Page 73 of Savage Claim

Coltrane had no idea how dangerous I was. But she was about to find out. The Malefic ash had burned out of my system, clearing my connection to the Infernal Sol.

She slapped the bars again. “Get up and give me a blood sample. I need to explore the amulet's effects on you to determine the best course of removal.”

I tossed the blanket aside and stood, choking back a groan at my stiff muscles. My neck was tender and bruised while my voice still had a hoarse, raspy cadence. “You want to see the effect the Infernal Sol has on me?” A smile curved my lips as I approached the bars. “No problem. But you don’t need a blood sample for that. I’ll just show you.”

Before Coltrane could back away, I grabbed her arm with one hand and rested my palm on her cheek as I reached for the dark power throbbing in my center.

“I don’t need physical contact anymore. Seeing the terror in your eyes this close is just more fun.”

Chapter

Twenty-Six

The other me practically danced as I let her hop into the front seat while I plowed through Coltrane’s mind to find her fears. It didn’t take long for one to unfold, delivering the reason she coveted the Infernal Sol. Her scream reverberated against the concrete and brick as I turned her fear into a living nightmare.

This is marvelous!

Coltrane stared at her hands in horror while they withered and aged. As her flesh wrinkled, age spots appeared, and her blonde ponytail turned silver and coarse. “Stop it! What are you doing?”

My laugh wasn’t entirely my own. “You said you wanted to know the effects of the Infernal Sol. I thought I’d give you a demonstration.”

She stumbled back, falling to her hands and knees as a hallucination of a seven-foot dux demon stormed into the room. The horned creature covered in yellow scales shoved her on her back and forced her mouth open.

“Get off me!” Coltrane rolled on the ground and tried to fight back, her black cargo pants and knit shirt falling off her brittle, elderly frame. “I’m not too old for The Calling spell. Please. Give it to me again. I need to fight the evil in this world. They’re all evil. They need to be destroyed. Every last nightworlder!”

Coltrane wanted the Infernal Sol to bring her immortality and keep her supernaturally strong without needing a witch to perform The Calling spell.

“You can’t have it both ways, Captain,” I said, casually leaning against the bars as she struggled under the demon’s hold. “You can’t want to exterminate us and become one of us at the same time.”

“This won’t make me a nightworlder.” She managed to kick the demon off, but as she tried to crawl away, he grabbed her wiry, silver hair and yanked her back. “This will make me a better soldier. All I want is to protect the innocent.”

“Liar!” My manic laugh bounced around the cell. “You want to kill every nonhuman creature in this city, and if you had the Infernal Sol, you’d have decades to amass followers.”

Hurried footsteps pounded the concrete, and Hawk sprinted into the room, screeching to a halt when he saw his aunt writhing on the ground, struggling against an invisible foe.

“What’s wrong with her?” His cheeks paled when he noticed my glowing eyes and diamond pupils. “Are you doing something to her?”

I picked at a piece of lint on my shirt and shrugged. “She wanted to know more about the Infernal Sol.”

Hawk hovered over her. “Please, Tate, stop this! I’m begging you.” When I didn’t, he ran to the bars, gripping them so tightly that his knuckles showed white. “Please stop.”

The desperation in his voice penetrated the shadowy fog in my brain, and I sighed. “Fine.” I snapped, and Coltrane’s hallucination vanished.

She rolled onto her back, breathing heavily. “How did you do that?”

“Interested in learning how so you can do the same when you get the amulet?”

She’s not getting shit.

The side of me controlled by the amulet didn’t like the captain. Even if she managed to dig the Infernal Sol out of my body, it was unlikely that it would choose her as a host.

“Your aunt wants the Infernal Sol to become immortal.”

Hawk’s head jerked in her direction. “Is that true?”

Coltrane crawled to her feet, her limbs shaking and skin pale. She wiped a dribble of sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. “Of course not. I want the Infernal Sol to create a more permanent solution for ravens.”

“She wants to bond with the amulet and become immortal to take out all the nightworlders.” I took a deep, calming breath, taking control back from my dark side. Something told me she allowed me to do it so easily. “Your aunt has no intention of sharing that power with anyone. She only wants it for herself.”

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