Page 92 of Ruby Red Sky

So, I decided it wasn’t there. It just didn’t exist. There were strong, sturdy walls on either side of us, and we were heading back to the castle because the sky freaked out.

We all shuffled to a stop behind Oliver and when I looked up, there was a door. He opened it and I couldn’t say it was a warm breeze, exactly, but a warmer breeze of fresh air curled around my shoulders.

The ground beneath my feet gradually changed over to dirt, and then tufts of green grass appeared, and we were outside.

It didn’t take me long to realize we were beside the castle, right by the stone bridge that led to the entrance. “Well, that’s perfect,” I remarked.

It was a secret tunnel, placed in an ideal location. Too bad it had a weird dark abyss in it, or it would have been great for getting to different places quickly.

“It is. For obvious reasons, I like, never use it.” Selena was rubbing her arms briskly and she shook with a deep shudder. “The demons use them more than the vamps. Hotter blood, of course.” She let out a short laugh.

“There’s more than just the one?” We hurried across the bridge and made our way inside.

“Yeah,” she replied, just as Elijah made an appearance.

“What the fuck took you so long?”

CHAPTER 27

Lukas

My pacing drove Cassia crazy. She said she couldn’t figure out where to look when I wore a path in the carpet or “stomped” on the wood flooring, as she called it. Elijah didn’t seem to mind.

“Do you feel that?” He set his glass down on the table, his eyes flickering back and forth between blue and brown.

I did, the same moment he mentioned it. The atmosphere has changed. The energy was disturbed, and a stiff, cool breeze whistled through the castle windows, fluttering the edges of some papers stacked on a shelf.

Outside, dark clouds gathered, quickly blocking the sun before the darkness fell. Two moons rose on the horizon, and a long shadow fell across the floor, stopping ominously just before my shiny shoes.

Elijah stared at me. “Are you doing this?”

How sweet of him to think so. “As flattering as your assumption is, no I am not.”

“The women,” Elijah stated, getting up from his seat.

Cassia and Selena were fine—for now. If Cassia wasn’t, we wouldn’t have had this conversation. “They are on their way back.”

“The bridge. I’m going downstairs.”

He was gone and a maid walked into the room. “Delivery for Miss Cassia, my Lord.” A stack of brown paper wrapped packages was set on a table.

Ignoring the woman, I followed Elijah.

Oliver and Sven, the two guards that accompanied them, bowed quickly as Elijah said to Selena, “What the fuck took you so long?”

She rolled her eyes. “We came back as soon as we could. Sorry I don’t have super vamp speed.”

Cassia giggled nervously and then quickly schooled her face when Elijah glared at her. A wave of irritation flashed through me. No one had the right to glare at her but me.

This wasn’t the time to set the man straight, so I walked up to her and checked her over. There was nothing amiss other than the mild stench of the two guards. It angered me, but I forced myself to see reason.

“It got really cold out, and then we had to go through an underground tunnel to get back. What was that?” She asked.

Automatically, I knew it was from home—from the First Realm. Nowhere else, save maybe for the Fae Realm, could have that significant of an impact. “Magic stirring.”

Elijah stayed in the foyer with Selena, addressing his people’s concerns, while Cassia and I headed upstairs.

“I’m not sure what that means but I know it's not good. It didn’t feel good, either.” Cassia stated. Someone brushed past us, heading down, with a harried look on their face.