Page 30 of Cursed by Death

“It matters to me,” I said, cutting him off. “You shook my hand just fine and nothing bad happened to you. And my father’s a demon.”

The priest gasped and took a step back, stumbling away from me.

Yeah, I guessed the demon trumped the shifter in the eyes of the Lord's Shepherds. Or whatever the fuck it was that he called himself.

“Alright, boys,” Detective Rowans said, stepping in between me and the priest, blocking him from my view. “How about you walk the good priest here to his car and then get out of here yourselves. Ruby and I thank you for being here.”

It was probably for the best because I didn’t need to be taking my aggression out on the man. It wasn’t very nice of me, especially after he just did Thomas’s funeral service for me.

I wasn’t going to thank him though.

We were all quiet as we watched the officer and the detective walk the priest to his car.

“I’d clap,” the man next to Rally said. “But the hunters are approaching.”

I had a feeling I was about to lose my goddamn mind.

“Hello, Ruby Jane,” Roan said in a voice far deeper than the one I remembered him having.

It made sense because he was very much a man now. They both were.

“Roan,” I responded in a cold voice.

Bane turned to his brother and grinned. “You owe me a hundred bucks, brother.” he looked back at me and his grin turned to a wide smile. “You always were the only one who could tell us apart. Roan bet me that you wouldn’t be able to tell us apart after all this time but I knew better. Thanks for proving me right, beautiful.”

He winked at me and I wanted nothing more than to throat punch him.

After all this time he didn’t get to show up here and pretend like we were old friends. Last week I would have accepted him with open arms. But that was last week and things were clearly different now.

“We need to talk,” Roan said, ignoring his brother and everything he’d just said. “Perhaps you could get rid of the shifters so that we can have that conversation.”

“You’ll not be speaking with her privately,” Rally growled as he sneered at Roan. “If it were up to me you wouldn't be speaking to her at all but I know my mate well enough now to know there’s no stopping her from doing what she wants. But she won’t be doing it alone.”

The happy go lucky look fell away from Bane’s face and he glared at Rally. “She’s not your fucking mate, shifter.”

“You have no idea what I am,” I snapped back at him before Rally could respond.

“Umm, my Prince,” a very hesitant female voice called out from behind us, snagging my attention. What kind of crazy person waded into this shitty conversation was the kind of person that made me very curious.

“Yes, Ginger?”

I turned to see a very meek, small woman with brown hair stepped forward and apart from the rest of the crowd. She looked nervous as all hell and almost like she wished she could disappear into the crowd.

“I have to get back to my son. You were my ride here. I’m sorry to interrupt this… conversation.”

“Do you not drive or something?” I very rudely asked her. I wasn’t trying to be rude, I was just nosy.

I watched her throat bob as she swallowed and looked at me nervously. “I can drive, ma’am. I just don’t have a car anymore.”

I turned fully towards her. “First, I’m not ma’am, I’m just Ruby. And, second, you saidanymore.What happened to your car?”

“Baby,” Rally said gently. “Her husband was in a car accident just over a month ago. A drunk driver hit him head on and he died instantly. They have a six-month-old son. I’m hoping we get a trade-in in the garage soon so she can have something to drive.”

“I’m so sorry about your husband,” I told her in a heartfelt voice. I hoped she heard the honesty in it. “Thank you for coming to Thomas’s funeral today. I…”

Holy shit.

It was fate and definitely meant to be.

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