Page 63 of Savage Hunt

I scowled. “Fane’s not here, and what he doesn’t know can’t hurt him…” My voice trailed off as my words slurred. What the hell did that prick give me?

“Come on, Tate.” Ruin helped me off the rock and onto a sleeping bag Nik had unrolled. “Get some rest while we figure out a game plan.”

The cave ceiling blurred as I reclined back, my eyelids growing heavy. I could barely keep them open. “If I wake up and you’re gone on a rescue mission without me, I will kick all your asses.”

Logan chuckled. “That’s not that much of a threat. I happen to like fighting with you.”

I flipped him off, or at least I tried, but my fingers barely moved. As their voices faded, my mind drifted to Fane, a sob sticking in my throat. Someone used a rag to dab the sweat on my forehead and then wiped my tears.

Pangs twisted through my chest thinking of Fane. He was strong but not invincible, and Venna was determined to make us suffer for her sister and Karn.

As I drifted to sleep, darkness didn’t come. Instead, one of the torture rooms in Heldrok materialized. Chains hung from the ceiling, weapons dangled from the walls, and the steady drip of water was its own form of torment.

Sharp knives punctured my lungs when Fane appeared, muzzled, wrapped in chains, and forced to kneel on the ground. Venna stood before him while Kaspin loomed behind him, chanting under his breath from a weathered grimoire.

What were they doing to him?

“Fane!”

He didn’t react to my voice, and he didn't see me when I moved right in front of him.

“Is this spell going to work or not, Kaspin?” Venna folded her arms, pushing up her cleavage already spilling out her corset top.

The ancient witch looked up from his grimoire. “It will work as long as your assistant returns with the talisman. That stone will solidify the enchantment.”

Ice dragged along my veins, freezing my blood. What talisman? What spell were they putting on him?

My breaths came in ragged pants as I tried to grab Fane, but my hand passed through him. Why couldn’t I reach him?

The door opened, and Mykel marched in, smirking at Fane. “He should always be muzzled.”

“Did you get it?” Venna snapped. “We don’t have time to make jokes. We need the talisman if this is going to work.”

The dux demon lifted his hand, swinging a familiar necklace around. “I found it in that annoying high demon’s apartment.”

Trepidation dripped through my bloodstream, cooling my muscles. Why would they need the bloodstone Fane used to wear around his neck? A witch had enchanted it years ago to help him find his brother’s killer.

Me.

Kaspin flicked his bony hand and snagged the talisman with his magic, floating it to him. As he dropped it into the bowl, a puff of smoke bloomed out. His eyes, the color of amethysts, glowed as he waved his hand over the spell mixture.

“It’s ready.”

Fane snarled and jerked on the chains, blood oozing from the wound in his leg. My chest caved in as I helplessly watched him thrash like a wild animal caught in a trap.

“Fane? Can you hear me?”

Nothing.

Was he unable to see or hear me because my body was asleep? Or was the witch’s magic blocking me?

Putrid green smoke spiraled out as Kaspin slinked forward with the bowl. “This will do exactly what you need, Princess Venna.” His robe drifted around his bare feet like a black phantom, and his thin, ghostly-pale skin shined with a sickly hue under the yellow lights. “He’ll be unstoppable.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” She flicked her curtain of sleek blonde locks over her shoulder. “There’s something strange about those two.”

When Kaspin shoved the steaming bowl beneath Fane’s face, he turned away, trying to fight it. “Hold him.”

Mykel captured Fane’s head between his large hands, keeping it steady as the witch forced the green smoke to swirl through the holes in the muzzle, seeping into Fane’s mouth and nose.

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