AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ruin drew me out of the bedroom, and I reluctantly followed him all the way to the lab in the basement where he asked Denton and Estella—much to her annoyance—to leave. He punched a code into a keypad on a metal cabinet above one of the counters, opened the door, and pulled out a corked bottle.
“This is why you’re here.”
“What is that?” I studied the shimmering cloud inside the glass container. It almost looked like—
“It’s a soul.” Ruin shrugged. “Well, kind of. I call it, Soulvation.”
My muscles tensed. Was the demon lord experimenting on humans? “So, this is or isn’t a soul?”
He placed the glass bottle on the counter, his fingers gently running over the surface like a cherished keepsake. “It’s amanufacturedsoul.” He twirled his finger around the white and silver lab. “It’s what we’ve been working on.”
I bent at the waist to become eye level with the Soulvation undulating in the bottle. “What’s it made of?”
“Different types of magic and mystical plants.” He dragged his hand through his hair, tousling the navy locks, the silver ring on his middle finger gleaming under the blinding fluorescents. “I want to produce something demons can substitute souls with to live on Earth. Not all of them like consuming human souls, but they prefer this realm over the Underworld.”
“Like Logan?” The high demon had admitted taking souls wasn’t his thing.
Ruin nodded. “And Warin.”
“Warin didn’t like taking souls, either?” It was hard to picture the demon from that night disliking chowing down on human life forces. He’d killed five before I ended him.
“Warin hated it.” Ruin rubbed the back of his neck as a sad smile tugged at his mouth. “He’s the reason I started this years ago, and he’s the reason I need to finish it. I don’t know what caused him to flip out and kill your friends, but maybe it wouldn’t have happened if he had something like this. And maybe it will never happen again. I just want to help my kind live in their chosen world without harming themselves or humans.”
I finally stood, seeing Ruin in a different light for the first time. He didn’t seem like the mischievous and wicked high demon lord of Savannah, and he was nothing like Karn. He actually cared about his people. “What does the Infernal Sol have to do with all of this?”
Ruin leaned against the cold metal counter, his gaze pensive. “The formulas we’ve tried so far aren’t working. After extensive research on the Infernal Sol, I believe its magic can help balance the components. The amulet’s power is chaotic but added to Soulvation, I think it would have the opposite effect.” He gave a humorless laugh. “If I could get the stone out of you, of course.”
Did Fane have Ruin pegged all wrong? The demon lord didn’t need the Infernal Sol for any nefarious reasons. He wanted to help people. If he manufactured a substance that demons could feed on, this could save countless lives. The ravens would be behind this a hundred percent.
If, of course, he was being honest. People rarely told the whole story. They fed you what they wanted you to know. Ruin could have more than one reason for wanting the Infernal Sol. After he used it to produce Soulvation, then what? Would he simply hand it over to the ravens for safekeeping? Would he destroy it?
Both of those outcomes were highly unlikely.
But his intentions with Soulvation did seem genuine. It wouldn’t hurt to help him create something that could save lives. I’d worry about his other motives later.
“Why didn’t you tell me this in the beginning?” Guilt still ate away at me for what I’d done to that shifter. Maybe it lessened the blow just a little to know that something good could come out of this, that there might be a reason why Death hadn’t taken me yet. “I probably wouldn’t have fought you so much.”
“I’m not quick to trust anyone, even a pretty creature like yourself.” Ruin ran his finger over the glass container, and his lids fluttered like he could feel the essence within. “Some demons won’t be too happy about this alternative, and if they find out too early, they could attempt to destroy it.”
Obviously, some of his kind preferred to suck down human souls, and having an alternative would make them accountable for their actions.
“I’ll help you.”For now.“I won’t tell anyone.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Not even Fane?”
“Nope.” Fane would probably dig the information out of my head, though.
Ruin pushed off the counter and shortened the gap between us, his sweet, vanilla scent coiling around me. “Thank you, Tate. This project means so much to me. I just want to help my kind.”
If only I could truly believe Ruin, but I wasn’t that fucking naïve. That kind of innocence died in me a long time ago.
Ruin’s gaze dipped to my lips as I licked them. Electricity crackled in the air, and my blood began to burn.
I swallowed hard. The alcohol must still be lowering my inhibitions because I would never let the demon lord get this close while looking at me like that, and I would certainly stop his fingers from curling around my hip to pull me into his hard body.
Yep. Still drunk. That was the only explanation.
The intensity in his eyes drew me in, and before I realized it, his lips brushed over mine in a featherlight kiss that stole the air from my lungs. He paused, giving me time to back away.
