The Secrets of Roan Island

17. Noah

17

Noah

W ith a curse, I hurl a beaker at the wall, where it explodes with a satisfying crash. Ruby looks up from where she's sitting at one of the tables out in the main library and gives me a narrow glare before returning to her reading. I watch her bend toward the book, sliding a lock of her dark hair behind her ear as she gets a closer look. I can smell her from here, the enticing scent of the forest on a rainy day that speaks to me on a primal level, more so than anyone else I’ve ever encountered in my life.

I kissed her. I fucking kissed her! Worse yet, I almost bit her. What the hell was I thinking?

My brother is an infuriating bastard. I can’t believe he led Ruby down here. And so close to the new moon, when all of us are fighting our primal urges. Fuck!

The scratch of a pencil across the page grates at my already tense nerves, but it’s followed by a resonant hum from Ruby, erotic in its innocence.

My stomach tightens as I imagine barging into where she’s sitting, bending her over the table, and burying myself inside her while I feed, then groan because I’ve already started across the lab toward the door. With a quick turn, I put the table between me and the exit, gripping it so hard the metal buckles.

Shermaiah knew what would fucking happen, how I would fight this. He’s fighting it as well, though I know my existing attraction to Ruby is making it harder to withstand the pull of the new moon tides. The lake surges, the rain surges, every bodily fluid in me surges. But I had to open my big mouth and tell him I was sending her away. This stunt is because of that.

I don’t know what she’d do if she found out what we are, how she’d respond. There are moments when I wonder if she’d understand. When I see the veil that shutters her eyes as she grapples with the things she’s been through, I can almost believe she might empathize.

Then I come to my senses. If she knew what happened at Solstice—what my father has done, what we’ve all done—she couldn’t keep quiet. And she wouldn’t keep looking at me with those heated glances. Her ideals wouldn’t allow it. She’d get out of here as quickly as she could and tell everyone.

Hammish will never allow that if he learns she’s been down here. He’ll insist she stay until Solstice, and then I’ll have to watch her die because I’m no closer to finding a way to prevent it than I was at Summer Solstice.

A soft knock on the door interrupts my spiraling thoughts and a glance at the clock tells me I’ve been stewing for hours. Ruby looks more drained than she did when she first walked into the library. Her dark hair sags from its updo, tendrils escaping its hold. Her hastily donned dress is a touch wrinkled. Despite all that, I can’t think she’s anything but breathtaking.

“I found something interesting about the Mavarri.”

I hold up my hand to keep her where she is, and she stops. “What?” I growl. I wasn’t expecting her to find something so quickly, not with how little I gave her, not with the fact that most of the manuscripts are written in a different language, and I didn’t offer her translation glasses. My stomach churns at the thought of her putting things together, figuring out what I am.

Ruby tenses. “Can I show you?”

I don’t want her near me, afraid I won’t be able to control myself. And simultaneously, I do want her near me. I want to sink my teeth into her and drink my fill. I glower at her instead. “What is it?”

She approaches tentatively, holding out an open book. “You probably already know this, and since I’m not sure what you want me to look for, it might not matter. But, did you know Mavarri mate for life?”

I did know. “Why does it matter?”

“Well, it’s no wonder they’re extinct, because they can only reproduce with their mate—with the right mate.” She leans toward me, holding the book open between us. That distinct scent that’s uniquely her envelops me. I breathe it in, glancing at the pulse point of her neck as she points to a passage. “It only happens under specific circumstances—a biological function because of their status as apex predators. Smart, really, to keep the population from overtaking the food source.” She tilts her head up to look at me, and I’m still trying to track what she’s saying. She smiles, and my body opens up, releasing everything I’m fighting to hold back. “It’s kind of… romantic, don’t you think?”

I swallow and blink, my body heating everywhere, preparing. I shake my head trying to recall what she said. The right mate? What the fuck is she talking about?

“Let me see that.” I hold out my hand.

She tucks the book behind her back and takes a quick step away. Prey. My chasing instincts ripple to the surface.

“First, tell me why you’re researching an extinct animal.”

She has no idea the game she’s playing with me. What I can do to her. It’s adorable she thinks she can keep me from getting the book if I want to. For selfish reasons, I give her more, my instincts primed and ready to hunt. “The bite of a Mavarri had certain properties that could, on certain occasions like Solstice, change the creature being bitten.” Licking my teeth behind my lips, I step toward her.

She steps back, maintaining the distance. “Change in what way?”

I grin. “It could rewrite DNA.”

Smile sliding from her face, she tilts her head to the side, locks of hair falling over her shoulder. My more violent impulses call me to twist it around my fist and use it as a lead to drag her to my bed.

“The ability to rewrite biology? That could have major scientific ramifications.” She holds the book out to me as if it’s a peace offering.

I glance at it, but my gaze catches on the skin of her exposed wrist. I notice her veins, the ribbons of blood pulsing under her light skin. My fangs lengthen, and I try to keep them hidden as I say a tight-lipped, “Indeed.”

“Is that what you’re experimenting with? Changing DNA?”

“Something like that.” I take a step toward her.

She looks around the room with a new sense of wonder. Her eyes bounce from the metal workspace to the shelves of specimens along the walls to the locked metal door in the back.

I step between it and her. “You should get some sleep, Ruby.”

“I’m not tired.” Her eyes spark with more than defiance. The heat of our kiss echoes in the look she gives me now.

I stalk her. “You should walk out into the library and shut that door.”

She backs away. “Why?” The word lacks strength, as if it’s an afterthought.

“Because I told you to.”

“I don’t do what you tell me.”

“I know. And you’ll be punished for it,” I say simply.

She shudders, and her cheeks darken with a stunning blush. I hear her heart pick up speed inside her chest.

“You like that idea.”

Her mouth parts as if willing herself to deny it, then to scold me for my boldness, but she’s silent.

“Hello? Noah?” Mrs. Darning’s voice cuts the tension and brings me back to my senses.

I stop.

The housekeeper carts in a breakfast tray, barely acknowledging Ruby but for a quick glance as if it’s the most normal thing in the world for Ruby to be down here with me. Shemaiah must have told her. For a moment, I worry, but Mrs. Darning has never gone against my brothers or me. If Shemaiah thought it was safe enough to send her, then I trust his judgment. She obeys my father, but she obeys us as well, and she’s not the type to volunteer private information.

“Figured you’d want to eat before you depart,” she says, setting the tray on the library table. Tracking Ruby as she reaches for the offered refreshment, Darning turns to give me a stern look. “You too. You’re too thin.”

“You know very well why,” I reply coldly. I’m always hungry before the new moon, and the tea and pastries in front of Ruby won’t satisfy. But under Mrs. Darning’s hard stare, I cross, take a bite of biscuit, and sit to pour a cup of tea. The smell masks Ruby’s scent and the temptation I just nearly succumbed to before the interruption.

Ruby studies the books as she drinks her tea, unbothered by Darning bustling around tidying things. I take another sip, and though the warm liquid doesn’t satisfy my true thirst, it does ease the ache.

“I need to”–Ruby covers a yawn with her delicate hand–“pack.”

“Already taken care of,” Mrs. Darning says with a grim nod.

Ruby’s chin drops, her head sagging.

My own eyes feel heavy, my body loose and slow. Horror barely breaks through the numbness coursing through my muscles. “You–”

“You’ll thank us later.” Darning catches Ruby just as she slumps, easing her to the ground.

“No...” I fight against the drug, but it’s useless. She must have put ten times the normal amount in my cup in order to affect me this strongly. I have just enough energy to crawl to Ruby, but I lose consciousness the moment my fingers brush hers.