Page 7 of Cursed by Death (Ruby Jane #1)

T here was a food truck serving dishes full of some kind of cooked meat and the plates were being handed out by a person dressed as a clown straight out of a horror movie. He was the absolute, creepiest, clown I had ever seen in my whole entire life.

The gruesome smile painted on his face was black and his clown suit appeared to be splattered in large splotches of blood.

The people waiting in line for food all looked like blue-collar guys dressed in jeans, work boots, a hoodie or a t-shirt, and they were all sporting a beard.

I didn’t know what kind of meat that clown was serving. I wouldn’t even be tying it if I was starving.

No fucking thank you.

I had a feeling all of the guys in line were shifters of some kind.

Even if it wouldn’t be rude to ask I would never be brazen enough to actually ask. There were some things one might actually be better off not knowing and I thought this just might be one of them.

I was, however, very curious as to where all of their females were.

A man who’d just received a plate full of meat from the clown locked eyes with me and then immediately lit with interest. My heart rate sped up and I hurriedly walked away and past the food truck.

I didn’t know why I’d had that particular reaction to the man but I really needed to get a hold of my emotions for the remainder of my time spent down here. The last thing I needed was someone picking up on my emotional distress and using it against me.

It was bad enough that I was probably one of the only few humans down here. Probably one of the only ones who had willingly walked down here of my own violation and hadn’t been seduced or manipulated into it. There were trinkets and strange things hanging all around the tents. The tents themselves appeared to be made up of various pieces of clothing, sheets, and blankets that had been stitched together. The makeshift flaps were all pulled wide open and curiosity got the better of me. I couldn’t help but look inside as I walked passed.

They were filled with lit candles and various women. They all were dressed in dark clothing and were covered in tattoos, even so far as to having some on their faces.

If I had to guess, given by what their tattoos appeared to be, I’d say they were witches or something of the like. Definitely magical.

As I walked past their tents every single person inside turned to stare at me. Not with curiosity but with a deep knowledge that made me incredibly uncomfortable.

It gave me the fucking creeps and also almost made me turn around and run for the exit. I did no such thing because I was determined and I knew if I left now I would just come back at another time.

So far, I hadn’t passed any of the people I had been looking for.

I hadn’t really allowed myself to hope to get to see my boys. Hope could be a very ugly thing and it could easily crush your dreams and smash your heart into tiny jagged little pieces.

I hadn’t allowed anyone into my heart except for Thomas since my time in Harmond House, and even then, it had only been just the twins.

I could feel eyes on me to the point the fine hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention. I glanced over my shoulder to find the shifter I had accidentally made contact with standing directly behind me.

He must have sat his plate full of meat down somewhere because his hands were empty now. He held them up in front of himself in a show of surrender and likely also because he wanted me to see he was unarmed.

I almost laughed at him. I could just as easily hold up my hands to show him just how empty they were at the moment but I was the very opposite of being unarmed.

Empty hands did not mean an empty threat.

I turned around to face him head on and my hands ached to reach for my knives. I absolutely would not pull out a weapon here in the middle of these people unless my life was in mortal danger. I needed to stay off the radar for as long as possible.

Or, so I thought. Perhaps it would actually be way smarter to cause a scene and draw attention to myself.

Maybe Dear Old Daddy would take notice of me then.

Did I want that?

No, probably not the best idea and I needed to be smarter, act smarter, if I wanted to live.

He took two steps closer to me, putting him less than a foot away from me and far too close for my liking.

He had to be a few inches taller than six foot and his arms bulged with muscles, making his dark green t-shirt look like it had been painted onto his big, bulky body. He had short, russet brown hair and his beard wasn’t big and bushy but instead short and very neatly groomed. His eyes were a light brown with flecks of gold in them.

I felt oddly drawn to him and the urge to climb him like a tree was so strong it had me shifting on my feet and very subtly rubbing my thighs together.

He sniffed the air like the animal he could be and his lips curled up at the corners in the beginnings of a smug smile.

Fuck.

Fuck me.

And absolutely fuck him and his over sensitive senses.

The goddamn smug ass shifter knew just exactly what kind of affect he was having on my body and he clearly was enjoying it.

I ought to be embarrassed because he probably wasn’t the only one who could tell what was going on with my body but instead I found myself irrationally angry and wanting to pick a fight with the man.

He was responsible for this. Whatever magical juju he had going on was to blame for my body’s reaction to him.

“Mate,” he groaned before I could say anything.

My eyes widened in shock and I took a step back, away from him. I shook my head in denial at that one word out of his mouth.

“Impossible,” I whispered.

He took another step towards me, easily closing in the distance because his legs were far longer than mine and that one step almost put us chest to chest.

“I can smell it on you,” he continued to growl in his deep, highly attractive voice, making me shiver. “You’re my delicious little mate, even if you are human. Well, mostly. You’re destined to be mine and there’s no escaping either me or your fate.”

Yeah, that wasn’t going to work for me. Not right now, likely not ever.

I wasn’t the settling down and popping out fur babies’ type. I didn’t have that mom gene in me and I definitely wasn’t wifey material.

“Sorry,” I murmured. “But you must be mistaken. I’m not here for that kind of nonsense and I don’t really have the time for it. I’m looking for someone. Please excuse me so that I can go find them and then get back aboveground, where I belong.”

I went to side step him but the big man just stepped to the side with me, continuing to block my path.

Getting rid of him was going to be difficult, I could already tell.

“Tell me who you’re looking for, little devil, and I’ll help you find them because you’re right. You absolutely should not be down here.”

“Little devil?” I repeated cockily. “How do you know I’m not an angel instead of a devil?”

He smirked at me and I froze as his hand lifted towards my head. He pushed my hood back, exposing my vibrant red hair. “Yeah, you’re certainly no angel. What’s your name?”

He wanted a name? Fuck it, I’d give him my real name and we’d see what he did with it.

“Ruby Jane Maredo.”

His hand dropped away from my face and he immediately took a step back.

I sneered at him. If my mate was that big of a pussy then I absolutely did not want him, that’s for sure.