Scarred (16 page)

Making my way into the street, I pulled my phone from my purse, dialing Cooper while I unlocked the car. I pretended not to hear Matty as I fired the TT up and peeled out, narrowly missing an oncoming dump truck. My last second swerve saved me from a trip to the hospital and the new Audi from the scrapyard.
State Farm
wouldn't have been too fond of footing the bill for yet another car.

His phone went to voicemail, so I tried texting while weaving my way through the city, trying to get to I-95 ASAP. Frustrated, I threw the phone into the passenger seat and cranked the stereo. It was the best feature on my new car; the system far surpassed the previous model's. Bose made a great system, but the new one was primo for sure. With the bass on full, I flipped through the iPod until I landed on anything angry with a driving beat. I needed rap in the worst way. With Method Man barking about sawed-off shotguns, I could finally think clearly.

I was in a real fucking mess—the kind that required a hazmat team. If Cooper couldn't shed some light on how to better deal with what was happening to Matty, I was screwed. He'd killed as a human, and that didn't bode well for what he'd be capable of with superhuman strength and a whole mouthful of sharp teeth. Somebody had told me that the wolf amplified your human predilections. Combined with the fact that you became what made you, Matty was straight-up fucked.

And I was fucked too.

12

Practically launching myself out of the car after parking it in front of my house, I darted for the entrance. As I yanked on the door, I jarred my arm and nearly fell on my ass.

“Fucking door lock!” I said to myself, fumbling through my stash of keys for the right one. Finally, the deadbolt relented and I sprinted up to the second floor. I was more cautious with the apartment door, tugging it gingerly until it gave way, then I threw it open.

“Cooper!” I shouted, barging into the living room. I looked around and saw him nowhere. Taking off down the hall, shouting his name, I ran square into him as he emerged from his bedroom.

“Ruby, what the—”

“It's Matty. He's—”

I cut off my own words when I saw a body move in behind Cooper. Her black hair whipped around his side and her chocolate brown eyes followed. She stared at me, her face peeking out from behind him. Her eyes weren't especially friendly.

“Ruby,” he said, sounding mournful and placating, “I thought—”

“My fault,” I said, backing away from him. “I'll go. I didn't know you had...
company
. It can wait.”

Turning on my heels, I ran back out the door as fast as I could; I needed to get air quickly for the second time that evening. Once outside, I kept running, weaving my way through the streets down to the docks. I needed to sit, and think, and be alone. The docks provided the perfect environment for that. During the weeknights, there was little to no traffic there, and it was
late
. It allowed me privacy so I could just stare blankly out into the sea and let the darkness settle in around me.

I came to a screeching halt as I reached the very end of the wooden plank, teetering slightly. My heart pounded, and not solely from the run. Seeing Cooper with that girl had me riled up. He'd been serious; he wasn't going to allow things to go on as they had been. He had finally put his foot down, and hard―right on top of mine. Had he done it intentionally just to hurt me? To make his point? To force my hand? His bizarre behavior smacked of months earlier, when he had turned to narcotics to cope with life. I prayed he wasn't using again.

When I slowed my brain down to process the whole mess, I realized that I was becoming “that girl”, the one who led men on, blurring the lines between friendship and more, just to fulfill my own needs.

Thoroughly disgusted with myself, I sat on the edge of the dock and removed my boots, allowing my feet to dangle just beneath the water's surface. My pale skin shone with the light of the moon above, contrasted by the black abyss below. I leaned forward to see my skewed reflection looking back at me. It didn't show what I was feeling, but it didn't need to. My jealousy was plain. Cooper had been mine since I met him. It had been him and me against every obstacle ever thrown our way. He died for me once, and risked his life just being a party to me several other times. He never abandoned me, no matter the circumstances, the risks, or the certainty of death. He was the constant I'd never had in my life.
Ever
. Was I jealous because I actually wanted to be
with
him, or because I didn't want him to be without me? I knew the answer, but was loathe to admit it, fearing that I'd lose Cooper in the process. Unfortunately, that was out of my control, and I needed to wrap my head around the possibility that ‘just being friends’ may not be enough for him now, or ever.

Having somewhat resolved that problem, the universe—abhorring a vacuum—decided to give me a new dilemma. I felt the brush of something light against my feet; I assumed they were making the fish curious. Leaning forward, I tried to see them, but it was still too dark. I bent forward further and further, until my chest was resting in my lap. Not wanting to take an unplanned dip, I gripped onto the lip of the dock for balance as I peered down into the water below.

A flash of something long and pale emerged from the darkness. It played with me, showing itself remotely, only to then withdraw into the murkiness below just before I could determine what it was. A knot in my stomach formed, leaving me with an uneasiness that I couldn't escape. I tried to dismiss it, thinking it was all due to my fight with Cooper and the crazy warnings of Gavin, the elderly superhero, but it was too familiar to ignore. I looked down at the dark water around me, and, like a child with a monster under her bed, I ached to pull my feet up to safer ground. I chided myself as I started to remove my right foot first, thinking my imagination was getting the best of me.

That foot never made it to safety.

Before it withdrew completely, an arm lurched forward from the black depths below me—and I froze.

He uncurled his fingers in slow motion, reaching up towards his love. He gripped her limp ankle fiercely, yanking her off her perch above. She collapsed into the water and sank like an ethereal ragdoll. Her seemingly lifeless arms and legs floated upward, a silent plea for help from above as her body plunged deeper. His ghostly figure cradled her in his arms as he drifted under the cover of the dock. In the shallows, he smiled as he approached the provisions he had placed there for the evening. He knew the time would eventually come; his devilish grin said so.

The irons themselves were heavy; the concrete blocks only further assurance that his sea-floor-flower would not escape. He caressed her legs lightly as he shackled them, tethering her to the deadly weight. He secured them before allowing her languid body to float up for breath. He didn't want her dead. Not yet.

“You made me do this, my love,” he whispered in her ear. “You chose poorly.” He stroked her hair that splayed wildly around her, weightless in the water. “But I don't want you to worry; you won't be here alone.”

He collected the chains and concrete weights first, then grabbed her around the waist, pulling her under yet again. He swam with ease out to far deeper waters, dragging her unconscious body with him, until he was satisfied with their position. Above water for one last breath, he pulled her face gently to his. A wicked smile crossed it before he kissed his love for the first and only time.

Then he let her go.

His heart raced furiously, his body aroused as he watched her deathly pale skin disappear, swallowed by the inkiness below. He had won.

His smile was still in place when he too disappeared.

13

I sunk like a concrete slab.

With two of them shackled to my ankles, it made perfect sense.

The moonlight was swallowed up quickly by the depths of the sea engulfing me as I plummeted towards the bottom. I'd never learned how to swim as a child, not that it would have mattered much thanks to my ankle jewelry, but I would have felt more prepared—like I had a fighting chance.

Apparently, all I was prepared for was drowning.

As my panic grew, Scarlet surged to the helm, flailing and gasping for breath, only to inundate our lungs with salty water. She ripped off the cuffs around our ankles, freeing us from our watery grave. I waited for her to swim us up to safety.

And waited.

And waited.

It appeared that even Scarlet had an Achilles heel.

Do something!

I blasted her consciousness with demands and pleas to get us out of there, but they were in vain. Scarlet couldn't swim either. Water was the great equalizer between us.

A different darkness started to overcome us, a more familiar one that I'd encountered once before. I didn't want it again. I felt the last grips of panic take over just before the calm set in. Right as I was about to surrender to it, my arm, which seemed to be levitating to the right of me, brushed something. That
something
grabbed hold.

Soon thereafter, I found myself on the dock coughing and hacking the water from my lungs in a desperate attempt to refill them with air. I rolled over to see the feet of that something that had grabbed me. Startled, I jerked backwards and fell back into the water.

Two arms thrust into the bay after me, fishing me out once again. As I emerged from the murky sea, I saw the face of the one who saved me. I had never seen it before.

His shortly cropped golden hair had the slightest cast of red to it. His skin was pale and freckled lightly over his naked chest and arms. The young man smiled at me curiously as I took him in. Though I didn't know him, there was something so oddly familiar about him that I stared shamelessly, trying to put my finger on it. When that got me nowhere, I tried to focus on his energy. As if he could sense me dialing into his frequency, he smiled so intensely that it went all the way to his eyes. Even in the moonlight, they had a certain sparkle to them, and
that
I recognized immediately.

The jig was up.

“I told ya that this was no place for a girl like you to go alone,” he reminded me. The slight strain in his voice broke weakly through his smiley façade; he was concerned. “Maybe next time you'll trust an old codger like me.”

“
Gavin
?” I asked, dumbfounded by what I was witnessing. “I...I don't...how is this possible?”

“I think we ought to have her come inside, dear,” a woman's thready voice called out over his shoulder. “She's soaked to the bone and it's getting chilly. Best to take this conversation indoors.”

“I believe you're right as always, Ginger,” he replied, reaching his hand out to help me up from dock that I was once again sprawled across. “Come on inside, Ruby. And try not to fall in the water when you step onto the boat, please.”

“No problem,” I said, coughing up more water. “I think I'm all set with swimming today.”

“Is that what you'd call that?” he asked casually. “Looked more like
drowning
to me.”

I laughed nervously at his observation while I scooped up my boots, then followed them into their modest houseboat. The only light illuminating the vessel was a single halogen lamp standing next to the built-in couch. Ginger motioned for me to have a seat before scurrying as quickly as she could to the back of the boat. She returned with two brightly colored and extremely fluffy towels—one for me, and one for Gavin.

“Where do you think I should start, Ginger?” Gavin asked, looking over at her adoringly. Her petite, frail body faced his, her light gray hair pulled back to expose an elderly but beautiful face.

“The obvious is always a good place,” she said, giving him the once-over with a tiny grin.

“That sounds good to me,” I concurred, giving him the once-over too. It wasn't to soak him in sexually, but to try to understand how he was doing what he was doing.

“I know who you are, Ruby,” he started, jumping right into the thick of things. “I've been keeping an eye on you.”

My heart stopped suddenly before begrudgingly starting up again at a pace far faster than my stationary position warranted. As my panic rose for the eightieth time that night, I reached out, feeling for his energy. Expecting to be met with a darkened aura, I was stunned when all I felt was calm and safety. With my eyes closed, I took a breath to ground myself—and an extra breath to do the same to Scarlet. She didn’t seem as convinced about Gavin’s intent.

“I feel like I've heard this one before,” I scoffed, not entirely sure I liked where he was headed.

“I’m sure you have,” he said with intense eyes pinned on me. “I’ve been keeping an eye on the company you keep as well.”

“Oh, have you?” I asked, suddenly curious about exactly what he meant.

“You’d be wise to follow my advice and stay away from Sean. You didn’t heed my warning so well the first time and that nearly cost you your life. Maybe you’ll do better the second time around and spare you a repeat performance.”

I know that whatever game face I'd put on dropped at the mention of Sean's name. I tried to reinstate it quickly, but the damage was done. Gavin knew he had the upper hand.

“That one is his father's son for certain. Despite what he's led you to believe, he's dangerous. There's no way around that.”