This is why succubi cut and run.
Humans were weak. I hadn’t even slept with him. Yet, he was just as crazy as the one I did sleep with at sixteen. The very memory made me shiver, but the fear turned to anger as more heat flooded my system.
Moira placed a hand on my shoulder, forcing me to swivel back towards her. She grabbed both shoulders and looked me in the eye.
“He’s not worth it, Ruby. We’ve been down this road before,” she said quietly. It was the subtlest of words that she could use to talk about what happened nearly seven years ago. “It’s your birthday, and I won’t let this loser ruin it. Okay?”
I nodded, and behind me, Josh let out the coldest, most deranged of laughs. In a club that was bursting with music and bodies, it was lost on all but us.
“You’re mine, Ruby.” That was the last thing he said before I felt his angry presence disappear in the crowd. Moira’s mouth was pressed in a thin line, but we both ignored him until he was gone.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“For what?” she asked, tilting her head.
“For always being there.”
She eased her grip on my shoulders and slid her arms around me. “I’ll always be here. Even when you don’t tell me things,” she murmured into my shoulder. A shred of guilt ran through me as I hazily recalled the last few days.
“I’m sorry about that. I’m just…confused when it comes to them. I don’t even know how I feel about it myself—”
“I’m not getting after you, Ruby. You’re allowed to keep things to yourself, but I worry about you because of shit like Josh happening. The Horsemen don’t seem like that. I trust you know what you’re getting yourself into. Just let me know before I try to cock block someone and blow out their eardrums, eh?” I must not be the only one that was feeling the burn, because Moira was starting to slur her words a little.
“You’re drunk. The Moira I know never forgives this easily.”
Moira pulled away, a demonic glint in her eye. “It’s your birthday. Call this an exception. I’m not nearly drunk enough, and neither are you. Finish that,” she motioned to the half-full mystery drink. “Hey, bartender! Bring us some shots for the birthday girl!”
I tipped back the remainder of the cloudy sweetness.
Bottoms up.
Chapter 13
We only made it through two rounds of shots before we went stumbling drunk onto the dance floor. Devil knows how I made it in the heels I was wearing, but I did. The techno beat of the music kept me going as one song blended into the other. Around me, the room seemed to be gaining more energy as the club continued to fill with people. The lights dropped into a darker hue as the music became louder.
“I’ll be right back!” I yelled to Moira.
She turned her head fractionally and shouted, “What?”
“Bathroom,” I said back, trying to mouth the word so she could read my lips.
“Need me to come with you?” she mouthed in return, laughing and pointing to herself and then to me.
I shook my head no, waving her off as I began weaving through the crowd. The surrounding people pushed and pulled, swaying with the music like one living thing. I stumbled off the dance floor and caught myself on the stair railing that led to the next level.
The bouncer next to it smiled at me. He was the same one from outside, but it was only then that I realized I recognized him from somewhere.
“Have we met before?” I asked. He said something, but I couldn’t hear his response. The words came out distorted. They didn’t blend with the music; they warped around it. I needed to find the bathroom. Maybe some cold water would help me. It was difficult to communicate that I needed the toilets, but he seemed to know what I was asking.
He pointed upstairs and said, “Your boyfriend’s up there waiting for you.”
I must have heard that wrong. I didn’t have a boyfriend. Maybe he said bathroom?
He unclipped the rope and ushered me through. I was halfway up the stairs when I started to get dizzy. A sudden need to lie down hit me and gripping the rail was the only thing that kept me upright. I eased my way up the rest of the stairs and stumbled down the hallway.
My legs didn’t want to cooperate. I lost my footing and fell towards a door. Strong arms caught me, pulling me back.
“Thank you,” I slurred. One of the hands that caught me reached forward and opened the door. I stumbled in, my eyes having trouble adjusting to the low light. Hot breath fanned my skin as someone’s lips began trailing down my neck.
Behind me the door gave a harsh audible click.
“Wha—” I started to protest, but the world tilted as the stranger pushed me onto something flat and hard. My face smacked into the surface and sent pain shooting through me. Sharp and cruel. I whimpered as the stranger started turning my body over, my back against the cold surface beneath.
Even in the dim light with inebriation setting in, I recognized the man pulling my legs apart.
“J-joshhh…wh-why are—”
“You wouldn’t listen to me, Ruby,” he said harshly. His voice sounded far away as my consciousness began to retreat. I wanted to move my legs to kick him, but I no longer had control. My entire body had gone numb.
“This is your fault. You think I want to do this?” My legs hanging limp over the edge, he placed himself between them. His hands wrapped around the back of my thighs, pulling me closer. I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t form words anymore. I couldn’t do anything.
“I can’t get you out of my mind, but you won’t come back to me. I hurt for you so much, Ruby. Not even Kendall can soothe it anymore. It must be you.” He continued speaking, muttering to himself. A blind panic set into me. I knew what was about to go down, but I couldn’t put the words to it. I couldn’t stop it.
Josh’s hands continued groping me, reaching beneath my top. His sweaty palms wrapped around my breasts, and terror seized me. He was seriously going to do this.
“You wouldn’t let me touch these when we were together. You were such a prude. Not anymore, though, are you, Ruby?” Squeezing my breasts, his face in my neck, I could feel his pathetic excuse for a cock pushing against me. Pins and needles prickled my skin as I tried to cry out for someone. Anyone. I screamed and screamed, but I was locked in a nightmare where no one could hear me.
Josh’s fumbling movements worsened the more he touched me. My skin did that to people. I was such a fool for even wanting someone to pass the time with. I was lonely and starving. For attention. For sex. For everything. I was a fucking demon deprived of all that I needed, so I played with fire and now I was going to burn.
Burn.
I was burning inside.
“You’re mine, and I will have you.” Josh pulled back, fumbling to undo his pants. I couldn’t see the movements, I couldn’t move my head, but I could hear every notch of his zipper, and every rustle of clothing as his pants dropped to the floor.
It was so similar to before. It was scary.
Except this time, I didn’t have Moira to save me.
Josh’s filthy hands wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer as he rubbed himself against me. It was savage and disgusting. His hands clumsily tugged at my shirt, pulling it off, my head lolling as he jerked the fabric over and tossed it aside. I could feel everything and nothing, and I couldn’t escape. I was no longer me. My consciousness retreated further, searching for safety in some dark corner of my mind.
The girl on the table was pinned and helpless, but not so far away—I was burning with hatred. Burning like I never had before.
As his mouth wrapped around my nipple, I stopped screaming for help, and started screaming for death.
His death.
I wanted him to bleed for this.
I was going to hurt him.
Hell, when I came to, I was going to kill him.
It was that simple thought that unlocked something inside of me. Something I’d never known was there. For the first time, lying on a table, drugged an
d unable to move, I saw a glimpse of something…not of this world.
Something dark.
Deadly.
And as his hands unbuttoned my pants, that something cracked its eye open.
**Rysten**
Something reached into my chest and yanked my heart out.
At least that’s what it felt like.
Out of nowhere, a pure undiluted terror seized me. It demanded my attention; all of it, as the searing pain crawled inside me. I grasped at my chest as I fell back into the sofa. My wine slipped from my hand, spilling across the pale furniture, staining it a deep burgundy. The pain eased for a moment, and I looked up around the room. Julian gripped the island counter hard enough that the quartz crumbled beneath his fingers.
“What the fuck was that?” Laran yelled down the hallway. He emerged holding a hand to his chest, his eyes glowing red.
“I have no idea, but I’m going to assume we all felt the same thing?” Julian replied tersely. The words were hardly out of his mouth when it started again. Worse than it was before. The pain that ripped through me burned. Only when the scorching heat died down, did my vision clear enough to see the world around me.
Laran’s knees must have buckled, because he’d fallen to the floor. Allistair was collapsed sideways into the wall, his glass of scotch seeping onto the carpet in an amber pool. Even my brother, the strongest of us Horsemen, was leaning onto the counter for support. A vein in his temple bulged; the only indication Death would ever give he was in pain.
“Who could possibly attack all four of us?” I breathed.
Silence enveloped us as another wave of heat tore through my chest. This surge tasted of fury, not just pain. The psychic power bypassed my shields like they were nothing, igniting a torture I had never known.
As it waned, I realized a small piece of the essence was familiar. It was wild…
The truth and the horror hit me at once.
“Ruby.”
All it took was her name to spur us into action.
I had no idea how she’d done it. How she could possibly be hiding so much power? Allistair had said he felt it…but in that moment, I didn’t care. All I cared about was finding her and ending whoever was hurting her—if there was even anything left of them.
We were the Horsemen, and we were immortal. She had brought the four strongest beings that roamed any world, outside of herself, to their knees. It was very plausible that whoever hurt her was already dead.
“We need to find her now,” Laran said.
I shadow walked out of the room and onto the streets of Portland. They would catch up if they hadn’t already. Right now, Ruby was the most important thing. I made it three steps down the street, before another wave of uncontainable rage washed through me. It was crippling, and I stumbled, but I would not stop. I would not fail her.
I used the pain and the rage and the terror to fuel my hunt. They would lead me to her.
I had no idea where she was, or how to reach her, but somehow, her power guided me.
Like a string connecting the two of us, it wrapped around me, pulling me towards ground zero.
I came around another corner and stopped immediately at a door. I could feel it in my bones. She was here. This was it. I was standing at a club called Pandora’s Box.
I pushed through the line of people to the front, punching the guard that dared block my way. They were not my concern. Inside, it smelled of liquor and sweat. The humans danced, if you could call it that, grinding on one another in sync with the music.
The lights above shifted and moved as I dove into the crowd, pushing the humans out of the way as I went. I ripped through the dance floor and scanned the bar. Ruby wasn’t here, but I could feel her close. Her pain was more pronounced now. Her terror more defined.
Images flashed through my mind.
My blood ran cold.
Lured by the invisible line, I found myself at the base of the stairs. Not a single bouncer tried to stop me. They were more preoccupied with the humans that had started collapsing one by one. Ruby’s power tainted the air, and I had no doubt she was the cause.
I raced up the stairs after War and Death; Famine at my heels. The world slowed down to one single purpose, and that was getting to Ruby. I was so focused on reaching her, that when Julian kicked the door open, I was unprepared for the rage that took me as I stared at the bare ass of her ex as he was removing the jeans from her limp legs.
He’d drugged her. He’d molested her. Now he was about to rape her.
I lost all sense of rational and let my fury consume him.
Chapter 14
The door burst open and light danced across the ceiling.
Josh halted in his fevered attempt at removing my pants, and the brief interruption ripped my consciousness away from the inner beast. But the damage was done. I now knew she was there, deep inside of me. Sleeping in a cage, waiting for the door to open. My vision swam as voices began to file in.
My head had cleared enough I could make them out.
“I told you what would happen if you came near her again.” Fire blazed to life overhead, and a face appeared before me.
Dark sage eyes and white blonde hair. Julian’s hard profile stared down at me. His expression unreadable. He reached a hand out, his fingertips barely touching my forehead as he brushed my hair aside.
An icy wave ran through me. Cold. Brutal. It was the kind of cold that hurt so much it blistered. Every inch of my skin prickled against his touch, absorbing unspeakable pain. When it finally started to ebb, I found myself clinging to it and wanting more.
“Can you hear me, Ruby?” he asked softly.
I tried to nod my head, and to my surprise, it actually moved. I swallowed hard, tears pricking my eyes. “Y-yes,” I rasped.
Slowly, but surely, the numbness began fading from my body as I came to. Enough so that I could make out Josh’s screaming.
I struggled to sit up, and Julian put a hand out to hold me down.
“You don’t want to see this.”
“…have to,” I whispered.
Something unspoken passed between us. Maybe it was the moment. Maybe it was the remnants of whatever drugs Josh gave me. I don’t know, but in that moment, Julian understood me as my eyes met his.
He didn’t say anything as he slipped an arm around my naked back and helped me into a sitting position. I realized why he didn’t want me to see it, but I felt nothing as I watched the scene play out before me.
Josh was kneeled before Rysten, his mouth gaping open in a now silent scream. The glamor that always surrounded Rysten was nonexistent. A wave of power that smelled distinctly of rot and decay filled the room as he held Josh’s face between his hands.
His eyes bled from their sockets as Rysten extracted the only sort of revenge I would ever get to see. I don’t think he could have stopped, even if I asked him.
Rysten leaned forward and whispered something in his ear that I couldn’t hear. Over his shoulder, Josh’s bleeding eyes met mine. Even dying, he looked at me hungrily. I grit my teeth together and said the only thing that could bring me peace.
“Kill him.”
My words were a whisper upon his grave. The moment they left my lips, his eyes exploded, and his heart gave out.
I’d never been one to revel in death, but after being stalked, drugged, and defiled, let’s just say it does something to your soul. I stared at his corpse, but there was no guilt. No kindness. No remorse.
I wanted him dead because he tried to take from me the very thing that I never wanted to take from anybody: the power to choose.
And if the Horsemen hadn’t come, he’d be raping me on a conference room table at this very moment. The truth of that thought hurt more than any physical pain.
But this wasn’t the time to process shit.
Not here, in a room where his corpse was still warm, and I was half-naked only being held up by Julian’s arm. No. Not here.
Allistair came forward to lift my arms while
Julian put my shirt back on me.
I should have worn a bra.
“Listen to me, Ruby,” Allistair said. He repeated my name three times before stepping in my field of vision and forcing my attention. “We’re going to clean this up. It’ll be like it never happened. No one will know where he went, but that human will never hurt you again.”
Like it never happened. Those words played over and over in my mind.
“Moira said the same thing,” I murmured. Images of a night not so different than this played out before me. About a boy and a girl who played a game, and caught fire.
“What are you talking about?” Allistair asked gently. My thoughts began spinning wildly out of control.
“I never wanted him to lose his mind. I just couldn’t stop myself,” I whispered.
I could still remember the color of his hair. So yellow; kissed by the sun. He was barely a man when we met.
“Ruby, this isn’t your fault. What happened here—”
“He hurt me, too. And I made him pay.” My words were so soft. So quiet. Four pairs of eyes turned on me.
“She’s in shock, and she’s hurting. I’m going to take her home. Get this cleaned up. All of it,” Julian commanded. He leaned down and put his other arm beneath my legs. As he carried me out of the conference room, I looked over his shoulder.
Laran held out a hand, and Josh’s body went up in flames. Across from him, bathed in the firelight, Rysten’s eyes found me. He didn’t say anything, but something in the way he watched me made me think he knew what I was talking about. Then again, maybe I was just seeing shadows in the eyes of one killer to another.
No one questioned Julian as he carried me out of Pandora’s Box. I had to wonder what kind of security they had here if they just let men carry barely conscious women out the front door. I guess that was humans for you. They were as fucked up and flawed as we demons were. They just turned a blind eye to their own nefariousness.
Outside of the club, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped. I huddled against Julian as he walked farther from the club and turned down an alley. The midnight skies were a welcome sight after what seemed like a trip down the rabbit hole. I breathed a sigh of relief, but it was too soon.
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