Castor held the lapels of his cut, stuck his nose in the air, and in his most stuck-up snobby voice, dripping in the worst British Accent ever, he said, “A dandy lion.”
Both twins started hysterically laughing, while the rest of us rolled our eyes.
“Fuck off,” Leo growled. “Go fuck with someone else.”
“Come on, Castor, the lion is grumpy today.”
“When is he not? That guy is permanently pissed off,” Castor countered, both of them still chattering loudly.
“I hate them sometimes,” Leo griped, taking a swig of his beer. “They’re why I drink.”
“They aren’t why you drink.”
Leo held up his beer and saluted me. “Touche.”
We were about to strike up a different conversation when Knight came strolling back in, hands shoved in his pockets, looking both confused and defeated.
“Let me guess… it didn’t work.?
“She’s a very lost soul, Kane. I’m afraid for her. The grief she’s feeling runs deep, like imbedded in her veins deep. It’s a miracle you’ve gotten as far with her as you have.”
“Is she still outside?”
He shook his head. “No, she ran off. Not sure where she went.”
“Shit! Why didn’t you stop her?”
He frowned. “I tried, but she’s a strong-headed woman, Cap. Holding her back will just make things worse.”
Springing up from my seat, I raced outside, hoping I could catch her before she did something stupid. I combed the streetslooking for her, but if she was walking, she wasn’t anymore. The only other place I could look was her house, so I stopped there next.
Her front door was slightly open when I arrived, but when I heard something shatter on the other side of the door, I burst in, taking in the destruction around me.
The couch had been cut open with a knife of some sort, the padding pulled out and strewn about like confetti. Her table had been knocked over, the cute little red vase shattered on the floor. All the pictures on her mantle had been thrown on the ground, the glass broken, some of the frames splitting. Her kitchen was even worse. Every drawer had been pulled out, the silverware and trinkets littering the ground. The only thing that hadn’t been touched was Chase’s urn, which sat untouched on the mantle.
I heard something else break in the back, and I ran to the room, only to find Ruby grabbing one of her books from off the shelf, and ripping out its pages. “HAPPILY EVER AFTERS AREN’T REAL!” she screamed, as she discarded the pages to the ground.
“IT’S ALL A FUCKING LIE!”
Tears poured out of her eyes, her entire body stuttering and shuddering with sobs.
“Ruby, stop!” I begged, bringing her attention to me. “What is going on?”
Her eyes narrowed, and she threw down the book, marching straight towards me. “This is all your fault!” she yelled, her fists pummeling my chest.
I groaned, removing her hands before she could do any damage to me.
“What is going on?”
She was a puddle of tears, her bottled rage uncorking. “You fucking saved me!” she cried out. “Why did you have to fucking save me?”
“Because you were meant to be saved, Ruby.”
“No! I was meant to die.”
She collapsed to the floor, her body heaving as she fought to breathe.
“Breathe, Ruby. Take a deep breath.”
