Page 87 of Savage Hunt

A tear ran down my cheek. “We have to find him. We have to help him come back. Break the spell and put his memories back together.”

That was my fault too.

As guilt ate at me, Hawk spoke to the others.

“She was tortured?”

“You will never know what she’s been through,” Ruin said. “And if you ever cared even one ounce for her, you’d show her some compassion.”

Logan kneeled next to me and tucked my hair behind my ear. “We’ll find him, Tate. But we need to get you somewhere safe.”

His words filtered into my ears, but their meaning drifted away as I swayed.

“We should get her to Mohan Wilds,” Logan said as Ruin kneeled on my other side. “Maybe being around other shifters will help push the demon side down.”

Ruin’s lips thinned, but he nodded. “As much as I hate to admit it, that’s a good idea.”

“I’ll stay with her.” Logan wrapped his arm around my shoulders and hauled me to my unsteady legs. “Let’s get you home.”

It felt like someone had glued weights on my eyelids as I opened them to blurry, sage-green walls. But I’d never forget the warm leather, bergamot, and a hint of cinnamon fragrance. It was permanently seared into me that night we fought in the alley after I left Wrath & Ruin.

Fane Maverick.

He wasn’t here, or my neck tattoo would be tingling.

I swallowed back the bile oozing up my throat as I recalled the horrors I rained on those demons at Venna’s mansion. Gobbling up their fears made me go nuts, and the Infernal Sol had only been a few inches away from taking complete control.

A bitter laugh slipped out. What control? I’d had no control. I sucked the life energy from demons like they consumed human souls.

And Hawk saw me at my worst.

He witnessed me slurp on Roxie’s soul. If he didn’t think I was an evil nightworlder before, he did now. I went from being a raven hellbent on saving the innocent and atoning for the blood on my hands to a psycho hybrid with an ancient amulet trying to take me over.

I blinked the haze from my vision, and Fane’s room at the Anders’ home came into focus. In the cemetery, Logan and Ruin discussed taking me to the Mohan Pack. They said being around other shifters might push my demon side down.

Flashes of Venna with pictures of Fane’s family infiltrated my mind as sharp claws tore at my chest.

No. I couldn’t be here. It wasn’t safe for them.

I scrambled out of Fane’s bed, wearing one of his t-shirts and a pair of my sleep shorts. Who the fuck changed me?

Not important.

I needed to get out of here as fast as I could before Venna’s demons came for me. The door creaked open, and Fane’s aunt stuck her head through the opening. Her brow creased when she saw the empty bed, and then she found me standing in the middle of the room like a deer in headlights.

“Oh, you’re awake.” Nora opened the door and slipped inside, her honey locks bouncing around her shoulders. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“No! I have to get out of here.” I marched toward the door, but she stood in my way. “It’s not safe.”

She lifted her hands and shook her head. “No one’s going to get to you here, Tate. You’re safe.”

“You’re not,” I screeched as my panic reached a fever pitch. “None of you are. Venna will come for me, and she’ll hurt all of you, even Dylan, to get to me.” She’d already threatened them to force me to torture Fane. She’d do anything at this point.

Nora slowly lowered her hands to rest on my shoulders, her expression softening. “No one will make it through our territory lines. After the agrigon attack, we aren’t taking any chances. We have constant patrols.”

But someone did get through to take their pictures. And even if Venna couldn’t get to them, I still wasn’t safe to be around.

“I could hurt you.” My voice came out in a broken whisper. “I am not safe to be around. There are things you don’t understand. I’m dangerous, and I have this thing inside of me that I can’t control and?—”

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