Page 281 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

Luka looks over at Kai, and his brows raise. “I think he’s finally unleashing his third hound.”

“Third?”

I catch it just in time to see Kai’s hound’s body expand.

And by expand, I mean he’s fuckinghuge. Towering over the demon he was fighting.

A third head appears in the middle of the other two but is completely different from either of them.

With long sharp teeth and blood red glowing eyes, this thing was abeast. Without stopping, Kai’s large three-headed hound tears through the demons and hybrid beasts around it like they’re nothing but ants.

But even with his relentless energy making his way through the demons, there were still so many more of them taking their place.

It gets a whole lot worse when a mass of them arrives in formed groups. They spread out, heading straight for the guys.

“We need to go help them,” I tell Luka.

“Even if we wanted to, we’re surrounded ourselves,” Luka says.

I glance around and see more and more demons and beasts getting closer to us.

“I need to get you out—” Luka doesn’t get to finish, as he whips around, shifting and pouncing on the demon sneaking up behind us.

Using my powers, I hold back the rest, but I can’t last much longer. My energy is starting to feel depleted.

I push and push, but the more I do, the less energy I feel.

Feeling helpless, I watch all of my guys each fighting off the demons and beasts but slowly getting more and more overwhelmed.

We’re going to lose if we don’t figure something out. But what? My ability is barely hanging on. I drop to my knees, still pushing out my inky mass of shadows that has become nothing more than wisps of smoke.

But I keep pushing, not willing to give up. I just needed to hold them off long enough to think of something.

But my brain can’t think past my guys as they get more and more overwhelmed.

I can’t lose them. Not again.

I feel a pulse of a connection just before the shadow beast appears. My eyes widen on its dark form.

“Help me,” I beg it, but it stays where it is, barely moving an inch.

“Then help them,” I order it, but I haven’t got enough energy to command it to listen to me. I begin to let fear take over. It grips me hard, choking me with its razor claws.

I start to see dark spots in my vision when I hear a familiar deep voice in my head.

“Let it out.”

“I can’t,” I tell the shadow beast. “I have nothing left.

Please, just help them,” I beg, but still, it doesn’t move.

“Let it out,”it says in my head once more.

“I can’t.”My inky shadows start to let up, dissolving in front of me. Fear slices me with its thick claws.

“No limits. Let. It. Oouuttt…”The shadow beast speaks again, its voice darker, more demanding.

No limits… No limits… My body is exhausted… beyond exhausted. It is bone-tired, but I have to at least try.

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