Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

BLOOD AND RUIN THE COMPLETE SERIES RUMER HALE Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series © Rumer Hale 2023 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission of the copyright owner, except for the use of brief quotations in book reviews. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, businesses, or locale is coincidental and is not intended by the author. For those that believe there is light and shadows in us all… CONTENTS Blood and Ruin Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Axel Blood and Wrath Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Luka Blood and Reign Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Bonus Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author BLOOD AND RUIN BOOK ONE CHAPTER 1 Death is no more an escape than it is a curse. My ability has proved that time after time. The endless loop of living on past death, in any of its forms, is a torment in its own right. I can’t die. No matter how many times or ways he tries, it always ends up the same. With pain, and rebirth, and suffering. When Death calls, it isn’t soft and sweet nor a slumber of silence and serenity. It’s violent and cruel, ripping apart the seams that keep us whole. I’m no longer whole anymore. King made sure of that. Our sessions are not bonding time between stepfather and daughter, but a way for King to release his monster and set him free. I’m just his prisoner, caged in his hotel, and called upon when he needs someone to inflict pain on. My body is a mangled mess, as bits of broken bone and muscle lay scattered beside me. My legs no longer move, my spine twisted and tore open. The small room around me, once an immaculate white, is bathed in my blood. The deep red draped across the walls and fixtures like a splattered art piece of horrors. Today’s session is just as hard as all the rest. The agony is no less painful, the darkness no less silent. King sits in his chair, sharpening another blade, patiently waiting for my ability to kick in so he can start over. He never lets me fully heal before he begins again, only letting my body repair enough that I don’t pass out until he decides. And one drop of the new little olive-green concoction that he created slows down my ability to a near halt. I pant through the pain, my ability sluggish as it fuses my spine back in place. “I’ve decided to play nice with the outsiders.” Outsiders. Manhattan homes some of the most powerful shifters. From Dragons and Wolves, to bears and serpents and all those in between. Over the years King formed alliances and then swiftly betrayed them, taking over their lands and territory and naming it his. King played the long game, inviting all those who had no place left to go to live in his new city that welcomed them all. Brooklyn, The Bronx, and Queens are all now under King’s rule. Together they form the Cardinal Three, with Brooklyn being King’s main base and the place he likes to do most of his dealings. Humans, demons, witches, and shifters of all kinds, are welcome in the Cardinal Three, but on one condition… Follow King’s rules. The supes thought it was a good deal until they found out King placed a magical “tag” on them. It not only tells King where you are but also stops you from coming or going. If you try leaving without his permission, the tag is activated, and you die a horrific death. King wants all of New York under his control, his need for power, absolute. Staten Island stays off the grid, homing most of the demons, vampires, witches, and warlocks and any other supe who lean towards the dark side. It will only be a matter of time before he goes after it, too. But it seems Manhattan is next on his list. “For now, we will form an alliance. The terms have been agreed.” An alliance that he will break, just like all the rest. The alphas are fools to agree to anything King asks. King stands, slowly making his way over to where I lay on the floor. Puffing his cigar, he bends downs and stubs it out in the open wound in my thigh. I bite down on my lip hard, holding in the curse that wants to damn to hell and back the twisted fuck in front of me. “You will mate to the five alphas of Manhattan a week from now, sealing the alliance and bringing me one step closer to my goal.” Fire burns through my veins as my pain gives way to rage. The fucker could go to hell if he thought he could sell me off like some brood mare. I was his punching bag, his prey, but that piece of me has always