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.Ruby's yellow house looked as it always did,offering no outward hint that a true darkness lurked within it."If we can stopIIColletorefrom taking theninth soul, and if we can keep him from transporting to another vortex until it's too late, then it will beover.His chance for immortality will pass until an-other two hundred and eighty seven years have goneby.""I'd like to get my hands on that jade cat and destroy it," Ter-ence said softly."Aye," Aiden agreed."Ruby is a good person," Zane said, revealing more than he should to these Brothers."So were they all, I imagine," Julio responded darkly."And so will be those the demon takes if we donot stop it tonight."Chapter 7The passing of the day was too fast to suit Ruby, as she real-ized that it might very well be her last.Acouple of times she tried to go to sleep, hoping for more instruction from the women she had begun tothink of as one very-strong entity.Marielle , how-ever, wouldn't allow Ruby to sleep.Did that mean therewas a way to stop the plans? Why else wouldMarielle work so hard to keep Ruby from making contact?Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlThe eight were inside that piece of jade as surely as the demon was.Perhaps together they werestronger than anyone knew.Per-haps they could communicate with Ruby when she was not asleep if shegot her head in the right place.She should've taken one of Zane's classes, she supposed.Or at least not laughed at him.Ruby stared out of her bedroom window.Once during the dayMarielle had allowed her to go to thebathroom, but her ankles had remained tied together, which made for short, awkward steps.Her handswere free, and maybe she could try to fight.Maybeshe could get away, but whatever drugMarielle hadgiven her last night still had Ruby woozy, and she knew a failed escape attempt would get her moretightly bound.She did not want her hands trussed as her ankles were! Maybes were not enough.She sat up, her back against a thick stack of pillows, and stared out of the window.It was a cool day,but the sun shone through the thin curtains.Ruby focused on the light.She tried to dismiss everythingelse—Marielle, the jade cat, the possibility that this day would end very badly.If she did have a gift ofsome sort, if she could hear the demon's previous victims in her dreams, then why could she not hearthem now?Deep, even breaths lulled her, and in her mind she did her best to picture the women who had come toher.She remembered their faces.She had not dreamed of all eight, but there were five she couldremember very well.Five victims.Five souls who only wanted to help her.Had those five been a touchclairvoyant, as she apparently was? Was that why they had been able to reach her in her dreams?In her mind she asked,Howcan I fight?For a long while there was nothing.Not an idea, not a word, nota shimmer of light to hint that someone—or something—heard her.She asked again,How can I hurt thedemon?What was it about that totem that made the demon's flunky snatch it away? She remembered theshape of a crescent moon, and something else that dangled there.What was she searching for? What didshe need?A single word finally came to her.Silver.Ruby blinked hard.Of course! In every horror movie she'd ever seen, silver did the trick.Vampires andwerewolves.Silver crosses and silver bullets.She didn't knowwhy,and at the moment she didn't care.Itwas something to work with.She turned to look atMarielle , who was staring at the jade cat with a dreamy expression in her eyes."Ihave a request," Ruby said.Annoyed to be interrupted from her admiration of the demon's current home,Marielle snapped her facearound to glare."Why should I care what you request?""Because no matter what, we were friends.Good friends,Mari-elle." She reached back into her dreamsfor more, she asked for guidance from the eight."Besides, I suspect a happy soul is tastier and morefilling than an unhappy and hungry one.""You want something to eat,"Marielle said."There's a Death by Chocolate cake in the fridge, and double chocolate chunk ice cream in the freezer.""You want both?"Marielle asked, her blue eyes widening.Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html"I don't exactly have to worry about how many calories I'm get-ting today, now do I," she snapped.Mariellerelaxed."That's true." As a precaution, she quickly bound Ruby's hands and tied them to theheadboard."Since this is my last hurrah, let's do it right," Ruby called be-foreMarielle left the room."I want the cakeand ice cream on Aunt Mildred's best china, and I want agoodfork and agoodspoon.I feel like such aputz , saving all that stuff for special and never using any of it."Mariellehuffed a little, making Ruby wonder if she'd get what she'd asked for, but then the girl asked,"Will I find all that in the dining-room buffet?"Ruby nodded, trying not to give away the surge of hope that filled her.Marielle couldn't be allowed tosee even a hint of that blessed hope.Maybe she couldn't stop what was coming—maybe she couldn't kill the demon that was coming for her.But she wouldn't go easily; she was going to fight.* * *The sunset, and the four soldiers of the Brotherhood armed themselves to the teeth, said a prayer, andpositioned them-selves by the door to Zane's house, waiting for the correct moment.The moment ofattack had to be precise—not too soon, not too late [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]