Page 39 of Blood and Reign

Ivor shakes his head as if he still doesn’t believe it himself. “They were destroyed. When we found them, there was nothing but shells left of their existence. There was no essence left.”

Shells…

My head whips to Kai. He finds my eyes immediately, his own full of worry, as he nods his head, confirming my fears.

King. It has to be.

But that means he’s a lot stronger than we imagined. A lot stronger and gaining more power by the minute.

Soren takes a staggering step back, shaking his head. “Destroyed? By what? There’s nothing in any of the realms that could—”

“Therewasnothing in the realms.” Ivor sighs. “But a powerful being appeared from nowhere and shattered that illusion. He bypassed our defenses and unleashed the old demons from their prisons. Once they were out, they began wreaking havoc between each realm. Orthis is still in the Prison realm as we speak, trying to get as many of the old ones back to their prisons while attempting to restore some semblance of balance.”

“He?” Soren asks.

Ivor nods. “The being has taken the form of a male.” Soren glances over at me, his eyes telling me he’s come to the same conclusion as me and Kai.

Jax levels his hand around his height. “He wouldn’t happen to be this tall with dark hair and creepy eyes?”

Ivor’s eyes narrow in suspicion, choosing his words more selectively. “You’ve met him?”

“Unfortunately,” Axel mutters.

An understatement of the century. “It’s the reason we’re here. To stop him.”

Jax points around the room, not bothered by the glares from each soldier. “So, if you could point us in the direction, you last saw him. We’ll be on our way.”

Ivor’s suspicions don’t let up, instead growing as he shares a look with his men. “How do you know this being?”

Luka sighs, his frustration growing at the time we’re wasting. “It’s a long story, but we don’t have a lot of time—”

A loud alarm rings out around us, cutting Luka off. The room grows quiet, turning tense as Ivor’s guards burst into the room.

“Sir, it’s another attack. This time it’s coming from the east side. We need to go now.” Ivor nods, stepping into his general role.

Getting up, he moves toward them but stops and turns to us. “Take them to—”

“I can vouch for them,” Soren tells him, giving him a firm look. “They’re not here to cause you trouble.” He smiles, a sliver of warmth in his eyes. “That’s my job.”

They stare each other down, doing some form of communication between each other before Ivor relents.

“Fine, if I can trust them, then tell me how you all made it past the gate?”

Soren looks at Kai as if asking for permission. My respect for him kicks up a notch just as Kai nods.

Soren turns back to Ivor. “Kai is also a descendant of Cerberus. A direct one.” Soren gives him a look as if to say, yes, I’m shocked too.

Ivor’s eyes grow wide before he frowns. “We weren’t told of any other descendants.”

Soren crosses his arms. “It seems Cerberus’ lineage had more fun on earth than we knew about.”

Ivor shakes his head in disbelief before exhaustion takes over his face. He looks at Kai before nodding to himself. “That might come to aid us.”

Ivor looks at us all. “Can you fight?”

“Yes,” Soren answers for us. “They destroyed the horde of demons at the gate without breaking a sweat and took on realm demons as if they were flies.”

Ivor’s eyes widen, a look of complete shock slashed across his face. He shakes his head again, looking at each one of his, his gaze landing on me. After a second, I catch the slight flare of his eyes before he whips his head to Soren, his eyes asking him a question. Ivor nods to himself before a small smile releases a slight bit of tension from his face.

---