Scarred (29 page)

“Just in case I came back?” I said softly, knowing he was doing a far better job torturing himself than I ever could.

“Oh, I knew you were coming back,” he snarled, snapping out of his downward spiral.

I looked at him, thoroughly confused.

“You just freaked out on me because I could have been killed. How is it that you 'knew' I'd be coming back?”

“Because Sean told me when I called him, that's how.”

“You called Sean?” I asked, sweat forming rapidly on the back of my neck.

“I was desperate,” he rumbled. “I made a judgment call.”

“But he...,” I started, trying to put things together. “But he just told me to go and talk to you so I could let you know what happened last night. I told him I hung up on you and didn't call back. That you'd be worried.”

“He knows
exactly
how worried I was last night.”

“Oh my God, Cooper. You didn't tell him about Matty, did you?”

“No!” he snapped. “But I would have.”

“So you knew all along where I was?”

“Please, Ruby. Your boy was hardly forthcoming with the information. He told me what I needed to know, which was that you were alive, but wouldn't tell me where you were.”

“He lied to me...,” I whispered, turning away from Cooper.

“Like that would be a first,” he scoffed, “though I'm sure he would say he just edited the truth.”

“That's why you weren't angry at me...you
knew.”

“
I was plenty angry,” he said, looking around the room. “I have to replace a few things. I'm sorry.”

I did a quick sweep of the living room, and, on second glance, I noticed items missing from their customary spots.

“Ah
man
,” I groaned. “Not the vintage card catalog, from that library in Maine.”

“I tried to save it...”

“Ugh,” I grumbled, “you know that's my favorite piece.”

“I went totally psycho, Rubes,” he said, fingering a hole in the wall the size of his fist. Beside it was a larger one—about the size of his head. “I felt
helpless.
I couldn't find you.”

“Apparently you should have called Sean earlier, since he can track me down at the drop of a hat with his fancy GPS-hacking brothers.”

“Seriously?” he said, looking surprised. “Can he really?”

“Yes, apparently he can, and he's eager to try it out since he still has no idea what happened last night, and I left my phone at Matty's,” I said, nervously scratching my arm. “I need to get that phone ASAP.”

“Fine,” he said, grabbing my hand to keep me from taking a layer off my skin. “But I'm coming with you.”

“I don't know—”

“It wasn't a request,” he said, flashing dangerous eyes. “He's probably still sleeping, but I'm not taking any chances.”

“Still sleeping?”

“Yes,” he said, walking to his room. “It takes a lot out of you to Change for the first time, as you saw. You have to heal for a while afterward.”

“Huh...,” I said, ruminating over his words.

“What?” he asked, wheeling around to look at me. “Huh,
what
?”

“Well, I was just wondering earlier why Scarlet seemed to be AWOL. But she wouldn't be in a healing coma.”

“Wait a minute,” he said, his expression very serious. “What
exactly
happened last night?”

“I...um,” I stammered, trying to think of what to say. “See that's the weird thing about all of this. I don't really
know
what happened.”

“Where did you stay last night?”

“Ronnie's.”

“And when did you go there?”

“After I left Matty's.”

“And when was that?”

“Umm...after he Changed?” I said, more a question than an answer.

“
Right
after?” he asked, his eyes probing.

“Well, that's when it gets a bit fuzzy, you see.... I think there's a bit of time missing in that scenario.”

“Missing
how
?”

“Like I don't remember anything from when Matty turned around with his wolf eyes on me to me waking up pretty much naked draped across his body,” I said, wincing away from him as if thwarting off a blow.

“Fuck...me...running...,” he said, blood withdrawing from his face. “Not good, Ruby.
So
not good.”

“What's wrong?” I asked in a panic. “What's not good that I don’t already know?”

“There are only two reasons that I can think of as to why he wouldn't have killed you. One is that Scarlet is a bad ass motherfucker and she stomped his ass, which clearly didn't happen if he's still breathing.”

“And two?” I asked nervously, feeling the sweat start to bead on the back of my neck. The look on his face was not promising.

“You're mated,” he said with a sigh.

“I'm
WHAT
?” I yelled.

“You're
mated
,” he said, repeating himself needlessly.

I'd heard him loud and clear.

“Yeah, I got what you said, but I'm not getting what you're saying. I'm mated? But
I
wasn't even there, technically, how could I be—oooooh,” I said with the wide-eyed, stunned expression people wear when the mental light bulb finally flicks on, but what it illuminates is not what they'd hoped to see. “So Scarlet. She...she—”

“Chose Matty,” Cooper said with a slight hint of distaste. “Didn't take her for the Boy Scout type.”

“Most Boy Scouts haven't been to
juvie
, Cooper. He's probably the exact type for her, and, well, apparently
is
since she picked him. Holy shit!”

“We need to get down there now,” he said, pushing me towards the door.

“Wait!” I yelled, digging in my heels. “That's a bad idea. Won't he flip out if you're with me? If I'm his woman or whatever?” He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment as if that was the first time I'd said something potentially insightful. “Think about it. He's not going to hurt me; he'll want to protect me...from
you
!”

“You may be right,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don't want to have to kill him.”

The growl rumbled out of my throat with a threat level of ten.

“Ruby,” Cooper said, his voice overly calm. “Nobody is going to harm Matty.
Ever
. Okay?”

Silence.

“Did
I
do that?” I asked, panic in my voice.

“Yes. Your eyes went that weird purple color they turn when Scarlet bleeds into you, but doesn't fully take over. It seems to happen when you're in agreement about what you want.”

“Oh shit...”

“Oh shit, indeed.”

“Alright, then it's clearly a bad idea for you to come with me.”

“Looks that way.”

“I'm going to go then. I'll call you once I retrieve my phone.”

“Take my cell,” he ordered, fishing it out of his back pocket. “I have the landline programmed into it. God knows you have no clue what your own phone number is. Call me when you get there.”

I gave him a little hug before heading for the front door.

“Be careful, Rubes. This shit is bad.
Really
bad,” he said. “If Sean finds—”

“
Sean
isn't going to find out,” I shouted, pointing my finger at him, “because
you're
not going to tell him and neither am I. I'll figure something out. I always do.”

I slammed the door behind me and paused before going down the stairs. Sean was out of town, which made my life exponentially easier in the short term, but the long term looked bleak. Very, very bleak. I knew then that Scarlet not only wouldn't kill Matty, but she would take out anyone else who tried. The implications were staggering.

22

I called Cooper as soon as I pulled up outside the house, as per his mandate. His concern was palpable when I left, but, even taking that into consideration, he was turning into quite the little dictator. Sean would have been proud.

The house was silent, and I made my way in through the back, the same as I had the previous night. Cooper had told me that as long as I didn't sneak up on Matty everything would be fine. If he was still asleep, I was to find my phone and get out as quietly as possible. He actually rolled his eyes when he said it. His pet nickname for me had become “the elephant,” or “petit elephant” when he was feeling especially cultured, due to my heavy footedness when I walked. With that in mind, I tiptoed through the house looking for any sign of Matty on the first floor. Everything appeared as it had when I left.

Softly calling his name, I received no response. I crept up the stairs trying to make as little noise as possible, but in a century-old home, it was virtually impossible. Creeks and groans escaped from every tread. When I heard the squeaking of a mattress upstairs, I froze.

“Matty,” I whispered as loudly as I dared.

He made a guttural sound of protestation, like I was his mother calling him to get ready for school.

I proceeded with a little less caution until I was in the upstairs hall.

“
Matty,
” I called out again.

“Ughhhh.”

“Matty, it's me, Ruby,” I said, moving closer to his room. “I just need to get my phone.

“Food?” he grumbled, barely intelligible.

“Uh, sure...sure, I can go get you something,” I said, backtracking to the first floor kitchen. I slapped together the most ridiculous combination of foods I could find along with a gallon jug of orange juice before returning upstairs. It might not have been the best idea, given that he was going to be less problematic when starving and weak, but the images of him wasting away plagued my mind, even though he had recovered from that. Some things couldn't be unseen.

Hovering just outside his room, I wasn’t sure that I was ready to see the state he was in. I wasn't excited about seeing what state he would put me in either. Getting shoved aside by Scarlet was a frightening and helpless experience the first time around, and I wasn't looking forward to the possibility of it happening again.

Planning for that very event, I had my ring placed snugly on my hand before even leaving my apartment. Neither Cooper nor I was sure it would work, but I thought it certainly couldn't hurt my chances. Scarlet and I had functioned in a more integrated way after our healing incident with Sophie, but, after what occurred as a result of Matty's Change, it appeared that we were further apart than ever. If my blackouts were going to return, I had to prepare. I felt like my life was coming around full circle. And that was
so
not an improvement.

“I've got food,” I said as I stuck my head in around the door. “Are you decent—”

No. No, he wasn't.

He stood beside the bed as naked as the day he was born, staring at me with tired but hungry eyes. He definitely wasn't interested in the food I was precariously carrying either. His hunger ran far deeper than that.

“So, my phone? Any ideas where that might be?” I asked, scanning the ransacked room. It literally looked like a category three hurricane had hit it, and all I could think was how glad I was that I didn't remember what had been done to cause that level of destruction. Suddenly, I had the strangest urge to clean it before his parents got home.

“No,” he said, facing me square on.

“Okay,” I said, squirming under his stare. “Well, I’ll just put this on the bed and go look for it then,” I said, moving to the far side of the offset mattress to put the armload of food down. He intercepted me on the way.

“I'm not hungry anymore,” he said, pulling me close to him. I felt Scarlet bouncing off the walls of my skull like a caged animal desperate to escape. Her reaction settled it. Matty and she were mated for sure. The downside was that he didn't seem to realize that bond didn't apply to me as well.

“Weird,” I said, ducking away from him gracefully. “Cooper said you'd need to eat soon, so—”

“
Cooper
,” he growled, low and threatening.

“He's just trying to help,” I explained, hoping to defuse the situation.

“He wants you for himself,” he said, knocking me to the bed, positioning himself above me. Food scattered throughout the room, amplifying its post-storm appearance.

“No. He
doesn't
,” I said, trying to push him off of me. I might as well have been trying to push my car.

“He thinks he
owns
you.”

“
Nobody
owns me.”

“He's wrong.”

“
You're
wrong.”

“I think your girl, Scarlet, would disagree,” he said with a wicked grin. “She seemed to think I owned her pretty good last night.”