Page 58 of Riot of Autumn

My breath is ragged, and my chin trembles as I hurry to press in the code to Ezra’s lock with shaky fingers. I kick off my soggy shoes before I walk inside. The smell of Ezra assaults me the second I’m in the house. All my senses are being overwhelmed by the reminder that I could have lost him tonight. And they’re all slapping me in the face and asking what I’m waiting for.

Am I going to let things drift back into our antagonistic friendship because I’m too afraid of the power Ezra has to hurt me? Wouldn’t it be worse to never explore what we could be rather than never knowing?

Fuck.

I move into Ezra’s bedroom, straight for the master bathroom. There’s another bathroom near the spare bedrooms, but it’s small and Ezra never uses it. I want to be somewhere that has all his stuff, that smells like him. I want to take over his space like he’s taken over all my thoughts.

I move on instinct, not having any control over my body as I stand in Ezra’s bathroom. I love his bathroom. It’s modern, but warm and masculine. The walls are a dark slate tile that matches the dark tile floor. There’s a gleaming white soaking tub in one corner of the room opposite a large walk-in shower with more shower heads than I have in my entire duplex. That’s including Skeeter’s place.

I shuck off Davis’s coat and peel off my layers one by one, letting them drop with a heavythwapto the ground. Should I wait to get naked and take a shower at Ezra’s house? Maybe, but right now, I can’t sit around out there and dissect what just happened. If I touch Ezra, I will lose it, and I don’t want to be that exposed in front of everyone.

My movements are stiff as I turn on the shower, and the cold and shock fully settle in. The heat of the water barely registers as I step under the stream. My eyes focus on some invisible point on the wall that I can’t blink my gaze away from. The water pours over me, and I let everything go numb.

20

EZRA

“Thanks, Lena.” I squeeze her fingers gratefully. Her healing magic does its thing and soothes aches in my body that I wasn’t even aware were there.

My throat was raw, but I didn’t realize how beat up the rest of my body was feeling until her warm magic swept through me. “That’s a really fucking handy kind of magic to have.”

“Not like shifting into another species altogether, but it’s not too shabby.” Lena grins at me, but she can’t hide the worry in her eyes.

“Aren’t you cold? You should go get warmed up. Davis and I will meet the others and fill them in.”

She pushes me toward the door where my feet were already headed. Ruby went inside a minute ago, looking dazed.

“Honestly, I’m not cold. I think I have my shifter magic to thank for that. But I need to get out of these clothes.”

Davis and Lena follow me inside, but they stay in the living room while I make my way to the bedroom. I could already hear the shower running when I walked inside the house. Ruby obviously needed to warm up. I shut my bedroom door, and stand outside my bathroom, wavering with uncertainty. Should I let her finish up in there and go shower off the ocean in the guest bath?

That’s the last damn thing I want to do. A low growl vibrates in my chest at the thought of walking away from Ruby. Colton tried to put his hands on her tonight. Tried to manipulate her fucking mind and take advantage of her. The need to rip him to shreds and piss on the remains almost has me barreling back out of my house to find the piece of shit on the beach. The only thing stopping me is Ruby.

I don’t hear anything besides the fall of water. No sounds of her moving in there. What if she’s not okay? Christ, am I just inventing reasons to storm in on her? Yes. But I don’t give a shit. I need to check on her.

I turn the knob and a surprised grunt escapes when I find it unlocked. Entering the bathroom, I shut the door behind me, and this time, I lock it. No one else needs to join us in here. Ruby’s back is to the door and, for a second, all I can do is stare at the soft curves of her waist and ass. The first tattoo I gave her is visible on her ribs, the small, perfect cube. I thought she was going to punch me when she first saw it. That was how I wound up with Ruby’s name scrawled over my heart.

My mouth tastes like bitter salt water. I brush my teeth, needing to get the taste out. Tonight was a head fuck. I’m not currently processing everything that went down. Being trapped under the water was a nightmare brought to life. Seraphina hadn’t been lying. She’d fished out my darkest fear and dumped me right into it tonight. Except, I realized something when I was being battered by the water. My deepest fear has changed. All I could think about was how Ruby would be left vulnerable if I died. Who would protect her? Who would push her to embrace her talents? Who would pick fights with her to redirect her attention when she’s spiraling?

The water isn’t suddenly my favorite place, but I’m not as rattled as I could be. I am pissed, though.

My eyes stay locked on Ruby while I finish up brushing, eager to get in the shower with her. She’ll probably flay me alive for staring at her, but I can’t peel my eyes away. Her violet hair is darker under the water, but no less beautiful. It takes me a moment to stop gaping long enough to realize Ruby’s not moving, except for small tremors that keep wracking her body. Her arms hang loosely at her sides as the water pours over her.

Tossing my toothbrush in the sink, I shuck my clothes and leave them in a wet pile next to Ruby’s. My feet move on autopilot, taking me toward the person who owns my heart. I step into the shower, fitting my body to Ruby’s as the water cascades over us both. I suck in a breath and adjust the spray when I realize how fucking hot the water is. Up close, I see Ruby’s skin has turned pink from the assault.

“Ruby.” I turn the temperature down and run my hands up her arms, but she doesn’t respond. “Are you okay?”

I frown, sliding my arms over her chest and stomach and hugging her back to my chest. She doesn’t say anything, but her body trembles in a way that has my heart beating hard enough to blast out of my chest. Did Colton do something else to her? Did one of the other Fae hurt her while I was being drowned?

“Ruby?” Panic threads through my voice. I turn her around so I can look at her face.

Cupping her cheeks, I tip her head back, forcing her to look at me. Water clings to her long dark eyelashes and the emotion in her eyes is pure terror.

“Talk to me, Cube. What did they do to you?”

“Me?” she croaks out, shaking her head, blinking at me like she’s just now seeing me in front of her. “They didn’t do anything to me. They almost killed…” Her words stop on a hiccup. Her hands wrap around my forearms and she squeezes, clinging to me. A tear breaks free from her eye and streams down her cheek.

“I almost lost…you were almost…” She can barely speak. “And I should be taking care of you. Asking if you’re okay. Are you okay? Stupid question. Of course not. I suck. You should abandon ship right now. I’m not worth it.”

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