Page 42 of The Secrets of Roan Island

“Did she run away?”

Ruby shakes her head and reaches up to touch the gemstone at her neck. “She was taken… by a man who wanted to keep her… to hurt her. They found her in a dark basement.” She swallows, fingers tightening around the necklace. “It was too late.”

I growl, wild anger pushing my fangs to seek prey, retribution for the hurt painted on Ruby’s beautiful face. She’s drawn back into that grief that will never go away, a grief I understand. “Tell me his name.” I snap the words like throwing knives.

Ruby gives me a small smile with a quiet, amused laugh I can’t understand, considering the topic of conversation and everything that’s happened in the last several hours. “He’s already dead, but I appreciate the sentiment.” She pauses a moment as if reorienting her thoughts.

I want to touch her, but I don’t. I don’t trust myself, even if she seems to trust me.

“I’ve never told anyone this.” Her eyes jump to mine, her words reinforcing that trust. “Except for him.” Her gaze flicks to the unconscious man on the floor. “He used it against me, as a way to manipulate and torture me.”

I growl and lunge for the beast, ready to finish the job, but Ruby grabs my arm. Her touch ignites a spark under my skin that spreads like a wildfire but stays me.

She seems to vacillate between telling me more or holding back, but when I settle back into the seat next to her, she says, “David would lock me up in the basement, in the dark. Like my sister. Because he knew how much it scared me.”

A small shudder trembles through her body and into mine. I want to wrap my arm around her, offer some small comfort, but when she meets my eyes, I’m frozen by what I see.

“The man who took my sister was a monster.” She looks down at David’s prone form. “So was he.” Then she looks at meonce more, her hand on my arm. “I have a feeling your father is a monster. But you aren’t, Noah.”

I swallow, my throat dry with emotions that render me speechless, but while that part of me recedes, the need in me surges. “I am,” I reassure her. “And you’ll know it soon enough.”

“I see what you are, Noah Roan.” Her hand rises up to my cheek. Soft for a moment, then certain. I can’t help leaning into the touch. “You aren’t a monster.” As if repeating it will make it true.

Her eyes drop to my lips, her thumb gently touching the tip of my fang. I moan, pleasure rippling through me at her delicate touch. Clasping her wrist, I hold her hand in place, sucking her thumb into my mouth, trailing my fang along her skin without breaking it. She swallows nervously but doesn’t pull away. She should. But she doesn’t.

“Ruby,” I whisper, kissing the tip of her thumb, then the center of her palm. Slowly, I turn her hand and bring her wrist to my lips. I can feel her pulse against my fingers, hear it in my ears. Fast and rhythmic. A drum calling me forward. Her scent changes, intensifying. Arousal. Her breath hitches. My nostrils flare. I’m certain my eyes are dark. It’s taking every trace of self-control I have to hold myself back, to keep from sinking my teeth into her beautiful veins.

She nods, almost imperceptibly. I open my mouth, preparing to taste her.

“What did you do?” My father’s hard voice slashes the moment. He’s got his hand on the open curtain and his eyes on the body on the floor. Jafeth smiles from behind him, while Shemaiah stands placid and relaxed at his side. It’s not the first time there’s been a dead body at the manor. But there hasn’t been a death at a new moon party in years.

Hammish’s gaze shifts to Ruby. A cold chill rushes up my spine, but I don’t move.

“What did she see?” He addresses me rather than Ruby.

My mind spins with what I can possibly say that will protect her. If I tell him she knows what we are, he’ll take action I don’t want him to take. He’ll never let her walk out of here. She’s too aware, and he has nothing to hold over her, unlike the rest of the guests. If I speak too quickly, too eagerly, he’ll know he can use her against me. I need an explanation that’s believable but still protects her.

“This man attacked me.” Ruby speaks before I can. Her voice is even and controlled. “Noah came just in time. They fought. He pulled a knife on Noah, but Noah got the upper hand, as you can see.”

“This is… unprecedented,” Hammish says, his lips a thin slash. “Our guest list is vetted.”

I can’t move, afraid to give him any leverage, any reason to use her.

“He’s my ex-husband,” she says.

My father gives me a hard stare. “You’re jealous.” A statement, not a question. There’s something in the curl of his lips, a distaste or anger, that tells me he doesn’t like the idea of me being jealous for Ruby’s attention.

“No,” Ruby says, the word rushing out like a hand trying to calm whatever anger is rising in my father. “No. He was just protecting me from him.”

I hold my breath, already knowing my father isn’t going to buy the story. He can see how much I want her just by looking in my eyes.

“Where’s the knife?” The words slow and deliberate. He’s trying to get Ruby to betray what she knows.

Her gaze darts around the small space. A better actress than I imagined. “It must have been kicked under the curtain. Someone should go find it.” She stands. “I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt.”

Clever girl. If he believes her to be naive, he might let her go look for the knife. It would get her out of here.

“Jafeth,” Hammish says, “find theknife.” He puts a little too much emphasis on the word, watching Ruby the whole time to see if she’ll flinch. My father knows as well as I do that the wound wasn’t made by a knife, but we need him to believe Ruby’s confused enough to disbelieve what she saw.

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