Page 372 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

“You’re right. It was your fault.”

I narrow my eyes on the ceiling, the spot where the voice came from.

“Who are you?”

The voice ignores me as I search the room. But there’s nothing but old furniture and dust. “I’m afraid you're going to have to work harder than that if you’re trying to deceive me. I learned my lesson the first time.”

The voice still ignores me. I move to leave the room when it once again speaks, but this time it sounds like Kai making me freeze.

“You’re a killer.”

“I am,” I tell whoever it is. It’s the truth, after all. I have killed many people.

“Your hands are filled with each of their deaths.”

Again, I agree with the voice. “There’s nothing you can tell me that I don’t already know.”

The voice changes from Kai to Luka. “You deserve to stay in Hell.”

I raise a brow, taking another look around the room. “More than likely. It’s something I’ve already accepted. Try again.”

I smile as the voice keeps going, changing from Axel to Jax and back again.

My smile freezes when I hear my mate’s voice, my heart stopping as I wonder where she is and if she’s okay.

“Would you kill for me?”

I answer without hesitation. “In a heartbeat.” Whether it’s Kiarra or not, it’s the truth. I’d kill for any of my family.

If I’m a killer, then I’ll gladly be one to protect my family. Something I will always do to keep them safe. No matter what.

Instead of the voice’s words trying to mess with my head and make me believe I’m still the cold-blooded killer my parents made me, it gives me a sense of calm knowing that Icanandwillgo to great lengths to protect my family. And that gives me strength.

My parents said I was a cold-blooded killer but instead of feeling cold, I feel warm.

I let that warmth fill me up, thinking of each of my brothers as they add kindle to my blood. I then focus on Kiarra, my mate, my Siren. I let her light up every piece of me as a blaze of flames rushes through my veins.

The room around me grows darker, but a sense of peacefulness settles over me. As I finally accept myself for who I am, I feel the light inside me and the warmth of it giving me strength. I slowly disappear, smiling into the dark as it swallows me whole.

CHAPTER 19

KAI

“They’re dead, and it’s all your fault.”

The voice has been at it for what feels like hours. Not only a voice but illusions of some kind where my brothers are killed over and over again and no matter how hard I try, there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

My hands are drenched in their blood as I look down at Axel’s lifeless body. His skin is so white, the blood against his stomach wound stands out even more.

An unknown enemy appears from nowhere and attacks before I get a chance to stop it. It never shows its face, striking and killing my family before I can save them.

No matter how fast or skilled or strong I am. They die.

Each. And. Every. Single. Time.

This game the Underworld is playing is so much more than a mental game with some mind tricks because not only do they get inside your head, but they also get inside your fucking heart too.

It’s as if they know our deepest fears and bring them to life. Everything I’ve gone through feels real. So real that even though I know on some level this can’t be real, my heart still fucking shatters each time I lose one of them.

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