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Chapter 6
Ruby was not surprised to see the jade cat sitting on her bedside table when she crawled into bed. She hadn't slept well in two days, her head hurt, and Marielle had prepared a very nice chicken soup that had really hit the spot. Now Ruby could barely keep her eyes open, and for the first time all day she didn't feel as if she needed to run as if the devil were on her tail.
Marielle had been very attentive since arriving at the clinic, and Ruby was thankful to have such a good friend. When the younger woman had insisted on spending the night, Ruby hadn't protested. Maybe if someone else was here, the walls wouldn't purr.
With her blond ponytail dancing, Marielle walked into the dimly lit room to make sure her patient was settled for the night. She even straightened the covers. Ruby didn't mind.
"Take that damn cat out of here," Ruby said, her eyes barely opened as she pointed to the night table. "Throw it in the trash." It wouldn't stay, but there was something satisfying about plunking the thing into the garbage.
"This?" Marielle lifted the jade cat and studied it casually. "It's pretty, and it looks kinda old and expensive. Why would you want me to throw it away? Shoot, if you don't want it, sell it on eBay. Or I can just keep it."
"No!" Ruby tried to get up but couldn't. Her head was so heavy. "Stay away from that damn thing," she said, wanting to protect her friend from whatever had ruined her own life.
"Okay." Apparently forgetting the original request, Marielle placed the figurine on the bedside table.
Ruby thought about reissuing the order to take the thing away, but she didn't have the energy to speak, and besides, if the cat wanted to be there, watching her, it would find its way back. Her fear was no less sharp than it had been when she'd tried to flee, but somehow Ruby felt safer than she had earlier in the day. She was not alone; Marielle was here. There was no more mewing, and Zane Benedict wasn't going to get anywhere near her.
She heard the front doorbell ring, and thought nothing of it. Marielle went to answer and was back shortly, wearing a big grin on her pretty face. "Some guy in a tie-dyed T-shirt wants to take me to a concert on Thursday. I think he wanted to ask you, but I told him you were under the weather. He won the tickets and is desperate for a date."
"Todd wins everything," Ruby said, her tired voice slurred.
"He really wanted to come in and check on you, but I wouldn't let h
im." She shuddered. "What a loser."
"Yeah." Ruby closed her eyes, aware that Marielle remained by the bed, standing guard.
There was snow all around. Trey a felt cold, but that cold was the least of her worries. Her hands and wrists were tied, and she had been staked to the ground. A full moon made the night bright white, and the icy cold cut to the bone as surely as the fear that gripped her.
She did not want to give up her soul. All beings died, but the soul was eternal, and she feared for what would happen if hers was taken.
"Sister, no," Freya said softly.
Her own sister, older by two years and the beauty of the family, was the one who had drugged and bound Freya. It was Maeva who offered Freya's soul to the evil spirit. Since the rest of the family had died in the fire last winter, it had been just the two of them. They were close, especially so since the deaths of the others. It had been Maeva who'd saved Freya from the fire.
Freya had a horrible thought, one that rivaled her fear for her soul. "Did you kill them? Did you start the fire that killed our parents and our brothers?"
Maeva smiled, and her long blond hair whipped in the wind. She seemed not to feel the cold that tortured Freya. "All for a good cause."
Ruby stirred but did not entirely awaken. This was different from the other dreams. A sister? Such a betrayal seemed worse even than the betrayal of a lover or a friend. She was vaguely aware that her house was purring again, but she didn't care much. Why didn't she care?
Amalie watched from her new home inside the demon, as the monster panther took the heart of Henry, the man who had pretended to love her, the man who had trapped her soul in this dark place. She was not alone, she knew. There were others. Women, girls, souls trapped as hers was trapped. There were seven others, she sensed. Seven who had been betrayed by those they trusted most only to be trapped inside this blackness for a very long time.
Through the demon's eyes, Amalie saw the door to her bedroom burst open. Four men, all of them armed with swords and hatchets, tried to surround the big cat. The cat moved so fast. Two of the men fell almost instantly, their throats ripped apart by deadly and unnatural claws. The two others did not flee, as sane men would've, but continued to fight. One of them managed to thrust his sword through the panther's heart.
The demon slowed, wounded but not yet ready to forfeit what little time it had to live. One of the men shouted, Benedict, look out! just as the demon swung again. Benedict, a black haired young man with intense brown eyes, moved lithely to the side and avoided the attack. He used his sword again, and this time he moved close and swung mightily, taking the panther's head.
And still, Amalie watched. The two men who had survived searched the room for the piece of jade where the demon once again hid, but they could not see it. Amalie tried to shout here but she could not make a sound. The jade cat that housed the demon and eight betrayed souls hid. The cursed stone was invisible to the men who had come here to stop the demon. They had taken the head of a living being, but the demon still survived.
Too late. They had arrived too late.
Amalie's eyes met Ruby's. "You are the ninth and last. Do not let him take you. Remember, he is vulnerable for seconds before he sucks your soul from your body, when he is solid and yet still hungry. Take him then, if you can. If not we are all doomed.
"You cannot escape this," Amalie whispered. "Fight, fight with all you have. You cannot avoid what is coming. You cannot trust her." In the way of dreams, there was no face, but there were large blue eyes and large warm tears. "Save us, Ruby. Save us all."
Ruby came awake slowly, not with a start as she usually did after one of the horrible dreams. It was morning, she could tell by the way the light was coming through her window. The pieces of the dream fell together as she woke, claiming consciousness slowly.
Watch out, Benedict!
