necessarily like other people. And Lucas has always kept to himself. Before he turned Eliza into a vampire, I think he was on his own.”
“He doesn’t talk about his past much?”
“He will if I ask him, though he’s lived so long it would take quite a while to go over everything.”
“Hah, good point.”
We get into my Jeep and I toss my purse in the back. It’s heavier than normal because I might have shoved several handfuls of candy in there before we left.
“He was captured as a prisoner of war when he was a human and forced to fight in the Colosseum,” I tell her as I start the engine. “And then was turned into a vampire against his will and forced to fight again until he was able to escape.”
“Shit.” She slowly shakes her head. “I never really think about vampires before they were vampires.”
“I didn’t either until I met Lucas.” I pull out of the parking spot and slowly go down the road. Now that most of the kids are done with trick-or-treating, the twenty-one and older crowd is coming out and it’s apparent they’ve already been drinking. “I didn’t want to fall in love with him, you know. I tried really hard not to.”
“I couldn’t understand how you could even look at him without dry-heaving before,” she admits apologetically. “But now that I’ve gotten to know him, I know I’ve looked at all vampires with a jaded point of view.”
“Overall, I don’t trust vampires,” I reaffirm. “But I see Lucas as so much more than just a vampire. And I won’t try to convince you he’s some innocent, only-drinks-animal-blood type of vampire. He’s done things in the past I don’t even want to think about, but then again, so have I.” I tighten my grip on the steering wheel and clench my jaw. I don’t have time for the guilt and anxiety to wind up inside of me.
I did what I had to do, and now it’s over. It’s fine. Abby healed and I haven’t seen Lucifer since. It’s going to be fine. Totally fine. It fucking has to be.
“I’m sure if I was over a thousand years old, I’d have made a mistake or two as well,” Ruby goes on, and it’s really saying something for her. “I don’t ever expect anyone to be perfect, ya know? Just…just don’t be a dick.”
“That’s pretty much my life’s philosophy. Leave me alone and don’t be a dick and we won’t have any issues.”
Ruby laughs and I press on the gas, actually going the speed limit now that we’re out of town and away from the drunk people stumbling about.
“I’m going to run in and change really quick. Feel free to come inside with me,” I tell her when we pull onto my road. We’re still several miles from my house but being out in the country brings me peace right away. I love downtown Thorne Hill, full of quaint, Hallmark-movie vibes, as Abby pointed out just hours ago. But I need my space. My peace and quiet. My—
“Fuck!” I slam on the brakes, but I’m too late. Whatever ran out in front of us crashes into the car.
Chapter 15
“Are you okay?” Ruby’s hand lands on my shoulder. The airbags didn’t go off, but I know I hit something.
I feel an instant pain in my neck from whiplash, but other than that, I’m fine.
But I hit something. Something that was tall, tan, and human-ish in shape.
“Yeah. You?” I scramble to put the Jeep in park.
“I’m fine. What the hell was that?” Ruby’s eyes are wide. “Shit, it’s coming back!”
I look up just in time to see a scrapper demon racing toward the Jeep. Blood drips from his head, and its yellowed fangs are bared.
“Oh, hell no!” Ruby braces herself for impact right as the scrapper hits her door.
“You picked the wrong night to mess with me,” I say through gritted teeth, undoing my seatbelt. I open the door despite Ruby’s protests and conjure an energy ball. “Hey, fuckface!” I yell, tossing the energy ball up into the air. The scrapper demon lets out a gargled growl and takes off, jumping over my Jeep and denting my hood even more than it already is.
“Fucker,” I say and throw the energy ball at its chest. It hits and sinks in, burning him from the inside out. The scrapper screeches in pain, stumbling backwards into the weeds on the shoulder of the road, collapsing into a pile of goo.