Ruby’s expression crumpled, creating a dimple at her cheek. “How is killing a child just?”
“That’s obviously what the assassin thought.”
“He was someone you worked with, wasn’t he? I want his name, damn it.”
“His name is not important. He was doing his job, nothing more. If he’d refused, someone else would have done it. Someone ruthless enough to complete the task.”
She rubbed her fingers across her mouth, deep in thought. “I guess I should be thankful that he wasn’t completely ruthless. Still, he killed an innocent woman. Maybe an innocent man. I want to know who he is, to have a face and name to focus my hatred on.”
“You’ll have your chance to confront him. But now we focus on you.” He would tell her, when the time was right. Let her vent, gouge his eyes out, whatever she needed to do. Maybe it would make him feel better, too. But not before he trained her.
She stepped closer, her gaze on his. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
“All right.” She pressed her fingers together, a dangerous glint in her eyes. The same glint he’d seen when she held the tip of the letter opener to his chest.
Something about her fire ran through him like a flame across a thread. He had felt nothing in decades. You can’t afford to feel something for this girl.
His cell phone rang from its place inside the cabinet. His first thought was Glesenda, but he didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello,” he answered, unwilling to give out any more information until he knew who was on the line.
“Cyntag, it’s Peter Fernandez,” the familiar voice said. A voice he hadn’t heard in probably twelve years, the last time his mentor and former boss had tried to get him to return to the Guard. “Can you talk freely?”
Cyn glanced at Ruby, who stood near the line of candles running her fingers across her tattoo. “Half moon.” How easily the code words came back.
“Understood. I’m giving you information at great risk. The mission that caused you to resign.”
Cyn’s whole body stiffened. “Yes?”
“The man who issued the assignment came in this morning.”
“Name?” His voice gave away his tension, making Ruby glance up.
“Smith. He inquired about the officer who carried out the hit, if I was sure he had, indeed, carried it out. I assured him that he had but would not give out his name. He mind-probed me and said the first name of the Vega officer. Correctly.”
“I see.”
“Did the officer carry out the entire task?”
Ruby now stood before him with curiosity in her hazel eyes. No doubt piqued by his terse responses and the fact that they gave away nothing. “As far as you know.”
Fernandez cleared his throat. “That’s what I was afraid of. We should talk.”
“I’m afraid I can’t help you with that.” Another call beeped in. Glesenda. “Thanks for the heads-up. I’ve got to take this call.”
“I need you, darlin’,” Glesenda said without preamble.
“Be right there.” He disconnected. “Get your shoes on. We’ve got to get to the dojo.”
He was halfway through the house when he realized Ruby wasn’t moving as fast as he. Soon she’d feel the speed and energy of her Dragon even while in human form.
“The demon?” she asked, catching up quickly.
“Glesenda needs us. Which means things are seriously screwed up, because she never asks for help.”
The Book of the Hidden
Garnet woke to the trembling of the castle’s walls. Thump. Thump. Thump. The prince leaped from the bed and ran to the window, she at his side.
“Am I having a nightmare?” she asked, staring at the three-headed monster that crushed the forest and flattened the hills as it stalked toward the castle.
“No, it is the Black Doom.” He gathered her face in his hands. “It’s what we’ve been preparing for.”
He’d trained her ruthlessly, loved her fiercely, and, under his spell, made her love him, too.
They turned Dragon together, flying out a window large enough for their exit. Dragons, Deuces, and the few angels that resided within the castle came out, ready to defend and fight.
Opal darted in front of the monster’s eyes to distract it, but the horrible beast swatted her, sending her crashing against the trunk of a tree. Her limp body landed on the ground in a feathery heap. Garnet let out an agonized cry. Anger filled her with its power, and revenge sharpened her senses. She and the prince pounded the monster, weakening it enough so that an angel severed one head; then a Dragon severed another.
“We must fight it together,” the prince told her. “Use our Breath to incinerate it.”
She inhaled, as he did, and expelled a Breath filled with spikes and venom. The monster roared and knocked the prince directly into the path of their combined stream. Her own lance of fire cut into him like a sword, making him arch in pain. The monster grabbed the injured prince in its huge fist and crushed him, letting him drop to the ground. Like Opal.
With his death, the spell wore off, and Garnet dropped, too, no longer Dragon. She had no time to mourn or to ponder the loss of the beast inside her. Once she had come from magick. Now she would conjure the power she needed. As the monster reached for her, she created an orb of fire and threw it. While the others distracted and pounded at the monster, it was Garnet who had to defeat it. Garnet alone, she realized, looking at the broken body of her husband.
And so she threw orb after orb, but none did more than singe the monster. Then she had an idea, one that came from her Deuce instincts. She created an orb that looked like a pearl and sent it floating toward the monster. It stopped warding off its enemies and stared at the luminescent orb that very gently landed on its finger. The monster tilted its head as it brought it closer, smiling at its beauty. And when the orb exploded, so did the monster’s head. Its body fell with a force that cracked the castle walls. The castle’s residents applauded and begged her to stay as their queen. But this place of beauty had been her prison long enough. It was time to return to her kingdom and find out what was left.
Chapter 11
I want you to stay in my office.”
Ruby flinched at the order as Cyn drove. Though he appeared calm, she saw the flames darting in his eyes.
“What? You’re the one who’s always goading me to jump in, to not be afraid. Like hell I’m going to hide out in your office. The demon’s after me.”
“Which is my point. You’re not ready to fight as Dragon yet. I don’t know what we’re walking into.”
“I can use my fire Breath to hurt the demon, right?”
“Ruby, you’re not listening to me. You are not ready, and if I have to focus on keeping you under control or out of danger, I’m not watching my own back, or Glesenda’s.”
Ruby crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re saying I’ll be more of a distraction than a help.”
“Exactly.”
“But I—”
“No.”
“I—”
“Remember, Ruby, you follow my orders.”
She let out a huff. “Remember, Cyn, I didn’t agree to that.” She hated the thought of being a liability. Truth was, she probably would be. She could throw knives and shoot guns, but this was a whole new arena. “What was the first call about? You got all tensed up, and from what I’ve seen, that’s unusual.”
“Later.”
“I really hate ‘later.’ It’s never good.”