Page 69 of Ruby Red Sky

His brows furrowed as he flicked a glance at me. “I warned you.”

“Dude...,” I said, taking a look around.

There was no point in arguing with him over it. “Okay, what now? Where’d Zaynan go?”

Lukas went into the walk-in closet and came back out while I perched on the arm of the couch. “I’m going to go meet with Annalise and figure out what to do next.” He started pacing back and forth. “She’s going to want blood.”

“Why is she upset with you? I guess I can kinda understand her being upset with Zaynan—a lot of parents expect a lot of their kids. But what did you ever do, really?” For a moment I was distracted by his change of clothes. He’d put on a long coat with a wide collar that stood up. He looked more vampiric than I’d ever seen him, without his teeth extended.

He glanced at me and rubbed his forehead. Then he went back to his pacing. “I declined her advances.”

“Excuse me?” What the fuck was even happening around here?

“She knows you’re with me though,” I hissed.

Lukas widened his eyes at me with his eyebrows raised like what I’d just said was too stupid to mention.

He wasn’t the only one feeling spicy. I wanted to claw her eyes out. How dare she?

The maybe ten feet between us disappeared and he was right in front of me. “You’re going to wait here. I am going to go to her. I’ll be back. Don’t open the door for anyone.”

Snagging his arm, I said, “Oh no, I don’t think so. I’m going with you.”

“No, you are not.”

“Queen bitch needs to see that you’re with me. I’m not going to curl into a ball or run away and hide.”

My anger was growing, stirring through my veins and leaving me restless. I needed to be there. I couldn’t punch her in the face no matter how bad I wanted to, not without getting literally torn to shreds. So, she needed to see me by his side—there was no question.

He held my shoulders, rubbing his thumbs against my skin. “I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I am not going to let you go in there.”

I wrenched my shoulders from his grasp. “It’s not your decision.”

“Cassia,” he said, and pressed his lips together. “As a matter of fact, it is. It is my job to keep you safe. I’m not going to fail.”

The very smallest trickles of doubt started to fill me. Did I really think I could go up against vampires? I shoved the thought from my head. I’d do whatever I had to. “You can’t stop me. Remember how your door magic doesn’t work? Huh?”

“Enough, Cassia. Watch me.”

He stormed out of the room, leaving me with an unsettled feeling. I knew I was being crazy. I knew it beyond any shadow of a doubt.

But at the same time, was this going to be my life, having to be shut away every time the shit hits the fan? I was willing to bet this crap wasn’t all that out of the ordinary. Not when you had a building full of supernatural creatures all living in relatively close quarters.

Lukas was gone now, walking into God knows what, while I got to sit here helplessly wondering what was going to happen.

It didn’t take long for me to stand back up.

Grabbing the stiletto, I tucked it into a leather holster I found and secured it to my waist. When I pulled the hem of my sweater down, I heard knocking at the door.

Keeping my steps light, I walked over to the door, trying to listen for anything I could hear. Everything was silent. Then, I heard Katarina’s voice.

“Cassia!” She whispered, just loud enough that I could hear her.

When I grabbed the doorknob, my palm tingled and I realized Lukas must have put a fresh, new one of his wards or spells on the door so I couldn’t open it. My sweaty palm lost its grip, and I accidently smacked myself in the stomach.

“Are you okay in there?” Katarina asked. She must have heard my grunt.

Trying again, the door finally had some give. “I am. I just punched my stomach trying to get the stupid door open. Hang on a sec.”