Page 17 of Savage Blood (Den of Shadows #6)

The two shifters, sporting a few more cuts, welts, bruises, and splatters of blood, had killed their opponents.

Tabitha lay crumpled on the ground, her throat oozing crimson and her lifeless gaze fixed on the grimy ceiling.

Wide gashes had torn the panther shifter’s torso open, and a chunk of flesh was ripped from his neck.

Ruin set me on my feet, but his tattooed arms remained locked around me. “I have a better idea for Roxie, but you’ll have to remove the Malbraxis manacles.”

I glanced over my shoulder to meet Ruin’s broad grin. “And what is your idea?”

“I’ll make Roxie my little Renfield.”

My head jerked back and hit his sternum. “You’re what?”

“I know you’ve seen Bram Stoker’s Dracula .” He shook his head, sighing. “I’ll create a bond with her so she can be our eyes and ears in The Collective. Our little spy.”

A gasp escaped Roxie as she sat on the ground, looking up at the four of us like a scared little girl, all her tough bravado disintegrating.

“Don’t do that to me, Ruin,” she gritted out, her voice barely above a whisper.

If we had a spy, maybe stealing the Infernal Sol and stopping Barric wasn’t a lost cause.

“Do it.” I spun around and unlocked the iron manacles, dropping them to the ground with a loud thud. “We have to hurry. Barric knows Alicia’s gone, and he sent others to search the mansion.”

When I finally unlocked the Malbraxis manacles, Ruin groaned, pain flashing in his expression. Those things had suppressed him for far longer than we’d experienced.

After a few moments, his head dropped forward, his irises glittering stones of obsidian. “Grab her.”

Ruin’s voice, a deep, gravelly tenor I’d never heard from him, poured ice water down my back. Did I make a mistake in freeing him from the mystical cuffs?

As Roxie scrambled to her feet, Alicia gripped her left arm while Enid took her right, and they pinned her against the bars of Ruin’s cell. The high demon slinked toward her and curled his fingers around her wrist, lifting her hand.

“Oh, sweet and sour Roxie, don’t be scared.” A black talon extended from his index finger. “I won’t hurt you. Much.”

Roxie whimpered as he sliced a cut into her palm, ruby-red blood pooling out. He did the same to his, clamped their hands together, and spoke in a demon tongue.

“ Bind liga, líkama nos .”

The tiny hairs on my body rose as his power infiltrated the dungeon. Corvin Manor had little information on demon bonds, but they were rare, and only powerful demons could form them.

“Don’t do this, Ruin,” Roxie begged, all the color zapped from her face. “Please.”

“Just think of it this way, Rox. You’ll never be alone again.” Ruin tapped her temple as tears welled in her eyes. “I’ll always be here. Opna viam per huga okkar .”

Written demon languages were sharp and violent, but the foreign words flowed from Ruin’s mouth like a delicate sonnet. He was a poet delivering a romantic verse to his beloved.

Ruin grabbed the raven’s chin gently, her chest heaving and tremors racing through her. Roxie’s mouth parted, and he leaned forward as a thin string of her soul swirled out of her mouth and into his.

But something else was shared between them. A dark strand exited Ruin and entered her just before he pressed their lips together in a kiss.

I swallowed thickly as knots fisted in my stomach. He’d given part of himself to her.

Was I—jealous?

I shook off the stupid thought. Of course I wasn’t jealous .

Ruin released her hand and pressed his palm against her wrist. “ Notam eignarhald mitt dominium .”

Roxie squirmed as if he were branding her, and electric power sizzled around them. When he released her, an ebony symbol inked her inner wrist.

My hand flew to my neck where the symbol had appeared shortly after Fane bit me. Was this a form of a demon bond? Did he create one accidentally without realizing it?

Ruin drew away from her, admiring the mark on her wrist with an unusually soft smile. “You'd better make sure you cover this up, Renfield.”

She jerked out of his grasp. “What did you do to me?”

“I’ve established a mental link. We can communicate with our minds, even across different realms. And I’ll always know where you are. So don’t try running from me.” He brushed his fingers across her cheek. “Your soul is still in your body, Roxie, but it belongs to me.”

Her lips thinned into a harsh white line. “I hate you, Ruin.”

“No, you don’t.” He motioned for Alicia and Enid to release her. “I’m the only reason you aren’t dead. And if The Collective Nosterium finds out we’re bound, they will kill you. So mum’s the word, baby.”

I marched to the left of the dungeon, grabbed Roxie’s sword, and transformed it into a dagger. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Hey!” Roxie bolted toward me, stopping a few feet away. “You can’t leave me here without a weapon.”

“Fine.” I tossed it to her, and she caught the hilt. “You'd better think of something that makes you look innocent in the whole mess.”

I waved my hand around the dungeon at the two dead shifters and the empty cells .

Ruin marched farther into the corridor. “Let’s go, people. Time’s wasting.”

“Wrong way, Ruin.” Was he having another episode?

He flashed a grin and winked. “There’s more than one way to get out of this manor, beautiful. And I know them all. How do you think Fane knew where to go when he rescued you?”

“Helped me escape,” I corrected.

Ruin chuckled. “Tomato, tomahto. But this, I assure you, is our best option.”

Enid and Alicia took off after the high demon, and I brought up the rear. He peeked over his shoulder, his gaze melting back to electric blue as it lingered on Roxie. A flash of guilt rippled over his expression, as if he hated to leave her behind.

Was more going on between those two than I realized?

Like Ruin promised, he led us through a labyrinth of narrow passages and secret doors hidden in stone walls. Once we made it outside, fresh air filled my lungs for the first time in days.

“Gods, I never thought I’d leave that place,” Ruin mumbled as he stared up at the black sky.

Instead of the spacious manor we just exited, only a demolished pile of stone and brick remained.

“Wow,” Alicia said, studying the skeletal structure. “That’s some freaky shit.”

Enid wiped the grime and blood from her forehead, her blonde hair stained pink and brown. “Too freaky for me. I can’t wait to be back in Blackwater Falls, where shifting is the only magic.”

But as I blinked, the scene shimmered in and out of focus, and the mini gothic castle emerged among the surrounding destruction and decay of Vlehull.

Sharp spires and snarling gargoyles were silhouetted against the pitch-black sky while the ominous ruby glow from lanterns cast a blood-red haze across the intricate stonework.

“You can see it, can’t you?” Ruin whispered, following my eyeline.

“It’s just as creepy as I remember.” Or maybe it was worse, knowing the psychotic monsters residing inside.

“We'd better put some space between us and The Collective Nosterium.” Ruin jerked his head to the left. “We can cut through the town square and then head straight to the gates.”

I jogged after him, Alicia and Enid following. Vlehull had once been a lively city, but when Princess Venna took over, it crumbled. Now, most of the citizens had abandoned their homes and businesses, leaving them open for sub-demons.

Barric probably wouldn’t have been able to take over the manor if Vlehull was still a thrilling Underworld city.

As we crossed into the town square, an eerie sensation scuttled down my nape.

Dead leaves skittered across the cobblestones and drifted into broken storefront windows where thick shadows lived.

A dried-out fountain, cracked and overturned, sat in the center, its once-proud statue of a hooded figure beheaded and broken.

Shadow stretched beneath the night sky, and the glass lanterns atop the iron lampposts lay shattered into pieces along the ground.

Everything was so damn dark.

The sensation of being watched lingered in the air, pressing in from the murky alleys and hollow doorways.

“Something is out there,” Alicia muttered as our steps slowed.

Ruin’s arm shot out, stopping me in my tracks. He jerked his head toward a pair of blazing eyes shining from a slanted rooftop across the square.

“We are definitely not alone.”

The air fled my lungs in a harsh exhale as frost crackled across my scalp and down my nape. Several more pairs of luminescent orbs materialized along roofs, the street, and within alleys. And the monsters they belonged to all headed in our direction.