Page 67 of Ruin

Damn, maybe I should walk in front of him so I quit getting distracted by that yummy view... and I tripped again. Of course, he laughed. My cheeks flushed. Yeah, he was distracting. I wiped my sweaty palms on my thighs, refusing to look up as I felt amusement mixed with lust filter through our bond.

The walls vibrated again and there was another dull explosion. I met Connor’s eyes and moved quickly to get closer to him. I knew I could fight, but that didn’t mean I was comfortable with this kind of situation. Berith had been sent back to Hell, but none of us had any idea if he could get back through that rift. After all, he controlled it. Our biggest enemy could be waiting in the shadows for us, ready to pounce. I’d done a few months of my agent training programme, but I’d never completed it or done any fieldwork, and I’d freely admit, despite all my time dealing in Faerie, I was scared. My mate was as tough as they came, and there was no place I’d rather be than right beside him when the shit hit the fan.

Together we crept down dimly lit corridors. Even knowing we had a small army at our backs didn’t help to calm my fear. Coming in here to rescue Connor was one thing; he had been my goal and my focus. My own safety had come second to saving his life, but this saving the world shit? I was walking towards a rift to Hell, for goodness sake! That thought had my gut twisting, so instead, I worried about my friends. “Is Stone still alive?”

“Yeah.”

I sent a silent thanks to the Mother that Stone was unharmed. He was a pain in the arse, but he was also my friend and utterly loyal to Connor. I even sneaked in a little prayer for Shannon; yes, she had been my nemesis at school, but I kinda liked her now.

We turned a corner and the sight that greeted us coated my insides with ice.

Chapter 21

Connor

Ember gulped.I immediately moved closer to her, already assessing the heaving mass of Werewolves which blocked the corridor and our progress to the Hell rift. That rift needed closing, and Ember was the only way to do it. Berith knew that and had positioned his biggest Weres here to protect it. I wasn’t stupid enough to think that these Weres were it, either. No, he’d have his squad of demon guards protecting the rift, right before he stepped from it to try and grab my mate. I growled and placed a hand gently on her arm, trying to get her to move behind me. I glanced down sideways at her, not surprised when she went to push my hand away.

“Connor, I can’t hide behind you while you all fight.” Her mouth set in a stubborn line before she gestured to the approaching Weres. “They need to be stopped. You know that as well as I do and we can’t set their souls free, not even you can do that in a battle, there’s no time, so we have to kill them.”

My nostrils flared and I felt the agreement of the Hell-beast. “I know.” There was also no way I was fighting anywhere but by my mate's side. Losing her simply was not an option. If she were to fall in battle, I would raze Hell itself to get her back. My beast growled, the sound echoing in my head in resounding agreement.

The others ran past me, all except the three who now protected Ember’s back. The roars and clash of claws and teeth vibrated in my bones. I speared her hair with my hand, feeling the aggression and the scent of blood tug at my beast. Holding her gaze, I kissed her deeply, pushing my love against her to be sure sheknew, grateful to feel it echoed in her. I refused to acknowledge the pain in my chest. We both knew this was it. We needed to fight to protect the whole Earth. It was imperative the rift be closed before Berith could send any more demons into our world.

Using every bit of my self-control I pulled away, nipping her bottom lip between mine as I uncurled my fingers from her shoulder. I didn’t want to let her go. But I had to, and we both knew it.

Her lids opened, her gaze consumed with flames of indigo, violet, orange, yellow and jade. I swallowed hard, finding it almost impossible not to be consumed by the beauty of the immortal being that stared back at me.

“I’ll see you on the other side, handsome.” Her grin was full of sass. And before I could bend to the will of my wild side and grab her to me again, she winked and turned, sprinting into the mass of fighting bodies. I roared and shifted into my beast. He darted among the fighting bodies, trying to keep up with Ember. When she was opposite Kawan, who had his teeth embedded in the throat of a huge Were, Ember’s whole body lit up with that same beautiful flame. She swirled the fire around her arms creating a fire bomb that heated the whole corridor.

The Weres saw us and ran.

Her light had only made the darkness deeper, so I sucked in the shadows and sent a thick cloud of darkness to engulf them. The nearest Were didn’t stand a chance. I tore at his flesh before I thrust my clawed hand into his chest and ripped out his heart, commanding his wolf to leave and return to the Mother. His human soul floated into the ether, quickly taking its escape from the demon that screamed before being sucked back into Hell. Ember was right, I couldn’t save all of their souls, but I could save some.

Ember unleashed her own brand of death upon the Weres. I wanted to dash towards her, but I had faith in her skill and power, so I forced myself to remain, and with a heavy heart killed my own kind, setting as many imprisoned souls free as I could. Too far away from me, my mate burned our enemy to dust. By the time I had killed each and every Were in the shadows, Ember had gone.

Shit!I howled an order, my heart pounding in my chest.I can’t lose her.Twisting on my clawed hind foot, I lowered my head, dipped my shoulders forward, and ran.

The other wolves, Kawan included, bounded down the corridor by my side, leaping over the fallen and the chunks of debris that were littered everywhere. Doors hung off their hinges, the floating bots smashed to smithereens and scattered. Only the cameras remained intact, and now they were offline.

Barrelling through a set of half-closed doors, I knocked them clean off their hinges along with most of the wall. I skidded to a halt, breathing hard and strained my supernatural hearing, trying tofeelEmber’s position with the bond we shared. I roared. She was already below us—and moving fast.

I growled and tugged on Kawan’s blood bond. He immediately halted his big body and peered over his shoulder at me. My eyes met his, and I told him what I wanted. He nodded. He’d sensed the army that waited for my mate, just the same as I did.No mercy, brother,I confirmed after our silent conversation. Kawan dipped his head.

“Go with him. All of you.”None questioned my growled order, they couldn't fight the wave of compulsion their king sent their way. My men followed Ember down into the battle she was raging below, but I knew my Firecracker. Determination and fear continued to filter through from her. There would be no way for them to reach her that way. She would not allow it.

Once they had all left, I moved in the opposite direction. This corridor was one Zander had marched me down many times over the past four years. Loss squeezed my heart, but I thrust it away. I couldn’t help my brother right now.

I prowled along, revelling in the cloak of shadows that clung to me like armour. As I approached the next corner, I shifted. In human form I could carry out my plan, as the King of Weres, it would not work. Pulling my gun from the holster on my thigh, I crept forward, trying to ignore the echo of Ember’s emotions.

The scent of Weres hit my nostrils. I snarled but kept the aggression of my beast locked down. I stepped around the corner, and growled, loudly. The approaching group of seven Weres snarled right back. My lip curled away from my teeth, and I cocked my head. “Santa.” The huge Were at the head of the group was even uglier than the day Ember had killed him. His injuries were gone but I would recognise him anywhere. And unlike the demon possessed Weres, whose souls were trapped in the Hell of their half-shifted bodies, his eyes were totally clear and not engulfed by a demon. No, Santa had sold his soul to the devil and become a beast of Hell willingly. He was now a servant of Satan; his human and shifter souls had been given willingly to his new master.

He gave a dark chuckle. I grinned right back, fighting my instincts to shift and kill.

Fallen concrete crunched behind me. I didn’t turn, sensing the three Weres that now stalked me. Santa hesitated when I shot the Weres on either side of him in the forehead. Their heads jerked back and they fell, thudding heavily to the floor.

Santa Cruz snarled, his lip curling back to reveal yellowed fangs, his eyes glowing with a ring of fire.

“You sold out, Santa. Not a surprise from a piece of shit like you.”

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