Page 56 of Savage Hunt

My own anger for the warden seeped into my veins, and I scrambled out of the bed, wrapping a sheet around my naked form. “Fane, stop.” I shoved between the two powerful creatures, forcing the demon shifter back so I wasn’t pressed against Demarcus.

The warden straightened his black button-down shirt. “Thank you, Ms. Teague. I?—”

I slammed my fist into his face, and his head thudded against the wall. “That’s for Maddie.”

“I should have seen that coming,” Demarcus licked black blood off his lip. “You’re angry. I understand that, but I honestly had no choice in the matter. Venna wanted to do much worse, and your friend would have ended up dead anyway. The raven’s death was quick and painless, and?—”

My knee lifted, ramming into his crotch. “That’s for letting Venna create this torture nest for us.”

Demarcus hunched over, his cheeks reddening as he held onto his manhood. “I definitely should have seen that one coming,” he wheezed.

Fane’s husky chuckle tickled the back of my neck as he pulled me away from the warden, his arm wrapping around my shoulders to stop me from attacking. “What do you want, Demarcus? If you’re here to separate us, you’ll end up with your head separated from your neck.”

Blackness seeped into the warden’s eyes as he stood, giving a threatening growl. “I’m trying to help.” He jerked his chin to the two black CO uniforms on the table in the corner. “You’re getting out of here tonight.”

Chapter

Nineteen

My pulse spiked as the warden’s words sank in. “Why would you help us escape?”

“Is this a trick, another punishment dreamed up by Venna?” Fane towed me back to him when I tried to cross the small room to inspect the CO uniforms.

Demarcus wiped off another trickle of blood from his chin, scowling. “Venna has outstayed her welcome. I’ve given her what’s owed, and I’m done. If you two aren’t here, she won’t be either.”

“You’re really letting us go?” I gently pried Fane’s grip off the bedsheet so it wouldn’t fall and expose my naked body to the warden.

“Ruin is sneaking into Heldrok as we speak,” Demarcus said. “I’ll lead you to him.”

Fane folded his arms against his chest, his biceps bulging. He, of course, had no problem standing there without a stitch of clothing. “You’re working with Ruin?”

“The lord of Savannah has no idea I’m aware of his presence.” A dark smile twisted his lips, pulling shadows across his face. “But I know when someone sneaks in or out of my prison. Now get dressed. We don’t have much time.”

After Fane and I hurried into the prison uniforms, Demarcus led us through the labyrinth of stone and brick corridors. He had ulterior motives for helping us, but I wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

When we reached an atrium where several hallways branched off, Demarcus stopped in front of a wall. Moments later, vibrations rippled through the ground, and a secret door appeared.

“That’s him now.” Demarcus bounced on his toes, almost giddy, while the veins in his neck throbbed faster than hummingbird wings.

Why was he so excited to see Ruin? He made it pretty clear he didn’t like the demon lord.

Frost crawled over my flesh as a thought struck me. Was this a trap to get the demon lord locked in prison? Or would Demarcus attack him? Were we bait?

Dressed in all black, Ruin stepped into the atrium with Logan, Nik, and Nadia in tow. He pulled up short when he saw Fane and me. “What are you—” His gaze traveled behind us, and the blood drained from his face. “Y-You?”

I peered over my shoulder, but instead of Demarcus, another high demon who looked exactly like Ruin—except for lighter blue hair—wore the warden’s clothes. “What the hell?”

“Wrath?” Logan blinked several times as if trying to clear a hallucination. “I thought you were dead.”

Fane uttered a string of curses in a demon language and yanked me into him.

The high demon’s lips pulled into an eerie smile, making him look like a twisted version of Ruin. “I was dead, no thanks to Ruin and Fane.”

“Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on!” As my head spun, I jerked out of Fane’s tight grip on my arm. “Who are you?”

Fane eliminated the distance between us and dragged me back into him, poised to fend off an attack, his attention fixed on the warden. “This is Wrath, Ruin’s twin.”

Ah. Wrath & Ruin.

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