Page 29 of Savage Hunt

A spike of adrenaline hit me so hard that I nearly toppled off the bed. My heart slammed against my ribs as my breaths came in erratic pants.

“Whoa, are you okay, Tate?” Maddie asked as she steadied me. “What happened? One minute, you were talking, and then the next, it looked like an invisible force struck you.”

The adrenaline came from Fane, and it was the first time I’d felt something this strong through the bond since we’d been in Heldrok.

I needed to go to him. I needed to know if he was okay.

I tapped into the storm of emotions from the demon shifter and pictured him in my mind. Maddie would probably assume I’d gone into a trance as I left my body. It was plausible. Nightworlders did all types of weird shit.

Hot tingles crackled over me as the concrete and stone walls spun, and weightlessness looped around every square inch of me. The cell faded, and another room materialized, loud shouts and raucous cheers infiltrating my eardrums.

An arena came into focus, the room shaped like a circle with a balcony overlooking a fighting ring. Blood and sweat permeated my nose while fear smeared my tongue. Guards leaned over the second-story railing to watch prisoners battling it out. My stomach clenched as the black jumpsuit emerged in the center of the action.

Fane snarled, his pupils in diamond slits, his teeth elongated, and talons out. Blood ran down his temple and smeared his mouth as he faced off with three dux demons.

Chapter

Ten

What the hell was this? The COs on the balcony held coins like they were betting on the fight while the ones below had weapons trained on the inmates.

My tattoo tingled as Fane’s attention landed on me.

“You had to pick now to visit me, didn’t you, fiera mika?”

His voice in my head was always a welcome sound, whether a sexy whisper or wrapped in anger. Right now, his exhaustion showed through.

“What is this?” I asked.

“We’re they’re entertainment.” Fane’s focus toggled between the two demons on the right and the one on the left attempting to sneak around him to land a hit.

Invisible daggers poked at my chest as the scene reminded me of the fighting ring in Karn’s mansion where I murdered two humans. Their deaths stuck with me, and so did the guilt.

Normally, Fane could take three dux demons easily, but they each carried sharp, jagged blades along with their own teeth and claws.

“I’m guessing this isn’t the first time they’ve made you fight.”

Fane shook his head and averted a strike from the demon with a shaved head and green scales. “I win too easily, so they gave them an advantage this time.”

As the demon on the left made his attack, Fane spun, ducked under a pair of talons, and slammed his fist into his opponent’s face. Black blood sprayed the cement as he fell. The guards cheered while a few cursed, having bet against Fane.

Who would be stupid enough to bet against the demon shifter?

He kicked his opponent while he was down, sending him flying across the ring and into the wall beneath the balcony. The demon with yellow hair and eyes charged, his jagged knife lifted.

Fane slammed his elbow into the dux demon’s sternum and shoved him away just as the guy with a shaved head came at him.

“You’re going down, Maverick,” the demon said, his pupils elongating into slits. “You can’t beat all three of us.”

Fane scoffed. “Three armed guys against one is hardly a fair fight, Duke, but I’ll still win.”

Duke’s nostrils flared, and the demon that Fane had kicked across the room finally stumbled back into the ring, ebony blood dribbling down his temple from a gash. The tension in the room thickened as all three prisoners circled Fane again.

My heart crashed against my ribs, and my fists clenched, longing to join the fight. How could I sit back and do nothing as Fane fought for his life?

This was how he felt all those times watching me in his phantom form fend off attacks.

His luminescent gaze swiveled in my direction. “I want you to leave, Tate.”

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