Page 30 of Ruin

“Yeah, Connor has to be a powerful soul to manage it alone,” agreed Kawan.

“I can still sense power in Connor,” Stone said steadily, watching me as if he was testing how I would react to his words “Evil power, more than in the Weres we have killed.” He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, his brows drawn.

My shoulders shifted the light material of Owen’s t-shirt as I squirmed, and scowled. “Don’t call that thing Connor. It isn’t him, not anymore.”

Stone’s eyes glowed with purple. I studied him,reallylooked at him. Out here in this forest, away from the silver collars, his fae side was riding him high, almost as strong, if not stronger, than his wolf.

“That’s what I thought,” he said.

“So does anyone have any idea how to get a fucking demon out of Connor’s body?” asked Owen. “Do you, Em?”

“I do. It’s an artifact. Doherty was going to use it to steal my phoenix and my wolf spirit from me. He told me that he’d killed my parents. My mother carried the phoenix. She knew she was being hunted and she passed it to me right before she died, to save my life.” I released a deep breath and met Owen’s gaze. “He murdered me that same night. My phoenix brought me back, but took Doherty’s wolf in payment. He’d been searching for me ever since. It was Connor who stopped him from ending me again; he ripped him to shreds.”

“Bastard deserved it,” muttered Drake.

Owen glanced at him. “Sure did. So what does this artifact look like?”

I frowned, trying to recall the details. “I can’t remember much, all I know is it was a gold disc with some kind of runes on it.”

Alex’s face paled. I glanced at him questioningly, but he pressed his lips into a tight line. Okay, whatever was bothering him wasn’t something he wanted to share right then.

“Right, so we need to go back and hunt for it.”

“What about Zander?” asked Drake. “He helped break that demon out of the prison. Might he have seen it? Should we even trust him with any of this? He could be working with Berith, and using Connor as their excuse to get out into this world and hunt for either that artifact—or Ember, herself.”

Tipping my head back, I considered his question. I’d thought about this all night. Instinct told me we could trust Zander, if only because I really did believe he was Connor’s half-brother. “I don’t know for sure. Berith didn’t need Connor to get into this world. He’d been here as the warden for a while. However, he does need me to unlock the gates of Hell and unleash Satan’s army into the world.” I met Owen’s gaze. “He’s using Connor to get to me.”

All of them stared at me, their eyes wide, their mouths pressed together.

“A phoenix can burn away the gates of Hell. That’s why Berith has come after me, and he’s using Connor to get close to me.” I ran a hand through my hair, before I blew out a steady breath. “Zander looked as if he realised something was wrong with Connor…” I nearly choked on his name. “When we were in the cave yesterday.” I paused and considered all that Zander had told us. I thought about Tyen and her story, and everything Zander had done for Connor and me in that prison. “I think we can trust him.”

“Hmm, I’m not so sure,” said Owen, a small crease on the bridge of his nose. “But I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until we can talk to him and find out what he knows.”

“I’ll do that,” offered Alex, a little too quickly.

My gaze shot to him, but he wouldn’t look at me; he kept his attention on Owen. My eyes narrowed. He definitely knew something...

“Fine. You go and find Zander and feel out his thoughts about the demon. In the meantime, one of us needs to be with you, Ember, at all times.” Owen paced across the small room and back again in a controlled and fluid gait. He stopped directly in front of Stone, whose face dropped into a deep glower.

“So, Ember-watch again, then?” Drake chuckled at Stone’s frustrated growl. “Suck it up, Faerie. We’ll get our Prime back; there has to be a way. Until then, Em has the pleasure of our company.”

“Can’t wait, honey buns,” I fired at him, rolling my eyes. I stood and eyed the remnants of my clothes and boots. “I’d better go and find some new clothes.”

“Yeah, go back to your cabin, sugar, and I’ll get someone to bring you some more things to wear. I brought plenty of supplies—even girly undies.” Drake was already standing.

I forced a smile. “Of course you did. And that was just for yourself!”

A wide grin transformed his face from handsome to stunning. “Ha! Don’t tell these guys! I’ll never hear the end of it,” he joked. Then he cocked his head and looked a bit more serious. “But, of course I brought plenty. A community of shifters with short fuses and a serious need for revenge? Yeah, I thought a supply of undies, amongst other things, might be a good idea.”

I stood, and then holding the t-shirt in place, dropped carefully to my knees to pick up the remnants of my clothes. I wasn’t leaving my ripped underwear on the floor for any of these assholes to pick up.

“Ember, Stone will go with you back to your room and stay with you for now.” I felt the weight of Owen’s alpha gaze on me, and knew what was coming next. It didn’t make it any easier to hear. “Once you are changed, we will find the demon and restrain him in the same cave as Reed until we can find a way to banish it without killing Connor.”

I couldn’t look at Owen—or any of them. We all knew that Connor was likely already dead. He was human not Were.

My gaze remained on the floor. All strength leaving my body, my mind sluggishly trying to accept what he was saying.

“Ember? Come on, up you get. I’ll take you,” said Stone, stepping close enough I could see the creases in his shit kickers. I swallowed, unable to pull myself out of the spiral of grief that was slowly drowning me.

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