Page 54 of Bloodbane
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
The Lesser of Two Evils
{ R U B Y }
“ Ruby? ”
Milo’s shocked gasp jolts me out of sleep, though the visions of wandering hands and hot mouths still linger in my mind, making my jaw ache. My gritty eyes refuse to focus on the first blink, taking half a dozen attempts before I can make out the horrified look on Milo’s face as he stands in the open doorway, silhouetted by the morning light streaming around him. Rubbing my eyes blearily, I decide it’s definitely too early for whatever Milo’s here to chat about.
“Oh, hey, Murph. When did you get back?”
“Hey? Hey? Ruby! There are dead bodies all over the yard and you’re in here having an orgy?”
“Orgy?” I jerk to a sitting position. I lift Grayson’s hand from my lap before placing it gently into his own. “Oh, no, it’s not what you—” I stutter to a stop as I look around.
Stirring, Ash shifts in sleep, slotting her body—her very human, very naked body—more tightly against Cooper’s thankfully dressed one. I avert my gaze, cringing when my eyes land on Thayne’s gloriously naked body lying beside me. Grayson’s fully dressed form is the only thing hiding Thayne’s knotted, morning wood from Milo’s view.
“Umm,” I finish eloquently.
“It’s a long story.” Grayson murmurs without opening his eyes.
“I’ll make time,” Milo retorts sourly.
I frown at the uncharacteristic tone. “You okay?”
“Wha’s goin’ on?” Thayne yawns, stretching. Miles of sculpted muscles move against my body, and I cross my arms over my chest to hide my perked nipples, clearly visible through my tank top.
“Milo just dropped by for a visit and—oh, no-no-no, don’t get up!” I plant my hand on Thayne’s shoulder, stopping him mid-rise. “Grayson is the only thing protecting your, umm… modesty .”
Thayne’s groggy eyes light with understanding. He curls up a little closer to Grayson. “Right.”
“Milo and I can go outside and talk. Let the others sleep.”
“That may not be the best idea,” Thayne says quickly. “It seems awfully bright out this morning.”
“Ah.” I nod slowly, rising. “Yeah. Right. Maybe we should talk in the kitchen instead.” Though I’d prefer to let sleeping wolves lie, waking everyone may be the lesser of two evils until I’m sure I’m not going to burst into flames the second I walk outside.
I stifle a yawn as I sink onto what I now consider my chair at the kitchen table, thankfully facing the door rather than the naked bodies decorating the living room.
Milo hesitates before sighing and moving into the house. He lowers himself onto the chair beside me and leans close enough for the heavy green coat he’s wearing to scrape against my arm. I swear I can feel every individual fiber as it touches my skin, and the strange sour scent that clings to Milo’s.
“What the hell is going on?” Milo whispers. “Is this—did you get involved in some kind of cult while I was gone? Are you being held against your will?”
Laughter bubbles up my throat and spills over before I can clamp a hand across my lips. “No, it’s nothing like that,” I assure him once I manage to control myself. “I swear, it’s not. I’m fine. In fact, I’ve never been better, but a lot has happened since you’ve been gone…” My eyes narrow at the dried liquid on Milo’s coat. “Like the fact you’ve apparently acquired the ability to throw up on your own shoulder. That’s impressive.”
Milo’s expression immediately softens. “Oh, no, that’s Nicky.”
“Nicky? What’s a Nicky?”
“Nick, Maria’s boy. She went into labor early, but they’re both fine. They’re both… perfect,” Milo sighs.
“So you went away for a couple of days and came back with a ready-made family? Aw, Murph, you missed out on the fun part.”
“I know it’s fast...”
Milo’s voice is uncertain as his cheeks flood with pink. It clashes horribly with his green coat, and where I would seize the opportunity for some good old-fashioned teasing, I’m struck silent by the heat and copper-scented temptation of his flush. Thirst burns through me like a wildfire. My fingers curl around the seat of my chair to stop me from dragging Milo across the table and ripping out his throat. The seat splinters in my grasp.
“Ruby? What’s wrong? You’ve gone as white as a sheet. Not that you’re too far off it this morning, anyway. Maybe I should run some tests...”
I shake my head quickly, dropping my gaze from the rhythmic pulsing through the column of Milo’s neck.
“I’m fine. Really. And it’s not fast. I think it’s wonderful.”
Concerned brown eyes narrow. “You do?”
Milo being smitten with Maria is the town’s worst-kept secret. He knocked a box of disposable otoscope tips to the floor and just about swallowed his tongue the first time she’d walked into the clinic, five months pregnant. They’d become fast friends, but I never thought Milo would find the courage to confess his feelings.
But then, I’ve been wrong about a lot of things lately.
“I do,” I say earnestly. I know the importance of family, and now understand choosing them for yourself makes them no less family than those thrust upon you at birth. “The kid would be lucky to grow up with you as a father figure.” With a wink, I lean closer to Milo, dropping my voice to a light whisper. “And remembering that time I accidentally walked in on you in the showers after squash, I know Maria’s pretty lucky, too.”
“Jesus, Ruby, you can’t say stuff like that. And you’re not going to distract me. What the hell is going on with you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re sitting there in a tank top when there’s snow on the ground. The scars on your chest are gone, and so is the color from one of your eyes. Then there’s the small matter of the mass murder outside. What the fuck is going on? I’m not sure if I’m losing my mind or you are.”
Smooth skin greets my fingers as I run them over my chest. Smooth save one: my constant companion for as long as I can remember. Does this mean the other marks on my body have disappeared, too? It would be fitting to have them vanish the same night as the man who made them.
Fate has not only given me a new chance at life, it has taken all the painful reminders of my old one, leaving the only memory I would choose to keep: Grayson.
“It wasn’t murder, it was self-defense. The man who raised me, who... abused me... he brought some friends here last night, trying to take me back to Louisiana with him. He nearly—” I can’t admit Evander had nearly killed everyone here when no one has a scratch on them. Well, except Layla. “He nearly succeeded. If Thayne and his family hadn’t intervened, I’d either be held prisoner in another state by now, or amongst the dead outside.”
Milo is nodding slowly as if running a fact check on my answer. His head stills as his lips twist down. “That doesn’t make sense. There are so many bodies. Why would he bring an army to kidnap you? How did he know you were here? Why are you here? And why are you so… not you ?”
“You might as well tell him everything.” Thayne, now dressed, appears from the hallway with Grayson at his shoulder. “He’s going to find out eventually. He should hear it from you.”
Milo swivels in his chair, twisting from me to Thayne and back again. “Tell me what? Ruby? You know you can tell me anything.”
I’d been hoping to avoid dragging everyone I know into this new, dangerous world. But with Arlo and Evander both dead, maybe there’s no reason to hide it. It would be nice not to have secrets about my new family with my old one.
This one’s tricky though. Cooper’s pop-culture-soaked brain had accepted the truth without question, but Milo’s mind is very much rooted in science and medicine. Facts, not fiction. His acceptance will come slowly, just like my own had.
“You might as well get comfortable, Murph, it’s a long story. And, hey, completely unrelated, but did you happen to leave those Benzos in my truck?”