Page 282 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

Reaching down, I search for anything left inside me but find nothing. A chamber of silence and nothing but an empty black end, its barrier so dark I can’t see anything beyond it. I try to push past it to see if there’s anything more, but it doesn’t budge.

I push and push, but it still doesn’t give. I feel the sweat drip down my back. My whole body is stiff from trying, but still nothing happens.

I fall to the ground, my hands scraping off the small pieces of rock as I catch myself.

“Kiarra!” Luka screams to me, but I can’t see him, the world around me getting darker as I try to stay conscious.

But I wasn’t ready to give up yet. I couldn’t.

Digging my hands into the ground beneath me, I start pushing through the thick, black barrier. There has to be more. The shadow beast said,no limits.But what did that mean?

Did my power have no limits, or did I? But it is the same thing, isn’t it? My power comes from me, and one cannot exist without the other.

A crack forms in the black barrier, revealing a sliver of light. It pulses, trying to seep out toward me.

It’s then that it hits me… The barrier isn’t real, it’s me. I’m what’s stopping myself. The more my mind opens up to the idea, the more the barrier cracks.

There was never an end. The shadow beast is right. My power is limitless.

And it’s time I reach out and take it.

Feeling the cracked barrier with my mind, I reach out and brush against it, and with the slightest rip, it fractures entirely before completely falling away.

I gasp as power like nothing before rushes through me. Every one of my senses comes alive, and power spreads out to every nerve in my body.

This new energy feels endless, with boundless potential, like there’s nothing I can’t do.

I let it fill me, not stopping until I’m brimming with every ounce of that energy, my entire body vibrating with it.

While my power continues to build, I let my mind turn to the demons and beasts around me, pausing when I find a slight pulse of energy inside each one of them.

I grip on to it, letting each one become my new target.

When my power is so full it’s almost painful, I let it go, releasing it out around me. It bursts out of me like an explosion, the surge of dark power rippling out of me and slamming right into the mass of demon and beasts heading right for us.

CHAPTER 30

KIARRA

Once the energy touches the demons and hybrid beasts, it blows them backward, raising the ground beneath them and encasing each one in black flames.

Their shrieks bellow out around me as they burn from the inside out.

Moments later, they begin to deteriorate and turn to ash, the only evidence of them left behind as it floats to the ground.

My ability reaches out, searching for my mates, sensing each one of them as they head straight for me. The tightness in my chest eases, knowing they’re all okay and on their way here.

Before I pull back, I notice the different energies of other supes around me like small, brightly colored lights. Some are more faded than others, my instincts telling me their injuries are more severe.

The silence stretches out around me as I reach out for any other threats, but I can’t find any with all the demons and beasts now destroyed.

The energy inside me doesn’t lessen. It burns with untapped power, looking for another outlet.

Destroying the demons had barely touched the surface.

Luka stumbles over to me, making me pull back from my mind to focus on him. His eyes widen when he sees me, but whatever he sees doesn’t frighten him. He moves quickly and doesn’t stop until I’m wrapped in his arms.

I feel his body shudder as he tightens his grip on me.

---