Page 101 of Savage Claim

And Dylan was the sacrificial lamb to lure me in.

The royal didn’t say a word as he kneeled over the young shifter, pressing a knee to his chest. Dylan kicked and struggled, but the dux demon held him down, preventing him from shifting—as if that would help. The kid was no match for either of them, especially the royal.

Long, pale fingers gripped Dylan’s jaw and forced his mouth open.

Oh God no.

Dylan’s gasp sent an invisible sledgehammer to my rib cage, and he stilled as a white mist drifted out of his mouth and into the demon’s.

His soul.

“Fane!” I screamed in my head. “It’s Dylan! Hurry!”

When Fane heard my call, a wall of panic slammed into me, and I knew he’d come tearing into the front yard any second.

Like I thought, Fane, in human form and a pair of bloodied jeans, darted out of the front door and down the porch. It only took a moment for him to survey the scene and understand.

But he took two steps off the porch and slammed into an invisible wall so hard he fell on his ass.

The demons holding me laughed.

“What the fuck!” Fane scrambled up and beat his fist against the barrier, purple sparks flying.

My heart dropped to my boots. “There’s a witch!” A damn mage was casting a spell to keep Dylan and me separate from the rest of them.

A heart-wrenching cry erupted through the night as Nora raced out of the door. “Dylan!”

Fane grabbed her before she could slam into the wall.

“Let me go! I have to get to my baby.” She struggled in Fane’s grip and looked ready to claw his face off.

He pressed his hand against the barrier, showing Nora. “We can’t get through.”

Panic eclipsed her gaze as she helplessly stared at Dylan and then me. “Do something, Tate! Please.”

I fought against the four demons holding me. “I’m trying!”

The rest of the Anders arrived in human form, horrified and fighting against the barrier with no luck of breaking through. Wrath appeared with Kesa on his heels. Black demon blood covered everyone.

“There has to be an end to it.” Wrath felt along the wall. “Kesa, go left. I’ll go right.”

The demons took off in opposite directions, but I feared they wouldn’t find the end in time to get to Dylan before that bastard sucked his soul dry.

Ephraim and Preston continued to strike the shield while Fane pressed his hand into it as power pulsated out of him, trying to weaken the witch’s magic.

It wasn’t enough. They wouldn’t get through. The electric tang of her magic intensified with every passing second.

The tingle in my gut, the whisper in my ear, the temptation of power, told me what I had to do to save Dylan. I knew what it would cost me. This wasn’t me giving a bit of control over to the amulet. It was done with that.

It wanted total surrender.

As I peered back at Fane and our eyes locked, he realized what I intended to do. He shook his head, but I only gave a sad smile.

“He’s family.”

Fane knew this was the only way. That was why he didn’t beg me to stop.

I couldn’t save Jayla. But I could save Dylan.

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