Chapter 41

Chapter

Forty-One

I grabbed the sides of my head as I tried to make sense of the unfolding horrors. "That's not possible. Ruin's not involved in this. He can't know about this. T-that's not him."

"In Heldrok, I warned you that Ruin wasn't as nice as he seemed." Wrath motioned his hand around the cells. "This is his doing, Tate."

" Barric is responsible for the missing shifters. He has a list, and he wants all the bitten ones gone because of his stupid cult. He brought them here." I placed my hand on the glass wall separating Charla from us as her eyelids slowly closed, and she passed out.

Wrath tried the keycard on her cell, but it didn't work. "You're right about Barric. He did play his part in this. He and Ruin struck a deal. Barric would give him candidates, and Ruin would spare everyone else."

Ruin was the mystery partner Barric had mentioned at the meeting below Lunar Souls?

"I don't understand." My voice cracked as reality tried to bleed through the fantasy I wanted to maintain. "Why would Ruin need all these shifters?"

"He needs their souls to manufacture Soulvation." Wrath scoffed. "Human souls have no magic, but Ruin realized shifters, the most human of nightworlders, had just the right amount. He could harness a small portion of their soul to create a synthetic formula."

Blood thundered in my ears, and the stark white hallway tilted. "Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of creating a synthetic soul substance if he still needed souls to make it?"

Wrath shook his head. "A bit of shifter soul goes a long way. He can mass produce it with these unwilling donors. Of course, he still needs the Infernal Sol to make a stable, long-lasting formula."

My stomach heaved as I spun, heading back the way we came. "You're lying. I'll go find Ruin and prove it."

The high demon snatched my arm and dragged me back to the row of cells. "You are not na?ve, Tate. Look at the facts. Look at what's right in front of you." He shoved me against a cell where a dux demon slammed his fist into the wall, foaming at the mouth and eyes like cloudy rubies. "I told you he was responsible for the madness spreading through the demon community."

Ice cooled the blood in my veins as the demon had that same rage and hunger I'd seen so many times before. "How is your brother responsible?"

"Ruin needs subjects to test his working formulas." Wrath tapped on the glass. "Instead of sustaining them, it's multiplying their hunger and clouding their minds until they can no longer understand reason. Only hunger."

"What kind of side effects?"

"Nothing major. Just increased hunger. "

Ruin had said it himself only a few minutes ago. A side effect was increased hunger, but he'd downplayed it. A lot.

He'd turned them crazy.

"He's also called more sub-demons to Savannah to distract the ravens and shifters." Wrath's voice became a distant sound in my ears as my mind still attempted to fight the obvious truth. "He wanted to draw as much attention away from the real threat as possible. Him."

My knees shook, and I wanted to collapse to the cold ground as my world crumbled around me. My lungs strained to pull in air before I passed out. I leaned against the glass wall, my fingers sliding down.

The bear shifter that had attacked me when I first stayed with Ruin hadn't broken into the high lord's home. He'd broken out of the lab. And when Joseph Morrice made it back to Mohan Wilds, I had no doubt that someone slipped in and compelled him to forget all about the lab and Ruin's plans. He probably muttered my name because he would have heard it here since the Infernal Sol was the missing puzzle piece to this fucked-up venture.

Ruin Bacchus had managed to completely pull the wool over my eyes. He'd spun his charm from the beginning, and I'd fallen for it. He flashed his beautiful smile and captured me in his hold with that hypnotic gaze. He'd pretended to be a charitable, kind figure behind that dangerous persona everyone else saw.

He was worse than what people thought. He was a devil in disguise with rotten insides.

Fire swept through my bloodstream, and my muscles screamed for action. That bastard lied and used me to aid in this sick, depraved endeavor. He had Fane fooled too. What about Logan? Was he part of Ruin's nightmarish operation, or had he been duped like Fane and me ?

"He killed Warin."

My head snapped in Wrath's direction as his words ricocheted between us. "What are you talking about? I killed Fane's brother." But even as I spoke, the realization hit me like a wrecking ball to the chest.

Warin had been crazed and insatiable that night, nothing like the real demon his friends and family knew him as.

Wrath's throat bobbed as he swallowed. "It's true that Ruin started his research for a synthetic soul because of Warin. My brother knew how much he hated taking souls, but he preferred Earth over the Underworld." Tears burned in the demon's eyes as he rested his head against the glass door. "Warin was his first test subject. He tried the synth soul, but it only made him sick. And then Ruin let him leave, and you know the rest."

He attacked Jayla and my friends.

"I loved Warin," he whispered. "He wasn't just my best friend."

Invisible claws gripped my heart and threatened to rip it from my chest at the agony and pain pulsating from Wrath. He and Warin had been together.

The demon wiped his cheeks as a few tears brimmed over. "Demons don't have souls like humans or other nightworlders, but Warin was still my fucking soulmate. We were everything to each other. And my own twin took him away."

I blinked rapidly to keep my tears from falling and gingerly reached out to rest my hand on his arm. "I'm sorry, Wrath. I'm so sorry for my part in his death."

"You're not to blame. My brother is. He never should have let Warin leave alone." Wrath turned to me, his jaw clenching. "Because I know all Ruin's dirty secrets, he'd tried having me killed multiple times. He thought he succeeded until our little reunion in Heldrok. "

My hand fell from his shoulder. "What did he do?"

Wrath angrily swiped at the dampness on his face and pushed away from the glass wall, pacing the narrow corridor. "He left me at the mercy of some dark, vile-as-fuck witches in Illyria. I escaped, but I knew if Ruin found out, he'd just come for me until he ensured the job was done. So I went to someone almost as evil as him for help."

"Venna."

The high demon nodded. "She helped me procure a powerful glamour to transform into Demarcus, the new warden of Heldrok. This was my shot to figure out a way to expose Ruin for the monster he truly is and get revenge for Warin's murder."

"I thought she didn't know who you really were."

"She didn't. That was part of the spell." He stopped pacing and leaned against the wall opposite me, dragging his fingers through his hair. "In exchange for this, I was bound by magic to fulfill her wishes when she called for a favor."

That was why he allowed Venna to bring Fane and me to Heldrok and have us relentlessly tortured. He had no choice.

Wrath's eyes hardened, full of sorrow and pain. "When I figured out who you really were, I felt so disgusted I wanted to gut myself."

"You couldn't have known, Wrath." As much as I wanted to hate him, to call him a liar, I couldn't. The truth was settling in, and in the end, Warin was the good twin while Ruin?—

"You really had to go and open your mouth, didn't you, Wrath?"

I jumped as Ruin strolled down the narrow hallway, shadows converging over his face, deepening the hollows of his cheeks. For the first time, he looked as terrifying as he actually was. And it was all directed toward his twin and me.

Ruin's ominous presence choked the cramped hallway as he slowly closed the gap between us, his stare icy and unrecognizable. Brutal fissures dug into my heart, promising to send me doubling over from the pain tearing my insides apart.

"This whole time," I mumbled, trying to keep the burning tears from breaking free. "You've been lying to me this whole fucking time."

The high demon lord gave a lazy shrug. "Not about everything."

Ruin had gained my trust and even wormed his way into my heart, a feat not many had accomplished. And he betrayed me. My friend didn't even exist. It was all a facade.

Why did it feel like someone died?

"Don't take this out on her." Wrath put himself between his brother and me.

Ruin scoffed. "You don't need to protect Tate. I'd never hurt her."

I moved out from behind Wrath. "Lying to me doesn't hurt me?"

"Physically," Ruin corrected. "I didn't want to hurt you at all, but Wrath decided to do that for me."

"Did you really think you could get away with abducting shifters forever, Ruin?" Wrath motioned his hand to the many cells lining the hall. "People would eventually point fingers at you for the madness spreading through demons."

"Everything would have been fine if you hadn't returned." His mouth curved into a sneer. "Why couldn't you have just stayed dead?"

A low growl vibrated Wrath. "I came back to make sure Warin's killer got exactly what he deserved."

"Warin's death was an accident." Ruin shook his head, his gaze still full of ice. "I had no idea that would happen."

"You should have watched him! You should have made sure he was okay before letting him leave." Wrath marched toward his brother, shoving his finger into his chest. "And you should have spoken up and taken responsibility for your part when he died."

Ruin snatched his brother's wrist and slammed him into a wall, rattling the cell doors. "If I did that, my entire operation would have been shut down." He scowled. "You have always been small-minded, Wrath. It's why I'm a lord, and you're nothing."

Anger bled through my veins at the way Ruin treated Wrath. Was this the real high demon, the one he shielded from me to gain my trust? "Too bad your operation will be shut down anyway. You're not getting the Infernal Sol out of me."

The high demon lord released his brother and turned to me, a chilling smile twisting his lips. "Oh, Tate, don't be silly. Of course you're going to give me the Infernal Sol. You can't leave it inside of you much longer. It's a win for everyone."

I flicked my hand toward the imprisoned shifters. "How are they winning?"

"Sacrifices must be made for the greater good."

My nostrils flared as more fire coated my veins. "I'd rather suffer with this thing inside of me for the rest of my life than ever let you have it."

His head tilted to the side and tsked. "You will give me the Infernal Sol." He curled his fingers for me to approach. "I want to show you something."

I gave a humorless laugh. "I'm not going anywhere near you."

Ruin rolled his eyes and showed his palms. "I'm not going to hurt you. Besides, there's nowhere to run. You can't escape."

Wrath bolted by his brother, his head flicking left and right as he checked the cells. He clearly knew what his brother was up to. It must have been a twin thing. He finally stopped in front of one, cursing.

My pulse skyrocketed. Did Ruin lock up Fane to force my compliance? Had the whole trip to Illyria to remove Kaspin's spell been a ruse?

I darted down the hall, my boots screeching to a halt and my heart dropping to the bottom of my stomach. It wasn't Fane.