Page 243 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

“I can try?” With that thought, I reach down, calling my new ability up to the surface. Pulling it up, I feel it expand throughout my body, and just like in the club, I focus on Malik and pull on that connection, yanking it hard.

“Shift. Now.” Something in my voice makes the guys look at me. I keep my focus on Malik, trying not to think too much into it.

Malik’s body starts shaking, his eyes roll to the back of his head as he drops to the ground with a thump. I cringe at the hard fall.

A low groan sounds out seconds later, Malik now in his human form. “Where the hell am I?”

“Downtown Manhattan,” Luka tells him, moving over to give him a hand up.

Malik looks back to the club frowning, “Did I…”

“Hulk out and start trashing the place? Yeah. Ruin our night? Also, fucking yeah.” Jax huffs.

“How did I get here?” he asks, looking up and down the now vacant street.

“No clue. What’s the last thing you remember?” Jax asks him.

“Last thing I remember is talking to Jazmyn. She…”

Malik stops, shaking his head. “The rest is all a blur.” Jazmyn…Shit.

I look at Kai as my heart rate picks up. “We need to go check on her—”

“I wouldneverhurt her,” Malik says to me with complete confidence in his voice.

“But… you can’t control it.” He might have hurt her and not meant to. He said it was all a blur, that he didn’t remember. Maybe he blacked out, maybe—

“She’s…different.” Malik looks down, hunching in on himself.

“I don’t—”

“They’re mates,” Kai tells me, glancing over at Malik.

Malik swallows hard, looking away.

“I know, but—”

“He could never hurt her.” Kai’s eyes soften as he looks at me.

“But…”

Kai picks up my hand, placing a kiss on it. “Never. The beast side of us isn’t just something we can transform into, it’s a part of us… a part of our soul. Both recognize our mate and neither wants to see them harmed in any way.

“Somewhere deep down, beneath whatever King did to him, his demon knows that too. He’d rather slice his limbs off than hurt one strand of hair on her head. You don’t have to worry about her, but we can still check on her if you’d like.”

“Thank you.”

Kai gives my hand a squeeze.

Malik’s frown deepens as he looks at me, a light of recognition sparking in his eyes. “You… You told me to stop, didn’t you? No… Nottoldme…mademe.”

I nod my head, not knowing what else to say. I still didn’t understand it myself.

“Your voice… I was drawn to it. I…neededto listen to it.” Malik rubs his chest, glancing away just as the limo pulls up.

“Did it feel like a command? Like something you had no control over but also wanted to do?” Kai asks him.

“Yes.” Malik nods.

---