Page 178 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

A moment passes before it rushes out in waves. The shadows consume everything around me, plunging the room into darkness.

Everything around me turns quiet. The only sound is my breath as it comes out in sharp, shallow pants.

The eerie silence grows, the darkness following it.

“What the hell happened to the lights?” I hear from Malik’s room just as something brushes up against my mind, sensing someone or something else in the room.

I’m about to call out to it when a deep whisper comes from the dark.

“Kiaaarrrraaaa.”

“What the hell?” I glance around, but there’s not even a shard of light to be found.

“Releasse meee,” a voice calls out.

“What do you want?” I ask it, still trying to find its source.

“Freeee.” Its deep voice sends an icy shiver down the tops of my arms.

Did I… call this thing when I released some of that strange power inside me?

“Freeee,” it repeats again, just as something pulses along with it in the dark. Something I couldn’t see but feel in the air around me as it brushes up against my skin and along my senses.

Maybe I did release whatever this thing is, but maybe it can also help me get out of here.

I’m about to ask it when a loud crash sounds out from the room beside me.

Malik.

The darkness retreats and along with it, its hidden presence. I feel its energy as it pulls away and disappears.

Another crash and grunt sounds out. A loud crash follows the cracking sound of metal bending.

Seconds pass before loud thumps follow destruction as something heavy makes its way closer to my room. A low growl rumbles in front of me just as the lights blink on, and I get a view of the thing now standing inside my room.

A demon. A large pissed off one, by the looks of it.

CHAPTER 10

RION

Hidden between the shadows along the small alleyway, I keep my eyes open for anything unusual. My senses are picking up a strange vibration across the whole island, but there’s something different about the one beneath the club across from me.

It’s a popular club, by the length of the queue trailing around the side of it.

The Night Tavern has brought every kind of demon, witch, and warlock out to play.

My eyes trail along the group of witches huddled together, the warlocks eyeing them and the demons in their packs. Apart from the odd lustful eyes, each group gives the other a wide berth, keeping their distance.

Shifting slightly so it’s just my eyes that change, I focus on the people mulling about, waiting to get in.

Each supe’s intentions are as clear as day as I search among them for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary.

My ability senses the energy each supe and human emits, similar to a vibration. A lot of people assume my intelligence comes naturally, and to some extent, it does. But apart from my taught skills and lessons beaten into me by my cold-hearted parents during their many private lessons, my basilisk abilities are what give me the upper hand.

Logic and my extra senses are what forms the patterns and, in turn, helps me find the answers and come to conclusions quickly.

Over the years, I’ve learned to understand what the different types of energy are.

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