by Anya Nowlan
“You should have minded your own business,” the man hissed, as he threw the woman aside.
“Hey,” Ruby protested, as the woman slumped to the ground with a thud.
But before she could say anything else, the man was already charging at her. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, he was suddenly in front of her, teeth bared in a snarl. Ruby struggled to react in time, squeezing the trigger of her trusty sidearm, but it was too late.
Heavy and unyielding, the stranger was already on top of her, teeth gnashing as his eyes focused on her exposed neck. Ruby’s head bounced off the concrete as she hit the ground, back-first. Disoriented, she tried to push at her assailant with her knees, but it felt like she’d have more luck fighting off an elephant.
Fighting through the fog in her mind, she clenched her fingers and almost let out a sigh of relief when she realized she still had her Glock in her hand. With the stranger still on top of her, she struggled to angle her hand so that the barrel of the gun would be pointed at him.
“I guess this will have to be a two-course meal,” he sneered, and Ruby didn’t even try to figure out what he meant by that.
She had more pressing matters to attend to. But as she tried to wrestle against him, she couldn’t help but fixate on his face. The expression he was wearing was inhuman, with his strong, long nose furrowed, heavy brows knit together, and his thin lips pulled back in to reveal unnaturally long, sharp canines.
She almost froze when he leaned in, and she could have sworn his teeth looked more like fangs. Only the massive amounts of adrenaline now speeding through her veins got her moving again, and she pressed her gun into the man’s side.
Only hesitating for a moment, she pulled the trigger. That woman this guy had been assaulting was still lying on the ground, bleeding out, and Ruby had already given the man more than enough warning.
This wasn’t the time to hold back.
The shot was deafening, making her ears ring and echoing off the walls on either side of her. The man jerked on top of her, but that was it. It sounded like he chuckled lightly to himself, before he continued to lean down, one arm pressing her shoulders down as his mouth came down on the side of her throat.
“Stop,” she said weakly, as a sharp pain erupted in her neck.
Everything started to become fuzzy, as her limbs started spasming. With all the strength she had left, she pressed the trigger again. And again. But that only made the man press his forearm more forcefully over her collarbones, to the point she was sure they would snap in two at any minute.
This can’t be happening…
Three shots to the gut at point blank range would incapacitate anyone, but this man reacted like it was little more than a tickle for him. Ruby’s vision started to blur at the edges as he gnawed on her throat, the wet sounds he was making enough to make her want to vomit. She could feel her blood pour down her body as it began to get hard to breathe.
This is it, she thought, her lingers growing limp around her gun.
Just as she was about to pass out, she heard a male voice in the distance. Clear and demanding, it broke through the fog in her brain.
“Grant, stop,” this new voice said.
The man on top of Ruby, now identified as Grant, only snarled into her ear before sinking his teeth deeper into her, until tears started leaking out the sides of her eyes.
“I said, stop,” that same voice said again, but Ruby had no hope that Grant would listen. “I claim her as mine. Now step aside,” was the last thing she heard the mystery man say before everything went black.
2
Ruby
“Hey, shouldn’t you be taking it easy? Let me do that,” Mark insisted, picking up the last personal items still scattered around Ruby’s hospital room.
She had been reaching for a book on the bedside table, trying to grab it with her right hand out of habit. Her fingers trembled at the effort, having trouble clenching and unclenching.
“I can do it,” she snapped at the man who used to be her partner, growing frustrated.
Mark stilled for a moment, his wide, square face scrunching up. He was one of those cops that looked scary as hell, with his bulky frame, wide shoulders and thick arms. The closely cropped hair and tattoos didn’t help much, either.
But he was actually a teddy bear, and the best partner anyone could hope for.
Once upon a time he had been more than that, but it quickly became obvious they were better off as friends. Their brief attempt at a relationship was more due to convenience than anything else, anyway.
Being a cop made romance hard. No one wanted to spend their nights waiting up for someone who might never come home. With gang violence escalating lately, police officers were often the ones caught in the middle.
Yet, as much as recent events had illustrated how she was missing a partner off the clock, Ruby didn’t have any regrets. She loved being a cop too much for that.
“Sorry,” Ruby quickly said, plopping down to sit on the edge of her bed.
The room smelled of disinfectant, and the door was open, with nurses and doctors passing by every few moments. This had been her home for several weeks, and she had hated every second of it.
‘Helpless’ was not an adjective anyone ever used to describe Ruby Danvers, and she was damn proud of that. But lying here, unable to do shit, waiting for doctors to come to a conclusion on whether she’d ever be able to hold a gun again, she felt more powerless than ever.
It was hard not to become bitter. Being a cop was all she’d ever known, and all she wanted to do. There was talk of physical therapy, of a chance for her to regain some semblance of dexterity.
But not nearly enough for her to go out on active duty ever again. The nerve damage was too extensive, and she’d just be a liability for other cops who didn’t have to struggle to hold a plastic cup or brush their teeth in the morning.
“You don’t have to apologize,” Mark replied, grabbing the book she had been reaching for and tucking it into her duffel bag. “I can’t imagine how tough this is for you. But you’ll adjust. It just takes time.”
“Yeah. But how much time will it take for people to believe me?” Ruby countered, unable to put her sour mood aside.
“It’s not that they don’t believe you,” Mark argued, and Ruby did her best not to scoff at the placating tone of his voice. “You were the victim of a vicious attack. You were an inch away from bleeding to death. No one expects you to have perfect recollection of that night.”
“No, I don’t have perfect recollection. But I remember enough. And don’t call me a victim,” she replied, reaching down to pull on her boots.
Once they were on, though, she was left to glare at the laces hanging on either side of the boots, as if they were taunting her somehow. Mark caught the look.
“Guess you’re going to have to invest in some Velcro sneakers, huh?” he asked with a raised brow, and despite her seriously ill mood, Ruby couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’re an ass,” she said, grinning at him.
“And you’re a badass and you’re going to get through this,” Mark replied, moving to place a hand on her shoulder before thinking better of it.
“I did shoot him three times, Mark,” she said quietly, after a moment’s thought. “There were three rounds missing from my gun.”
Mark didn’t look especially enthusiastic about discussing this further.
“You were disoriented and scared,” he sighed. “Who knows where those bullets went.”
I know where they went, Ruby thought, but didn’t say aloud.
From her initial statement when she regained consciousness, she could see her story was seen as farfetched at best. Even her injuries didn’t seem to match up, as doctors confirmed human teeth were not sharp enough to cause the sort of damage she had on her neck and shoulder. They didn’t seem to be able to agree on what did cause the injuries, though.
In any case, she had been extremely lucky. The blonde woman she had intended to help,
a preschool teacher named Sarah, didn’t fare so well. She had choked on her own blood before the paramedics even arrived.
That was something Ruby would always carry with her. Could she have done something differently, was there a scenario where Sarah could have lived?
She knew there was no use in driving herself crazy with what-ifs, but she still couldn’t help the thoughts popping into her head.
There were a couple of moments of weakness, when she had started questioning her sanity, and her recollection of the events of that night. It wasn’t easy to stay true to what you knew when everyone kept bringing up reasons why you shouldn’t trust your own memories.
“You ready to go home?” Mark asked, bending down to tie her boots.
“God, yes,” she sighed, putting on a smile for her friend.
Mark had already made his mind up about what happened to Ruby, and she knew there was no use arguing with him. He had been a very good friend to her, and bickering with him was no way to show her gratitude.
So she let him grab her bag and walk her downstairs, where they got into his squad car and he drove her home. The streets of New York whizzed by as Ruby spent the drive staring out the window. It felt good to be back in the world, despite the fact she now had no idea what she was going to do with her life.
When Mark pulled up to her apartment complex, they both sat in silence for a few seconds.
“I’ll walk you upstairs, help you get settled in,” Mark offered.
“No thanks,” she replied. “I need to figure out how to handle things on my own,” she said, using her left hand to grab her duffel bag from the backseat. “And you need to get back to work. Who’s gonna keep the streets safe, if not you?”
Mark gave her a wistful smile as she climbed out of the car and clumsily waved goodbye to him. Walking over to the building, she listened to the vehicle idle at the curb as she got out her keys and stepped inside.
Hearing Mark pull away, she climbed up the stairs and made her way to a familiar blue door on the third floor. Unlocking it, she walked inside, dropping her bag on the floor. The place still looked the same as ever, small yet cozy, if only a bit dustier than she remembered.
When she shut the door behind her and walked into the living room, however, she sensed something was off. Before she could even react to the hint of movement from her peripheral vision, a man stepped out of her kitchen, holding a glass in his hand and swishing around the brown liquid inside.
“You have terrible taste in scotch, you know,” he said, frowning at the drink.
“Who the hell are you and why are you in my apartment?” Ruby demanded, already backing away toward the door.
This man was definitely someone she had never seen before. His dark hair almost reached his shoulders, framing his face perfectly and softening his chiseled jaw and sharp features. With a straight nose and high cheekbones, he definitely wasn’t bad to look at, as far as intruders went.
When his bright green eyes snapped to her and a smile spread over his full lips, Ruby could have sworn there was something oddly familiar about his voice.
“Why, I’m your future husband, of course.”
3
Harlan
The woman standing opposite Harlan looked like she wasn’t used to being speechless. Frowning, with her black hair in a loose ponytail and dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt, she stared at him, and he couldn’t help but stare back.
Blue eyes offsetting her dark hair, with a heart-shaped face, small, thin nose and a pouty lower lip, Harlan found something about her very sensual, and appealing. The scars on her neck still looked pink and shiny, and she held her right arm awkwardly at her side, but her stance was proud and the fire in her eyes clear.
“Excuse me?” she finally said. “I think you have the wrong place and the wrong woman, buddy,” she huffed. “Now get out before I call the police.”
“I thought you were the police,” Harlan remarked, taking a sip of his drink.
Making a face, he set it down on one of the kitchen counters before stepping out into the living room.
“Do I know you?” she demanded, clearly more agitated than afraid.
“Not quite. But I know some things about you, Ruby,” he smiled. “I’m glad you pulled through. It was touch and go there, for a minute.”
Recognition flashed across her face for a moment, as she looked him up and down.
“Were you there, in the alley?” she asked, taking a half-step closer.
“I was,” Harlan admitted, letting his gaze sweep over her lush curves.
Brave and sexy. Not a bad combination.
“Then you saw what happened. That man… You called him Grant. You know him? You know where he is?” she asked, blinking at him.
“I don’t,” Harlan shrugged.
Not anymore, it seems.
It was a lie, but he didn’t think telling Ruby he used to be friends with the man who attacked her would get him very far.
“I have to interrupt this interrogation and ask… What did you see that night?” he said.
“Oh, no. You break into my apartment, call yourself my future husband and you expect me to not ask questions? You have another thing coming,” she shook her head.
“These first encounters are always so tiresome,” Harlan clucked his tongue, growing impatient.
He had been a day late and a dollar short in tracking down Grant even after he first found the man gnawing on Ruby in that alley, and the last thing he wanted was Julius to show up again to motivate him to try harder.
If he had time, he would try to ease Ruby into his world a bit more gently, but despite being immortal, time was in short supply at the moment. Especially considering how violent and careless Grant had become.
So, he stepped closer to Ruby, and bared his teeth in a half-smile, half-snarl. Touching on the predator inside him, and drawing in the sweet scent of Ruby’s blood, rushing in the veins just below her smooth, pale skin, he could feel his canines elongate, until they were poking at his lower lip.
“Is this what you saw?” he asked, watching the color drain from Ruby’s face. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to harm you,” he assured her, as his teeth returned to normal.
Ruby didn’t look particularly convinced as she backed away from him, heartbeat thudding loudly. Or at least, it was loud to Harlan.
“I’m the one that intervened. Why would I save your life only to come back to hurt you?” he asked, as he could see panic taking over Ruby’s thoughts.
To her credit, she seemed to absorb that information, coming to a stop near the hallway. Narrowing her eyes at him, she stared at his mouth.
“Am I going insane?” she asked, mostly addressing herself, it seemed.
Rubbing her temple, she looked around the room before focusing back on him. Harlan stepped closer, and reached out to take her left hand in his. She hesitated for a moment before giving in. Harlan had a feeling she was too disoriented to argue.
Covering her hand with his, he pressed her palm firmly on his chest, right on his heart.
“Do you feel it beating?” he asked.
Her hand was warm against his skin, and for a moment, the touch felt a lot more intimate than it should have. It was a lot more personal than having Brittany writhe around in his lap, that was for sure, as odd as that sounded.
Ruby bit her lip, her clear blue eyes widening as she stared up at him. Pulling her hand away, she pressed her ear against his chest, next. That caught Harlan off guard. He had thought she would rather distance herself after his demonstration.
It was nice that she didn’t.
“Holy crap,” she muttered to herself, before taking a quick step back. “What are you? What is going on here?”
Thinking honesty might be the best policy, Harlan folded himself into an armchair near the center of the room, before rattling off everything he felt Ruby should know.
“I’m a vampire,” he said, already holding up a hand to quiet any objections Ruby might have.
<
br /> It was a statement most people struggled with, and he couldn’t really blame them. His kind was supposed to be a work of fiction, after all. It was like hearing Santa was real, or that tiny elves made your shoes. A bit tough to come to terms with right away.
“And so is Grant. But Grant seems to have gone off the reservation. I’ve been sent to retrieve him. I tracked him down by looking into attacks that sounded like they could have been the work of a vampire. That brought me to New York. I know the types of places Grant likes to hang out in, so that’s how I happened into that alley while he was making a meal out of your neck.
“He wasn’t listening to me, so I made a gamble. He obviously wasn’t following the rule of peaceful feedings, but some traditions are more deeply rooted than others. Like the tradition that a vampire’s bride-to-be is off limits. So I claimed you as mine to get him off your throat. It worked,” he shrugged.
Ruby sank into the couch next to him, eyes glossed over.
“Vampires,” she muttered to herself, before whipping her head around to face him. “Wait a minute, I’m not going to be turning into one, am I?” she asked, her hand flying to her neck and her eyes widening in horror.
“Not quite how that works,” Harlan chuckled.
“Well, vampire or not, I’m not your bride and I sure as hell am not your next meal,” she said, pointing a finger at him. “So don’t get any ideas.”
“I promise to have absolutely no ideas,” Harlan chuckled, holding his hands up. “But since I claimed you, we are kind of stuck together.”
“I couldn’t care less about your… vampire rules,” Ruby protested, sounding like she was still having trouble saying the word ‘vampire’ in a non-horror movie context. “I appreciate you saving my life and all, but there’s no way I’m grateful enough to marry you.”
“Oh, my little fiery jewel,” Harlan laughed. “I don’t want to marry you, either. No offense, but I’m not really a one woman kind of man. Nevertheless, I still claimed you, and I can’t back away from that without consequences.”