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e. "I know."
"Sorry."
"We still have to eat, and I won't stay late," he said. "Promise."
Stay? His invitation to eat was supposed to mean dinner at her house? Boy, did he have a lot to learn about wooing women. That was what he was attempting to do, right? She hadn't been wooed in a long time. She'd gotten really good at shutting down even the simplest advance long before it got to the wooing stage.
"I'm a lousy cook," she said. "I can bake sinfully sweet and decadent treats you'll never eat, but I can't cook a meal to save my life."
"I'm a good cook, but my stove's on the fritz. I'll bring the food if you'll provide the stove, pots, plates, and silverware."
"And dessert," she said, not sure she wanted to agree to his invitation until the words were out of her mouth. She still wasn't looking for a relationship, but she realized as she looked ahead that she didn't want to be alone. Not tonight.
This was a very bad idea. He wasn't supposed to get involved with the woman, he was simply to watch and wait. But he wanted to get a look at the layout of her house, and he really wanted another look at 77 Colletore Di Anima. The Soul Collector.
There were those who called the dark spirit that lived within the innocuous-looking statuette II Gatto Nero, the Black Cat, but the Brotherhood of Madani preferred a more fitting name. Soul Collector was definitely fitting.
Once upon a time the thing had had a name, he supposed, but as far as Zane or any of the Brotherhood knew, that name had been lost sometime in the past three thousand years or so—give or take a century. If the information that had been gathered by the Brotherhood during those centuries was correct, Ruby's would be the last soul II Colletore claimed. She would be the ninth, and once her soul had been taken the demon would live again. It would live for more than the few hours it normally enjoyed after taking a soul. The dark thing would walk the earth, immortal and indestructible and bringing an unimaginable darkness to an unprepared world. He couldn't allow that to happen.
Zane wished he could convince himself that he was wrong and it was coincidence that someone had given Ruby a cat knickknack, but the fact that the jade statue had made its way from his house to hers on its own made that theory impossible to swallow. Someone in this neighborhood—someone who was aligned with The Order of Runhura, no doubt—had left the cat under the tree for Ruby, specifically. The jade piece had transported itself to Ruby's bedside table. No, he could not even wish to be wrong.
The Brotherhood that was dedicated to stopping the darkness and the Order that worshipped the demon had both existed since sometime long before a Brotherhood wizard had cursed II Colletore to be captured in stone. Three thousand years of sacrifice, of training, of secret warfare, and it all came down to this place, this time, and this woman.
Zane watched as Ruby set the places at the small, round kitchen table. She had a formal dining room, but had chosen to set out their plates here, in the warm, yellow kitchen. Maybe she was afraid eating in the dining room would make this feel like a date, and dating was definitely not on her list of things to do. The kitchen was for neighbors and friends, and he could fit comfortably into that category.
This would be so much easier if he didn't like her. Emotions were only going to get in the way, before all was said and done. Still, while II Colletore wasn't human, Zane most definitely was. He felt that humanity now more than ever. Ruby tried to be tough, but she radiated a very feminine vulnerability that had crept beneath his skin and aroused his most primitive protective instincts. He was also attracted to her sexually, which was ludicrous given the circumstances but undeniable and growing stronger with every passing moment. It wasn't as though his attraction was new. In months past he had thought about how he might live his life after this final crisis had passed. If the demon they fought rose elsewhere in the world and was stopped, then Zane would be free to ask his neighbor on a date. His life was so centered on the Brotherhood, he could not even remember the last time he'd had a real date, a real relationship. There had never been time for such indulgences.
He should've already called in the Brotherhood. There were agents posted in at least twenty sites around the world; there were men like him watching over vortexes where II Colletore Di Anima might rise, one last time. As soon as they knew where the event was to take place, they could converge and see that the final collection did not happen, not here and now. Defeated, II Gatto Nero would be forced to return to the jade and wait another two hundred and eighty-seven years before trying again to rise, and at that time the demon would be someone else's problem.
If the Brotherhood could keep the statue in their possession, perhaps they could find a way to destroy the demon before that time passed.
All possible scenarios had been studied and discussed, and Zane was well aware of the most favored scenario. The Brotherhood would find the next victim. Ruby. They would watch over her closely, just as he was doing now. A group of well-trained warriors would wait for the demon to rise, and they would kill the intended victim, robbing her of her life and robbing the collector of the soul he required to take form. By that time it would be too late for the collector and those who served it to choose another victim, to appear in the heart of another vortex in another town or another country. The time for the taking of a soul was very precise and inflexible. There would be no second chances for the demon, not if the timing was right.
It was a coldhearted but workable plan. Unfortunately, Zane liked Ruby. He liked her a lot. For the first time since joining the Brotherhood and dedicating himself to the destruction of II Colletore, he was having serious second thoughts. There had to be another way.
The demon would rise on one of the three nights when the moon was at its fullest. It was impossible to know which one. In any case, Zane had a matter of days to find an alternative.
Dinner was simple. He didn't want to scare her off with anything too unfamiliar, so he made chicken teriyaki with pineapple salsa and brown rice. Zane actually enjoyed cooking. The simplicity of the task took his mind to a quieter place. Usually. Tonight his mind would not rest. There was no quiet place within him.
He filled their plates at the stove, then carried them to the table where two tall glasses of ice water sat on cheerful Christmas place mats, along with matching cloth napkins and good silverware.
"Looks good," Ruby said as she took her seat. "And healthy."
"It is." Zane sat, after she was settled. Since the table had been pushed into one corner, there were only two spaces available, and they were side by side. "Do you have something against eating healthy food?" He forced his voice to be light, almost teasing. He even managed a smile.
"As long as it's in moderation," she responded. And then she took her first bite. The look on her face was one of surprise. "Oh, this is good," she said after she'd swallowed.
"You sound so surprised."
"Don't get me wrong, it's not exactly an English toffee cheesecake, but it's very tasty."
They managed to eat and talk, and the conversation was very nice. Even though he could and did on occasion cook, Zane was accustomed to eating alone, whether he grabbed something quick or made a full meal. He couldn't even count the number of meals he'd eaten mindlessly while reading a book or working on charts or doing research on the Internet. This was nice, and made him wish the circumstances were different.
They were almost finished with the meal when the doorbell rang. He couldn't help but note how the sound of the bell made Ruby jump out of her skin. She was skittish, as if she instinctively realized something was wrong.
She stood and headed for the front door, and Zane followed. Someone in this neighborhood had given Ruby the jade cat. Someone in this neighborhood was aligned with the Order of Runhura and offering her up to II Colletore Di Anima. That someone would not take kindly to a disruption in her routine, and Zane intended to be a disruption.
Todd stood on Ruby's porch, his tie-dyed T-shirt not quite enough to keep out the December chill, not even here in Alabama, where the winters
