Page 25 of Savage Hunt

“I don’t need a fucking bodyguard,” I hissed as fury boiled my blood.

Sorin shook his head and backed away. “Believing that is just proof that you need one. You’re not on Earth where you have nice little rules to protect you. This is Heldrok. And one day, someone—hopefully me—is going to make all your nightmares come true.”

After the high demon vanished, I turned to Knox and choked back the sour taste coating my mouth. “Thanks for stepping in, but like I said, I don’t need?—”

“Shut up and finish showering.” Knox stepped away, and then a line of other shifters, their backs to me, created a shield so I could clean in privacy. “Like I said, I’m doing this because I can’t sit by while demons and a fae threaten to defile a mated shifter, but I have no loyalties to you beyond that.”

Well, at least he was honest.

Venna’s piercing blue eyes, as sharp and deadly as the dagger in her hand, penetrated me while I was strapped to the metal table. A fresh coat of Devil’s Nightshade dripped from her blade, mixing with my blood.

She’d been torturing me for hours, maybe even days. Heldrok felt like a place that didn’t exist in time or space. A hundred years could have passed on Earth by now or maybe only two days.

“Tell me what Ruin is working on in his lab.” She dragged the tip of the dagger down my arm.

I ground my teeth to choke back a scream, sweat gliding down my temples. “I have no idea. The demon lord didn’t exactly share information.”

Venna’s sneer twisted her stunning features. “It’s pretty obvious Ruin has a soft spot for you, Tate. And you are the type of person who searches for answers. You wouldn’t have allowed him to experiment on you and the Infernal Sol without possessing any details.” She rested her elbow on the table. “So I’m going to ask one more time. What little secret project is Ruin working on?”

“I. Don’t. Know.”

She stabbed my thigh. Searing pain erupted through my limb, and a scream burst out of my mouth. My back arched away from the table, black spots popping in my vision and blurring the chains hanging from the ceiling.

Hot poison from the Devil’s Nightshade brought another layer of anguish to my system. Tears ran down my cheeks, mixing with sweat.

“I can do this forever, Tate.” Venna wiped the bloody blade on my orange jumpsuit and picked up the glass vial of poison. “In fact, it’s my favorite hobby besides sex.”

My lids fluttered just as a light tingle crackled in my neck tattoo. I turned to the left where Fane’s phantom form loomed in the corner, snarling as his pupils lengthened to black slits. Apparently, Warden Damarcus had been right. After our encounter in the cafeteria, our bond was pushing through the magic of the dampening sigil more every day.

I didn’t want Fane to see me like this, though. Since he couldn’t take my pain, he’d try to force some of his energy into me, but he needed to keep it for himself.

I shook my head when he marched forward. “Don’t give me energy, Maverick.”

A deep frown pulled at his features. “Why?”

“This is nothing. I can handle a little torture.”

Venna ran the blade over my lower abdomen, the cut burning like acid had been poured on me. “Ruin isn’t a mindless villain. He wants the Infernal Sol for something far more dangerous than the average demon. He’s more strategic and less barbaric.” She opened another cut in my stomach. “When my demons broke into his lab, they saw evidence of magic and science combined.”

“Maybe you should just ask Ruin,” I said, trying my hardest to mask my pain so Fane wouldn’t feel it through the bond. “I’m not a scientist or alchemist. I didn’t understand anything they were doing.”

Venna scoffed as she dumped more Devil’s Nightshade onto the dagger, her revealing leather getup making her look like the queen of this hellhole. “You’re not as stupid as you’d have me believe.” Her blood-red lips pursed. “You managed to tame that brutal hybrid beast.”

A low growl spilled out of Fane’s mouth, and his desire to rip Venna’s head off seared through the bond.

“What are you talking about?” I swallowed past the dryness in my throat. What I wouldn’t do for some water right now. “Fane is hardly tame.”

“He is where you’re concerned.” Her cruel laugh bounced against the stone walls and vibrated the steel. “Even though you killed his brother, you still have him wrapped around your little finger.”

My gaze lifted to Fane’s, but his remained locked on Venna’s as rage pulsated from him. “You’re not wrapped around my finger.” That implied I had control over the demon shifter, and that certainly wasn’t the case.

“I don’t give a fuck if you do.” He rolled his shoulder, the tattoos on his arms stretching and constricting. “You can put a chain around my neck and drag me along. Actually, you would probably enjoy being my pet.” A savage grin pulled at his sinful mouth, the piercing glinting under the lights.

How could I be turned on while a mad woman tormented me in a pool of my own blood?

Fane fucking Maverick. That was how. The man—no beast—oozed sex and lust.

“We’ll have to try that when we get out of here,” I told him.

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