Page 23 of Red Ruin

I can’t see Remington, but he’s definitely alive.

His shadowy energy seethes deep inside the volcanic crater sunk into what used to be the base’s lawn.

The grass is burnt to ash.

If someone doesn’t stop Vhex, the building is going down next.

I sway as Vhex fights the shadows. Inky, black-and-purple tentacles twist around him, strong enough to go head-to-head against the hellfire.

Remington rises from the lawn volcano, wrapped in a cocoon of shadows. As the darkness unravels, leather wings unfold from his back. He hovers in a patch of personal midnight—a dark god with black-marbled veins, pointed ears, and bladed claws.

My heart thumps, recognizing the danger.

But my stupid powersparkles.

Oh no.

Guess who has to fuck the vampire until he’s human again?

Remington’s gaze snaps to my bloody throat.

The air around him ripples, but before he can fulfill the dark promise burning in his coal-black eyes, Vhex roars, “MY GUIDE.”

He launches himself at the rampaging commander.

The clash of their S-class magic kicks up a brain-piercing whine.

Scions of the four ducal families are a special breed.

Supreme bloodlines mean supreme power—up to and sometimesbeyondthe limit of what a human body can handle.

I’m S-class and used to dealing with a morphed-out lich. IfI’mstruggling with the blowback from their high-class magic, everyone else on base will be fried.

I grab a scrap from Remington’s ripped-away curtains and wrap my neck to slow the ooze of blood.

If I can’t tame these monsters, no one else has a chance.

This is what I get for wanting to help.

But I survived Kyorgos, and I’ve learned from my mistakes.

I can handle Azrid and Trezzoran.

Even if I have to handle them both at once.

The Sentinels rampage across the wrecked lawn. Snarling, they pinball along the perimeter wall, leaving behind a melted, crumbled ruin.

Remington snags Vhex’s wings and shot-put-tosses him through the wall. Vhex’s body goespoof, blasting another hole in our defense.

The “commander” isn’t human enough to care.

Without wasting a breath, Remington flashes toward me, pumping his wings and salivating with vampiric hunger.

Vhex reacts before I can.

Still half-buried in melting stones, he launches a ball of hellfire.

Remington takes the hit through his wings and craters somewhere around the second floor. The building shakes.

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