Page 69 of Ruin

I screamed, but neither were fatal wounds. I silently thanked Walker for his fae armour. If I’d been wearing normal clothes I'd have been sliced and diced by now. I shrugged, death wouldn’t stop me, but it would slow me down, and I didn’t want Fire taking any of these poisonous demon souls as payment. A shudder rippled through me. That was one reason not to die here. Despite my immortality and kickass suit, my wounds were debilitating enough to slow me down and make Fire’s power, and my wolf’s strength, falter.

There were only three demon guards left now, but I had to achieve my goal before I passed out and—I swallowed hard—they dragged me to Hell. Fear gripped my chest. It hadn’t really occurred to me before that I would fail—mainly because I hadn’t let it. Jeez, I’m such a fool. I had left my friends, and even my mate behind thinking, in my arrogance, that I could just incinerate my enemy and destroy the rift with no help at all. Now I wasn't so sure. My shifter abilities were enhanced by Fire, but I was fading fast. Blood soaked into my clothes, saturating the fae armour.

I reached out trying to find my bond with Connor but all I found was darkness. It killed me that I couldn’t feel him, but it had been my choice to leave him behind. Ice coated my stomach. He couldn’t be hurt—or worse. No. He was too strong…

I squashed that useless worry, staggered up off my knees and leaned against the wall for support. Ignoring the burning pain from Walker’s tattoo, I slammed my foot backwards into the chest of a guard. I couldn’t see what happened to him; the one in front had a vicious looking blade in his gloved hand that made my blood run cold. Gritting my teeth, I dodged sideways, spun, whipped my empty bow off my shoulder and slammed it into his helmet. It caved in and he staggered sideways. I grinned. “Yeah, take that you pissant demon!” Panting hard, I thrust a small tendril of flame forward. It engulfed his gloved hand and he yelled, dropping his weapon. In a move I practiced over and over with B’nar, I flicked the empty bow into my grip and rammed the weapon up through his throat. I threw it aside and its fae magic ebbed away.

A quick glance up showed me there was one guard left, but there was no way I could destroy a portal to Hell with no energy left, so I pulled Fire back. I swooped down and picked up the knife I had dropped and sprinted towards my remaining enemy. Thanking Walker, B’nar and Lance for their arse-kickings and relentless training regimen, I built up speed and drove myself a few steps up and along the wall before I pushed off and somersaulted over the demon’s head, grabbing his chin. Landing, I yanked his head to the side and drove the knife into his throat, slicing sideways.

“Go back to Hell, you evil bastard,” I muttered and let his corpse fall to the floor.

My legs shook as I skidded to a halt in front of the door to the warden’s lair. Breathing heavily, I reached out and pushed the door open. A blast of heat hit me. Fire flared to life, once again pushing against the confines of my body.

Ignoring her fight to burn me from the inside out, I inched forward, keeping an eye on the shadows, my heart racing.

The carved fireplace was as beautiful as it was hideous. Huge Weres snarled out from its carved surrounding. Some of them had their muscled arms wrapped around beautiful women, their mouths and bodies locked in sexual acts, others dragged screaming souls back into the flames that awaited them.

Heat from the flames reached my fae suit. Despite its technology and ability to deflect blades and bullets, it began to burn. I cocked my head and looked down. Even as my skin was revealed by the burning material, I felt no pain. Because I didn’t burn, I never had, not since Fire had chosen me.

“Beautiful. Isn’t it?” said a smooth, unnervingly hypnotic voice behind me.

I spun, my speed hampered by the thick pile carpet.

Berith stepped out of the shadows. My jaw dropped. This wasn’t just the warden standing in front of me. This was a stunning demon general, one made for the first hierarchy of Hell, a being dedicated to stirring up murder and unrest. His dark eyes flickered, reflecting the flames of the underworld that burned in the rift. His mouth tilted into a smirk when I stood naked in front of him. I didn’t bother summoning clothes, it would take too much energy.

“Hmm, stunning. I will enjoy playing with you…”

My nostrils flared in anger. “I’m not here to play.”

He raised a dark brow, his smile growing, evil oozing from his every pore. “Oh, but you will agree to play with me.” The snap of his fingers echoed through the room and out into the corridor. I tensed. It was a signal. There was a commotion coming from the corridor and a group of Weres entered the room dragging a slack body. His scent hit me right in my chest and my heart stopped beating. Pain lanced me and I couldn’t look away from Connor’s broken body. “Oh, Mother, what did you do? You bastard!” I panted, so shocked at seeing my mate, the King of his kind, broken and bleeding, that I couldn’t tear my gaze off him.

Berith chuckled. “It seems he wasn’t as strong as he—or you—thought. Trying to protect you only made it easier for us to catch him. You see, my soldiers were given the chance to be reborn stronger and faster, and they took it. He couldn’t beat them because he has that sliver of humanity in his soul. No matter that he used to be King of the Hell-beasts. He is now king of nothing! He will die here today. You will become mine, and when you have burned the gates of Hell to the ground, we are going to have an eternity to play…”

I didn’t wait for any more of his fucking noise. I called Fire to me and let her burst from my skin. She no longer wanted to reach for that powerful flame, no, she wanted to become it. She felt my anger and my grief, and she fed upon it. My gaze landed on Connor's swollen face. He’d been beaten until his eyes had disappeared in their sockets, his nose broken and his lips split. I glared at the Were who stood over him.

“You…” My voice was little more than a growl.

Santa smiled, his elongated mouth stretching to reveal his fangs. He might be a Were now, but his eyes were the same, full of evil.

He pulled his foot back and slammed it into Connor’s stomach. I screeched in anger and instinctively reached for the flames behind me. As I called them, they flickered over my skin feeding my power. Fire engulfed me and my vision changed. The world became a beautiful aura of purples, greens, blues, reds and golds. My vision narrowed. Santa Cruz pulled his leg back to kick my mate again.

But Connor snarled and caught his foot. Jumping to his feet, Connor flicked Santa backwards. “Don’t change, Ember! Fight as you are!”

A sob lodged in my throat at the sight of my mate jumping to his feet. I didn’t understand what had happened, but he was on his feet and fighting, despite his injuries. In an unbelievably swift move he leapt in the air. A huge roar escaped his lungs causing the walls to rattle. By the time he landed, he had shifted into the King. He slammed his weight down into the floor, and even Santa had the brains to look scared of what Connor had become.

Power rolled off my mate as he glared at the Weres.

“End him! I will take the girl.” The warden grinned at me. “You might want to ignore your lover and shift, my dear.” He cracked his neck—and shifted.

“Shit!” I sucked the flames from the fire into my body and sent them barrelling at Berith. The tough skinned demon just shook it off and roared.

Damn, of course Hellfire can’t hurt him.

I turned and leapt over the couch. Near the door Connor was ploughing through the Weres. He had Santa by the neck and with one move separated his head from his body. I ignored the gruesome sight, Santa was a bastard of the highest order and he deserved an eternity in Hell. Connor certainly would never save his soul.

I screamed as a huge hand grabbed my leg mid jump. I slammed down into the couch face first, trying to kick Berith’s hold off my ankle. He merely laughed at my pathetic efforts. “Connor!” I screamed as Berith dragged me towards the fireplace. “Noooo!” On my stomach and being dragged backwards I couldn’t see to attack him with fire. I couldn’t reach him. Damn it! I wouldn’t lose this easily.

I had no other way out of this. I called on Fire. Closing my eyes, I went limp and allowed Berith to drag me into the rift. I opened my eyes and stared at my mate. His burning eyes widened as the flames engulfed me. His roar of pain tore at my soul, but there was nothing I could do as Berith pulled me closer to my destiny.

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