As she gazed out toward the water, she pulled the vitality from the circle to her like a long, dark cape, the kind the witch wore in Sleeping Beauty. The stepmothers had always gotten a bad rap in those films, women of strength and ambition who weren’t afraid to grasp power. The lingering energy shimmered, disturbed, and she knew it wasn’t from the fault. She draped herself in that cloak, pulled it closer to breathe it in, imagining mayhem and death. Asmodeus in bloody pieces, her raining fire over him, over all of it. A warrior Goddess of vengeance and death.

A growl disrupted her concentration. She’d put Theo to bed, knowing he was worn-out, but now, lowering her gaze, she saw Linda’s Australian shepherds sitting on the other side of the circle, regarding her steadily. The way dogs watched intruders. Their earlier friendliness was replaced by wariness, hackles raised, the growl continuing to rumble in the female’s throat.

With one sweep of her hand, she could turn them into nothing but ash for daring to challenge her. Doing so would be no more difficult than breathing.

Ruby shut her eyes, hard, breathed deep. Steady, steady. There was a line here, and everything depended on her being able to stay on that line. She had a circle cast in her mind, and if she stepped outside that circle, she’d lose it all to Darkness. It was inevitable; one day it would happen. She had no illusions about that. But not yet. Not until she’d done what she swore she would. She’d bided her time like an Underworld demon. It was pure tragic irony that it was Derek Stormwind who’d brought her this chance.

As she opened her eyes, throat aching with emotion, she was relieved to see those red edges had faded out of her vision. “What’s the matter, darlings? It’s okay.”

Their ears pricked up, the moment gone. Despite her resolve, it still wrenched something in her gut. They reacted as they should to something unnatural. Something evil. Starting to hum that lullaby again, she moved away from the circle, back toward the guesthouse.

JUST AS SHE’D FEARED, SLEEP WOULDN’T COME. SHE stared at the ceiling, listening to Theo snore. She wanted to call Derek, wanted to hear his voice. Thank God he didn’t carry a cell phone. He never got reception within his dense aura. Closing her eyes, she felt his hands on her again.

She’d picked up a new burn phone, but she hadn’t given him that number, either. He could call the infatuated Linda from whatever pay phone he found and learn that she’d arrived safely. It would give them a chance to talk, flirt, have phone sex, whatever.

Fuck. If she couldn’t escape it, she’d embrace it, damn it all. Her mind wanted to take her back to the beach, kiss those drops of moisture from his mouth, feel his smile against her, his arms lifting her as he carried her to that hammock. Instead, she forced herself to return to the stable, focusing on the ropes, the more violent emotions that had driven their fantasy. Which, of course, came with a whole different set of problems. Her body heated up like a volcano about to erupt.

“Fine.” She punched in the number, forced herself not to hang up, even as her mind screamed at her to do so. When the throaty Russian voice answered through her hands-free earpiece, she couldn’t speak for a moment.

“Ruby? What is it you need tonight?”

She didn’t know how he knew it was her. Though, in truth, Mikhael probably had GPS coordinates on every major world leader, and the ability to off them with no more than the press of a button.

Or maybe, less dramatically, he just knew the sound of her erratic breath, because she couldn’t form words.

“Hmm. You have not called at a convenient time, and that irritates me. Your clothes are not off, so you have not prepared yourself for me. You expect me to wait on you?” His voice had that tone that pressed jagged glass against her broken heart. She wanted him to press harder, sever the muscle.

She stripped off the big sleep shirt, shoved off the panties. “I’m naked. Make me come.” She couldn’t keep the desperate demand from her voice, and his cold response was exactly what she told herself she craved.

“You give me orders? Who do you think you are, you little cunt?” The crudity prickled over her nerves like poison ivy…. both unbearable and irresistible to scratch. “I am hanging up now. You will spread your legs as wide as you can, keep them open for me, and you will pinch your nipples, Ruby. Pinch them so hard, that if I cared to stay on the phone with you, I would hear the pain in your breath. You will keep pinching them that way until I decide to call you back. Then you can beg to stop. Being the dirty little fucked-up whore you are, you will be dripping wet for me by then.”

She was now. But she didn’t say it. He clicked off. She scissored her legs out wide, the air generated by the ceiling fan blades raising goose bumps on her naked flesh. Grasping her breasts, she began to pinch as he’d ordered. She thought of Derek, the intensity of his blue eyes…. the way he’d touched her so ruthlessly, yet with such…. care. Love. She pinched herself so hard a whimper came from her throat and Theo’s head rose groggily from his mattress. Forget, forget, forget. She thought of Mikhael, how he would take off his belt after he fucked her, then whip her until the welts he made broke and bled; then he would fuck her again. Even if she begged him to stop, like he demanded now.

He punished her because that was what she wanted, what the Darkness demanded, and perhaps even the Light demanded it. You have no natural ability…. Make me some tea, dear. You’re so helpful…. Don’t do magic. It will only lead to tragedy.

She wished her mother was alive. She’d go back to that clean, loveless house, destroy all the beautiful clothes that Mary had bought on Rodeo Drive. She’d smash every tray of expensive makeup, tear apart every prop she used to disguise true power as parlor tricks to make more money. Oh hell, why bother with those things? She’d tear apart her mother’s perfect face, make her beg through the blood and pain, and she’d laugh and laugh….

Ruby stopped, hands still on her breasts, fingers clamped on her nipples so shards of pain radiated out from them. Horrified, she let go. The blood surge was an even worse pain, but she barely felt it. She curled in a ball on her side, hiding her head beneath her arms. No, no, no….

“Derek.” She whispered it. Pulling off the earpiece, she put it in the nightstand drawer, turned off the cell phone. Then she rocked, and made herself remember every single moment of the time on the beach. The way Derek had spoken against her ear. I love you, Ruby Night Divine.

He’d loved Ruby as she was then. This, no one could love. But she’d made her choice. In the darkness, like this, she could cry over it, wish things could be different, but in dawn’s light, she had to be what she’d chosen to be. With Derek coming back, and her being here…. It made her feel an end was coming, for certain.

But if that end meant a chance to face down Asmodeus, it was okay. She’d even welcome it.

In the words of the Collin Raye song, that was her story, and she was sticking to it.

Chapter 7

“LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE UNIVERSE, FAULT LINES have a topside Light energy that feeds the surface, and a Dark energy beneath that feeds the Underworld. As long as everybody stays on their side, all’s well, but of course it doesn’t work that way. Magic users dabble where they shouldn’t, and Underworld beings seek ways to tangle Light energy up with Dark for purposes that could unbalance things. And if those fault lines get messed up, Mother Earth gets messed up. The saying, ‘If Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy,’ becomes true in a big way.”

A ripple of chuckles ran through the women sitting in the circle. They’d completed a casting, called Quarters, welcomed the energy of the elements and the Lord and Lady, and warded out harm. An hour before they’d arrived, Ruby had done the same, since she didn’t yet have direct experience with the group. She needed to ensure they weren’t overheard by forces that could penetrate a weaker warding. But she was pleased with how they performed, the cohesive energy they had as a group.

Still, once they’d cast, she’d had them hold position and focus while she walked the interior perimeter, touching each woman to gauge her unique signature and strength. They’d sent a few quizzical glances toward Linda, who nodded reassuringly. Once she did that, they waited Ruby out in respectful silence. Also good. No power egos in the group who couldn’t take direction.

“Next time the circle is cast, you’ll have a different arrangement,” she continued. “The four strongest will be on the Quarters, and those most aligned with a specific element will be placed in those quadrants. The choice of Quarter callers is not a judgment. All parts of a fence are important, both the mesh and the post. But the post has certain properties, just as the mesh does. All right?”

As they nodded, Linda spoke up. “Ruby, would our normal five-minute meditation disrupt what you’re intending to do? It’s how we connect, prepare ourselves for whatever task we have before us.”

“Not at all.” Ruby swept her gaze over the group. “However, keep something in mind. What we’re going to do these next couple weeks will be like basic training. You’ll do certain key things, like casting and reinforcing your circle, over and over. We may even do an emergency drill or two in the middle of the night, where I’ll call you out of a sound sleep and tell you to get here immediately. You’ll get into position, cast and protect this area as fast as you can. That spontaneous casting will need to be as strong and unshakable as what you can do when you spend time meditating and preparing for it.” At their expressions, she added, “It’s like loading a gun when someone is breaking into your house and the children are upstairs, no time to get them out. You don’t have time to read a manual or fumble it. It has to be instinctual, fast and steady.”

Miriam raised her hand. As the youngest coven member in her early twenties, she had a quiet intelligence Ruby liked. But of course she was a little more uncertain of herself, a privilege of youth. She currently held the Air Quarter, but was one Ruby would move, knowing she was better as “mesh” than “post” until she gained more experience.