Page 128 of Savage Fate

Estella’s paintbrush froze in midair. “It’s just a sigil to reveal hidden meanings. She can’t feel a thing.”

He cracked his neck, the pops echoing like gunshots in the lab. “Just remember that I know exactly what she feels.”

The dux demon swallowed hard and continued drawing on my torso.

“Tell me again why he’s here?” Logan mumbled to Fane while staring at Saint, who leaned against a counter a few feet away. “Youare her mate.”

Saint shook his head and crossed his arms. “You know I can hear you, Logan. And for the tenth time, I’m here in case I need to heal her.”

Logan gave a dramatic nod and flashed an overly sweet smile. “Right. I forgot.”

Fane smirked at his best friend, knowing he was intentionally irritating Saint.

“Stop being a dick, Logan,” I said. “I thought you were the nice one.”

His jaw dropped. “I am nice—to my friends.”

After Fane finished distracting me from my obsession with the Infernal Sol last night, we tracked down Saint and woke Reese for more torture, but she wasn’t cooperating. In fact, she’d stopped making any sense. Her concept of reality was completely warped.

Had the Infernal Sol fried her brain?

Saint called Camus to inform him of his psychotic mate so he could take her home. If she recovered, at least she’d be in Mohan Wilds where we could interrogate—or torture—her some more.

Camus also gave his word that he’d uncover his daughter’s involvement in Reese’s nefarious plot, but I didn’t expect swift punishment even if Marissa had known.

Another hour passed of boring examinations, and after Denton and Estella hunched over a desk for a while, scrutinizing their notes, Denton finally spoke.

“I think you’re right, Estella.” He studied the carvings on the dagger again and then read over something in a notebook. “That’s the only conclusion that makes sense.”

Estella’s electric-blue demon eyes flicked toward me, and for the first time, pity shined in them. Knots fisted in my stomach as I hopped from the table, my boots planting hard on the white tiles.

It had to be bad if she felt any shred of sympathy for me.

Fane’s hulking presence flanked my side. “Spit it out, Denton.”

The alchemist ran his hand over his bald head, the bright fluorescents shining on his ebony complexion. “I believe the dagger was imbued with power from the Infernal Sol.”

Logan went over to analyze their notes, muttering under his breath. “That’s what I was afraid of.” He rubbed the dark shadow covering his chin.

“When Nadia removed the Infernal Sol, she did so improperly.” Denton’s long fingers tapped at his tablet. “Only a powerful demon should remove something of Underworld origins like this. That’s why Ruin had insisted on doing it himself.”

A string of curses slipped from Logan as he read the screen on the Denton’s tablet. “Some of it’s still inside of her.”

“Precisely.” Denton passed Logan the dagger. “This tapped into that piece and heightened its influence.”

I swallowed back the bile oozing up my throat, already suspecting this information after Saint shared his theory yesterday. “How do we get it out?”

“That’s the problem.” Denton’s expression turned grim. “Since the amulet fused with your soul—you must have given it permission to take you over completely—this small piece is embedded into the very fiber of your existence. You can’t simply remove it.”

Invisible bands tightened around my chest as panic settled in. “If it can’t be removed, how the hell do we fix this? Will I crave the amulet forever?”

“Your soul has to be healed.” Denton’s gaze briefly flicked toward Fane, hesitating like he was afraid to speak his next words. “If you don’t heal it, you will eventually die.”

Air whooshed out of my lungs, and the lab spun as all the moisture zapped from my mouth. “How long do I have?”

Fane rested his hand on the small of my back to keep me steady.

“I’m not sure,” Denton admitted. “But being stabbed with this dagger has certainly sped up that timeline.”

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