Page 402 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

“Did I mention how fucking beautiful you are right now? If it wasn’t for mom and dad over there, you’d already be laid out on that sofa while I—”

“Can we stay focused, please? As beautiful as your mate is, the world is in danger.”

Jax looks at Rielle like she’s stupid. “And I just told you I couldn’t give a shit. Let it burn.”

Rielle looks at Jax like she doesn’t understand a word he’s saying. “You’re more powerful than most in the Underworld. If you wanted to rule it, you have the power to do so.”

She gives Soren a tired look. “I hear the position is open.”

Oh yeah, the Lords are dead. But I was definitely not interested in taking over their position.

As if Jax can hear my thoughts, he looks to Rielle with a serious look on his face. “It’s not the type of job I’m looking for. My needs are much better met when I have the undivided attention of my mate. And running the Underworld seems like a lot of effort, so I’ll have to decline, but thanks for the offer.”

He smiles, all innocent, before winking at me. Rielle looks at him like she doesn’t know how to reply.

Soren nudges her. “Yes, they’re always like that. No, don’t try to make any sense of it, especially that one.” He points to Jax. “It’s better to just let it go.”

Lost in his own thoughts for a bit, Luka looks at Rielle. “The demons are destroying the mortal world, but they come from here. Can’t you just… I don’t know… call them back?”

Rielle nods like this is an acceptable question. “We’ve been trying to, but they’re not listening to the summons. We investigated further and found that King has created some concoction that enables him to command the demons that consume it.”

It didn’t surprise me. King created a special vial to slow down my healing ability, all so he could extend his… feeding on me.

I catch Kai and Rion sharing a knowing look. “What is it?”

Kai and Rion look at me, the rest of the guys glancing at us.

“The facilities we found you in after King tried to kill us.” Rion hesitates as if afraid to mention them, while the others tense up.

“What facility?” Rielle frowns, looking to Soren for an answer, but he’s just as confused.

I clear my throat and look at her. “King was doing experiments in them. Experiments on demons to allow him to control them.”

“Experiments on demons…” Her frown deepens as she waits for me to expand. Instead, I smile and shake my head not wanting to go into what happened in that place.

Wait. My eyes widen as I realize this was just another part of his plan. The facilities are another measure to help him win this fight.

I look at Kai and he nods, confirming my thoughts while Jax answers them. “Damn. Just when I think we have him nailed down, another thing pops up.”

And while he’s three steps ahead of us, we’re all scrambling behind trying to catch up.

“The real question is, how do we end this?” I ask. There has to be a way to catch up and finish this once and for all.

Rielle lets the conversation on the facility drop for now. She gives me a look, telling me she’d like to know more later, before she rolls her shoulders back and clasps her hands looking to each of the guys with mock confidence.

“Kiarra will need to take back the power King stole. And to do that, she’s going to have to pull it into her, just like she did the core.”

The words are only out of her mouth when all hell breaks loose.

CHAPTER 25

Axel gets up so quick he upends the one-seater beneath him. “No fucking way!”

“That nearly killed her.” Luka’s voice grows deeper as he snarls at Rielle. The others are just as bad as their beasts come to the surface.

Soren gives her a look as if to say, what did you expect? She tries to act patient, giving each of my men an understanding look, but I can see it’s wearing on her. The stakes are too high now to try anything else. “I understand your concerns, but your bond is no ordinary bond. You proved that by healing her.”

Kai pulls me closer to him, as if he can shield me from her words. I elbow him in the stomach, but the fucker just smiles at me, placing a kiss on my shoulder before narrowing his eyes at Rielle. “We got lucky. That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen again.”

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