Page 177 of Eternal Ruin

Susenyos and his friends had gone still, watching Arin emerge. Kidan’s eyes stretched wide, filled with shock.

They appeared to see something no one else could, like June when she slipped into her nightmares, there was only quiet horror on their faces.

Arin smiled like a panther before prey. “I have been waiting.”

63.

SUSENYOS

Arin was here.

Alive and definitely not suffering.

Susenyos backtracked, reaching toward Kidan, shielding her from the wrath piercing him like an arrow.

“Christ,” Taj said under his breath. “She’s really the devil.”

Iniko had widened her stance, ready to attack, jaw locked.

By his shoulder, Kidan’s breath was coming fast and hard. “How?”

He didn’t know. Susenyos spied the exits, one behind him, and one to the side. If he grabbed Kidan’s hand and bolted, he could get to safety, find a way to survive this.

Running again?Arin’s voice seemed to say from across the hall, mocking him.Go on, coward.

Her black pupils were aimed like daggers. But she did not move. Did not attack.

She was waiting for him to make the first move.

Just like when he was human and begged her to make him strong.

If he bolted now, he’d lose whatever remained of his people’s respect. Arin would not just kill him, she’d torture him for decades.

And Kidan… what the hell would she do to her?

Susenyos had no choice but to follow their plan. He worked his jaw and exchanged a glance with Iniko. He took the chain from her, the one that restrained the Lusidio vampire they’d captured.

Looping his hand twice around the chain, Susenyos slammed the vampire to floor. The body rolled with speed down the narrow path until Arin rested her foot on the vampire’s snarling head, digging her heel in.

“Lovely catch.” Arin’s voice was smooth as a shard of glass. “What is this supposed to prove?”

Susenyos answered, regarding her carefully. “How many Lusidios have you killed since you escaped?”

The clenched jaws of the Nefrasi were answer enough.

“Samson told you all to hide, and you did. He told you to not kill any Lusidios, and you listened. I wonder, if he told you to let them feed on you, would you bare your throats too?”

The collective raising of glinting silvers made his spine straighten. Pride was the Nefrasi’s greatest marker, and he knew how to make them roar with rage.

“Biruk.” Susenyos found Biruk’s chestnut face to the left. “What did the Lusidios do to your sister?”

Biruk winced, turning his head, but after a moment, he said, “Mounted her head on a spike.”

Susenyos’s eyes blurred with the image. The horrified scream racking his friend.

“Henok,” Susenyos continued. “What happened to Asir?”

Below the chandelier, Henok’s gaze was pure ice. “They fed him to their lions.”