Page 48 of Ruin

I blinked, determined not to let anyone see the devastation in my eyes. All these years he had tried to tell me, to hint at what he was to me, and all I had done each time he had called mebrotherwas shoot him down and insult him. I rubbed my face with my hands, then before I lost my nerve, I snapped out a hand and pulled the letter from Alex’s fingers.

Connor,I guess by now you know the truth. You really are my brother, but it’s okay, I forgive you for being such a bastard about that word. I deserved your hate and disgust. Don’t be angry with our mother. She was always his prisoner. It wasn’t until Berith was distracted by using you to find Ember that I could break the wards holding her to him. Find it in your heart to get to know her. You are her first born and for a dark fae that means a lot. There is much you should talk to her about, not least about the fae side of your nature.

The Halo will send me to Hell, but as I sit here writing this to you, know that I am fucking smiling, because it means my bastard of a father will be there, too. No matter what happens to me, it will always be worth it,youare worth it. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you who I was, but it was necessary, not only to keep our mother safe, but to get the information Walker needs to fight the generals of Hell. They are looking for Ember, of course, her phoenix is one of a kind and they will never let up. She will need you, always.

Use the Halo to bring your brothers back. You will need angelic help to use it safely, but other than another more powerful supernatural being ripping the spirit out, it is the only way to rid a person of a demon possession without killing them. Guard it with your lives. I read in an ancient text that it can be used to free whole armies, but I have no idea how; that, my brother, I leave to you to discover.

Now I must tell you about Rawson. I am ashamed of all I forced him to do at my father’s bidding, and I could not allow him to be tortured any further. I convinced my father he was killed in the break out, and set him free from my father’s wards. I got him out of the prison and back to civilization. I’m afraid I don’t know what happened to him after that. I hope you can forgive me for all I had to put him through. It was either do my father’s bidding or watch our mother suffer; that was always part of Berith’s sick games.

I fear we will never get the chance to speak as I once hoped we would, but know that I will always be your brother.

Zander.

I loweredmy bulk into a chair and read the letter again before it dropped from my fingers.

“Are you okay?” Ember whispered.

“Not really.” Admitting that didn’t seem like a weakness in the face of what Zander, my mother and I had been cheated out of. I looked up, my shoulders rising and falling as I tried to control my devastation. My brother had been with me all these years and I had never known. Now I had lost him to the fiery pits of Hell.

Ember came closer. I pulled her between my legs to let her in closer and she slipped her arms around my neck. I rested my forehead against her, letting the warmth of our connection seep into me and calm me.

“Rawson is alive.” My voice was raw.

“Fucking hell! He’s alive?” Owen exclaimed. “Is he still in that prison? Have we missed him like we missed you being there?”

My brother sounded so distressed, Prime rumbled.

“Owen, my brother, you didn’t miss me. You couldn’t sense just my fae side. Why should you? And no, Rawson isn’t there. Zander broke him free, so yeah…” I peered into Ember’s tear filled eyes. “He’s alive. He got away.” Gently, I wiped a tear away with my thumb. “Shh, don’t cry. He’s strong. He’ll be eating a burger and fries somewhere he’s safe, while we fight this war.”

Her watery smile broke my heart. “Yeah, ‘course he will. I just...I miss him.”

Standing, I pulled her back into my arms and kissed the top of her head, inhaling the scent of her hair. “So do I.” I met my brother’s gaze. “Start talking. Tell me everything that has happened since I shot you. Sorry about that by the way, but you needed to get out of that prison, not stay and fight. You made me a promise, and you had to keep it.”

“Yeah, well next time just yell it at me. It took me bloody weeks to heal properly from that wound.” His eyes landed on Ember who was still wrapped in my arms. His gaze softened. “We don’t all have a mate to heal us.”

“I know. I’m a lucky bastard.”

Drake poured some coffee out into five mugs, filling them to the brim. The smell made my mouth water. “Thanks, man.” I took the mug he offered as Ember and I took a seat, listening carefully to everything Owen had to tell us.

Chapter 15

Ember

I sat quietlyand listened to Owen tell Connor about his war with Berith’s demons. All the while I looked down at Zander’s letter that I clutched in my hand. Hundreds of Weres had died in the fight rings at that fucking prison. Even with the Halo that Alex had just passed to Connor, we needed an angel to make sure when we used it that we weren’t sucked down into hell. I swallowed hard. Reed was lying chained to a rock because of me, his mate’s heart breaking. I had to do something to help.

Connor frowned at the Halo before he tucked it inside the waistband of his jeans and covered it with his t-shirt.

“How many fighters do we have?” Connor frowned down at the old prison plans that had been spread out flat on the table, the empty coffee cups used to hold it still.

Owen blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. “We have around two hundred people here. I got Shane to start making a record of their names, but he’s finding it hard. Some of the people in that prison were there because they really are criminals, and they don’t want to be found. If they don’t agree to be registered then they’re thrown out in the wilds on their own. I mean, I don’t care if it’s a false bloody name, I just need to know how many people are here. But now we have the women and the babies from the prison, we have dependents to care for. We’ll have to leave guards here.”

Connor stared down at the map, his brow furrowed. “Do you have a core force you take into the prison?”

“Yeah…”

“Good. And now we have proper weapons.” He glanced at me and eyed the bow I had slung across my back. “Is there any way to contact Walker for help?”

I shook my head. “I don’t have a way. He did say he could track me when I called on Fire. So I guess we could do that, and hope he’s pissed off enough at me to come running.”

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