Page 25 of Ruin

Connor snorted. “You can’t save him.”

I frowned, that sense of dread back with Connor’s cold words “Why not? We have him now. There has to be a way.”

“Oh, there is. But ripping a demon from a Were’s body isn’t something any of you can do. You need an angel, or at least a part of one…” He snapped his mouth shut as if he’d said too much, his brows dipping as that shadow swirled through his intense eyes. He frowned and growled.

My stomach lurched as the metal disc came to mind. “The disc? The one Doherty had? Do you know where it is? Or even what it is?” I narrowed my gaze on his. “Does Berith have it?”

Connor’s eyes widened, and for a moment he looked surprised before he snorted another dry laugh. “What? You’re kidding, right? Me and that demon piece of shit weren’t exactly buddies, you know. We didn’t exchange small talk,Firecracker,he tortured me, for Christ's sake.”

The way he sneered my name hurt. I clenched my jaw but didn’t bite back. I couldn’t. The dread in my belly solidified into a heaviness that began to drag at me. I didn’t know if my suspicions were founded or not. That’s why I needed to talk to Zander. Something was keeping me from connecting with him, and the feeling that this wasn’t my Connor was getting stronger by the minute. And Zander knew something.

I carried a terrible guilt, knowing I’d capitulated to Walker’s ridiculous demands. Connor was my soulmate, and I’d abandoned him. He had every right to be angry with me. Only this didn’t feel like anger. This felt like hate.

I waited patiently while the others walked across the cave, then lowered myself beside him, my heart hammering in my chest. “I’m so sorry, Connor. I should have come for you earlier.”

Alex stood quietly at my back. It hadn’t escaped my notice he hadn’t spoken to Connor yet. Didn’t Connor recognise him?

Connor closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, his fingers curling into tight fists as if he was fighting the urge to smash them into something. I hoped that something wasn’t me. He’d never hurt me before, but this wasn’t the Connor that I knew. Unexpected fear clawed at my belly. Prime snarled. Mea stepped up to calm him and Prime reluctantly settled, but not until he’d pushed me to inhale Connor’s scent deeply. It definitely wasn’t the same, almost as if all those weeks in a prison of demons had infiltrated his skin—or something else had.

“Yeah, you should’ve. But hey, you're here now, right?” His gaze scanned over his brothers who were helping Myles get Reed onto some kind of stretcher. More people had arrived to help move him. I forced a little smile to my lips, determined not to let my suspicions, or my emotions get the better of me. This had been one hell of a day, and it wasn’t over yet. I dared to reach out and put my hand on his forearm. “I am, and I can help you get through this. You’re strong enough, Connor. We can do it together.”

The sneer that curled his lips and his snide tone of voice had me flinching before I could catch myself. Thankfully he didn’t notice. He grabbed the back of my neck and his fingers tightened in the hair at the base of my skull. I winced. He lowered his voice to a whisper, pulling me forward until my forehead rested against his. “You know the one thing I didn’t get in that prison?” I shook my head, not sure how to react to this version of my mate. He sneered. “Fucked. Yeah, I got everything else, but that.” His hold tightened further and I gritted my teeth against the pain and the dominance in that grip. Prime growled, but didn’t step up; if anything he seemed very confused about what to do, which scared me. I was used to Prime’s aggression and determination to find Connor. It matched my own. But seeing Prime so unbalanced stole all of my self-confidence, and I froze. “I’m hungry for it,Firecracker.And you’re gonna give me that booty call when I’m ready for it.”

Heat from his hand seeped into me, even Fire stirred at the feel of his too tight grip. I wanted to pull away, but I endured it, if for no other reason than I didn’t want him to get suspicious about my uncertainty.I couldn’t hold his gaze, not unless I wanted him to see my confusion—and fear... So, I just nodded.

A grin stretched his lips. “Good girl. Go and get cleaned up for me, I’ll be back to full strength and ready to fuck this gorgeous body, in no time at all. Tell me, has anyone else enjoyed it while you left me to rot?”

Before I could pull away, he yanked me forward and kissed me so hard, my bottom teeth cut into my lip. I was stunned, not just by his actions, but by his words. This was not my loving mate. All I could do when he pulled away was stare. He chuckled. Lust and something far darker burned in his eyes. I opened my mouth to...to I don’t know what…I could feel my brain literally stutter.

“Uh, uh,” he said. Slowly, he scooped a little of my blood onto his forefinger and sucked it into his mouth. “Mm, yum.” His gaze dragged down my body, making me cringe at the look of raw hunger in his eyes. “Can’t wait.”

A tall shadow fell across us before I could pull myself together enough to react.

“Hey, how ‘bout we get you somewhere comfy to sit your ass for a while, Prime. Then you can talk with Ember again.” Drake’s harsh tone made me jump. My face flushed as I realised all of these men had witnessed the way Connor had just spoken to me. Tears burned my eyes; but not from humiliation. From what had just become painfully obvious to me. Connor hadn’t escaped that awful place after all. Drake turned to me. His wolf eyes shone in the light of the torches the others held, but his face was impassive. I appreciated him hiding his reaction. I was reacting enough for us both. I was at a complete loss as to what to do. I needed to talk to Owen, and to Zander, about my suspicions but Connor watched me so closely, I couldn’t move without him knowing. I felt so boxed in, I couldn’t breathe. My chest tightened until I couldn’t pull air into my lungs. I couldn’t deal with this! I swallowed the ache in my throat and turned away, but not before Drake saw the tears in my eyes. Fuck! No one needed to see me cry right now. I needed to get myself together and find a way to deal with all...this.

“Ember? Why don’t you follow behind us, you look beat. We’ll find Connor a room. He can take a shower and rest while we catch up,” Owen said.

I swallowed and nodded, keeping my eyes down.

“Nah, you know what, man? How about she does what I said? Gets cleaned up and comes when I call her pretty ass?” Connor’s growled words sent ice into my heart.

Standing next to Owen, Drake stiffened, and I swallowed as he snarled, but at my pleading look, he let the matter drop. My legs shook so much, I couldn’t even follow when Owen and Alex helped Connor to his feet and he walked painfully slowly into the dark tunnels. Connor looked over his shoulder, grinned and winked before he disappeared into the shadows.

Drake stared at me for a moment, before he cocked his head. “Get some rest, Em. We can sort this mess out later.” He peered at the tunnel, then back at me. “He’s not going anywhere. You’ll be safe.”

I rubbed my face and nodded. Mea whined, so I shut her and Prime down. These emotions, this pain, fear and guilt, they were mine, they didn’t belong to either of my other souls...just mine.

Using Fire had almost wiped me out, and seeing Connor so changed, fearing maybe we hadn’t brought Connor back at all, was more frightening than anything I’d experienced before. My legs trembled and I slapped a hand against the cold wall ignoring the cut of the stone into my palm.

“Hey, girl, you okay?”

Closing my eyes didn’t erase the fact that I wasn’t alone, so I opened them again and pushed away from the cave wall, determined not to crumble in front of Shannon, or Drake, who watched me carefully. I felt a pulse of reassurance from him and he gave my hand a squeeze. “I’m going to make sure he rests,” he said darkly and marched out when he saw Shannon would stay with me. I wished he’d stayed. I needed to tell someone, I knew I did...but I just...I didn’t want to admit what I knew in my soul to be true, because that could mean I’d lost Connor forever.

“Hey. Yeah.” My voice was tight and the astute look in Shannon’s eyes told me she wasn’t fooled for a second. “Yeah, just peachy.” I decided sarcasm was better than bursting into tears.

“Yeah, sure you are. Come on. Looks like Drake’s brought a fucking army with him.” She lifted an automatic weapon, it’s black metal gleaming in the torch light. A wide grin stretched her lips. “And he brought new toys to play with. Not to mention, we now have decent cabins. There are even proper beds and hot fucking water! Oh, and you’re bunking with me.”

My eyes widened. “Really? What about Stone?”

---