Page 69 of Savage Claim

Son of a bitch.

“Malefic ash?” I stumbled back and slammed against a shelf, rattling boxes. “This was a trap. You set me up?”

Hands gripped my shoulders, and Coltrane’s blurry image appeared. “Good job, Hawk. I knew you could do it.”

“I should have known,” I muttered, my speech slurred.

Hawk’s head bowed as he allowed his aunt to pull me from the shelf. “Are you sure about this? You could be wrong.”

“Don’t let your feelings for her cloud your judgment.” Coltrane pushed me deeper into the room. “This isn’t the same Tate you remember. And from what you’ve told me, that amulet is controlling her. This is for her own good.”

Cold fear pooled in my gut, and my legs nearly gave out. Coltrane finally put the pieces together and realized I’d had the Infernal Sol the whole time.

Chapter

Twenty-Five

Hawk had tricked me and played on my emotions to set a trap so his aunt could capture me. Now I was drugged and in the captain’s clutches.

She’d finally have her prize, the Infernal Sol, after ruining so many lives to procure it.

A burst of anger ripped through me, and I shoved my elbow back, crushing it into Coltrane’s ribs. She cursed and dropped me.

“Don’t just stand there, Hawk!” she screeched. “Help me.”

Strong arms wrapped my torso and shoved me toward a small iron cell. “Why didn’t she pass out?” Hawk squeezed me against his hard chest, his heart pounding into my back. “I dosed her with enough Malefic ash to knock out a shifter twice her size.”

“Like I’ve been trying to tell you, Tate is not normal.” Coltrane let a grin slip through while her nephew wasn’t paying attention. “That demon amulet is affecting her more than any bite from a shifter. It’s making her do things she would never do. Trust me, Hawk, the real Tate would thank you for locking her up before she could hurt anyone.”

The captain manipulated everyone around her, even her own nephew.

“When I get out of here, I’m going to break your spirit like you did to so many others, Coltrane.” I stumbled and crashed to the ground, scraping my palms as a burst of pain hit them.

“See what I mean, Hawk?” Coltrane shut the door and locked it. “This isn’t your friend.”

A manic laugh burst out of my mouth. “Do you really think this little cell will hold me? An ancient demon amulet resides inside of me. You have no idea of what I’m capable of.”

Satisfaction flashed in her brown eyes. “So you admit it? You’ve been harboring the Infernal Sol?”

I crawled to my hands and knees. “Maybe you do know what I’m capable of, Coltrane, since you’ve been searching for this amulet for years, probably as long as you’ve been a raven.”

“I’m simply trying to get it out of the wrong hands.”

“And who has the right hands?” I stood and then staggered against the bars, forcing her back. “You?”

“I will get it out of you and keep it safely hidden.”

“Liar, liar, pants on fire.” I swiveled to Hawk as he hovered a few feet away in the shadows. “I’m not the first birdie she sent after the amulet. She’s let others die trying to get it.”

Coltrane scoffed. “Don’t let her twist your mind with lies.”

“Do you remember Maddie Reynolds?” As soon as the name dropped from my mouth, Coltrane flinched.

Hawk blinked and looked at his aunt, lines creasing his brow. “She vanished a few years ago.”

“She didn’t just vanish.” I laughed as the blood drained from the captain’s cheeks. “Your aunt sent her on a secret mission, just like me, to retrieve the Infernal Sol in the Underworld. But Maddie was caught and taken to Heldrok where we met.”

Coltrane grabbed her nephew’s arm to pull him away. “Leave, Hawk. She’s getting to you.”

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