When the Woods Go Silent (Haret Chronicles: Dark Fae #1)

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

R OSE

I watch Ruby turn and speak to Torrence, and I wonder what she tells him.

In this moment, bent over his open car window, she feels like a stranger to me. Or maybe someone I used to know so well, but have lost touch with. Maybe I feel the same to her. I don’t realize I’m holding my breath until Torrence rolls up his window and drives away.

I push away the fear and the strangeness that has entered our friendship today, relying instead on the foundation of years behind us. We’ll find our way through this. We have to.

“Ruby,” I gasp as she faces me, regret etched on her face. I clatter down the stairs as she climbs, the two of us meeting in the middle in a fierce hug.

And just like that, the fear of becoming strangers dissolves, and I know everything that what we’ve built together is going to weather this storm.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers into my shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, too,” I answer, feeling the edge of a sob swelling against my chest, from both relief and the sorrow of fighting with a friend who’s more like a soulmate than anyone I’ve ever met.

“We have a lot to talk about,” Ruby adds, and even though there’s an edge of irony to her tone, I don’t hear any anger.

“I’m telling you so much more than you want to hear,” I threaten with a smile, although an edge of sadness still slices at my chest. Even though I believe in our friendship, what’s happening is going to change it, no matter what words I use.

She links her arm in mine, and we head back inside, locking the door behind us and locking the world out while we take the night off to sort our shit.

“Pizza?” I suggest as we head upstairs, and Ruby groans.

“Yes please. I haven’t eaten all day. Extra cheese and so much garlic sauce.”

Dusk is falling as the pizza is delivered, and Ruby piles blankets and pillows in our upstairs living room like a proper pillow fort. I see the worry in her dark eyes, the downward pull of her mouth, but we’ve sort of silently agreed not to begin until we have food and creature comforts. I note the over-full glasses of wine Ruby pours us both, and I don’t comment as she takes a long drink. We’re probably going to need the whole bottle.

“So, you were right. About everything,” I admit when she finally sets down her glass and fixes her eyes on me, the signal that we need to break the ice. She smiles a little, taking a huge bite of pizza without answering. I pretend to admire the cheese pull as I take my first slice, deciding just to jump straight in.

“Kier showed me magic, and it blew my fucking mind, and all I wanted was for things to go back to normal so I could pretend it wasn’t real. And I’m sorry for that reaction, because it made me hesitate to come to you. I should have, and I’m so sorry.”

Ruby still doesn’t say anything, and for a minute, I think I’d rather have her yell and get angry than give me this silent zombie look.

“Did Torrence... what did he tell you? I assume you confronted him.”

She nods, swirling the wine in her glass. “He showed me his magic. He makes icicles and little fire balls.”

I can tell she’s holding things back, but I have no room to press yet. I make myself hold in my questions, waiting for Ruby to open up more.

“What does Kier do?” she asks, and I tilt my head back to stare at the shadowy ceiling.

“This is a crazy conversation, you know?”

Ruby laughs a little, although the sound is hollow. “And it’s barely started.”

“Kier does stuff with plants. Like he can make them grow out of nothing. Vines and roses and flowers I’ve never seen before. He can use fire too, but I guess his mother was some evil dictator and hurt a lot of people with her fire magic, so he doesn’t use it as much.” I’m babbling, trying to fill her silence.

“He’s a fae?” Her voice is wistful.

I nod. “And Torrence is a gobbelin, whatever that is.”

“Half fae, too,” she adds, and I frown. Kier didn’t tell me that part.

But it’s time for another piece. “And apparently they’re at war, or going to be soon. Gobbelins against fae. Torrence against Kier,” I add, suddenly sick to my stomach again. If Ruby stays with Torrence, and the fae believe I can help them, it would put us on opposite sides of this conflict. This war, if Kier can be trusted.

“Torrence hasn’t had a chance to tell me anything like that.”

Ruby’s brow draws together, and the mood in the room slides closer to despondency. My heart aches for her, that she’s finally found magic, and it’s nothing like what she wanted it to be.

“Maybe it’s not that serious,” I suggest, but it sounds lame. Kier was pretty clear when he described the war - weapons, armies, and death. I don’t know Torrence’s part in all of it, or why they didn’t kill each other on the porch the other day, but I’m so afraid of the distance that could come between Ruby and myself if she continues seeing Torrence and I let Kier try to teach me magic.

She’s silent for so long that I finally look up, anxiety churning in my stomach when I see she’s crying. Fat tears slide down her cheeks, and her lower lip trembles. Her hands shake, and she spills a few drops of wine before clanking the glass down on the coffee table.

“It’s so fucking serious, Rosey,” she whispers, dissolving into great hiccupping sobs. I scramble across the blankets and wrap her in my arms, rocking her like she’s a little kid. I’ve never seen Ruby this broken up about something. Not even when her mother died. Her breathing is wet and shaky, and I realize her whole body is trembling.

Ruby’s terrified, and her fear bleeds into my mind.

“What is it, Ru? What happened?”

She tries to take a gulping breath, but the sobs still come. Heart pounding, I wait it out with her, holding her tight until her body has worn itself out. Ruby wriggles out of my arms and leans back against the couch, her head flopping onto the cushions as she tries to wipe her face with her sleeve. I grab a box of tissues from a shelf and she blows her nose loudly.

“Christ, Rose. I don’t even know where to start.”

I watch her, my worry growing into desperation. A good cry usually helps Ruby feel better, but whatever she’s afraid of hasn’t lessened one bit.

“Start with what happened when you left the first time today,” I suggest gently. “Where did you go?”

“ Goblin Market . I was looking for Torrence, to make him tell me what you were hiding. I asked him if he was a vampire,” she adds, sniffling and rolling her eyes at herself.

Then her cheeks flush, and she huffs. “Everything is so messed up. I can barely keep it straight. So, I went to the restaurant, and the door was open. I heard noises and got worried it was Kier coming back to fight Torrence, but it was Arlo. Um... having sex.”

The laugh slips from my mouth before I can think better of it, and Ruby scrubs her hands over her eyes. When she takes them away, I see she’s tearing up again.

“He’s dead,” she whispers, and my jaw drops.

“What?”

Ruby sighs deeply, taking a few seconds to blow her nose again and pull her messy hair back into a bun. When she looks at me again, I can almost see her packing away the emotion. A look of grim determination presses her lips together.

“Just listen,” she warns. “So, I saw Arlo with some guy, and he sort of told me to stay and watch, which was super weird. And then Torrence showed up before I could get my wits together and leave. And they fought, but I ran out the door. Torrence came after me, and that’s when I told him I’d heard you talking to Kier about magic. He admitted it, and it was beautiful. He makes fire and ice from absolutely nothing.” Ruby smiles sadly, and I hope that whatever she’s about to tell me hasn’t taken away all of that beauty for her.

I bite back all my questions and wait, honoring her request.

Ruby cracks her neck as though getting ready for a physical fight, drains her wine, and turns back to me. “I came back here to talk to you, but you were still shutting me out. So I took the car and just drove. I needed to clear my head.”

“I almost got a ride-share to come find you,” I admit, and she smiles a tiny bit.

“Well, thank the Goddess you didn’t. I got a text from Arlo, and he told me Torrence was messed up, needed me, whatever. Gave me the address to their place.” She scoffs at herself, rolling her eyes to the ceiling again. “I was such an idiot to go there, Rose.”

I slide my hand over to hers and squeeze it, trying to lend her some reassurance. Damn it, I have so many questions, but I owe it to her to let her tell the story the way she needs to.

Ruby stands abruptly and goes to the kitchen, coming back with the wine bottle. Her glass full again, she glares down at the red liquid, so dark it’s almost black.

“When I got there, I didn’t see anyone, but the place is huge. A lot of people live there. Lived,” she amends, and my eyes widen. “I heard some shouting on the back deck and found Torrence beating the hell out of Arlo. And... and there were all these bodies. There was so much blood,” she whispers, pausing to gulp down some more wine and blinking furiously to keep her tears away.

I’m practically biting through my lip in my effort to keep quiet. This is insane.

“Tor... he killed Arlo. He made some kind of sword thing with ice and just... cut him in half. He looked like a monster, Rose.”

“And you still got in the car with him?” I blurt, regretting the words the second they’re out.

Ruby’s expression changes from delayed shock and fear to flat-out anger and a protective fierceness that startles me. “I don’t expect you to understand, but so help me, Rose, do not try to tell me what I should have done. You have no right.”

The furious words hit me like the ice sword she claims Torrence used.

She’s right. I have no space to judge her after what I held back. I have no right to swoop in and offer advice when I still don’t know the full story.

“I’m sorry, Ru,” I murmur, keeping my eyes on the blankets and feeling like a pile of shit. Worried, scared shit.

“Torrence saved me. Arlo had me by the neck, squeezing so hard. I couldn’t breathe, Rose.”

Hearing this, I feel my own throat start to close up, my eyes bugging out as she pulls her shirt aside to show me the bruises. I would have killed Arlo, too.

“And he told me that Arlo killed every one of those people. Gobbelins. The whole freaking restaurant’s worth of workers is dead. And Arlo texted me to lure me there, just so I could see it all. So he could hurt me, one way or another. Tor isn’t the bad guy here, Rose. Arlo is. And you were right about that,” she adds as a small concession that I cling to, as I struggle to process everything she’s describing.

My brain fights the images, doesn’t want to assimilate even more things to fear. Maybe she’s right and Torrence was stopping a horrible monster. But that doesn’t make him any less dangerous. I don’t want Ruby anywhere near him, but there’s no way I can tell her that again.

She’s so right - I have no right to say it.

“You trust him,” I say instead, careful to keep my words from going up in question. Ruby nods, staring down into her dark red wine.

“I feel it. His need to be honest with me. He’s different with me.”

I don’t question that, either, though I really, really want to. Fuck, I want to, after the things Kier has told me. I care so much about Ruby, but any warnings I give her right now are more likely to push her away from me than anything.

Something about Torrence really has hooked her in, just like he warned me, and part of me understands it’s more than the blood addiction Kier was afraid of.

Ruby stays silent long enough that it feels like she’s done telling her story, although there are certainly some gaps and questions I’ll ask her about - later. Now, it’s my turn to spill.

I haven’t told her the hardest part. But if I hold this back, she’ll never forgive me.

“You might need more wine for the rest of my story,” I warn quietly, and she tilts her head at me as if to say nothing could surprise her now. Unfortunately, I know I’m about to shake every foundation we’ve ever built together. I take a deep breath.

“Kier thinks... he... and this is insane, but he thinks I might have fae magic.” The words rush out, and I see Ruby go through half a dozen emotions in the span of a few seconds. She settles into something that looks like excitement on the surface, but I see the shadow of hurt lingering in her eyes.

Magic is real, but it should be Ruby who has it. Not me. Never me.

I don’t want it. If I could hand it over to her, I would.

“Why? How ?” she manages.

I tip back onto the pillows, staring again at the damn ceiling as though it might have the answers we both want. My appetite is good and gone, and if I drink any more wine I’ll just get more nauseous.

“It has something to do with a fae someone hid on Earth as a baby. A changeling. And they’ve been looking everywhere for her, for years and years.”

“And he thinks it’s you ?”

I flinch a little at the incredulity in her voice. It sounds ridiculous, that someone like me would have hidden magic like in the books we love to read. I wish I could close the cover on it, put it away on a bookshelf, and forget all about it.

“He doesn’t know for sure. He, um, took some of my blood and had it tested somehow. It was negative. But I... I made something. Twice, I think.”

“Made something?” Ruby echoes, sounding far away.

“I think I made vines, like Kier does. And a rose, although we both thought he’d done that at first. I don’t know how it works, and I have no clue how to make it happen again.”

“Then why does he think you have magic? The test was negative?”

I pull the crumpled paper from my pocket. It seems like months ago that Ronan was in the shop, sliding this paper to me. Was it really only this morning?

“Kier’s brother Ronan found this. That blood disorder I had when I was a baby? I had a full transfusion.”

Ruby nods. “Yeah, I remember the story. So, they think you had fae blood before, and now you have human blood? That’s wild, Rosey.” Her eyes are shining, though, and excitement is starting to win over whatever hurt and jealousy might have been creeping in. She has the look she gets when she’s wrapped up in a great story.

“You have to show me.”

“But I don’t even know if it’s true,” I protest, raising my arms and letting them flop back down on the blankets.

“It’s true,” Ruby says simply, returning to the same childlike faith in magic that’s carried her through all these years. It’s true because she says it is. I huff out a laugh, wishing I could have the same faith. In anything.

“What’s Kier’s brother like?” she asks.

“You saw him, actually. The guy from this morning,” I admit, and she makes a face, rolling down beside me, her shoulder bumping mine in a gesture so familiar that my eyes grow wet with tears of relief.

“Ugh. Asshole for sure. Hot, though,” she teases, as though she’s getting tired of all the serious talk. “Sounds just like a fae to me.”

I can’t help it, what comes out next. “It’s not a story, Ru. If this is all real like you say - like they say - it’s going to change everything. And it won’t be fun and exciting all the time.”

“I know,” Ruby says quietly. “I know that. But we came here looking for a change. I’m sorry it’s different from what you hoped, but aren’t you even a little bit excited?”

How can I tell her I’m not? How can I admit that the only thing I feel is fear and regret?

I don’t have to say anything, though. Ruby can read it on my face.

“I know you think I like Torrence because of his magic. That I’m conveniently forgetting about the violence. The darkness. But I do see it, Rose. I think I saw it even before I knew what I was looking at. It’s part of what he was born into. He’s different with me, though. There’s a lot more to him than monster.”

“Your very own beast to transform,” I tease lightly, unwilling to say anything else against him right now.

Ruby smiles, toying with the edge of a blanket. “I get the sense that he’s trapped, somehow. That whatever is going on with all of this war stuff, he doesn’t want it. Maybe there’s a reason you and I met men from different sides. Maybe we can bring them together.”

I don’t contradict her, although it sounds naive to me. Simplistic, like a little girl’s dream. Instead, I allow myself one question - hopefully a safer one than all the ones I have about Torrence.

“Why would Arlo kill all those people - gobbelins?” I correct myself, still trying to wrap my brain around the idea that even though the servers at the restaurant looked like people, they were all magical creatures the whole time. I guess that would explain their next-level hotness.

“Torrence says Arlo was a spy. A plant from the gobbelin queen, keeping an eye on Torrence while he worked here.”

I frown as a whole new set of questions cascades in my mind. “What exactly were they working on here? What’s the point of running a tourist restaurant, if they’re in the middle of a war?”

Ruby shakes her head, shrugging. “We didn’t talk about that. I guess I don’t know as much as I want, either.”

Her eyes meet mine, and the apology is clear. We’ve both been operating on a lot of assumptions and half-truths. Neither Kier nor Torrence have told us everything we need to know, and instead of fighting with each other, we should be sticking together.

“We’ll get our answers from them,” I say, determination working its way through the fatigue that’s left behind after all my fear and anxiety.

“Wait - you’re not a long-lost princess, are you? Because I really would lose my shit then.” Ruby glares at me, but it doesn’t last long, and the thought sends both of us into a fit of relieved giggles as the tension finally breaks.

“I fucking hope not. It would suck to find out I’m Kier’s sister,” I say when we catch our breath, but it only sets us off again.

“Maybe incest is a fae thing.” Ruby grins and ducks away from the pillow I half-heartedly toss at her. It feels good to have reached this point again, although I still wish we could pack everything back into the car and drive away from Clearwater before things get messed up again.

“Wait. Where is the car, anyway?” I ask, my brain firing back to the fact that Torrence brought her home.

Ruby groans. “I forgot about that part of the story, and it’s just as crazy as the rest. But in a good way,” she adds, that gleam of excitement back in her eyes.

“We do need some good magic to balance it out,” I hedge.

“Oh, this is great magic. So, when I saw Torrence kill Arlo, I was terrified, obviously. I ran like hell, pulled the car around too fast. I crashed, and he tried to save me again.”

“Crashed?” I echo, a whole new wave of panic setting in as I work to remind myself Ruby is fine, sitting right here with me. Not mangled in a car accident.

“I took a turn too fast, way too desperate to get out of there. I should have died , Rose. The car... it’s so beyond totaled. It’s like a pop can someone crushed. There’s just a little me-sized space in the middle of all that twisted metal.” Her voice trails away, false bravado echoing through the room.

My nausea is back, and worse than before. “And he saved you? How?” I choke out.

“Well... actually the trees saved me.” Ruby chews on her lower lip, and I can’t tell if she’s confused or hesitant or ashamed - of what, I have no idea.

She takes a deep breath and scoots up onto the couch, gazing through the kitchen and out the back windows to the woods beyond.

“The trees moved. I know it sounds ridiculous, but after everything else? Why not? They lifted their freaking roots and wrapped their branches and cushioned me with leaves. They saved my life, and it was so amazing. I’m grateful, obviously. But... I have no idea why. Why would they save me?”

I’m trying like hell to assimilate this new weirdness about trees being sentient and mobile, but I have no problem answering her why.

“Because you love them so much, Ru. You walk there every day. You talk to them. You listen. If trees are going to come alive in this brave new weird world, then of course, they would try to save someone like you.”

Her cheeks flush, and she smiles, looking like herself for the first time all day. “Tor taught me how to say ‘thank you’ in fae. I told the trees, glidden da .”

A few days ago, I would have assumed Torrence was some douchebag playing games to get Ruby in bed, but in the ridiculous mix of everything else I’ve learned, a fae language sounds like a safe and lovely thing for him to share with her. Hearing Ruby speak words she’s dreamed were real for almost twenty years gives me a life raft of hope to cling to.

It doesn’t make all the other shit worth it, of course, but somehow it lends a tiny credibility to her stubborn belief that this could all turn out to be a good thing in the end.

“You finally found your magic, Ruby.”

She slides back down into the pile of blankets with me, grinning. “I can barely believe it. All this time waiting and hoping. Trying to act like it was knowledge and not just faith. And it worked. We found magic, Rose. It found us.”

Ruby laughs like a kid, and my heart warms for a moment until I remember that she watched Torrence kill someone today and still got into a car with him.

We have a lot to talk about, and she’s going to need some therapy like, immediately, but I’ll be damned if I ruin the mood now. Besides, I’m exhausted from the day’s roller coaster of emotions, and I know she must be, too.

“Can we sleep out here tonight, like both of us?” I ask, feeling kind of silly, but not willing to let Ruby out of my sight even if my eyes are closed.

“Sleepover party,” Ruby says with a grin that turns into a yawn. This has been a long fucking day. The whole world, turning inside out for us. It’s something Ruby searched for, and I dreaded her finding. But here we are, still best friends after the madness.

All the same, I can’t help giving voice to one more worry before we give in to sleep.

“We won’t let these guys get between us, right, Ruby? If there is another world out there, fae and gobbelins fighting some stupid war. And Torrence and Kier on opposite sides. Kier wants me because he thinks I can help win. Torrence wants you because you’re amazing. We’re going to be drawn into this, aren’t we?”

“No, it won’t come between us. We’ll be the ones to figure out how to end it. Best friends, pulling the world together with love.”

Ruby snuggles down into the pillow and blanket nest, turning on her side to look at me. She stretches out her hand to link pinkies with mine in a silent promise, and her expression settles me for now.

This is why I love her, why I need her friendship. No matter what weird, crazy, or shattering situations we find ourselves in, she can always find hope enough to share with me.