Trapped By the Blood Ruby (The Arcane Artifacts #2)

Chapter 1

Ifought the ocean’s current the way I fought everything in life, with something to prove.

My legs strained, arms pulling me through the water.

I broke free of the surface, gasping for breath.

No one had given me a single thing—ever.

The ocean certainly wouldn’t. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed risking my life this way.

It was a familiar sort of challenge. Something to gain, but everything to lose.

And hadn’t that been my whole story?

The shore was a quarter of a mile off. I took another moment to recover, then swam toward the beach. The small cove was deserted. The waves were too tranquil for surfers and the water too cold for vacationers. People preferred Torring Gulf, south of here.

Out here, anything could happen. There was no one to save me. But, when had there ever been? I pushed the heaviness out of my chest. I was done feeling sorry for myself.

My feet found the sandy bottom and I waded back up the beach, searching out my things. My chest already felt lighter, freer, happier. I plopped down on my towel and took a few minutes to stretch the soreness from my muscles.

I’d earned this. This quiet moment to enjoy the breeze kissing my cheeks, drying the water droplets from my skin. It still didn’t feel real. Not quite yet.

I propped my hands behind me, leaning back, smiling up at the overcast sky. A whole summer. I could do this every day for hours without feeling a shred of guilt.

My phone pinged.

I pulled it from my bag, unlocked it.

Ania

You’ll never believe who got us on the guest list for Kase Yoshiki’s party tonight.

It was followed by some ridiculous dancing GIF. I snorted and set my phone aside to resume my basking. It pinged again.

Ania

Okay, I’ll tell you!

Ania

Me!!!

Ania

Get your ass home so we can get ready.

I groaned, gathering my things, stashing my goggles and cap before heading to the stairs leading up the sea cliff.

As much as I loved that girl, Ania was ruining my carefully laid evening plans.

I had every intention of planting myself on the couch with a big glass of wine and the smutty gargoyle book I’d started.

I climbed into Ania’s car, blasting the air conditioning. Braxton had an excellent public transport system between the subway and buses. I really only needed to borrow her car when I left the city, and she never minded.

I took the freeway, heading south, cranking the dial on the radio.

The city loomed before me, one suburb blurring into the next.

A sea of high-rise buildings dominated the horizon.

Braxton was one of the largest cities in the country, a mass of corporate headquarters.

It was also home to Braxton University. One of the best STEM universities in the world.

BU grads went on to lead successful careers.

It felt like I’d just joined an exclusive club with my mathematics degree, despite wracking up a hefty student loan debt.

I took the exit for West Park and navigated to my apartment building.

Ania and I had been roommates for three years.

She was an anomaly and I loved her for it.

Socialite and rich, but still a good person.

She’d been amazing toward me from the start.

We respected each other’s space, cleaned up after ourselves, didn’t steal each other’s food. We even took turns with chores.

Okay, it helped that we both had the same taste in books. Our shelves were overflowing with smutty paperbacks. The kind that would make an old biddy clutch her pearls.

I found a spot along the street and climbed out, gathering my things. A window grated open above. Ania’s blond head popped out. “Ooowwww! Look at that hottie!” she cat-called before sliding the window shut.

I snorted, glancing down at myself. I was wearing nothing but a one-piece suit and flip flops covered in sand, a towel hanging limp in my hand. I slung my swim bag over my shoulder and trudged up to our apartment. She threw open the door before I had the chance to fish for my keys.

I was just kidding, btw. You look like a drowned kitten.”

“Yeah?” I scoffed. “ Well, you look like…like a freaking princess. God. How is it that I don’t hate you?”

“Because I’m sugary sweet?” She batted her mascaraed lashes at me.

“Sugar kills, you know. It’s called diabetes?”

“Oh, get in here.” She hooked a finger under the strap of my suit, hauling me inside. I dropped my bag beside the dented, upright piano that dominated our front room.

I wanted to hate her, I really did. She was the epitome of a girly-girl. Mid-height, with voluptuous curves and delicate facial features. Then there was her designer wardrobe. Her closet was filled with frilly gowns in every color. She even wore headbands that looked like crowns.

Me? I was a giraffe. Six feet of gangly limbs and sharp angles. The only thing remotely pretty about me were my blue eyes, and even those looked too big for my face.

“Now, we need to figure out what we’re wearing.”

“What you’re wearing,” I corrected, following her down the hall toward her room.

“Oh, you’re going, Lils.” Her bedroom was a direct contrast to mine.

“I’m not going.”

“Yes, you are. Now, sit.” She pushed me down onto her plush chaise lounge. I jumped straight off it, leaving a wet spot behind.

She reached for the remote on her rumpled bedspread and I caught a glimpse of her TV screen before she turned it off. A figure with silver-white hair and sharp, angular features filled the frame, dressed in elaborate dark armor. “Are you watching Shadowlands without me?!” I accused.

“Just rewatching last week’s episode.” She flashed me a guilty grin. “I needed my Taegan fix.”

“Ugh, you’re obsessed.”

“Uhm. Excuse me! Have you seen those cheekbones? Those eyes? And that hair?” She gestured at the screen. “He’s literally perfect. Tell me you wouldn’t climb him like a tree.”

I sighed because she was right. “If only we had fictional boyfriends in real life.”

“Well even if we did, you wouldn’t know, Miss Hermit.”

“Touche.”

“Which is why we’re going tonight.” I groaned. “Lils, when’s the last time you did something just for fun? Not to prove a point, just...fun?”

“I can do…fun.”

“Can you, though?”

“Fine.” I grumbled. “I’m pretty bad at it.”

“Trust me, I know.”

Ania was always pushing me, especially when I failed to push myself. Case in point—this morning. I hadn’t planned to walk across the stage to accept my bachelor’s degree in front of a crowd. I mean, what was the point? No one was there to watch me. No family. No other friends besides Ania.

Turned out that walking across the stage, shaking the dean’s hand, was an experience I needed. Something I hadn’t realized until that very moment. I’d walked off stage hugging that damn folio to my chest like it was a million bucks.

“You never let yourself relax, Lils. Not even for a minute. You need to celebrate. You earned this. We both did.” She eyed me, her beatific face serious. “Do it for yourself, if nothing else. Besides, I bet Daniel will be there,” she added, wagging her eyebrows.

“Daniel’s BU’s quarterback, Ania. He literally has his pick of women,” I mumbled, trying to sound like it didn’t matter. “He certainly doesn’t want me.”

“We’ll see about that. I’m going to turn you into a goddess.” With that proclamation, she threw open her closet doors.

My chest fluttered at the thought. I’d spent my entire life fading into the background. Maybe it was time I stepped out into the open.

Ania began sliding hangers along the rod.

“The red Eminence gown,” I blurted. My cheeks heated.

She glanced over, a mischievous grin on her lips. “That’s my girl!”

She riffled through her closet until the gown sprang free. She tossed it at me. I wrapped my arms around it, clutching it to my chest.

Eminence was a brand far above my financial status. This dress was unlike anything I usually wore. My entire closet consisted of one color. Black. Black yoga pants. Black knit tops. Black everything.

A flare of uncertainty rushed through me. Maybe this was a bad idea. No, no, it was the perfect idea. Squaring my shoulders, I looked up at Ania. “Let’s make me unforgettable.”

I turned and headed for the shower.

The bass thumped through the floorboards beneath our feet as Ania pulled into the circular drive. I stared up at the mansion looming ahead of us—all glass and steel and sharp angles that screamed money. Serious money.

“Holy shit,” I breathed.

“I know, right?” Ania grinned, parking and then checking her lipstick in the rearview mirror.

I tugged at the red dress. Even Ania’s car looked modest next to the sports cars lining the drive. The mansion’s windows glowed with warm light, and I could see bodies moving inside—beautiful people in expensive clothes.

“You okay?” Ania asked, noticing my hesitation.

“Yeah. Just... this is a lot.”

“Hey.” She turned to face me fully. “You belong here just as much as anyone else. You graduated summa cum laude from one of the best universities in the country. Don’t you dare shrink yourself.”

I nodded, squared my shoulders. We emerged and I followed her up the front steps.

The noise blasted us the moment the doors opened. Music, laughter, the clink of bottles. Bodies everywhere—on the stairs, spilling out of doorways, clustering around a bar that looked like it belonged in a five-star hotel. The air was thick with expensive perfume and easy confidence.

“Ania!” A tall guy with perfectly tousled brown hair and a toothpaste commercial smile appeared at her elbow. “You made it!”

“Kase, this place is incredible.” Ania air-kissed his cheeks like they were old friends. “This is my roommate, Lils. Lils, meet our host, Kase Yoshiki.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, accepting his offered handshake.

“The pleasure’s all mine. Any friend of Ania’s...” His eyes swept over me, lingering just a beat too long. “That color looks amazing on you.”