Most of the way back to her house, they were silent. Ru had no idea what to say to him, and he seemed to be giving her some space. Once they reached town, Cutter said, “I hope we didn’t overwhelm you.”
Ru guffawed. “How could you avoid it? There’s so much to think about.”
“I know. And I wish we had more time to feed it to you slowly. But the Reapers are even more agitated now that we’ve taken Zu. We’ll likely all go out tonight to try to see if we can capture any more of them.”
“How many do you think there are in the area?” Ru asked, assuming they needed to be close by in order for the Keepers to track them.
“We’re not sure, but usually Nat has at least a couple dozen with him. Sometimes more.”
Ru was surprised. “Why aren’t there more dead then?”
Even in the dim light, she could see him shrug. “He’s had them searching for y
Lyric was sitting on the front porch swing when Cutter arrived back at the house. She had a thoughtful expression on her face, and he almost hated to interrupt whatever she was concentrating on. But as he approached the steps, she asked, “How did that go?”With a sigh, Cutter sauntered over and dropped down next to her before answering. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Clearly, there’s still a wall between us. I have no idea what to do about it. And this new guy—Kyle….” Cutter couldn’t finish the sentence.“Yeah, about that,” Lyric began, looking at him sideways. “I’m not sure I trust this guy.”Cutter raised an eyebrow and narrowed in on her eyes, trying to read where she was coming from. “What do you mean?” Despite what Lyric had already mentioned to him, he had thought he was the only one who was suspicious of K
The day had dragged by, and even though Ru had gotten a lot of work done for school, she was constantly looking at the clock. Finally, at 3:00, she allowed herself to go get ready for her date. Kyle was supposed to be there in an hour, and she wanted to look as good as she possibly could, considering they were going on a date that involved hiking through the woods.At first, she’d thought it was a little odd that he wanted to leave so late in the afternoon since it would be dark in a few hours, but he said he had to help Jess with some stuff in her classroom and that would take most of the day. So, even though she wasn’t really one for strolling through the forest in the dark, she hoped that would mean they wouldn’t be walking long, and then maybe they could go do something more fun. Ru had a few ideas….She showered and dressed in an older pair of jeans that still looked good. She put on a long-sleeved T-shirt and a sweater that would fit unde
“Kyle, slow down,” Ru said tripping over a branch. “Why do we have to walk so fast?”“I want you to see the place we’re going to, Ru,” he said. Something about the tone in his voice caught her off guard. He sounded strangely serious. “I think you’ll really like it.”“Kyle,” Ru implored, pulling on his hand a bit to make him slow down. “Seriously, I have to admit, you’re starting to scare me a little bit.”He stopped again, turning to face her. Even though it was growing dark and shadows began to creep in around his face, Ru could see an intensity behind his eyes, which looked oddly more green than hazel in this light. “Ru, I told you, you have nothing to be afraid of. You do trust me, don’t you?”The second time, it was not as easy to answer that question. Ru began to feel an odd sensation in her stomach, sort of like the time she’d gone to a
“Stop!” Ru shouted, clambering to her feet, despite the pain in her shoulder and a new, sharp ache in her ankle. “I told you, I don’t wish to go with you! And I know I have to choose!”“Who told you that?” he asked, folding his arms and laughing. “Cutter? He’s an imbecile. I will take you, Rune. I have to. You’re the only one who can do what needs to be done.”“No!” she screamed again. “I won’t go with you! I won’t do what you want me to do!”“Rune, think of your father! He’s locked away in constant torture. You’re the only person who can set him free.”She began to shake her head, trying to keep thoughts of what Larkin must be going through out of her head.“Your mother has been in hiding for over twenty years because of what those people,” he pointed over his shoulder, “threatened to do to her!”
VOLUME II: RUIN'S PROMISERu took a deep breath and surveyed the little faces sitting on the carpet in front of her. She sat on the chair from which she’d read dozens of stories already in just the two months that school had been in session. She thought back to how optimistic she’d been back then, thinking this would be the best class she’d ever had, and she would teach them so much before the end of the school year. Now, it was only eight weeks later, and she was preparing to tell them goodbye. The tears stung her eyes and threatened to spill over; she only hoped she could manage to get her message out before the dam gave way.Cutter had told his class last Friday and had been gone for an entire week now. His replacement, Kristin Collins, was sweet, and Ru had assured him they were in good hands. Now, it was her turn. Never in a million years had she envisioned herself leaving her classroom, her profession, but she had important
“How did it go?” Cutter Michaels asked, almost as soon as she walked in the door. Her face must have told him everything because he opened his arms, and she buried her face in his shoulder, the tears resurfacing. He hugged her gently, careful not to put too much pressure on her shoulder which was healing from the fall she’d taken in the woods a few weeks ago. Luckily, it had only been dislocated and not broken. “I’m so sorry,” he said quietly, stroking her hair. “It’ll get better. In a few days, it won’t hurt nearly as much.”She realized he knew because he’d just told his class goodbye as well, but he wasn’t really a teacher, so she had no way of knowing if he really cared for his students the same way she did. Having witnessed him with his class these past weeks, she thought he did, though; he seemed to love each of them very much.After a moment, she was able to regain her composure. “I&rs
It had only been a couple of weeks since Lyric had taken a picture of Ru’s scars, the ones she had been given her true name, Rune, by her mother for, but she hadn’t had any luck getting a clear translation yet. Ru knew Lyric Gabriels well enough already to understand she wouldn’t give up until she found an answer. She nodded at Ivy and managed a small smile.“Still not sure why Rider’s putting another bathroom in a house we probably won’t be staying in long term,” Cutter commented. “But if it gives him something to do….”“I think he’s tired of there being three girls and only two bathrooms,” Ivy chuckled, stepping back toward the kitchen. “Personally, I wouldn’t mind if he had his very own restroom.” She made a face as if to say Rider Michaels had a habit of stinking up the other bathrooms, and Ru couldn’t help but chuckle. Rider was something else, that was for sure.
“Concentrate, Ru. I know you can do this.” Cutter’s voice cut through the darkness, but Ru wasn’t as convinced as he was. After weeks of trying in every venue and under every sort of conditions they could come up with, Ru was still struggling to slip out of her human form. Cutter had described it to her a million different ways, but she just wasn’t getting it. At all. At least with the light, she could now conjure it to some degree whenever she wanted to, though it never seemed to grow to the extent it had when she’d knocked Thanatos into the air in the forest when they’d last met. But the spirit realms still evaded her.They were sitting in a dark room, one Rider had constructed for this purpose. The floor was padded, and all of the walls were surrounded with black fabric, as was the ceiling. She couldn’t even see her hand three inches in front of her face. Cutter had thought it might help if she was alrea