Ruin (Rhodes #1) - Rina Kent Page 0,72

After taking large gulps from the bottle, his mouth glistens with sweat and water. “We both know I was about to knock you out, little brother.”

I snatch the bottle from him. “I’m faster than you. You could’ve never knocked me out.”

“Normally that is.” He leans back on his elbows. “Today you’re distracted.”

Silence falls between us. The shouts of the guards in other rings take over. Kane is kicking Xan’s arse in karate. Good.

“So?” There’s no mockery in Tristan’s voice. He looks at me the way Uncle Alexander used to. It doesn’t help that he inherited all his physical traits. “There’s something changed about you that I can’t pinpoint. You seem... different.”

“I’m not different.” I throw the bottle away and wipe at my neck.

“You frequently visit my wing. You work from home a lot.” He tilts his head to the side. “It’s been more than three weeks since Crow and you still haven’t asked for a target. That’s different.”

‘We want the girl, Tristan. Your dull targets can wait.’

Shut the fuck up.

The demons’ screeching is proving harder to bear.

“I learnt self-control.” I wipe at my forehead.

“Why do I find that hard to believe?” Tristan’s fingers tap on the ground, a gleam of suspicion on his face.

I’m screwed both ways. If Tristan finds out about Mae, I’ll be sent to my hell on earth. If he doesn’t, and I continue fighting the impulse to kill her, I’ll go irrevocably mad— without the help of the asylum.

‘All your problems will disappear if you kill her,’ Aunt Ariel whispers, her voice is so disgusting I wish I was the one who shot her.

‘It’s an easy decision, son,’ Father says. ‘A flick of your knife and it will all be over.’

Leave me alone, Father.

‘We share blood, Aaron. Mine is in your veins. I can never leave you.’

I hit the side of my head. Hard. “Go. The. Fuck. Away!”

“Aaron!”

When I lift my head up, Tristan is by my side. A firm hand on my shoulder, his brows creased together. When did he get this close without me noticing it? Bloody hell. The black void sucked me in again. I’ve lost time twice in a day. If Tristan was an enemy, I would be dead now. Is my little sanity leaving sooner than expected?

“You zoned out.” Tristan’s voice is at its lowest. The tone he uses when people need to run for their lives.

“I always zone out of your nonessential talk.” I attempt to brush his hand away, but he pins me in place with an animalistic force, his gaze harsh. “You thought aloud. You never do that. What the hell is going on with you?”

“None of your business.” I yank his hand away and jump to my feet, practically running out of the gym.

The foggy air suffocates my lungs. The unending void transforms to walls, closing in on me, asphyxiating me, restraining me with Dr Linton’s cuffs and twisted jacket.

I’m overstepping that fine insanity line, aren’t I?

‘None of this would’ve happened if you followed our orders, Aaron.’

Pulling to a stop at the back entrance of my wing, I clutch the sides of my head. The voices’ assault grows rampant by the second. Almost as fast as the signals sent to my neurons.

‘Do it. All you have to do is—’

The voices hush at a rustle in the bushes behind me. Not my guards. This location isn’t part of their usual hidings. I take a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale.

Gates of hell, don’t swallow me into that timeless hole. Not now.

I bend over a pretence to tie my shoelace and retrieve the knife attached to my calf.

Before I stand straight, the source of the sound lunges at my back. A sharp cold edge is held to my throat. I twist before the lean fingers steady their hold. With an uppercut, I throw the weight away. Celeste bounces with a kickover and jumps backwards.

Dammit. I missed disarming her.

She’s wearing her full combat suit. The elastic material hugs every inch of her hourglass-shaped body, her grey hair in a tight ponytail. She’s here to kill.

“How did you get in?” My hand, holding the knife, is inert by my side.

“Oh, please. I’m Celeste.” Her voice is playful, expression neutral. She backs away further, growing the distance between us. “I can infiltrate any system.”

I encircle her, maintaining the