STRAYED

by Amber Lynn Natusch

  Slowly, Scarlet lifted her head up to look at him. His growl was reflexive and instantaneous. He hadn't had his chance to “talk” to her since her return. It was grossly apparent that the interceding weeks had done nothing to lessen his desire to do so.

  “Finally,” he rumbled, his dark eyes narrowing on her.

  “This is not the time,” she bit out, her body tensing for the fight that would not likely be avoided. “Whatever anger you have toward me will only be heightened by what I am about to tell you. Perhaps you can contain yourself long enough for me to stoke the fire further. I would hate to have to fight with you twice. It seems so inefficient. Efficiency is one of your few qualities I enjoy.”

  “Resilience is one of the few that you possess that I enjoy. I will savor putting it to the test.”

  “You are wasting time, and we have none to spare,” she spat, standing to face him. “If you love her like I know you still must, then you will put your true nature aside and listen to me. Something terrifying comes for her, and I do not see how it can be stopped.”

  “You mean it comes for you,” he corrected, jaw flexing.

  “No, I mean her. That was the deal.”

  “Deal?” he asked, looking fiercely intrigued. “With whom did you make a deal?”

  “Persephone.”

  Scarlet really wasn't mucking around with her approach. She blurted out the details as quickly as possible, hellbent on finding a solution to her epic faux pas.

  “Impossible,” he countered, still eyeing her tightly as though he would pounce on her any second.

  “Hardly. You know I'm vindictive and resourceful. Just how long after I left you pegged to the floor of your torture chamber do you think it was before I found a way to pay you back? Pay both of you back?” she asked, mirroring his expression. “Seconds, that's how long. I grabbed Jay's phone off his failing body and made a call, running to the first person I could think of who might want to stick it to you as much as I did in that moment.”

  “Ares,” Sean snarled. I could hear the popping of his knuckles while his hands flexed repeatedly.

  “Exactly,” she purred. “I knew that if anyone could help me with what I wanted, it would be him.”

  “So you turned to your enemy for aid? Seems a desperate plan at best. At worst, it seems like a death wish.”

  “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” she replied unapologetically.

  “So it would seem.” His tone was flat and cold, and it accurately displayed the apparent emotions behind his words. “I'm sure he was all too eager to assist you in whatever diabolical scheme you manufactured. He does love to watch chaos unfold.”

  “He was more helpful than you could have imagined. He personally arranged for everything once he realized that what I wanted was indeed possible. He supplied me with a personal escort to the Underworld and got word to Persephone as to why I would be seeking her...talents,” she explained, a small break in her armor starting to show through. “The reason I know that we have trouble is because I saw that escort tonight when Ruby was leaving Vain.”

  She looked on as Sean's shoulders tensed before a long, controlled exhale escaped him.

  “Deimos,” he said with absolute certainty. His expression gave nothing away, but his tension was suddenly palpable. For whatever reason, that name did something to him―something unfavorable. If his name did unfavorable things to Sean, then I knew he would most certainly do unenviable things to me, if and when I fell into his grasp.

  “Precisely,” she said. “Then you see Ruby's predicament.”

  “Your predicament,” he corrected.

  “It is not mine by very nature of the deal that was made, Sean. I would not be harmed in this, only Ruby. In fact, I would get exactly what I had sought in the first place: freedom, though now it would seem that it is the last thing I desire. Irony is a cruel friend of Ruby's and mine.”

  “What did you promise Persephone?” he asked, finally getting down to the heart of the issue―the deal.

  “Ruby.” She clipped my name out through her tightly clenched jaw. “Her soul, more specifically. I was to keep her body. That was the deal.”

  He said nothing.

  Absolutely nothing.

  Scarlet told him that she had signed me over to Satan's bride, and not a thing about him changed. Not his expression, not his energy, not even a flinch of his eyes. Nothing. I don't know what I had expected exactly, but it certainly wasn't that. He was masking nothing. Stone cold indifference emanated from him.

  “Persephone's bargains are marked in blood of some kind. Her magic is death magic. It cannot be undone by anyone other than her. You will not be able to persuade her. She has good reason to want what she does. There is nothing you can do.”

  “A fact that I am painfully aware of, Sean,” Scarlet growled. “The question is: Will you be able to do anything? Or better yet, do you want to do anything?” In a strange turn of events, she was angry with him. Truly angry. It coursed through our shared body like fire along a trail of accelerant, consuming all it came in contact with. “Are you truly so petty that you would stand by and watch her be collected by that terrorizing creature born of your father, knowing where she is to be taken? Would you leave her to a fate that she didn't choose? A fate put upon her unwillingly?”

  “Just as you planned to?” he countered.

  “Do not presume to understand what I did or why I did it.” She neared him, seeking something from him that she clearly could not find. His controlled exterior seemed to bring about the undoing of her own. She had laid her eggs in one basket―his basket―and it was becoming increasingly apparent to both her and me that they were not well placed. Though the emptiness I felt drowned me slowly, it fueled her rage. “I had thought Ruby was wrong to be so dismissive of you and your wrongdoing, but I see now that her assessment of you was more accurate than mine. Who would have thought the day would come when Ruby's judgment proved better than mine?” she taunted, leaning her face in dangerously close to his. “If you will not find a way to save her, then you have never loved her. You have been a fraud. A hack. And I will take her from this place so that you will never see her again, only this time she will go willingly. I may not be able to undo that which has been done, but I can run, and I'll run for an eternity if I must, but I will not willingly hand her over. I was wrong to do what I did, and that is something that she and I will have to settle one day, but, unlike you, I will not abandon her to this fate.”

  Still nothing. Not even her rant could shake him. Just when I thought Scarlet was near enough to crawl inside him and search for the response she wanted, he spoke.

  “Is that all?” he asked in voice as cold as ice.

  “Is it not enough?” she retorted, her thirst for violence coursing through her.

  “It is,” he replied, turning to leave without further explanation. While I died a little more inside, Scarlet stood in a state of shock, if for only a moment. She followed him while Sean walked down the hall, collecting the brothers that had accompanied him to my apartment on his way out. Jay cast a weary glance back at her as he followed the boys out, closing the door behind him. Cooper and the rest of the pack, who had abandoned their post at Alan's, then flooded the hallway. They collectively stormed toward Scarlet in a frenzy of fear and anger.

  She turned back to my room and slammed the door in their faces before locking it.

  Just as I would have, she made her way to the bay window and propped herself up on the bench to stare out at the night. While Cooper banged on the door, she leaned her head against the window, her sense of hopelessness seeping through her hardened exterior. It seemed as though she was giving up.

  “Ruby? Open this door before I tear it off the hinges!” Cooper demanded from the hall. I knew it would only be a matter of minutes before he made good on his threat.

  “Will he end it?” Scarlet asked me, her words puzzling and dark.

  Will who end what?

  “Us. Will Cooper end us?” she whispe
red softly. “It would be an act of mercy.”

  Paralyzed by her words, I realized that the situation was getting worse by the minute. Gavin couldn't help. Sean was seemingly unwilling to. And Scarlet was drowning in her own guilt, too bowled over with shame to see that she had to fight. We had to fight. Instead, she was rolling over―the one thing I had never thought she would do. I wasn't sure which was more off-putting: that Sean seemed all too accepting of the fact that I was to be handed off to the mistress of evil, or that Scarlet had come to the end of her rope, a rope that I had always assumed was unending.

  I didn't have time to contemplate the situation very deeply, though. Cooper soon picked the lock on the door, then charged Scarlet. In an effort to defend her, I forced her back and took over, leaving me to deal with an angry Cooper and an even angrier pack. I may not have made the mess I was in, but it sure as hell looked like I was going to be the only one held responsible for it.

  * * *

  I tried to sleep that night, but it did not come easily. Scarlet had no interest in explaining herself further and she had retreated, leaving my mind to run wild with unanswerable questions and unenviable scenarios. It was like a bad movie that I couldn't shut off. One I had a front row seat to.

  I could hear Cooper standing guard outside my door. Though neither he nor I fully understood what was happening or how dire the implications were regarding Deimos coming for me, he took up his post without complaint. Alistair, not wanting to be left out, insisted on keeping watch over me from the chair in my room. It was a bit creepy, but it made him feel useful, so I allowed it for a while. The tension in his expression was plain as he sat silently in the darkness, not knowing what else to do or say. But really, what could you say to someone with a death sentence? There was little solace to be found in words. Eventually I kicked him out; his unease and concern for me was suffocating. I was already stressed out. I didn't need to weather his trepidation as well.

  Finally alone and exhausted from my runaway thoughts, I drifted off into an unsettled sleep. Dreams came and went. Garbled conversations roused me. I swore at one point that I heard Sean's voice outside my room just before the trademark creaking of my door, but once I was awake enough to focus, I heard nothing.

  After I was satisfied he wasn't there, I lay back down in bed. But from that moment on, I was unable to shake the sensation that he had been there. It felt real. Even more confusing was the sensation that there was still something or someone familiar in my room. It was so faint that I might have missed the feeling if I hadn't been trying so hard to ascertain whether or not Sean had indeed come back. But I didn't. And once I was aware of it, like the distant hum of a motor, I couldn't ignore it. Thankfully for me, there was a lulling quality to it that had me sound asleep in no time.

  I awoke the next morning―a feat in and of itself, given the circumstances―to find that the pack had formulated a plan of sorts. They were going to divide their time and numbers between guarding Alan's house and me. Both needed protection, though it was uncertain as to whether their protection would do anything to thwart Deimos' efforts to retrieve me. At least I knew they would be effective against anyone coming for Alan and his family.

  I checked my phone. There were no messages from Gavin, which could have been either a good or bad sign, depending on the day, his mood, or if Libra was in retrograde. With him, I never could tell. What I did know was that he had done all he could to keep Deimos out of my building, warding it with some kind of fey super-magic. Beyond that, he was out of moves. That left any hope of fixing the clusterfuck that Scarlet had caused resting on Sean's shoulders, and he seemed less than optimistic about his, or anyone else's, ability to rectify the situation. He also didn't seem too motivated to try. I hoped he was, but after his conversation with Scarlet the previous night, I had my reservations.

  As was typical of the cagey Sean I had known early on and worked to get past, he gave nothing away.

  I once again found myself a prisoner, held hostage in my own home by circumstances I had no control over. It made me long for the control I had had when Tobias attempted to kidnap me. I may have nearly died, but at least it had been my choice. My terms. My life. Now, I was regressing back to the times of complete and utter dependence on the wills of those around me, and it enraged me. I stalked around my living room like a tiger in a cage, just waiting for the opportunity to be let loose.

  In that moment, in some minute way, I truly understood what it felt like to be Scarlet.

  “Alistair and I will be here with you, Ruby. Lyla, Beckett, and Janner will keep watch over Alan.”

  “Cooper,” I argued, thinking about the Beauchamps, “I want you to keep tabs on Alan. Please. I need to know he's doing okay...mentally.” He looked at me strangely, and I sighed heavily, remembering that I'd forgotten to tell him about Alan and Vain. “He was at Vain last night. The PC brought him in to interrogate him. He wasn't himself when he walked past me to leave. I just want to know he's back to his normal self.”

  His stare narrowed.

  “Normal how?”

  “Normal like talking...?”

  “Christ, Ruby—“

  “Just let me know. Please.”

  It was his turn to let out a put-upon sigh.

  “Fine. But one of the boys can check on him. I am not leaving you here alone.”

  “I won't be alone. Leave the boys here. You and Lyla can watch Alan's house together. His family needs you more than I do.”

  The frustration in his expression was visible from across the room.

  “No,” he said with finality.

  “Yes.” I crossed the room to stand before him as one of his pack. Arguing with him wasn't the wisest move, but I was right, and I knew it. I was going to make my point, whether he liked it or not. “I don't want to be a bitch about this, Cooper, but Deimos freaks Scarlet out, and if anyone could take him out, it'd be her.” I looked at him longingly, hoping he'd read between the lines so I wouldn't have to say my morbid thoughts aloud. The set of his jaw told me that he understood, but he wasn't going to admit that he knew he couldn't do anything to stop the dark force that hunted me. To do so would have meant admitting that he couldn't protect his pack, a job he took more seriously than anyone could imagine. “Keep Kristy and Louie safe. Alan too. We will handle things here as best we can.”

  He pulled me into his chest, hugging me fiercely.

  “But it's supposed to be you and me until the end, Ruby.”

  “I guess it's a good thing that today won't be the end then.”

  “So you say,” he said softly, nuzzling my curls.

  “Go. We'll be fine. I pro―”

  “Don't say it!” he yelled, pushing me away from him enough to look down at me. “Please don't say that. It's the kiss of death. Your promises are the horror movie equivalent of going into the basement alone.”

  I cracked a smile.

  “Duly noted. I promise to irritate the boys while you're gone. Does that help make this better?”

  “Perfect,” he replied, the tension in his expression dissipating slightly. “Someone has to give them shit.”

  Without giving me an official goodbye, he and Lyla made their way to the door and disappeared through it. Saying goodbye out loud in times of duress was too final for Cooper. I understood the need to cope with things in your own way, so I let it go. The hug I got from Alistair helped to distract me from my thoughts and brought me back to the present.

  “Janner is going to camp out on the fire escape. Beckett is going to hang out at the bottom of the stairwell, and I'm going to watch the front door.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” I said, letting go of him to head toward the kitchen. “Hopefully Lyla and Cooper can figure out something when they get to Alan's. That's a lot of house and yard to watch.”

  When I looked up, I found Alistair and Beckett smiling at one another conspiratorially.

  “Oh, I'm sure they'll be just fine,” Alistair said with a wink.

  “Okay,” I dra
wled, seeing where his implication was going but not really understanding why.

  “They'll figure it out,” Beckett added, a smirk on his face. “Eventually.”

  “I apparently need to hang out at home more because I'm not seeing what you two seem to think you're seeing...”

  “Ruby,” Janner called from the couch. “The boys are just making light of something they should not. Leaping to conclusions when they shouldn't.”

  “You really don't see it?” Alistair probed.

  “All I see a woman struggling to find her sense of self again and a man uncertain how to help her. Nothing more,” Janner returned.

  “Then you're a bloody fool,” Alistair said tersely. “They both may be too damaged to come to terms with the truth, but their wolves will eventually.”

  “Are you getting at what I think you're getting at?” I asked, my mind slowly putting the subtext of the conversation into place.

  “They are mates.”

  “Right. But I thought, you know, the whole mate thing was like getting struck by a bolt of lightning or something. Like the second you saw that person it was a done deal. And it only happened once.”

  Alistair shook his head like I was a lost cause.

  “Not always, Ruby. Nothing in life is that cut and dried.”

  “For wolves that are healthy and stable, it's usually an intense first reaction,” Beckett explained. I couldn't help but want to argue that observation, thinking that neither Scarlet nor Matty would have fallen into the “stable” category. “However, for those with baggage tormenting them, it rarely is. And, as it is for humans, there is not just one other in existence for you.”

  “Wait, are you saying that they don't know that they're mates or that they're fighting it?” All three of them shrugged in unison. “Some help you guys are.”

  “As I've said, they'll figure it out.”

  “I don't wish to derail this conversation while it’s still unresolved,” Janner interrupted, “but I think we should collect our provisions and begin our watches.”

  “Probably not a bad idea,” I muttered, still trying to process what the boys had said. How I had been that out of touch with my own pack was alarming. I knew my life was out of balance, but that revelation was a major wake-up call. Cooper and Lyla: there was something kind of poetic about that pairing. The thought of them together brought a tiny smile to my face.