Ruined (The Eternal Balance #1)(75)

“The same thing you want. My brother dead.”

There was obviously a whole different side of Chase that I didn’t know about, but what about the one I did? That had to still be there, right? He’d done horrible things, but he was still in there. That was obvious by the way he cried for Rick. “You don’t want to kill Jax any more than he wants to kill you. There’s a way around this. There has to be. Think about it. Hell on earth? Doesn’t sound like a party.”

His face twisted, a mask of anger and resentment, as he glared at me. “You don’t think I tried? I embraced my demon, trying for years to keep it happy. To keep it away from you.” He flicked a finger in Jax’s direction. “Both of you.”

Jax batted his hand away. “Don’t f*cking use me as an excuse for what you’ve done.”

“Why? You’re no better than me! How much blood have you spilled to quiet the thing inside your head?”

Jax didn’t answer. He was staring at the door. Several nurses passed in the hall, one stopping to peer through the window. She nodded, giving a sad smile, and kept going.

“The college was my favorite place to feed,” Chase continued, backing toward the door. He positioned himself in front of the glass so they couldn’t see inside the room. “We were waiting for her that night. Saw her leave the party, and she looked so good. Smelled so good… We attacked her. The plan was to draw you out. To make you come running home—but you didn’t. You were there that night and swooped in to save the day, but like always, you ran away with your dick in your hand.”

“I stayed away to keep her safe,” Jax growled.

Chase laughed. “I waited, sure you’d come home for her, but when you never showed, we had to change direction. I had one of my demons follow you, killing girls that looked like her wherever you went. That would bring you running for sure.” He winked. “Guess I gave you too much credit. It took you forever to figure it out. Then Rick took a turn for the worse and you ended up back here anyway. I knew you’d leave the moment you saw me. The one way to keep you here long enough to end your life would be to put her in danger again right out in the open where no one could miss it. While you were waltzing into McCarthy’s to kick my ass, one of my demons was cutting her brakes. I knew you’d save her, and there would be no way for you to ignore it.”

“So, the plan was to draw me back home and what, kill me? Why go through all the trouble? Why not just find me yourself and do the deed?”

“A compromise I made with Zenak. I wanted you to have the chance to see them again. Once more. I hated the thought of you dying out there, and Rick and Sam never knowing what happened. I did you a favor. I did her a favor.”

“A favor? You made her a f*cking slave.” Jax countered, taking a menacing step forward.

“I wasn’t thrilled when I found out Zenak had linked to her, but there was nothing I could do about it. Damage was done.”

“You could have done something to stop it.”

“I told you, I embraced my demon a long time ago. I didn’t want to hurt her, but we’re a team. We coexist and that means sometimes sacrifices have to be made. I understand now that only one of us can survive. Zenak wants its power back, and for that to happen, you need to die. The others need to be free.”

“So this is the part where you tell me you’re going to kill me?”

“Almost,” Chase said. The expression on his face almost looked regretful. “But regardless of what you think and how my demon feels, I love you, and I loved Rick. It’s waited a long time. You’ll have a day to get your affairs in order. Then we’ll finish this.”

“And Sam?”

“Since I have no plans on dying, she’ll remain linked to me. Providing you follow through, I won’t feed from her again. She’ll remain alive.”

“Alive and free?” Jax pressed, and Chase frowned.

“As free as possible. You worry about keeping up your end of things and I’ll do my best to make sure she’s safe and comfortable.”

Jax squared his shoulders. “And what exactly is my end of things?”

I couldn’t believe we were standing here having this discussion. Not that I saw an alternative at the moment, but still, it was surreal. We were discussing my life like it was something to be bargained for.

“We bury Rick, then you surrender yourself to me at a place of my choosing. You die with honor and Sam is free to live out her natural life.”

“And let’s say I don’t?”

The thing inside Chase had swallowed his humanity. It’d turned him into a monster in the truest form and the worst part was, he’d let it happen. Unlike Jax who fought his nature every day, he’d rolled over and given in. “I’ll leave you with this—there are so many things worse than death my demon could do to her. Things our simple human brains can’t even imagine. I hate to have to say this out loud, but I need you to understand there’s no room for compromise here. Not anymore.”

Jax’s face paled as his brother pulled me from the room.

Jax’s lips moved in silence.

“I’ll fix this.”





Chapter Thirty-Three




Jax

Time passed in a haze as we fast-tracked the arrangements for Rick’s funeral. Kelly was a huge help despite her dislike of me. No doubt she’d revert to her bitchy self the moment this was over, but for now, the reprieve was welcomed.