Page 83 of Savage Hunt

Something about him was familiar. I knew him.

How did I know him?

More spikes ran down the center of his head, and the crimson streetlights darkened his bronze skin. He didn’t work for Venna.

He worked for…

Ruin.

As the demon approached, I snatched his wrist, my fingers barely fitting around it. “What are you doing here?”

“Tate! We’ve been searching Vlehull for you for days.” His bulky shoulders loosened as he heaved a sigh of relief. “Ruin will be happy you’re okay.”

“Okay? Do I look okay?” I tugged on the lace material of the revealing dress.

The dux demon—I couldn’t remember his name—examined me, arching one eyebrow. “Were you at a party?”

“Ding ding.” I spun and swayed, recalling my fear feast. “I had so many delicious meals. They screamed and cried as I fed. Such pretty torment while they thrashed and begged.”

He took a step back. “I thought you were being held captive by Venna.”

“Oh, I was.” I shortened the distance between us again, my neck craning back to stare into his face. “She locked me up but invited me to be her special guest at a party. I cracked open their skulls and pulled out their tasty terrors.” I licked my lips. “I even sucked on their life. I didn’t know I could do that to demons.”

Some of the color drained from his cheeks. “Neither did I.” He widened the gap between us and reached into his pocket to pull out a phone. “I’m going to call Ru?—”

I snatched the phone from his hand, tossed it on the ground, and squeezed his jaw in an unrelenting grip. “Not so fast. You’re someone I know but not someone I can remember. Maybe if I peek at what ails you, I can discover if you’re friend or foe.” A twisted laugh poured out of my mouth. “And if not, no matter. I can still sink my teeth into the monsters that haunt you.”

He grabbed my wrist and yanked my hand off his jaw. “Tate, don’t make me hurt you.”

“You? Hurt me?” My head tilted. “How naïve. The power in me would swallow you whole.” The Infernal Sol scratched at the surface, wanting to play with the demon.

“You don’t want to do this, Tate. You know me. I’m Nik, remember?”

“Hmm. Nik.” His name curled over my tongue, but I still longed to hear him scream. As I burrowed into his mind, his gasp echoed through the deserted street. Just as a memory emerged, I was ripped away.

“Get off me,” I hissed, my voice not my own.

The tall, tattooed high demon loomed in front of me, those burning blue eyes full of worry. “What are you doing, Tate? That’s Nik.”

Nik staggered back and leaned against the wall. “I don’t think we’re dealing with Tate right now.” He wiped a layer of sweat off his forehead.

“Definitely not.” The high demon jammed his fingers through unruly navy locks.

“I remember you, Ruin.” He’d been covered in blood when I fought at his house before Venna took Fane and me captive.

He reached for my shoulders and drew me toward him. “Push the Infernal Sol back. I need you in control.”

“I am in control.” I ran my fingers down his throat and licked my lips. “I only wanted to see what Nik was afraid of. Maybe you’ll let me glimpse your fears, Lord of Savannah.”

Before I could establish a connection with Ruin, he snatched my wrist, and a warning growl vibrated his chest. “That’s definitely not something you want to see.”

A thrill zipped through me. “Would your sneaky, two-faced brother be in there?”

Shadows crawled over his expression at the mention of his not-so-dead twin. Maybe Wrath did have a place in Ruin’s fears.

“You’d regret seeing the terrible things in my mind,” the demon lord said.

“Now I’m really intrigued. Did you know I can suck on demon life forces as if they had souls?”

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