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Hope awakened in her soul as she put the remaining glass balls in place and filled her pockets with other items: stones, liquid vials, and enough ammunition to assist her but not raise James’s attention. When she was done, she took the time to rescan the room and make sure everything was in place before she left through the back and reentered the forest. Before anything, there was one thing she needed to do: deal with Moon and assure him that she would be gone but wouldn’t be gone for long.
“Ruby.”
The voice had her gasping and punching out in defense, but his hand was faster as he took her fist and twisted her. She made a sound as she was pushed against the tree bark, defenseless in the display of strength. Within those seconds, Maddox had locked her in place, unable to get away as he looked at her in a way that had her wincing.
“You lied to me.”
The word was simple yet effective. Her stomach sank, and her shoulders straightened at the same time, contrasting actions that mirrored the emotions inside her. She lifted her chin.
“I didn’t lie to you. I just didn’t tell you.”
“That’s the same to me.”
It sounded as bad as it did in her head, and his frown cemented that. But being so close to her goal had frustration rising instead of vulnerability, and she used it to fuel the bite in her tone.
“I can handle myself.”
“You always say that.”
“That's because I can. You don't always need to save me.”
“When did I save you?”
“When we first met. You rescued me from those pirates. When we stayed in the Sky. You booked a room beside mine and made sure the bad pirates didn’t set their sights on me. When you shadowed my movements until my return here to ensure I wouldn’t get kidnapped again.”
He looked so taken aback—shaken, even—as if he hadn’t thought of them at all. For some reason, that galled further, her mortification rising that she had taken them all personally while they had been nothing but second nature to him. He shook his head.
“Technically, it was my friend Nicola who saved you. A different vampire, not me, who went to that pirate ship to get you out. I just happened to be there...injured. You saved my life with your magic.”
Her mouth opened, then closed. An image floated of his bleeding form after a confrontation with the enemy ship led to him losing a fight, his wound too deep for him to heal without the use of magic.
"I just boosted your energy,” she said, remembering the feeling of being useful to the people who had saved her life. Then longing hit her as she remembered that she didn’t have that same magic now. “And you are rescuing me now.”
“Because you are risking your life. For what?”
“It’s none of your business.”
She pushed him away, surprised when he let her go. She growled in protest when she only got a few steps in before he was cornering her again, this time in a crowd of trees. Panic rose. Perhaps he expected her to attack him with her energy considering the way he hardened his body in preparation, and that only made dismay come up and blend with her panic. It hurtled her in a confusing swirl of negativity until her head was pounding.
“Tell me.”
“No.”
“Ruby, tell me—”
“I need to communicate with my brother. My sisters and I do. We need to get to the truth, and this is the only way.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
He processed this, features sharpened as he tried to figure out what she wasn’t saying.
“You mean to communicate with the dead?”
“He is not dead,” she snapped. “But yes. Communicate with a lost being, whether that being is dead or alive.”
“Why is this the only way?”
