Page 109 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

Morana continues on, oblivious to my inner turmoil.

“Your abilities seem to work better when you’re in a heightened state of emotion. You were so gloomy and withdrawn. So pitiful and completely lost.”

“I lost my mother. You ripped me away from everything I knew. You lied to me, and for what? All so you could test my fucking abilities?

I shake my head at myself. How foolish, how naïve was I to believe her?

“You’re so much worse than those that beat me and try to tear me apart. You’re evil, malicious. A venomous snake that hides behind its alluring scales when they’re nothing but blackened razors full of poison.”

King’s torment would always leave a mark on my soul, but this… This betrayal is beyond that. A scar so deep, so open, it stains and spreads like poison inside me.

King never tried to be anything but the monster he is. Alana faked her way into my heart and then ripped it out right in front of me.

“You lacked the motivation required.” She shrugs, a small tilt to her lips. “So, I made sure to get results.”

“This isn’t a fucking game!”

Kaladar chuckles in delight at my distress.

Glancing at Morana, he raises a brow. “I’m guessing she doesn’t know of your other little betrayal, does she?”

“What the hell are you talking about now?”

“There’s that feisty attitude I adore,” he croons.

His pretentious smile is a mile wide. “Who do you think helped King dispose of your mother?”

Everything inside me freezes and shuts down. I gasp for air, my chest feeling too tight as everything closes in around me.

Pain is everywhere. It holds no favour over my body. Every part is stripped bare and in a constant state of torture. I embrace it, letting it take over.

I deserve this. For not seeing the truth.

I’ve been looking after the person who helped kill my mother all these years.

She shrugs as if it’s nothing to her. That she didn’t help murder her best friend or spend the last six years pretending to be something she’s not.

A spark of violence starts to gradually build and burn inside me, looking for an outlet.

“If she had what we were looking for, she wouldn’t have died.”

“But… I guess in the end, she did.”

Her cruel smirk grows. “You.”

Just as I make a move towards her, I hear a rattle of chains. They whip out, coiling around my arms and wrists, preventing me from moving any closer to the treacherous bitch.

“Let’s see how well you do when bound.” Kaladar chuckles in amusement.

Struggling against his binds, I feel them coil as they begin to tighten, cutting my skin.

But the pain means nothing now, obscured by Morana, and now Kaladar’s revelations.

“Now, now. Don’t try to hurt yourself too much. We’ll have plenty of time to play later.” Morana sends me a wink.

My vision turns red as rage, like no other, burns through me.

“She was your friend!” I scream, trying to break free from Kaladar’s hold to get closer to the bitch.

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