“Hoochiwawa,” Jim said, whistling. “I didn’t see that coming.” “Gareth’s married to Ruth?” Brom asked.
“You’re married to him? You’re not his sister?” I touched my head, wondering if I’d hit it harder than I imagined when Ruth knocked me to the ground. “Are you sure? Gareth just told me a few days ago we’d been married for ten years.” She gave a choked little laugh as she squatted next to Gareth, who lay still struggling to breathe. “After five hundred years, I think I would know my own husband.” “Five hundred… oh my god. Dr. Kostich was right. He is immortal. But… why did he marry me, too?” “He had to, you stupid twit! He had no other choice but to marry you when you suddenly decided you wanted to marry a mortal.” Beyond me, Baltic growled.
I kept my eyes fixed on Ruth. “I wanted to marry someone so Gareth married me instead? It was the gold, wasn’t it? That’s why he did it.” “Of course it was,” she snarled. “We couldn’t let anyone else have it, could we? And then you wouldn’t stop talking about having a child, and my poor darling had to play stud to your mare. But he hated every minute of it! He told me so repeatedly!” I digested this, my emotions tangled with anger and fury and hurt and quite a bit of confusion. “But… how did you know that Gareth was married to Ruth?” I asked Baltic.
“Ruth is the sister to the one who resurrected me,” he answered, glaring at her as he moved over to stand next to me.
“If you’re really married to him, then—” I glanced at Brom, and for the second time in a few minutes, rage whipped through me.
“Ouch. You know, even immortals can suffer from brain damage,” Jim said, leaning over my shoulder as I whomped Gareth’s head repeatedly into the side of the car.
“How dare you use my body! How dare you pretend you were my husband! How dare you do whatever it is you did to me just so I would make gold for you! It really was you who wiped my memory, wasn’t it? Just so I didn’t know what you and Ruth were doing to me! By the rood, I’ll hang your guts from the highest tower!” Gareth struggled feebly, but he was no match for me. Ruth would have attacked, but Baltic grabbed her by the arm and kept her back while I took out a little of what was evidently centuries of abuse on the man who had deceived me so cruelly.
“How dare you treat Brom the way you did!” “Uh, Sullivan? I think he’s passed out,” Brom pointed out.
I released my hold on Gareth, suddenly horrified at what I’d done. “Oh my god! I tried to kill my husband in front of my own child!” “Ex-husband, I think,” Jim said.
“Non-husband,” Baltic corrected, releasing Ruth as I leaped to my feet and clutched Brom to my chest. “ ‘Usurper’ is a better term.” Ruth cradled Gareth’s head as I hugged Brom tightly. “Honey, I know you must be frightened and confused by what I just did to your father—” “Actually, I was wondering if I could kick him.” “—and I have no excuse for it, none at all, but you know I’m not a violent person, and you must understand that I just had a very bad shock, and I lost my temper. Please, tell me you understand!” “I understand,” Jim said, lifting its leg. “You wanted to beat the crap out of him. I think pretty much anyone would after he played nook-nook with you all that time when he was really married to Scrunchy Face, here.” “Grah!” Ruth snarled, lunging at Jim as it peed on Gareth’s foot.
The demon bared its teeth, and Ruth collapsed back onto Gareth, patting his cheeks and sniffling to herself.
“Brom?” I asked, releasing his head. He reeled backwards for a moment, his eyes huge. “Are you all right?” “I couldn’t breathe,” he said, giving my boobs a wary glance.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m so very, very worried that you misinterpreted the little argument your father and I had.” “Little argument?” Jim snickered. “If you call beating someone to a pulp on the side of a car a little argument, then I don’t want to see you when you really get pissed.” “It’s OK, Sullivan,” Brom said, patting my arm in a supportive manner. “I don’t blame you for trying to kill Gareth. If you get mad at him again, and really do bash his brains in, can I mummify him?” “Just tell me this, Gareth,” I said, glaring down at where the man I had thought of as my husband was trying to pull himself up. “Did you ever really want Brom and me?” He touched his swollen bottom lip, grimacing at the sight of blood on his fingers. “I wasn’t going to let you get away from me, not the goose who laid the golden eggs every year.” My anger turned cold and settled in the pit of my gut. “So rather than let me have a life of my own, you bound me to you to ensure you could use me each year.” I glanced at Brom, wanting to yell at Gareth for bringing into the world a child he didn’t want and didn’t care about, but Brom had had enough shocks for the day. “As of this moment, you are no longer a part of our lives. I don’t want to see you again, and I will take legal action if you attempt to see Brom.” Gareth sneered as best he could with a battered face. “I don’t give a damn about—” Baltic moved faster than I could follow, grabbing both Ruth and Gareth and flinging them into the car. “He will not bother either of you again. You are both mine now.” “And thank the stars for that,” I said, giving Baltic a grateful look that had him doing a double take.
“Whoa. I know what that’s going to mean,” Jim said, nudging Brom on the hip. “I think you’re going to want to look away. You’re too young to see what Baltic’s about to do.” “You haven’t heard the last of us!” Ruth swore as she started up the car. “We will not be treated this way! You may think you can hide behind the dragon, Tully, but you are beholden to us! You are ours, not his!” “Right, that’s it!” I yelled, suddenly furious again. I started toward the car, pushing up my sleeves. “You want a piece of me? You can have a piece of me!” “Didn’t your mom say she wasn’t violent?” Jim asked Brom.
“Yeah.”
“You can have a piece of me right now!” I yelled, jumping toward the car door. Just as I grabbed it, Ruth, evidently thinking twice about taunting me, jammed her foot on the gas. Baltic wrapped an arm around me and lifted me off the ground, leaving me waving my fists at the car as it spun down the drive, spewing bits of gravel behind it.
“You know,” Jim said, looking thoughtfully at me as Baltic set me down, “I used to think Ash was perfect for the role of demon lord — you should see the way she pinches me, and there’s no excuse for her starving my fabulous form on those diets she keeps letting the vet talk her into — but I’m starting to think that you’ve got her on the ‘beat the bejesus out of immortals’ scale.” “One more crack out of you, demon, and you’re going to need a whole lot more than a brushing,” I told it, giving it one of my annoyed mother looks.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Jim said to Brom.
“Yeah,” Brom said, agreeing.
“Well,” I said, all wound up after the scene with Gareth and Ruth, “Gareth had it coming to him. Using me like he did… the rat!” “I would have killed him for daring to touch what was mine, but for one thing,” Baltic said.
“Brom?” I asked, figuring he would not want to kill Gareth in front of a child any more than I did.
“No.” His gaze dropped to mine, and I flushed at the sight of the naked desire burning in its depths. “Now you are truly mine.” I didn’t even have time to digest that before he bent down, slung me over his shoulder, and walked into the house.
“Baltic!” I shrieked, Jim and Brom trailing after us. “Put me down this instant! What did I say about treating me like I was a sack of potatoes?” Baltic paused inside the hall, and I pinched his back, assuming he had come to his senses.
“Hey, Balters, just a little hint,” Jim said, giving us a knowing look. “Aisling says she hates it when Drake gets all aggressive with her, but she sure grins like a fool afterward, so you might just want to take all that screeching with a grain of salt.” “I am not screeching!” I said, outraged, glaring at the demon. “You are going to be so sorry — Baltic! I said set me down!” “There you are. Take care of my son and the demon,” Baltic ordered Pavel, who emerged from the study.