AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Even when dawn came, Ruby refused to tell him about the latest dream. She said she'd forgotten the details, but Zane didn't believe her.
She was white as a sheet and refused to try to get more sleep. She was exhausted but afraid of another nightmare. The nightmare had just begun, he knew that, but he couldn't tell her, not until he knew what could be done to stop II Colletore.
By now the others would be frantic, wondering at which location the collection would occur. He should've reported his findings yesterday, but he had not. It was unfortunate that he liked Ruby so well. What if it wasn't possible to save her? What if only her death saved the world from destruction at the hands of a demon that had been locked away for nearly three thousand years?
He watched Ruby make coffee and shuffle to the refrigerator for eggs and bacon. She moved like a zombie, slow and heavy and without emotion. Only her eyes hinted at life, and they revealed her terror. Last night, he had seen more than terror in those lovely green eyes, and he had liked it. They were at a critical juncture. Her life was literally at stake, and if she had not called a halt to their explorations last night, they would've ended up having sex on her couch. He needed to protect her, and he could not even protect her from himself.
"Don't go to work today," he said.
"I have a business to run."
"You also have employees. Call one of them and let someone else run the bakery for one day."
"Most of my people are out of town." Ruby wrinkled her nose. "But i really don't feel like going to work today. I haven't missed a day since I opened the place four years ago, but . . ."
"You can't work like this," Zane said.
"I know." Ruby made her way to the kitchen phone and dialed a number from memory. "Marielle?" She paused, while the girl on the other end of the line spoke. "I know it's early, but I can't make it in today. I'm sick." She looked pointedly at Zane. "Can you run the store today?"
Apparently Marielle agreed, because Ruby told her employee where the special orders were stored, and that with the students out of town business would be slow, so they could get by with the inventory on hand. If they ran out of anything . . . well, there was nothing to be done.
Zane knew that Ruby needed sleep, but it was likely any sleep she got would be filled with terrifying dreams. How many days did they have left before II Colletore rose? Two? Three? Four?
"Let me make you breakfast," Zane said, walking into the kitchen intent on taking the eggs and bacon from her. In her current state, she was likely to burn herself. He hadn't gotten any more sleep than she had, but he was used to-getting by with little sleep. She was not, obviously.
"No," Ruby said sharply. She looked at him with suspicious eyes. "I really appreciate your coming over, but I'm all right, now. You can go home."
Zane's jaw tightened. "You are not all right, I assure you."
"I don't need anyone to take care of me."
"I beg to differ."
Her face hardened. "Go home, Professor."
Professor? She hadn't called him that in days. "I'd rather . . ."
"This is my house, and I'm asking you to leave." She looked him up and down. "As it is, you're going to raise a few eyebrows crossing the street half-dressed at dawn. Wait an hour, and everyone in the neighbor-hood is likely to see."
"You care what the neighbors think?"
She hesitated, then said, "No, but you need to leave anyway."
This was her house, and he could not insist on staying. "i thought we were . . ."
"You thought wrong," she said, long before he was finished.
As he walked through the living room toward the front door, Zane looked at the jade cat, which remained on the coffee table. Ruby hadn't wanted to touch it after it had made its unexplained trip from the garbage can to the living room, so there it had remained all night. He could offer to take it with him, but when it reappeared close to Ruby, where it should not be, she would only be freaked out all over again.
"I'll check on you later," he said as he opened the front door on a cool morning.
"Don't!" she called, and Zane wondered what had happened in her most recent dream to make her afraid of him.
Chapter 5
After a breakfast of bacon and eggs, Ruby showered, hoping the spray of water and the familiar routine would wake her up and chase away the lingering dreams. It didn't work. She dressed in a faded pair of jeans and a lightweight blue sweater, trying for normalcy even though at the moment her life felt anything but normal.
In all three of the dreams, it had been a friend or lover who offered a woman's soul to the demon. They had all been betrayed by men they loved or cared for. A husband, a lover, an old family friend.
