by Danica Avet
Five miles later, Ruby discovered the group hadn’t traveled the entire way on foot. On the opposite side of a very soupy section of marsh, they’d abandoned four-wheelers which were quickly claimed by the group with Ruby perched on the back of one with Lucian.
They tore off through the swamps at an alarming speed, but considering they were supernatural beings, their night vision was stellar. Ruby could see very well herself and did her best not to cringe when Lucian took the ATV too close to several Cypress knees. He refused to talk with her. Not that speaking was possible with the angry snarls of the four-wheelers disturbing the quiet night, but Ruby could feel his anger and tension in every fiber of her being.
He was royally pissed. Not that she could blame him. She’d escaped his house with what she suspected was the entire Council present. His pride was stung, not to mention his weird protective streak was probably feeling sorely abused. He would believe anything could have happened to her out there, not caring that she’d lived in a place similar to this swamp and had grown up trapping in it. He wouldn’t believe she’d been as safe as she had at home. He’d argue that Malachi could’ve found her, but Ruby was beginning to think there was more to Malachi than Council knew. Something just didn’t ring true about the Eturian leader, and she wondered at Lucian’s insistence that Malachi was flat-out evil.
She occupied herself on the ride back, trying to meld what she’d learned from Lucian about Malachi with what she’d personally witnessed and felt as though something was missing. He’d been charming, and she’d felt absolutely no threat from him. Not to mention, the demons who’d attacked her had said their “mistress” wanted her alive.
Her musings were interrupted when they arrived back at Lucian’s house an hour later. The house was lit up like a Christmas tree and Ruby saw several vehicles parked out front. A small crowd of people spilled onto the front porch at the sound of the ATVs, watching silently as Lucian escorted Ruby to the house. The crowd parted as they came up the stairs and swallowed up the space as soon as they passed.
Lucian marched her straight up the stairs, passing two women and a blue man on the way. The trio met her eyes boldly, assessing her in a way that made her feel as though they were inspecting a newly purchased horse. She ignored their stares, shooting them a slightly triumphant glance.
Lucian steered her into his room without speaking to her and guided her to his bed. She jerked her arm away from his grip, perching on the edge.
He walked away from her as though he was tempted to do some violence to her. Ruby almost wished he would, because then she wouldn’t feel the sting of his disappointment and the crumble of her own defenses in the wake of his obvious fear for her safety. She watched him carefully as he strode to the window, running a hand through his hair.
“Why won’t you let me go, Lucian?” He didn’t answer. “Why can’t you realize I need to live my own life away from restrictions? I’ll die if you lock me away.”
“Don’t be so melodramatic,” he barked, turning to glare at her. “Your life depends on us keeping you safe. You’ll be well-provided for and cared for like a guest. You won’t be ‘locked away’ as you keep thinking.”
“It doesn’t matter, Luc! You’re killing any feelings I have for you by doing this!” Ruby shrieked before realizing what she’d just said. She felt her face pale as Lucian’s expression closed.
“They’ll be taking you to the safe house,” he said flatly.
“Why are you doing this?” Ruby asked Lucian, unable to shake the stabbing pain in her heart. He was standing right next to her, but he may as well have been a whole world away. There was no warmth in his face, no affection in his eyes. How could she have been so foolish as to believe his lust and claiming of her was anymore than an elaborate scheme? He lived for Council. She was the last Chieftain, an assignment he’d been given. He’d even lied to her about their being mated just to keep her content until Council showed up.
“It’s for the good of all, Ruby,” he said, his voice deceptively gentle. Ruby thought she caught a glimpse of regret in his eyes, but it was quickly smothered by duty.
The pain spread from her chest to her stomach and throat, growing outwards until she was one big, breathing wound. The affection she felt for him was still there, buried under pain and betrayal, but nonetheless causing her agony to hone to brutal sharpness. She could hear the other Councilors coming into the room, the noose beginning to tighten around her throat.
“Do you…feel anything for me, Lucian?” Ruby heard herself ask, not even conscious of asking such a revealing question.
For a moment, he looked startled, as though he hadn’t even thought about it. Then, desire lit his eyes, chasing away the signs of duty. But it wasn’t love she saw in his expression. He enjoyed the carnal delights they’d explored together. But whereas she seemed to be…oh, God, she was in love with him and he just wanted sex. She didn’t need for him to answer her. She saw it in his face.
Ruby felt as though a veil had been lifted from her vision. She laughed harshly, her eyes fixed on Lucian’s. The Veil. The very people she had wanted nothing more than to become part of and she’d been blinded by them, by her own visions of how it could be among them with Lucian at her side. But she now knew he would never be by her side. She’d always be a responsibility to him, an obligation.
He opened his mouth to answer her, but she turned away, facing the Councilors. She didn’t need to hear his lies. His eyes had told her all she needed to know.
Tawny approached her warily, as though ready for another round of violence, but Ruby remained passive. She just didn’t care anymore. All the fight was gone. They were going to lock her away and Lucian would eventually become her jailer. Agony like she’d never experienced lashed through her, but Ruby refused to let any of them see it.
When she met the eyes of the rest of Council, she was mildly surprised to see that it was the Demoness, her race obvious by the little pink horns tucked into her black hair, who seemed most sympathetic. Ruby looked away, not wanting pity from anyone.
“Give me a minute,” Lucian told the others, and though they didn’t look happy about leaving her with him, they filed out of the room again. The blue man paused to give Lucian a pointed look before closing the door behind him.
The silence in the room was relieved only by the sounds of conversations going on downstairs. Ruby strained to hear Bianca’s voice, but didn’t detect it. Maybe she’d left as soon as Ruby escaped. Probably making the wedding guest list, she thought acridly.
“I hope there’ll be no further escape attempts?” he asked, his voice devoid of all emotion.
Ruby lifted her chin, meeting his gaze as she turned around.
“I’ll never stop trying to achieve my freedom,” she declared, not flinching as his eyes began a slow smolder.
“You will promise me you won’t attempt an escape, Chieftain.”
“Or what, Lucian? You’ll lock me up? Oh, wait, you’re already planning to do that. So excuse me if I refuse to agree to my own incarceration,” Ruby hissed, crossing her arms over her chest absently rubbing the persistent ache over her heart.
His beautiful green eyes narrowed on her dangerously. “I won’t have you running off with no protection, Ruby,” he growled, his nostrils flaring.
Fed up with his doggedness, Ruby advanced on him. “You have no right to offer me protection. You’re nothing to me! You’re willingly putting me in the hands of the very people I’ve been running from since day one.”
Quick as a rattlesnake, Lucian snatched Ruby up against his body. He loomed over her, his eyes tracing over her face where blood had dried after her graceful exit through the window. “You are mine, Ruby, and that gives me every right to protect you, and I will protect you even if kills me.”
With that said, he kissed her. He kissed her with all of his frustration and anger and even a hint of fear. Ruby could feel every emotion, except love, as his hands gripped her tightly and his tongue invaded her mouth to duel with he
rs.
He was demanding her compliance, urging her to agree with his decree, but she couldn’t do it. He was demanding her whole soul and trust when he wasn’t willing to offer the same.
She pushed against him, using every ounce of her strength and willpower not to give in to him. For once, her entire self agreed with the decision to push away from him. Her heart was still aching from its disillusion, but it knew not to risk hurt again.
“No, Lucian. You don’t own me,” she breathed, bracing her arms against his chest to force a little space between them. “I’m my own person with my own thoughts and beliefs. If you can’t accept that, then we have nothing. And as you obviously don’t care about me, we have less than nothing.”
His eyes dilated at her challenge and he began tugging her back to his chest. “That’s bullshit, woman. You’re mine, and when this is all finished, I’m coming for you.” He leaned down to kiss her again.
“No, Lucian,” Ruby cried, not sure if even her newly discovered core of inner strength could hold up to another kiss. “I won’t be your plaything. I won’t be anyone’s toy!”
With a strength born of desperation and panic, Ruby managed to escape his hold and stepped away from him, breathing harshly. They stared at each other in silence. Ruby could see the fury and hurt on his face, but hardened her heart against it. If she gave into him just once, he’d take advantage of her weakness.
He was breathing heavily, a flush on his high cheekbones. “Very well,” he snarled, his hands fisted at his sides.
Then he walked out of the room, his shoulders straight and his head held up high. Ruby didn’t allow her eyes to linger on his back as it disappeared from view. Agony ripped across her chest trying to crawl up her throat, but she held it back.
This was for the best, she told herself. Her burgeoning love wouldn’t have a target anymore. If he kept his distance, she could survive the pain. Probably.
The Demoness appeared in the doorway, looking uneasy. “If you’ll come with me, Chieftain, we’ll be on our way.”
Ruby nodded and led the way down the stairs. The crowd had dissipated some, but a good many people were lingered in the foyer and dining room. Ruby scanned the faces and though they were respectful, there were expressions of suspicion, humor, and even fear.
Imagining what she looked like, Ruby supposed they had their rights to doubt her validity as a Chieftain. The sweats she’d donned earlier in the day were now bloodstained and covered in marsh slime. Her bare feet were filthy with numerous healing scratches on them. Her hair probably looked like hell, too, Ruby thought with an inward sigh.
Lucian was nowhere to be seen, and Ruby was eternally grateful. The woman who escorted her hadn’t cuffed her hands so she was free to move on her own, but the sense they wouldn’t hesitate to forcibly restrain her hovered in the air.
She stopped at the foot of the stairs, realizing her hands were bare. “I need my gloves,” she said quietly to the woman who came to stand next to her.
An ebony eyebrow rose in question.
Ruby turned her back to the room, showing the Councilor the markings on her palms. “I don’t want to accidentally touch someone and have a vision.”
“Oh. Right. Tawny,” she called to the elf. They whispered for several long minutes, and everyone pretended they didn’t hear what was said. Eventually Tawny leapt up the stairs and Ruby was escorted out of the house.
“I’m sorry we can’t stop for you to pack a bag,” the blue man said from the porch steps.
Ruby tried not to stare at him, though she knew she failed miserably. His skin was unmistakably blue and there appeared to be a breeze around him though nothing disturbed the grass he stood upon. She wanted to ask what he was because this hadn’t been explained in the books she’d read.
He gestured to a waiting sedan. Black tinted windows melted into black paint. It was a stealthy car, roomy but built for speed. The blue man opened the back door and waved her inside. She was pressed up against the other woman who’d been on the stairs earlier and her escort squeezed in on her other side.
Tawny, the elf, took the driver’s seat before handing Ruby her fingerless gloves. The blue man took the passenger seat. The engine purred to life and they were leaving. Ruby looked over her shoulder one time and saw the figure of a man in an attic window, a phone pressed to his ear. She knew it was Lucian and also knew she was leaving a part of her very soul behind.
The only conversation to be had was when Fields introduced them all. “I’m Fields, the Linguar, or negotiator. Tawny Cunningham is the Nidrum, or tracker.” He indicated the redhead. “This is Bree O’Dell, the Aristus, or the interrogator. And Nila,” he nodded towards the Demoness. “Nila James is the Manu, or executioner.”
Ruby shivered. She was sitting between an interrogator and an executioner. Just lovely. She really wished she would’ve called shotgun now.
No one said a word the rest of the trip. They stopped once to fuel up, but Ruby was never left alone for a second. Bree and Tawny were tiptoeing around her, giving her sympathetic looks that cut straight to her heart. Fields, who she’d learned was an Air Elemental, merely shook his head once in a while. Nila just stuck close to Ruby and avoided meeting her eyes.
It was the most hellacious journey Ruby had ever undertaken. Nearly ten hours later, they were somewhere in southern Arkansas. Bree, who’d taken the wheel in Lafayette, turned the car down an isolated dirt road.
Ruby spared the mansion a glance as she was led out of the car. Once inside, Ruby walked around without seeing, barely taking notice when Fields and Nila departed. When she did look around, she gaped.
They walked through the massive keep, their footsteps muffled by the thick carpets underfoot. Though older than any building Ruby had ever been in before, it had many modern conveniences. Electric lighting lined the hallway. Ruby could hear a television somewhere and smell the tempting scents of hamburgers underlined by the metallic tang of blood. They passed a crowd of people, some dressed in black S.W.A.T. pants and black T-shirts, obviously uniforms, and others dressed for rest and relaxation in jeans and T-shirts.
The stronghold was just like a large hotel except as they walked further from the entrance, the rooms became emptier until they entered a hallway with no doors except at the very end. Ruby noted there was absolutely nothing on the walls of the hallway. No paintings, no figurines, no cubby holes. Nothing. It was all blank walls for twenty yards. Finally, they stopped in front of a steel door at the very end of the hallway. Tawny opened the door and motioned Ruby inside.
Head still held high, Ruby entered, surprised to see it was a bedroom. A large, comfortable looking bed and vanity were tucked into an alcove to the left of the door. In the center of the room was a throne. There was no other word for it.
Ruby approached it cautiously, noting it was made of ebony with etchings covering every inch of the surface. It was like a story was being told on the throne. From the first Elk Fire Chieftain to her, it showed every Chieftain in the blood line.
“Who made this?” Ruby asked the two women quietly. She made sure her voice reflected no emotion. The pain was still there, but determination was seeping into her again. The ice wall that had held her strong through the years after her father’s death slowly began to mend itself.
“It was discovered at one of Julian’s estates, Chieftain,” Bree answered. Neither she nor Tawny was a fool. They could see the pain in how the Chieftain held herself so still, not allowing her eyes rest on anything for long.
“We believe the chair carves itself, milady,” Tawny said softly. She exchanged a look with Bree. The Chieftain was staring at the throne as though it were an electric chair. Her expression smoothed out to reveal nothing. “If you have need of anything, Chieftain, you only need to use the intercom.” Tawny quickly showed Chieftain Blue where everything was located, wanting to get out of the room before the other woman’s pain smothered her.
“Thank you,” Ruby said, turning her back on the women.
&nb
sp; They left in a hurry, leaving Ruby alone. She saw there was a large screen that she could pull in front of the alcove so no one could view her bed. She liked that. The rest of the room was pleasant and roomy without being cavernous. She had her own bathroom that was bigger than her bedroom back home.
Something was missing, though, and it took her several minutes before she put a finger on it. There were no windows. The room was surprisingly well lit and most of the light appeared natural, though Ruby suspected that had to do with enchantment more than modern electricity. She was in a room at the very end of a hallway with no doors and no windows. She knew if she opened the door, there would be a guard there or a ward more powerful than the one on the windows in Lucian’s house. She was well and truly imprisoned now.
The pain returned tenfold. She crumpled in the middle of her new home, her prison. Tears blurred her vision and she wished with all her heart that she would cease to feel the agony of this love. Lucian had killed it just as surely as if he stabbed her with a knife.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Locked away in the Council Safe House, time had no meaning for Ruby. She slept too much, depression draining her of energy. She picked listlessly at the delicious food delivered to her via a couple of sexy guards.
Refusing to feel anything was impossible because all she had to do was think and thinking inevitably led to thoughts of Lucian. That always caused a spasm of pain to crimp her heart. It was a vicious cycle.
He didn’t love her and probably didn’t even care about how she felt to be locked up, this time permanently. He was likely out there romancing the Oculum or some other woman who was more beautiful and dainty, not at all like the woman he’d pretended to claim as his mate. She hated self-pity, but with nothing to drag her mind away from Lucian, she was on the train and headed to Pity Place.