Lavender (2) : Sons of the Deveaux

Chapter Three

RUINE

There were some places in some realms that you just didn't want to be– and right now, Ruine was in one of them.

A fun expedition, father had said. Somewhere you've always wanted to go, he said.

Ruine had never been gaslight so fucking much in his life and considering he had three other brothers that was saying plenty.

Standing in the foyer of the Evergreen throne room, the entire room was nothing short of a massacre beyond the scale of what he'd seen in a long time. There was no one around.

Well. No one living that was.

Something, not quite bone debris crunched beneath his steps as he tried and failed to move silently. The place was fucking creepy. The fantastical marble walls he remembered when first coming here, it was all clean and smooth. Clinical level empty without a speck of dust anywhere.

Now looking at it, you would have thought Mother Nature had smashed her hand through the entire place without a care in the world to do the damage only she could.

Bodies that shouldn't be anywhere near rotten were half turned to goop and partially rotted to the bone. It was disgusting to look at. The smell alone made Ruine think of the scent ghouls carried on them, a taint in the air that made bile lurch at the back of his throat.

Some had their hands outstretched as if looking for help– Although looking was a stretch. Their eyeballs were missing from their bodies, no doubt plucked out by the birds that lurked in the high ceiling.

Ruine gave a crow the finger. Not today, bitchass. His eyes were going to stay in his head.

Wind breezed through shattered windows rustling leaves and chaotic nature that had overrun the space. His foot squelched into a pool of something he didn't particularly want to look down to see.

The demon sighed. Next time his father said anything about exploring, Ruine was going to skip off into the next room and crochet with his mother instead. Shit was safer that way.

Glancing down at the goop he'd wandered into, his brows scrunched together further. Rusty coloured liquid with the faintest shimmer. Crouching closer to get a better view, he dipped a fingertip into the mess.

Normal blood didn't shimmer.

Following the pool he found, Ruine stepped past broken bodies and debris until he found a path of drips and splashes. Ruine wasn't here just for a social visit. If you could call that this. He was here to find the body of Lilly's sister.

A body that wasn't laying in the foyer.

A body that had, as far as he could tell, gotten up from where it had been laying and somehow walked away from a torture that should have killed her. Hadn't the wings be ripped off? None were sitting around unless they too, had rotted with everything else.

The trail he tracked over fallen marble and smudged into the ground lead to one of the huge wooden doors that had splintered inward. How the fuck was he to get through there without making noise?

Grinding his teeth in annoyance, Ruine did his best to avoid the entire thing falling down around him but he couldn't be entirely quiet.

Wood creaked off, the entire damn thing groaned while he pushed his big frame through the gap created and a stray huge splinter nearly sank into his ribs in a misplaced foot on slimy moss.

Good fucking gods, please don't say he was going to impale himself in this realm. Who knew what germs they had here.

A shimmy and squeeze had the demon nearly face-planting onto dirty tiled floor on the other side. Ten out of ten as far as he was concerned. Back on track with his little escapade had him following the slowing dots.

More moss, more questionable looking bodies annnd bingo. Who hid behind small cramped doors anymore? The rusted shimmering blood didn't go any further and from the shape of the door, it was a broom cupboard. He'd seen enough horror movies to know if shit got weird, he had an exit plan.

Rolling his shoulders a bit to loosen them up, Ruine gripped the cracked handle to yanked it free with a quick smooth pull. Not point doing the whole struggle only to potentially give the other time to pull a knife on him or something.

Being stabbed in the neck was not cool.

But what met his view wasn't a half broken body of a fae. Ruine might not have a lot of experience with Fae or what exactly fairies entailed, but this?

This isn't normal.

It was a cocoon. A person sized, wrapped in spider like, webbed white vines and intricate weaving, whole ass cocoon. Making a judgement call, Ruine pressed his palm against the surface, expecting it to be soft, spongy even from how the texture looked but the thing was rock solid. Gods only knew how much it weighed if he thought to move it.

Lifting out his knife, the demon tried to pry off just a little bit of the top layer to no avail. There wasn't a single chip where he could dig into. The thing was untouchable.

Scratching the tip of the knife against his eyebrow, he tried to see any other spaces to get a look in it but the entire surface was locked down. Fuck. Was he supposed to just leave it here?

Suppose he could. It wasn't exactly going to be found right away but he didn't want to risk something happening between then either. Sitting back for a moment, Ruine slinked off the small cross body leather bag that he carried on expeditions, hunting through it for a specific kind of chalk.

The fucking place was like being launched back into the stone age. Not a car in sight, no wifi, not even a lightbulb on the walls. His phone wasn't about to get any signal in the goddamn place so he'd meet it relic for relic.

Fishing out the little box of creamy white chalk, he cleared a space large enough on the wall, free of moss and debris to carve runes into the surface slowly. Unlike his brothers, Ruine was the scholar. He studied in all kinds of magic, enchantments. He had knowledge very few people did anymore and it came in handy in situations like these.

As did the favours he was owed by others.

Standing in front of the doorway, he lifted a hand out, concentrating on the power in his veins, on the magic in his body as the chalk glowed. Runes moved in a circle, gaining speed as they spun and spun.

"I'm calling in your debt, you surly ass dragon. Don't act like you don't hear me, asshat!" He shouted into the void that was created.

Rather than get an answer, Ruine heard the whistle of wind. A gust of snowy air shot out of the dark at his face as something heavy drew closer. He had never been one to get nervous quickly, but some people made him twitchy. And as his receiver came into view, ice and chill clinging to his huge frame, he couldn't help but think one thing.

The Bone King was fucking terrifying. Built like only a dragon shifter can be, Cain could intimidate the strongest people Ruine knew. He was thick with muscle to fit his giant frame. Dark amber coloured eyes glowed orange at him, taking in every detail. Skin a rich tan despite the chilled home he kept.

Small patches of iridescent scales glittered across his cheekbones and temples, coming and going with a life of their own. White hair as stark as the snow realm he stepped out of was braided back from his face at the temples and around his sleek ivory horns, secured with small silvery charms and thread though several tendrils had fallen free.

It took him a moment to realise there were two smaller horns mirroring each side because of the colouring blinding together. Ruine didn't even realise he was staring, marvelling at the dangerous beauty of the predator in front of him until Hellion opened his mouth."What's wrong little prince? Going to piss your pants or something?"

"In your fucking dreams, lizard." He absolutely sounded confident in that. Totally. "I'm cashing in a favour you owe me."

Amber eyes narrowed on him carefully as snow billowed in through the portal, slapping Ruine in the face with an icy breeze. Some days it was good to be a menace when such huge predators owed you one.