Chapter 8
Ruby
Logic dies a slow, stupid death when faced with gray sweatpants and a big dick.
“Ruby?” Cas asks, and my stare drifts from his crotch to the ridges in his defined stomach, up to his smirk, then finally lands on his eyes. “Are you ready?”
It’s been three days, and Cas has pored over the spell book night and day, scribbling notes in a cryptic language. The writing is more like chicken scratch than actual words and letters, with heavy slashes and rough edges. But as the hours he spent researching pressed on, his confidence grew. This morning, he came to me with a giant smile and told me he’d figured it out.
He thrusts a piece of paper into my hands, still with that ridiculous grin on his face. “Here’s the incantation you’ll need.”
A frown tugs at my lips as I read. “Cas… this is almost identical to the one I used to summon you.” Da mihi carmen ad me felicem cum Amon is written in neat English, and I trace it a few times before I glance back up at him.
His smile is soft as he nods. “Sometimes the simplest solution really is the right one. Searching for a different spell, or worse, crafting a completely new one, would take a lot of time and I wouldn’t be as confident in the success. A few modifications to the original seems like the most sensible approach.”
Skepticism eats at me as I scan his face, looking for deception but not finding it. “And you’re sure this will work?”
“I can’t be positive,” he admits with a one-armed shrug. “Honestly, there’s no way to have certainty with magic. There’s always room for interpretation, and it’s a fickle creature.”
That’s fair, and his admission brings me more confidence than if he told me he was certain it would work. I can’t expect him to offer me a guarantee, especially since it was my mistakes that led us into this mess. “Do we use the same summoning circle?”
“Thought it was just a rune?” he mutters, and then pretends not to notice my glare. “Yes, and all the ingredients are the same, too.”
My heart sinks. “There was one ingredient that I used the last of…”
“Eye of Howler. Lucky for you, I have a bit of a knack for spell crafting and have extensively studied the properties of different ingredients. Chimera blood is a suitable substitute, and your granny had an entire vial full. It should work the same.”
“ Should ,” I murmur. “There’s that word again.”
His grin is broad as he glances at me. “No need to stress. If anything goes wrong, you’ve got me here to help.”
I huff a scoff through my nose, cocking a brow in his direction. “You’d actually protect me?”
He’s silent for a beat before quietly asking, “You truly have to ask?” There’s a sharp edge to his voice, and the hurt in his eyes confirms that I’ve really put my foot in it this time. Guilt surges through my chest, but before I can respond, he continues, “Ruby, our relationship…” When he trails off, the pad of his thumb drags over his smirking bottom lip. “Our demon and witch relationship won’t allow me to do anything that would cause you harm. Our other relationship also prevents it.”
“Other… relationship?”
“Yes,” he says with a troublemaker grin. “The one where you came on my fingers and jerked me off using my horns.”
“Right,” I whisper with a rough swallow.
The playful expression on his face fades, replaced by a seriousness that rarely shows itself. His typical light-hearted goofiness is something I’ve come to love, and it’s another stab at my heart to see him without it. “All joking aside, I care about you—deeply. You must know that, don’t you?”
“I do,” I say, still quiet.
Full of caution, he walks over and wraps his arms around me, pulling me into the warmth of his broad chest. I glance up, resting my chin against his sternum and taking in the gorgeous planes of his face. Cheekbones so sharp they should be illegal catch the light in just the right way, and his thick lashes spider across his cheeks as they flutter.
He’s so fucking beautiful.
Eyes darting between mine, he hesitates before he closes the distance and plants a gentle kiss on my lips. “Hold on to that,” he whispers against my mouth. “Don’t forget it, okay? Promise me?”
“I promise.” He leans in once more, giving me another lingering kiss as I realize this is goodbye.
“Have you changed your mind about sex before we do this? I am very good at it.” Even before I see his face, I recognize the smile in his voice. I swat at his back, and a deep, rich gunshot blast of a laugh leaves him. The realization that I’ll never hear it again weighs heavily on my chest. “That’s a no, then?” he asks, still grinning as I shake my head, snapping out of my funk.
“Raincheck,” I tell him, with just a touch of emotion shaking my voice.
He frowns and walks to the window, glancing outside. “There is no rain.”
A giggle slips from my throat as he glances over his shoulder at me, the lean muscles in his back flexing with the motion. “No, a raincheck is a promise to do it later because we can’t right now.”
His eyes darken, and his tongue traces a path across his lips. “Do not make promises you have no intention of keeping, Ruby.”
A sudden shiver runs down my spine at the deep timbre of his voice, and he steps into my space again, running his palms over my arms and watching as goosebumps rise in their wake. He doesn’t wait for a response, probably doesn’t even expect one, just leans in and gives me another breath-stealing kiss.
More of my sanity dissolves as he pulls back and offers me a soft smile, before moving to grab the ingredients off the table.
This is the right decision…
Isn’t it?
Heart thundering in my chest, I try to keep my cool as I follow, wordlessly helping him to finish setting up the spell. It beats louder, more insistent, with every piece of the puzzle we assemble, and by the time we’re done, it gallops like a herd of wild horses inside me.
They want to break free, and I want to let them.
But this… this is what I must do.
I know that.
The draught is placed at the center of the summoning circle, and I move to stand at the bottom of the rune, in the exact same spot as last time.
“It will work better if you kneel,” Cas says, peeking at me from where he’s reviewing the spell again.
“I wasn’t kneeling when I summoned you,” I point out, but he shakes his head.
“Your spell didn’t work out how you expected it to, either. The closer you are to the circle, the more power your words will have.”
Nodding, I glance at the worn, dusty floor of the attic and drop to my knees. “Does it matter where you stand?”
“No,” he says, and my heart pinches at the regret I hear in his voice.
“Alright…” I draw in a deep breath, running my palms across my jeans and wiping away the collecting sweat. The alarm on my phone beeps, and I glance over my shoulder at Cas standing there. I take time to memorize his face, his sculpted body, and… yes, the anaconda pushing itself against the crotch of his thin sweatpants.
There is only so much restraint a woman can muster.
“Ready?” he asks, gentle in a way that defies his demon nature.
No. “Yes.” Hands shaking, I turn to face the circle, bringing the piece of paper with the spell written on it closer so I don’t miss a word. I ensure my sneezing instinct is at bay before I clear my throat and before I can change my mind, before I can turn to him and beg him to stay, to be mine , I force myself to say the words with perfect clarity. “Da mihi carmen ad me felicem cum Amon .”
The deafening silence doesn’t take me by surprise this time, and neither does the red light that swallows the room. Icy fear that’s beyond my control grips me as the ground trembles, voicing its protest to the tidal wave of magic. I close my eyes and pull in a deep, jagged inhale, trying to ignore the anguished mourning of the loss of my demon.
Eyes sealed shut, a thick baritone chuckle rings out, an instinctual awareness rooting me in place, holding perfectly still as it grows in volume. It coats the room in its malevolence, an evil, wicked thing, lacking the joyful humor found in Cas’s laughter.
Fear causes my breathing to turn choppy, and as the light fades beyond my eyelids, I force myself to peek out of one eye to find…
A very muscular pair of ass cheeks.
“Amon!” Cas calls from behind my back, and as the body before me whips around, an absolutely enormous penis smacks right into the side of my head, slapping against my cheek.
Horror lines my face as I gasp and dart backwards, falling onto my ass as I scramble away, looking like some sort of demented crab trying to walk on its back. “Oh… my god…” Cas breathes, the shock in his voice causing it to tremble. The surprise changes to something almost giddy as I gawk, unable to do anything but stare.
“Oh... my… GOD !” His explosive laugh is a foghorn. “Bullseye! Your face! Oh, fuck, your… face !” Cas cries, nothing more than a wheeze as he doubles over, every bit of his breath shooting out in a long, drawn-out laugh. “You should have seen the look on your face! Ruby !” His inhale is so violent it’s more of a gasping shout, tears glistening down his cheeks.
Still sprawled on my back, dust flying around us, I crane my head to stare at Cas, open-mouthed. “What… what… Cas, what the fuck is…”
“His penis! ” Cas’s skin has turned tomato red, the lack of oxygen and the force of his laughter causing veins to pop from his neck. “His penis hit your face ! It hit…” Another loud wheeze. “Your… FACE! ”
Realization hits me like a bolt of lightning. “You did this on purpose!” I shout, barely making an impact over his raucous laughter. “You… you… you had me summon him !” I gesture over my shoulder, not yet ready to acknowledge the demon elephant in the room. “On purpose! You…” My eyes flare as I scramble to my feet, jabbing a finger into Cas’s chest. “You had me get on my knees on purpose! You knew!”
Cas’s hands scrub over his face as he nods, still laughing hysterically. “Ruby, you should have seen your face… it was the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Anger burns my cheeks as I shove at his chest, and his crippling laughter is the only thing that allows me to actually move him. My palms slam against his stupidly firm pecs, and his shoulders and head slam against the wall as he swipes at the gleeful tears that are streaking his skin.
“Not to interrupt,” a voice so deep it rumbles into the very marrow of my bones says from behind me, “but I’m guessing you had something to do with this, my dear Casimir?”
Cas’s face lights up as he grins over my shoulder. “Perhaps.” He smartly holds me at arm’s length, so I can’t test my theories on how to murder a demon.
A presence at my back has my hair standing on end as the voice gets closer. “Your summoning witch is lovely, isn’t she?” He’s so close now that his breath blows across my skin, and fear grips my chest as I freeze. “So innocent… so very…” Inching forward, his lips land right beside my ear. “… corruptible.”
Finally, I swallow past the giant lump in my throat, every nerve ending in my body on high alert as I turn. The demon behind me steps back just enough to keep our bodies from touching as he smirks, tilting his chin up in a move that screams confidence. He’s at the top of the food chain, and well aware of his position.
The apex predator.
His skin is darker than Cas’s, his hair the same raven black, but long and billowing over his shoulders. Dark lashes frame his equally black eyes that have a slight upward turn, but his horns are what catch my eye.
Where Cas’s are relatively straight and not overly long, the newcomer’s horns are enormous and thick, curled like a ram. I wonder if there’s any correlation to age or power, and the wave of oppressive air that tightens around me makes me suspect there is. His eyes lock on mine, and the oxygen traps in my lungs as my skin stretches too tight, constricting my insides.
“Amon, let up on the intensity. Ruby’s cool.” Immediately, the atmosphere in the room relaxes and I’m able to take a deep breath again. My hand lands on my heaving chest as I continue to stare, trying and failing to get my pulse to calm.
No, it continues to thunder inside my ribcage even as the new demon—Amon—pulls his focus from me, watching Cas walk around me. His lips tug into a different sort of smirk—less condescension and more cockiness—as his eyes soften, and Cas’s smile is blinding as he approaches the naked demon.
“You always have been a tricky devil,” Amon muses as Cas huffs a laugh, and their arms fly around each other, lips meeting in a passionate kiss.
Nothing could stop my mouth from falling open in shock.