Page 33 of Ruin

“You first,darlin’.” I raised my brows a little.

He smiled, his eyes sparkling with laughter; then surprised me by answering. “Jedediah Hawk.”

“And what are you doing here, Jedi?”

“A-ah, nope, no nicknames. Besides, it’s your turn. What’s your name?”

“Well, it sure as shit ain’t honey,Jedi.”

He just raised his brows higher and chuckled, crossing his arms over his large chest. “So, what is it? Because I’d love to get to know a little spitfire like you.” He cocked his head and contemplated the flame dancing along my knuckles. “You aren’t just a shifter, that’s for sure.”

“No shit, Sherlock.” I rolled my eyes and pulled the flame into my palm before lowering my hand. “Same as you sure as shit aren’t here for the scenery.”

His eyes flicked to Owen, who approached from behind me. Prime rumbled, sensing his brother, too. Jedediah’s gaze moved back to me, and though his body gave off the appearance of being relaxed, I could see he was anything but.

“What’s going on, Hawk?” Owen’s voice was as cold as I’d ever heard it.

He didn’t like this guy, and alpha shit aside, I had to wonder why. Owen was usually even-tempered and easy going with just about everyone, even Zander had been shown some respect from the alpha of this camp. This guy, not so much.

Hawk shrugged, his handsome smirk still in place. “Just getting acquainted with your pack members, Brady. Calm your tits.”

Owen glanced at me and then Stone, whose wolf was right near the surface and ready to launch at Hawk. Owen stopped by my side and I was grateful he didn’t look me in the eye. Prime was stirring and pushing against Mea and Fire. He was getting pissed at this guy, and he’d break through eventually.

Owen spared me a quick glance, his wolf staring down at me. “You okay, Ember?”

“Ember, is it?” Hawk jumped straight on Owen’s words, his eyes narrowing on me until Prime snarled at the predatory look in his eyes. “Well, now,Ember,to answer your question, I’m here on a very special mission, and it just got a whole lot more interesting. Next time we meet, we’ll find a nice quiet spot, just you and me, and I’ll explain all about it.”

“No, you fucking won’t, shithead. You’re here because I’m allowing it—for now. Don’t push your luck. Stay away from our Prime’s mate, or I don’t care who the fuck you work for, I’ll end you—if he doesn’t get to you first. You good with that, Ember?”

“Sure.” I shrugged one shoulder and affected a couldn’t give a shit expression, which wasn’t true, at all. It hit me right in the gut that Connor might never be around to kick anyone’s arse ever again. But this soldier didn’t need to know that.

I really, really wanted to know who this male was, and why Owen thought it was necessary to warn him away from me, but keeping Prime contained was my priority right now; as was dealing with the demon that wore Connor. I turned away and took Stone’s arm. Hawk would find me eventually; he wanted something, I saw it in his eyes. Under that predatory gleam, there was another emotion; one I’d seen many times before in Faerie—greed. I’d find out, one way or another, why he was here; it wasn’t just to fight the soldiers of Hell. With all the firepower Drake had brought to this forest, the shifters in this camp, with Owen leading them, could manage to contain the werewolves in the prison. Whoever had paid to get Hawk and his men here, was after something. My senses tingled in warning, but I flashed Hawk a smile and wiggled my fingers before giving him a cheeky wink. “See ya later, Jedi. Tell your men to leave everyone in this camp alone, and that includes me. If they, or you, become a problem, I’ll incinerate you all.” The bolt of fire I sent from my fingertips hit the ground at his feet.

“Fuck!” He jumped back. The damp ground went up in flames—because I’d told Fire to burn it. “Godsdammit! Get something to put this out!” he yelled.

I just kept walking with Stone while I killed the flame. “Well, I think that went well. Don’t you?”

Stone chuckled. “I think you made a friend.”

“He’s not your fucking friend, Ember. Stay away from him unless one of us is with you. He’s dangerous.” Owen’s face was deadly serious.

“What are you talking about, Owen? What’s really going on?”

“Shit.” He ran a hand through his hair, his whole body tense and power rolling off him. It wasn’t like Owen to lose his cool like this. “Just...don’t trust him. Okay?”

“Why not?” I pushed, not happy to leave it at that. Owen knew something, yet he didn’t want to share. “You have to give me something here, Owen.”

“No, I don’t.” He growled, then ran another hand through his already mussed hair. “Look, as far as I know, he’s here to help put Berith down. But he’s a snake, someone who is being paid by one of the most wealthy supernaturals in this world. Drake wouldn’t tell us who his current partner is, all he told us was that Hawk came as part of the deal.”

“So we don’t know Hawk’s real agenda?”

Owen released a heavy breath, his face dark. “No, but I’ve met Hawk before. He works for money, lots of money, nothing else. He’s good at what he does, but honour and loyalty are foreign to him, and I don't for a moment believe he’s here just to help us. Neither should you.”

Nodding, I accepted his words. There were other things to think about right now. “Where’s Zander? I wanted to talk to him before we put Connor in chains.”

“He’ll meet us at Connor’s room.”

We walked the rest of the way to Connor’s cabin in silence. The closer we got, the more my stomach hurt. I was on edge and Stone must have felt it.

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