Chapter 40

Chapter

Forty

A heavy sense of déjà vu enfolded me as I sat on a cold metal table in Ruin's lab, my feet swinging back and forth as nerves turned me jittery. Or that might have been a side effect of the mate bond.

Fane warned me that completing it and being separated so soon after would irritate the link. It wanted us together and would poke and prod until we were.

Did he feel the same unease coiling through his veins?

I longed to be wrapped around him, inhaling that addicting leather and spice scent. Instead, I was trying not to gag on the heavy cloud of disinfectant choking the air. The astringent odor had been magnified now that I could fully shift. My eyes had taken several moments to adjust to the blindingly white walls and floors and the way the fluorescents glinted on the stainless-steel counters and cabinetry.

Estella, Denton's assistant, flipped through the screens on her tablet and glared at me from the left corner. Her emerald braid rested over one shoulder, and the white lab coat was tailored to fit snuggly around her curves .

That demon definitely hated me. She despised how Ruin doted on me when she clearly had a giant crush on him.

Denton, the head alchemist, typed on his computer, shooting me looks every few moments, just dying to ask for a blood sample. The contrast of his dark skin and vibrant blue irises was probably the only interesting thing about him. He was all work and no play. Ruin stood beside him, reading notes in a journal, his brow furrowed in deep thought.

When the demon lord noticed my stare, he lowered the notebook and crossed the lab to my side. "I haven't really had a chance to ask how you're doing after learning about your biological parents."

My lips thinned into a tight line. "Part of me wishes I could forget it. I don't want to be related to that asshole." My mother was a different story, but I couldn't forget that she could have been involved in The Collective until she discovered she was carrying a human child. "I can't believe he's the one behind the missing shifters, all because he's a racist prick."

"At least you weren't raised by him," Ruin pointed out. "You're nothing like the sneaky bastard."

Of course the demon lord would find the glass half full.

"Have you told the ravens about his involvement?" I asked.

He winced and dragged his hand over the stubble coating his jaw. "Without any proof, I'm worried Barric will weasel out of it and twist the blame on me. Most of the ravens already distrust me, so it wouldn't be difficult."

I slumped on the table, disappointed but knowing he was right. "What do you think he's doing with these shifters? Do you think any are still alive?"

"I wish I had all the answers, Tate, but I'm hopeful these victims are still alive, or bodies would be turning up, right?" Ruin rested his hand on my swinging legs to halt them. "Don't be nervous about this spell. Everything's going to be okay."

"I'm not nervous," I lied. I was more than nervous and worried about Fane. What if they couldn't break Kaspin's enchantment? What if something went wrong?

Instead of voicing my fears, I jerked my chin to the notebook. "Once you have the Infernal Sol, will it help you finalize your formula for Soulvation?"

Ruin nodded. "I have a working formula now, but it's not perfect, and some test subjects have experienced a few side effects."

"What kind of side effects?"

"Nothing major. Just increased hunger." He tossed the notebook on the table and leaned his palms on the cold, silver surface. "The synthetic soul in this form can only satiate most demons' hunger for a short time. It needs to be longer to truly be effective because I couldn't manufacture enough to make much of a difference."

If only more people knew how hard the high demon lord was working to find a way to help demons better coexist on Earth with humans. He cared deeply for his people and wanted them to have a choice in how they lived.

Ruin wasn't perfect, but he was one of the good ones. You couldn't fake that.

I reached out and squeezed his arm. "You'll get the amulet, and you'll be able to perfect the formula." How this ancient power could be used for good was beyond me, but Ruin knew more about it than I did. He'd been studying it for years and had a whole team of nightworlders secretly helping him.

It was crazy to think that Captain Coltrane had been the one who wanted to use it for selfish, malicious reasons instead of the high demon lord.

A soft smile curved his lips. "We don't need to worry about Soulvation right now. This is about you. Let's focus on getting this thing out."

My hand rested below my ribs where the sun tattoo inked my skin. I really hoped this spell worked. I couldn't go on with this power tempting me. Last night, I'd almost lost myself forever. Fane claiming me was the only thing that brought me back.

"I'm delighted Fane finally removed his head from his ass and claimed you." He chuckled. "We all knew it was inevitable."

"He only did it to break the amulet's hold."

Ruin scoffed. "That was just his excuse."

"Maybe." I stared at my legs, my heart aching for him.

Ruin's long fingers gripped my chin and tilted my face toward his. "He'll be okay. And once the spell is broken, he'll hurry back to your side."

"What if it can't be broken without Kaspin?" I asked, barely keeping the tears at bay. "What if it doesn't work?"

"Then we'll figure something out." He motioned his hand around the lab. "I'm a high demon lord with alchemists, demons, and witches at my disposal. We'll find a way to stop Fane's murderous urges. I promise."

I choked back the growing lump in my throat as the lab blurred. "Thanks for always helping us, Ruin. You're one of my best friends."

He pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head. "Wow. I don't think I've ever been friend zoned before."

My laugh was muffled against his chest. "There's a first time for everything."

The demon lord drew back, a crooked grin on his lips. "I'm glad you and Fane are smoothing things out, but I'm jealous as hell of him. If you two ever decide to have a threesome, I better be your first choice."

Heat flooded my cheeks as wicked images of being lavished by both nightworlders sped through my mind. Hell would freeze over before Fane would ever be cool with that.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and Nik, the head of Ruin's security team, marched into the lab and headed toward the high lord. The dux demon was full of thick, solid muscles that threatened to burst through the black fabric of his clothes.

"Ruin, we have a small issue that needs your attention," he said, his blue demon eyes burning against his bronze complexion.

Ruin met him a few feet away, and Nik held his phone out to show him something on the screen. "What a bold motherfucker."

Nik nodded, his spiky blond hair barely moving. "I thought you'd like to take care of it before we did."

"Is everything okay?" I asked as tension radiated from the demon lord.

His vibrant gaze lifted to mine. "Stay put, beautiful. I just need to pluck an annoying thorn from my side before we start this spell."

He and Nik vanished up the stairs, and Denton went through a door on the right, mumbling something about test results. He probably went to retrieve a needle to get a quick blood sample.

Now that Ruin and Denton were gone, Estella's scowl deepened. "If you'll excuse me, I need to be—anywhere but here with you." She placed her tablet on the shiny metal counter.

I flipped her off as she passed by the table. "Like I want to be stuck with you either."

Her long emerald braid swung while she vanished up the stairs.

I thought her jealousy would wane when she learned Fane and I were mated, but the pretty dux demon still hated my guts .

Did Ruin even realize she was batshit crazy for him? Maybe someone should clue him in.

A door around the corner opened, and I expected another alchemist to wander in. Instead, it was Ruin.

"How did you?—"

"Come with me now."

My brows slammed down as I took in the high demon, dressed in a different black suit and his blue hair a shade lighter.

The realization hit me, and I nearly toppled off the table. "Wrath? What are you doing here?" I asked as trepidation coiled in my chest. "And why are you dressed like your brother?"

He stretched out his hand for me to take. "I have to show you something."

I shook my head. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

A string of curses in a demon tongue sped from his mouth. "You need to see this before it's too late." His gaze flicked to the clock on the wall. "We don't have much time. Trust me, please ."

"Why the hell would I trust you, Wrath? I don't even know you."

"If Fane trusts me enough to hide and protect his family, then you should at least let me give you a vital piece of information. It's been under your nose this whole time." He jammed his hand through his hair, mussing up the strands and making him look less like his brother. "Please."

The desperation surrounding his words had my resolve faltering. "If this is a trick, Ruin will tear this place apart until he finds me."

"That's why we have to hurry."

Knots fisted inside me as I rested my hand in his and jumped off the table. I really hoped I didn't regret this.

The high demon practically dragged me around the corner and pressed a keycard to a security pad. The light turned from red to green as the lock disengaged with a click, and the door swung open, revealing a long, narrow hallway.

As we hurried through the passageway, the walls began to press in on me, and panic weighed on my shoulders. A cold sweat leaked down my nape.

Shit. My fear of small spaces made this hallway feel three sizes too small. Soon, I might start crawling on my hands and knees, thinking the ceiling was falling.

"Does this damn hallway end soon?" I hissed.

Wrath glanced back at me, noticing my sweaty forehead and pale skin. "We're almost there."

A door emerged around the corner, and Wrath swiped the keycard over the pad to unlock it. We entered another lab similar to the one we'd left, only smaller.

I wiped at the thin layer of sweat on my forehead, smearing it on my jeans. Maybe this was where the demon test subjects came to try the current formula of Soulvation. Wrath used the keycard to open yet another door. I groaned at the long corridor stretching out, but unlike the one we'd traveled through before entering the lab, glass shined on the left wall.

As I walked forward, my blood chilled at the first small, cramped cell. The unoccupied enclosure held a tiny cot, sink, and toilet. There was no privacy like the one Denton tossed me in when I was Ruin's captive.

What did the demon lord use these cells for? Who would he imprison?

My heart shuddered to a stop when I stood in front of the next cell where a figure dressed in bland gray cotton pants and a t-shirt huddled on the ground, shivering. Cuts and bruises speckled the man's arms, and the loose skin hanging from his body made it clear he'd once been a big guy, but his muscles had deteriorated from malnutrition .

In the next cell, a woman trembled under a coarse gray blanket, her greasy blond hair hanging in her face. Three more cells all held similar sights.

Blood thundered in my ears, crashing against my skull. What the hell was this? What was Ruin doing to these people? Was he experimenting on humans?

A petite woman in the next cell looked up as I passed, her brown eyes widening at my appearance.

Ice-cold, ghostly fingertips wrapped around my throat, cutting off the air to my lungs as Charla Campbell stared at me from behind the glass.

"Do you understand yet?" Wrath's low voice startled me.

I stumbled away and backtracked to scrutinize the battered figures I'd passed, shaking as my senses opened. They weren't human.

"Every single shifter reported missing that's still alive is being held in these cells by my brother."