Ruined

Chapter Thirty-Five

Jax

The kiss left my heart thundering and the blood rushing in my ears. An unbelievable warmth filled me, slowly fading as I backed away from her. I didn’t know what it was, but everything about her was amped. Her colors were brighter, expression more telling. It was almost as though I could see inside her head. It was always intense with her, but that kiss had been the kicker. Something close to desperation came over me, and all I wanted was to touch her again. To feel that warmth. But I had something to do.

I turned away.

What happened in the next few moments would either save us and damn me forever, or get us both killed.

I don’t know how, or why, but you love her…

A picture of Sam flashed inside my head.

I’m going to need to give you control if we have any hope of getting out of here in one piece…

An image of Chase, lying still and bloodied at my feet.

No. You can’t kill him. Sam will die, too…

I felt the demon’s irritation, but oddly, also its understanding. The rage it had for Chase’s demon was there, but miraculously, the feelings it had for Sam overshadowed it. I hoped those feelings would ground my humanity and keep me from losing myself to the demon like Chase had, because I was about to gamble big.

“Time’s up, Jax.”

It was ironic that Chase had chosen this spot. “Of all the possible scenarios that have gone through my head over the years, this was never one of them.”

My twin came forward and stopped a few feet away. He pulled out a gun. “You ready?”

I couldn’t resist. “If I say no, can we take a rain check?”

“I know you think I want to do this, but I don’t.”

“Then don’t,” I said simply. I had to do this with as little damage as possible. The stone Sadie supplied would disturb Chase’s control over Sam, but it wouldn’t protect her from damage done to him.

Chase raised the gun. “Good-bye, Jax.”

“Good-bye, Chase.”

“Stop!” A voice boomed through the trees.

The inhuman echo bounced off the rocks and vibrated inside my chest. From the darkness beyond the fort, Heckle stepped forward, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I’d visited the bartender earlier to ask him to watch over Sam if something went wrong tonight. He agreed, but also said he had a plan. It was a risky one considering all the complicated factors of our situation, but it was all I had. I just hadn’t been sure Heckle could pull it off.

“Zenak, I’m sure you are aware that I cannot allow you such an unfair advantage.”

Chase bristled and lowered the gun. “The gun?” He let it fall to the ground. “Fine. I’ll kick his ass with my bare hands.”

Heckle frowned and snapped his fingers. From above, a great flash of lightning lit up the night sky. It also illuminated the fort for several seconds. Long enough for me to see the large group of demons—at least twenty—standing in the shadows behind my brother.

“Oh. You mean them?” Chase laughed and gave a casual shrug. “Would you believe they’re here for support?”

“Of course,” was Heckle’s reply. “So long as you grant Jax the same liberty.” Another flash of lightning, and from the shadows behind Heckle, another group of demons came forward. I recognized several. The male and female demon from the War Zone. Azirak’s clan.

Annoyed by the even playing field, Chase retrieved the gun and pointed it again. As he aimed, his clan came forward to circle me. The action engaged Azirak’s demons, and they, too stepped forward. One let out a horrible wail and plunged into the crowd, fingers extended toward Chase. It was cut down by his demons before it reached the halfway mark.

And then hell broke loose.

I closed my eyes.

I’m ready. I’m ready to embrace you.

“Do it!” The words exploded, and the demon inside me twitched.

Unlike the other times Azirak took over, there was an electric hum. It unfurled deep in my chest, then spread quickly everywhere else.

Alive. I’d never felt so alive.

My eyes shot open and to my surprise, I was still in control—except I wasn’t the only one. Azirak was there, right beside me in the driver’s seat. I’d embraced the demon. It wasn’t Jax and Azirak anymore. We were one. A single being. The demon’s strength and speed were my own.

Chase was right. This was beyond anything I could have possibly imagined. Different. Everything was different now. Colors were brighter. Noises were sharper. Smells a thousand times more potent.

A noise rang out. The gun. I heard the click of the trigger above the chaos of the crowd, and the echoing boom as the bullet shot from the barrel. Even the whooshing noise as it split the air on its path to my head was like a song to my ears. I stepped aside. Nothing more than a slight shift in position. The bullet whizzed by, passing so close that it kicked up several strands of hair. I heard the projectile slam harmlessly into one of the trees.

“How—” Chase let out a feral growl. “You embraced the demon.”

“You were right, brother. It is amazing.”

We stood there for the longest time. Brother to brother—demon to demon—as once more, war erupted around us. Azirak squirmed, but it was different now. Not a separate thing on the inside, but a part of me. It wasn’t just the demon anticipating the battle—it was me as well.

Chase lunged forward, fingers hooked and greedy for blood. I pivoted, dodging the blow by inches, and sprinted for the large rock in the middle of the fort. Jumping, I planted my right foot down, using it to push off again. The leverage shot me into the air. As I went, I twisted my body and landed behind Chase in a crouch. A few feet away, one of Zenak’s demons tore the head from one of Azirak’s.

Feeling Azirak’s anger over the loss of one of his own, I leaped into action without giving it a second of thought. I grabbed the demon by the throat, fingers digging into muscle, straight down to bone, and yanked. A rain of blood and gore and the demon collapsed.

Chase roared, and when I turned, I saw he was cutting a bloody path to where Sam stood, on the edge of the crowd. She was surrounded by several of Azirak’s demons. Their backs were to him as they closed in.

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.