Page 76 of Ruby Red Sky

He gave me side-eye and then fluttered his fingers at me. Nearly tripping over the sudden appearance of a dress on my body, I grabbed his arm. “Holy shit, what the hell?”

Ignoring me and my fussing, he kept going. The gown was a luminous marvel, the onyx shade as gleaming as a piece of coal. It was lightweight, fitted in the waist, and it made my boobs look great.

I lifted the hem and jogged the gap between us. “A little warning would be nice.”

“It really would, wouldn’t it?”

Him and his humor. Internally, I admitted that was a good one, but I’d never say it out loud.

“Where are we going?” I asked. Must be somewhere nice if he’d given himself formal clothes and dressed me in something so pretty.

“There’s settlement this way. A castle and a town. I’ve met some of the citizens and their king.”

The road before us began to widen and the atmosphere changed. A light breeze swirled around my shoulders, and I could hear noise in the distance that sounded like people talking. It was faint, just a low din, but I knew we were getting close to the town he mentioned.

Lukas directed us off the road and through a thicket of trees. My dress brushed against branches and short shrubs that somehow didn’t tear the fabric.

The landscape around us was truly beautiful, the plants and foliage teeming with life and bursting with color, but underneath, I could sense a darkness. There was a deep energy here unlike any I’d ever experienced. Malicious, and seductive, it felt like a velvet ribbon gently sliding across my skin, threatening to sedate me and make me forget where I came from so that it could devour me whole.

“What is this place?” Lukas reached back and took my hand as we passed between two towering trees.

He swung around a large boulder and held a vine out of the way. “The Fourth Realm.”

“It feels different here.”

“Because it is. It's the Realm most similar to the Third. A junkyard, of sorts.”

Our trail widened for a moment and then narrowed down again by a short rocky outcropping. “Junkyard?”

Lukas hopped over the edge and held out his arm. I grabbed it and he said, “All sorts are here. Humans, lost souls, different species. It’s chaotic with heavy turnover of leadership. We’re not staying here.”

The idea that it was like home was intriguing. “I wouldn’t mind checking it out for a bit.” He didn’t reply.

When I looked up, a massive castle loomed over us, in various states of renovation. Piles of construction materials sat on roofs and balconies alongside stacks of broken glass and stone.

“This is where we’re going?” There was nothing else around except for the pretty building.

“We can stand here and stare at it if you’d like,” he deadpanned.

My head jerked up. “What?” His lips curled a fraction of an inch. “Forget I asked.”

He waved me forward with an arched brow, and I followed by his side as we traversed a narrow path. It wound under a stone archway before we climbed an embankment.

When we reached the top, we stopped just at the mouth of the archway that turned out to be a bridge. I’d been so focused on our surroundings, that I’d missed the signs.

Lukas was uncomfortable. His neck was stiff, and he kept running his fingers through his hair. His eyes were darting right and left.

Whoever was in this castle wasn’t someone he really wanted to see.

My hands pressed to his chest, and he glanced down at me, covering mine with his own before focusing on the building behind me. “What’s wrong?” I asked softly.

He pressed his lips together and moved his legs, probably eager to engage in the incessant pacing and fidgeting he was prone to. I didn’t move out of the way.

“My kind isn’t welcomed here,” he stated.

“You just said there’s different species here, though?”

With a sigh, he canted his head. “I’m one of the Ancients. Nobody likes it when the boss pays an unexpected visit. Elijah will not be happy.”