Page 108 of Heathens

She takes a breath and stares at the two of us, her gun still half-raised.

“You walk him there, I follow.”

I avoid Ares’ judgmental gaze as we head to the back, through a small crowd of vampires that seem intent to follow us until Ruby turns around and waves her gun at them.

“Employees only, motherfuckers.”

She ushers us through the back and into the office, lingering by the door, her gun still in-hand as she slides the deadbolt into place.

“Ruby, you can put the gun down,” I sigh. “He’s not gonna try anything in here. He knows he’d never make it out.”

She shakes her head, her cheeks flaming and her eyes full of ice, piercing Dominic’s skull. He stares back at her with an amused expression.

“You know, Ruby, if I wanted I could just snap your–”

“Nobody’s snapping anything!” I spit, glaring at him. “Dominic, you shut your fucking mouth, and Ruby, put the gundown.”

“What makes you think I can trust you — either of you?!” She shouts. “You were gone for three fucking days, Sofie! Hepromised to bring you back!Youpromised you’d be back.”

“Well, he kidnapped me Ruby, it’s not like I had a way to get back here much faster”

“I didn’t kidnap, I just didn’t let you–”

“Shut up!” The two of us shout in unison.

I cross my arms over my chest and lean against the desk, trying to show Ruby that I’m not a threat. Her eyes bounce between the two of us.

“What, so he kidnapped you, beat this shit out of you, and you’re just working together?”

“We came to an arrangement,” Dominic sighs. “After a couple of minor setbacks.”

He winks at me and I flip him off. This isn’t my ideal scenario, but I’ve given him my terms. He’s proven he’s not willing or able to kill me, and if he doesn’t follow through with our deal, it’ll be easy enough to take advantage of that after Rene’s gone. Then, with them out of the picture, we can declare open season on all vampires and we’ll drag them all out into the fucking sunlight. Go to war.

Of course, that’s not the ideal scenario. Even if we won, we’d eventually lose our inoculations, no matter how much vampire blood in reserve. If the human population expanded again, we probably wouldn’t be able to keep them all from getting sick and spreading the plague all over again. Not unless we succeed in synthesizing their blood, but that could take years to get right.

“So what you’re telling me his dick is so good you just stuck with him?” Ruby asks. “That’s not like you, Sof.”

“I appreciate the compliment, though,” Dominic mutters under his breath.

She takes a step toward him and presses the gun to his forehead.

“I swear to god, Duncan. Give me one more fuckin’ reason and I’ll paint the wall with your brains.”

Her voice is a deep rumbling growl that even gives Dominic pause for a moment. It’s rare that I see Ruby like this. She’s all sunshine and rainbows until someone fucks with her or someone she loves.

“Deschamps is planning something, and it’s big. I wouldn’t be asking for your help if we didn’t need it.”

She looks from Dominic, to me, and back again before slowly lowering her gun and setting it on the desk. Dominic heaves a sigh of relief and puts his hands down. Ruby’s body is coiled extremely tight, tears pooling in her eyes. I can’t ignore the feeling of guilt that wells up inside me. She didn’t deserve any of this.

“My help? What did you tell him about me?” Ruby growls.

“Nothing, just the medical stuff. Rene is making some kind of… synthetic drug, laced in with some new kind of blood. He’s going to use it to tip the scales, take the rest of what we have away from us.” I sigh. “I don’t like the idea of being some vamp’s fucking pet–”

“Clearly, you do,” she retorts.

Dominic covers his laughter with a cough, and I snap up Ruby’s gun, aiming for his head. I’m completely calm, my eyes dead-set on his.

“Dominic, keep your fucking mouth shut. You’ve got me one step away from finishing what Ruby started.”

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