Page 6 of Scales and Seduction (Monster Match #1)

“ W hat app? Not Fangr, right?” Silas’s eyes narrow, and I feel the weight of his accusation, though it’s unspoken. He knows I’m engaged to be married within the next fortnight, but he also knows neither of us wants the marriage. Avalon and I both have an open arrangement and always have. “Does Ava know?”

“Does the name of the app matter?” I feel my patience growing thin, especially when my mate is here. She’s anxious, in a new place, and now she knows I’m engaged. Great.

I glance over at Ruby as I pass my phone over to him. “She’s the one who told me about the app in the first place.”

Silas crosses over to his kitchen, pulling down several rocks glasses from the cabinet. “With that, I think we need a drink.”

“Stop judging, Silas,” I grumble, watching as he takes his time pouring himself a dram of homemade whiskey.

“Right, because judging the insanity that is your life would be so wrong.” Silas rolls his eyes before bringing the glass to his lips.

I nearly hiss at him but decide it’s best to control my temper. Right now, Ruby’s safety is most important.

“Little lady, you want something to drink?”

Ruby shakes her head. “No thank you, I think I’ll pass.” Her arms wrap around her chest, pushing her breasts upward to allow a more direct view of her cleavage in the sexy sundress she has on.

My brain short-circuits. Since the moment I knew she was here, my mind has been on her alone. I can’t seem to get it out of my mind that she is meant to be my mate. She is impossibly small standing next to us, and fragile. My only thought is how will I keep her safe when everyone here will salivate at seeing such a little tasty thing here in the Vale?

While we may have moved past using humans as food sources, entertainment or being their objects of worship, I can’t be certain what others might choose to do with her. That alone frightens me beyond belief. Most of our population probably doesn’t even know what a human looks like, much less believe one would be here. Still, our history books tell us humans were ruthless, vile creatures who turned on us the moment they realized we weren’t gods. It’s why the barrier was created for our protection. If someone saw Ruby and knew what she was, I’m not sure how she would be perceived.

Regardless of how I crave her, I must be careful how I approach things with her. I am unsure she can handle the concept of mates just yet, but I feel there’s no way through this without explaining it to them both.

Once my drink is in hand and we’re all sitting in the living room, Silas finally asks, “What about you, sugar, how did you get the app?”

A snarl rises in the back of my throat at the endearment, though I swallow it down, knowing it is unbecoming of me. I taste the bitter flavor of venom coat my tongue; my inner beast is out for blood, it seems. It’s a meaningless thing for Silas to say and yet—using a pet name for my mate, my Ruby pisses me off.

Silas pins me with a questioning look, and it’s then I realize the snarl was more audible than I intended. I clear my throat as if it was only a slight tickle before pressing my whiskey glass to my lips to swallow something other than my pride.

“I got it from this creepy phone repair shop guy named Burney. He told me if I downloaded it and used it, then I would get my repair cheaper,” she says slowly. “It was a really great deal. He took three hundred and fifty dollars off the price.”

Silas gives an amused huff, shaking his head with disbelief. “So, you didn’t find it odd that he wanted you to install a dating app?”

Ruby narrows her eyes, clearly annoyed. She plants a hand on her hip, cocking her head to the side. “Obviously it was weird, but if you were as broke as I am, you’d care more about the discount he offered than whatever random app he told me to download,” she shoots back. “And anyway, I thought it was a dating simulator until the part where I blacked out and woke up here.”

Silas raises an eyebrow, giving us both a half smirk that’s caught between amusement and disbelief. “So, let me get this straight. You thought this Burney guy was giving you a roleplaying game...in exchange for a discount on a broken phone.” He then looks at me, continuing, “And you let your fiancée talk you into a dating app.”

Ruby shoots a look at me that makes my stomach plummet. Her nose crinkles upward, and her eyebrows knit together as if she can’t decide if she’s disgusted with me or not. It’s unusual, I will give her that, but she doesn’t understand. Neither of us wants to get married, not really, but it’s our duty. It had to be a match worth making, and Avalon’s family is the best suited for the job.

Ruby crosses her arms to match, fixing him with a sharp glare. “Judgmental much?” she snaps. “Not all of us have the luxury of being skeptical about every single weird thing that happens to us. I needed my phone fixed, and I got a good deal. It’s not like I knew I’d be signing up for a crash course in... monster dating etiquette. Or, I don’t know, losing my entire life to get dumped into a magical town with monsters.”

“We’re not monsters,” Silas says sharply. “Don’t call us that.”

I shoot him a warning glare. “Ease up, Silas. She doesn’t know.” I can certainly agree that it was risky for Ruby to trust a stranger so easily, especially letting him install something on her phone. That kind of thing opens you up to all sorts of cyberattacks. But, given Avalon’s nudge about this new app, I can’t exactly criticize her... since I downloaded it too.

Silas shrugs, his eyes settling on us both with mild curiosity. “Alright, alright, don’t get your tail in a knot.” He holds his hands up in mock surrender. “It’s just entertaining, that’s all. You both downloaded this app, and now, here you are, acting like a coiled-up viper guarding its treasure.”

I narrow my eyes at him, but the remark hits closer to the truth than I want to admit aloud. Glancing at Ruby, I notice she still has her arms crossed over her body, closed in on herself, likely anxious about what’s happening to her. I draw in a breath as I realize the sight of her calms down my own hesitation. I know what I’m about to say will shift the dynamic between us.

“There’s more,” I hesitate to say. I give Ruby a soft smile before gazing at Silas, knowing what I say might change things for us both. “The app isn’t just for hookups or casual dating. It’s for finding your true mate.”

Silas freezes mid-smirk. For a moment, he stares at me as if I’ve just told him the funniest joke before he barks out a laugh. “It can’t do that—that shit is made up for children. It’s a bedtime story.” He stares incredulously at the phone in his hand. “So, this app promises to deliver you a fantasy. What else?”

“I barely remember what the terms mentioned when I opened it. It promised a perfect match in every way. I didn’t think much of it at the time. It was a gimmick at best.” My voice dips a moment before I add, “Avalon mentioned it in passing. She made it out to be like any other app, maybe a bit more tailored.”

Silas raises an eyebrow, and his eyes drift to Ruby, who’s bent forward looking at my phone screen as if there’re answers there. She rubs the edges of her fingers over and over in what I would guess is an anxious tic.

“When I opened the app, it mentioned that too, but I ignored it. What is a fated mate; is that like soulmates?” Ruby asks, her eyes bubbling with curiosity as she chews on her bottom lip again.

I nod, feeling emotions well in my stomach as I think about all I know of mates and what it might mean for her. “Yes, it’s similar to soulmates, but the bond is unbreakable. Books often explain it as if there’s a deep magic that forms between the two who are mated together.”

“You downloaded a magical soulmate app, and it dragged a human here...” Silas says with faint amusement as he points toward Ruby. “I can’t tell if this is the stupidest thing that’s ever happened to you or the best.”

Ruby looks up then, her voice steady as she asks, “But does it really work? Like—really?” Her eyes flick to mine for a heartbeat, wide and questioning.

I want to tell her no, this is a misunderstanding, and she’ll be home tomorrow before dinner, but I doubt that is the case. When I meet her gaze, when I feel the pull that tugs at the very center of my soul, I know I can’t lie.

“I think this might be real,” I breathe, the words more for her than anything.

Silas’s demeanor shifts, and his eyes soften slightly. His smile fades as he explains, “Unicorn magic might be stronger than most, but you know I can’t send her home. You’d need more than just me to manage that kind of power.”

“Maybe just a glamor, something to make her blend in with the locals.” I wish I could touch Ruby, but she’s in the opposite chair. I want to communicate to her that things will be alright. “She can’t exactly walk around like this.”

“Last I checked, I didn’t do freebies, Prince,” he says, trying to lighten the mood, though his eyes convey something much kinder. “It’s illegal to have her here. Even if we use magic to hide her true nature, Gid, eventually it’ll wear off.”

Ruby’s eyebrows shoot upward into her hairline as panic radiates off her in waves, suffocating me. “Excuse me, illegal? What happens if someone finds out I’m here?”

“It’s alright; it’s just a precaution. Most people haven’t seen a human before, but they would sense something’s amiss with you. You lack a magical signature, and unfortunately that makes things unsafe for you,” I say gently, urging my voice to remain calm for her sake.

“The laws can be changed, and it was an accident, so no law was broken.” I clear my throat, forcing my shoulders back and tilting my chin upward with conviction. “Now, the glamor.”

Silas murmurs something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like a “fuck you,” but he stands, taking up the center of the room. “Fine,” he says in a clipped tone. “I’m not wasting energy doing a full-on glamor. We can get by with altering her essence instead.” His eyes cut to me sharply. “Nobody will know she’s human. Her scent, her look, all of it. It’ll last a bit longer than full glamor but still maybe three days max.”

My thoughts drift to my stepbrother Atticus, wondering what he would do in my place. He always had the council’s ear, always knew the right thing. Even in the year he’s been gone, I’m still learning how to navigate it all. “Will anyone sense the magic?”

Silas snorts, his face filled with smugness. “Only if they’re sniffing around for it. I’m subtle, you know?” He steps toward Ruby with a measured stride.

She glances at me, shifting in her chair uneasily as his massive frame towers over her. “If they know I’m human, what will happen?” Ruby’s eyes dart between Silas and me.

“I’m not sure what will happen. It’s been centuries, but unfortunately humans are a divisive topic. There may be some people who intend to hurt you, and there may be some who find you intriguing and will want to know more,” I explain, doing my best to calm her fears.

Ruby twists her hands in front of her, biting at her lip anxiously as she continues her barrage of questions. “And how am I getting back home? What happens if I leave, and we’re these fated mates?”

Silas crosses his broad arms over his chest, shrugging. “Look, we don’t know what happens if you leave, or even if you stay. Hell, we don’t even know how to get you home yet. For now, your best bet is to blend in and hope to your gods that we figure it out.”

Ruby squeezes her eyes tightly closed with a loud, exasperated sigh. “I’m stuck here?”

“For now, yeah, so what do you want to do?” Silas walks closer to Ruby’s chair until he’s right in front of her.

“Will it hurt?”

“He won’t hurt you,” I reassure her. “Silas’s magic is very gentle.”

The moment I step behind her chair, her posture shifts. The tension in her shoulders that had them up around her ears eases as if my presence calms her nerves. Her breathing slows as her hands stop clenching. A protective urge stirs in my stomach as my hand lightly touches her left shoulder as if to ground her, but the touch is more for my benefit.

Ruby nods, and once she has given her consent, Silas nods back. “Alright, darlin’, you might feel a slight pinch.” He wastes no time, his eyes narrowing as he focuses on her, and a faint glow sparkles at the tip of his horn. It glows brighter with each passing second until it envelops Ruby in a soft, radiant purple light. A shimmering mist slowly fills the air between them, swirling over Ruby like a veil.

The magic settles over her skin, and to the untrained eye, nothing has changed. Her human features now carry a subtle ambiguity that feels baffling.

Her skin appears smoother, her eyes, once warm and brown, now hold a subtle fleck of light gold. Her scent is modified as well, no longer purely human, but something hidden there is tinged with a wildness that stirs something primal within me.

To everyone else in this world, Ruby would seem like any other resident of the Vale. But to me, she remains undeniably her. The little quirks of her lip, her slightly crooked nose, and the way she continues to fidget with the hem of her dress are unchanged.

Ruby cocks her head to the side. “Am I still me?”

“You’re still you, sugar,” Silas says reassuringly. “Remember, this is temporary, and I won’t be doing it for free next time.”

I bristle at his reminder of payment, knowing that, while he is my friend, the magic he possesses does take a lot out of him when used. Nothing magic should come without an exchange equal to the power used. “I’ll remember,” I mumble. I’m grateful despite his gruffness. “Thank you, Silas, for your help.”

“You’re welcome.” He pauses, giving me a worried glance before smirking playfully. “Now be safe and get the fuck out. I want to get ready for work.”