He didn’t.
She’d talked about giving him her heart.That’s the part that killed him, that had broken through his haze.It was bad enough that he’d been about to take her body.
His Dragon responded to her pain.It tugged at him to reach for her, to say whatever he could to make it right.Nothing would make it right, though.He’d committed the ultimate sin, taken everything from her.No matter that it was on someone else’s orders, he had their blood on his hands.Then he’d let things get heated between them, a bigger sin in his mind.
Heated.His Dragon snorted at the downplayed word.
Cyn had wanted her, every cell of her, even her soul.He’d drowned in his emotions the moment he buried his face in her neck.So he deserved the sting of her nail marks, the bruises from her beating.
Ruby settled into the seat, her arms crossed in front of her.In a monotone voice, she asked, “What’s the plan?”
“I have to figure out where you play into this.”
“I’m not hiding here in the car.”
Cyn braced a hand on the side of her seat, only inches from her.“I would never expect you to hide, Ruby.But remember, as much as you might hate me?—”
“I do hate you.There’s no ‘might’ about it.”
“As much as you hate me”—he shoved the words out, each one lodging in his throat—”I have your best interests at heart.Don’t disobey my orders just to spite me.You getting killedwillspite me.But is that worth it?”
She blew out a breath.“I’m not going to cut off my nose to spite my face, if that’s what you’re worried about.I might need you in this fight, but I don’tneedyou.There’s a difference.”
He focused on Darren’s house again.“Understood.We’re going in as soon as they leave.I don’t want to approach him until I’ve had a look at what he’s up to.”He settled back in his seat.“Rest, Ruby.It might be a while.”
She leaned her head back, pressing her fingers over her closed eyes.He took in the creamy skin of her neck, his hunger increasing.Not sexual hunger, which would be much easier to manage.
Damn.
He closed his eyes, too.When he woke, several hours had passed.Dew covered the windshield and hood of the car.The sky was gray, hinting at the coming dawn.He checked on Ruby to make sure she was still there, even though she couldn’t have left the car without him knowing.
She was curled against the seat, deep asleep.He was sure it was only relief, but he felt an overwhelming desire to touch her, comfort her.Like the innocent girl he’d found in the dinghy, she reached places in him he hadn’t known existed.He had no idea how to comfort anyone.No one had comforted him when he’d lost his parents.
He sat watching her for almost an hour.Oh, he tried to look elsewhere, anywhere, but his gaze kept going back to her.Movement beyond her caught his attention.A car pulled out of Darren’s driveway, two people inside.He wanted to follow, but he needed to get into the workshop more.
“Ruby.”
She woke with a start, her eyes heavy as she took in her surroundings.He could see the moment reality dawned when a hardened expression replaced her dazed confusion.She rubbed her neck, wincing.
He reached for the glove box and removed a small leather kit.“They just left.Let’s move.”
She snapped to full wakefulness, opening her door and stepping out.They walked casually down the street and then disappeared from view once they headed down the driveway.
He held his hand out to her, where it brushed her stomach.“Wait a second.Look for cameras.”
He scanned the house and yard, then met her gaze.They both shook their heads and proceeded on.He led the way around the back to the windowless workshop.The door was solid metal with multiple deadbolts.No sign of an alarm system or magick.He went around to the back and found another secured door.After checking to make sure no one could see them, he picked the lock and pushed the door open.He stripped, ready to Catalyze if necessary before stepping inside the lab.They found tables with papers and a white board covered in calculations he had no hope of interpreting.
Ruby took it all in with an odd expression.“I used to see these kinds of calcs in Dad’s home office.This is a chart that tracks solar storms.I used to think that was so crazy, the idea that there were storms on the sun that could affect us on earth.The peaks seem to correspond with this other chart, though I can’t figure out what it represents.Wait.I recognize this.”She held up a metallic object about a foot long.“My father had something like this at his lab.”She held it out toward him.“Feel it.”
The cylindrical piece pulsed with an energy he thought wasDeus Vis.“This could be it.”
“So whatever my father was doing, Darren has recreated it.”
“And it took meyears,” a bitter voice said from the doorway.“After he went crazy and destroyed everything.”
They both spun to find Darren and Magda.The aura that had obviously kept Cyn from sensing them fell away.Cyn held the device down and out of sight.
“Because he knew it was going to hurt people,” Ruby said, her voice amazingly even.“And you had him killed for it.”
