71 You Are Repulsive (2/2)

She desperately hoped that Ash managed to break in and complete his revenge so she could be free before Dorian did something worse to her. Or decided to go back on the deal completely and involve Flora.

Ruby had harbored no thoughts of being rescued at all until she heard her friend was here. She thought she would be stuck in a cycle of relatively safe boredom for the next century and that was as good as it was going to get.

Now she was in genuine fear for their safety. Ash's arrival had angered Dorian and he was taking it out on her.

This was partially her fault for hiding her true power but why would she purposely do more than she had to when it involved helping a psychopathic vampire?! Even if he hadn't killed Flint and Lily or used Flora to threaten her, what he did to Ash's coven was more than enough reason to hate him.

Her sweet, sort of goofy friend hadn't deserved to go through something so horrible. She couldn't even imagine being the only one left alive after such a massacre. And yet he still somehow managed to laugh and smile at dumb things she said or did.

Dorian claimed Ash was weak but that wasn't true at all. He simply didn't comply with conventional perceptions of strength. Mentally and emotionally, he was a thousand times stronger than any vampire here. He was the best fae she ever met.

Ruby sighed and turned toward Flora's makeshift swing. For a split second in the distance she thought she saw a couple of werewolves but her eyes may have been playing tricks on her.

Were they here with Ash? He was probably asleep right now like most of the vampires here in the castle were.

Her heart ached. He was so close and she still couldn't see him. She wasn't sure he would even want to see her if he could; he might be too angry about how she had left without a word. She didn't know what she would say to him either.

'I'm sorry'? 'I didn't mean to break our deal'? 'I didn't want to leave you'?

The last one was painfully true but Ruby didn't know if she could ever admit it out loud. She really hadn't wanted to leave him. She enjoyed being around Ash more than anyone else but it would be horribly selfish of her to admit that.

Before everything went wrong, he admitted he wanted her to visit occasionally. Which meant the temporary arrangement they came to where she stayed at his castle was always meant to end. It wasn't her home; she was merely a visitor.