Smoke billowed into the air, filling it with the acrid scent of chemicals. They kept close to the hedges and made their way to the street. Sirens signaled coming police vehicles.
Cyn assessed her, his shirt coming down to her upper thigh. “Stay here in the shadow of the hedges. You’re not indecent, but you’d definitely attract attention. I’ll bring the car up, and you can jump in.”
Pink light streaked across the sky now. He crossed the street, probably looking like a man sneaking out of his married lover’s house, and got into his car. A quick U-turn, and Ruby stepped into the car. Cyn turned down a side road just as two cop cars raced past.
She held her body stiff, shoulders straight. “They tried to kill me. They were our friends, and they were going to kill me just to protect his project.” She stared straight ahead, her eyes vacant. “She blew up the lab. Just…blew it up, probably to destroy the evidence. She was hoping we’d be gone, too. Maybe she was the supportive dutiful wife, trying to protect her husband’s reputation. Not to mention her own.”
“Maybe.” Cyn let Ruby talk it out.
“Mr. Smith is dead. It’s over.” A tremor vibrated in her voice. “No more d-demons. Or t-tulpas. Just Magda. I can handle her.”
Not if he could help it. “Yes, you can. You did well. You put your emotions aside and fought logically. That’s what kept you alive.”
“I don’t need emotions. I don’t want to feel anymore.”
He fought not to touch her, tightening his fingers on the wheel instead. “Don’t do that. Because once you bury them, it’s hard to bring them back. And you don’t feel anything, not joy or excitement or real desire.” Until someone special comes along and rocks you out of your numbness.
And now he was feeling pain he told himself he’d never experience again.
They drove in silence, except for Ruby’s occasional soft gasp as she tried to rein in her reaction to the adrenaline. He had to hold back words of comfort, because he knew she wouldn’t want them.
“Do you feel my mother’s energy?” she asked. “All those Dragons you killed and Breathed, can you feel them?”
“No, it doesn’t work like that. If you kill Magda, you have to catch her essence at the moment of death or within seconds of it. Get nose to nose with her and Breathe deeply. Your Dragon will know what to do from there. If she’s either old or murderous, you might be overwhelmed by the power you inherit.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Twenty minutes later, he pulled up to the gates of the Yard. He opened the trunk and pulled out her bag. She took it, hefting it over her shoulder. Her eyes were devoid of anything when they looked at him. He had mastered that lack of emotion for most of his life. So why did hers gut him?
Her gaze drifted to his bare chest, probably to the bruises and scratches she’d inflicted. Only then did he see some flicker of something, though he couldn’t figure out what it was.
“Do you want to hit me again?” He remembered the fire in her eyes when she’d talked of killing the man responsible. That was better than the deadness in them now. He spread his arms as he’d done in his office after handing her the letter opener. “Get it out of your system.”
She raised her eyes to his. “I don’t want anything from you. I don’t need the Dragon Prince anymore. I can handle myself, my power. I never want to see you again.”
Why did it feel as though she’d plunged that letter opener into his chest? He forced himself to nod, putting his mask in place. “Be safe, Ruby.”
He didn’t leave as she turned away, punishing himself by watching her. She went in, relocked the gate, and walked into the Yard. Even when she was out of sight, he couldn’t seem to move.
The sense of loss acted like the poison in a Citrine’s tail, working its way from his legs, up to his chest, his throat, pounding in his head. He realized he hadn’t breathed in a long time, maybe the whole time she’d been out of his sight. He leaned his forehead against the edge of the roof, grimacing from a pain he’d not felt before. His fingers even hurt. He realized he was gripping the metal and released them. Eight small dents marred the surface.
He pushed himself to get into the car. Then he had to force himself to drive away. He had a Dragon bitch to hunt down. He was still Ruby’s sworn protector, even if he never saw her again.
Friggin’ Hidden. She was done with it.
Friggin’ Cyn. She was done with him, too.
Ruby dropped her bag on the floor and sank down next to the pile of photographs. She hated him. H-A-T-E-D him. “I hope you’re hurting, Cyntag Valeron. I hope you are suffering at least a fraction of what you’ve put me through.”
Then why does your heart ache?
She’d fallen in love with the man who’d murdered her parents. That was bad enough. The worst part was she still wanted him. I suck.
She could smell his scent, his essence permeating her. Well, of course, she was wearing his shirt! She wrestled out of it and threw it across the room. The pictures on the floor were of happier times, and yet, now she knew her father had been doing something that endangered people. Had he known before Brom warned him? Had he resisted destroying his work at first? She would never find out.
She stumbled into her bedroom, catching her reflection in the mirror over her dresser. Her beautiful red Dragon seemed to be looking at her with sympathy.
“I’m stuck with you, aren’t I?”
It shifted, the tip of its tail wiggling.
“I guess I can live with you.” She pointed at it through the reflection. “But you can forget the black Dragon. Forget any Dragon. If I can’t date… Mundanes, then I’m not interested in dating. I was doing fine before. I didn’t need a man in my life then, and I don’t need one now.”
Something thrummed through her though: need, desire.
“Stop it.” She dropped onto the bed. Emotional and physical fatigue, along with a night in a car, caught up to her. She was bruised, achy. Achier in her heart than in her body.
She tried to recall Mon’s fairy tale, how Garnet had gone on after the Dragon Prince died. Sleep claimed her as the final battle played out in her mind. A sound scratched at the outer edge of her dreams.
Probably nothing. Or Fergus. She sank back into sleep.
The Book of the Hidden
Garnet and her army bided their time, gathering intelligence on the comings and goings of the Shadows and where they had stationed guards. Her heart ached at learning how many of her people had died, how many were now slaves to the Shadows. Thinking of her slain husband and Opal, her fury grew.
More refugees joined them. Their army gathered, timing their attack for the end of the guards’ shift, when they would be the most tired, but before the new shift arrived. Each troop brought their particular skills to battle as they rushed forward. The Deuces pounded the Shadows with fiery orbs. She’d told the Dragons how the prince had defeated the Shadows when he had rescued her. She fought, too, cutting down monster after monster as she remembered how they had killed her parents. The battle raged for hours, and eventually they brought down the Shadows and their ruler.
In the aftermath, she was heralded as a savior, more beloved than any queen. She helped clean the rubble, restoring her castle and the kingdom to a semblance of its former beauty.