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Colton huffed. “The demons created in a new world. The ones that are left behind. Only the first generation is of any use to them.”
“Right. What about closing the portal? How do we do that?” she asked.
Colton took a ragged breath. “Our blood. Our mate bond and my betrayal are what will feed the portal. It’s the only way to make it big enough for Ashkara to come through,” Colton said.
“I know that. How do we close it?”
Colton touched her cheek. “I am the betrayer. I have to sacrifice myself at the portal to close it permanently.”
“Why you? Why not me?”
Deruthel growled. “No.”
Colton shook his head. “I made a deal with the Bokor. He said there would be a price. He used my blood to start this process. Ashkara had a pact with him.”
Deruthel hissed. “Your blood was used? That can’t be true. It was the queen. She...”
Colton’s eyes flickered with black. “Hakim opened a fissure before Dannika. It was small and only allowed communion with Ashkara. No demons were permitted to enter.”
Deruthel growled. “The Bokor deceived me.”
“At Ashkara’s insistence,” Colton said.
Deruthel’s red eyes zeroed in on Colton. “How did you learn of my father’s treachery?”
Colton shook his head. “I’m not sure. When he was in my mind this last time, he didn’t leave the wards in my mind like he had in the past.”
Deruthel’s claws clicked together in excitement. “That means he is weakening. It is time to end my father’s reign.”
“He knows you are plotting against him,” Colton said.
“Of course, he does. It was inevitable,” Deruthel said.
Riley ran her hand over Colton’s cheek. “I don’t want to lose you. There is no purpose to this life without you.” She knew in her soul that she wouldn’t survive without him. Her heart would beat. Her body would move, but there would be no joy left to appreciate.
Colton’s eyes squeezed shut before he opened them. “You don’t understand what I have done. It wasn’t just Aaron and Oliver. I stole your sash and planted it at the portal site. I set you up and then defended you. I have turned the clan against you, including my father. I left you with nothing.”
She shook her head. “That isn’t true. We can fix it. We can explain what happened.”
Colton’s hand moved over hers. He held her to him as if she were the only sanctuary left to him. “I have to die. Deruthel is a bastard, but he doesn’t possess one-tenth of Ashkara’s power. Humanity has a small chance against Deruthel. They have no chance against Ashkara. There are no words to describe what he has become.”
She glanced at Deruthel. “He can take Deruthel’s body. That’s his contingency plan.”
Colton nodded. “He can’t wipe it. He can swap with Deruthel. But if he does that, then Deruthel gets his power in the current realm and he is stuck with Deruthel’s body and its current restrictions. He would have no more power than Deruthel.”
Deruthel growled. “He failed to mention I would be left to die in a barren world.” His eyes widened. “Ashkara is insatiable. How many soldiers are left in the realm he inhabits?”
Colton shook his head. “I didn’t see him feed or interact with anyone while he was with me. Why would you ask that?”
Deruthel smiled. “There is only one thing that weakens the king. That’s a lack of blood. He has consumed the remaining pawns and females in our previous home world. He will expect a stable portal one way or another soon. We must stop him.”
Riley put a hand to her mouth. “He killed the women, too?”
“Ashkara’s appetite knows no bounds. He will consume everything until the very plant life withers around him. He has evolved beyond your ability to imagine. He is a god by your standards.”
Deruthel knelt down. “It’s time to save your world, shadow. It’s time for you to die.”
