by ID Johnson
Cinder ran a hand through her hair, and Ru could see flickers of anger in her eyes, or perhaps it was something else. Jealousy? “Rune, I did what I did because I was asked to. None of us should be keeping information from Sky or the authorities in other realms. When I was asked if I knew the location where your mother was hiding, I told the truth. Neither you nor my brother should expect me to lie.”
The answer seemed acceptable, and yet, Ru couldn’t help but think there was more to it than that. “Why couldn’t you have told her you didn’t know? Or that she needed to ask Cutter? Or that he was going to update her as soon as he had a chance? I’m sure you knew he didn’t want you to tell anyone.”
“Any of those options would’ve been lies, Rune. Maybe where you come from it’s okay to be dishonest with others, but not around here.”
“So even though half of the commandments seem optional, lying is the one that is heavily enforced?”
“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
While Ru wanted to ask if Cinder was still a virgin, keeping herself only unto one man, or if she ever took the Lord’s name in vain the way the rest of the half-angels she commingled with did, or a half a dozen other infractions Liddy Brown would’ve said were signs of the devil, she didn’t see the point. “All right, Cinder. Well, at least we solidly know who we can trust now.”
“Ha, that’s hilarious coming from you,” Cinder replied, shaking her head.
Ru tilted her head to the side and studied Cinder’s face in disbelief. “Excuse me?” she asked, having no idea what the other woman was alluding to.
“Oh, come on, Ru. I saw you on the beach. I know you were meeting with him. Again. This isn’t the first time, right? The two of you are a couple of old chums. Or is it more?”
Cinder’s harsh words burned into Ru in a way only Liddy Brown had reached before. Clearing her throat, Ru said, “Are you talking about Nat?”
“Why do you ask? Are you conversing with other Reapers as well?” Cinder sat back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest knowingly.
Ru took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure why Cinder’s words were hitting her so hard. Perhaps it was because, in the back of her mind, she understood why someone might say that, someone who didn’t understand what it was like not to know who you were for so long and then to discover there were others who could explain two and a half decades of mystery. “Listen, Cinder, I’m not going to deny that I’ve used Nat’s willingness to talk to me as a means of getting information from him, but I can assure you, there’s no coercion on my part. I’ve simply taken advantage of his loose-tongue.”
“I’ll say,” Cinder muttered, raising her eyebrows.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Ru could feel the anger burning inside of her again, deep down in her gut, and she did her best to snuff it out. The last thing she needed to do was prove to Cinder she was right to suspect her Reaper blood could be dangerous to Keepers.
Cinder giggled. “Are you saying Nat was able to fool you so completely that you had no idea he was Kyle, not even when he was kissing you?”
“Of course, I didn’t know,” Ru shouted. “I would’ve never have gone out with him at all—let alone kissed him—if I’d had any idea.”
Cinder’s giggle turned into a laugh for a few moments before she gained control of herself. “Oh, Ru. Perhaps your other mom was right the first time. Maybe Ruin was a more suitable name.”
“What was that?” Ru asked, standing. There was no use trying to calm herself now. “You take that back right now!” She said the words through gritted teeth and stopped herself just short of calling the woman every curse word she could think of. She had to remind herself this was still Cutter’s sister.
Undeterred, Cinder continued, looking up at Ru from her seated position. “Well, it’s true, isn’t it? You ruined everything for your birth parents, then your adoptive mother. Of course, there’s your own sorry excuse for a life. Sure, some people would say it was a wonder you even got a college degree, but becoming an elementary school teacher in a creepy little town in Upstate New York is hardly a success story. Now, here you are, letting Thanatos tempt you into ruining this, too. It’s just a matter of time.”
“I closed the portal!” Ru shouted, stepping forward and poking herself in the chest so hard with her thumb that it bent backward.
“So I heard. Congratulations. Let’s see if Nat can stop you from closing the other two. I’m sure he’ll find a way to coerce you out of it with those twinkling green eyes.”
Folding her arms, Ru countered, “Perhaps you’re the one who thinks Nat is a little too special.”
“Ha!” Cinder laughed. “He wishes.” She slowly shook her head. “Listen, Ru, Nat is only interested in you because you’re half Reaper.
“Is that supposed to hurt my feelings?” Ru asked, growing more and more confused by Cinder’s line of defense. “Look, Cinder. I don’t have time for this. You think I’m going to mess this up, that’s your opinion. I’m not. Just, from now on, stay the hell out of my business, okay? And if you want to go crying to Sky, go ahead. Give her another reason to hate me. I don’t give a shit. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you think you got away with telling her about my mom without warning you, I’ve got your number.”
Slowly, Cinder stood. “If you want me to be afraid of you, Ru, I’m sorry to disappoint you. I’ve been doing this for a long, long time. I’m more powerful than you. I’m more intelligent than you, and I am the last person you need to turn into an enemy.”
“Judging from your comments, I think it’s a little too late for that.”
Cinder’s eyes were dark and cold as she stared into Ru’s. “You should go.”
“I am.”
“Good.”
“I have portals to close.”
“And demons to screw.”
As much Ru wanted to shoot her black smoke straight into Cinder’s face, she only shrugged and said, “Nah. Just your brother to ruin,” before winking and fading out but not before she got a good look at Cinder staring at her, dumbfounded and slack jawed.
Cutter waited anxiously for Ru to return to her body. As much as he wanted to accompany her when she met with Cinder, he knew he had to start letting her do things on her own, particularly now that she’d proven she was every bit as capable as he’d thought she would be.
She was gone for about twenty minutes before she started to stir in his arms. She’d insisted on using the dark room to make the leap even though he was sure she would’ve been able to do it from anywhere, including her bedroom, which would’ve been more comfortable for her. But when she asked him to hold her while she was gone, he hadn’t complained.
Cutter illuminated the room with his hand and saw Ru’s eyes fly open. They were wide, as if she was running from something or was shocked to discover she was back. “Are you okay?” he asked, studying her closely.
Ru’s face broke into a smile. “I’m okay,” she replied. “But I don’t think your sister likes me anymore.”
Tilting his head a bit, he asked, “And why is that?”
“Cutter, I don’t want to be rude,” Ru began twisting around so that she was facing him, their crossed legs bumped up to each other. She reached out and grabbed both of his hands, his illuminated fingertips not discouraging or harming her, “but your sister is a bitch.”
Not sure what to make of that, Cutter was quiet for a moment. There had definitely been times in the past when he would agree with that, but he was still shocked to hear Ru say the words. “I guess you found out she did it, then?”
“Oh, yeah,” Ru nodded. “And… she accused me of all kinds of craziness. She even said I ruin everything I touch. What is wrong with your sister?” The last sentence was punctuated in such a way that each word was emphasized.
“Wait—what? She said that you ruined everything?”
“Yes! She said that my adoptive mom was right in naming me that.” Ru’s voice was still high-pitched, as if she was more s
hocked than offended, but he could tell the words hurt. “And she accused me of having feelings for Nat.”
Those words hit hard. It would be a lie if he said he hadn’t been more than a little jealous of Nat’s relationship with Ru when he was pretending to be Kyle, and sometimes even when he wasn’t. He understood it was important for Ru to keep the lines of communication open, but when Nat had saved her from the demon the day before, it had solidified the fact that there was a connection between the two of them, one Cutter was incapable of understanding.
But Cutter was the one holding her hands now.
“Well, Ru, I’m very sorry that she treated you that way. I know… she hasn’t been the same since Leaf died. But that doesn’t give her the right to be so rude to you.”
Ru’s forehead wrinkled up and he saw her shoulders physically drop. “I hadn’t thought about that. I was just so angry at what she’d done.”
“No, I said that wasn’t an excuse,” he reiterated.
“It isn’t,” Ru agreed, “but the last thing I said to her was awfully mean under the circumstances. Although, it was better than knocking her smart mouth across the desert.”
It was Cutter’s turn to pucker his forehead in confusion. “What was the last thing you said to her?” he asked, steeling himself to hear some scandalous remark involving the death of his dear brother, though he couldn’t imagine Ru saying anything so insensitive.
Ru’s disposition changed again. Her stare became sultry, and as the tip of her tongue slowly ran over her bottom lip, he felt a tightening in his abdomen. In a husky whisper, Ru replied, “I told her I was going to ruin… you.”
“Oh, well, then,” Cutter stuttered. Ru leaned in closer, her lips just an inch or so away from his. “I mean… if that’s what it takes to teach her a lesson….” Her mouth devoured his, and Cutter pulled her close, extinguishing his light as he did so. Any thought of straightening things out with Cinder left his mind as he felt Ru’s legs wrap around his waist. He breathed her in and let her carry him away to whatever realm she wanted to take him to. If this is what it meant to be ruined, then he was ready to sacrifice himself to the angel on his lap.
Chapter 8
“That is not what the dark room is for!” Rider shouted as Ru and Cutter slipped out into the hallway, their clothes askew and their hair more than a bit mussed.
“Sorry, not sorry,” Ru replied with a shrug, though she really was a little embarrassed. What had just happened in there would’ve never been a choice her old self, the one before she found out her true identity, would’ve made, but she wasn’t ashamed of what they’d done.
“It isn’t what you think,” Cutter replied, though the smile on his face assured her that he wasn’t complaining.
Rider stood across the hallway, his arms crossed. But there was more than a hint of merriment in his blue eyes. “Kids these days,” he mumbled, as if he were decades older than them. “Well, I’m sorry I had to interrupt, but Lyric has some important information. She would like for us to meet her downstairs in the parlor. Once we are all decent.” Without dropping his eyes, he gestured at Ru’s top, and she looked down to see that, in her haste to answer Rider’s knock at the door, she had missed a button.
“I’ll just… go take care of that.” She couldn’t help but smile at Cutter once more before she hurried over to her own bedroom to fix her clothes and take a moment to regain her breath.
As she closed the door behind her, she heard Rider say, “Damn, man. Look at you. Finally happening,” followed by the sound he made whenever he’d requested someone “blow it up” and they’d complied with the required fist bump. If Cutter said anything back, she didn’t hear him, and a few seconds later, she heard his door close as well and assumed he would also want to straighten up a bit before meeting with the rest of the team.
Since he’d kissed her in the woods, everything between them had been different, even though they hadn’t stopped to talk about what it would mean for them to be a couple. Would the rest of the team be okay with that? What would happen if things got tense between them? Would they still be able to fulfill their mission?
It just seemed silly to ponder those things right now, considering how she felt when she was with him. It had taken her too long to realize that everything she’d been missing in her life was right in front of her, but part of that was because she’d never thought she deserved someone like Cutter, never even saw him as a possibility. But discovering who she was had also made her realize that she deserved to be happy. She deserved to be loved. Someone like Cutter, someone good, kind, funny, patient, intelligent… someone wonderful, could love her. And perhaps most importantly, she could love herself.
Ru took one last glance in the mirror, and happy with what she saw there, she headed out the door.
Cutter was waiting for her in the hallway. “Hi,” he said, a goofy grin on his face.
“Hi, yourself,” she replied, knowing she probably looked just as sappy as he did.
“So, uh, about… what just happened….”
“Yeah?”
“That was… cool, right? I mean, we’re good, aren’t we?”
Ru couldn’t help but giggle. “Cutter, look at my face. Do I look cool to you?”
“You look… hot,” he replied, and before she knew it, he had her in his arms again.
“I didn’t remodel that hallway so that you could use it for your necking sessions!” Rider shouted up the stairs from the parlor.
“I guess his hearing is as good as yours?” Ru asked, her hand caressing Cutter’s jawline.
“Yeah it is!” Rider shouted up the stairs in response.
Clearing his throat, Cutter said, “I think we better head downstairs.”
“You’re right,” Ru agreed. He turned, and she took his hand muttering, “To be continued.” A quick squeeze of her fingers let her know he agreed.
Lyric was sitting in her usual chair with her laptop open in front of her on the coffee table. She had an amused expression on her face, but she didn’t say anything. Ivy, who had received several stitches at the emergency room for the injuries she’d sustained in her “climbing accident” was beaming as Ru and Cutter walked in.
Rider was standing behind his chair. “You sit there,” he said, gesturing at Ru and pointing at one corner of the sofa, “and you sit there.” He pointed Cutter to the corner farthest away from Ru’s spot. “And don’t make me sit between you. There will be no hanky panky during team meetings, got it?”
“I think someone’s a little jealous,” Cutter mumbled as he took his spot.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Cutter,” Rider replied, as he took his seat. “We’re cousins.” He winked at Ru and had her giggling again.
“All righty then,” Lyric said, rolling her eyes. “I have some extremely important information I wanted to share with you.”
“About?” Ru asked, leaning forward in anticipation. She had an inkling of an idea what Lyric was about to say, and the grin on her friend’s face made her think it was very good news, but Ru didn’t want to get her hopes up.
“About… the other two portals.” Lyric clapped her hands together in glee.
“Well, get on with it. Come on now. Do we have locations? And don’t be jabbering anything in some other language I ain’t gonna understand like you did last time,” Rider implored.
Lyric laughed. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you everything without doing that, but the short answer is, yes. I think so!”
“What?” Ru asked, ecstatic. She looked at the faces of the rest of her friends and saw they were just as happily surprised as she was herself.
“Where are they?” Ivy asked.
“How did you figure it out?” Cutter wanted to know.
“Okay—one question at a time. Let me start at the beginning. When we got Maggie’s pictures, I noticed that the runes are actually mirror images of each other. It was just hard to tell under the new scars Raphael put there, and also baby skin is different than adult skin.”
“So… I analyzed the runes compared to the Gaelic ones first, since that was the language Raphael had used. But there was no match, nothing decipherable. I used every example of runes I could to try to see if any language would give me a hint as to what I was looking at. Finally, I decided to think about what Nana Sue had said, so I pulled up the Hebrew Aleph-bet.”
“Aleph-bet?” Rider asked. “Were the ancient Hebrews all really bad spellers.”
“Very funny,” Lyric replied, generating a gentle breeze with her hand that blew his hair backward. “No, that’s what it’s called. Stay with me.”
“I’m trying to,” he said as he straightened his hair.
“No, they were not bad spellers. But as I was looking at their aleph-bet, I noticed I’d been looking at the markings on Ru’s back wrong. I was starting with the left side and reading left to right, but I should’ve been looking from right to left.”
“But my scars go up and down,” Ru reminded her.
“Right. I’d already turned the picture so that it was horizontal. So… what I came up with when I did that was stunning.”
“And that would be…?” Rider asked.
“Patience,” Ivy reminded him.
“It’s three letters,” Lyric continued. “Mem, aleph, and peh.”
“And that means?” Apparently, Cutter was only slightly more patient than his cousin.
“Well, I was stuck again, because mem means water, aleph means ox or bull, and peh means mouth.”
“I think we know who that is referring to.” Rider looked at the others but used his thumb to point at Lyric.
She growled at him and continued. “I spent an awful lot of time trying to figure out what sort of a secret code that would be. Or if there were three locations associated with those different letters. I wrote them down, stared at them, and then decided to do the obvious.”