Page 38 of Ruin

Stone snarled, and I noticed Ember’s small smile as she looked at the doppelganger. They seemed to have become friends in my absence. I growled at Alex who was a good few inches shorter than me. “Did you grind on me, you perverted shit?”

Ember bit her lip and giggled, her shoulders shaking.

Alex’s cheekbones tinged with pink and he stepped back. “I had to…” he sputtered.

I grinned and smacked his back. “S’all right, man, I’m messing with you.” My grin stretched as his shoulders relaxed, such a look of relief on his face it was hard not to mess with him even more. But I took pity on him. “So what did Zander do to bring me back from Hell?” I already knew I wouldn’t leave my brother to suffer at the hands of his merciless father. He’d found a way to get me out, and I’d do the same for him. He’d put on a front of working for both sides, when in truth he’d had no choice but to work for Berith. I didn’t know, but I suspected working for the fae was his back-up plan to get us all out.

“He used this.” Alex pulled his shirt to one side and a stunning yellow metal disc glinted. I’d seen it before. Doherty had planned to use it on Ember to take both her wolf and her phoenix. Alex quickly covered it back up, his gaze flitting across the crowd that had gathered outside the ruined cabin. “It’s a fallen angel’s Halo; Lucifer’s Halo, to be exact, and the only one known to exist outside Heaven. It is the only known way to pull a spirit from its host. But it opens the doors to Lucifer’s realm when it is used. The user can prevent themselves and the spirit from being propelled through the gates of Hell, but they must use angelic words to do it. Zander didn’t use the words because he couldn’t. He told me he doesn’t know how to speak angelic. He knew using the Halo would send Berith back to Hell; but that he’d be sucked in with him...”

“Mother Wolf, Zander knew what would happen. He sacrificed himself for me. To get me back here…” I met Ember’s gaze. “To you.”

She closed her eyes and nodded. “It seems that way.”

I had no words. My brother, my flesh and blood was suffering in Hell—for me. Gods, I’d never considered anyone doing anything like that for me, and now I didn’t know what to think, how to feel in the face of that sacrifice.

“Come on, man, let’s get you to Ember’s cabin. I’ll get a healer to see you, and then you can rest. When you feel stronger, we can talk more and I’ll explain what’s happening here,” Owen said.

I nodded, suddenly exhausted. My knees buckled and dizziness overwhelmed me. I was aware Stone took my weight on one side, while Owen held me up on the other. I didn’t have Prime with me, but I could feel him close by, and when I looked at Ember, he was staring right back at me, his power pulsing against my soul. I smiled and nodded. I didn’t know how, but I knew that there would be a way for us to rejoin—I just had to find it.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find a way together.” Ember’s voice soothed my frayed soul. I blinked as I looked at my beautiful mate. I couldn’t remember everything Berith had tortured me with, but I knew times like this, when I was full of hope and joy at seeing my mate, were when he broke me.

Her hand on my cheek felt warm. “It’s real, Connor.” Her smile was reassuring, but I didn’t miss the darkness in her eyes. I hated the thought that she blamed herself for any of this.

“Good. Then take me to bed, Firecracker. I’ve been without you for too long.” And I winked.

She rolled her eyes and smiled. Yeah, we both knew I wasn’t strong enough to even walk, let alone do much else. I grinned. But that was only temporary.

Chapter 13

Ember

Cold hitme as I stepped out of the cabin and jogged down the steps.

“Hey, slow down.”

I looked back over my shoulder at Myles. I hadn’t left Connor’s side since he’d truly come back to us two days ago. Alex had explained Zander hadn’t wanted Berith to have any chance to pull me into Hell, so he hadn’t waited for me or the others to arrive. Instead, he’d got Alex on board and they’d formed a plan.

Myles jumped off the top step and landed agilely beside me. “He’s safe, Ember.”

“I know, but he needs feeding.”

Myles smiled. Owen had sent food for us, but Connor hadn’t really woken to eat. I'd laid next to him listening to his stomach rumble as he slept. I wanted to get him something so that it was there when he woke up. “I know Stone’s on Connor-watch, but I want to get back before he wakes up.”

Myles cocked his head. “I know you do.”

I took Myles’s arm, hating the shadows under his beautiful green eyes. I leaned my head on his bicep, and he kissed the top of my head.

“He loved you, you know,” he said as we walked.

I swallowed the pain in my throat, my eyes burning. I didn’t need to ask who he was talking about. Once I could talk past the guilt that choked my throat, I pulled him to a stop. “Myles, I’m so sorry for what I did to him. I...I...didn’t ever… I didn’t think...” No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t get my words out. How could I apologise for killing his mate? For sending him to Hell. “Gods, how can you stand to be near me?”

Myles pulled away. He placed his large hands on his hips and lowered his head to stare at his boots. His shoulders rose and fell as if he needed time to get himself under control.

Right, he reallycouldn’tstand to be near me… Clenching my fists, I turned away.

“Hey, where are you going?” His voice was thick but strong.

I kept my eyes down, unable to face the condemnation that would surely be in his. “It’s okay, Myles, you don’t need to babysit me. Prime’s much calmer now that he knows Connor is near. I’ll be fine alone.”

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