she couldn’t imagine him with a little girl.

  She made Nightshade breakfast, then nipped upstairs to shower and dress; she didn’t want to experience any more life-changing moments wearing her pajamas and dressing gown. Then the waiting began. Nerves fluttered in her stomach and she couldn’t eat a thing. She tried to paint, but it was impossible to settle on anything. The thought kept circling her mind that her future with Nightshade depended on whether she could have a baby. She’d know if she could have a baby once she regained her Magic Knot.

  She paced back and forth beside the large picture window in her art studio while Nightshade reclined on a huge beanbag chair juggling the little sponges she used for her work.

  “How do you feel?” she asked, bending to retrieve a sponge he’d dropped.

  “Confident we’ll get your Magic Knot from Kade.”

  Ruby rubbed her temples. “I wish I were confident.”

  “Kade will be no match for Troy and me.”

  “So you say, but there are so many things that could go wrong. I won’t believe we can best Kade until I have my Magic Knot in my hand.”

  He laughed, but she got the impression it was forced.

  “Troy will come, won’t he? He doesn’t like me much.”

  Nightshade vaulted to his feet, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her into his arms. “Are you jealous of him?”

  “Me? No. Of course not.” Heat rose to her cheeks at the lie. And she hated being dependent on the goodwill of Mr. Luminous Psycho. She tried to pull away, but Nightshade tightened his arms around her. “Is part of the reason you wouldn’t accept my Magic Knot because you don’t trust me to stay faithful to you? Because of Troy?”

  Worries Ruby hadn’t wanted to acknowledge suddenly bubbled to the surface of her mind. “You can only bite me every three days. What if you want to do it in between?”

  Nightshade roared with laughter and pushed her down on the beanbag. She squealed and landed with a thud, and he lowered himself over her, wings extended. “I usually only bite because I enjoy it. You’ll just have to distract me with other pleasures.”

  “I’m serious.” She thumped his shoulder. He just laughed harder.

  “Do you think I’ll be sneaking off to sip from Troy’s delectable neck?”

  “You won’t have to sneak anywhere,” she complained. “One word from you and bloody Troy will be right there offering. That pearly white neck—”

  “He won’t.”

  “He already has.”

  “That was different. I was sick and he wanted to help me recover.”

  “Give him a sainthood. No, wait. He already thinks he’s a cut above the rest of us.”

  Nightshade levered himself up on his arms and stared down at Ruby’s face with a frown. “You’re misjudging him. Troy is many things, but he’s not dishonorable.”

  Ruby wasn’t convinced. But her grumbling fell silent as a strange thumping noise reverberated through the house, rattling the windows.

  “What in the Furies . . . ?”

  Nightshade sprang to his feet and snapped his wings against his back. Ruby followed him to the large picture window and stared out. The plate glass pulsed against her splayed hand. Then something huge blocked the sun, and a shadow fell across the garden. An enormous scarlet winged beast angled out of the sky and dived toward the house.

  Ruby stared transfixed. Nightshade slung an arm around her waist and dragged her away from the window. He threw her on the floor behind the sofa at the back of the room and covered her with his body. An earsplitting screech rent the air. Windows burst like balloons scattering shards of glass across the room. Heat seared her skin, while the sulfurous smell of burning caught at her throat.

  “What the hell is it?” she cried over the crackling, crashing collapse of burning wood.

  “My father’s Welsh Red Dragon. Bloody Twister must have told him I’m here. Now Dragon has his Magic Knot back, there’s nothing stopping him coming after me as revenge for taking Rhys from him.”

  Ruby scrambled to her feet, her heart racing, and her head whirling with shock. The paint on her latest commission bubbled and blackened before the whole canvas burst into flames. Tears filled her eyes.

  Nightshade grabbed the throw off the sofa and draped it over her head. She knew she should move but her legs wouldn’t work.

  “Ruby!” Nightshade gripped her arm and dragged her forward. They dashed over shards of glass and around splintered furniture to reach the door. Nightshade yanked it open and ran with her into the hall.

  “Dogs,” she shouted to him, glancing madly around for her pets.

  “Shit.” Nightshade pushed her toward the back door. “Get outside. I’ll look for them.”

  When she broke out of the smoky house and started toward the trees by the fence, Ares and Apollo were suddenly at her feet, yelping and crying in distress.

  “They’re here, Nightshade!” she yelled at the top of her voice. Her heart thundered as she stared at the back door, praying he would emerge. When he didn’t, she swore violently and ran back toward the house.

  An animalistic screech sliced her eardrums. She clapped her hands over her ears, stooping as she ran. A stream of red-tinged fire scorched a black trail across the grass in front of her, cutting her off. She turned and pelted back toward the trees, the hot, smoky air burning her lungs. There she crouched against the trunk of a massive pine, the dogs cowering against her legs and whimpering.

  Flames leapt from the roof of her home, devouring the wood and painting smoky streaks against the blue sky. A section of roof collapsed with a painful cracking and groaning noise, showering sparks everywhere. Cold crept through her despite the growing flames.

  “Nightshade,” she wailed. If only she’d accepted his Magic Knot, she’d be able to communicate with him.

  The dragon soared up, then banked around and swooped toward her house again. Nightshade’s father sat astride it, hooting and hollering like a cowboy at a rodeo. Did he want his son burned alive? Would Dragon really do that? Nightshade had told her Dragon abused Rhys and his mother, and he obviously disliked Nightshade. He really was more beast than man. A dangerous cruel beast from what she’d seen.

  The creature blasted a stream of fire at the house, shattering the window of Ruby’s bedroom. She couldn’t breathe; her lungs were so tight at the thought of losing everything: Nightshade, her home, all her possessions. She’d coped with so much over the last few weeks. How could life be this unfair?

  Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them away in time to see Nightshade sprint out of the back door. Thrusting down his wings, he leapt across the garden and reached the tree line while Dragon turned to make another pass. Ruby threw herself into his arms, clinging to his sooty skin, unable to speak. She pressed her face against his chest and held him until her cold terror passed. However much she would miss her home and her things, they could be replaced. As long as she had Nightshade, she’d survive.

  “You all right?” Nightshade framed Ruby’s face in his hands. He pulled her deeper under the tree cover, and they stared up through the branches. The Welsh Red was an armored lizard the size of an elephant with wings. Wicked yellow claws slashed the air as it dived, while a ridge of spikes ran up its face and along the top of its neck.

  Nightshade glanced around, taking in the surroundings. “We need better cover.”

  Ruby’s numb brain clicked back to life, and she grabbed enough air to speak. “There’s a rocky tor with a cave underneath halfway down the slope to the loch.”

  Nightshade’s jaw clenched. “That’ll have to do.”

  They kept to the tree cover but had to dash across a clearing to reach the fence that bounded her land. While Ruby and Nightshade made their escape, Dragon flew over the house twice more, blasting it with flame.

  Drag
on didn’t target them when they were in the open. Ruby had a nasty feeling he was letting them escape so he could chase them. They scrambled down the steep incline toward the cave, grabbing saplings and branches to stop themselves from slipping, the dogs skidding after them.

  When they reached the rocky tor, Nightshade picked Ruby up and jumped down, flapping his wings. They landed on the flat area outside the cave, and Ruby crawled in, the dogs jumping up at her with excitement.

  Nightshade went down on his knees at the entrance and looked inside. “Not enough room for me.”

  Ruby turned to crawl out again. “We’ll find somewhere else.”

  “No,” he said. “Get as far inside as you can.”

  “Nightshade, you can’t stay outside!”

  His nostrils flared, and he narrowed his gaze on the sky. “I’ve got to if I’m going to beat my father to a pulp.”

  “Call Troy,” she pleaded with him. Dragon and Troy were both psychos. They’d probably enjoy fighting each other.

  “This is my fight. My father has done his best to ruin my life. He mistreated my little brother. Now he’s burned down your home. Time to put a stop to it once and for all.” Nightshade rose, feet planted wide, hands on hips, staring up at the sky. “But I’ll not leave you alone and unprotected. Troy!” he called, “we need you.”

  They waited silently, scanning the area. The dragon’s screech raised the tiny hairs on Ruby’s arms before Nightshade repeated his call. Tension gripped Ruby’s throat so tightly she could hardly swallow.

  “He’ll come, like he agreed. I’m sure he won’t let me down,” Nightshade said with a frown.

  “What if he can’t hear you?”

  Nightshade’s fists clenched and released, and something white and shiny flashed in the air above. Then, with a majestic sweep of pristine feathered wings, Kade dropped to the ground ten feet away.

  Not who they’d hoped for. Ruby had almost forgotten her father was meeting them.

  The Seelie hunter’s crystal breastplate sparkled in the sunlight, while his hair shone as though each strand were gilded. His wings wreathed him with white feathers, and he looked like the personification of goodness and light.

  “Am I late to the party?” Kade glanced up the slope down which they’d fled. “I assume that bonfire used to be your house.”

  A bloodcurdling screech echoed along the glen: the Welsh Red. As the noise faded, Kade stepped closer, his gaze scanning Ruby up and down.

  “You’re still in one piece, I’m pleased to see.”

  Nightshade glanced at the sky before returning his attention to Kade. “There’s no love lost between us, but I believe you have an interest in protecting your daughter. Will you stay with Ruby while I teach Dragon a lesson in manners?”

  “No!” Ruby clutched Nightshade’s hand. “Not with him. He’s as bad as Dragon.”

  Kade’s brows dipped. “Why would I want to hurt you? You’re worth nothing to me dead.”

  Ruby gripped Nightshade’s hand to her chest. She understood it was important for him to confront his father about Rhys, but she didn’t trust Kade on any level. “Don’t leave me with him, Nightshade. Please.”

  Nightshade hissed out a frustrated breath. “I’ve got to stop my father. He’s behaving like a madman on that damn Welsh Red of his. He’s destroyed your house! Just imagine what’ll happen if he flies down to Cornwall? I must stop him here and now.”

  Ruby glanced wildly around for Troy, her heart racing. She’d known the arrogant jerk would be unreliable. One look at his pretentious clothes and she’d pegged him as self-obsessed.

  Kade spoke up, his tone low and reassuring. “I’ll look after my daughter.”

  Ruby recognized the fake emotion of silver tongue and wasn’t impressed, but Nightshade gave a sharp nod. “Take her farther down the valley out of range of the dragon fire. But stay in the area. No flying her up to your Seelie dimension.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. I want to stay here.” Ruby’s breath sawed in and out of her lungs.

  Nightshade caught her up in his arms and pressed a desperate kiss to her lips. “I need to know you’re safe while I fight Dragon. I’ll come and find you when this is all over.”

  Ruby didn’t want him to leave her, but she was a big girl. She’d have to look after herself—just as she’d been doing for years. With a smile for Nightshade she said, “I’ll be fine. Go and sort out your father.”

  But she would not let Kade pick her up and fly her to the Seelie Court.

  * * *

  Nightshade hated leaving Ruby in Kade’s care. The Seelie hunter was as unscrupulous as Dragon, but Kade needed Ruby alive and for now that ensured her safety.

  Turning away, he didn’t dare look back because he knew the expression on Ruby’s face would tear his heart. But the dispute with his father must end now. Nightshade couldn’t leave Dragon free to terrorize those he loved and cared for, as he’d just done to Ruby, and Dragon was making it clear that there was no time for anything but a final confrontation. The bastard had forced his hand.

  Nightshade cast Kade a sideways glance, and he received a nod of agreement before he leapt skyward with a hard downbeat of his wings. Nightshade rose steadily, not overexerting himself, conserving his energy for the coming fight.

  “Nightshade, you beat the crap out of him for burning my home—and do it quickly. I want you safe,” Ruby shouted. She raised her clenched fist in a gesture of power. She’d accepted what he had to do without making the decision difficult for him and pleading with him not to go. She was a strong woman. He thanked every god he knew for having somehow been led to her.

  Nightshade landed beneath a stand of pine trees to plan his attack. He had lost his last fight with his father, and that time the Welsh Red hadn’t been involved. The dragon made the situation even more dangerous. A direct hit from that stream of flame and he’d be toast. Literally. The only way to stay out of the beast’s reach was to tackle his father on its back.

  The Welsh Red soared out of the sky, breathing another stream of fire at Ruby’s already burning house, his father astride the creature, grinning, his blond hair flying behind him. The spectacle was awful. Nightshade had known his father was cruel and heartless, but Dragon’s glee as he laid waste to everything gave the impression he was out of control, like a hyperactive child. Dragon guided his beast over Ruby’s garden sheds, leaving flaming destruction in his wake. Had the blood bond with the dragon warped his mind? Was he mentally unstable?

  The Welsh Red wore a saddle and some form of harness around its face and chest. If it wasn’t well controlled, the creature might incinerate them both if Nightshade knocked Dragon off and they fought in the air, so Nightshade would need to get himself on the creature’s back with Dragon and anchor himself so they didn’t fall off. The damn creature was so fast and maneuverable in the air that Nightshade would never catch it, though. But there was a way. The beast frequently passed a huge Scots pine. All Nightshade had to do was climb to the top of the tree and leap onto the dragon as it soared by.

  He sucked in a breath as his mind flicked to Ruby. He hadn’t seen Kade carry her away, but he had been concentrating on his own problems so he’d probably missed them leaving. He hoped she was well away from the battle zone, as the surrounding forest would possibly be incinerated.

  The next time the Welsh Red banked away, turning its back on his position, Nightshade sprinted across the scorched, smoking lawn. Clouds of ash rose into the air from his footsteps. He ducked under the shrubby bushes at the edge of the woodland on the other side of the garden and made his way toward the tall Scots pine. After a quick glance to ensure he hadn’t been seen, he leapt up the tree trunk, using wing power and his strong fingernails to race up to the cover of the dense foliage. He climbed the rest of the way, then, keeping his wings folded so as not to injure them on the branches.

  When he reached the highest point that held his weight and gave him cover, he angled his body, ready to jump off. He glued his gaze to the dr
agon as it swept over the area and left another trail of burning trees in its wake. Thank the gods that the damp autumn weather limited the damage.

  The Welsh Red approached, Dragon hanging on to its harness as he was buffeted by the wind and bumped around by the creature’s powerful wing beats.

  Nightshade tensed and leapt.

  * * *

  Ruby watched Nightshade until he disappeared from view over the top of the cliff. For long moments she stood, lost in her thoughts, heart pounding, consumed with fear for him as she imagined him facing the huge fire-breathing beast.

  “Time to leave, Ruby,” Kade said.

  Her head snapped around, and her own problems rushed back. She understood why Nightshade had asked Kade to take her to safety, since Troy hadn’t bothered to show up, but she had to get her Magic Knot from him before she let him take her anywhere. If he took her back in the Seelie domain, she would never get her stones from him. There, he would have complete power.

  She eyed the ground and noticed a broken branch that she could use as a weapon if necessary. She stepped closer to it but fixed her gaze on her father. “I want my Magic Knot first.”

  He returned her regard, his lips tight, his eyes narrowed, assessing. “I don’t have it with me.”

  Ruby’s heart tripped and fell. Of course not. Why would he keep her Magic Knot with him all the time? Yet, she felt the same prickling hum of awareness that she had in the Seelie Court. Instinct and sensation told her he was lying.

  Her only option was to call his bluff. She took another step toward the branch on the ground. “You have got my stones. I can feel them.”

  He shrugged and opened his mouth. The screeching cry of the dragon drowned him out.

  Ruby’s attention snapped back toward her house. She caught a glimpse of the Welsh Red as it swooped over her garden. Half of her was glad she couldn’t see what Nightshade was doing; half of her wanted to be up there helping him.

  “It’s too dangerous to stay here.” Kade stepped closer.

  Ruby stooped, grabbed the branch, and swung it up before her. Kade halted, and his breath hissed out between his teeth. His huge wings fanned out behind him and then closed with a muffled thump that sounded like a pillow thrown against a wall. It wasn’t nearly as impressive a sound as the whip-crack of Nightshade’s.