Page 41 of Savage Fate

What did they want?

As the swishing of fabric sounded within the shadows down each side of the hall, the fight drained out of me. I didn’t stand a chance against multiple enemies without shifting. I didn’t have a weapon either.

“Why are you doing this!” I screamed, hot tears blurring my vision. “Just let me go.”

A massive figure dressed in a black cloak emerged from the darkness. “Why would I ever let such a prize go?” His rough, beastly voice, something unnatural distorting it, poured prickles over my scalp. “I can’t wait to see what you bring us.” The unnerving white mask obscuring his face had chills slinking down each vertebra.

Not knowing what was behind the blank façade was worse. My senses were muddled, and I couldn’t tell what kind of creatures they were.

They weren’t human. I was certain. They were too strong and moved like shadows.

Evil.

That was the only thing I detected from them.

“I won’t be bringing you shit.” I spun to try my chances with the creatures down the hall, but he gripped my hair and yanked me toward him before I could get more than a foot away.

Pain burst through my scalp, and I screamed as he caught me around the middle and hauled me against him.

“Scream all you want.” He breathed me in, the mask hot against my cheek. “I prefer you to be afraid. It’ll make this so much more satisfying.”

More figures glided forward, all dressed in masks and cloaks to hide their identities. They even wore leather gloves.

Acid oozed up my throat as I pictured scales and claws behind the leather.

Were they demons?

“Let’s go.” He picked me up, my legs kicking in the air as I tried to break free. “Grab her.”

Two of his minions gripped my feet to restrain my movements. They carried me back through the hallways, tears streaming down my cheeks and splattering the floor.

I could practically feel their satisfaction at my weeping.

“Who are you? What do you want?” I prodded again, searching for anything I could use against them. “Are you demons? Witches?”

The man’s laughter curdled my stomach. “That doesn’t matter.”

As they dragged me into a different room, I caught my reflection in a decorative mirror on the slick wall. My blond hairwas a tangled mess, and a scrape marred my left cheek from when I slammed against the pavement.

I’d been walking home from the bar when they surrounded me. Before I could reach for my shifter, my muscles had weakened, and I collapsed.

“You won’t get away with this,” I hissed as they tossed me onto a metal table. “I belong to a big pack. They’ll come looking for me.”

“And it’ll be too late, Alison.”

I stumbledback and hit the couch as I returned to reality, my pulse racing and sweat dampening my skin. That had been the longest, most detailed vision of them all. I actually saw the shifterandgot a name.

Was that real or a nightmare she’d had, some deep-seated fear?

A bunch of shifters seemed to share the same fear…

As theories whirled in my mind, a sinking feeling hit my gut. I dragged a hand down my face, needing to talk to Fane. Did he feel my panic through the bond?

I took a heavy breath, and my lids fluttered as I attempted to separate from my body to find him, but just as my consciousness began to drift, something tugged me back.

I jumped off the couch and bolted to the window before I could form a coherent thought.

My stomach clenched when Saint appeared, walking down the street with his hands in his jean pockets and head bowed. The streetlights cast a glow over him and highlighted his currently sullen features.

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