Page 12 of Cursed by Death (Ruby Jane #1)

“ R uby Jane. What a pleasant surprise this is since I figured I’d have to hunt you down, not the other way around. Not that I’m upset by this in the least, just surprised.”

I stared Rally down, completely unimpressed or fooled in the least by his false charm and fake smile.

When he showed up in the courtyard everyone else bailed, claiming lunch time was over and they needed to get back to work. They were all full of shit and only Hunter acted like he didn’t want to go back to work. Then again, I thought Hunter was a bit on the nosy side. He wanted to gossip more than he cared about his paycheck.

One look from his Prince was all it had taken to have him scampering back off to work with his tail tucked between his legs.

“Can you tell me what my car is doing here?” I asked him, jumping right to it and not about to indulge him in his bullshit conversation. “And where the fuck is my Detective? The police showed up at my home this morning looking for him. Apparently, he’s gone missing. You need to return him. Unharmed and at once.”

“Your car is here so that the window can be replaced before it’s returned to you.”

And that was all he said.

I sighed as I stood up, not wanting to play games with him about this and getting angrier by the second. Standing up didn’t really do me any favors, he was a whole head taller than me and still looking down at me from his superior height.

“And the Detective?” I asked calmly, though I felt anything but calm at the moment. “Where is he, Rally?”

He closed his eyes as he sighed happily. “Say it again.”

I lifted my knee, high and fast, and nailed him right in the nuts.

He whimpered as he backed away cupping his junk. “That wasn’t very nice, Ruby Jane,” he growled.

I shrugged, uncaring in the slightest. “I thought about jamming one of my knives into your stomach, but since they’re silver I decided against it. I figured you’d be more inclined to answer me if you weren’t bleeding profusely from a wound that would leave you with a nasty scar. That and I don’t really feel like riling up the other shifters just yet. I don’t think they’d like me very much after something like that.”

He grimaced. “Whether they like you or not doesn’t matter. They’re never ever going to be so much as rude to you. You are my mate and as such that makes you their Princess. Whether they like it or not.”

Okay, so this wasn’t a conversation I was comfortable having with him at all. He was clearly fucking delusional and getting way off topic here.

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. I meant business and I wasn’t leaving until he told me where the Detective was hidden away at. And there was zero question in my mind that he knew where the man was at.

I just knew he’d taken him.

Why else would the car be here with the window getting fixed otherwise?

Rally crossed his arms over his chest, mirroring my stance. “He pulled a gun on me. And he stood between me and what’s mine. I can’t let that stand. That kind of disrespect makes me look weak and I don’t need my people hearing of it. I’ve recently been challenged for my place and I have that fight coming up. If people find out I let a human disrespect me and did nothing about it, more challengers will more than likely come for me.”

Honestly, I didn’t know much about shifters. I had been more interested in learning the basics of vampires and demons because those two affected me directly. I couldn’t believe he was sharing these things about himself and his people so freely with me right now.

“The Detective is mine, Rally,” I told him in a quiet, deadly serious voice. I didn’t owe this man anything but Detective Rowans had been there for me so Rally’s problems weren’t mine and I didn’t care what he suffered through so long as I got what I had come here for. “He only went to the mall because he was concerned for my safety and looking out for me. He knew it was incredibly dangerous for him and still came for me anyway. That type of bravery and loyalty is rare in my life and I will always give back as good as I get. Always. So, I'm not going anywhere and I’m not going to stop until he is safely returned to me.”

He studied me carefully as he pursed his lips. “You’re fucking him, aren’t you? And don’t lie to me because I’ll be able to smell it on you.”

Huh.

That was news to me and not the good kind either. I’d have to work my way around lying to him because I didn’t always like sharing the truth. I lived in a world full of secrets and bullshit and I wasn’t ready for any of it to come to light any time soon.

At least this was an easy one that required no bending of the truth on my part. It wasn’t like he’d asked me if I wanted to fuck the Detective, only if I had.

There was a small distinction there.

“No,” I told him honestly. “I have not had sex with him. Okay?”

Please don’t ask me who I have had sex with. I had a feeling he wouldn’t like the answer to that. And who knew shifters could be so possessive or jealous. Not me, but I was learning by the second.

He sighed, like I was trying his patience. “Fine. You can have him. But I want something in return.”

That didn’t bode well for me, I just knew it. Still, I would agree to whatever it was if it would free the Detective without violence or death, on either of our behalf.

“What do you want from me?”

He grinned and, dare I say, it looked positively wolfish.

“Don’t you want to know what I have in mind for you?” he asked as he reached out to cup my cheek.

It felt oddly sweet and his skin felt incredibly warm against mine. At that moment I enjoyed having him touch me. And that thought alone scared me more than anything else I had gone through recently had.

I knew I had just been thinking last night that I needed to get laid but if I was craving skin to skin contact this much then I couldn’t put it off much longer or I wouldn’t be able to hold myself responsible for just what or who I did.

And that shit could get downright embarrassing. Though, I highly doubted anyone would ever consider having sex with the Prince of wolf shifters to ever be embarrassing.

And now I was thinking about having sex with Rally.

This was really not good.

I shook my head, shaking off his touch as I took several steps back. My ass brushed up against the picnic table and I had nowhere else to escape to.

“I don’t care what it is, Rally,” I told him honestly. “If you keep your end of the bargain then I will hold up mine. My word means everything to me and if I say I’m going to do something then you best believe that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“Beautiful,” he murmured quietly. “And rare. Most people aren’t like that anymore these days. It makes me very happy to hear you say these things. That’s the kind of loyalty a man in my position craves. Seeing you so freely give it to your friend, to the point that you throw yourself head first into danger, is most impressive and I want that for myself.”

You know what they said. Wish in one hand and shit in the other. See which one filled up first.

Or something like that.

“Alright,” I said, giving in because I found his words to be a bit concerning. “So, what is it that you’re going to want from me in exchange for my Detective?”

He frowned deeply at me. “Why do you constantly call him yours?”

Like that was any of his business. And just thinking about the answer made me far too uncomfortable to even consider answering in the first place.

“I already explained that to you,” I snapped at him. “Can you just go get him for me or what?”

He smirked. “You don’t do well with emotions or sharing, do you?”

There was a good chance I was going to murder the Prince of wolf shifters before this was all said and done.