He tried it again that way but only saw the barrier go up partway again. He squinted out the window in defeat until a small fist pressed up against his lower back. He swiveled his head around and looked down at the snoozing fairy behind him. No way…

This would be his last attempt for the night in case he drew too much human attention. Ash tried the barrier spell one more time and made sure he was still touching Ruby somehow as he got up to look out the window. He had one fingertip on her ankle.

It worked. There was actually a full dome!

Ash let it drop and eyed the fairy with new interest. How in the world did she manage to amplify his magic so he could complete the spell?! In all his years of existence he had never heard of a member of another race being able to affect a vampire's magic.

He hadn't heard of that sort of thing happening among any other races either. He would have to talk to Blair about this when he got back. Maybe she had heard of this phenomenon before. Or maybe she hadn't, like with Ruby's glamour.

Who was she? Earth fairies were a dime a dozen—arguably one of the most common types of fae—but she was different. Special.

Ash was beginning to suspect that she knew that too and it factored into why she had run away from home. If anyone else knew what she was capable of…

At best, an innovator like Blair would want to study her and see if her powers were able to replicated. At worst, they might force her to do things she didn't want for their own gain. Magic amplification was no joke and that didn't even account for whatever it was that made her so rich.

In the time Ruby had been recuperating at his castle she had made nearly $200,000. That was nothing to sneeze at. It took most fae years if not decades to earn that much.

Ash felt oddly protective of this girl who had a lot going for her but simply wanted to be free. To live without fear, she said. He was beginning to understand what there was for her to be afraid of.

A free spirit would never be happy in a cage. If people only saw her for her abilities and wanted to use them for their own advantage it would crush her.

He was weighed down with guilt. Hadn't he been the same? He wanted her to help fund his revenge but he never asked her to. She had been the one who offered. He was different from those who would use her…wasn't he?

Ash would never make Ruby do anything against her will. They were allies. On the same team. They were both helping each other out; he wasn't using her unilaterally!

He sighed. What was he supposed to do with this girl? She was savvy and self-reliant but had this air of vulnerability about her at times that made her seem like someone to be protected. And she had ended up with him; the last person on earth who should be protecting anyone.

He looked down at her sleeping face. Even at rest she didn't seem relaxed. There was a small tense divot between her eyebrows that he was tempted to smooth away with his fingertip.

There was definitely something wrong with him. He shouldn't be worrying about anyone else right now when he was the one who was a dead man walking.

At least Ash had the barrier spell down, sort of. He would be able to fulfil his promise to her if he didn't die first. He hoped for her sake that he survived long enough to be able to do that for her so Ruby could live in peace.

Involuntarily, his hand reached out to smooth her hair away from her face. The tension in her brow released and she looked much more restful.

Content that she was sleeping well, he took the room key and the money she had given him earlier to place a bet at cards and headed downstairs to the casino. He needed to go clear his head and that wouldn't be possible if he stayed here staring at her.

===

Ruby could see the light coming in through a crack in the curtains and rolled over to avoid it. She didn't want to get up yet. She was tired and sore from sitting weirdly on the planes yesterday.

At the same time, she was hungry. Her stomach growled begging to be fed. Those pretzels and gummy rings really hadn't been all that filling.

She rubbed her eyes and opened them reluctantly. It took a second for them to focus but once they did she realized she was not alone on the bed. There was a face less than six inches away from hers.

Ruby shot backward with a small shriek and would have fallen off the bed if her wings hadn't caught her and prevented that from happening. Her heart was racing like crazy. What was Ash doing?!

A glance at the clock gave her the answer she was looking for. It was a quarter past noon. He must have come back in hours ago; he normally went to bed around 9 AM .

She would have wondered why he didn't bother to wake her up if not for the fact that she had fallen asleep on his shoulder last night on the way here. He knew she was tired and decided to let her sleep. Still, a little warning would have been nice!

They only used one room all this time because their sleep schedules were opposites. There had never been any overlap so this hadn't been a problem before.

Ruby shook her head in embarra.s.sment and went to go change in the bathroom. She had an awful lot of work to do today.

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