Page 173 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

Glancing back at the mess I made, I cringe. I’ll have to get it fixed before Jax finds it. Grabbing my phone, I send a text to one of our maintenance guys to have it fixed as soon as possible.

I quickly grab some clothes and throw them on, pausing when my shifter hearing picks up loud voices arguing. Familiar loud voices.

Moving quickly, I head to where Jax and Jazmyn are shouting at one another.

Turning the corner, I find Jax wearing a smile that’s anything but pleasant. His wolf is sitting close to the edge, riding him hard.

“We wouldn’t ask this of you if it wasn’t important,” Jax grits out, his patience wearing thin. He must have been trying to convince her for a while.

“Unless you tell me something more than the shit you already fed me, I’m not doing shit for you.” Jazmyn crosses her arms, staring Jax down like he’s the dirt beneath her shoe.

“It’s for Kiarra,” I tell her, coming into view.

She sees me, her pissed off expression turning into a frown. I wonder what it’s for until I realize that she’s a damn empathic witch.

Giving her a look not to push it, I continue. “It’s the closest thing we’ve had to a solid lead. Draven can’t find the connection through Kane without you.”

Jazmyn drops some of the tough act, swallowing hard. Jax notices the quick shift in her attitude and gives me a look.

“If you’re worried about Draven, we have his word that no harm will come to you.”

Jazmyn rolls her eyes, looking at us as if we’re both idiots. “I’m not worried about that insufferable dick.” She releases a harsh breath.

“Truth is, I haven’t heard anything from Kane in a few days. It’s not something that I’d normally worry about.” She shakes her head. “He goes off for days at a time, but something about this feels different.”

I share a look with Jax, both of us now fucking worried. If Kane isn’t with King, this plan is fucked.

“What’s he doing with King?” I push her, trying to find out if she’ll give us any more than what she’s told us so far.

Kane was supposedly only doing what he had to in order to find something. Something important.

But she picks up my digging immediately, giving us both a sharp look. “That’s not my story to tell.”

Which leaves us back where we started. How are we supposed to move forward without knowing whether Kane can be trusted? He could be working alongside King this whole time, and Jazmyn wouldn’t be the wiser.

She narrows her eyes at me. “Just know that you can trust him.”

Damn empathic witch.

Jax scoffs, mirroring my distrust. “We trust no one but our family.”

“I get that. Understand it more than you know, but youcantrust Kane. You, of all people, should know not to judge someone just because of what they are.” Jazmyn gives us both a look like she had expected better of us, but she really hasn’t got a damn clue if that’s the assumption she’s come to.

“Our lack of trust it not because he’s a demon, it’s because he stood by and watched on as King tortured Kiarra. His damn species has nothing to do with it, and if you knew anything about us, then you’d know we don’t give a damn aboutwhatyou are, but rather what you do with it,” I tell her meaning every word.

Our family came together broken and forged a bond like no other. We were all outsiders, all seen as something to be feared and killed, but when people judge you based on the fears of others, they never see the real you, only their perception of it. We would never judge those who have no control over what they are or born into.

Jazmyn slumps, leaning into the wall behind her for support, a look of complete devastation crossing her face, one you couldn’t fake even with her tough-as-nails attitude. “Neither of us knew. Not to the extent…” She shakes her head. “Kane always looked out for her, but he didn’t know. He would’ve intervened.”

“I’m sure he would have.” Jax scoffs, not believing a word.

But Jazmyn wasn’t the only one to blame. We are also to blame. We thought she left us, never thinking that King would have killed Reyna and taken her away.

“What about you?” she asks, turning defensive. “Don’t blame me when none of herso-called friendswere there for her either.”

Damn. She knows just where to hit us to make it bleed the most. But she’s right.

Jax steps forward, no longer caring what she means to Kiarra, his pain too vivid right now. I yank him back, giving him a look to tell him to get a hold of himself. This isn’t something we need to get into right now. We are going around in circles, and it isn’t helping us get any closer to getting Kiarra back.

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