Got…you.
It bucked again. Or not.
A weight pressed her against the wall, all heat and muscle and Dragon. Her Dragon pushed against the invasion of her space. With a burst of power, she wrested control, barely holding on.
“Got it,” she said, her vision clearing. With a final gasp, she stepped fully into her body. Cyn was about to crush her. “Get off me.”
The regal face, only inches from hers, assessed her. “Yeah, that sounds like Ruby.” He finally released her. “Learn how to command your Dragon before you get yourself or someone else killed.”
He moved toward Glesenda, who was fighting what Ruby realized was the last demon. It was trying to get around the yellow Dragon, eager to sink its fangs into Ruby by the fierce look in its eyes.
“Glesenda, Ruby, Catalyze back to human, get dressed, and leave. I’ll deal with this one.” Cyn stepped between the demon and Glesenda, who immediately obeyed the order.
No. Her Dragon again, being stubborn. Or was that her own voice?
Everything inside Ruby rebelled at leaving Cyn to handle it, but if he had to restrain her again, that would leave both of them distracted, just as he’d said.
Damn it.
Ruby inhaled deeply and focused on being human. She fought the Dragon that hungered to fight. Human. Now.
The struggle for control reminded her of the wrestling matches she’d watched on television once in a while. She conquered the impulse and found herself human again. No time to revel in her victory. She pulled on her clothes as Cyn blocked the demon from slipping around him with a whip of his tail. He was right; she still had a lot to learn. He had a few scratches, and she was battered and bleeding. Dizziness assailed her.
Glesenda grabbed her arm, pushed Ruby out of the room, and locked the door behind her. Ruby’s lips tickled, and she scratched, only to feel the slipperiness of blood. It covered the tips of her trembling fingers.
Glesenda was already on it, shoving what looked like the contents of a whole box of tissues at her. “Hold this over your nose.”
“Where are we going?” She felt even dizzier as the woman rushed her outside into the late afternoon.
“Apartment, upstairs right here.” She gestured to the upper floor at the end of the shopping plaza.
An older man stepped into their path, his white hair and beard a tangled mess. His eyes pleaded with her, and she thought he was a homeless person. He wore the creepiest shawl she’d ever seen, brown and fuzzy and—oh, God, not a shawl but a demon growing out of the man’s body like a strangler fig. Her stomach lurched because, in that moment, she recognized the face from her distant memories. Her grandfather.
He reached for her, uttering a strangled sound that might have been a groan or a word. Her Dragon responded to the threat, vibrating with the need to Catalyze.
Not here.
She jerked away before Brom could touch her.
“Go, go,” Glesenda said, shoving her past the man.
Ruby glanced back as they ran down the sidewalk, dodging people who had no idea what they were looking at, other than a homeless man with mental issues. Brom watched her, his expression stark.
Glesenda unlocked an exterior door and tugged Ruby into a tiny foyer with an elevator and a wall of mailboxes. Ruby nearly tripped on the stairs, her knees so weak she could barely lift her feet high enough to clear the treads. A short run down the hall, a second to unlock a door, and Ruby was ushered into a neat, small apartment.
“Sit.” Glesenda shoved her down onto a chair and went to the kitchen. She returned a moment later with a damp washcloth, which she used to wipe the blood from Ruby’s nose. Ruby gasped at the pain that was settling in now that her shock was wearing off.
The door burst open, and Cyn rushed in, his gaze going right to her. “I’ve got her. Get back to the dojo before the class gets out. Clean up the blood all over the floor.”
Glesenda nodded, releasing the cloth to Ruby before dashing out. Cyn closed the door behind her.
Her blood. But the pain and the thought of her blood on the floor wasn’t as horrifying as what she’d seen. She clutched Cyn’s arm. “Brom! Did you see him?”
His eyebrows furrowed. “No. Where?”
“Right out there on the sidewalk. He tried to grab me! He’s behind this. That’s why Mon warned me about him.”
Cyn knelt down in front of her, pulling the washcloth away from her nose. He pressed his fingers around her nose as he examined her and then gently pressed the cloth back as more blood kept pouring down. “Are you sure it was Brom?”
“Of course I am. Well, pretty sure. I haven’t seen him in fifteen years.”
“That’s my point. But considering Moncrief warned you about going to him, maybe he’s back in Miami. Did he say anything?”