Page 121 of Savage Fate

“Aw, how cute.” Reese laughed. “You and your fated mate are getting closer. How does that make you feel, Fane? You made Tate into a shifter, and it’s still not enough to keep her. They all realize the true monster behind that allure and run for the hills.”

My own rage bubbled up, and I gripped her chin with one hand while I held my finger over her eye, my black talon slowly extending. “I want answers, Reese, and if you don’t give them to me, I’ll pluck this eye out.” I leaned forward, a devious smile curving my lips. “Out of Fane and me, I’m the real monster. You should know that by now.”

Tremors raced through her as my talon touched her eyelashes, and she flinched, expecting pain to erupt any moment.

“I can’t wait until Barric rids this world of all you bitten stains.” Her nostrils flared. “Every shifter line will be returned to purity, and Barric will lead us into a new era.”

“And how exactly will he do that?” I asked, a cold chill rippling down my spine. There was something off about Reese. She’d always been a bitch, but manic energy pulsated from her now.

She licked her lips, keeping her eyes tightly closed. “The Collective Hunt will clean the filth, and we’ll rejoice when all of you take your last breaths and begin to rot in the ground.” A wild laugh burst out of her. “Worms and bugs and critters will feast on you until you’re a festering pile of sludge. The earth will take the rest of you, and then you’ll be no more. Nevermore and nothing. And only the purest of us will remain to thrive and overtake the realm.”

My gaze met Fane’s across the shed, and we understood each other without saying a word, audibly or silently. Reese sounded like me when I was lost to the Infernal Sol’s influence. The amulet wasn’t on her, but it affected her nonetheless.

It had to be influencing the other members, too, at least the ones in Barric’s close company. Why else would they don cloaks and masks and spew demon tongues while performing demonic rituals?

I removed my talon from her eye and pressed all of them into her throat. “What is Barric doing with the amulet? How is he attempting to use it?” The two members who abducted Hailey and me had mentioned that Barric was planning something extreme.

Reese opened her eyes, the madness in them hauntingly familiar. “The amulet is pleased with our sacrifices. And we have many more to come. The stars will fall in line, and we will watch our enemies burn on a pile of bones.”

I swallowed around the knot in my throat. This didn’t sound good.

My talons dug deeper into Reese’s throat, breaking skin. “Tell me what Barric is planning and?—”

“Barric wanted me to pass along a message.” The ominous smile twisting her lips sent ice through my bloodstream. “To his daughter.”

Saint cursed, and his boots hit the ground. “You’re his daughter?”

“Told you he’d move,” Fane muttered.

Damn it. I’d completely forgotten Saint had no idea.

Hot fury turned the edges of my vision red. Hearing her refer to me as that asshole’s daughter had ignited a cloud of rage. “Unless it’s to tell me where he is so I can kill him, I don’t care what he has to say.”

“Oh, but this is really important.” Reese let out a sharp laugh. And then her arm swung from behind her, free of the restraints, and she sank a knife into my gut, right in the center of the sun tattoo.

My knees hit the ground as pain exploded through my torso, and a scream burst out of my mouth.

“Tate!” Fane’s arms wrapped around me, and Saint hurried to my front, yanking the dagger out, blood spurting across his shirt and the ground.

And then the visions hit me, a flurry of flashes slamming into my skull. I grabbed my head and sobbed at the images of shifters they hunted down and tortured before slaughtering.

“More dead bodies are out there!” I cried out. “One by one, they fell, and the members surrounded them.”

Their laughter filled my ears, mixing with Reese’s, and my stomach heaved as I was forced to endure their torture and eventual murder. The members strapped them to tables like the one in my visions, the Infernal Sol dangling around Barric’s neck.

“He uses the power in the Infernal Sol to lure them in.” Somehow, he made the shifters believe a friend was calling outto them, and they followed in a trance until the cloaked members stepped out of the shadows. “It stops them from shifting.”

Fane placed his hands over mine, groaning as he tried to take all my pain. “Saint, heal her!”

Just before Saint laid his hand on my chest, a wave of intense agony hit me, and I started convulsing. My arms and legs flailed wildly, and cries tore from my mouth. I had no control over my movements, and it felt like something was inside of me, trying to rip me open to get out.

“Hold her down!” Fane’s rough command echoed over my shrieks, and two pairs of strong hands grabbed my limbs.

“It’s going to be okay, Tate.”The demon shifter’s voice swirled into my mind, attempting to calm the panic drowning me.“I’m here. I’m not going to let anything hurt you.”

“I can’t stop it.”I gritted my teeth.“What’s happening to me?”

Since the two shifters had my limbs pinned down, my head was the only thing free to move, so it started slamming against the wooden planks.

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