Page 86 of Red Ruin

Vhex and Remy quickly split me in half. Their magic faces off in the middle, fighting to claim more pieces of my soul.

There’s nothing left to share.

“Come here,” I call wearily.

Remy wraps me from behind. His arms surround my shoulders. His shadows grab everything else.

Vhex flashes in front of me, flame wings spread to block my line of sight. “Mine.”

My heart throbs but not for the reason he thinks.

“See?” Vhex grins so wide, his fang pops, his eyes fixated on the spot in my chest. “You crave me.”

A ghostly prickle tightens my belly.

I wish it were just from Remy’s shadows. Vhex’s leftover heat still courses deep inside me.

“Let me remove that filthy venom,” Remy says, languidly stroking my throat. “I’ll start at the source.”

Their energies collide.

I’m so spent that it takes zero effort to pull away. My silks evaporate, giving the Sentinels nowhere to hook.

I shove them, staggering and refusing their help as their souls suckle for more. Crouching to check on Crispin, I growl, “Fetch that hand and a healer right fucking now, Remy. And no more godsdamned flames.”

Between the pain and the sledgehammer of Vhex and Remy’s S-class power, Crispin lies unconscious in the dirt. Thankfully, his own magic cauterized the wound.

He won’t bleed out before the hand is reattached.

“You touched him.” Vhex shrugs.

“He touchedyou,” Remy adds, somehow producing a handkerchief from his tattered shirt. He dabs blood off his fingers.

The shadows act more obediently than the man.

Within a few breaths, a healer winks out of nowhere. She wears a Sentinel’s uniform with blue scrollwork embroidered on its shoulder cape and averyconfused expression when she has to catch a tumbling severed hand.

“Can you heal him?” I ask and reach to smooth her silks.

Transmitting exhaustion and relief, she welcomes my guidance. “Thanks, Commander.” As she kneels and checks the damage, she knocks back a restorative potion from her hip pouch. Finally, she nods. “No problem. Just give me a few minutes. It’s tricky reconnecting the nerves.”

While her healing magic glows, Vhex and Remy prickle.

I drag them across the lawn.

“You’re out of line.” I thump my chest, all caveman like these idiots. Then I wave at the green-faced squad of Sentinels trying to minimize their presence on the lawn. “Guide. Sentinels. It’s my job to help them all. Not just the two of you.”

“Then we don’t need them.” Vhex sparks hellfire in his palm.

I’m about to punch him in the throat.

Before I can attack, I hear the groan.

I draw a too-sharp breath.

It’s not Crispin.

It’s nothuman.