Page 43 of Savage Fate

“Vanilla ice cream is my favorite flavor.”

“Now that’s just sad. No one likes plain vanilla.”

“I add some chocolate syrup sometimes.” He grinned. “Sprinkles if I’m feeling really adventurous.”

“You daredevil.” I passed him the safe cookies since he clearly wasn’t a fan of all things hot. “I better keep you away from my special snacks. They’d probably burn a hole through your tongue.”

He peered over at my cookies. “Are those red pepper flakes? In chocolate chip cookies?”

I took a generous bite and nodded. “So delicious.”

“You definitely like living on the edge.” He grabbed a regular cookie and lifted it to his mouth. “I’ll stay in my lane with my normal cookies, thank you very much. But my mom might enjoy something weird like spicy sweets. My dad, not so much.”

“How is your mom doing after word spread that The Collective Hunt is actually still active?” They’d attacked Saint’smom a long time ago, but most never believed they were the culprits. “I hope everyone who doubted her has gotten on their knees and begged for forgiveness.”

A dangerous smile twisted his lips. “My father is working on that. She deserves a million apologies.”

“Good.”

Saint sighed and jammed his fingers through his hair, tousling the black waves. “We need to find Barric and his psychotic followers whether they’re responsible for these recent murders or not. The Collective needs to be stopped either way.” His lips flattened into a thin line. “But magic seems to be completely blocking them.”

Or the Infernal Sol was responsible for hiding them.

“Barric stole an ancient demon amulet.” I slapped my hand over my mouth, my eyes widening.

Why the hell did I just tell him that?

Saint’s head cocked to the side as he studied me. “What are you talking about? What amulet?”

“The one that used to be inside of me.”

Son of a bitch.

Even though my voice came out muffled with my hand over my mouth, Saint understood every word.

Realization dawned over his handsome features, and he nodded. “That’s why you seem different now.”

My hand finally dropped from my mouth. “Different how?”

“Less dark. Less demon.” He shrugged. “I can still sense the demoness in you from Fane, but it doesn’t overpower the shifter.”

Was this why the fated mate bond revealed itself? Because the amulet had been blocking more of my shifter side than I’d realized?

“What exactly is this amulet capable of?” Saint asked, breaking off a piece of a cookie.

“Anything is possible. No one really knows the extent of power this thing contains. It did a number on me…” I touched the sun tattoo still stamped on my abdomen.

The Infernal Sol wasn’t inside me anymore, yet it still screwed with me. Or maybe my mind created this voice to deal with my addiction and guilt.

“Did this thing hurt you, Tate?” As deep lines developed across Saint’s forehead, his hand crept toward my side of the island.

How the hell did he guess that?

“I don’t want to get into that. Let’s just say my experience with the Infernal Sol wasn’t pleasant.”

Liar! You loved every minute with me.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.” He flattened his palm on the counter before it moved any closer. “Who else knows about the amulet?”

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