24. Ruination

CHAPTER 24

Ruination

S hadows pooled on the living room floor, and Ryker exhaled a sigh of relief.

Half an hour ago, he'd returned home from his meeting to an empty apartment. He took Marlowe for a quick run, hoping to distract himself, but it didn't work. His vampire was strong, but he didn't trust her Maker.

Even exchanging messages with River hadn't calmed Ryker's nerves. His sister and her best friend Ember were coming over tomorrow night to watch a game of laser, along with Nikhail and Atlas. Cyrus was doing well on his meds, and River felt confident going out for the night.

This would be an excellent first step for Ryker and Brynleigh to practice for the Reunion. It wasn't a public event, but they needed to get used to being around others again.

As soon as Brynleigh's form materialized by the couch, Ryker strode towards her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, even as his eyes swept over her and confirmed she had no visible injuries.

Brynleigh nodded, but her gaze was guarded. She wrapped her arms around herself and worried her bottom lip.

His gut pinched. Something was wrong .

"I'm fine," she answered. "But… I have to tell you something."

Ryker's chest tightened, and an alarm blared in his head. Immediately, his mind went to worst-case scenarios and ran through them one by one. Usually, doing this helped settle his mind and gave him strategies for moving forward. It was one of the reasons he was so good at chess and his job. Predictions and calculations were an integral part of strategy.

He'd never predicted that his wife would try to kill him, though, so maybe he was off his game.

Ryker was so tense that he might snap in half if she didn't put his mind at ease soon. Somehow, he kept his voice calm and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Promise not to yell?" she asked.

Nothing good ever started like that. He drew in a deep breath and nodded. "I'll do my best."

For her, he'd do anything.

"Okay. I… I wasn't at a job tonight," Brynleigh admitted.

His eyes widened, and anger surged, burning a path through his veins.

She'd lied to him again? He thought they were past that and trying to fix things. This felt awfully like the opposite of that.

It took every ounce of control he had, but he kept his promise not to yell. Somehow.

"What do you mean?"

She stepped towards him, moving slowly as if to give him time to back away. When he didn't, she put her hand on his. Her touch, always colder than his own, grounded him. She was here, and she was safe.

How bad could it be?

"I sort of… went to a rebel meeting."

Bad.

This was so gods-damned bad that he couldn't even wrap his mind around it.

Forgetting his promise, he snarled loudly, "Why the fuck would you do that? "

What in the name of all the gods had she been thinking? This was so far outside the realm of intelligent choices; he hadn't even considered that she might do something like this. Did she agree with the rebels? Did she want to work with them?

A growl rumbled through Ryker's chest, and Brynleigh's eyes widened.

"I… I thought it was a good idea. I mean, I still do." She swallowed and spoke quickly as if she was afraid he might cut her off if she didn't get it all out. "When Jelisette tried to kill me the night you went to Sandhaven, I told her I wasn't done. That's why she let me live. I convinced her I still wanted to take down the Representatives."

A rushing filled Ryker's ears, and his heart pounded so loudly, he could barely hear his own thoughts. He'd known Brynleigh had made some questionable choices in the past, but this…

He frowned. "So, she handed you an invitation to a rebel meeting? Just like that?"

People had been trying to infiltrate the Black Night for decades. It couldn't be that easy.

Brynleigh blanched, breathing in deeply through her nose. "Ah… no."

Unease churned Ryker's stomach, and he crossed his arms. "Explain."

To his wife's credit, she did exactly that. Pacing a path across the living room floor, she told him everything. Visiting a warehouse, drinking some blood wine, overhearing conversations, and fighting a Death Elf called the Crimson Shade.

By the time Brynleigh wrapped up her story, Ryker was half-inclined to throttle her.

What the hell had she been thinking? Who walked into a rebel meeting not once but twice without backup? It was incredibly foolish. Brave—so fucking brave that it warmed his heart—but also life-threateningly idiotic.

He could've lost her .

By the Black Sands, she could've died, and he never would have known what happened to her.

"They could've killed you," Ryker growled.

She raised a brow. "True, but they didn't. I'm alive and in one piece."

Unbidden, visions of his beautiful wife cut up into pieces and scattered across the Republic flashed through Ryker's mind. Red tinged his vision, and his nails dug into his flesh. She'd been in mortal danger tonight, and he'd been in a gods-damned bureaucratic meeting.

"Why?" he asked, unable to form but the simplest of words.

Why put herself in that kind of danger? Why not tell him? For that matter, why tell him now? He had so many questions he wasn't sure which one he was asking.

She seemed to understand, though, even if he didn't. "For you."

His brows knit together. "What?"

Apparently, anger greatly hampered his linguistic capabilities.

Brynleigh's dark eyes swept over his, and for a long moment, it seemed like she wouldn't answer.

"You need to know about the Black Night, right?" she asked.

"I… yes." In an ideal world, they'd get ahead of the rebels and put a permanent stop to them.

She took his hand again, her fingers frighteningly small against his. "I have an in, and honestly? It's the least I can do. I want to make amends, Ryker."

He shook his head. "Sweetheart, you don't need?—"

She kissed him. Their mouths slanted together, and she swallowed the rest of his words. It was a soft, gentle embrace. Hardly anything at all.

And yet, desire coursed through him like bolts of lightning.

She didn't pull away, so he deepened their embrace. Every taste, every touch of her lips against his was heavenly. He needed her. He pressed his hardness against her stomach, and she moaned against his lips .

That lightning became a storm within him. He was tired of taking care of himself in the shower, tired of waking up hard and in need, tired of not having her in his arms. Yet, he didn't want to push her too fast. He wouldn't risk breaking them again.

"Let me do this for you, Ry," she murmured against his mouth. "I want to see this situation with the rebels through."

He was just a fae. How was he supposed to argue when a gorgeous female was pressed against him?

Raising his hand, he broke their kiss and ran his knuckles down her cheek. "What am I going to do with you, little vampire?"

Who knew having a wife would be so much work? Every moment of every day, he worried about her.

"I don't know," Brynleigh whispered, pressing her cheek into his palm.

He bent his head, his forehead brushing against hers.

"I worry about you endlessly," he whispered. "Every time the sun rises, I wonder if this will be our last day together before it all ends."

She fisted his shirt and held him close.

"I'm not going anywhere, Ry." She looked up at him, black eyes wide as she held his gaze and kissed the corner of his mouth. "I promise."

"And yet you put yourself in danger tonight," he reminded her. "You could've been killed. I would've lost you."

His voice cracked on the last word. He couldn't even imagine the heartache that would've haunted him if that had happened.

"It was for a good cause," she murmured, pressing a feather-light kiss against his lips. "Us."

How could such a small word sound so good?

"Say it again," he breathed, his heart pounding in his chest.

The corner of her mouth tugged up. "Us."

Despite the situation, despite her recklessness, despite everything else, warmth ran through him.

"I like hearing that almost as much as I like you. "

Brynleigh chuckled. "You like me, Captain? Is that all you feel for me?"

Her tone was teasing, but desperation and need were buried beneath her words.

"No."

He stepped away from her and took her hand. Lacing their fingers together, he led her to the window. Stars peeked through the clouds, and the moon was a half-crescent hanging in the sky.

"It's beautiful," she murmured.

He hummed in approval. "It is, but you are far more beautiful than any night sky."

His vampire inhaled, but he didn't give her the chance to speak.

"Like the moon that rises every night and the stars that follow its lead, I am drawn to you." Even when they had been at their most broken, he'd been drawn to her. "You are mine in every way. My wife. My vampire."

"Ryker—"

He turned to look at her. "Sometimes, I think you could be my ruination."

Her hand twitched in his, but he wasn't done.

"If you're going to ruin me, do it by my side. Remain with me. Let us work this out, and whatever happens, happens." He traced her wedding ring. "There's no one I'd rather be ruined by than you."

For the longest moment, she was a statue, and then her lips tilted up.

Gods above, had there ever been as beautiful of a sight as his wife's perfect smile?

"You have a way with words, Ry." She squeezed his hand. "Has anyone ever told you that?"

"A few," he admitted, his gaze searching hers.

She stepped towards him and lifted her chin.

"I'm drawn to you, too, and I promise I'm not going anywhere," she murmured. "I don't think you could get rid of me now, even if you tried."

"I don't plan on it." He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed before Marlowe snorted in his sleep, the sound breaking them out of whatever spell had been cast over them.

Ryker kissed the top of Brynleigh's head. "So, this meeting…"

She stiffened. "Yeah, we should probably talk about that." Pulling out of his grasp, she headed to the kitchen and spoke over her shoulder. "Let me grab you a beer. I think you'll need it when you hear what happened tonight."

That did not bode well.

Ryker agreed, and Brynleigh returned in a vampiric flash, carrying drinks for them both.

She handed him the bottle. "Should we sit?"

"Good idea." He took her hand and led her to the couch, where Marlowe lounged like he owned the entire place. "Down, Marlie."

The pup hopped off immediately, curling up on the carpet by the front door instead.

Ryker sat, pulling Brynleigh down with him. Their legs brushed against each other, and neither of them pulled away. Thank all the gods.

"Okay." He slung an arm over her shoulder and twisted a lock of her blonde hair around his finger. "Tell me what happened."

Slowly, Brynleigh explained everything that she'd learned at the rebel meeting. She paused and answered his questions when they came up, not minding when he grabbed his phone and jotted down several pertinent pieces of information.

When Ryker dragged her closer so their sides lined up from their shoulders to their toes, she didn't pull away. Instead, she leaned against him and kept speaking.

This was so much better than a single goodnight kiss.

"So that's it." Brynleigh dragged her finger around the rim of her empty glass an hour later. "The next time Jelisette calls me to the safe house, I'll look for the cipher. That should help, too, right?"

Ryker nodded.

"Anything you can find will help. This is already far more than we've ever gotten on the Black Night." All because of his wife. Pride was a burning flame in his chest, and he squeezed her shoulder. He hated that she was endangering herself for this information, but he was so impressed by her actions and bravery. "Thank you."

The rebels had already proven they would do anything to get what they wanted. Maybe, with Brynleigh as the army's secret weapon, this would be the lead they needed to get ahead once and for all.