Dragon Awakened(68)

He focused on Darren’s house again. “Understood. We’re going in as soon as they leave. I don’t want to approach him until I’ve had a look at what he’s up to.” He settled back in his seat. “Rest, Ruby. It might be a while.”

She leaned her head back, pressing her fingers over her closed eyes. He took in the creamy skin of her neck, his hunger increasing. Not sexual hunger, which would be much easier to handle.

Damn.

He closed his eyes, too. When he woke, several hours had passed. Dew covered the windshield and hood of the car. The sky was gray, hinting at the coming dawn. He checked on Ruby to make sure she was still there, even though she couldn’t have left the car without him knowing.

She was curled against the seat, deep asleep. He was sure it was only relief, but he felt an overwhelming desire to touch her, comfort her. Like the innocent girl he’d found in the dinghy, she reached places in him he didn’t know existed. He had no idea how to comfort anyone. No one had comforted him when he’d lost his parents.

He sat watching her for almost an hour. Oh, he tried to look elsewhere, anywhere, but his gaze kept going back to her. Movement beyond her caught his attention. A car pulled out of Darren’s driveway, two people inside. He wanted to follow, but he needed to get into the workshop more.

“Ruby.”

She woke with a start, her eyes heavy as she took in her surroundings. He could see the moment reality dawned when a hardened expression replaced her dazed confusion.

He reached for the glove box and removed a small leather kit. “They just left. Let’s move.”

They walked casually down the street and then disappeared from view once they headed down the driveway. He led the way around the back to the windowless workshop. The door was solid metal with multiple dead bolts. No sign of an alarm system or magick. He went around to the back and found another secured door. After checking to make sure no one could see them, he picked the lock and pushed the door open. He stripped, ready to Catalyze if necessary before stepping inside a lab. They found tables with papers and a whiteboard covered in calculations he had no hope of interpreting.

Ruby took it all in with an odd expression. “I used to see these kinds of calcs in Dad’s home office. This is a chart that tracks solar storms. The peaks seem to correspond with this other chart, though I can’t figure out what it represents. Wait. I recognize this.” She held up a metallic object about a foot long. “My father had something like this at his lab.” She held it out toward him. “Feel it.”

His fingers brushed hers as he touched the cylindrical piece. It pulsed with an energy he thought was Deus Vis. “This could be it.”

“So whatever my father was doing, Darren has re-created it.”

“And it took me years,” a bitter voice said from the doorway. “After he went crazy and destroyed everything.”

They both spun to find Darren and Magda. The aura that had obviously kept Cyn from sensing them fell away. Cyn held the device down and out of sight.

“Because he knew it was going to hurt people,” Ruby said, her voice amazingly even. “And you had him killed for it.”

Cyn came up beside Ruby, ready to step in front of her if necessary. Good girl, Ruby. Stay calm.

But she kept talking, emotion now leaking into her voice when she said, “You used your connections to have us all killed. We were your friends. You used to babysit me.”

“My connections.” Darren’s smile seemed almost wistful before it disappeared. “Your father should have thought of that before he ran off with years of research. Research to which I contributed. He was clearly planning to profit—”

“That’s the story you told everyone else,” Ruby cut in. “I know the truth.”

“You’re right. That was the for-public-consumption version. The truth was your father had finally figured out how to accomplish his lifelong goal, and he wasn’t about to heed Brom’s warning to destroy it. He took everything and went on the run. I couldn’t let him endanger people by continuing his project.”

Cyn’s eyes narrowed. “That’s what you told your connection at the Guard, that Justin was dangerous.”

Darren merely said, “He couldn’t be allowed to harm others.”

“Why didn’t you simply have him arrested? Why kill all of us?” Ruby asked.

“Not knowing how much your mother knew, or how much you had overheard, made it necessary to eliminate everyone. It was nothing personal.”

“And you couldn’t leave witnesses who would contradict the accident story,” Cyn added.

“Nothing personal?” Ruby turned to Magda. “You were our friends. I was your surrogate daughter.”