Page 48 of Bloodbane

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Triumph or Tragedy

{ G R A Y S O N }

I chase Ruby’s scent through the back door to find the single set of footprints leading into the forest. Ignoring the stairs, I vault over the railing and land softly in the snow, cursing under my breath. Ruby sent everyone off in different directions on purpose; she’s planned this down to the last. She’s a genius, alright, and a fucking pain in the ass.

Racing toward the trees, I eclipse Ruby’s footprints quickly. She may have a head start, but the speed advantage is mine.

The unmistakable honeyed aroma of omega blood lingers in the air, setting my path and guiding me closer. But when the sun finally surrenders to twilight and disappears from the sky, my draw changes. The sweet scent turns sharp, and if my heart was capable of it, it would be pounding out of my chest, the roar of it in my ears drowning out Ruby’s screams now filling the forest.

There’s no sense of time as I race forward, smashing through thick trunks and heavy, snow-laden branches. The wooden fingers reach for me, scraping my skin uselessly and tearing at my clothes as if the universe itself is trying to stop me from getting to Ruby.

The world darkens as my focus shrinks to a pinprick, and I chase the wailing cries, praying to Odin that I’m not too late.

Grace surrenders to panic as I blur through the maze of green, crashing into—and splintering—all obstacles in my path, my eyes searching, searching, until…

Ruby is curled up on the forest floor, writhing violently as agonizing shrieks tear from her throat. Snow and debris kick up around me as I drop to my knees beside her.

She hasn’t transformed… at least, not completely. Bones have broken and tried to reform, the jagged white shards slicing through half-shifted muscles, protruding grotesquely from torn clothes and ragged flesh. The patches of ivory fur pushing through skin are matted with blood.

“We need to get back to the house, Ruby. It’s not safe for you out here.” I gather the mangled body into my arms, grimacing at wails of agony.

As if to emphasize my point, a piercing howl sounds from the darkness. Not waiting for the telltale glowing eyes to fill the forest, I straighten, wrapping my arms more tightly around Ruby before sprinting back the way I’d come. Darting around rocks and bushes, and ducking under branches, I move with more care on the return trip, trying to keep from jostling Ruby too much. Still, the pain wracking her body now will be nothing compared to what she’ll feel if the wolves catch us.

And the wolves are coming. Their growls and snapping jaws are loud even above Ruby’s cries. Paws scratch over frozen ground as the mutts cover it quickly. We’re being hunted, and I can’t fight them off and protect Ruby at the same time.

Cutting to the left, I slip around a broken trunk, heading toward the two towering pines marking the property line. I spring from the ground, tucking Ruby to my chest more securely as we sail through the air between the trees, high enough to clear the tripwire I’d set in place only minutes before.

I land in the snow ten feet clear. The explosion behind us knocks me to my knees before I’m propelled forward onto the ground by paws careening into my back. I reach for the animal’s legs, but the weight is gone. I roll away, off Ruby, twisting in time to see a massive white wolf ripping the throat out of a smaller, gray one.

It’s the biggest lycan I’ve ever seen. My fangs draw down instinctively as I flip to my feet, crouching over Ruby. If I were standing, the wolf would match my height easily, but in my lowered, defensive position, the shifter towers over me, golden eyes glowing, muzzle dripping red.

I draw back, readying for the attack. It never comes.

The white wolf drops to its belly, laying its head on massive paws. The submissive gesture makes me hesitate just as the wind blowing through the snowy fur brings me a familiar scent.

“ Thayne? ”

At my recognition, the wolf lifts from the ground and bounds forward. He brushes his head against my shoulder before nuzzling at Ruby with a low whine.

Barking cuts off my assurances as six shifters emerge from the tree line.

Thayne pushes at my chest with a large paw as a russet wolf—Ash—speeds from behind me, launching at the newcomers, tackling two into the snow. The other four round on her before two more wolves, brown with identical white markings, rush from the house to Ash’s side.

Thayne’s keen gaze follows their movements, growling when they disappear into the frenzy.

“It’s fine, Thayne, go. I’ll return as soon as I’ve helped Ruby.”

Thayne nudges his nose under my jaw before turning and racing to join the fight.

Steeling myself against the impulses screaming to fight, I gather Ruby back into my arms and speed into the house. I have one hand under the kitchen table—lifting it to upend Ruby’s unused mechanics onto the floor—before the blast of Cooper’s shotgun splits the air.

“Oh, shit! I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was you. Fuck! Rubes? What happened?”

I set Ruby down on the table as carefully as I can before cleaving a chunk of flesh from my wrist with my teeth. Dark blood rushes from the torn flesh as I hover it above Ruby’s wounds. Streams of black mix with scarlet, spilling over her skin and pooling on the table as she writhes and screams, clawing at her broken body.

“Something stopped her from shifting.”

“Something like what?” Cooper calls over his shoulder as he rushes back to the sitting room.

“Do I look like the resident wolf expert, Jones?” I snap.

Ruby’s screaming pitches higher as she thrashes on the hard wood, sweat beading and dripping down her face and neck. Skin ripples as muscles and bones knit back together—the healing just as traumatic as the failed shift.

Cooper skids to a stop by the table, arms full of gauze and bandages from the box of supplies he’d brought last night.

“I hate to break it to you, but out of the two of us, yeah, you are the expert. Is that—uh—why are you doing that?” Cooper wrinkles his nose as I reopen the already-healed gash on my wrist before letting it spill over more of Ruby’s lacerations. “That seems very… unsanitary.”

“My blood will heal her.” I frown. ” Should heal her.” My blood can heal broken bones and torn skin, but shifting is not an injury, so a half-shift? Doubt sours my gut.

“ Should? What do you mean, should, man? Will it or won’t it?”

The silence is deafening as Ruby’s body goes limp.

“Is she…” Cooper swallows roughly. “She’s not…?”

The sound of Ruby’s pulse is weak, fluttering too quickly in her chest—lycan, not human now. “No. She’s just unconscious.”

I wipe the mess of mixed blood away from the large gash on her thigh. Bone no longer juts from ragged flesh. A silver scar is the only testament to the trauma. Each careful wipe over Ruby’s skin gives the same results: a dozen new marks for a dozen healed wounds. The clusters of light fur don’t recede though, and I stroke my hand through the soft patch on Ruby’s hand.

Ruby’s unnaturally still form on the table has fury swelling inside me. This isn’t how tonight was supposed to go. Ruby was supposed to be safe in the house, not dangling herself like bait, offering herself as a sacrifice, or whatever in Hel’s name she thought she was doing.

The board was set for this game long ago. Fate has been biding her time, amassing the pieces: Thayne, Ruby, Arlo, Draven, and me. Tonight, everyone has come together to play their part. Tonight will finally lay ghosts to rest… or souls.

Triumph or tragedy—we win or we die.

The game may be decades in the making—before I saved Ruby in the clearing, even before I saved her as a child—but the outcome is not set. The Norns have brought Thayne and Ruby back to me. I cannot believe it was just for me to watch them die.

“Ruby? Open your eyes for me. Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”

Ruby groans, her face pinching tight before her eyes finally drag open.

Bandages and rolls of gauze spill from Cooper’s arms, tumbling to the floor as he sucks in a surprised gasp.

Glowing, golden eyes—wolf eyes—dart to Cooper as Ruby struggles to sit up.

“What happened?” Ruby’s body is hot under my hands as I help her to a sitting position on the table. “Why am I still human?”

“I hate to break it to you, Rubes, but, uh, I don’t think you are,” Cooper croaks. “At least, not all of you.”

Ruby surveys her arms, frowning down at the strange mix of skin and fur. She sags in my hold. “Well, that’s different. If this is permanent, I’ll have to upgrade my razor.”

A wan smile flits over Ruby’s lips, but the masquerade doesn’t fool me for a second. The cost of trauma is etched into the tight lines around Ruby’s mouth and pinching at her eyes.

I card my hand through Ruby’s sweat-damp hair, drawing her close before capturing her lips, coaxing them to yield for me with a sweep of my tongue. She groans and opens for me beautifully, wrapping trembling arms around my neck, tangling eager hands into my hair. I use my tongue to feed Ruby my saliva, working my glands to secrete more. Obviously understanding the plan, Ruby sucks at my tongue hungrily, swallowing down the offered fluid with contented moans.

“Uh, guys, this really isn’t, uh… I mean, I’m all for completely inappropriate PDAs, but—”

Reluctantly, I break the kiss, smiling at Ruby’s small whimper of protest. I rub my thumb over her spit-slick lower lip. She slides off the table and turns newly-bright eyes on me—evidence the chemicals are already buzzing through her brain, burning the fog of pain away.

Now my immediate concerns have been tended to, the sounds of the battle raging outside are thundering in my ears as I run assessing eyes over Ruby.

“I need to go help Thayne. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m— ahh! ” Ruby gasps, fingertips blooming white as she presses them to her temples.

“Ruby?”

Ruby shakes her head. “It’s nothing, I’m fine. Go.”

I turn to Cooper. “Keep an eye on her. Make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“Have you met her?” Cooper snorts. “That is not a one-man job. Even you and the giant fuzzball couldn’t manage it.”

Ruby makes a disgruntled sound before fixing her golden eyes on me. “Be safe.”

I want to share my feelings with Ruby, but I can’t. It feels too much like goodbye. I sear the image of her smiling up at me into my heart, just in case.

In a blink, I’m outside.