Framed (27 page)

“The special clip,” Scarlet said, putting something together that I hadn't yet. "The one Ronnie never leaves the house without. I assume that has been for
you
all along. It's hard to blame her for her veritable arsenal knowing that the likes of you has been stalking her.”

He licked the side of Ronnie's face and she cringed, right hand flexing as if willing her gun to be in it.

“And you told me you didn't love me,” he said sarcastically while her hand still continued to flex. “If only you'd killed me when you had the chance. But you always were a softie.”

“If I'd known then what I do now, I'd have pumped you so full of silver that you'd have died instantly. I was young and ignorant then. I'm hardly that now,” Ronnie spat from the hold he had her in.

“But you didn't, did you, Veronica? You choked. Your little Underground friends had to come to your rescue yet again, though they were
terrible
shots. They could barely hit a barn door from five feet away. But it bought you time, didn't it? So you ran, and continued to run for years, keeping my baby from me from me the whole time,” he whispered softly in her ear. “So I'll tell you what I'm going to do in return. I'm going to kill you and then find my sweet, sweet Peyta and Change her so she and I can be together forever. Without you.”

Peyta's father...

“
So it would seem, Ruby. So it would seem,” Scarlet sneered, staring Ronnie down. “You would do better to trust me more, Ronnie. I can assure you it would have served you far better in this situation.”

“As you would do well to trust me,” the Rev interjected. “Tonight you must make your choice, Scarlet. Come with me and live, or stay here and die.” He smelled the air and smiled. “They're coming for you now. Can't you smell the resentment and hatred?”

“I smell only fear and death,” Scarlet replied calmly, “as they will both soon be yours. Let her go and perhaps I'll make this painless for you. If you were wise, you would seek my mercy, though I
do
love the sound of begging.”

“To try and kill me is to waste time, love. Time you don't have.”

“But if they come for
me
, then they'll get
you
too. You die either way,” Scarlet pointed out. “Do you prefer their justice or mine?”

Even I could hear the pounding footsteps approaching, and for a fleeting second I felt the anxiety it brought to Scarlet—she didn't want an unscheduled meeting with the PC anymore than I did.

“Which do you choose?” she asked, preparing to make her move.

He smiled wildly, his head tipped low, mouth hovering over Ronnie's shoulder.

“Neither,” he growled before he ripped a chunk of flesh the size of large steak out of her throat.

Scarlet rocketed towards him, but he was gone the instant he'd done it. I expected her to hunt him down and was preparing to protest when she stopped abruptly, kneeling down to scoop Ronnie up in her arms. Quickly assessing the damage his attack had caused, Scarlet slipped out of her shirt and stuffed it as best she could in the wound that was spraying wildly. For someone whose passion was killing, she seemed pretty hellbent on keeping Ronnie alive.

She needed something to tie over the packing to keep it in tight and constricting on the vessels beneath it. Coming to stand quickly, she removed her pants to do the job, tying them around Ronnie's neck. Scarlet knew that there were only seconds before the PC would descend upon her, a death squad with orders to take her down—and yet she stayed, cradling Ronnie's head in her lap.

"I am not your enemy," she whispered to her, leaning down to Ronnie's ear. "Neither is Ruby."

As she finished her sentiment, a voice broke through the silence.

“Ruby!” Sean hollered from the end of the alley that Scarlet had her back to. She snapped her head around to see a wall of men blocking her escape. As her eyes met theirs, a roar of anger came from them collectively.

“Scarlet,” he growled, though he appeared to be completely stunned by what he was seeing. “Put. Her. Down.”

She rose slowly, coated in Ronnie's blood. Her gaze quickly scanned her own appearance. The bright white of her skin was nearly iridescent in the moonlight and deeply contrasted by the dark burgundy pattern covering her body.

Rouge et Blanc incarnate.

“I did not do this,” she protested, calmly looking for an escape at the far end of the narrow road. That end was sealed with a wall of men as well. “You know I did not.”

“We know nothing,” a commanding and unfamiliar voice said, “except that we will no longer suffer you to live. The time for leniency has passed. You've broken a promise made to us, a promise that bound your fate to one of our own. Tonight, you will feel the consequences of breaking that.”

Do something!

“
I'm sorry, Ronnie,” Scarlet whispered to the limp and unconscious body before her.

Without skipping a beat, she sprang up the side of the building like Spiderman in hyper-drive. Once at the top, she sprinted across the adjacent roofs, trying to escape the mob of voices trailing all too closely behind her. One voice in particular grew nearer and nearer.

Shit!

“
You're not helping,” Scarlet growled at me under her breath. “Shut up. I need to concentrate.”

“Scarlet,” Sean rumbled from closer behind us than I thought possible or safe.

“She didn't do it!” I yelled, breaking through Scarlet’s hold temporarily. Our speed slowed considerably when I did.

"Are you trying to get us killed?" she snarled at me, taking over again after my minor outbreak.

“I know that, Ruby,” he said, breathing hard. “But they don't.”

With Scarlet in control, she put some distance back between us and the PC, and I was happy to have it. The brothers were gaining on Sean, and I suddenly remembered that I was not the only one on the run from a death sentence.

“Don't let them catch you!” I blurted out, turning to see where our pursuers were. “They'll kill you too—”

The final word of my sentence was knocked out of me as Sean sacked me like a quarterback whose offensive line had left him hanging. We rolled multiple times across the roof until colliding with the tiny little ledge at the end of it. I was incredibly thankful for that ledge, without which I'd have fallen to my death. Sean would have walked away with a booboo on his arm or maybe a bruise. How nice it would be to be allegedly invincible.

He flipped me on my back and pinned me down, giving me the once over quickly; it made my heart race inappropriately.

“Is she gone?” he asked hurriedly.

“I think so,” I said, uncertain of the answer. “I think my panic is overriding her self-preservation instincts for the moment though she seems
awfully
pissed off about it.”

“Good. Tell her that being gone is the best self-preservation instinct she could have right now.”

For now...

He stood me up abruptly as the others converged and cornered us. There was no real escape—not for me anyway. I stood nearly naked and covered in the blood of friend. A friend who was likely to die. A friend that Scarlet had tried to save, an action that served better to portray her as the assailant.

I looked guilty as sin.

“Can you explain the blood?” Sean whispered down to me.

“Will they listen?” I whispered back.

“Not likely.”

“Great,” I groaned. “Plan?”

“None.”

I suggest you two figure something out quickly, or I'm going to take my chances with these boys.

“
I'll let you know when it's your turn,” I muttered under my breath, trying my best to keep my mouth closed. Sean shot me a look, and I gave him my “you know damn well who I'm talking to” face.

That commanding and unfamiliar voice from the alley snapped my attention back to the increasingly large crowd gathering around us.

“It's good to see you’re still capable of doing your job when it counts, Sean.”

Sean scoffed as the source of the backhanded compliment emerged from the crowd. I shrunk like a coward.

His size alone was formidable, but everything about him demanded my fear, from his chiseled, hardened features, to the black, bottomless orbs that seemed to pierce my very soul when they landed on me. With every step he advanced, I wanted to put equal miles between us. I'd seen my fair share of threatening psychos and madmen in my short time, but nobody was more terror-inspiring than he was. Not even close.

“The doting father role never really did suit you, Ares. Now really isn't the time to try it on.”

“Ares?” I choked out in a whisper to Sean. I wanted desperately to conceal my panic and surprise, but failed miserably.

“Yes, Ruby,” Ares replied. “He insists upon calling me by my first name, though daddy never really did seem to fit very well...”

“Holy shit...,” I said, trailing off.

“I don't know about the 'holy' part, but the 'shit' is appropriate enough,” Sean mocked, staring his father down. I looked at Sean with complete astonishment.

“
This
is your dad...the fucking god of war?” I ground out, with a strained attempt to control the volume of my voice. “You never thought you should mention that he was coming?”

“
Was
the god of war,” Sean hastily corrected. “Past tense. He lost a fight—a big one. He now serves to keep the peace. It's poetic really...God truly does have a sense of humor.

“Well, who's your mother then, the Queen of Sheba?” I whispered.

“No, though that would have been an interesting combination, Ruby,” Ares interrupted, looking annoyed. “His mother was my consolation prize. I had such high expectations for her. Pity that she couldn't quite live up to them.”

Sean's chest rumbled with dissatisfaction.

“You
will
show respect when you speak of her.” He managed to control his rage before looking down at me. “She was an
angel
.”

“Literally?” I asked, thinking nothing at that point would have surprised me. "Wings and all?"

“Wings and all,” he replied.

I was wrong—I was surprised.

“This parental lineage discussion is positively
riveting
, Sean, but let's not get too off track here. I believe an execution is in order,” Ares reminded him, tapping his toe impatiently. "Perhaps even
two
.”

“No,” Sean replied.

“No?” Ares asked with curiosity, “I was unaware that you were the decision maker now, nor was I aware that '
no
' was an option when given an order.”

“She's innocent.”

“Your mind is poisoned. You're hardly in a position to objectively assess her guilt or innocence,” Ares shouted, pointing at me. “We found her covered in the human's blood, hovering over her dying body, red eyes blazing. I suppose the human harmed herself and Ruby here just happened to be passing by half naked at this hour to aid her?”

“Ronnie,” I said softly. “Her name is Ronnie.”

“
Was
,” Ares replied, overemphasizing the word. “Her name
was
Ronnie. You speak of the dead in past tense, Ruby.”

“
Fine
,” I enunciated back at him. “
Was
Ronnie, and no, it didn't quite go like that, but—”

“Silence!” he yelled, holding his hand up to deflect my explanation. “Your words don't interest me. Your death, however, does.
Immensely
.”

“Do you know for fact that Ronnie is dead?” Sean asked his father. I visibly cringed at the thought, and I watched Ares eye me strangely as I did.

“Your theatrics fool no one,” he informed me haughtily. “And dead or not isn't the issue. She attacked a human, and that's a big no-no, as they say.”

I was tucked so tightly into Sean's side during our three-way conversation that I felt his cell phone vibrate frantically as Ares continued to ramble on about Sean's broken oath and my impending death. I was so over men who needed to make a production out of death. Sean reached for the phone while Ares looked on, annoyed that Sean wasn't paying enough attention.

“Yes, Jay?” he asked, staring his father down. “Is it
working
? How did she get there in time?” I looked to his face to try and see what was going on, but he gave up nothing. “Interesting. No! She stays where she is. Don't let anyone near them until I tell you otherwise,” Sean ordered. “And Jay...put her on the phone. She needs to talk to someone.”

He lobbed his phone at Ares, who stood by looking unaware of what was going on. Apparently superhuman hearing wasn't a gift Sean got from his father. He held the phone up to his ear and said nothing. His eyes widened in disbelief before narrowing tightly at me. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and brought a low grumble from my chest. Sean grabbed my arm and clamped down on it, warning Scarlet to keep it in check.

Volatile situations don't need volatile people interfering.