47 Acting Like Tourists

Ruby shook those ridiculous thoughts free. Skye hadn't known what she was talking about. There was nothing weird about their relationship at all.

She made it back to the hotel room and opened the door to see Ash playing around on his phone. He looked up and smiled cheerfully at her, that little braid she left in his hair hanging over his left shoulder as he held up his phone for her to see.

"Look, I beat my previous high score in this game!"

Ruby smiled fondly at his enthusiasm. "Good job, that's even higher than mine! Did you figure out a place for us to go?"

"Yes. There is an aquarium in one of these hotels that includes a shark tunnel. I might not be able to take you with me to search for mermaids but at the very least you can feel like you are underwater there," Ash said seriously.

A warm, fuzzy feeling filled her heart because he remembered a conversation they had weeks ago. He could be surprisingly thoughtful at times.

"That's a great idea," Ruby told him. "Let's go."

===

Flint slept in way too long. By the time he woke up and began staking out that corridor in the Bellagio again there was no activity from behind the door at all and a 'Do Not Disturb' sign was on the doorknob.

If he had to guess, the vampire was sleeping. So where was his ungrateful runaway niece?!

He had to move around a few times so other guests didn't get suspicious but he ended up watching their door until Ruby showed up around 6:30 PM. She went in for a few minutes and came out with the vampire in tow.

Acting would be impossible while the vampire was with her. What he needed to do was wait until they were separated. It would have been better if he caught Ruby alone during daylight hours but it might still be possible to get away with this if he nabbed her on the way to the bathroom or something.

They ended up walking down to Excalibur and took the free tram all the way to Mandalay Bay, chatting freely as they went. Flint had to take precautions not to lose them but also not to get noticed.

He was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses but since it was dark out it was fairly conspicuous. He didn't care what other tourists thought of him though as long as Ruby didn't recognize him before he was able to knock her out.

The two of them headed to the aquarium inside Mandalay Bay and bought tickets before heading inside. What did they think they were doing?! A fairy and a vampire had no reason so be spending time together in the first place and they were totally acting like tourists!

Flint gritted his teeth. He really didn't have money to spare on a ticket. Were there any alternate exits they could leave through or would it be alright for him to wait here until they came out?

It took him a few minutes to find her. She was standing inside the shark tunnel, craning her neck to see what was above her with a look of wonder on her face.

The vampire next to her watched with a soft expression, replying to what she was saying with a gentle smile. Flint had absolutely no idea how but his niece had wrapped this fae around her little finger.

This was bad. This was very, very bad! Flint didn't want to end up in the middle of a vampire fight!

This one appeared to be alone though while the other was the head of the largest coven in North America. He absolutely could not offend his benefactor. This strange vampire who had somehow gotten attached to Ruby would simply have to deal with it.

How had this even happened though?! Clearly he had chased Flint and Lily away on Ruby's request the day she found out about the deal to sell her. He must have been harboring her this entire time.

Had he found out about her powers and was using her for his own ends? That would make the most sense but she wouldn't seem as comfortable around him as she did if that were the case.

Their camaraderie was baffling. Fae races respected each other and interacted as necessary but they didn't become friends.

More to the point, Ruby was a freak of nature. There was no way this vampire would look at her the way he did if he had seen her true form or if he knew about her powers. There was neither greed nor disgust in his expression.

He might care about her now but that would change if he knew the truth. No one could resist the allure of never-ending wealth or accept the monstrosity she actually was.

Ruby was abhorrent. Unnatural. Different. Wrong. Reed and Heather, may they rest in peace, had known this and were likely the reason she always wore her human glamour.

They had probably wanted to prevent her from being ostracized due to her mutation. Glamours didn't develop until powers did so it was traditional to keep baby fae hidden away at home until then.

Unless extended family members were living in the same house, it was fairly normal not to see a child until their powers developed. Baby fae were both rare and fragile so they were treated like treasures.

When Ruby too small to go out, Reed worked at the nursery while Heather stayed home. This was the standard thing to do so Flint never questioned it.

The first time he met his niece had been shortly after she turned thirty and her mother felt comfortable bringing her to work to drop off something her husband forgot. All of them were in their human glamours at that point so he wasn't at all suspicious.

Because Reed and Flint saw each other every day at work, they never hung out beyond that. It had been like that long before Ruby was born so that wasn't suspicious either.