The Ruby Kiss (16 page)

“That sounds ominous,” Nightshade said.

Ruby inhaled slowly and composed herself as best she could. Because of her uncertainty regarding her relationship with Nightshade, her emotions were still in flux. She glanced over at Devin’s worried expression, and weariness swamped her. All she wanted was to bury her head under the covers until she could finally go home again.

“Can you give us a moment?” she asked.

Devin turned away and stooped to pet the dogs while Nightshade secured the laces on the back of her leather dress. Ruby sat, leaned against the headboard, and crossed her legs.

“Ready, djinn,” Nightshade said as he settled on the edge of the bed. “Tell us everything that’s on your mind.”

Devin paced back and forth, his brows drawn, Ares and Apollo scampering around his feet. “I thought it was out of character the way Twister kept preaching at you about accepting responsibility for your power, Ruby. He’s normally fairly laid back.” He halted at the bottom of the bed, rested his hands on the footboard. “His determination to make you the Unseelie queen and keep you here is really weird. But . . . I think I know what he’s up to.”

“Spit it out, djinn,” Nightshade said.

Apollo whined at Devin’s feet. He picked both dogs up and set them on the bed. “Twister’s father is called Fenrir. You might have heard of him.”

Ruby shook her head, but she was surprised when Nightshade did the same.

“Don’t you two know anything about Norse mythology?” Devin gestured in frustration. “No, don’t answer that. Just listen. “Fenrir and Troy are both sons of the Norse god Loki—”

“Blimey, I’ve heard of
him,
” Ruby interrupted. “He’s the trickster god who got on everyone’s nerves.” The dogs leapt toward her, wagging their tails because she’d raised her voice. “Shh.” She patted the bed to encourage them to settle. “You mean Loki’s real? Hey, that makes you his grandson.”

Devin gave her a sour look. “Don’t remind me. The Norse gods are more awkward to deal with than my mother, and that’s saying something. Anyway, Odin accused Loki of killing his son. It was a lie, but the Norse gods punished Loki by killing or torturing his children.”

Cold shock flashed through Ruby. Devin’s words reminded her just how far she was out of her depth.

“Troy was tortured?” Nightshade asked in a voice gruff with emotion.

“I don’t know. He’s never talked about it.” Devin and Nightshade stared at each other as if they’d forgotten Ruby was there. “But why don’t you ask him? Catch him at the right moment and I think he’ll confide in you. It would do him good to talk with someone who . . .” A nasty suspicion drilled through Ruby as Devin’s voice trailed off and he cast her a guilty look. What was Troy to Nightshade?

“Fenrir definitely
was
punished for his father’s sins,” the djinn continued abruptly. “He’s a shape-shifter like Twister, and the Norse gods trapped him in wolf form. He’s here in the Bunker, and he’s the reason Twister wants Ruby. I think.”

A moment of stunned silence filled the room.

Ruby had focused only half her attention on the conversation, but all jealous thoughts of Troy faded as she realized what Devin was suggesting. “When Twister tested my power, he told me I could force him to shift. He wants me to change his
father
back, doesn’t he?”

Devin released a pent-up breath. “That’s what I thought. I hope I’m wrong.”

“Is it even possible for Ruby to undo the Norse god’s curse?” Nightshade asked.

Devin shrugged. “He asked the old Mistress to try. She refused.”

“I knew he was mad,” Ruby muttered, throwing up her hands. “The old Mistress wouldn’t give it a go, and Twister thinks I’ll succeed before I’ve even got my training wheels off.”

“Not mad. Desperate. Most of his life he’s been searching for a way to change his father back to human form.”

Ruby shook her head. There wasn’t much chance she’d be changing anyone’s shape, not unless she suddenly gained a great deal more control over her power than she had shown while working with Aila. She blinked, and her eyelids were so heavy she could hardly raise them, so stifling a yawn she decided, “Well, I don’t mind having a try in the morning before I go home. But I must get some sleep first.”

Devin and Nightshade both stared at her as though she’d spoken gibberish. “You won’t go anywhere near Fenrir, woman!” Nightshade said. “Did you not listen to Devin? He is trapped in wolf form.”

“I’ve seen Twister’s wolf,” she retorted. “I think I can try.”

Devin straightened and smoothed down the front of his brocade jacket. “Come with me, Ruby. I’ll introduce you to Fenrir. Then you can make up your mind if you want to lay hands on him.”

Ruby sighed. “Can’t we do this in the morning?”

“We do it now.” Nightshade tossed her shoes onto the bed. “I’ve learned from experience it’s best to face problems head-on. No point in putting this off.”

Ruby clambered to her feet, stared longingly at the comfy mattress, then followed Nightshade and Devin out the door.

They traversed the corridors for five minutes, making a
number of turns before Devin halted and put a finger to his lips. “Silence. Twister will be furious if we’re discovered near the pit.”

As they entered a narrow passage, the temperature fell. Rough-hewn rock walls pressed in on Ruby while her pumps crunched on loose earth fallen from the roof. Her ears popped. A moment later Nightshade halted in his tracks and said, “We’ve left the magical protection of the Bunker.”

“This section of the Unseelie Court is outside the Bunker, in the cliff face near the Assembly Room,” Devin explained. Several yards ahead, the stink of excrement and unwashed dog filled the air. Devin paused to let them catch up before pushing open a rough wooden door. “Stay against the wall.”

Ruby followed Nightshade into darkness. With a hand pressed over her mouth, she swallowed repeatedly to overcome her gag response to the eye-watering stench. Nightshade’s breath hissed out. He gripped her arm and pressed her back against the wall.

“There’s a drop in front of you,” he whispered.

Devin chanted, and a ball of light formed in his open palm. He tossed it into the air, then produced four more to illuminate what was a large circular room. The three of them stood on a narrow ledge above a deep, dark pit. Ruby held her breath as the light globes drifted lower to reveal wet, stained, rocky walls. About twenty feet below lay a straw-covered floor.

On the far side of the chamber, a dirty gray bundle of animal huddled against the wall. One golden eye gleamed out of the matted fur, and a low growl reverberated around the walls. A grizzled head lifted and the creature rose to his feet. He prowled closer, nose up, nostrils flared. Ruby pressed back against the wall. This creature was twice the size of Twister’s wolf form.

“Twister’s the only one who goes near him,” Devin said. “He tries to look after him but—”

A mournful howl drowned out his words. Fenrir’s lips drew back on a snarl, saliva dripping from sharp yellow teeth. That bite would probably deliver enough bacteria to kill an army.

Ruby breathed through her mouth to tolerate the stench. “Why does the poor thing have to live outside the main Bunker?”

“Magic drives Fenrir mad,” Devin explained. “He throws himself against the walls and tries to chew off his feet.”

She could not imagine this mangy beast becoming a man, even though she’d seen Twister change shape. Her heart ached for the creature, whatever or whoever he’d originally been. “How long has he been like this?”

“Millennia.”

“Strewth.” Ruby glanced at Devin to make sure he was serious.

“The beast has lost his mind,” Nightshade said softly. “Keeping him alive like this is inhumane. Twister should put the poor soul out of his misery.”

“Troy said the same thing—so Twister banned him from the Unseelie Court,” Devin said. “While you see a beast, Twister sees the father he loved.”

Devin’s words dropped into Ruby’s thoughts like stones, rippling back through her memories of everything Twister had said and done. Fenrir must be the reason he’d sent the beak-noses to find her, the reason he’d been so desperate she didn’t give up her power. And she’d promised him she’d use her power to help his subjects.

The beast dropped his head and paced restlessly around the pit, whimpering. An image flashed through her mind of Ares and Apollo lonely and filthy, shut up for endless centuries. Her heart contracted with sympathy. “Maybe I
should
try to help him.”

Nightshade grabbed her arm as if he thought she was about
to leap into the pit there and then. “Have you lost your mind, woman?”

“He looks docile enough . . . .”

Devin barked out a harsh laugh. “You can’t be serious. You’ve seen Twister’s face.”

“His scars?”

“Half the time Twister comes in here, Fenrir attacks him. Watch this.” Devin knelt and stretched his arm over the pit. The creature below tracked the movement with his eyes, then leapt a staggering fifteen feet off the ground, just missing and snapping shut his jaws with a clack before plunging back to land on the straw.

Ruby dug her fingers into Nightshade’s arm. The nightstalker hugged her in response.

“I won’t let Twister send you in there with the werewolf, Ruby love. Not while I’m alive.” He backed toward the door, taking her with him.

“I’m sure Twister doesn’t want you hurt, Ruby,” Devin explained, “but he’s irrational where Fenrir’s concerned.”

Ruby’s insides churned with a riotous mix of incredulity, fear, and compassion. She hated to leave this poor creature to suffer, but even if she were brave enough to go down into the pit, she didn’t know how to use her power to transform him. Maybe in a few years when she had learned to use her skill she could come back.

Nightshade pulled her back the way they’d come. “I want to get you out of here to safety. We’ll fetch the dogs and I’ll fly you home. We’ll be gone before Twister wakes up.”

“You can’t take her to Ruby’s house,” Devin said. “Twister’s desperate. He’ll just come after her. He’ll find her and—”

A growl rumbled in Nightshade’s chest. “He’ll have to get past me.”

“Can you take her to Cornwall?”

“Oh.” Nightshade walked in silence for a moment. “I hate
to bring trouble back on the Cornish piskies . . . but it seems we have no choice.”

“I’ll stay here and try to talk Twister out of following you,” Devin said.

They collected Ares and Apollo, and Ruby trudged behind Nightshade and Devin toward the back door of the Bunker. When they arrived, they found two Whips standing guard.

“On the king’s command, the woman can’t pass,” announced the one with short hair who had first protected Ruby in the Assembly Room.

“Twister’s not taking the chance she escapes,” Devin said.

“Then we reason with him. He must know it’s too dangerous for Ruby to go into the pit to try to change Fenrir. Where is the Unseelie king?” Nightshade demanded of the Whips.

“He was in the Assembly Room when he issued our orders,” the shorthaired whip replied, his eyes grazing over Ruby with what might have been regret.

Ruby’s heart plummeted. Another argument with Twister in the Assembly Room—just what she wanted, and the perfect end to the day she’d had.

* * *

Ruby looked dead on her feet. Without asking permission, Nightshade swept her into his arms. She made a half-hearted protest, then relaxed against his chest, her two dogs curling up in the curve of her body.

“I haven’t got the energy to argue with him again tonight,” she mumbled.

“We’re not sleeping on this. I’m getting you out of here,” Nightshade vowed. It had taken him a lifetime to find her; he wasn’t going to lose his woman to a demented wolf-god.

When they reached the large wooden door to the Assembly Room, he lowered Ruby to her feet. She deposited the dogs
on the floor where they circled excitedly, wagging their stubby tails and staring up at them. An unusual weariness stiffened Nightshade’s muscles. He blinked and rubbed his eyes.

Devin waited impatiently, shuffling from foot to foot. The situation must be difficult for him, Nightshade realized, him being the king’s cousin.

“Taking our side in this disagreement might cause a rift between you and Twister. We’ll understand if you—”

“No.” Devin sliced a hand through the air. “I can’t condone what Twister’s planning. I’ve never turned a blind eye to injustice, and I won’t start now. Anyway”—he rested a hand on Nightshade’s shoulder—“what sort of a friend would I be if I deserted you?”

Nightshade swore to himself that one day he would return the favor.

Devin pushed the door open, and they followed him through. Nightshade would have liked to put an arm around Ruby, but he needed his hands free. The little pop in his ears signaled that they’d left the Bunker’s protective spell. He could now change to shade form if necessary.

His gaze flew up to the empty throne. Despite the late hour, the Assembly Room was busy, many of the tables occupied with gamblers and drinkers. But there seemed to be no Twister.

“Maybe he’s gone to bed,” Ruby said, voicing the same thought.

“No, he’s over there.” Devin nodded toward a table on the far side of the room. “Damn, he looks sloshed. He gets maudlin and unpredictable when he drinks. Go carefully.”