Chapter Nine

Rubis leaves the cell building and enters the police station.

He sees his older brother sitting alone. It looks like he took another night shift. Saphir is a hardworking officer, and it made Rubis upset when the officers took advantage of him; he deserved better.

"How's the Diamond demon?" Rubis glares at his twin's witty remark. Rubis can feel the conflict boiling inside. Knowing that Diamante is going to die soon isn't sitting well in his stomach. Should he free her and allow her to wreak havoc on civilians or let her die?

"I don't think that she should die," Rubis confesses. Saphir looks up from the file and gives his brother an icy glare. Rubis can feel the cold shiver run down his spine.

"Why? She is a murderer and will kill more in her path," Saphir warms. Regardless, Rubis stands straight and holds his ground. For the first time since the encounter with Diamante in the circus, Rubis is going against his own blood.

"But those people have done atrocious things themselves. One of the defendants even hurt Charlotte and Diamante helped. We can't deny that she cares for the less fortunate," Rubis explains. Saphir sighs and rubs his forehead in frustration. Charlotte is like a little sister to the twins, so he understands.

"But it is no excuse for her actions," Saphir responds. Rubis notices that Saphir is brewing an argument. However, Rubis isn't going to back down. However, he allows the older twin to continue with his point.

"But her methods are too violent. No one deserves to die in the hands of that demon," Saphir states. But to Rubis, that doesn't matter. Destiny happens and he needs Diamante to stay alive.

"But if you see her and how sick she is becoming, you will see what I mean," That seems to be the last straw for Saphir, and he immediately gets out of his seat.

"THAT'S GREAT! SHE DESERVES TO DIE!!" Saphir bellows. But Rubis shakes his head. No, she doesn't. Rubis feels it in his soul that Diamante shouldn't die, and he doesn't know why.

"BUT-" Before Rubis can finish his rebuttal, Saphir raises a hand and points directly at him.

"Rubis Charpentier, that woman is USING you to escape. Please don't fall into her trap again," Saphir's voice drops down by an octave and is twice as menacing. He doesn't need to scream to prove his point. Rubis immediately stays quiet.

Rubis hates to admit it, but he might be right. Diamante's only acting this way after being found guilty. It seems that she's getting desperate. Rubis slowly nods and doesn't say another word.

He takes a seat next to Saphir and waits for him to finish his paperwork. It takes Saphir another hour to finally complete the extra work. Rubis will never say this out loud, but sometimes he imagines what it will be like to be by Diamante's side. Maybe he will have a sense of purpose with her.

Rubis and Saphir look at the time, and it seems that they will have to sleep in again. Even though the captain allows the twins to sleep inside their workplace, they only have one thin sheet and have to lie on an uncomfortable mattress.

Both of them get themselves ready, change into their sleepwear and sleep on the ground. Rubis dreams of the silver eyes that Diamante possesses. For the first time in his adult life, he has a good night's sleep.

Poor children. They only have each other to hold onto, and Diamante is drifting them apart.

Rubis wakes up on the dot. He gets up, changes, and gets ready to wake Diamante up. As Rubis walks up to Diamante's cell, he heard Diamante's chirpy greeting. This makes him angry, and he swings the door open.

Diamante will not break his spirits.

~~

Diamante wakes up in the empty cell; she expects Rubis to wake her up by the hard banging, but it never comes. She has to wait for another ten minutes before she hears the familiar footsteps approaching the steel door.

"Good morning, Ruby. How's your day?" She looks up and sees the cell door swing open. There, a disgruntled Rubis, whose red eyes are full of anger, stands in front of her. She smiles at him innocently, trying to hide the fact that he looks terrifying.

"What are you doing to me, Diamante?" Diamante sits up from her bed; confusion is all over her face; as far as she remembers, she didn't do anything at all. But apparently, the silence isn't the answer that he is looking for, which makes him furious.

"I know what you're trying to do, Diamante. You're using me to escape!" Rubis' reveals. His face turns red as his anger grows. Rubis exposes Diamante's plans right in front of her; the fact that Rubis knows her plan should make her freak out, but she has nothing to lose.

"Rubis, I told you things that even Onice doesn't know. I only have three days to live; all I want is to get along with you," Diamante's timid response is confusing Rubis. She is the Diamond demon, a woman that many men will gladly torture for the mass murder that she's done. However, all he sees is a fragile woman who wants to advocate for those less fortunate.

"And you owe me," Rubis looks up and sees Diamante's sunken face. He almost scoffs at her remark. Rubis knows that breaking her spirits is something that he needs to do. But he can't go through with seeing Diamante suffer.

But he has to keep sharp.

"I owe you nothing" Rubis spits out. He marches up to Diamante, hoping that she will get furious for refusing to set her free. Instead, Diamante places her slender hands around Rubis' cheeks. This both shocks and oddly soothes Rubis.

"Without me, that terrible circus would still be your home; I also remember that it was you who killed the ring leader. I'm not going to convince you to let me go. But I know you'll do the right thing," Her whisper gives Rubis warm shivers up his spine. When she lets go of his face, Rubis has the urge to put her hands back; it's as if her hands belong there.

Diamante smiles as Rubis stares into her eyes. Now that it is daytime, Rubis can see how her eyes shimmer and shine. Her eyes are hypnotic, and the spell entrances Rubius. It takes him back to a much simpler time, a time when he can remember his mother and father, the first and last time he had an actual family.

"So when are you going to feed me?" Rubis hears Diamante's question, which brings him back to reality. He feels his cheeks heat up as he walks out of the cell, leaving the door open.

When he returns to the prison cell, He sees Diamante sitting against the wall. The corner of his lips curves when she pats the dirty floor next to her as an invitation. Rubis shrugs and sits next to her. He hands her the small loaf of bread and watches in delight as she slowly eats.

"I don't see how you can be so calm," Rubis asks incredulously.

He grins when Diamante chuckle. Her laugh is something that he always wants to hear.

"I'm calm because I'm with you," Diamante's confession causes Rubis to look at her with an expression of surprise. She smiles at him while continuing to eat the bread.

"Why?" Rubis cannot help but ask.

"I don't know. I wanted to destroy you and your twin after you betrayed me. But I understand; you wanted to start again, and you weren't going to find it with me," Diamante admits. She realizes that even if Rubis and his twin join her, they aren't going to taste freedom. They both will be tools for her rise to power.

"I hope you have been taking care of Charlotte. She's very close to Saphir and me." Diamante smiles at Rubis' genuine concern. Of course, he will care for the little dark girl. Charlotte is so young, and her innocence is a fragile gift.

"I understand what you mean. I murdered two men because of my negligence. After that, I never let her out of my sight. Besides, the townsfolk knows better than try hurting her." Rubis listens to Diamante as she goes into details about the murders. Now that he knows the full story, he can't say that Diamante is in the wrong.

Diamante yawns, rests her head on his shoulder, and goes to sleep, with the half-eaten piece of bread in her hands. Her sleep leaves Rubis a lot of time to think. Diamante is absolutely right.

When he and Saphir escaped the circus, they had to clean themselves up to become officers. But they don't have friends, and he knows about his colleagues making fun of them as well. Rubis always tells himself that helping others is more important. But he can't help but internally weep when he sees how upset his twin is when they push him to the side.

He vividly remembers hearing the news about Onice infiltrating the classified files. Rubis got annoyed to find out that Saphir was the only person that strived to stop Onice from removing the data from its rightful place. These officers are supposed to stop him; it is their job, and they just let him get away with no punishment.

It is already past midday; he is in charge of guarding Diamante. But look at him, Rubis is sitting on the ground while Diamante rests her head on his shoulder. But what is worse is that it feels right being by her side.

So Rubis begrudgingly gets up from the floor and carries Diamante's frail body to her bed. He wanders outside the cell and locks the door.

Rubis is dreading the day when the head executioner will murder her. Rubis is also mad because he finally feels like someone can relate to him.

Rubis also notices how her voice is worse than yesterday. But her voice is nothing when he compares it to her physique.

Diamante is all skin and bones at this point; it's a miracle that she still has high spirits. Rubis leaves the building to complete paperwork and his patrol.

Once he is done, he quickly finds a small bowl and fills it with water. When Rubis walks in, he sees a dirty, smelly, and sick Diamante. She already made the room smell like death. Yet, she smiles at Rubis as if she is the luckiest woman alive.

Rubis quickly hands the bowl of water to Diamante and leaves the cell without saying a word. He can tell that she is going to try and manipulate him again. But his brain keeps telling him that she shouldn't be here.

As soon as he locks the cell door, he sees Saphir walk in with the head executioner. Rubis stands there confused; why is the head executioner here? There isn't another execution until the next day.

"Diamante Stanzolio's execution is now," The executioner says. A chill runs down Rubis' spine.

"No," The head executioner shrugs at Rubis' response as he takes out his own keys and unlocks the door.

"Sorry, Ruby. But the Captain already made up his mind. The sooner we do it, the better," The executioner explains. Rubis watches with an ache in his chest as the head executioner unlocks the chain from Diamante. Rubis cringes as he forces Diamante on her gaunt legs. She gives a pleading look in Rubis' direction as she begins walking on weak legs.

Rubis can feel it, the familiar pool of heat in his hands. He tries to ignore it as all four of them walk to the back of the building. Saphir lays a cool hand on his shoulder, but it doesn't help. Diamante gets on her knees and places her head on the wooden board.

As soon as he sees the head executioner grab his weapon, that is when all hell broke loose.

Rubis can't control himself as he directs the first burst of flames towards the head executioner's face; Rubis grins as he hears the screams coming from his lips. The smell of burnt flesh fills his nostrils. This fuels him, and he wants more.

Rubis listens as his twin tries to make him snap out of it, but it is futile. He isn't going to stop until the man is a pile of ash.

Saphir tightens his grip on his brother's shoulders. He is in pure shock when he sees his little brother staring back at him with glowing eyes; it was just like when he murdered the ring leader. At the time, Saphir was lucky to convince his twin beforehand so they could leave Diamante behind.

Rubis pushes him to the ground and throws multiple blasts of flames at the unfortunate man. Saphir's pleas fall on deaf ears. Rubis isn't going to stop until the body is a pile of ash.

When Rubis is finally done, he looks at Diamante. He can't help but gleam at her. She's on her feet and is grinning from ear to ear. Rubis turns around and sees Saphir glaring at his Diamante. Saphir is lucky that Rubis cannot kill him at this moment.

Rubis is in a trance as he marches up to Diamante. Rubis notices her excitement as he grabs her face and kisses her passionately. Diamante moans in delight as Rubis explores her mouth with his tongue. She wraps her arms around his neck as she deepens the kiss.

Saphir clears his throat, interrupting them; Diamante rolls his eyes as she sees him glare at her. But she doesn't care. She finally has Rubis under her control.

"Diamante, I don't care if you're with my brother. But if I see you hurt him, I'll kill you myself," Diamante smirks at Saphir. She knows that he can't do anything about his twin. Rubis is under her control, and his instinct is taking over. Diamante rubs her hand on Rubis' cheek, and smiles as Rubis leans into her touch.

"Ruby, take Diamante home," Rubis nods at his brother's instruction, blasts a fireball at the building, and walks away with Diamante in his arms.

Saphir sighs and returns to the police station. He ignores the screams of the prisoners and guards inside.

Confused officers approach Saphir as soon as he walks inside. Saphir explains that one of the prisoners broke an oil lamp, causing the building to burn. Unfortunately, Diamante and the head executioner didn't make it. Saphir also explains how Rubis received minor injuries. Because of that, he is home recovering.

Once Saphir finishes explaining his story, He sits down and watches the firemen walk through the building to put the jailhouse out.

This is like the circus all over again.