Page 56 of Red Ruin

But there’s no mistaking the ball of pain and hellfire rocketing my way.

If Vhex were ten minutes earlier, I might’ve cheered.

Now, I wonder.

If I hold my glaive real steady, can I trick him into impaling himself?

As Vhex flames toward me, my compassion kicks in.

The flavor of his pain has shifted.

Now, it’s harder to resist.

Even though his energy screams that he’s rolled back to barely human, devil-caveman mode, I can already sense his primitive certainty that he’s heading for his cure.

Meanwhile, I can barely stand.

This is going to be a blast.

The pink of his oncoming hellfire lights the cavern brighter than the sun. When the glow hits the walls, they sparkle with the lines of more arrays.

My stomach drops.

Circle and rune patterns even more elaborate than the ones that birthed the wolves crowd all the way to the ceiling. Arrays criss-cross the thickest above the creepy, stone platform set in the middle of the cavern—the seal they exist to defend.

Thanks to me draining the last of their power, all these god-tier defenses may as well be wallpaper. I could crack open the prison beneath my feet with a chalky sneeze.

Heart thundering, I scream,“Vhex!”

His answering roar shakes the cavern.

Vhex punches out of the tunnel on wings of hellfire.

I suck a breath.

He’s morphed into a pink flame elemental with lava pits for eyes and wings that cast sparks.

Rampaging hellfire coils from his clawed toes to the tip of his massive horn. Everything between is flames. They hide his skin and stretch his shape, making him look even taller and broader.

My body heats like I’m the one combusting.

I feel his pain—hisneed—in the sudden throb of my jaw. The agony vibrates so hard I want to throw up.

Flames roil around him, charring the array’s outer ring of chalk.

I have to get him away from here.

“Vhex. Come and let me cool you down.” I reach out my silks and an open palm.

“Guide.” Pit-eyes twinkling, Vhex zips over. He sheds liquid flame, but at least he’s flyingoverwhat’s left of the array.

He crash-lands into me.

My burned leg buckles.

I flail, trying to stop cracking my head on the rocky floor, but Vhex cushions the back of my skull.

For half a heartbeat, I think he cares.

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