The Ruby Kiss by Helen Scott Taylor Read Free Book Online

causing too much damage. Sitting on a plastic chair, Ruby hugged her arms around her middle. What would she do if the cursed affliction didn’t stop this time? She wouldn’t be able to leave the moon room without wrecking the lovely home she’d worked so hard to buy. After a childhood on the road always moving, it was her sanctuary, her dream. The hours dragged past. She watched inane game shows on the old television and listened to the radio. She couldn’t even pick up a book because the paper grew brittle and changed color like autumn leaves.
    Memories of Nightshade filled her thoughts. She almost imagined she could smell the musky almond fragrance of his skin, and she remembered with a pang of longing the strange excitement of having him in the house.
    Every fifteen minutes, she put her hand on the log she’d brought inside to test if the stupid affliction had worn off. By four p.m., she’d touched the log so many times the damn thing had sprouted into a mini tree complete with roots. It seemed she would have to endure a second night in the room. If she ever met her father, she was going to tell him exactly what she thought about this damn useless power she’d inherited from him. It had been the bane of her life.
    The sky darkened and stars became visible against that velvet blue canopy. Pulling closed the front of the ghastly old brown and orange acrylic dressing gown that had belonged to her mother, Ruby dashed outside and called her dogs. Her property covered five acres, and she could hear their excited yaps in the woodland near the northern boundary. They had probably cornered some poor creature in the undergrowth.
    Standing on the concrete path outside the back door, she rattled a metal bowl full of kibble to attract the dogs’ attention. No success. She grew cold standing still, so she slipped on her green boots and grabbed a flashlight. But the moment she stepped off the concrete path, the short clipped grass came to life. Beneath her boots, green stems snaked up.
    With a little huff of irritation, she started jogging so that her feet didn’t stay in one place long enough to get tangled in the burgeoning growth. She headed in the direction of the barking, but the sound stopped abruptly.
    At the edge of the woodland, Ruby swung the flashlight between the tree trunks. “Ares, Apollo—come here, boys!”
    Deafening silence met her call. A sense of unease prickled up her spine. Ruby stood still to listen, but ivy reared up from the ground to twine around her legs. She ripped the vines away with a curse and sidestepped.
    A canine yowl of distress sounded among the trees. Ruby charged forward, gripping her flashlight to use as a weapon. If her small dogs tangled with a badger or the old fox she’d seen in the garden, they could be hurt. But just as she really started to worry, Ares and Apollo pelted out of the undergrowth. She shouted at them to stop, but they ignored her and scampered back toward the house.
    “What the hell’s the matter with you two?” she said, turning to retrace her steps along the narrow woodland path. A sudden gust of wind carried the stink of carrion.
    She paused and looked over her shoulder. The deathly silence sent a flash of fear through her: Something lurked in the shadows.
    Ruby turned to run, gripping her dressing gown closed over her breasts, but she tripped on a tangle of greenery and pitched forward onto the ground. The flashlight jolted from her hand and cracked against a tree. The comforting yellow beam of light blinked out, leaving her in darkness.
    “Shit.” She tore at the ivy winding around her boots. As the woody stems cut into her fingers, her heart thundered and her breath burst in and out. She clambered to her feet, beating away the slithering leafy assailants. How she hated her power; it was more of a curse. If she ever had the chance to rid herself of it, she would do so in a heartbeat.
    Now her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she made out deeper patches of