Page 430 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

“Now what?” Jax gives him a sullen look.

Soren glances over at King’s slumped form. “Now we leave him to suffer.”

Axel looks at him like he’s crazy. “That’s it?”

Soren gives him a savage smirk. “Oh, don’t worry, his form of punishment is something that will definitely hurt. In more ways than one.”

Exactly the way I planned it.

We all head outside. Just before the door closes, we catch his blood-curdling scream as it starts. Hearing it alone eases something in my chest.

Even if the next six years of torture is not by my hands, King will suffer and that’s all I really need to know.

The door shuts with a loud thump and then there’s nothing but silence as we wait.

Soren turns to the door and mumbles that strange language again making it light up.

“It’s done. One hour from now, the door will open, and he’ll be gone. Only his essence left behind.” He sighs, stepping away. An exhausted look coming over him.

Rielle only agreed to this if we made sure his essence was then absorbed by the core. Hence why we’re going to wait outside until the hour is up and then hand-deliver the last piece of him to the core, where he’ll be gone forever.

Soren moves further out until he disappears completely from view. I know he’ll be back once it’s done, so I pay no mind to his whereabouts.

The rest of us move around finding a place to wait out the hour. Axel leans against the wall, glaring out at nothing. Jax and Luka pick up pacing back and forth. While Rion moves to stand beside me as I stay by the door, guarding it to make sure everything goes to plan, and the fucker is gone for good.

I glance over at Axel as he continues to glare at everything. His mood a little off, even for what we’re doing. But he went to see Rhory today and I never got the chance to ask how it went.

“What did Rhory want in the end?”

Axel chuckles but there’s no humor in it. “He wants our backing.”

“What?” Jax’s head whips so fast, the fucker probably got whiplash.

Axel nods. “The dick saw what we were capable of in Manhattan and wants a pact to ensure the safety of the Dragons. Should anyone try to come after him or his dragons, he wants our backing.”

Jax’s eyes widen. “I hope you fucking told him no.”

Axel rolls his eyes at him. “Of course, I fucking did. Right before I sent him packing with one less appendage.”

Jax’s dark chuckle echoes around us as I glance over at Axel with a raised brow. He smirks back at me. “It’ll grow back…eventually.”

I shake my head, smiling to myself. The fucker was crazy, but I wouldn’t have him any other way.

Jax starts grilling Axel on every little detail, bringing him out of his strange mood and the hour passes by quicker than we thought. Soon enough, Soren appears out of nowhere and walks straight over to us.

He does his thing, and the door lights up. Once it’s open, he walks straight in and pulls something from his pocket, placing it in the middle of the floor.

I look around the room but there’s no one here. King long gone along with the creepy vine chair.

I glance over at Soren to the small red container he placed down. It starts to glow making the energy around the room, swirl and gather together. Once it’s formed into a small mass, it rushes straight into the container, shaking slightly before going still.

After a moment, the light dims and Soren bends down to pick it up. He hands it straight to me with a smirk. “That’s what’s left of him.”

I glance at the small red container in my hands as it starts to pulse and glow. “Let’s take it to the core and finish this.”

In silence, we quickly move back through the vast darkness, passing the jagged rocky prisons, moving along the long random halls that curl and shift, before finally coming to the core.

Once we’re in the room, I chuck the red container straight at the center of it. Before it hits it, the core’s energy snaps out, swallowing it whole.

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