Page 27
Story: Pyre
WHEN THEY RETURNED to Denver, Ruby made a stop at the TCA office to catch up with Lucas.
She tossed him a new set of dice she’d picked up back in Texas, a habit she'd developed as a kind of reparation for teasing him about his DND hobby.
The dice clattered on his desk, and he added them to his growing collection.
He offered her a brief smile and a quiet "Thanks. "
Lucas hadn’t said much beyond that, but he mentioned their next hunt would involve a potential thermophile in Wyoming. “Take tomorrow off,” he advised, his tone leaving no room for argument. “You’ll leave the morning after.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but he held up a hand. “No buts. If you even try to complain, I’ll forward the karaoke video to the entire department.”
She slunk out of his office without another word.
Back when the TCA was still experimenting with her herbal cigarettes, Lucas had slipped her a blunt (with her knowledge, of course.).
They thought maybe it would help take the edge off of her anxiety and the overwhelming dread she faced every day.
Instead, it had given her a manic energy that ended with her screaming Sweet Caroline alongside a bachelorette party, a professional golfer, and three scuba diving instructors.
Ruby met Jonah the next morning in her hotel lobby.
He juggled a muffin and a coffee, his jaw freshly shaved and dark blonde hair pulled back neatly, catching the early sunlight as it filtered through the large windows.
He was dressed more casually than usual, though it suited him— dark jeans, a fitted gray jacket over a soft black t-shirt, the kind that looked simple but expensive.
The scent of roasted coffee beans mingled with the faint lemon polish the hotel staff had used on the marble floors, and for a moment, she hesitated by the front desk, trying to get a grip on the knot of nerves tightening in her stomach.
She had spent an embarrassing amount of time deciding what to wear, tearing through the small closet in her hotel room before settling on a light sweater, denim skirt, and boots.
“How were your flowers?” she asked.
“Overwatered,” he grumbled. As she drew closer, his eyes flicked up and down, taking her in. “You look perfect.”
Her heart stumbled in her chest, an unexpected hitch, but she pushed it down. She could count the number of people who had genuinely complimented her on one hand. “Oh yeah?” she challenged, arching an eyebrow.
“Yes.” His grin broadened, a playful gleam in his eyes. “You’ll fit right in.”
She rolled onto the balls of her feet “To where?”
He shook his head. “Still a surprise.”
“So we’re really doing this, huh?” She cleared her throat.
He smiled, his eyes lighting up in that way that made her pulse flutter. “Oh yeah, we’re doing this.”
Jonah’s hand rested gently on the small of her back, guiding her toward the hotel’s parking garage. His truck sat waiting, and as they approached, the familiar creak of the door echoed as he pulled it open for her.
She climbed in, feeling her uneasiness settle as Jonah shut the door behind her.
There was something about this morning, about the soft hum of anticipation that crackled in the air between them, that made her feel more self-conscious than she’d been in years.
It was ridiculous—she was a grown woman who’d faced down far worse than a date, or whatever this was, but here she was, stomach in knots, palms slightly damp.
Butterflies didn’t seem like the right term for it. Butterflies were sweet, fluttery things. What she felt were more like big-ass moths banging around inside her ribcage, heavy and clumsy and impossible to ignore.
When she was younger, she’d barely had the chance to date.
By twenty, her father was threatening a shotgun if her boyfriend didn’t propose.
After that, dates had become a relic of the past. Her husband hadn’t believed in them, calling them a waste of time and money.
His idea of a romantic evening involved a meal she cooked, followed by mediocre sex and him falling asleep on the couch watching a game.
“All juiced up?” Jonah slid into the driver’s seat, his movements smooth as he tossed his coffee cup into the holder. “I’d hate for you to miss the riveting action I have planned.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Am I a battery?”
The corner of his mouth twitched in amusement. “You know what I mean.” He mimicked the action of pinching a joint between his fingers, bringing it to his lips in a mock drag.
Ruby buckled her seatbelt. “I did not smoke weed this morning, no.”
The wooden box was hidden away in the bottom of her suitcase, locked away for today and hopefully for good. Her mind was clear, and for the first time in a long while, she wanted it to stay that way.
Jonah blinked. “I meant your, uh, little cigarette things.”
She shook her head with a snort. “Yes, Jonah. I’m good to go.”
As they merged onto the road, she relaxed into her seat.
They chatted about a new book release from an author Ruby liked, then veered into Jonah’s latest addition to his flower garden, laughing about how much time he spent getting the soil right.
Ruby found herself sinking deeper into the comfortable rhythm of their exchange, the truck cruising down the streets while they pointed out quirky things they saw along the way.
For a moment, it was just them—no TCA, no missions, no heavy pasts. Just them.
Ruby glanced out the window as they pulled into a small lot. “We’re actually at a car wash?”
“We are,” he confirmed, pulling up to a silver box and rolling his window down. The machine beeped as he selected an option, sliding his credit card through the reader.
Ruby tilted her head, squinting. “Because your truck is dirty?”
“Nope.”
Her eyes narrowed as she watched him, trying to figure out his angle. “Then why—”
“Ever been in a car wash?” he interrupted.
She thought for a second, then shook her head. “No, actually. My husband did most of the driving, and they weren’t as big back then.”
Jonah smiled softly, then leaned over to pull her seat lever, lowering her seat until she was reclined.
“Pardon my reach,” he murmured, adjusting his own seat to match.
He hit play on the radio, and "You Can’t Hurry Love" by Diana Ross filled the cab, the warm beat of the sixties spilling through the speakers.
Ruby blinked, a bit caught off guard. “The most satisfying five minutes of a person’s life,” Jonah said with a grin.
“Five minutes is all you got, huh?”
Jonah’s mouth dropped open in playful shock, the sound of the water starting to fall over the windshield filling the cab as he blinked at her.
He recovered quickly, shaking his head with a laugh, and together, they watched as the brushes danced, the soap swirling in colors of pink and green across the glass.
The nozzles clicked into place, releasing a wave of water over the windshield, distorting the view in front of them.
Ruby shifted in her seat, her body sinking lower from where Jonah had adjusted her.
The world outside turned into a cascade of swirling suds, soap sliding down the windows like streaks of milky clouds.
“You weren’t kidding, this is kind of satisfying,” Ruby admitted, fixated on the hypnotic rhythm of the brushes swiping against the glass.
Jonah hummed in agreement. The beat of the sixties music thrummed in time with the gentle rocking of the car.
“So this is your idea of a fun time, huh?” Ruby teased, glancing sideways at him.
He leaned back in his seat, arms crossed behind his head. “Life’s in the little moments, Ruby. I figured we could use a bit of simple joy.”
Simple joy . How long had it been since she'd allowed herself to indulge in something so.
.. normal? Watching the car get cleaned, talking about music, laughing at stupid jokes—it was so far from the chaos of her usual existence.
Jonah seemed to be aware of that, too, his eyes occasionally flicking over to her like he was gauging her reactions.
A question had been gnawing at her ever since she’d watched a short video on red flags in modern dating. "Do you have friends?"
Jonah turned to her, lips quirking. “What?”
She cocked her head to the side. “Do you have friends?”
“Yeah, I have friends,” he said with an amused grin. “A whole friend group, actually.”
“But do you spend time with them?”
“Uh, yes?” He chuckled.
She frowned. “But you’re always messaging me or with me.”
“I can message you while I’m with them, you know. It takes like two seconds to send a text.”
She scoffed. Two seconds? It took her far longer to text, poking out each letter with one finger like a grandma. The truth was, she despised technology, and juggling relationships—romantic or platonic—through a screen made her feel disconnected.
The colorful foam slid over the windows in vibrant pinks, blues, and greens, like some kind of strange, psychedelic art. The brushes spun and slapped against the side of the truck, making a soft thudding noise that matched the beat of the song. It was all oddly soothing.
As the dryer blasted the truck with hot air, blowing away the last of the water droplets, Ruby found herself smiling. Not the small, forced smiles she had mastered over the years, but a genuine, light one that came without thinking.
In moments like these, she realized how much she craved normalcy—an escape from the weight of her past and the chaos of her responsibilities.
The car rolled out of the wash, and Jonah shifted his seat back up, motioning for her to do the same.
They were bathed in sunlight again, the fresh smell of soap lingering in the air.
Ruby hadn’t realized how much tension had melted away during those five minutes.
She had let her guard down, even if just for a little while, and it felt good.
DENVER’S MUSEUM OF Nature & Science loomed ahead, a familiar beacon in the city, its stone steps leading them into a space where curiosity and discovery thrived.
The cool October air brushed against Ruby’s skin as they entered the bustling museum, families and couples milling about with bright-eyed enthusiasm.
“If you make a single old joke, I’m going to impale you with a dinosaur bone,” Ruby warned as they stepped inside, her tone dry.
Jonah grinned. “Noted.”
They bought tickets to the planetarium's astronomy show and soon found themselves in the darkened theater.
The curved ceiling stretched above them, vast like the night sky itself.
Ruby leaned back in her chair, grounding herself with the cool leather on her neck.
As the lights dimmed and the screen came to life, breathtaking images of stars, nebulae, and distant galaxies filled the room.
The low hum of celestial music vibrated through the theater, adding to the immensity of the experience.
Ruby couldn’t tear her eyes away. The sheer vastness of the universe pressed down on her chest. Here, under the expanse of stars, she was reminded of how small she was—how insignificant all her struggles seemed against the backdrop of something so much larger. It was beautiful. It was terrifying.
For a moment, she let herself feel that smallness, that insignificance.
But then her mind circled back, unbidden, to Edward.
To Jonah. Would her worries about him ever feel as trivial as a speck of stardust?
Or was she destined to carry the weight of Edward’s threat forever, even when the universe told her it didn’t matter?
When the show ended, they stepped back into the museum’s brightly lit halls, the magic of the planetarium still clinging to the edges of Ruby’s thoughts.
They found a bench in the middle of the museum, away from the crowds.
Around them, exhibits buzzed with life—dinosaurs towering above, children pressing their noses against glass to peer at ancient fossils.
A giant replica of a T-rex skeleton caught her eye, but her mind was still on the stars. “Does it not make you feel small? Insignificant?” she tilted her head toward the ceiling. “Knowing you’re a speck in the entirety of the universe.”
Jonah shook his head, his expression thoughtful. “Nah. It makes my problems feel small, maybe. But not me.”
She frowned, glancing at him. “What do you mean?”
He looked around at the museum’s echoing halls before turning back to her.
“I could’ve been born a snail. Or fifty years ago.
Or fifty years in the future. Or an alien on some distant planet, millions of miles away.
But I wasn’t. I was born here, as me. In a time where I get to be sitting right here, with you. ”
Ruby snorted, trying to shake the unease his words stirred. “You’re getting good at that philosophy stuff.”
“I have my moments,” he said, flashing her a quick grin.
“But seriously, as huge as the universe is, I think moments like this still matter. We still matter. Most of the time, we can’t decide how we impact the world.
But we do. Every interaction we have. Everything we touch.
Makes a difference, somewhere, to someone.
And maybe that’s cheesy, but it helps me to keep the important things in focus. ”
For a moment, she couldn’t respond. Could she really believe that?
Could she believe that this—whatever this was between them—mattered in the grand scheme of things?
Or was it all destined to be swallowed up by Edward’s inevitable return?
By the TCA? By the next “big evil” the world would face.
She had spent the last few years chasing monsters, fighting ghosts that refused to die, so the idea of something simple and meaningful was a fragile dream.
Jonah bumped his shoulder gently against hers, pulling her from her spiraling thoughts. “Besides, it’s not all about aliens and space dust. It’s about the moments you choose to live in. And right now, I’m choosing this one.”
Ruby swallowed hard, the weight of the universe still pressing down on her chest, but now... there was something else there too. Something comforting in the way Jonah saw the world —saw her. Maybe he was right. Maybe, despite everything, they could still choose their moments.
Table of Contents
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- Page 27 (Reading here)
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