Blood and Wrath (Blood and Ruin Series Book 2)

Hidden between the shadows along the small alleyway, I keep my eyes open for anything unusual. My senses are picking up a strange vibration across the whole island, but there’s something different about the one beneath the club across from me.

It’s a popular club, by the length of the queue trailing around the side of it.

The Night Tavern has brought every kind of demon, witch, and warlock out to play.

My eyes trail along the group of witches huddled together, the warlocks eyeing them and the demons in their packs. Apart from the odd lustful eyes, each group gives the other a wide berth, keeping their distance.

Shifting slightly so it’s just my eyes that change, I focus on the people mulling about, waiting to get in.

Each supe’s intentions are as clear as day as I search among them for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary.

My ability senses the energy each supe and human emits, similar to a vibration. A lot of people assume my intelligence comes naturally, and to some extent, it does. But apart from my taught skills and lessons beaten into me by my cold-hearted parents during their many private lessons, my basilisk abilities are what give me the upper hand.

Logic and my extra senses are what forms the patterns and, in turn, helps me find the answers and come to conclusions quickly.

Over the years, I’ve learned to understand what the different types of energy are.

I see far more than lust among the separate groups. There’s excitement, admiration, anxiety, amusement, and, surprisingly, adoration.

It seems not everyone is playing along with Draven’s rules of segregation. Something that might work in my favor, should I need it.

A slight shift of energy runs through my body, setting my nerves alight.

There it is again. But what is it?

Since I’ve bonded to my mate, my ability has grown, extending to not only people and supes but also objects and the ground beneath me. Something I’m still working on to master.

Frowning at the ground as if it can tell me the answer, I try to focus on the vibrations beneath it, but come up empty. I’m unable to compare it to anything I’ve come across before.

We arrived on Staten Island a few hours ago, and my senses have been alight since I stepped foot on it. The whole island emits a strange vibration, but in the last hour, a newer type of energy has pulled me in this very direction.

Kai and Axel headed off on their own, to see if they could find out any more information about Draven and the island.

The attacks would have to be bad for the demon leader to have asked for help, but so far nothing has shown up, and the supes who live here have shown no sign of their world being affected.

Something that makes us question Draven’s intentions or if this is some sort of trap.

The vibration hits me again, harder this time, just as shouts and screams start inside the club.

Using the shadows to keep myself hidden, I stealthily make my way toward the club, slipping past the scurrying supes as most head in the opposite direction of the raucous.

Only a handful stay to see what the fuss is about.

The security doesn’t notice me as I slip past them, my enhanced stealth and agility allowing me to go undetected.

Lights bounce around the club, and music booms from every corner, adding to the loud screams as people run in every direction.

Suddenly, the music cuts off.

My senses pick up on an oncoming threat. I twist out of the way and watch as a large speaker flies past me. My eyes narrow in the direction of where it came from but widen when I see the source.

So, this is an old demon.

Standing at least twenty feet tall, the dark demon looked like it was made from black obsidian. Every part of its face and body is sharp, with spikes running all over it. From its face, nose, and jaw to its claws and long tail. Two large horns curved from its ears with another smaller two on top of its head. Cracks run along its hard rock-like body like veins, revealing a substance similar to lava. It pulses as if an entity itself and melts anything that touches it.

Its eyes glow green as it scans the supes around it. A deep growl sounds out, emitting a vibration of its own and sending out a wave of energy to those close to it.

The warlocks, witches, and demons near it fall to the floor, choking and spewing up a black substance.

Focusing on the demon, I can’t sense anything other than malicious intent from it.

Moving closer, I feel my basilisk push forward, wanting out. Without ever fighting this creature, I know we can win. Another one of the upgrades I received after bonding. I can simply look at an opponent or challenger and know instantly whether it is stronger than us.

A demon runs into me, trying to escape the scene in front of us. He turns, a snarl on his face, but freezes when he sees me.

“A-apologies.” He scurries away without a backward glance.

I shake my head, glancing around at the chaos. People are disorientated, most are running in every direction, exacerbating the situation, while a handful attempt to put up a fight against the demon.

I spot a witch and her group standing far enough back from the demon that its growl doesn’t seem to harm her. Her energy is different from the rest—a leader of her coven, by the looks of it.

She eyes the demon, looking for its weaknesses. It turns, giving its back to her, and she sees her opening and throws a spell at it.

But it might as well have been a puff of smoke, as it barely touches the demon.

It twists around and heads straight for her and her group. Her eyes widen as she backs away, hoping to escape, but the demon sees this and slams its fist down onto the floor. A stream of lava flies out of its clawed hand, drawing a line of flames in front of her and blocking her exit.

I move quickly through the last of the supes, rushing to the other side of the demon.

I look around for something to throw at it to try to move its focus away from the witch and her group long enough for them to escape.

But as if it senses me, it turns around and stares right at me. I move closer and partially shift. It pauses, tilting its head.

The demon growls low and deep, but whatever effect it had on the others, it doesn’t work on me, which pisses it off.

It bends, breaks off a large chunk of the club stage, and flings it toward me. I see the witch and her group escape just before I sidestep it and shift into my basilisk.

Black scales slide down my body as it expands and grows to make way for my beast. Bones crunch and slide along my body, growing and shrinking to extend and form my beast.

It takes seconds to transform, and the creature is still in the same spot. It stomps forward, reaching out to grab me, but I slide around it, moving so quick it barely sees me until I’m behind it.

Rearing up to full height, I tower over it, striking it from the side. Lava spills onto the floor, burning a large hole through it.

It doesn’t stop its advance, its injury causing it no hindrance. It turns, stalking forward, and growls once more. This time lava surges from its mouth, spraying straight at me. I evade most of it, but a chunk touches my tail, burning it instantly.

The pain subsides quickly, healing almost instantly, but my basilisk is pissed off. We evade the next lava attack before striking the demon again and again, causing it to become off balanced.

The demon starts to fall to the side. I spring forward, wrapping the length of my body around it, squeezing my hold as I do.

Drops of lava burn into my scales the more pressure I use, but I heal quickly and don’t let up.

A deafening crunch sounds out, just as the creature explodes from within. Its lava eyes leak down its disfigured broken face.

I quickly release its remains, unwrapping my body from it.

What’s left of the creature falls to the ground, becoming a block of broken pieces and cooling lava. The soothing air works alongside my new healing ability to quicken the process up.

Shifting back, I turn to leave when I spot them. My mind had been too focused on the imminent threat to seek them out.

Warlock, witches, and demons all stare right at me. They must have stayed to watch.

Their expression and energy ranged from shock and awe to anger and jealously. I ignore them, making my way out of there. I need to update the others about this.

Just before I leave, a young demon steps up beside me.

“You destroyed it like it was nothing to you. How?”

I stay silent, making my way outside and moving stealthily between the shadows and back to the apartment.

At least we know now that Draven wasn’t lying about the attacks, but most of the supes didn’t look too bothered. They were frightened, but a lot of them looked like this was a normal occurrence, meaning Draven knows more than he’s letting on. And keeping us in the dark isn’t helping anyone.

If he wanted our help, he was going to have to tell us everything, and soon. I had a feeling that time was running out for us all.

I needed my siren back with us before it all kicked off. It was only time before whatever was going on with these old demons came to a head.