The Magical Christmas Cat

"I . . . brought it in with me?"



Zane leaned against the doorjamb and took a deep breath. Guilt was an unaccustomed and uncomfortable feeling for him. He was usually unfailingly honest and forthright, but now was not the time. A lie that made Ruby question her sanity was better than the truth.



"You did. Listen, are you all right? You don't sound like yourself. I can come over."



"No," she said quickly. Too quickly. "I'm just tired, I guess, and the bad dream shook me more than it should've." She laughed uncomfortably. "And apparently my memory is starting to go."



"Want to tell me about the dream?"



"No," Ruby whispered. "I'm sorry I woke you.



Good night." With that she ended the call. Zane walked to the front of the house without turning on a single light. There he pulled back the curtain to look across the street to Ruby Kincaid's yellow house.



Every light in the house, every light he could see from this vantage point, was on. Living room, bedroom, dining room. The nightmare, and waking to find an object she knew had not been in her possession when she'd gone to sleep, had shaken her.



"I'm sorry," he whispered to the well-lit house. "I wish I could make this go away." Unfortunately, it was much too late to make Ruby's troubles disappear.



Chapter 3



Five hours of sleep weren't enough for Ruby. She could get by on seven, but she loved to get eight good hours. When those five hours were followed by a rude awakening and a questioning of her sanity, it made for a bad day.



Fortunately, many of the students who made up her clientele were home for the holidays, and business was slow. No businesswoman should hope for business to slack off, but she could use a break, so she was allowed! A couple of her part-time employees were also away and unable to work, but Marielle, the one who had been with her the longest—three full years, now—was still in town. Marielle was perfectly capable of running the front part of the shop, especially on a slow day like today.



Ruby kept herself busy in the kitchen, only occasionally giving in to a yawn. She had lots of baking to keep her busy; in addition to the usual cookies, cakes, and pies, she had a special order for three pumpkin cheesecakes with cranberry glaze to fill.



She glanced at the clock often. Usually the day flew by, and she was surprised when two o'clock came around. Today, she kept glancing at the big clock on the kitchen wall, wondering if two would ever arrive.



She wanted to go home and take a nice, long nap.



It was just past one thirty when Marielle, who wore a huge smile on her young and pretty face, stuck her head into the kitchen. "Oh my God," she whispered.



"Professor Benedict is here to see you."



Ruby's first thought was, "You're kidding, right?"



But judging by the awestruck expression on Marielle's face, there was no joking involved.



"I'm busy," Ruby said, returning her attention to her work. "Tell him to go away."



Marielle's blue eyes went wide. "Come on. It's Professor Benedict, and he wants to talk to you."



Ah, such youthful exuberance. The way she said



"Benedict" was so filled with awe she might as well be whispering "Johnny Depp."



"I heard you the first time," Ruby said. "If you think he's such a big deal, you talk to him."



Marielle pursed her lips. "No wonder you don't have a social life."



After the door closed, Ruby made a face at the cheesecake. "I could have a social life if I wanted one," she whispered.



Too soon, the kitchen door swung open again. "He said if you don't come out he's coming back here, and he's not wearing a hairnet just to talk to a stubborn woman even if she is pretty and likely the best baker this side of the Mississippi."



Ruby lifted her head and glared at Marielle. "Did he really say that?"



"Yes!"



She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. This was a complication she did not need, but she couldn't make herself brush Zane off again. "I'll be right out."



After Marielle was gone, Ruby washed her hands and removed her chocolate-stained apron. She made sure she removed the hairnet before pushing against the door and leaving the kitchen that was her domain.



"Everything here is filled with white flour and white sugar," she said, pinning her gaze on Zane. "You won't eat any of it."



He lifted the disposable cup of coffee he cradled in his hands, then he smiled. Good Lord, he had a dimple! "I'm thinking of giving up my refined sugar and flour ban for the holidays. Your cookies have been a bad influence on me."



Marielle had to step away to wait on a customer, a fact that obviously annoyed the curious woman to no end.



Ruby stepped around the counter and moved closer to Zane. Like yesterday, like always, he was dressed in blue jeans and a loose-fitting T-shirt. The Tshirt was a dark, dull green, today. It was almost as if he purposely dressed so as not to call attention to himself. It didn't work. "You didn't come in here to buy cookies," she said in a lowered voice.



"No. I still have a few left."



"Just a few?"



"I told you, those cookies have been a bad influence." He looked at her with expressive, dark eyes. "But no, I didn't come here to buy anything but a cup of coffee. I wanted to check on you, make sure you're okay."



"I'm fine," she said.



"You weren't fine this morning."



"I'm sorry I called you in the middle of the night. I guess I freaked."



He smiled again. "A little."



"I think someone spiked the punch, and the liquor went straight to my head."



"Don't tell Hester," Zane said, a hint of teasing in his soothing voice. "She'll surely hunt down the cretin who dared to spike her Christmas punch."



She was losing her mind. Other than that one small detail, her life was nicely settled. She had a routine that suited her, and when she'd told Zane last night that she was not looking for a man, she hadn't been exaggerating. Romance meant drama, and she didn't want any drama in her life at the moment. Maybe her life was boring, but she liked boring. It was easy. No one got hurt.



The expression on Zane's face changed. The easy humor disappeared. "What are you doing for dinner?" he asked, taking her by surprise.



"What?" Ah, the snappy comeback.



"Dinner. I thought we could eat. Together. Food," he added when she remained silent.



Ruby gathered her courage and said, "I'm kinda tired. I didn't sleep well last night."



Again, that smile and the dimple. "I know."



"Sorry."



"We still have to eat, and I won't stay late," he said.



"Promise."



Stay? His invitation to eat was supposed to mean dinner at her house? Boy, did he have a lot to learn about wooing women. That was what he was attempting to do, right? She hadn't been wooed in a long time. She'd gotten really good at shutting down even the simplest advance long before it got to the wooing stage.



"I'm a lousy cook," she said. "I can bake sinfully sweet and decadent treats you'll never eat, but I can't cook a meal to save my life."



"I'm a good cook, but my stove's on the fritz. I'll bring the food if you'll provide the stove, pots, plates, and silverware."



"And dessert," she said, not sure she wanted to agree to his invitation until the words were out of her mouth. She still wasn't looking for a relationship, but she realized as she looked ahead that she didn't want to be alone. Not tonight.



This was a very bad idea. He wasn't supposed to get involved with the woman, he was simply to watch and wait. But he wanted to get a look at the layout of her house, and he really wanted another look at 77



Colletore Di Anima. The Soul Collector.



There were those who called the dark spirit that lived within the innocuous-looking statuette II Gatto Nero, the Black Cat, but the Brotherhood of Madani preferred a more fitting name. Soul Collector was definitely fitting.



Once upon a time the thing had had a name, he supposed, but as far as Zane or any of the Brotherhood knew, that name had been lost sometime in the past three thousand years or so—give or take a century. If the information that had been gathered by the Brotherhood during those centuries was correct, Ruby's would be the last soul II Colletore claimed. She would be the ninth, and once her soul had been taken the demon would live again. It would live for more than the few hours it normally enjoyed after taking a soul.



The dark thing would walk the earth, immortal and indestructible and bringing an unimaginable darkness to an unprepared world. He couldn't allow that to happen.



Zane wished he could convince himself that he was wrong and it was coincidence that someone had given Ruby a cat knickknack, but the fact that the jade statue had made its way from his house to hers on its own made that theory impossible to swallow. Someone in this neighborhood—someone who was aligned with The Order of Runhura, no doubt—had left the cat under the tree for Ruby, specifically. The jade piece had transported itself to Ruby's bedside table. No, he could not even wish to be wrong.



The Brotherhood that was dedicated to stopping the darkness and the Order that worshipped the demon had both existed since sometime long before a Brotherhood wizard had cursed II Colletore to be captured in stone. Three thousand years of sacrifice, of training, of secret warfare, and it all came down to this place, this time, and this woman.



Zane watched as Ruby set the places at the small, round kitchen table. She had a formal dining room, but had chosen to set out their plates here, in the warm, yellow kitchen. Maybe she was afraid eating in the dining room would make this feel like a date, and dating was definitely not on her list of things to do.



The kitchen was for neighbors and friends, and he could fit comfortably into that category.



This would be so much easier if he didn't like her.



Emotions were only going to get in the way, before all was said and done. Still, while II Colletore wasn't human, Zane most definitely was. He felt that humanity now more than ever. Ruby tried to be tough, but she radiated a very feminine vulnerability that had crept beneath his skin and aroused his most primitive protective instincts. He was also attracted to her sexually, which was ludicrous given the circumstances but undeniable and growing stronger with every passing moment. It wasn't as though his attraction was new. In months past he had thought about how he might live his life after this final crisis had passed. If the demon they fought rose elsewhere in the world and was stopped, then Zane would be free to ask his neighbor on a date. His life was so centered on the Brotherhood, he could not even remember the last time he'd had a real date, a real relationship. There had never been time for such indulgences.