“Youshouldbe on your way to Ethan. I’m sure he’ll be so pleased to hear your news.”
“Ethan,” she whispered softly. “I can be with him. For real.” Ruby’s face fell.
“Stop! I know you, Ruby baby. I know exactly the thought that just popped in your head. You’re scared that he won’t want you anymore now that you’re not a succubus.”
“Well, yeah.”
“You won’t stop being a succubus, Ruby. You’re just not actively working in soul collection.”
“So this nightmare is all over?” she asked, incredulous.
“Yes, it sure is,” Portia answered. “Now, you know exactly what you need to go and do.”
“I know! Thanks, Auntie. I’ll talk to you later!” She kissed Portia’s cheek before running out of the door and through the resort, searching for Ethan. She found him at the gift shop in a deep conversation with Ocho.
“Gimme, gimme,” Ocho grumbled, holding out his hands.
Ethan laughed and shook his head. “You’re impossible, little guy. Really.” Despite his words, he gave the imp a full bag of candy corn. “See you around, Ocho.”
“Ethan!” she shouted in excitement.
He turned, stunned to see her. “Ruby?” he frowned but still stepped toward her. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I have something to tell you.” She couldn’t wait any longer. She wanted to tell him immediately. “I’m free,” she blurted.
Ethan’s mouth pulled down before quirking up into a smile. “Free? What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that we can be together.” She explained the rest. “I’ve been given permission to leave with no replacement. We can betogether.”
Ethan fist bumped the air and let out a cheerfulwhoop.“I get to be with my girl.” He picked her right off the floor and twirled her in a circle. “Aw, Ruby. I am so fucking happy right now.” He only set her down to kiss her deeply. “You’re coming to Cali with me. Right now.”
She snorted, arching a brow. “Oh, yeah? You’ve already decided?”
“Yeah. I didn’t want to tell you before because I didn’t want to put pressure on you, but you’re my mate. True and fated.”
She laughed and decked him playfully in the shoulder. “I already knew. You let it slip with McNee. It’s nice to hear you say it, though.”
“So you’ll do it, Ruby? You’ll leave your life behind and come settle with me and my pack in California?”
“Can I have a garden?”
“Oh, yeah. I’ll build you the biggest garden I can, but you do know what our pack business is, right?”
“Actually, no.”
“The Adair pack owns Reynaldo Adair Winery. Rey was my father, and I took over running the business for him. We have a whole bunch of grape crops. I can show you everything there is to know about growing a good wine grape.”
“You’ve literally never been sexier than you are right now.” She giggled.
“You think? Then let me try to do something sexier.” He took her by the waist to crush her against him. He captured her mouth in a kiss.
“That was pretty sexy,” she whispered against his mouth.
“I want to take advantage of our suite for one last night, but before we get to the good stuff, I gotta know something, Little Red. Should we be concerned at all that Lucifer has released you in an unprecedented way?”
Ruby winced. “I was thinking that too, but Portia is sure there won’t be strings attached. I think he made her that promise.”
“But the devil doesn’t do deals this good. Not even for his closest friends, right? Are you sure you’ve never met him?”