It bashed her into the side of the building, and she had no choice but to let go.She slid to the ground with a hardthump.
“Not like that,” Cyn called.
She sneered at him.“Smart-ass.”
He sent a stream of black smoke that wrapped around the tulpa’s neck.While it grappled for the stream, she tore at its ankle, sending it off balance and toppling to the ground.It made an even biggerthumpas it hit.Cyn tussled with it, like a rodeo stud with a calf, working that stream of smoke as he pulled closer.
“Get back,” he said, his teeth gritted with effort.
He yanked and severed the tulpa’s head.What looked like black oil poured out of the gaping hole of its neck and down its body.Then the whole thing shuddered and disintegrated.
Ruby dropped to her knees, exhausted and aching, automatically Catalyzing back to human.“That was fun.”She looked at the mess the tulpa had left, and a laugh-hiccup sound came out of her.
“You okay?”
She pushed up, to prove that she wasn’t a simpering female, and brushed off the dirt.She winced at the bruises and cuts.“I’m fine.I held my own, didn’t I?”Damn, why’d she have to add the question?
“You did.”
“We fought well together.I wasn’t a handicap.”
“No, you weren’t.”
And damn but she thought she saw pride in his eyes.“Any other information you’d care to share about creatures we might encounter?”
“Magick has no boundaries, no end.You would run screaming into the night if I told you everything about our world at once.”
“In other words, later.And you know what?At this moment, later is okay with me.”
He was already walking over to where they’d dropped their clothing.She followed, seeing his injuries.Nothing too serious, most having started the healing process within seconds.Beyond those bruises, he was breathtakingly perfect.He walked without shame or self-consciousness, his shoulders high.
“Ruby?”
The sound of Nevin’s voice, filled with shock and a hint of accusation, floated from a distance.Where, she now saw, he stood at the gates watching her and Cyn retrieve their clothes.
She slapped her shirt against her chest.“Oh, great.”
“This is when the clothes shedding can be tricky,” Cyn said to her, pulling up his pants in one slick move.He moved in front of her, blocking Nevin’s view.
“Fire ants,” Cyn said to Nevin.
Ruby blinked.“What?”
“Fire ants all over us,” Cyn clarified to both of them.He shrugged.“Had to shed the clothing because there’s nothing worse than fire ants up the crack of your ass.Wouldn’t you agree?”Because he sounded so unruffled, and snapped his shirt out while seeming to inspect it, Nevin had no reason not to believe him.
“You’re good,” she said in a low voice before taking the opportunity to dress behind the shield of his body.“And I thought I was a great bluffer.”Not one logical reason for standing there in the yard naked with Cyn, a man she’d met just the day before, came to mind.
“Yes, I am.”
She met Cyn’s gaze at those sultry words, feeling an answering spark in her eyes, and forced herself to look Nevin’s way.“Please, go.”
“I was just worried.What happened with the trouble?I heard a lot of crashing sounds.”
“This doesn’t concern you.And don’t come back until I call you.”Why’d he have to become motivatednow?“I’ll explain everything… somehow,” she added in a whisper.
Nevin gave her a wounded puppy look before turning away.
In an even softer voice, Cyn said, “You have to cut ties with him.”
