The vampires approached slowly, and I glanced over, focusing on the men. Shock hit me as I recognized each of their faces. When Brendan had said King Death, I had never for a moment thought of the warrior Death. It should have been impossible. Vampires had a very strict system of hierarchy, and warriors were the lowest. But all three vampires wore crowns on their heads.
They looked so drastically different from the last time I’d seen them. Ash’s golden hair was disheveled as it fell around his shoulders. He looked so serious and like he was almost in pain. Beside him, Ruin was for perhaps the first time ever wearing something other than a flirtatious smile on his scarred features. His dark hair also looked tousled, like he’d been fighting someone recently. Death stood at the end. His long white hair framed his beautiful features. His lips were as blood red as I remembered. I loved their faces. A warm, sweet affection bubbled up through my body, soothing my panic.
Brendan and Genevieve said that I was their consort. I had no idea whose consort I was, as vampires only mated one on one, but I had this aching affection for all of them. Maybe it was a lie. Maybe they’d been pretending so that Nightendale wouldn’t sentence me to death right here and now, but I wanted to go to them so much that I took a step forward without even realizing.
“What did you do to her, Ravage?” Death asked as he stalked closer.
“Stay where you are,” the warrior beside me said as he maintained his aim at my temple.
Death shook his head. “She’s looking at us differently. Kori, what happened to you?”
“If these three kings are your bonded mates, Kori, where are your marks?” King Ravage asked.
All three of them were my mates? The confusion must have shown on my face, because shock passed over the kings’ features, and they glanced between themselves.
“I don’t know. I can’t remember anything. But these three wouldn’t lie. I know them. They’re good men. So, if they say that they’re my mates, then they are,” I said, even though I knew that it wouldn’t be enough to convince King Ravage.
“The marks are on her neck,” Ash growled.
King Ravage waved his hand again, and the warrior crossed over and pressed the gun barrel to my forehead. My heart tripped as, behind me, two more guns pressed into the back of my head, and another warrior stepped up and pressed a fourth barrel to my other temple.
“One of you can come to show me the mark,” Ravage said, sounding almost smug.
Ruin held up his hands and approached slowly. “Can you order your warriors to back up a little? We’re not making a move, and she doesn’t even have any mage powers.”
He knew about my latent powers. I probably shouldn’t have felt surprised by this, but I did. Ruin stopped before me, and his deep sky-blue eyes searched mine. He reached forward slowly and brushed my hair away from the side of my neck. “It was here. You took the marks off.”
“True mate marks can’t be removed,” King Ravage said, shrugging one shoulder. “All vampires know that. You must be lying.”
Ruin’s gaze darted between the guns held to my head on both sides. “What will you do to her?”
“If you get on that train and head to Seattle, right now, I will spare her life as a personal favor to you. She’ll have to serve a five-year sentence for the magic she stole. You three will be in my debt, of course, but she’ll be alive.”
“We have to leave you here, Kori. We can’t risk your life.” Ruin’s gaze settled on mine, and a tear leaked from the corner of his eye. “We’re coming back for you.”
Warmth surged in my heart, and for one moment, an intense, tenderness filled me.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m a survivor, and I’ll find my way out of here.”
“No, she won’t,” Ravage said. “Not for five years. If I even suspect that you’re trying to break her out of this kingdom, she will be executed on the spot. Koribella Ignis now owes her very existence to me. I said that I’m only willing to do you the great favor of sparing her life if you leave immediately. How about until the count of five?”
Every warrior in the garden aimed at me, and they started to count in unison, “Five, four…”
Ruin spun, and he, Ash, and Death ran from the garden. Dust sprayed up in their wake and settled behind them. Pain pierced my heart as I stared at the empty doorway.
The warriors didn’t drop their aim until a man ran down and said, “Confirmation. The train to Seattle has left with all passengers on board.”
King Ravage grinned at me. “Show the ammo to Kori.”
All around the garden, the warriors pulled open the bottom of their gun barrels and held up empty ammo clips.
“I would never let them point loaded guns at you. You belong to me now, as long as you never try to leave, you’ll be safe here for the rest of your life.”
Somehow, I wasn’t comforted.
“And, you’ll kill me if I ever try to leave?” I asked.
“No. That was a lie to get rid of your former lovers. But, if you try to leave me, I’ll catch and punish you. Then I’ll bring you back. This is your home now. This is your life now.”
I turned and ran. My bare feet pounded on the stones. Ravage’s arms went around me, and he hoisted me up. I kicked and thrashed, but he held me tight. Green eyes drilled into mine, and a sinister smile spread onto Ravage’s full lips. “Welcome home, Kori.”
Thank you for reading Ruin!
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Books by Alexa B. James
Steamy Reverse Harem
Ongoing Series
Fire & Blood
In a world of perpetual night, vampires rule and humans have no chance of escape.
Ruin
Ash
Death
Feline Royals
When Itzel volunteers to help her sister seduce a shaman from the Jaguar Nation, she is drawn into the mysterious world of shifter mating rituals that will push every boundary and test her limits in ways she never imagined.
Chasing her Cats
Marking Her Mates
Completed Series
Heartland Forest Duology
(co-writer Angelina Avery)
Know what’s worse than being forced to marry your depraved, sadistic alpha?
Hiding his corpse.
Dirty Alphas
Filthy Fae
Silver Shifter
(co-writer Katherine Bogle)
Ariana has been stuck inside a cage as long as she can remember.
Her Wolf
Her Dragon
Her Bear
Her Panther
Coyote Ranch Series
Three sexy cowboys. One mishap-prone virgin. What could go wrong?
Rope Me, Cowboys
Wrangle Me, Cowboys
Ride Me, Cowboys
Wreck Me, Cowboys
Wrap Me, Cowboys
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, thank you so much to the members of ABJ’s Bitchen Beta Readers group. Your help was instrumental in the shaping of this book!
The editors at Stories Matter Editing completely blew me away with their expertise and attention to detail. Thank you so much!
Daqri at Covers by Combs created these covers a while back, and I bought them on the spot. Her art isn’t always dark and gritty like the covers in this series (she creates amazing covers in many genres), but, damn, I love it when she makes these emotive pieces.
Thank you to Natasha and Krystal! This book was very different and written under another pen name when I gave it to you, but your comments and plot analysis helped so much.
Thank you to Sosha and Nichol for being such amazing PAs!
To all of the ARC readers who dedicated their time and energy to
helping this book launch, thank you so much!
Ruin: A Reverse Harem Dark Fantasy Vampire Romance (Fire & Blood Book 1) Page 25