Caged series, p.73
Caged Series, page 73
He followed me to the cooler in the lobby, leaning on it as I filled my bottle. He stared at me as I gulped down twenty-four ounces before refilling it again.
“What?” I said, feigning annoyance. “I sweat a lot. I need to replenish the fluids.”
“I'm well aware of how sweaty you are—I'm wearing half of it,” he retorted with a smirk. “I'm going to have to wring my shirt out after class.”
“Whatever,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Hey, can we run that one more time? I want to see if I can eke out a little more extension of my back leg on the way up.”
“Sure,” he said, walking back into the studio. “Let's do it.”
It was uncanny how easily we had fallen back into our old routine, but I wasn't naïve. A heavy and uncomfortable conversation was headed my way. For Matty's safety as well as my own, I needed to know exactly what he remembered. That reality nagged at me as we returned to the studio.
We arranged ourselves so we could start at the eight count of choreography leading up to the lift. I put more strength into the mount that time, almost hurling my body toward him to get the height that I needed to achieve the extension I wanted. I pressed off his shoulders in preparation, lifting my body over his head with his aid, but, in my mentally distracted state, I overshot it.
My momentum was too hard to control, and I fell out of the handstand position over his back. I scrambled to grab onto him, clawing at his shirt in an attempt to not fall on my head. Seeing that a crash was inevitable, I tucked into myself into a ball, hoping the landing wouldn’t break anything. Matty turned to help slow my fall, but the position he was in didn't lend itself to the task. I crashed on my back, pulling him down on top of me, tearing his shirt in the process.
“Are you okay?” he asked, hovering above me.
“Yeah, I think I'm fine,” I replied, trying to sit up. I felt woozy and the room spun as I changed positions. To stop the sensation, I rolled back down to the floor.
“Did you hit your head?”
“I must have,” I said, closing my eyes.
“Ruby, are you all right?” Pam asked, hurrying over with a bag of ice.
“I'll be fine. Just give me a minute. It's not a big deal, Pam. No reason to fuss,” I protested while she tried to hold the ice against my head. “Just drag me out of the way so you can keep working.”
“I think we'll call it a night,” she said, motioning for everyone to clear out. “We'll pick up where we left off next time.”
“Do you want me to lock up for you, Pam?” Matty asked, sitting beside me. “I think she should rest for a bit before driving home, don't you?”
“That's probably a good idea. Do you still have your key?”
“I do, indeed.”
“Okay, then. Ruby, you be careful, please.”
“Always,” I replied with a chuckle that I instantly regretted. Increasing head pressure was a bad idea.
I lay there on the floor until everyone cleared out. Being stared at while I tried to sort out my equilibrium wasn’t something I enjoyed. Once the coast was clear, I slowly sat up with Matty spotting me the whole way just in case I had another episode of vertigo. When everything in my visual field stayed stationary, I let out a sigh of relief. No concussion for me that night.
“I thought you'd be a little more rugged,” he said mockingly. “You know...given your...condition and all.”
A shot of cold ran down my spine. I really didn't want to have that conversation with him. Not then. Not ever. Unfortunately, that idea worked only in theory―in reality, it did not. Matty and I were going to discuss a few things that night. His safety depended on it.
“It's complicated,” I said, looking forlorn. “Matty, I—”
“Not tonight, Ruby. I don't want to get into that tonight. I came here because I wanted to see you. Not having you in my life wasn't an option I was willing to live with. We'll work out the details later, but, for now, can we drop the whole thing?”
“I'm sorry, Matty. I'm sorry—”
“No sorry either. Tonight, we let it be.”
I held out my hand to him and he took it without hesitation. “I missed you,” I whispered. “Being here hasn't been the same since you left. I stopped by your parents' house to see how you were. They said they hadn't seen you much. Your mom was acting strange.”
“I'm headed there now. Do you want to come? I'm sure they'd love to see you,” he asked innocently enough, but there was something in his eye―a tiny spark I hadn't seen there before. He really wanted me to go.
“I can't,” I replied. “I have to be somewhere shortly. Rain check?”
Again, something passed over him before he responded. A darkness that time, a ferocity. It looked wrong on him.
“Sure thing. Hot date?” he asked casually.
“More like a meeting,” I said, hoping to downplay the whole thing. I knew he never liked Sean or Cooper, so I didn't want him to know where I was headed.
“So skip it. Doesn't look like you want to go anyway.”
“As much as I'd love to, it's important. It's about Peyta. I really have to go.”
“Oh,” he said, knowing exactly how important Peyta was to me. “In that case, you probably should go. I'll walk you out if you're feeling up to it.”
“Thanks,” I said as he helped me off the floor. Apparently, I'd played the right card by throwing Peyta's name out. “We should plan to get together soon though. We need to talk.”
He looked at me with eyes that promised everything but conversation as he held onto my hands a little longer than necessary after helping me up.
“Everything okay?” I asked him, unsure of what was going on.
He shook his head a bit then smiled. “Yeah, I'm fine. It's just good to see you, that's all. I guess I'm more excited than I thought I'd be,” he said with a laugh.
“It's good to see you too,” I told him, giving his hands a squeeze before pulling mine away.
I packed up my things and shut off the lights in the studio. Matty met me in the lobby where he waited by the door, his bag slung across his chest.
“Ready to go?” he asked, turning to open the door.
I gasped at what I saw.
“Matty! Your back,” I cried, running over to see the damage. His shirt was bloodied where I'd torn it off. I lifted the jagged hem to see four distinct scratches along his lower right side. They were red and raw, but not actively bleeding.
“What is it?” he asked, trying to look under his arm to see what had me so excited.
“I must have scratched you when I fell. I'm so sorry. We should clean you up before you go home.”
He went to the full-length mirror not far from the door and turned to see the marks in question. He poked and pulled at them for a minute until he was satisfied with its condition.
“It's fine. Don't worry about it. Doesn't hurt at all.”
“You sure? Scratches can be nasty and they get infected easily,” I argued.
“I'll let my mom fix me up. It'll make her happy...she'll feel useful.”
“Are you sure?”
“Please, Carmen lives for an injury. She likes to play doctor; it gives her a chance to boss people around,” he insisted. “Let's go. Don't want you to be late.”
I looked at him for a moment, uncertain that it should wait to be cleaned, before ultimately surrendering and heading out to my car. He followed a few steps behind me, locking the outside door behind us.
“Upgraded the car, I see,” he said, walking over to the TT.
“Yeah…I had a little incident. I totaled the old one.”
“Looks like you survived that little incident unscathed,” he said, eying me intently.
“Yeah,” I replied, squirming under his scrutiny, “seems I have my moments of indestructibility.”
“Lucky girl.”
“If you want to look at it that way.”
“I'll see you around, blue eyes,” he said, walking to his car. “Sooner than later, I think.”
“I hope so,” I said, opening the driver's side door. “Say hi to your parents for me.”
He gave a nod before climbing into his car, and was gone before I fired mine up, driving off in the opposite direction. Something ached in my chest as I watched his tail lights disappear.
“He's not leaving for good,” I said out loud to calm myself before putting my car in gear and heading out. I was in for what promised to be an interesting night at Sean's. Matty's return had made it pretty eventful already, so whatever details Sean was about to throw my way would only add to the colorfulness. I wasn't sure I was in the mood for any more surprises.
5
Cooper texted me on my way home, asking me to pick him up at Peyta's. He had escorted her home after work since the Rev was on the loose, and was stranded at the house without a way back into town. As I pulled up the driveway, I gave Sean a quick buzz to let him know our little meeting was going to have to be postponed for a few minutes.
“So it's cool that I'm going to be a little late then?” I asked, closing the car door behind me. Given the evening hour, I didn't want to honk the horn to get Cooper's attention, and I wasn't sure it would be effective anyway. Those two would be thoroughly involved in some sort of shenanigans and not paying enough attention to notice. I questioned how reliable Cooper actually was as a bodyguard.
“Yeah, it can wait a few more minutes, but you can't blow this off, Ruby. I need to update you on what the cops found out. Even more so what they didn't. We may need to exploit that relationship you have with the detective.”
“You mean Alan?” I asked, referring to him by name intentionally. Sean seemed to have an aversion to addressing him correctly. He had issues with authority.
“Yes. Him.”
“Fine, we'll discuss it when I get there,” I told him, walking up onto the porch. “I'll see you in—”
The crippling shot of pain through my head felt like it severed my cerebral hemispheres. A psychic lobotomy of sorts.
“Fuck,” I ground out, wincing as I collapsed to the wooden surface beneath me. I heard Sean's yelling fading in the background as the Rev took over.
He stood sheltered by the overgrowth of trees and shrubs surrounding the property. The lights from inside the house illuminated the yard in a patchwork pattern of golden light and shadowy dark. He moved slowly, weaving through the black patches until he reached the front of the home where his love lay silent and motionless. His tentative approach became more frenzied and less calculated after he saw her, daring to go into the light to reach her.
Crouching alongside the raised entrance, he sniffed the air, eyes wild.
“So close now...”
He needed to collect his possession, reaching under the railing to touch her white-blond curls. Before he could round the stairs and grab her, the door opened...
“Ruby!” Cooper yelled, leaping over me to put himself in harm’s way. It was necessary for only a brief moment. Scarlet was enthusiastic about coming out to play.
The Rev had made it to the tree line before Scarlet got to her feet. The boys had Ronnie restrained in the house, but somehow Peyta broke away from Jay and bolted outside towards Cooper and Scarlet.
“Stop her,” Scarlet growled to Jay, turning her blood-red eyes on Peyta. Those stopped her cold.
Peyta knew who Scarlet was, but never had the pleasure of meeting her. It was hard to fully prepare someone for a transformation like that, even though the physical differences were few. I really was the same outer shell with a very different occupant.
“Cooper...,” Scarlet prompted.
“Right there with you,” he replied as they made their way off the steps.
“I only want the girl,” the Rev yelled across the yard. “And my Love, of course...”
“And sadly,” Scarlet purred, “you will be getting us instead.” She was snubbing him intentionally, and it evoked a rage in him that left her satisfied to the core. “We have unfinished business, you and I.”
“We do, don't we? Perhaps we could go somewhere a little more private. I want to make you an offer. You still haven't chosen yet. I'm wondering if I can sweeten the deal.”
Scarlet nodded for Cooper to fan out across the yard and flank him around the far side, leaving the Rev with only the small wooded area behind him to escape into.
“I'm not interested in your offer,” Scarlet said menacingly. “Only your death excites me.”
“And that's what I love about you. You're cold and vicious. Imagine what we could do together. Join me,” he said, reaching his hand towards her. “Nothing could stop us. No rules, no limitations. Just us.”
“No, Ruby! He'll kill you like he killed my dad!” Peyta screamed from just inside the house where Jay had managed to corral her. I was quickly reminded of how convenient it was that Ronnie's house was set relatively far away from her neighbors. “Don't do it!”
The Rev looked towards the house with a raised eyebrow and growing smile. “Is that what you told her, Veronica?” he yelled at the house. “That I'm the monster that killed her daddy?”
Ronnie's silence spoke volumes—and in that silence, things started to make sense. The reason Peyta hadn't been asking questions about the Rev was clear. She didn't need to. They'd already been answered, the truth notwithstanding. The Rev was after her mother because she witnessed her father's murder. The tiny detail of him actually being her father had been left out, but not for long.
“Peyta, dear. Look at me,” he called to the house.
I heard Jay whispering something to her, trying to talk sense to her—calm her down. She was as willful as her mother, and was hell-bent on staring down her father's murderer.
“Let her see him, Jay,” Scarlet ordered, inching ever closer towards the Rev. “She'll figure it out eventually.”
Peyta stepped out onto the porch, well guarded by three of the PC boys. The Rev stepped forward just enough so that the light fell delicately onto his face.
The recognition was almost instant. There were no pictures of Keith anywhere in Ronnie's house, but Peyta didn't need them to identify him. As much as she was her mother's daughter in personality and spirit, her looks were clearly influenced by her father.
“Dad?” she whispered, turning as pale as the moon above. Tears rolled down her face.
“Come to me, Peyta. Come give your father a hug. It's been far too long.”
Disturbingly, she looked torn. It was plain that some part of her desperately wanted him to be her father. The father she'd never known, and grown up without. But Peyta was not a child, nor was she a fool.
“You tried to kill my mother,” she said, regaining her voice. “I know what you are...what you've done.”
“She took you from me,” he protested.
“All those women,” she said, her face masking her emotions that were plain in her voice. “You killed them, tortured them, and for what? Practice? Practice for what you'd do to Mom when you finally got the chance?”
“I searched for you, not her,” he snarled, nostrils flaring.
“Yet when you found us, the first thing you did was try to kill her,” she cried, pushing forward against the arm that restrained her. “You're a liar and a murderer.”
“She's the liar!” he yelled, pointing to where Ronnie had come to stand in the doorway. “She's fed you lies your whole life.”
“And you would try to do the same now,” Peyta countered. “You'll never have me. I'll never choose you.”
“Nor will I,” Scarlet added, looking over at Cooper, who, out of Peyta's line of sight, had Changed. “I think we should get this over with, no? We could even be civilized about it, though I do love a chase. Pick your poison, Rev. Any way you slice it, tonight you die.”
Cooper stalked towards him growling, saliva dripping off his jowls. His yellow eyes glowed bright in the darkness, framed by glorious golden fur that faded to white ends. I'd never seen his wolf before. He was breathtaking.
“This isn't over,” the Rev proclaimed, composing himself. “Failure is never an option.”
With that, he jetted into the shrubs in the blink of an eye. Cooper was on him in a flash, and before I knew what hit me, I was flying through the air, landing on all fours in hot pursuit. Scarlet had let her wolf out as well.
The Rev ran towards the vast new development that was being built a half-mile off the back of Ronnie's property. With none of the construction finished yet, there wasn't anyone actually living there, which made me extremely thankful. Scarlet could take him down before he got the chance to hurt anyone else.
She gained on them both, watching Cooper as he prepared to pounce on his prey. He pushed off his massive hindquarters, flying high into the air above the Rev. As Cooper's wolf came down, a glimmer of metal flashed out of the Rev's pocket before being buried deep into the soft underbelly of his attacker. A painful howl broke through the air as Cooper crashed to the ground, unable to stand. Before the Rev could finish him off, he was forced backward in retreat as Scarlet barreled toward him, coming to stand over Cooper's wounded body. She straddled him elegantly, head lowered, ears back. A low rumble escaped from deep within her chest. The Rev had played his hand well, as always, creating the leverage he needed to escape. He smiled manically before disappearing quickly into the night.
Still growling, Scarlet turned her attention back to Cooper, who lay nearly motionless at her feet. She nudged him over and over with her muzzle, trying to encourage him to stand, but his labored breathing seemed to be taking up all the energy he could spare. Blood poured out of his wound at an alarming rate. She bayed a mournful cry as she increased her attempts to rouse him.
She was unsuccessful.
The crunching of rock under feet snapped her attention back to her surroundings, and she poised herself for a fight, welcoming the opportunity. Anger coursed through her like a raging river crashing into a dam. She wanted to let it out.
Sean slowly rounded the corner of the building that had sheltered them from sight. Protecting Cooper, she snarled at him, accenting it with a gnash of her teeth.
“I need to take him,” Sean said, hands held wide, palms forward. “He needs Peyta. Now.”
