Wraiths of Winter (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 3) (38 page)

“Ruby? Lucas?” Rachel stood at the top of the steps
staring at us in disbelief. With the bitter sound of betrayal in
her voice, she asked, “How could you?”

“Rachel!” I exclaimed, scrambling to peel myself away
from Lucas. “It’s not what it looks like! Allison tried to throw
me out the window and Lucas caught me just in time!”

“Oh,” she said coldly, “It’s
exactly
what it looks like!”
With a dramatic flair, Rachel stormed down the stairs leaving
me stunned and speechless.

She
was
right.
What she
saw went far beyond
gratitude for saving me. If she hadn’t walked in when she did,
I would have totally kissed Lucas. I should have been happy
that she stopped me from making such a huge mistake.
But I
wasn’t
because I wasn’t thoroughly convinced that it
would
be
a mistake.

30. Drift
“He saved you—that’s all that matters.”

That was all Zach said to me when I called him to
explain what happened in the bell tower. It wasn’t easy to
describe how I ended up on top of Lucas but I had to do it.
Rachel had probably already described it to him in horrific,
overblown detail. But as hard as it was to tell him, it was even
harder to hear his response.

Had he given up on me?
Was the pressure of being
separated by my dad’s irrational temper getting to him? I told
him that I was so happy to be alive that I almost kissed Lucas
and that was his response? Don’t get me wrong, crazy jealous
Zach wasn’t who I wanted but a little bit of jealousy would be
appropriate at a time like this. Wouldn’t it?

Well, in less than twenty four hours, I’d found a dead
body, somehow gotten
Lucas
without
killing
each
other,
and
Zach to work together
and
survived
yet
another

paranormal attack on my life. My work was done for the day.
I went to bed exhausted and slept like a rock until morning.

With the harshest days of winter upon us, it seemed
only fitting that my heart should go through some tough times
as well. Zach remained at arm’s length but Lucas grew closer
than ever. And strange things started to happen.

It all started Friday after school. Lucas followed me
home according to plan, the same way he had every other day
that week.
But just as we got to the gates of Rosewood, a
sports car pulled out of the drive and took off in the direction
of Silver Lake. That sports car belonged to Drake Sterling. In
a panic, I pulled onto the edge of the road and waited for
Lucas to pull up alongside of me.

Lucas rolled down the window and shouted over to
me. “What’s wrong, Ru?”

“That car that just pulled out—that was Drake!
He
was just at my house!” What reason would he have for being
here
at
Rosewood?
Besides
kidnapping,
torture,
and
murder—nothing.

“Are you sure?” Lucas asked.

“Positive! No one else in town has a car like that. Will
you come in with me—just in case?” While I knew that Drake
wasn’t lying in wait for me, my brain was now in overdrive
imaging that he’d set up some elaborate booby trap to capture
me.

“Sure—lead the way.”

I pulled back onto the road and down the drive to the
mansion. Lucas followed closely, barely a foot away from my
back bumper. My wary eyes scanned for hidden dangers but
nothing looked out of the ordinary. Still, I stayed on high alert
as I approached the house.

The
front
door
was
locked—unusual
for
midafternoon.
Shelly was almost always there when I got
home from school. I remarked to Lucas that I thought it was
odd so when I started to put my key in the lock, he stopped
me.

“Here, let me do it. Stand back—just in case.” He put
his hand on mine and I let my keys fall into his open palm.

Taking several steps back, I watched anxiously as he
turned the key slowly. The sound of the lock snapping into
place seemed louder than normal, causing me to jump like a
scared rabbit.
As he pushed the door open, I waited for
something to happen.
Waited for
what
, I don’t know. A
hatchet to fall down from the top of the doorframe, a shotgun
to fire from somewhere within, a knife to plunge into him
from around the corner—anything.
My former love of scary
movies was coming back to haunt me.

Nothing.
No
hatchet, no shotgun,
no knife.
Just
silence. Aside from the soft ticking of the grandfather clock,
no other sounds were audible. Oh my God! What if he’d come
here for me but left with Shelly instead?
Please let her be
okay!

I crept up behind Lucas and put my hand on his back.
“Shelly?” I shouted but got no response. Her car was
outside—where
was
she?

We walked down the hallway to Shelly’s office. The
door was ajar so Lucas poked his head inside.

 

“Nothing,” he said shaking his head.

 

I was starting to get nervous. We checked the kitchen
and the upstairs but she was nowhere to be found.

 

“That’s it—I’m calling the police!” I said as I dug into
my bag for my phone.

“And what are you going to tell them? My stepmom
isn’t home so I think Drake Sterling kidnapped her? You have
no evidence—they won’t do anything for at least forty eight
hours. Why don’t you call her and see where she is before you
panic.”

Excellent idea.
One ring.
Two rings.
Three rings.
Shelly’s phone was never far from her side—what was taking
her so long to answer? The fourth ring was interrupted by
the sound of her voice.

“What’s up, Ruby?”

At least I knew one thing for sure—she wasn’t lying
dead on the church steps. Her voice seemed normal—not at
all what I expected a kidnap victim to sound like.

“Where are you?” My voice, on the other hand, was
tinged with panic.

 

“I’m with your dad. He got off work early so we went
out for a late lunch. You sound upset—is something wrong?”

Is something wrong?
Something was
always
wrong!
She should know that by now! “I was just wondering where
you were—that’s all,” I replied casually. “What time will you
be home?”

“Soon—so if Zach’s with you, he can’t stay long. Your
dad’s using the restroom right now then we’re heading home.
You have about twenty minutes tops.”

“Actually, I’m with Lucas. Will Dad blow a gasket if he
sees
him
here, too?” There was no way I was spending twenty
minutes alone in that house!
There were far too many ways
for someone to sneak in.

“No, I think that will be okay.” Then she quickly
added, “As long as you’re downstairs and nowhere near each
other when we walk in that door.
Here comes your Dad—I
gotta go. See you in twenty.”

I said my goodbyes and hung up. “She’s out with my
dad—everything’s fine. But will you stay here until they get
home? I don’t want to be alone.”

“Sure,” Lucas answered.

I slid the bolt on the front door and instantly felt more
at ease. Whatever—or
who
ever—Drake was after, he didn’t
get what he wanted this time.
But coming straight to my
house was a bolder move than I’d been anticipating. Killing
Portia obviously didn’t curb his blood lust—in fact, it only
seemed to make him more eager for his next victim.

Lucas and I had at least twenty minutes to kill so we
set up the table for a game of pool. After only five minutes,
Lucas had sunk all of his balls while all but one of mine was
still standing.

“You suck, Ru!” he said with a smile, “Now I know I
taught you better than that.”

He had taught me better but I had so many other
things on my mind. A ghost was trying to off me and a serial
killer was trying to “marry” me. But the biggest thing on my
mind was the fact that I had almost kissed Lucas in the bell
tower. We hadn’t spoken of the incident at all so I always felt
like there was a weird gap between us that neither of us
seemed willing to bridge. I couldn’t take it anymore—I had to
say something.

“You did. It’s just that I have a lot of other things on
my mind.” Floundering for a way to broach the subject, I
finally decided to just blurt it out. “If Rachel hadn’t found us
when she did, I would have kissed you Sunday night.”

He didn’t even look shocked. “I know,” he said with
certainty. He picked up the cue ball and rolled it around in his
hand. “Sooner or later, it’s bound to happen. I’ve known that
since the day I met you.”

He wasn’t being even slightly cocky about it—he was
simply stating a fact. The earth is round, the sky is blue, and
someday we’re going to kiss. Simple as that.

Simple my ass! Did he really know what I was feeling
inside or was he just guessing? I hated myself for feeling the
way I did.
When I was with Zach, he was all I could think
about. But now when I was alone with Lucas, the same could
be said about him. There was a time when Zach seemed like
the safe choice—the
only
choice.
But the tables were now
turning at a dizzying speed. What was I going to do?

Nothing—at least not at the moment. Shelly’s twenty
minute warning was a gross overestimate. My dad’s SUV was
idling in front of the house as he let Shelly out before pulling
into the garage. She made an unnecessary amount of noise on
her way in—probably for my benefit should I be up to no
good.

“Ruby! We’re home!” she shouted louder than she
would have normally. She would have seen Lucas’s car out
front and not Zach’s—what did she think we were doing?

“In here!” I called around the corner. “We’re playing
pool!”

Shelly joined us, followed moments later by my dad
who seemed quite happy to see that my “we” didn’t include
Zach. They watched as we finished our game which only took
a few more minutes for me to lose miserably again.

“You’re pretty good!” my dad noted. He clearly wasn’t
talking to me but it was strange to hear him compliment
Lucas like that. Because with all of us in the room together, I
felt like I’d gone back in time. Well, sort of.

Dad hated Lee until the day
he
died but in
that
moment it felt like Lee was getting a do over.
A chance to
prove that he wasn’t as bad as my dad thought he was.
Lucas
wasn’t Lee but the lines between them were blurring quite
rapidly.

“Thanks, but I’m sure you’re better. With a table like
this in your own home, you must play a lot.” Was it just me or
was Lucas trying to suck up to my dad? And if so, why?

“I wish—neither of my girls will play with me.” Dad
pouted just a little and I witnessed a spark of bromance
brewing between them.

“I’ll play you any time you want, Dr. Matthews.
Starting with now.” Lucas was in full out parent pleasing
mode.
Sparkling
smile—check.
Addressing
my
dad
formally—check.
He even said bless
you when
Shelly
sneezed. I had to hand it to him—he was good.

“Now is perfect!” Dad said as he rolled up his sleeves
and grabbed another cue stick from the wall. “But you can
call me Jason, by the way.”

Shut the front door!
For real?
Lee and I had been
together for years and my dad
never
would have permitted
him to call him by his first name! It was like he had a finite
amount of hatred and all of it was currently focused on Zach.
I watched in
amazement as
they proceeded to
kiss
each
other’s asses throughout the game. It was a close match but
in the end my dad beat Lucas by sinking the eight ball on
some fancy bank shot.

Just when I thought the horrible display was over, Dad
racked the balls and announced, “Best out of three?” When
Lucas agreed, I decided to take a break from the shameless
display of camaraderie to change my clothes.

I was just going to the theater but I picked my outfit
carefully. It was like wearing a prom dress to a pig farm but
for some reason I wanted to look perfect for tonight.
I
changed, looked in the mirror, then changed again. Several
times.
When I finally found the perfect sweater and jeans
combo, I returned to the Man Cave expecting them to still be
playing pool. I wish.
What I walked into was surreal and not
at all what I expected.

They were sitting on the couch talking—not about the
game but about something
more serious.
They
were
discussing college. And not just any college—Trinity College.
Lucas had no idea I hadn’t told them about my acceptance
letter and it was too late to tell him to keep his mouth shut
now. All I could do was stand there and watch my train wreck
as it unfolded.

“I’m really excited about heading to Trinity in the fall.
The
fact that Ruby’s going there too only makes it even
better.” Yep, the engine just derailed.

“Ruby? I didn’t know you’d decided on Trinity! That’s
a good school—a
much
better choice than Pendleton.
You
should be getting your acceptance letter any time now.”
Pendleton was every bit the school Trinity was.
The only
reason Dad cared was because Trinity was in Philadelphia
and miles away from where Zach would be.

“Oh, we already got our letters, didn’t we Ruby?”
Lucas announced innocently. And there go the next few cars,
tumbling off the tracks.

Dad looked at me with disbelief. “You did? Why
didn’t you tell me?”

After the information Lucas offered, I couldn’t lie
about it now. Time to tie myself to the tracks and hope the
sparks
from
the
screeching
brakes
didn’t
set me on fire.
“Because I hadn’t made up my mind yet.”