Page 103 of Savage Claim

I slammed my fist into the royal’s face, severing the flow of soul into his gaping maw. He tumbled sideways onto the ground.

“Tate… Help… Me.” The wolf, Dylan, panted, his usually tan complexion deathly pale. His lids fluttered closed. So weak.

“They’ll die soon,” I promised.

The dux demon with spikes across his shoulders and black horns curling from his temples still held the young shifter down. “You think it’ll be that easy to kill me?”

I scoffed. “You’re nothing but a bug on my pathway.”

To prove his insignificance, I didn’t even bother feasting on his fears. Instead, I sliced my talons down his torso to give him a wound just like Dylan’s, and then I tore into his throat and ripped his head off.

The royal scrambled up, snarling. “He was weak. I’m a royal. You can’t simply rip my head from my neck.”

“I have a different plan for you anyway.” I lunged at him as my craving for blood and death reached a fever pitch.

He growled when my claws sank into his shoulder, onyx blood spurting out. “Is that all you’re capable of?”

My brows furrowed. He was a royal demon and could sense the ancient power in my veins, so why was he provoking me?

Did it really matter?

No. I’d kill him and the rest of them just the same.

I grabbed the royal’s jaw and pried his mouth open. “Let’s see how you like it.”

Fear penetrated his bottomless eyes as I latched onto his life and drew it out. The black cloud of his life force swirled into me.

“Tate, no!” The beast’s voice tried to pull me from my victim. “Don’t do this.”

Too late.

The demon’s irises melted from black to blue as the life faded from them and flowed into me, oozing through my veins.

He was too easy of a kill.

Still fun.

Just for good measure, I tore his head off, his still-warm blood splattering my face.

I crawled off him, laughter tumbling out of my mouth as I reveled in the high consuming his energy gave me. “Royal jewels shine no more. They’re buried deep inside my flesh.”

Dylan turned toward me, his chin trembling as he held back tears. “Tate?”

“Shush. Save your energy.” I ran my hand over his forehead, brushing back his sweaty hair and smearing black splatters of demon blood. “Your soul will replenish, and you’ll be back to running in no time.”

A haze converged over his stare as I continued to touch him, and incoherent mumbles spilled from his mouth. The draining of his soul didn’t cause this. It was me. Madness coiled around this power within me like thick, spiked chains. So wonderful and frenzied.

But little Dylan didn’t need that now. After taking the royal’s dark energy, I was too full of chaos.

“Dylan!”

His mother called to him beyond the blockade, her fear pulsating around her in an intoxicating cloud. She was desperate to get to him, afraid he would fade. Her gaze met mine, pleading for help.

It was strange to not have them fear me. They saw what I could do. If they knew the true depths of the evil within, they’d cower beneath me.

The demons knew, and yet they still provoked me.

Interesting.

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