Page 352 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

“We’re not kids anymore. We were all lost and broken after Kiarra. Our families were supposed to look after us.”

“They were never truly family,” he grits out.

“No, butweare. The six of us, and we’ll get through this just like we do with everything else that comes our way.”

Kai clenches his jaw, glancing out at the arena, still too stubborn to admit the truth to himself.

I narrow my eyes on him. “Keep up worrying about us all and you’ll start growing gray.”

Kai gives me a tired look. “Shifters live a long time and we’re basically impenetrable now. I doubt that’s something we have to think about anytime soon. Besides, it’s the least of our worries.”

“Then I’ll tell Kiarra about how morose you’re being, and she’ll add you to the list of people I need to knock some sense into.”

Kai finally smiles, shaking his head. “Ah, the invisible list that’s never executed.”

I raise a brow. “Who says it’s never executed?”

Kai’s smile grows. “You’re telling me you’ve followed through every time she’s mentioned adding someone to that list of hers?”

I nod my head making him laugh, but I’m damn serious. “What my Siren wants, she gets. Even if that means knocking some sense into one of my brothers for pissing her off.”

“Including me?”

“Especially you. Alpha of alphas or not, I’ll still take you down a notch to prove a point.”

Kai shakes his head, the smile still on his face making him look a little lighter. “Looking forward to it, brother.”

He gives me a look, thanking me for getting him out of his head. For helping him move past the guilt and worry just like every other time his thoughts consume him.

It happens too often, but I’ll always be around to remind him just how much we need him. To not let him forget Kiarra is our heart and soul, but he is our balance, and the thing that keeps us all grounded and united. Without him, we’re just six strands of the same thread floating aimlessly through life.

A loud shriek makes me wince as the bars move up, freeing us from our cage.

“Looks like it’s finally time.” I share a determined look with Kai as we step out of our cage.

The arena is larger than I expected, spanning at least forty feet each way. There are more cave prisons all around the wall of the arena, the wall itself climbing high until it reaches a strange dark net.

With my abilities finally unleashed, I sense every vibration of every type of energy around me. The ground beneath my feet is the most powerful one I’ve seen in a long time. I frown, glancing down at it, trying to make sense of the energy.

I kneel down and touch the ground, hoping to get a better read on it. The energy flickers as if glitching.

Kai moves, kneeling next to me. “What is it?”

“There’s something…offabout the vibration of energy in the arena itself.”

Kai frowns, standing up. He looks around, trying to pinpoint it. “Like what?”

“It’s as if it’s layered with another. Like it’s trying to mask its true form.”

“Like an illusion?” Kai asks, frowning. “Like...” Kai clenches his fists as we both think of one of Kiarra’s betrayers.Morana.

I nod, not willing to even utter that woman’s name after what she did.

“So, the arena is an illusion?” Kai asks.

I stand, taking another look around the arena, trying to see past the illusion but it’s no use, the illusion is too powerful to see through. At least with only a fraction of access to my abilities.

“No. I think the arena is real, but parts of it are…hidden. At least to us.”

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