Chapter 13: Micah - Keeping Knight

The shrill blare of an alarm rips me from sleep.

At once fully alert, I sit up in bed and scan the room.

Everything looks normal. My workout clothes are still folded in a pile on the dresser, ready for my workout in the morning. The glass of water on my nightstand hasn’t moved. The level of liquid inside hasn’t changed. A narrow strip of light shines from the hallway through the partly-ajar door, just how I left it.

Grabbing my phone from its charger, I look at the screen. It’s one-twelve in the morning. In bright red text, my security app notifies me of motion at the front door.

My heart skips a beat.

Motion at the front door?

Was it caused by someone leaving? Or someone coming in?

I slide off the mattress, being careful not to make a sound. From the nightstand drawer, I remove my Sig and double-check to make sure it’s loaded.

As I head for the door, I glance around the room again. Sampson’s not in here, but that’s not a surprise. Ever since Ruby moved in, he’s been alternating between camping out in her room during the night or setting up guard in the hallway.

Still, if there was trouble, I’d expect to hear him. Either a whine, like he did the first time Ruby had a nightmare, or a sharp bark if he sensed actual trouble.

Maybe it was a false alarm, I consider. That happens. Even though the alarm system is hard-wired, that doesn’t mean a connection couldn’t fail. A mouse could be roaming inside the walls and nibble on a wire. Shit, smoke detectors can be triggered by a little dust on the sensor. There are countless ways the system could go off for no reason.

But when I peek into Ruby’s room only to find her bed empty, the brief hope that it’s only a false alarm falls flat.

It still could be, a small voice in the back of my head argues stubbornly. Ruby could be in the bathroom. The kitchen. Or she heard the alert on your phone and went to investigate. There’s no reason to assume the worst. Not yet.

But my gut knows it’s not a false alarm.

My gut knows something’s wrong.

Despite that, I hurry over to the attached bathroom, just to check. It’s dark. Empty. The sink is dry. Inside the toilet, the water is still.

Fear bands around my chest.

Something’s wrong.

Heading back into the hallway, I slide my phone from my pocket to check the security app again. The notification is gone, and for the briefest moment, my brain tricks me into thinking it was all just a dream.

It makes sense, that stubbornly optimistic voice reasons. You’ve already been worried about Ruby. And after everything at the station yesterday, of course worries would be fresh in your mind. Maybe the alarm never went off at all. And you’ll find Ruby in the kitchen, making some tea to help her get back to sleep.

But then the app loads, and the latest notification is right there at the top.

Front door open. Motion detected.

The bands around my chest draw tighter. So tight, it’s hard to breathe past them.

Did she leave? Or did someone come in?

Could someone have gotten inside?

Pace picking up, I hurry from Ruby’s room, my gun held low and ready in my right hand, the phone clutched in my left. I make a cursory check of the third bedroom on my way to the stairs, but as expected, there’s no one in there.

My attention keeps shifting from the phone to my surroundings and back again. It’s surprisingly hard to concentrate. My thoughts keep bouncing from one terrible scenario to the next. Ruby was taken. Ruby was hurt. I’m going to find her lifeless body in the living room only minutes too late.

I promised I’d keep her safe. And already, I failed.

Jabbing at the screen harder than necessary, I bring up the feed from the camera just outside the front door. It defaults to live mode at first, so I have to scroll back to the time the alert sounded.

Not willing to stop moving for even a few seconds to watch, I hurry downstairs with one eye on the screen. Just as I reach the first floor, the video begins playing.

At first, there’s nothing but an empty hallway. It’s well-lit, as usual, with the wall lamps reflecting on the glossy marble floor. With the advantage of a one-eighty camera view, I can see the elevator doors gleaming at the end of the hallway, fully closed.

Just as I’m about to hit the timeframe when the door opened, a low woof catches my attention. Glancing up, I spot Sampson standing on the opposite side of the living room, his body tense and ears tucked back as he watches the front door.

The open front door.

“Shit!” I bite out. Fear explodes in my chest.

Not a false alarm. I didn’t think it would be, but a small part still hoped.

“Sampson,” I say, keeping my voice low, but commanding. He casts a quick glance over his shoulder at me, but almost immediately turns his attention back to the door.

He’s guarding, just as he’s supposed to. He knows never to leave the condo without me, no matter the circumstances. But shit. If Ruby’s out there…

“Where’s Ruby?” I ask. “Where’d she go?”

He flicks another look at me. Then he woofs again.

As I approach the front door, I turn my attention back to the video feed. In the time I spent talking to Sampson, the activity I was looking for has passed. So I have to rewind the damn thing again, cursing myself as I do it.

If something happened to her because I’m standing here, screwing around with the damn app…

Then I see it.

Just minutes before.

My front door shoves open, and Ruby bursts into the hallway.

She’s in her pajamas—a pair of little shorts and an old Army T-shirt I lent her that she’s yet to give back to me. Her hair springs up in unruly curls. Her feet are bare.

She pauses once she gets through the door, first looking one way, then the other. Then she takes off to the left, away from the elevator.

When she turns, I catch a glimpse of her face. She looks scared. Panicked. But her gaze is unfocused, almost like she doesn’t know where she is.

A nightmare? Was she sleepwalking?

Unless… could someone have called her? Threatened her into leaving? If she thought I was in danger, she might have panicked rather than coming to me for help. She might have rushed out of here, moving on sheer instinct, uncaring that she was putting herself in danger.

“Shit!” I repeat as I race to the door. I should have anticipated this. I should have… shit. Put an extra lock on the door. More motion sensors inside the house. I should have done something.

But how would Ruby have felt, effectively being a prisoner in her own home? Not being able to leave without asking me? Setting off motion sensors and alarms if she wanted to get a midnight snack or watch the city at night in the solarium?

It would make her unhappy. And that’s the last thing I want.

Except, no. It’s not the last thing. The last thing I want is for Ruby to get hurt. And because of my short-sightedness, she might be.

Feeling sick to my stomach, I sprint the rest of the way to the front door. “Sampson.” I gesture at him to heel. “We need to track Ruby.”

He immediately trots over to me and falls in by my side. His gaze is alert. His ears prick forward. “Track Ruby,” I repeat. “Track.”

But Sampson isn’t a tracking dog. He’s practiced it with me, more for fun than anything else. Sampson’s speciality is apprehension and personal protection. Which would be really helpful if someone had gotten into the condo, intent on finding Ruby. But not so much when Ruby chooses to leave the condo herself.

Still, he’s intelligent. He knows what track means. And he loves Ruby, so he should be attuned to her scent.

Once we get into the hallway, I look up and down it, hoping against hope that I’ll spot Ruby right away.

I don’t.

“Shit,” I mutter. “Shit.”

What if she left the building, and she’s wandering the streets in the middle of the night, alone? What if whoever attacked her is out there, waiting? Then he sees Ruby; the perfect opportunity dropped straight in his lap. And he takes her⁠—

“Woof.” Sampson nudges my leg. His gaze lifts to meet mine. “Woof.”

My pulse jumps. Could he have scented her already?

“Where?” I ask. “Where is she?”

Sampson darts ahead of me, and I jog faster to catch up. He heads away from the elevator, towards the opposite end of the hallway. As I follow him, I run through the various possibilities where Ruby could be. There are five other condos on this floor, but what are the chances of her being in one of them? Then there’s a utility closet, a small door that opens to a trash drop⁠—

My lungs seize. She wouldn’t. Would she?

A new and horrifying image flashes before me, of Ruby yanking the little door open in her terror, flinging herself inside, and hurtling however many floors…

Another soft woof mercifully shatters the nightmarish vision. Sampson rushes to the utility room door and pushes it with his nose. As the door opens slightly, a scared yelp comes from within. A moment later, it’s followed by a frightened whimper.

“Shit,” I mutter. Heart in my throat, I race to the door and open it.

Keep reading at your own pace.

Visit Lokepub for more novels.

When I see Ruby inside, a surge of emotion almost brings me to my knees.

She’s curled into a tiny ball, with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees and her head ducked down. She’s shaking all over and making these awful, scared little sounds that simultaneously make me want to punch something and pick her up and take her away from all of this.

“Ruby,” I croon as I kneel by her side. I touch her arm, and she jerks. Her breathing grows more erratic. Like I’ve done when she has a nightmare, I start by reminding her who I am, where she is, and that she’s okay. That she’s safe. I repeat the same thing probably a half-dozen times before she relaxes slightly. Another few times, and her breathing evens out. Then she lifts her teary gaze to meet mine and whispers, “Micah?”

“Yeah.” I brush her hair away from her tear-dampened cheeks. “It’s me. Are you okay?”

She blinks a few times, as if she’s trying to gather herself. “I think so.” Then she glances around, and her forehead pinches in confusion. “What… Where am I?”

“The utility closet.”

“What?”

“The closet. Down the hall from my condo. I think you might have had a nightmare. Or something triggered you.”

Ruby stares at me. She looks so small and vulnerable, it makes my heart hurt. “I think… I couldn’t sleep. So I went to the TV room. I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“It’s okay.” I take her hand in mine. “What happened then?”

Her face scrunches up. “I just turned on the TV. Then I went to one of the streaming channels; I can’t remember which one. Whatever we were watching last night. And a movie started playing. I think it was—” She shivers. “I don’t know the movie. But a man was attacking this woman, and then… I got scared. I thought he was back. The man in my apartment. He was choking me. I couldn’t breathe. I don’t remember anything after that.”

Shit. A damn movie triggered Ruby into a flashback. I’ve tried to be so careful, always choosing shows and movies that aren’t violent. But if she came out to watch one on her own, and with the stupid auto-play feature that a lot of these streaming services have…

“It’s alright.” I pull Ruby into my arms. “It happens. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

She looks around the closet again. For a utility closet, it’s pretty nice, honestly. Everything is clean. Organized. But for a place to come out of a nasty flashback? It’s not ideal.

Standing, I lift Ruby against my chest, one arm under her legs and the other behind her back. She yelps and clutches my neck. “Micah. What are you doing?”

“Bringing you home,” I say. Then I leave the closet and start heading back down the hallway. Sampson sniffs Ruby’s foot and gives it a little lick. She glances down at him and asks, “Why is Sampson here?”

“He helped me find you,” I reply. “He caught your scent and led me to you right away.”

“Oh.” Ruby buries her face in my neck. “I’m so sorry. I woke everyone up, and I made this scene, and… I’m so embarrassed.”

“Shh.” I kiss the top of her head. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Once we get back into the condo, I lock the door securely behind us. Then I bring Ruby over to the couch and set her down. “Guard,” I tell Sampson. To Ruby, I explain, “I just want to do a quick check of the condo. So we know it’s absolutely safe.”

I’m sure it’s fine. But with my adrenaline still thrumming and my pulse not yet back to normal, I’d rather err on the side of caution. So I do a quick sweep of the condo to be sure it’s clear, then head back to Ruby.

She’s still where I left her, with Sampson stationed close by. Her hand rests on his back, like she’s drawing comfort from him.

Sinking down on the couch beside her, I put my arm around Ruby’s shoulder and hug her close. “Hey,” I say gently. “How are you doing?”

Ruby pulls her lip between her teeth. She sighs. “I feel stupid. Weak.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know. I should have been prepared for something like this. Done something to prevent it.”

“Rue. You had a flashback. It happens. It sucks. But it happens. There’s nothing to feel stupid about.”

“I guess. Maybe embarrassed is more accurate. I mean… I ran out of the condo, hid in the utility closet, worried you…”

“Yes, I was worried. But that’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Hiding in the closet?” Ruby’s brows arch up. “That’s kind of embarrassing.”

“It’s not,” I insist. “I know plenty of people who’ve dealt with PTSD. People I served with, and people who’ve been through things similar to you. Really, I should be sorry. I should have expected something like this. Been better prepared.”

“But you shouldn’t have.” Ruby lifts her chin. A spark of challenge lights in her gaze. “It’s my responsibility. I don’t want you to feel like you always have to take care of me. I want to be able to take care of myself.”

But I want to take care of her. I want to protect Ruby from anything and everything that might hurt her.

“I like taking care of you,” I reply. “I don’t do it because I feel like I have to.”

“What if I want to take care of you sometimes?” she retorts. “I want to do that, too. I don’t want to be this weak woman who has to always be protected.”

“Ruby.” I frown at her. “You are not weak. At all. What you’ve been through, and in such a short time? It would bring anyone to their knees. But you push through it. You don’t complain. You’re an amazing person, and so much stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

“Until I cry all over you two days in a row.”

“I think you had a pretty good reason for that. And even if you didn’t, it would be okay. I’m not interested in only being with you during the good times. I want to be with you all the time. Good or bad. And,” I add, “there are things we can do to help. I should have brought them up before, but…”

“But we’re new,” Ruby says. “That’s one of the reasons I hate crying like this. I want to be happy Ruby with you. Not all messy and—” She glances at her hair and makes a face. “Ugh. My hair is like a bird’s nest after a storm.”

“It’s not. It’s pretty.” Tugging on a curl, I watch it spring back up. “You don’t have to be happy all the time. Just like I won’t be. And listen. We can do some things to help. Like counseling. We can get someone to come here. Or if you’d rather, we can set up something virtually. There’s a psychologist we refer some of our clients to. Her name is Mabel. She used to serve, but she left to start her own practice. You could meet with her.”

Ruby’s expression turns thoughtful. “Okay. That’s probably a good idea.”

I kiss her cheek. “Good. And I’ll see about updating the security system. I don’t want you to feel restricted here, but I’m sure there’s something we can do. And we can get you a tracker.”

“A tracker?”

“Yeah. Just in case of an emergency. Sofia has one. Rogue gave it to her. It looks like a regular necklace, but there’s a tiny GPS tracker inside. And there’s a button you can press if you’re ever in trouble that will signal Fox & Falcon for help.”

“Oh.” She goes quiet for a moment. Her gaze meets mine. “But it’s all so much, Micah. I feel bad⁠—”

“Rue.”

“You want to do it.”

“Yes.” I lift Ruby onto my lap. “I get wanting to take care of yourself. But I also want to take care of you. Because I care about you.”

“My knight,” Ruby murmurs. She leans in to kiss me. “I care about you, too, Micah. A lot. Sometimes it’s hard to wrap my head around how much. I know the timing isn’t the best. But…”

“But?”

“But Sofia said something that stuck with me. How she and Rogue went through all this hard stuff in the beginning, but it ended up making them stronger. And now things feel so much easier. And they’re both so happy. It makes me wonder if the same thing could happen for us.”

My heart flips over. “I think it could.”

A slow smile brightens Ruby’s face, and the last of the bands around my chest release. “Okay. Good.” She taps my chest. “But I want you to tell me if you need anything. Alright? If you’re not feeling well, or just feeling down… You don’t have to be the protector all the time.”

I’m not sure that’s possible. But I’m not going to argue. “Got it.” I press a kiss to her lips. “Now. It’s late. Do you want to try to get back to sleep? Or would you like to watch something that’s not stressful? Sofia mentioned this show she found called Too Cute, with all these puppies and kittens. That sounds nice.”

She hesitates. “Do you think…”

“What?”

“Would it be weird if you stayed in my bed with me? I think I could sleep if you’re there.”

Something big and powerful expands in my chest. My heart rolls over again. “I don’t think it would be weird at all.” Then I lift Ruby into my arms as I rise from the couch. “I would be more than happy to stay with you.”

Talk about an understatement. I can’t think of much I’d like more.

“You don’t have to carry me,” she says as I head across the living room. “Especially up the stairs.”

I smile at her, feeling a heck of a lot happier than I would have expected when I was awakened by the alarm. “What’s the point of all the working out then?”

Ruby kisses my jaw. “Another perk, hmm?”

I pause at the base of the stairs to kiss her. “Being able to carry you around? It’s definitely a perk.”