Page 300 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

I let go of Jax and Luka’s hands and step toward him and into his embrace. “And we leave together. With King finally gone for good and out of our lives.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Jax rubs his hands together.

“Where is this guide, anyway?” Jax asks.

Rion shares a look with Kai, but it’s Kai who replies. “Draven said he’d meet us at the entrance.”

Axel starts for the mountains. “Let’s get moving then.”

We start walking forward, moving deeper into the forest until there’s nothing but tall beautiful green trees all around us but the apprehension is still thick, smothering the air between us.

Nobody talks, mirroring the quiet forest, the only sound coming from the birds above and the slight warm breeze as it moves through the trees.

I take a deep breath of fresh air, the scent of pine and damp moss assaulting my senses instantly and soothing my restless thoughts.

After a couple of minutes, a small nudge of strange energy enters my mind, making me slow my pace.

“You, okay?” Luka asks, noticing I’ve slowed down. I glance around, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary. Giving Luka a small smile, I carry on. “Thought I saw something.”

Luka frowns, glancing around before moving closer to me.

I smile to myself as we continue on. Even after seeing everything I can do and how much my powers have grown, they still want to protect me.

I push the strange energy to the back of my thoughts as we move further through the forest; the ground becoming rockier as we move closer to the huge mountains.

Looking up, I watch as the sunlight chases shadows along the canopy of trees above us.

I forgot how nice being out in a forest like this is. The last time being when I was a child.

Luka bumps my shoulder. “We’ll go on camping trips when this is all over.”

I smile. “Sounds perfect.”

“I think I see the entrance,” Jax says from further up ahead.

Coming through a thick shroud of trees, the strange energy needles my mind once more, but this time it feels… closer. I pause, stopping in my tracks, and focus on the energy.

“What’s wrong?” Luka asks, making the others stop and turn to me.

Reaching out with my senses, I follow the new energy in my mind. It’s colorless, but stronger the closer I get to it. It’s not like any of the supes I’ve come across before, feeling dark and old but not malicious. Instead, the energy feels… curious.

Tilting my head, I focus on the energy and try to find its location.

“Kiarra?” One of my men calls, but the voice feels distant as I zone in on the new energy and pinpoint its location.

Finding it not too far behind us, I narrow my eyes and slowly turn in its direction. “If you’re going to follow us, the least you can do is introduce yourself,” I tell our stalker.

I fully face the direction of the energy just as a tall man with black hair walks out from between the shadows. A smirk on his pale face.

He’s older than the guys but not by much, maybe a few years. But his energyfeelsold and powerful. I don’t fear him, something deep inside me telling me I have nothing to worry about, but I keep my guard up anyway.

He tilts his head as he looks straight at me just as the guys position themselves around me. Jax loses his playful attitude, his eyes glowing as his wolf comes to the surface. “Who. The fuck. Areyou?”

Axel slides up beside Jax, his dragon ready for a fight. I shake my head, keeping my sigh to myself. I could probably take out an entire army and they’d still treat me like I’m made of glass.

“How were you able to follow us without any of us sensing you?” Kai asks, narrowing his eyes on our intruder.

“It seems not all of you have that problem.” The guy looks straight at me, a smug smile on his lips.

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