Chapter Fifteen – Ruby

Ruby’s concern for Magnus mounted as they walked away from the museum. They both resisted the urge to turn around. If Thorn was watching they didn’t need to raise his suspicions even more. If they were raised at all. What if they had made a mistake and read too much into the conversation?

They reached her car and got in. Ruby let out a long sigh. “Okay. Let’s go back to my house. I’ll pack an overnight bag and then we can go back to Fara’s farm. Once it’s dark we can fly to the Himalayas and see if Tiberius can help. You need those memories now more than ever.”

“And if he cannot help me?” Magnus asked as he buckled his seatbelt.

“Then we decide what to do next.” She started the engine and drove out onto the main street. The traffic was busier than when they’d arrived, and they had to wait to turn onto the road back to her house. All the while she looked in the rearview mirror, looking to see if they were being followed.

This is not a movie, her dragon told her bluntly. Thorn is not following us.

But he was suspicious, wasn’t he? Ruby asked her dragon. What if he outs us as dragon shifters?

I believe he has suspicions, yes. But if we keep cool, we can get through this. He cannot prove Magnus is a dragon if he cannot shift.

“Damn!” Her dragon was right.

“What’s wrong?” Magnus asked.

“My dragon made a good point. If we don’t get Tiberius to free your dragon, Thorn can’t prove you are a dragon.” She splayed her hands out as she cursed the traffic in front of them. She wanted to be on the move. “He can’t prove what isn’t there.”

“Why would it matter to him if I am a dragon or not?” Magnus asked.

Ruby frowned. She was overreacting. Growing up her parents had told Ruby and Sapphi how important it was to never tell anyone who they were and what they were. That paranoia was ingrained, forcing her to react to danger that might not be there. What did Thorn have to gain by outing a dragon shifter? Nothing. However, a dragon’s treasure would be an incredible find for a man whose career revolved around finding ancient artifacts. He would be famous. And very rich.

“I guess he lives in a town filled with shifters, so why would he care? He’s not likely to tell everyone. Perhaps he is after your treasure.” Ruby didn’t want to panic Magnus, he had enough to deal with.

“Is Thorn a shifter, too?” Magnus asked. “I had a sense that he was. All those muscles.” He tensed his arms and flexed his muscles.

Ruby hid a nervous smile. “He’s a bear shifter. You’re right, not likely to spill the beans about shifters. Perhaps he’s just curious.” Magnus grew still, and she eyed him nervously. “Are you having another episode with your memory?”

“No.” His expression was serious as he added, “What if he knows what happened? What if Thorn holds the answers?”

Ruby rolled her shoulders to ease the tension in her neck. “It’s possible. He might have been told a story passed down through the generations. Or he might have access to family journals or diaries.”

“Should we go back?” Magnus asked, looking behind them as they drove past the last of the houses on the outskirts of town. They were surrounded by fields and farmland with the mountain rising up in the distance.

“No. Let’s go on with our plan. We visit Tiberius and if that fails, then we try Thorn. But only if we have a plan. There’s no way we’re walking up to him and asking if he knows why a dragon was put under a spell a couple of centuries ago.”

“Agreed,” Magnus said reluctantly. He stared out of the window. “Do you know where the ruins are?”

Ruby glanced out of the window to where the creek meandered through the fields. “I’ll ask Harlan if he can find out while we’re gone.”

“I’d like to visit there.” Magnus fell silent.

“Do you remember anything else about your sister?” Ruby asked, thinking of Sapphi. How would Ruby cope if her sister suddenly disappeared? It would kill Ruby inside if anything happened to Sapphi. Magnus had been close to his sister and loved her very much, she could not comprehend how he must be feeling right now. Family was so important.

“Can we make a detour?” Ruby asked. Without waiting for an answer, she turned down a side road and made her way to the house Sapphi shared with Alex. She needed to tell Sapphi everything that had happened and to ask Alex to let his parents know they were coming. There was an open invitation for any of the family to visit anytime, but it was polite to inform them.

Although that meant Helena would go into overdrive in a bid to make her guests feel welcome. Like Fiona, Helena was not always confident when it came to dealing with people, although neither of them would admit it.

Ruby parked the car in front of the house where Alex and Sapphi lived. Situated a few minutes’ walk from Fiona and Harlan’s house, Ruby had still managed to avoid visiting very often. It wasn’t as though she were trying to avoid her sister.

Just trying to avoid her happy ever after, Ruby’s dragon said sarcastically.

Ruby ignored her other side. She couldn’t deny it, her dragon was right. Since Sapphi found her mate and moved in with him to live in blissful love and happiness, Ruby had struggled to figure out where she fit into her sister’s new life.

Time to change that. Ruby got out of the car and placed her hand on the roof, looking back inside. “This is my sister’s house.”

“Ah. Does she know about me?” Magnus asked.

“Fiona might be good at keeping some secrets, but I don’t think she could have kept this one.” Ruby straightened up. “I should have come here yesterday and told her myself.”

Magnus unfolded his legs and got out of the car. “Do you need me to stay here?”

“No. She might be less likely to bite my head off if we go in together.” She walked around the car to stand next to him and looked up at the house. It was pretty, the timber mellow as it bathed in the warm sunlight. Honeysuckle grew around the porch and a heavenly scent blew across the front yard welcoming them.

“Hello, stranger.” Sapphi came around the corner of the house, dressed in coveralls. She’d been working, growing her jewelry business, building a future for herself while Ruby sulked.

“Sapphi. I…” For once Ruby was lost for words.

“So this is Magnus?” Sapphi walked over to join them.

“Yes, we met yesterday.” Ruby watched her sister closely. “I’d have come sooner.”

“But you have a mystery to solve.” Sapphi grabbed her sister and pulled her into a hug so tight, it cut off Ruby’s breath. “I’m so happy for you, Ruby,” she said quietly.

“Thanks, Sapph.” Ruby hugged back, knowing that no words were needed.

“Shall we get some coffee?” Sapphi stepped back and surveyed Magnus. “You look good for a man who has slept for a couple of centuries.”

“Thanks.” Magnus cracked a smile. “You and Ruby are very alike.”

Sapphi stood next to her sister, hands on hips. “The next words out of your mouth had better be flattering, or you’ll have us both to deal with.”

Magnus chuckled. “I mean in looks. You have the same shaped eyes and nose.”

“We get that from our Mom,” Ruby said, putting her arm around her sister. They’d shared so much together. Now that they both had mates, it was time for them to move on to the next phase of their lives, together. “I’d love that coffee. And some apple cake if you made some. Harlan attempted to make some yesterday, but it’s not the same as yours.”

“So that’s why you’ve honored me with a visit, you crave apple cake,” Sapphi joked and led them into the house. “We’re still not organized.” She indicated the sitting room. “Alex’s mom keeps bringing stuff.”

Ruby laughed and held up a jewelry box. “Does she not know you have your own treasure?”

“She’s so sweet, she keeps giving me priceless family heirlooms.” Sapphi was headed for the kitchen when she stopped and turned around. “She wants to pass things down to her grandchildren. It’s her way of bribing me into getting pregnant.”

Ruby arched her eyebrows. “Well, keep your legs crossed, you’ll have a second fortune by the time you…conceive.” Ruby’s shoulder sagged forward, and tears sprung to her eyes. “You already are.”

Sapphi nodded, tears misting her face as Ruby flung her arms around her sister. “You’re going to be a mommy.”

“I am.” Sapphi covered her mouth with a shaking hand. “I don’t know how.”

“You’ll be the best mommy in the world,” Ruby told her, holding both her hands. “You were always the sensible one, the one who liked to make peace not war. You’ll be brilliant.”

“Will you be there? For me?” Sapphi asked in a choked voice, dashing tears off her cheek with the back of her hand.

“Always.” Ruby nodded and hugged Sapphi close. “Always and forever.”

“Good.” Sapphi pulled back and wiped her eyes. “Now, who wants coffee?”

“Are you allowed coffee? With the baby?” Ruby asked.

Sapphi rolled her eyes. “Don’t you start. Alex is already nose deep in baby books. Telling me what I should and shouldn’t do. One cup is fine.” She made a fresh pot of coffee and then asked, “Magnus, do you have any more news on who you are?”

“Not much.” Magnus had been standing back, letting the two sisters have some space, but now he joined them in the kitchen, his arm around Ruby as he gave her a reassuring squeeze. “I was an artist who lived here a couple of centuries ago. I grew up in a cottage down by the creek. My mom died when my sister, Emilia, and I were still young. Emilia made me promise not to shift because she was scared I might get killed.”

“Do you keep the promise to your sister?” Sapphi asked as she poured the coffee and passed the cups around. “I’ll get that apple cake.”

“I don’t know,” Magnus confessed.

“Magnus painted portraits. Good portraits of the rich and famous of the time. There are a couple of his paintings hanging in the museum.” Ruby’s eyes widened as Sapphi passed her a large slice of apple cake. “Thank you.”

“I’ve been to the museum with Alex. We must have seen the paintings.”

“One is of a pretty young woman standing outside a cottage on the banks of the creek,” Ruby said with her mouth full.

“I remember it. Alex and I found the actual ruin itself afterward.” Sapphi’s cheeks colored as she sat down at the kitchen table facing her sister and Magnus. If they were alone, Ruby would have teased her and asked if that was where they had conceived their child. But even Ruby knew how inappropriate that would be with Magnus here. “That was your house?”

“It was once. I don’t remember it really.” Magnus drank his coffee and stared at the table.

Ruby reached out to him. “We will get your memories back.”

“Could Tiberius help?” Sapphi asked. “You could go and visit them.”

“We plan to.” Ruby smiled coyly. “Tonight.”

“Oh.” Sapphi’s eyes widened. “That’s why you’re really here.”

“No, it’s not. I wanted to see you,” Ruby insisted.

“But you want me to call them. Alex gave them a satellite phone, he talks to them every day. I’ll get him to mention it. But it’ll be fine. They’ve only just gone home.” Sapphi picked at a piece of cake, nibbling it slowly.

“Do you think they’d mind? Only something else happened at the museum. There was a man there, Thorn Manning. We think he’s a bear shifter. He’s related to Peregrine Manning, who was kind of like a benefactor to Magnus and his sister. It was the portrait Magnus painted of him that launched Magnus’s career.”

“He looked at me as if he knew me,” Magnus told Sapphi. “Apparently there’s a self-portrait of me down in the basement and if he digs it out he’ll be even more suspicious.”

“We’ve been lucky, he was out of the country and hasn’t heard the news of the man who came down from the mountain. But if he does and puts two and two together…” Ruby glanced at Magnus with concern. “Magnus thinks something happened between him and Peregrine Manning. We really need to know what that is.”

“You think Thorn Manning might know?” Sapphi asked.

“He might, and if it’s bad…” Ruby let her words hang in the air.

“Do you think he had something to do with the sleeping curse?” Sapphi asked. “Did this Peregrine Manning put Magnus to sleep?”

“We don’t know.” Ruby rubbed her temples, the tension of the day was catching up with her, but she could not afford a headache, not with so much else to do.

“You two go and get ready. Leave Tiberius and Helena to me. I’ll text you after I’ve spoken to them. But it’ll be fine. I’ll warn Tiberius to get his herbs and whatever ready. That man has some weird stuff, but he knows what he’s doing.” Sapphi got up and Ruby embraced her sister.

“Thank you.”

“We’re family, always will be. Let me know what happens. And while you’re gone I’ll see what I can find out.” Sapphi walked them to the door.

“Don’t talk to Thorn. If too many people ask questions about Magnus then he’s going to be tipped off.” Ruby stopped in the doorway and turned around. “There is one favor I want to ask you and Alex.”

Sapphi’s eyes narrowed. “What?”

“I thought you said you’d do anything to help?” Ruby asked.

“I know you well enough to be suspicious,” Sapphi answered.

“It’s not anything bad. What I need you to do is block the trail that leads to the cave where Magnus’s treasure is. Can you meet us after dark and we’ll fly there together?”

“Sure. You can show us where it is, and we’ll place a couple of large boulders there. We don’t want anyone stealing your treasure, Magnus.” Sapphi kissed him on the cheek. “Welcome to the family. And look after my sister. She’s the only one I have.”

“Like I’m not old enough to look after myself,” Ruby retorted.

“I’ll protect her with my life,” Magnus promised.

Ruby would prefer it if he protected her with his body. His naked body. Would they ever get time to be alone and just enjoy each other as mates?