Ruined

by Jus Accardo

  She was still linked to Chase. They were going to kill her.

  I dashed around the thick patch of pine trees and went straight for them. There were footsteps behind me in the dirt, not far and moving fast. Ahead, the crowd around Sam was closing in. I picked up the pace. It was astonishing. In order to access this kind of speed and agility in the past, I would have had to surrender complete control to the demon. Now, it was mine. Balanced right at the tips of my fingers and ready to use whenever I wanted. Chase’s obsession with the power was almost understandable.

  Almost.

  Fifteen feet. I was almost there. Something crashed into me from the right, sending the world sideways. Two somethings. One on either side, they held me down in the dirt and bracken. “My lord!” the male screamed. “Here! Azirak is here.”

  But Chase was nowhere to be found. I searched the bloody crowd and finally found him, halfway to the other side. Halfway to Sam.

  A primal growl tore from my throat. Drawing on the demon’s rage, I freed my right arm, and with it, grabbed one of the demons. With a massive heave, I hurled her into the male demon on my right, sending them sideways. Then I was up and running.

  Chase reached the crowd first. It was surreal to watch as he ripped through the other demons, tearing them down with a brutality that I’d never before witnessed. I’d seen violence. I’d seen death. I’d been the cause of them. But never anything so savage. Even after they fell, Chase continued to ravage their corpses. Like he needed to destroy them at the most basic level. By the time I reached them, my brother was covered in blood and smiling sickly.

  “Don’t do this, Chase. You’re about to cross a line that there’s no coming back from.”

  My brother kept his expression neutral, but I could see a hint of sadness in his eyes. The old Chase. Or maybe the fake one. Maybe I never knew him at all. “The line’s already been crossed. That night at Huntington that I fed from Sam—that was when I knew how this would all end. Deep down, I knew.”

  I heard the rush of air as Chase’s fist shot forward, and felt the vibration of impact with agonizing detail. My head rocked back, the scenery changing from the overgrown edge of the fort to the dark sky above, before I crashed to the grass. I could smell my own rage, spicy and potent. In embracing the demon, its feelings were now my own. There was no turning back.

  It was about to rain hell.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Sam

  Something had happened. The silver strand I’d seen connecting me to Jax after our kiss was out of sight, but I could still feel it. I had nothing to compare it to, but if not for the fact that I hadn’t felt any of the blows Chase delivered, I would have sworn Jax had unintentionally linked us. Every once in a while I felt a flash of anger, and a rush of something like adrenaline—only a thousand times stronger. It was from Jax. I didn’t know how, but I was sure.

  Heckle pulled me aside as the great battle began. By the time he finished explaining what he was doing there, I had an idea of my own. Heckle, as it turned out, wasn’t an ordinary run-of-the-mill demon. In fact, he wasn’t a demon at all. He was something special. Something useful. Together, we’d hashed out an additional plan. Backup. Just in case…

  But he’d disappeared, and Azirak’s demons came for me, intent on keeping their promise. Help came from the most unlikely source. Chase. But even though he’d taken down the group circling, there were more. Many more. And if they couldn’t get to me directly, they knew they could get to me through Chase.

  Through the link.

  They rushed him, fists flying.

  I turned to escape the chaos, but a sharp pain exploded on the right side of my head. Then, another to the gut, followed by air leaving my lungs. I crumbled to my knees as involuntary tears fell, and the world took on a blurry haze. Every blow dealt to Chase landed on me.

  Something wet trailed down the upper right side of my face, tickling slightly as it went. When I lifted my hand and pulled it away, it was smeared with blood. Panicking was a bad idea, but I couldn’t help it. I tried to take a deep breath, but it was like someone had wrapped a rubber band around my chest, making it worse. Ribbons of color danced before my eyes as spikes of pain rolled over me. I’d broken several ribs in high school. I knew how it felt.

  I tried crawling to the patch of trees at the corner of the fort. There were demons fighting everywhere. I couldn’t prevent the damage that came from Chase, but I could at least get clear of the rest.

  But each movement was harder than the last. Whatever was happening to him was bad and it was taking its toll. At one point I had to stop and spit out a mouthful of blood, horrified when something small and white landed on the ground. A tooth. A few paces after that, I bit back a scream as my right elbow gave out with a soft but distinct cracking.

  Just when I wasn’t sure I could make it another inch, Heckle was there. “Here,” he whispered as he lifted me from the ground. It hurt. Everything hurt. But I let him drag me to the sideline. “This ends now.”

  Another flash, even brighter than the ones before, lit up the sky, but unlike the previous two, this wasn’t lightning. It was something else. When it cleared, I gasped. The battle was gone. The pain, the other demons, the blood and bodies. All of it. Evaporated as though it had never been. The only things left were me and Heckle, and Jax and Chase.

  For a moment, I was sure Chase had taken one too many knocks to the head. This was a hallucination. That, or death. “What—”

  “This war is between your two demon clans. Using a mortal to gain advantage is unbalanced.”

  Chase stalked forward, stopping just shy of grabbing Heckle around the throat. “You have no right to interfere.”

  “On the contrary, it is my job to interfere.” He stepped back and gestured to Jax. “This is your game board. You will play your hands out. Alone. Royal blood against royal blood.”

  Chase looked as though he might argue, but Jax simply nodded and stepped away. “Take your opportunity, Zenak. Let’s finish this once and for all.”

  And with a grin, Chase lunged forward and threw the first punch. In fact, he was throwing the only punches. I backed away as they fought. Chase assaulted Jax with fury, but he refused to strike back. He did his best to dodge the blows, but dealt none of his own. He didn’t want to hurt me.

  “How can you let them do this,” I whispered furiously. “You know he won’t fight back. You said they couldn’t use me, yet that’s what Chase is doing.”

  “Do you remember what we discussed?” Heckle asked, voice low. “They are brutal and vicious, but I believe Azirak to be the lesser of the two evils.”

  I nodded as a chilly breeze whipped the leaves into a frenzy above their heads. The nearly bare branches stretched into the sky like skeletal fingers, reaching for heaven.

  In the middle of the fort, Chase stood over Jax with a mix of hate and pity. “What are you going to do? You hurt me and you hurt her. We both know you don’t want that. I don’t either. Just roll over and die. Make this easy on everyone. End your pathetic existence. No more feeding the demon. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?”

  It was there in Jax’s eyes. He was buying his brother’s bullshit. I had to do something to tip the scales in Jax’s favor. There was one way to get him to fight back.

  Heckle was right. It was time for the backup plan.

  “You’re sure. You can do what you said?” My insides trembled at the thought of going through with it, but something had to give.

  A faint shimmer surrounded Heckle’s left hand. A moment later, he held out a pristine-looking blade. “I can. But as I warned, it will come with a price. You may lose him regardless of this sacrifice. There is no way to predict the outcome. It will all come down to choice.”

  If I agreed to follow through, then it would give Jax the freedom to kill Chase. The good part about that was, it would ensure that Zenak would never have his powers restored, and that Jax would live. The bad part was, Azirak’s powers would be restored. It would break th
e curse that bound the demons and give them the freedom again. Forever. Heckle didn’t know what would happen to human Jax.

  It was a gamble. And in the end, that’s all life really was. A series of gambles. “Chase!” I took the knife and positioned the knife above my forearm.

  He froze for a second, glancing up from a weary-looking Jax, and laughed. “Come on, Samantha. You’re the biggest chicken when it comes to pain. You freaked out two weeks ago when you got a splinter.”

  He was right. I stubbed my toe and screamed about it for an hour. But this was different. This was for Jax. Nothing I could do would kill Chase, but I could take the wind out of his sails.

  I could take myself out of the equation.

  “What’s the point? You can’t kill me. The link doesn’t work that way.” He eyed the knife. “I can still kill you, though. One swipe across my throat and you’ll be choking back your own blood. Don’t make me do it, Samantha. Please. Just step aside and let this play out.”

  “I can’t kill you, but I can make you miserable.”

  “I’m commanding you to put the knife down.”

  I smiled and reveled in the shocked expression on his face. “And I’m commanding you to go to hell.”

  He took a step toward me, mouth wide open. “How the hell—we’re still linked. I can feel it.”

  Behind Chase, Jax climbed to his feet with a frightening smile. A sickening crack sounded as he tilted his head to the left, and then the right. “You’ve got no control over her.”

  Chase spun on his brother. Lightning-fast, he whipped his fist forward and caught Jax in the jaw. Without a moment of hesitation, Jax retaliated by dropping to the ground and sweeping the back of Chase’s knees. He went down hard and all the air whooshed from my body as the sting of impact sent a dull twinge through my muscles. But he wasn’t down long. Jax was unwilling to do any real damage—but Chase wasn’t. In a graceful arc, Chase launched into a kip up and delivered a jab that caught Jax directly in the throat. He struggled for air and stumbled back, crashing into the large rock at the center of the fort.

  Chase turned to me. “What’s the plan, Samantha?”

  “Jax can’t hurt you because of me,” I said. “If I’m not in the way, he’ll take you down.” When I’d gone over this with Heckle, I expected to get to this point and freeze up. There was nothing. No second thought. No hesitation. Just conviction. Chase had to pay for what he did. Jax had to stay safe.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Jax

  Sam was a mess. Multiple gashes across her face, right eye swollen along with her bottom lip. She held her left arm at an odd angle, and it was easy to see she was having a hard time holding on to the knife.

  And where the fuck had it even come from?

  “I’m giving you one more chance,” she said. I had a bad feeling. It was more than the strangely energized colored smoke swirling around her head. I shouldn’t have been able to see them in the darkness of the clearing, but for some reason, it was brighter than normal. Almost neon. It was a whisper in my head. Something jumbled and indistinct, but somehow I knew in my gut that it was bad. “Let me go. Release me from the link.”

  I wondered if this was where I would have ended up if it hadn’t been for Sam. If the situation had been reversed and she’d bonded with Chase all those years ago instead, would I have been the killer? Would I be standing in my brother’s place?

  Chase shook his head. “I’m sorry you were dragged into this, Samantha, but you’re the only insurance I have. I can’t break the link.”

  “Sam…” The broken, low whispers in my head cleared, and I didn’t know how, or where they’d come from, but I knew what she was going to do. “NOO!”

  She ignored me and smiled. It was beautiful—but wrong. Loaded with the promise of something cold. Something final. “Your insurance has just been canceled.”

  We shot forward at the same moment.

  We were too late.

  We reached the center as Sam buried the knife in her gut. Her eyes went wide as her heart sped up, then shuddered, falling still. I heard every single fucking beat as though it echoed inside my own head. Then, I heard nothing. Her body collapsed and everything inside me went cold.

  After that, everything turned red.

  Azirak roared. A sound that vibrated and shook loose every ounce of anger I’d ever kept bottled inside. I threw myself at my brother with all the rage I’d held back over the years. The burning need to feel my fingers covered in Chase’s blood. The ache that came with wanting a peace I knew would never come. Wanting Sam. Finding her again.

  Losing her…

  It all spilled out.

  With a boom like thunder, we collided and crashed to the ground, rolling sideways and trading blows. Chase gained the upper hand, throwing me off-balance and into the large rock. “You’re responsible for…for her death…not me.”

  I dragged myself out of the dirt as he did the same. Her body was two feet away. Maybe less. It was all I saw. All I felt. What was that shit they tried to sell? Death is peaceful? Sam looked anything but.

  “That’s right,” Chase said. “Look at her. Look at what you did.”

  The words barely got through, and I didn’t care. There was a storm brewing. Not above our heads, but inside. The sound Azirak made—an echoing, mournful keen—caused the hairs on my arms and at the back of my neck stand on end. It wanted blood, but not for power. The demon wanted revenge.

  For Sam.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Sam

  I watched the whole thing, seen only by Heckle. Death wasn’t what I expected. There were no flying angels and large golden harps. The light at the end of the tunnel—or in my case, the woods—was a brewing storm with occasional lightning overhead. The gates of heaven hadn’t appeared, along with Saint Peter, to welcome me in.

  Probably because of the deal I’d made.

  I couldn’t see it from here, but when we’d sealed the deal, a small black mark appeared on the inside of my wrist. It sort of resembled a star, only with an extra point. There was no way for Jax to win this thing. Not on his own. This was the only way I could help.

  With my life attached to Chase, Jax would be crippled by his feelings. The only way to give him an advantage was to remove myself from the situation. So I had.

  Jax was savage. With me gone, he attacked Chase with a ferocity that was both beautiful and frightening. But he and Chase were evenly matched. They traded blows, Jax bearing down and kicking hard as Chase crumbled to the ground, then in an instant, Chase recovering and delivering a blow that brought Jax down.

  “I’m glad you decided to fight,” Chase said as they got to their feet. “With all the past between them, Zenak didn’t want an empty victory.”

  Jax’s expression stayed stony. He dodged to the left, avoiding Chase’s next blow, and followed with one of his own. It landed in the center of his brother’s chest, sending him sprawling back into the trees behind them. “There’s no victory here. No matter what the outcome is, we all fucking lose.”

  As the men fought, Heckle came up beside me. “The deal we made is keeping your soul here, but it can’t stay in the void for long. Are you sure you want to continue?”

  “I sure as hell don’t want to stay dead…”

  After Heckle confessed to being something more than a normal demon—a keeper of balance—I’d laid out my plan. Stop my heart long enough for Jax to take Chase down. He said it would be easy—with the proper payment—to bring me back, but warned that the aftereffects would be unpredictable. And that was besides the whole hell on earth thing. If Jax did kill Chase—which I assured him wouldn’t happen—we were in a whole world of fucked.

  Heckle didn’t share my faith in Jax. He felt that, after seeing me fall, he’d be enraged enough to take his brother’s life, spilling royal blood and restoring Azirak’s clan to its full glory. If I was wrong and Jax did in fact kill Chase, balance would need to be restored—starting with the nullification of our deal. I’
d stay dead.

  I’d made my choice knowing all that. I accepted it. If there was ever anyone I’d bet my life on, it would be Jax Flynn.

  Chase launched himself forward and hurled his brother in the direction of the rock, but Jax threw his weight to the side, reversing their direction and strengthening the momentum. It was Chase who crashed against the boulder, not Jax.

  “Do you regret it? Any of it?” Jax growled.

  Chase struggled, but not as hard as he could have. “I regret all of it. And at the same time, none of it.” His head fell back against the stone as his body went limp in Jax’s grasp. “You were right. She was right. You were the strong one. I gave in far too easily and you were able—willing—to fight. My demon is strong, but you…the human is strong. When you found out Rick knew all along, didn’t you wonder?”

  It was dark now, and in the distance, a coyote howled, followed by the hoot of an owl.

  Chase stopped struggling, but Jax was no fool. He didn’t let up. “Wonder what?”

  “Why he sent you away instead of me?”

  “Yeah.” I couldn’t see his face, but his voice sounded sad. “It crossed my mind.”

  “I think it’s because he knew I’d never be able to handle it. He sent you away because you were stronger. He had more faith in you, man.”

  “There’s still time.” Jax finally loosened his hold and pulled away a few inches. I felt a bubble of justification, and turned and stuck my tongue out at Heckle. I knew it! “Neither one of us has to die.”

  “You’re wrong, Jax. I’ve got the wheel, but it won’t last much longer. You need to take me out, because I swear to you, if you don’t, I will kill you. It might not be today, or even tomorrow, but it’ll happen. Zenak won’t rest until its clan is restored, and I won’t lie. I hate you. I love you, brother, but I hate you, too.”

  Jax hovered over his brother and I held my breath.