Page 85 of Ruby Red Sky

I scoffed. “You both saw him.”

Selena snorted. “Yeah, but I kept my observations to myself.” She tilted her bowl, draining the last bit of liquid. “That was delicious, wasn’t it? I told you.”

Nodding, I said, “It was. Thank you, Juliet.” I glanced at Selena again. “You were telling me how you died?”

“I wasn’t, but I will. My parents’ assassins shot me point blank in the head.” She made a finger gun with her hand and pointed it at her forehead, making a shooting sound. “I woke up here. But I’d been coming here in my dreams, so it wasn’t all completely foreign.”

My mind immediately went to my artwork and my heart started pounding in my chest. “So, I’m an artist. I paint and I draw and I was painting the First Realm before I ever saw it.”

Juliet stilled, our dirty dishes in hand. “Really?” She glanced at Selena. “That’s kinda like her. Did you dream of it too?”

My head shook. “No, I don’t think so. That’s pretty cool though, how we both saw this place however we did and then we’re here.”

Juliet handed me another bottle of water. “How does that happen, I wonder?”

Selena’s chair leg creaked against the floor. “Let’s go find the guys. I don’t know what they’re planning but I plan on finding out.”

I stood, shoving the chair back in. “I’m going with you guys,” Juliet announced.

We found Elijah and Lukas in an office lined with bookshelves. A desk sat in the corner with papers piled, and scrolls perched precariously on the edge. A laptop computer sat in the middle of the mess.

There were two long couches facing each other and a low coffee table set between them. The couch closer to the door was bracketed by end tables, and the other side of the room had a small bay window with a cushioned seat to relax on. Dark, rich autumnal colors and gleaming mahogany wood gave the large room a much cozier feel than it should have had.

Elijah and Lukas both sipped on an amber color fluid I guessed was whisky or bourbon. He seemed much more relaxed around Lukas, now, and I had to wonder what had changed. He was lounging, an arm on the side of the couch and resting an ankle on his knee,

Selena went over to him, and he trailed his glassy fingernails over her neck as he kissed her, deeply.

When Juliet said, “Charles should be back soon,” I remembered that this wasn’t Elijah’s house. They lived in the castle.

“Who’s that?” I asked, lingering halfway between the doorway and the couches while she slid past me.

She walked over to the desk and tapped the laptop’s keyboard. “He’s my husband,” she answered with a smile.

Lukas beckoned me with his fingers and I swallowed. I was very much not okay with him blinding me, but I didn’t want to make a scene—I’d done enough of that earlier.

While I was positive anyone else would have reacted the same, I was still struggling with the lingering feelings of anger and embarrassment. Thankfully, everyone had been freaking out... so maybe they didn’t remember?

I wasn’t going to serve a refresher.

Selena was seated beside Elijah sipping a glass of wine that I had no idea how she got in her hands. Juliet was still by the computer but now she was straightening the papers and books into neat stacks.

More stiffly than I’d intended, I sat down beside Lukas. His hand smoothed down my thigh, and I could feel him staring at me. Elijah watched me closely and curiously, and I swiveled my head.

Lukas peered down at me, a question in his gaze as he squeezed me lightly. There was something else too, beside his plea. I could see he wanted me to let him know everything was okay, and I was beginning to understand the ways of these vampires, but for me, this was a line that couldn’t be crossed. Even if it was only temporary affliction.

“You want some wine?” Selena asked me.

Gripping the cushion, I moved to push myself up. Lukas stopped me. “Yes, please,” I told Selena, making sure I looked Lukas in the eye as I said his favorite word.

His gaze darkened, and the tip of his tongue slid along his lip as he glanced down and then back up at me. My pulse quickened, and he gave me a nearly imperceptible, single nod. He knew exactly what I was doing. At two thousand years old, he probably should. But it still had the desired effect of sending the message I wanted to send.

He bent his head, curtaining my face with his shiny hair. “You’re angry with me,” he stated; his voice was low and rough. “Be as angry as you’d like. I will do whatever I have to.”

With that, his hand came up and gripped my neck, his thumb pressing into the hollow at the base of my throat. Then he kissed me, much more tender than the hold he had on me would suggest.

“You will do this for me,” Lukas said to Elijah, shifting his position to face the man.

Elijah set his crystal tumbler on a coaster on the end table. “I will, should it come to that.” He threaded his fingers together and set his arms on his lap. “Interesting how you are now in the very same position you punished me for, wouldn’t you say? You disgraced me, and now here you are, one of the Ancients—perhaps the only one, to ever be disgraced in the same manner.”