savage love divine...

Maya had to laugh when Ruby claimed that if she did get murdered it would mean that Ruby would have a hell of a story to tell the kids. “I do think it would also mean that legally you have to name one of them after me,” she joked. She had to laugh and joke about it because her other choice was being terrified. And she never wanted to be terrified again. 

Especially since being terrified made her stupid. 

She took a sip of her tea as Ruby spoke. A soft smile crept onto her face. She saw herself differently than Ruby did. In her mind, maybe she wasn’t always anxious, but she worried too much and about the wrong things. It was she had spent so much time and money in New York doing whatever it took to shut her brain off. “Oh you can bet I’ll be telling people I’m drinking for two,” Maya replied. 

“Oh, of course,” Ruby said with absolute seriousness, though the humor wasn’t lost on either of them. “But lets just keep you around for awhile, hm? Makes things easier.” Ruby knew there was a real threat to Maya’s life hanging in the air. Even if Maya wouldn’t admit it. Actually, she knew Maya wouldn’t admit it. Until it was too goddamn late. And Ruby planned to keep her promise not to involve the police, but that promise only extended so far as being able to keep Maya safe in other ways. Like keeping an eye on her, and having Ryden do the same. Which went without asking. 

“You’re-” Ciara repeated, carefully checking Ruby’s expression before she broke out into a smile. “Oh, Ruby, congratulations!” Although her enthusiasm was also tempered by the letter, and its meaning. Ciara chewed the side of her lip. “Do you know how far along? That would be an extremely prescient letter, but I know a couple of people who might be able to decipher it. Unless  you can think of some kind of code that it might be related to. Maybe it’ll unscrabble with the right words, or something.”

Ciara set the note down, shaking her hand at it dismissively. “On the other hand, I’m not a big fan of the excessively mysterious. Whoever wrote this cared more about you thinking about the mystery than understanding the message. So don’t let it get into your head too much.”

But it had also been sent with intention. If Ciara had Dennis, her trusty human skull, with her, she might have been able to divine what was going on a little better, but as there was no blood on the note, maybe not. On the other hand, Ruby’s blood might lend some insight. “It could all be a coincidence, but there might be a spell I can do, to ease your mind?”

Ruby blushed fiercely at Ciara’s enthusiasm. They still hadn’t told many people, though it was growing more and more apparent by the day that Ruby was going to be a mother soon. “Thank you,” she said. “And.... about three months? Twins...” Ruby was still in the stage of disbelief that came with such a thing, especially after she’d wanted it for so long. But the letter tempered that joy just a bit. “I have no idea,” Ruby said of a code. “I’m no good at deciphering this kinda thing either.” But she knew a few people who might be. 

Ruby agreed, however, with the fact that the letter seemed to be a bit too mysterious. If someone was trying to send her a warning, or even something benign, why not just... seal the envelope so that it wouldn’t open for anyone but her? Or something. “I’ll try,” Ruby said with a small sigh. “I’m just... expectin’ the worst I guess. ‘Specially now.” She idly rubbed at her belly. 

Iann lowered his head, chuckling ruefully at Ruby’s joke.  “See, now you’re getting the hang of all this - when it comes to magic, and demons, and nature in general? It’s all about the bargaining.  Does anyone even subscribe to magazines anymore?”  The question was jocular and rhetorical, just a punchline to add on to Ruby’s riff.

He looked up from under his brow, quiet as he watched Ruby process everything he’d told her.  Iann was grateful to himself, that he’d been able to deliver that information in a way that Ruby could take on board.  The importance of it, the way it obliterated idealistic morality and smudged a past that was centuries old.  Tuah had not tread an easy path for his entire life - Iann knew Ruby was aware of that, but now she had some more scant details to add further context.  This wasn’t about ‘good’ and ‘bad’, except for two instances, as far as Iann was concerned.

Tuah’s Sire was bad.  And the Nechrion was bad.

Even the types of ‘bad’ were different though.  Alexander was a sadistic, malicious monster who delighted in Tuah’s pain.  One could argue that the Nechrion was just a very zealous bureaucrat, hellbent on getting its job done.  And the Vermonts?  The Hunter clan wasn’t good or bad exclusively, and neither was Kastina’s coven; and most importantly, neither was Tuah.

Ruby sat down heavily on the couch, as her own thoughts seemed to get the better of her.  Iann understood that feeling, could almost see her getting overwhelmed.  He slid off the armrest of the couch to sit next to her, and he offered her the half-glass of water.  

“It’s a lot,” Iann croaked, and he cleared his throat.  “It’s a lot to take in.”

As she brought up the idea of a necromancer, Iann grunted.  “I’ve considered it.  But there are too many unknown factors about what Artemis has become at this point.  His spirit - or soul, or whatever energy keeps him technically sentient - has become integrated with this part of the Nechrion.  I know that much, I could see it when it manifested itself in - in - in the - in the compound.  When we went…ah.  Last time.”  Iann wiped his mouth, trying not to recall that memory in too much detail.

“But bringing Artemis’ spirit back into this world will give the Nechrion power, just like it did in the compound.  It took all of Kastina’s skill to push that thing back, and even she’s not sure she did a clean job.  Just enough to get Tuah the hell outta dodge, really.  If you stuff that conglomerate into a flehsbag, reanimated it?”  Iann shook his head.

“No necromancer  could hold that, not without risking their own life or sanity, I’d imagine. That could be enough to grant the Nechrion enough power to break the soul stone, become whole again.”

He inhaled deeply,then exhaled.  “I mean.  And then there’s the soul stone itself. Tuah still keeps it in his basement, last I know of.”

Ruby glanced at Iann, giving her own rueful huff of laughter at his addition to her comment. She had already been nodding in agreement about the bargaining ideas of magic and demons and what not, but that slowly came to a stop as she tried to wrap her head around all of it. 

She had to hand it to Iann for being able to get it all out in one go. Give or take. The whole situation was complicated as fuck. And that was before Tuah’s past was even brought fully into the picture. Though it was that past that had affected his future, wasn’t it? It was Alexander that was to blame for the atrocities that had befallen Tuah. It was Alexander that had set Tuah on a path to potentially having his soul reaped from his body. It was Alexander that should be suffering, and not Tuah. 

Tuah had suffered enough. He deserved peace. As did so many others that had been affected along the way. Though she hoped once this was done that Alexander’s soul would rot in whatever Hell would take him. And Tuah would finally be free. 

But Ruby knew that demons didn’t care about peace. And freedom almost always came with a heavy price. Just like magic. 

Glancing over at Iann as he sat down beside her, Ruby took the glass of water with a small smile. She took a small sip before holding it between her palms and staring down at the surface of the liquid inside. “It is a lot,” she agreed quietly. “But... thank you. For tellin’ me. The not knowin’....” Ruby shook her head. “It was almost worse.”  

 When he got tangled up in an explanation, Ruby laid a hand on his arm in support, but stayed silent as he pressed on. When he was done, and Ruby thought she mostly understood, she let out a slow breath. “So what this coven did is basically a bandaid on a bullet wound.” She gave Iann’s arm a squeeze, the weight of everything he’d told her filling her with both fear and righteous anger on Tuah’s behalf. But at least now she knew. 

“Those chocolate bars were fuckin’ awful! Just because you’re partial to anything meaty nowadays.” And possibly for another reason, but Ephram didn’t bring that up just yet, not when they had the actual witness statement to attend to. There’d be plenty of driving around in the jeep for them to start talking about Ruby’s new life developments. “Pissed I reckon because shop owners got more time to stew, and because they’re always gonna be in the same place. Random muggings are too random for the folks what got mugged to feel like there might be repeat performance any time. Whereas this place–” Ephram waggled his fingers at the sign above the door as they stepped through, a carillion of bells ringing their arrival, “–ain’t going nowhere. Good morning, sir!” he greeted the shop owner, taking the opportunity to glance around while Ruby handled the introductions. 

“She’s a menace to the town, whoever she is!” the man declared. He was fairly young, attractive, with smooth dark brown hair and big brown eyes, which might have given away that he was a selkie even before his barking voice took it all the way home. “Coming in here snatching up valuable merchandise! Scaring away my other customers!”

“Did she interfere with your other customers?” Ephram asked, and on the heels of it, “–are any of them interested in giving witness statements, would you know? Regulars? Mister….”

“Pootsilakos,” the selkie supplied. “Pelly Pootsilakos. Call me Pelly, that’s fine. They were regulars, yeah, but mostly high school kids, they won’t be any use.”

“You’d be surprised,” Ephram drawled with a disarming grin, keeping Pelly trained on him while Ruby had a chance to look around. “Kids are big fans of crime procedurals. They know how to give a rundown on a perp better’n some officers I know.”

Pelly gave a growling grunt, scratching behind his ear, and opened a jar of teriyaki pork jerky, offering sticks of it to the two police. “She stopped to look at a newspaper,” he said, wolfing his down in three big bites. “I thought that was weird.”

Ruby gave him a toothy grin. “More for me then.” She nodded in agreement as they went inside, wondering if the shop owner was going to be the amiable type or not. The question was answered soon enough, though Ruby hardly blamed the man for being upset. Like Ephram had said, not only had he lost revenue, but he had to be at the ‘scene of the crime’ on a daily basis. It wouldn’t be quite as easy to forget as the average customer that only came in once a week. 

She wandered around as Ephram and the selkie talked, glancing at the security cameras that had caught the images of the assailant. They seemed in working order, a red light blinking slowly from one corner of each device. Everything else seemed in order as well, and Ruby had made it back to the front in just a few minutes. She took one of the jerky sticks with a smile of thanks, tapping it thoughtfully against her lip as she moved to the newspaper rack. “You don’t happen to have the particular newspaper she was lookin’ at, do you?” Ruby asked. “Or know what page it was?” Maybe she was looking for information on someone or something in town. Or maybe something on the page had affected her somehow.

At that moment, Ruby’s phone rang. She glanced at it in case she needed to let it go to voicemail, and seeing it was the station, she held up a finger to Ephram and took the call. “Devereaux. You got somethin’ else?” Ruby nodded as the officer on the other end spoke rapidly. “Really?” She glanced at Ephram. “That’s interestin’. Good find. You mind texting me a copy?” The voice on the other end said they would, and Ruby thanked them and hung up. 

“So. I had the database guys run a check on any other petty theft cases of a similar nature that’ve gone on in town over the past couple of years. Or anybody that might have a record from outside town that’s in our system too.” Her phone pinged and Ruby tapped the link to open to file she’d been sent. She glanced over it before handing it to Ephram. 

“They got a couple o’ hits. But... that’s not the interestin’ part. Look here.” She pointed at the section of the file where any complaints or charges from citizens were noted. “See this one? Betty Graves? She had her purse stolen right when this all started. Came in to file a report. Her listed species?” It was an optional section that not everyone filled out, but for some reason this person had. “Nymph. Obituary nymph.” 

‘Are you asking if one dies every time you say you don’t believe in them?’ Aedan said as he gave her a playful nudge. He then sighed. ‘I’m not sure. My grandfather was the faery expert. But I know they’ve got to be like any wee creature that isn’t human.’ He ran his palm over the fake stone of the replica arch. ‘The march of progress displaces things. Foxes have been forced to scavenge from bins and British wolves are all dead. So if you uproot forests and demolish ritual spaces for more social housing, then I guess faeries have to go somewhere else or die.’ 

Aedan knew it was the same for everything. Humans were killing even themselves now. He would’ve said good riddance if it didn’t mean the rest of the world paid for it, too. 

‘And without those wee sacred places magic dies. So, I guess their’s is, too.’ 

Ruby smiled, even if she had been thinking along those lines. She watched Aedan touch the replica, wondering how many real stones he’d touched in his life. It made Ruby sad to think of the human world taking over the magical world. Even though she was a part of both. One world shouldn’t have to die for another to live. “That’s awful.” She touched the replica too. “It’s a wonder that all magic hasn’t hidden itself away permanently.” 

Though perhaps more of it was hidden away than she knew. Places like Soapberry. Places like the fairy arch in the forest. Places that one could only find if they knew about magic in the first place, or were meant to know. 

[TXT Soapberry has beaches but sun…hit and miss lol. 

[TXT] Always have to be some of them around hahah.

[TXT] Yeah that works. Earlier afternoon is probably better, the kids won’t be too chaotic. 

[TXT] Just give me a heads up when your coming over.

txt: right? I miss the sun so much this time of year. I’d kill to lay on a beach all day and just get reallly tan. 

txt: though all beaches are not made equal lol

txt: okay got it. I don’t mind the kids though.