by J. E. Taylor
“Lucas?”
He turned, his jaw tight and his lips pressed together. His eyes sparkled with unshed tears. I pushed myself to a standing position, but he shook his head. I wasn’t sure if it was to rid himself of the tears or if it was to tell me to sit back down. When he didn’t speak, I reached my hand out.
He stared at my dirty fingers.
I almost pulled my hand back, but Lucas finally took it in his. I drew him to where I stood and wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him with all my might. Silence settled like a comfortable blanket wrapping around both of us. The hug lingered until he finally moved out of my grip.
“Soap?” he asked, his voice hoarse but at least his hands weren’t shaking any more.
I pointed to the cupboard above the heating basin.
“Please sit,” he said in a soft but firm manner.
I sank into the tub. He worked the bands holding my braid out and then poured the water over me. I gasped at the coolness. Lucas cranked the water pump, filling the basin again, and then he knelt next to the tub, cupping a handful of water. He drizzled it on my hair.
I stared at the red-stained water rolling off my skin and clenched my teeth against the unwanted shiver. Lucas grabbed a washcloth off the shelf and dipped it in the water before lathering it with the soap. His gaze met mine, and then he focused on wherever the cloth wiped. The gentleness in which he cleaned me magnified the horrors of the last few days, and tears escaped from the corners of my eyes in a silent deluge, mixing with the soap.
Lucas handed me the cloth. “Stand up.”
I followed directions, and he pulled the stopper in the base of the tub. The water filtered into an empty pot beneath. After the last of the water drained, he placed the plug back in.
“Sit,” he said, and as soon as I sat, another bucket of water doused me. This time, the tinge in the liquid was pink and not the vile red from the prior washing.
I ran the cloth over my body while Lucas pumped more water into the warming basin. He rinsed my hair and worked the soap in from my scalp to the tips of my red locks. His fingers worked in gentle circles, cleansing every inch of my head.
Instead of using the pink-tinted water to rinse the soap from my hair, Lucas opted to drain the water and start all over again. He continued the process until my tears dried up and the water ran clear.
All remnants of the battle washed away, but deep scars remained both on my back and in my heart.
He stood and extended a clean towel to me, and I climbed out of the tub, wrapping the soft cloth around my body. Just the feel of the fabric brought some normalcy back into my mind.
Lucas’s hand cupped my cheek as he studied my face. “Go get some rest while I clean up, and then we’ll figure out what we are going to do.”
I nodded and turned before he stripped off the fashioned poncho. Another basin of dirty water went out the window, and I had a moment to wonder if I should reciprocate his kindness.
I paused at the door, and Lucas gave me a warm smile.
“It’s okay. You need some rest,” he said.
I couldn’t argue with him. My body felt like it had been through a meat grinder. My eyelids drooped from the emotional drain.
In my bedroom, I glanced around the neat space and sighed, crossing to the dresser to retrieve undergarments and my night shirt. Just as I sat down on the edge of the bed, a knock at the front door interrupted my stupor.
The knocking persisted, so I shuffled to the door, cracking it. Travis stood on the other side with Doc Wilton. His eyes widened, and he recoiled with an open mouth.
His reaction shot heat to my cheeks, and I reached up, thinking I must be horribly disfigured, which would also explain Lucas’s strange behavior.
“You’re face is fine,” Doc Wilton said and slid by Travis with his medical bag in hand.
“Then what is wrong with him?” I waved at Travis still staring at me like I had grown a second head.
“Nothing,” Doc Wilton muttered, and his gaze dropped to the floor.
“What is it?” I insisted.
Travis fidgeted and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
“Your eyes...”
“What about them?”
“They’re green.”
“They’ve always been green.”
He laughed and glanced at the doctor.
Doc Wilton cleared his throat and set his bag on the table. “She clearly was the one who scared the town this morning,” he said to Travis and then turned to me. “I’m here to examine you. Travis said you sustained some nasty wounds last night?”
“She’s fine,” Lucas said from the hallway.
I turned and any chance of concentrating on what either Travis or the doctor was saying ended. I stared at Lucas’s towel-clad form. His wrists still carried the blackened burns from the silver. His bare torso had black welts from the silver knives that the Guard used to torture him before they dragged him to the posts. But even with all the scars, he was one fine man to look at.
A fire started in my toes and swirled through my body to the top of my head like a cyclone ripping over the plains. Hunger ached, and I blinked at the visceral reaction gripping me. His lips twitched, and he pressed them together suppressing a knowing smile.
“I’ve never seen eyes like that,” Travis was muttering.
Lucas pulled his gaze away from mine. “Ruby is fine. The cuts on her back have already started to heal.”
“Eyes like what?” I asked as Travis’s words started to sink in.
“They are glowing green, not blue like his.” Travis pointed to Lucas.
I raised my eyebrows. I had seen my fair share of werewolves, and every last one of them carried the same unique trait. Radiant blue eyes. I glanced at Lucas. He shrugged.
“Why don’t you take a look at him instead.” I nodded towards Lucas. “He’s still got burns from the silver shackles you put him in.”
Doc Wilton glanced at Lucas. “I don’t have medicine that will help that.”
I knew what would help. I turned, trudging down the hall to the back door where all the things Lucas and I had been carrying when the Guard arrested us still sat neatly piled on the steps. On top of my grandmother’s blanket sat the aloe plant. I opened the door, and the stench hit me. I stumbled back a step and covered my nose.
“Smells like death, doesn’t it?” Lucas said from down the hall.
I held my breath, opening the door to grab the aloe plant as quickly as possible. I slammed the door on the offensive smell, letting out a cough and a shiver.
He wasn’t kidding. Now I knew why neither my grandmother nor I ever got attacked by werewolves. I wouldn’t come within a hundred miles of that stench if I didn’t have to. I crossed to him and handed him the plant.
“I’m fine,” I said, echoing what Lucas had said earlier. “I just need some rest,” I added and yawned.
Travis shifted his weight. A tangy scent filled my nostrils, and it was coming from him. I tilted my head.
“You’re... nervous?”
Travis chuckled and scratched the inside of his cast. “Well, um...” He glanced at the doctor.
Doc Wilton picked up his bag. “I wish you the best, Ruby,” he said and stepped out of the cottage, leaving us with Travis.
Travis let out a high-pitched laugh and stared at the floor. When he swallowed hard, I knew it was more than just nerves I was smelling.
“I’m not going to attack you,” I said.
He met my gaze. “You sure?”
“You’re my best friend. Why would I hurt you?”
“Um... because you were bitten by a werewolf last night.” He shoved his good hand into his pocket.
I shrugged, holding my hands out palms up in an effort to show him his logic was ridiculous. “I’m still me. I haven’t gone all crazy... yet. But if you don’t spill what’s on your mind, that may change.”
“Doc was sent with me to examine you to confirm your condition.” He stared at the floor.
<
br /> “Okay...” I rolled my hand in a circle prompting him to continue.
“They want you to leave.” His gaze snapped up to mine, and he chewed on his lip.
It took a few moments of silence along with his steady gaze for what he was saying to sink in.
“After everything that I’ve done?” I waved in the direction of town. “Do you know how many werewolves I killed last night?”
“Yes. I do. And that is the only reason the Guard isn’t here taking care of this mess,” he snapped and then closed his eyes. His good hand curled in a fist of frustration. “I told them you insisted that I go open the church instead of help you. And that was after you were bitten. You still fought for them, and I wouldn’t allow them to take your life.” His gaze pierced mine.
I bit my lip. This was my home. I didn’t want to leave. I glanced at Lucas for help, but he was no longer standing in the hallway.
“Where am I supposed to go?” I asked Travis.
“Your wolf-boy has a pretty nice place,” Travis said and glanced around. “Where did he go?”
“To find something to wear,” I said. The sounds of drawers opening and closing in my bedroom reached my ears. I wasn’t sure Lucas would find anything at all that would fit him.
“I don’t like this, Red, but it was the only way I could ensure they wouldn’t put the two of you in front of a firing line. Remy isn’t around to fight for you, either. At least a few of the townspeople took my side this time. Otherwise...” He pressed his lips together. When I opened my mouth, he put his hand up, palm facing me. “I already argued that your grandmother’s house was far enough away from the town.”
It was uncanny how he knew what I was going to say. I sighed and dropped onto the bench by the fireplace.
He crossed and took the space next to me. He took my hand, and we sat in silence, staring at our point of contact. Travis finally sighed and pulled his hand away.
“I have loved you since that first day your grandmother marched you out on the green and insisted Remy train you.”
“Did you know Remy was my grandfather?” I said, trying to move this conversation in a different direction. I wasn’t in the mood for one of Travis’s undying love speeches.
He leaned away from me with his eyebrows arched. “Is that what you were howling over this morning?”
I nodded. “As much as I bitched about him, I did have a soft spot for him, even before we were told the news. He challenged me. Pushed me to be better. If it wasn’t for him, I would be dead a dozen times over.”
“I’m sorry,” he said and slung his arm over my shoulder.
I winced and he pulled it back quickly, his eyes widening at my reaction.
“I’m healing. Not healed.”
“Oh.” He picked at his cast. “You really never felt the same about me, did you?”
There it was. The point-blank question I had dreaded for the past couple of years. I looked down at my hands. “You’ve always been my closest friend, and I love you for that. But that’s where it ends for me. There’s never been...” I trailed off because I didn’t want to bruise his ego.
“A spark.” His shoulders slumped.
I nodded and kept my gaze averted.
“But there is one with him, isn’t there?” he asked with a low voice filled with bitterness.
I turned to him, a flare of anger on the surface. “Is that what you think? That Lucas is the reason for my not wanting to be romantically involved with you?” I stood and stepped away, distancing myself before the growl in my voice became something more.
He opened his mouth to answer, but his lips closed on whatever was lurking in his head.
“It wasn’t Lucas. It was the fact I am not attracted to you that way.”
He tried to hide the wince, but I caught it. He stood, his eyes hard, and he stepped close, looking down at me with those fawn-colored eyes. He moved fast, grabbing the back of my head and crushing his lips to mine.
I blinked at the pressure on my lips, and my heart jolted in surprise, but there was nothing else behind the physical contact. Travis slowly pulled away, his eyes wide like he had just had the world’s biggest epiphany. He let out a giggle and covered his mouth as his cheeks flushed red. It was the oddest reaction to kissing me, and it turned my insides into a defensive mode.
“No spark.” His eyes searched mine, but it wasn’t that begging look that I had seen for years.
If I had known a kiss would have stopped him from pining for me, I would have allowed it the first time he attempted it. He ran his hand through his hair and laughed.
“Why are you laughing?” I asked, a little put off by his reaction.
“Because he just realized he has been chasing a fantasy all these years,” Lucas said from the hall.
We both spun towards his voice. Lucas leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. The tension in his shoulders and arms wasn’t lost on me. He had seen the interaction, and I was sure he heard every word. Tan dungarees hung on his hips that he must have found in the back of my grandmother’s closet, and they looked like they were painted on. The length fell short of his ankles, but at least he found something.
Travis gave me a shrug.
“And we have to leave Dakota,” I said.
“So I heard. Is Ruby allowed to pack up, or are you going to run her out of town like she’s a common criminal?” he asked.
I caught the warning in his eyes even though his tone was conversational.
“She can take whatever she wants,” Travis said. “Midnight is out front, along with your bow and the sword you had last night.”
“The sword belongs to the blacksmith.”
“He’s the one that insisted you take it. He was one of the people that stood by me, along with Doc Wilton and a few others.”
I didn’t know what to say. That weapon was gorgeous. I wondered if I would need it now that I had tainted blood pumping through my veins.
“How much time do I have to pack?”
“You need to be out of Dakota by dark.”
A lump formed in my throat, and I swallowed it. I didn’t want to succumb to the wild pendulum of emotions mixing in my blood. I nodded and started towards my room but stopped before going down the hallway.
“Can you do me a favor?” I asked Travis.
He nodded.
“Do you think you could saddle up the mare in the corral for us and bring her around front for me?”
“Sure.” He turned to leave. “Do you mind if I visit you some time?” he asked with his back to me.
“I’d like that,” I said. Travis left via the front door, and I turned to Lucas. “You’re right. The corral smells like death.”
Chapter 17
I stepped out front to load my saddle bags on Midnight, and my horse whinnied, stomping his hoofs. His eyes went wild just like they had when Lucas approached him in the stable the other day. I grabbed the reins to keep him from rearing.
“It’s me, Middy,” I said and placed my hand on his jaw.
He whinnied again, but stilled at my touch, searching my eyes. Then he nudged me like he was afraid of me.
“It’s okay. I know I smell different. So do you,” I whispered and ran my hand down his neck. My stomach growled, and I licked my lips, trying to staunch the growing hunger in my belly.
I turned as Lucas came out with another set of saddle bags and my grandmother’s folded quilt. His mare was tied up next to Midnight, courtesy of Travis.
“You good?” Travis asked from the doorway.
“Almost,” I said and handed the saddle bag to Lucas. “I want to do a last walk-through.”
“Take your time,” he said in a soft voice that assured me we had all the time in the world.
But I knew the clock was ticking. My hunger was starting to bite into my focus, and I didn’t know what would happen when I gave in to the craving for something hot and bloody.
Travis stepped to the side as I crossed the threshold of my grandmother’s house for th
e last time. I pulled the key off the wall and held it in my palm. The weight of it didn’t match that of the sorrow at the pit of my stomach. I crossed to my room. There wasn’t anything in the bedroom that I had any emotional attachment to, but when I stepped into my grandmother’s bedroom, her warm scent filled my soul.
I hadn’t gone in here to pillage her things. But now that I stood in her bedroom surrounded by the warmth of her, I wanted to pack everything into a box and keep it with me at all times. I crossed to her bureau and ran my finger along the fine wood grain.
I pressed the back of my hand to my lips. I caught my reflection in the mirror on her desk and reached for it, mesmerized by the glowing green eyes looking back. The minute my hand touched the handle, I yelped. Fiery pain singed my fingertips, and I stared at the mirror with wide eyes. The handle was silver.
I turned on my heels and nearly ran out of the room, but paused at her bed and grabbed the pillow. This held her scent, and I prayed it would hold it through a long ride through the valley to Lucas’s place. I needed my grandmother with me, or otherwise I might give in to the growing need accosting me.
I gave Travis a quick hug and slid the cabin key into his hand. “The house is yours if you want it,” I said and turned to Midnight, mounting him with one quick step into the stirrup.
“Red?” Travis said as Lucas coaxed his mare next to Midnight.
I met his gaze and gave him a pained smile. There was nothing more to say, so I nodded and tapped my heels on Midnight, moving him forward.
“Take care,” Travis called as the woods swallowed us up.
Lucas took the lead and when he gave a hee-ya, his gray mare became a lightning bolt. I tightened my grip on the reins and kicked Midnight, and he took off at a full gallop until he caught up to the mare.
Lucas glanced back at me with a teasing grin. It was the most playful look I had seen on him since we met. My heart burst into a wild rhythm as we passed the Dakota line into the badlands where no one had traveled until the night my grandmother fell down into the ravine.
The woods on the other side of the plains were as thick and lush as they had been the other day, but this time, there wasn’t a threat in the area, so I had a chance to appreciate the scent of pine and brush of the leaves as they passed over my exposed arms.