Chapter 28: Chapter 28

With a shrug, Ru flipped her hair over her shoulder and noticed her shirt was wet, which she thought was odd. She wasn’t even in her body when she’d been with her dad. If that was possible, how could she doubt anything else. “Listen, some guy showed up at my work a few months ago and told me I wasn’t a human, that I was some kind of half-angel, half-demon, who-knows-what. If I could learn to believe that, then anything is possible. So, do I think there’s a way to take the demon out of my dad? Sure. And I’m going to try it as soon as I get the chance.”

Cutter looked only slightly amused at her reference to him as “some guy.” He brushed her hair back from her face. “Are you sure that’s a good idea, Ru? Remember what we said about casting spells.”

“It’s white magic,” she repeated. “And, quite frankly, if anyone in this realm or any other has a problem with it, then maybe they can close their own damn portals.”

“Dang,” Ivy mumbled, and Ru realized she was taking her frustration out on her friends.

She took a few deep breaths and surveyed the room. All of them looked tired, beat up, and they had been worried about her. “I’m sorry,” she replied. “I just… it’s been a long day.”

“It has,” Cutter agreed. “And we should probably get some sleep and then decide what to do next.”

“Yeah, I talked to Sky,” Lyric said, addressing Ru, so she assumed everyone else already had this information. “She was shocked at just how numerous the opposing forces were. She wasn’t expecting that at all. She thinks it’ll be even greater in Japan.”

“We’ll need some time to figure out our best approach,” Rider added, nodding.

That was what Ru expected to hear, and it worked for her. She was so exhausted, she thought it might take a few weeks to rebuild the energy supply she’d used to take down the portal. “Did we have a lot of casualties?” she asked, looking at Lyric, as she assumed she’d be the most likely to have an answer since it was her sister who had led their forces.

Lyric nodded. “I don’t have numbers, but we were not doing so well on the outside of the church. At the time that you blew the portal, the Reapers were about to breach the building. We’ll have to be better prepared next time.”

Ru was surprised to hear that, but having seen very little of what was going on outside of the church, she’d have to take Lyric’s word for it.

“Let’s get some rest and we’ll meet back in the morning to figure out what to do next.” Cutter said it as if it were a suggestion, but they all took it as an order, not that anyone would argue, Ru surmised, since they all looked as tired as she felt.

The others cleared out first and Cutter reached out for Ru’s hand as she pulled herself to her feet. “I’m sorry if I upset you,” he said quietly. “It’s just… every time I turn around it seems like Nat is there.”

Tipping her head to the side, Ru considered the statement. “He wasn’t at the portal. Was he?”

“No,” Cutter admitted. “And I’m sure he’ll hear all about that from his father. Probably already is. Which means, he’ll likely show back up in your head soon.”

“Cutter,” Ru began with a loud exhale, “it doesn’t matter what Nat does. He’s not going to get to me. You know that, right?”

He nodded, but she wasn’t completely convinced he meant it. “I’ve already lost you to him once, Ru. I just don’t want to see that happen again.”

It took her a moment to regain her composure, and she realized she was staring at him as she processed his response. “I didn’t choose Nat over you, Cutter. I chose Kyle because at the time, I didn’t even know you were an option.”

“How could you not know I was an option?” His voice didn’t sound accusatory, just confused. “I’d already asked you on a date.”

A chuckle escaped her lips, and Ru began to walk toward the doorway, though she still held his hand, so he dragged along behind her. “You asked me to dinner and then tried to convince me I was even more of a weirdo than I already thought I was.”

“I tried to explain to you that you were a legend in the making,” Cutter corrected as they headed up the stairs. “That didn’t make it any less of a date.”

“It didn’t?” she turned her head to look into his blue eyes. “I walked away assuming it was all a ruse, an attempt to get me to come out to your secret house in the woods.”

Shrugging, Cutter admitted, “Okay, yeah, that, too. But that didn’t mean I didn’t want to date you.”

Coming to a stop in the hallway at the top of the stairs, Ru turned to face him and let out another deep breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize…. And honestly, Kyle seemed like a nice excuse not to deal with the crazy. If I had known then that you saw me as more than a secret weapon, believe me, I would’ve taken things differently.”

“And you would’ve chosen me over him?” Cutter asked, closing the small gap of space between them.

Ru had no idea what the answer to that question was, since it was hypothetical, and she was tired of dealing in the past. “Cutter, I choose you now. Even if Nat does hijack my dreams again, you don’t need to worry about that, okay? Talking to him is a means of getting information. But I really don’t think it’s even going to happen anymore. The last time, he told me he has orders to kill me. It’ll be pretty hard to have an amicable conversation again after that.”

“Kill you?” Cutter repeated, his eyebrows knit in concern. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“Is that new information? Did you not know that the Reapers want to kill me?”

He sighed. “Well, I mean, when you put it like that, I guess it’s not a surprise. But he actually told you he has orders to kill you?”

Ru nodded. “I’m not worried about it. I don’t think he could do it anyway. I don’t believe he’s strong enough, for one. And I also don’t think he wants to.”

“I’ve been telling you all along, Ru, don’t underestimate him. Believe me, having this information makes me want to take him out even more than I already did.”

Once again, her head bowed up and down, but she had nothing to say. The thought of watching Cutter kill Nat made her stomach hurt almost as badly as it did when her black powers began to collect there, but she could hardly voice that to him just now. “I’m tired,” she said, running her hands up to rest on his shoulders. “Can we talk about destroying people tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Cutter nodded, moving his hands around so that his fingertips were on the tops of her back pockets. “Can I come with you? I promise to behave. I just don’t want to be without you.”

A mischievous smile slowly spread across Ru’s face. “You promise to behave? Well, that’s no fun.”

Cutter’s expression morphed to mirror her own. “You said you were tired.”

“Never too tired for you.”

His mouth came down to meet hers, and thoughts of Nat and her dad and portals and everything else melted into the background.