The Glass Sword by kim alexander

Author:kim alexander [alexander, kim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: kim alexander
Published: 2024-06-14T22:00:00+00:00

25

Ruby

I rubbed my arms, realizing the jumpsuit was now more like a post-marathon emergency blanket and less like sitting under a heat lamp. “Did it get cold all of a sudden?”

March looked surprised, like he hadn’t noticed until I said something, but probably happy to move off the topic of having ‘fun hunts.’ “You’re right. I think it’ll be winter tonight. By tomorrow for sure.”

I glanced out the front of the cave—excuse me, his house—at the gently swaying field of blooming flowers under a sunny sky, then looked at him quizzically. “Did you say winter, tonight? Does ‘winter’ mean something different here?”

He laughed, but not in a mean way. “You just got here. Right. You’ll like it, I think. It’ll all be different. It happens a lot, but I can’t tell when. The Seelie can tell, though.” He didn’t wait for me to fire off another volley of questions.

“Here, this’ll help.” He reached down and put his palm flat against the soft grass and twisted. Nothing happened. “Hmm. Let me just...” That time he put a little more wrist into it, and sure enough, a jet of flame shot up between us and the mouth of the cave. I lurched back, graceful as a gazelle as I fell off the edge of the mattress, and the jumpsuit took it as an opportunity to give me a massive wedgie. The blaze quickly settled down into a normal sized campfire.

“I have to practice,” he said, lending a hand to hoist me back up. “But we’ll be more comfortable.”

“What with winter coming on?” I wriggled around until most of the outfit was outside my body. My head was spinning with lust and confusion and genuine curiosity. There was definitely no blood left in my brain.

“This was not the conversation I thought we’d be having, you and I.” He reached over and brushed my cheek with the back of his hand and stroked the hair away from my face. Then he rested his hand against the back of my neck. I sighed and pushed against the warmth of his palm.

“Ah, Ruby, Ruby, my shiny stone,” he said, “You let them take me.”

I gasped and pulled away. “I didn’t—”

He sat up and looked into the fire. He didn’t seem angry, just thoughtful. “It was really tough, seeing you.” He put up his hand. “I know, you didn’t know me. Marly didn’t know what to do, and Sasha just made things worse.”

“I think that’s on his business card.”

He smiled sadly. “I didn’t know why Madame invited me. The whole thing about protecting her, it never felt right. She didn’t lie to me, she told me flat out I was a...commodity. ‘Beyond price.’ Of course, she said it like it meant something else. I knew something was going to happen, I just didn’t think it would happen to me.” He looked up. “And you were so mean to me!”

I laughed. “I was. The spell was breaking down, the one Sasha put on me, just a little. And whenever I saw you, I felt things I didn’t understand.

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