Page 408 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

We make it to the spot where the portal left us. As soon as we get near it, it appears as if it was always there waiting.

“How did it…”

Kai smiles at me. “Sensors. I made sure they created them so that it would only open for one of us. It should bring us straight to our building.”

I glance at the portal, wondering what’s waiting for us behind it. “Do you think…”

As if Kai can sense where my thoughts have gone, he steps up beside me. “I’m sure Jazmyn and everyone are fine.”

Jax squeezes my hand. “If anyone is okay, it’s Jazmyn. She probably scared off most of the demons with one look.”

I nod, making myself believe them, even if Jax was only half messing. Jazmyn was pretty badass.

Taking a deep breath, I ready myself for whatever comes next.

Sharing a look with the guys, we take a step through the portal… and right into complete carnage and chaos.

CHAPTER 26

Sirens go off just before an explosion hits from somewhere across from us. The guys move fast, forming a shield around me and blocking most of the impact from hitting me.

I quickly make sure none of them are injured. Apart from dirt and dust, covering most of their clothes, they’re good.

Once I know none of them are seriously hurt, I narrow my eyes on them and their overprotective asses. They know damn well I can protect myself, but the rest of the destruction and chaos around me draws my attention, stopping me from calling them out on it.

Wasn’t the portal supposed to bring us to our building? I glance around and get a better look at what we’re working with. The air is thick with a gray fog, blanketing the skies and masking the extent of the full damage. The ground is leveled with no buildings left standing. Flames crawl along the ground with thick black smoke following them.

And the demons… they’re everywhere.

They cover every inch of the open expanse, stretching further than the eye can see with those with wings hoarding over the skies.

Old ones larger than a twenty-foot building, small ones like the hordes we met in the Underworld and beasts like those that showed up last time. With many more I’ve never come across all joining the masses.

My eyes lock on a group of creatures that look like messed up versions of the old werewolves in horror movies, their sharp fangs curve out of their mouths and over their chins. Their size nearly double that of my men with a black muddy fur covering them from head to toe. They attack without reason, ripping through the supes around them, reminding me of when I first met them in the facility with Malik.

Jax comes up beside me, looking in the same direction. “Aren’t they…”

“From that facility King had me in… yes.” King must have had more hidden facilities we didn’t know about.

My eyes move from creature to demon, from supe to the destruction and chaos. My heart breaking at how much is already lost and further destroyed.

“It’s just like Zillah showed me, but so much worse.” How can we ever come back from something like this?

“I can’t even tell where in Manhattan we are.” There’s nothing left to landmark it and with everything leveled, it all looks the same. We could be anywhere.

“It’s the penthouse… We’re standing on it.”

Everyone freezes as we turn to Luka.

“Are you sure?” I glance around trying to see what he sees but there’s nothing but destruction everywhere.

Luka nods before pointing at a broken picture on the ground, half visible through the burns and cracks. A picture of the six of us.

Rion kneels down and closes his eyes. After a minute, he sighs, standing back up. “He’s right, the energy is still there. It’s our home… or was.”

And now it’s gone. Just like that.

Kai moves to my side. “We’ll get through this and fix it… it’ll be better than before.”

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