Chapter 20 Ruby
Ruby
Iwatched Cassie hurry away and tried to figure out what was going on. Seeing my confused expression, her mother leaned in close and spoke softly.
“The Romanians have pledged to avenge the girl’s death.
She killed herself after her team lost. In those countries, pride is everything,” Fredericka explained.
“If she’d bragged that she would win or promised someone important that she would help the team win, she would have felt there was no choice but to counteract her dishonor by killing herself.
Now her father feels like he must avenge her death because he’s convinced the U.S. team cheated.”
“Wait, so the Romanian mob is who’s been trying to hurt the U.S. team?”
She nodded. “I don’t know for sure, but if there have been issues, it’s a good bet that the Romanians are behind it, yes. Those people know how to hold a grudge.”
I studied the frail woman, trying to imagine her comforting Cassie when she skinned her knee or failed a test. Her eyes looked soulless, almost vacant, her attention focused on her husband. As for Anson, even from across the room I could see he was a narcissistic blowhard.
Cassie led him across the room, and while anyone else would have thought that she and her father were having an animated conversation, I could tell that my bodyguard was agitated.
I felt her urgency and anger as if it were my own emotions.
The mate bond, presumably. She hadn’t bit me, we hadn’t even talked about it again, but the bond grew stronger the more time we spent together.
“Ruby, it’s time to go in. They’re starting dinner soon.”
My father’s voice came from behind me. He looked distinguished in his fitted tux, my mother by his side, equally refined. Seeing them standing there holding hands and radiating love was a stark contrast to watching Cassie’s parents interact.
Just then Alexei and Eleanor returned. I looked between them and Fredericka.
“Will you tell Cassie I went inside? It was nice to meet you.”
“You as well.”
Cassie’s mom seemed unbothered by the fact she’d promised to not let me out of her sight, and now I was walking away.
So much for her promise to Cassie. It was particularly strange because she didn’t know Alexei was another bodyguard, although I supposed she could tell he was a bear shifter.
Maybe she’d already forgotten that Cassie had asked her to take care of me.
Fredericka’s focus on her husband made me remember something that Cassie had told me once.
“All my father has to do is crook his finger and she’s there,” she’d said sadly. “Nothing else exists, nothing else matters but my father, and he uses it against her every time.”
Cassie caught up with us as we entered the ballroom, falling into step next to me like nothing was amiss.
As soon as we were seated she shot off a text, and a few seconds later Alexei’s phone vibrated.
He read the text, looked between me and Cassie, then nodded.
I wasn’t sure what silent conversation they were having, but they seemed to resolve whatever it was because they both turned their attention to dinner.
It was a typical gala, held at one of the nicer downtown hotels, guests squeezed in tightly at tables and given a dinner option of salmon or chicken. I’d been to a million identical events, mostly fundraising galas.
The emcee made an announcement about the program, then we tucked into our mediocre dinners, chatting across the table with the other guests. Cassie picked up the program next to her plate, then winced. I leaned over to see a picture of her father inside, listed as the keynote speaker.
“Do you want to get out of here after dessert?” I whispered.
Cassie looked surprised. “Really?”
“Unless you want to stay for your father’s speech?”
“Fuck no,” she said with such conviction I couldn’t help but laugh.
I turned to Eleanor who was on my other side. It didn’t escape my notice that our bodyguards were flanking us again.
“Cassie’s dickwad father is the keynote speaker,” I said softly. “We’re taking off after dessert.”
“There’s dessert?” Alexei brightened. “Where? I see no dessert.”
The bear had a stereotypical sweet tooth. The other day I’d seen him plow through a family size bag of M&Ms in one sitting, then ask if we had any ice cream left in the freezer.
“They’ll bring it out after they take our dinner plates,” I assured him.
Unfortunately Anson got up to start speaking at the tail end of dinner, which meant we couldn’t walk out without being obvious about it. Cassie muttered something under her breath, sliding down in her chair and crossing her arms like a petulant teen.
I wasn’t sure everything that had gone down between them, but I was pretty sure even if I didn’t know the man was her father I would hate him.
He had that smarmy entitled manner that successful professional athletes adopted.
Well, the male athletes did anyway. There were definitely jerks among the female athletes, but as a group, they tended to understand that playing a sport didn’t make you any better than anyone else, and just because you were competitive that didn’t mean you couldn’t support other players.
“Thanks for coming out tonight,” Anson bellowed.
The man spoke so loud he scarcely needed the microphone.
I wondered if he was like that all the time or if this was how he acted when he was drunk.
I’d seen him knock back during the reception.
I knew that supernaturals had a much higher tolerance for alcohol, but every time I’d glanced his way during the reception Anson was throwing back a drink.
Cassie’s father started droning on about the importance of team sports and how they “made boys into men”, completely ignoring the fact that there was a sizable contingent of female identified athletes here tonight too.
At one point I saw my father roll his eyes.
Dad had always been supportive of women in sports, even before he had a daughter.
Anson launched into a long, boring story about his days playing professional football. By now irritation was rolling off Cassie in waves, enough that even Eleanor and Alexei were giving her concerned looks.
Suddenly there was a popping sound, and the ballroom was plunged into darkness. People gasped as the lights went out. That was weird. It was a clear night, with no storms expected, so the power outage wasn’t weather related. Maybe something had happened to a transformer or something?
“Everybody get down!” Cassie hissed, pulling me to the floor.
Holding me in place with a hand on my shoulder, she reached for my mother and helped her to the floor. Dad followed, both of them joining us underneath the table.
I saw a flash of light as Cassie turned on her phone, thumbs flying across the screen. Calling for back-up I assumed.
“Do you see anything Alexei?” she whispered.
“Not yet.”
The air in the room changed, energy shifting in a way that even as a human I could feel it. Around me, the supernatural beings all stiffened, like animals sensing danger. Cassie’s grip on my arm tightened.
“Everyone stay where you are!” someone called in a heavily accented voice. “You move, you die.”
Several people screamed, and throughout the room lights flashed as cell phones were turned on. Hopefully people were calling the cops, not livestreaming whatever was happening for social media. Alexei cautiously popped his head up over the table, looking around.
“How many?” Cassie asked Alexei.
“Eight. Two on each door, four walking around.”
“Shit. I don’t like those odds.”
We listened as some of the men walked through the tables, demanding that guests identify themselves. I heard a cry of fear from a couple of tables over as one of the men called, “You! You are Mia Fallon, yes? You will come with me.”
Shit. Mia Fallon was a teammate from the Games. These men were here for us. They must be the Romanians.
“Names!”
I jumped as a voice came from behind me. Even in the dark I could tell the guy was looking right at me.
“None of your fucking business!” Cassie hissed angrily.
Then all hell seemed to break loose. Cassie shoved me deeper under the table, then she was gone.
I heard a series of strange sounds. Bones cracking.
Several low growls. The sounds of a scuffle.
Flesh hitting flesh. I peered through the darkness, my hand holding tightly onto my mother’s as I tried to see what was happening.
A couple minutes later the lights came back on.
Blinking, I looked around. Cassie was rolling around on the ground with a guy twice her size.
She was in full vampire mode, fangs descended, eyes red, fingernails morphed into sharp points.
Two bears were fighting nearby, one of them Alexei I was sure, while a wolf stalked back and forth in front of the table, growling as she stood watch over me and my parents.
I’d never seen Eleanor in her wolf form before, but somehow I knew it was her.
Armed gunmen were stationed at the doors at both sides of the ballroom, not letting anyone in or out. I knew there were at least two other attackers here besides the guys fighting with Alexei and Cassie, but I couldn’t get a look at them. I wondered if any of the other guests were fighting back.
“Police! Everybody freeze!”
The doors crashed open, knocking over the guards, and all around, people were in motion.
Several guests raced out the doors, taking advantage of the distracted guards.
Others huddled beneath tables, calling loved ones as if they weren’t sure if they were going to make it out alive.
Cops in tactical gear struggled to subdue the men stationed near the doors.
The guy Cassie was fighting got a drop on her, rolling her onto her back and straddling her waist. His beefy fingers clamped around her neck while she struggled to get away.
“Back off, Ionescu. That’s my daughter you’re choking.”
Anson Weatherby seemed larger now, his chest puffed up, face terrifyingly cold, all signs of intoxication gone now that he was in his vampire form. He let out a terrifying hiss that was enough to distract the Romanian so that Cassie could flip him off her.
“Thanks, Dad,” she called as she punched her attacker in the face hard enough to make me wince. I heard the telltale sound of bones cracking as she broke his nose. His hands shot to his face, coming away bloody, and I looked away before I passed out.
There was a flurry of shouting in another language – Romanian I assumed – and suddenly all the bad guys leapt to their feet and took off, pushing people out of the way like they were the offensive line clearing the way for a quarterback making a run for the goal line.
With so many people in the crowd, the cops couldn’t shoot at them, but several of them took off in pursuit.
Cassie reached out a hand and when I took it, she helped first me and then my mother crawl out from our hiding place. Dad scrambled after us, looking around like he was confused by what was going on.
With one final roar, Alexei shifted back to his human form, then watched protectively as Eleanor also shifted.
“Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?” my father grumbled.
“Romanian assassins are hunting the women’s soccer team,” Anson said, his tone completely nonchalant, like he was describing something on a television show. “These guys were looking for your daughter and her teammates.”
It occurred to me that Anson knew the team was in danger and never told anyone about it.
He had to be a total psychopath to have that kind of information and be completely unbothered by it.
Then again, he was the kind of man who beat his wife and made misogynist jokes at an event featuring female athletes.
Women weren’t important enough to care about.
His cold eyes went to Cassie. “You should do a better job protecting your mate if you plan to keep her.”
Then he was gone.