Page 4 of Savage Claim

I jumped off the ground and vaulted through the air, my boots slamming into a few fortynos to propel myself closer to the raven. Blood raced through my veins, and I salivated for the death of the demon moments away from stinging her.

My kill.

Now that was the demon shifter within me.

I landed on the fortyno’s back and yanked his scaly tail away from Kortney. She staggered away, her eyes bugging out as I sank my teeth into the creature’s hard neck. A high-pitched wailing erupted through the night.

Bitter, sulfuric flavor burst into my mouth, and I almost puked.

Sub-demon blood is the worst.

Kortney lunged forward with her sword raised, ready to decapitate the thing with me on it. A growl curled out of my mouth, stopping her in her tracks.

“Mine.” Getting between my kill and me when I was part demon shifter and influenced by a powerful amulet was a bad idea.

The monster tried to shake me off, but I wrapped my arms around his head, the crunching and tearing of flesh and exoskeleton echoing as I decapitated him. Black blood splattered my face and chest, and as he dropped dead, my boots landed on the ground on either side of his body. I tossed the head aside and wiped blood from my mouth.

“Tate?” Kortney smoothed back a few black strands of hair as she surveyed me. “Holy shit.”

A shred of panic sliced through my sternum. Now that she’d seen me in action as a nightworlder, would she hate me? Would she think I was disgusting?

“You are no less than them, Teague. You’re just different.”

My head jerked to the left as Fane took on three sub-demons like it was no big deal, slashing with his talons and moving nearly as fast as a vampire. The male raven, Axel, sliced his sword through the air and decapitated a fortyno.

Seeing the raven who had once been my friend, more than a friend, assaulted my heart. Fane’s gaze flickered between Axel and me, his lip curling in a sneer.

“Pay attention to your surroundings, for fuck’s sake!”

Oh, right. We were in the middle of a fight.

I spun and ducked just as a fortyno swung his tail at me. “Bastard!” My talons plunged into the appendage, ripping it clean off. His piercing howl threatened to bust my eardrums.

“Tran, behind you!” I shouted as Kortney remained frozen, watching me fight.

Or maybe tearing the sub-demons head off had petrified her.

She shook the daze off and pivoted, carving her sword through the thing right before it stung her.

I lost myself as I tore into the swarm of sub-demons, checking on Fane every few minutes. As if he needed it. The demon shifter could have handled this all on his own. Had he even broken a sweat?

Soon, the growls and hisses faded as more creatures fell by the ravens’ swords or our claws. One remaining fortyno charged at me, his tail raised over his head, poised for attack. A twisted smile curved the edges of my lips, and I longed to feel the monster’s life extinguish as I ripped his head off.

But a figure in black suddenly dashed in front of me and kicked the sub-demon out of my path. The man’s sword clashed with the beast, cutting the thick exoskeleton.

What the hell?

My teeth bared as a low snarl tore out of my mouth. My kill.

I marched forward, planning to knock the raven unconscious if I had to. He should have known better than to steal my prey.

“Tate!”

My head snapped around at the rumbling voice invading my mind, finding a huge nightworlder covered in black demon blood. His gray shirt was torn, revealing some of the sharp tattoos and scars slashing his torso, and a pair of mismatched eyes scorched into me.

My beautiful beast.

I licked my lips. Fane always looked the best after shredding apart his victims.

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