Page 18 of Red Ruin

His psychic touch drags like hundreds of little mouths, all over my body.

All. Over.

I shift the straps of my backpack to stop my nipples from giving my new squad a full salute.

Vhex is a ticking bomb that my entire body aches to defuse.

And honestly?

I’m banking on the brain-melting power of devil-sex. I need something to overwrite my memories of icicle dick.

Kevan always looked me in the eye while he fucked me, whispering “Mine.”

I swallow a sudden lump.

I’ll never believe another Sentinel is sincere.

I don’t need to be wanted like that.

I just want to prove that I’m worth keeping around.

“You’re ignoring me,” Vhex says, sounding confused. He follows so closely that he kicks my heel every few steps.

Not ignoring.

Training.

I look away from Vhex’s temptingly glistening chest. It’s more important to watch out for monsters hidden in the crumbling buildings around the fringes of the town.

After a hike down and up the slope of a long-ruined highway underpass, the base comes into view. The main building is a generic, four-story office tower that looks totally out of place, surrounded by barbed wire and magic-enforced perimeter walls made of solid stone.

My gaze snaps to the corner near the roof.

A strange feeling wiggles past my shoulder blades, speeding up my heart. “What’s on the top floor?”

“Nothing,” Vhex says and cracks his knuckles. “It’ll be empty soon.”

“The gate’s opening,” Cherise calls from ahead.

I hurry through the overgrown grass.

I hope Duke Azrid is easier to handle.

He can’t be worse than Vhex.

CHAPTER4

REMINGTON

Thirstisn’ta strong enough word for the fiery emptiness that chokes from the pit of my stomach to the tip of my bone-dry tongue.

It’s hunger and red-hot rakes.

Without fresh blood, I slip in and out of reality. Only one thought sticks when I can’t remember who I am or why I’m clinging here.

I’ve lived enough lives.

In a rare, clear moment where I’m able to think in full sentences, I find myself in the fortress of my office.

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