Page 75 of Ruby Red Sky

“I will if necessary. Let’s go. Since we’re here, there’s someone I need to see.”

Zaynan took a couple of steps. “I’m leaving, I’ve got things to do.”

Lukas looked confounded, his brows furrowing and lips separating. “Leaving to where? You can’t go back to the First. Stay here and I will help you.”

“No, not there. I’m going home, can’t stay here but thanks.” He lifted a hand in the air, gesturing vaguely. “All this, and you, it's cool, but it's not home.”

My lips curved into a small smile. “Well, good luck and thank you for the timely assist.”

Zaynan dipped his head at me. “I’ll see you around, somewhere. I’ve got someone to find.”

With that announcement, he disappeared, leaving a slight waver in the air that quickly dissipated. “So that’s what that really looks like,” I wondered aloud. It wasn’t nearly as visible in the First Realm.

Lukas snared my hand and we set off into the woods. After walking for a while, we found a road at a break in the tree line. He stood beside me stiff as a board, with only his eyes moving. I could tell he was listening, hearing something I couldn’t with my lack of magical abilities.

“This way,” he said quietly.

We took a right and started down a dirt trail with wagon ruts. Giant, frilly ferns and jutting rocks lined the sides, and I saw fresh cut trees, as if the road was maintained.

Lukas examined it all with interest as he kept us in the shadows, close to the forest. I broke the silence. “What were you going to do?” I asked.

His grip on my hand increased and I instantly regretted my question. I was a fool if I thought he really would have hurt me, and I knew it was past insecurity rearing its ugly head. The man beside me was nothing like Bryan. Comparing them was illogical and insane.

“If Zaynan had given me the chance, I would have struck down Annalise for having dared put you in that position.”

My heart filled with warmth. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I think I’m still getting used to all this.”

He rubbed his chin with his free hand and then pressed his fingers to his forehead before swiping his palm down my face. He came to a stop. “You’re not the only one.”

He pulled us to the side, bringing us right up to the outcrop of rock. “You don’t listen. You don’t ever fucking listen to me. But I really need you to. Things will get worse before they get better and I cannot be worried about where you are or what you’re doing the whole time.”

He took a deep breath and looked me in the eye, his gaze flickering black for a split second. “Annalise will never forgive my rebellion or the embarrassment I caused her. She threatened to wake up Wyvon.”

I licked my lips and kicked a pebble to the side. “That’s her husband, right? Katarina said he’s even stricter than you.”

“That is true. Our laws are there for a reason, as I’ve told you before, and I’ve now broken countless. I’m no better than an outlaw and I should sentence myself to extinguishment.”

My eyes met his, “What? What’s that?” A chill ran down my spine, fearing it meant exactly what it sounded like.

“It means I will be gone forever. Irretrievable.”

The blood covering his chest and his arms was flaking off, and I brushed some away, watching it turn to dust. “Please don’t do that, you’re scaring me.”

He was covered with grime, but I let him pull me into a hug. He smelled like copper and leather and stone, remnants of what he’d just battled.

Our mouths met and greedily I kissed him back, desperate for his closeness. His tongue danced intoxicatingly with mine, and I grabbed the back of his neck, pushing myself against his chest.

He drew back, leaving our breaths mingling, before he pressed his soft lips against mine once more. Heat filled me, leaving an electric tingle twisting down my spine.

“I should punish you,” he said, his voice deep and dark, “and I will.” His words should have frightened me but for some godforsaken reason, they immediately had the opposite effect.

His head tilted back a fraction, and he flicked another glance at me. His nose twitched and he licked his lips. “Wait,” he said.

My feet shuffled and I glanced at my chest. Half of the crap he’d been covered with was all over me. Brushing it off didn’t make much of a difference.

Lukas lifted his hand and swiped it through the air, making it all go away. Almost as an afterthought, he peered down at himself and repeated the motion. Then, he suddenly had a dress shirt, fancy jacket, and perfectly pressed slacks on.

“How convenient,” I muttered, as we began down the road again.