Page 46 of Savage Fate

I snorted. “I never thought a day would come when you’d rather I spend time with Hawk.”

“He’s the lesser evil.”

Fane leaned forward to drop a kiss on my forehead before evaporating. I sighed and floated back to my physical form, startling Saint when I jolted out of the daze.

He jerked back and almost fell on his ass. “What the hell, Tate? What happened? Are you okay?”

“Sorry.” I rolled my shoulders. “I just slipped out of my body for a few minutes.”

Saint crossed back to his side of the island, blinking. “What do you mean you slipped out of your body?”

“It’s a thing Fane and I can do. We can astral project to each other. He was here.”

“Did you develop this ability before or after you claimed each other?” Saint asked, taking his seat on the stool.

“We discovered it shortly after he bit me.” Why was I so easily spilling all my damn secrets to this man? This was something only a few people knew. “He felt my panic and came here.”

The alpha jammed his fingers through his hair as he considered my words. “I’m beginning to think there’s a bond much stronger than a fated mate one.”

He was right. I didn’t think anything could top the crazy connection Fane and I had.

“You said panic? What were you freaking out over?” Saint motioned toward his phone, the screen now black. “What does it have to do with Alison Marks?”

The invisible band around my lungs returned, and it was suddenly hard to breathe. “Ever since the Infernal Sol was removed from me, I’ve been having these side effects, one of them being visions of cloaked creatures chasing and tormenting shifters.”

Saint pressed his palms against the counter and leaned toward me. “You’ve been seeing the shifter victims?”

I nodded. “I just realized it. And the culprits aren’t The Collective Hunt.”

“And you’resure it’s not The Collective?” Ari asked from the head of the table in the same conference room at Silver Ridge we visited a few weeks ago. “They couldn’t be the ones behind the masks and cloaks? All of the victims so far have been bitten shifters.”

I dragged a hand down my face. “They didn’t feel like shifters.” A chill skated across my back, and I shivered. “They felt evil.”

Sure, Barric and most of his followers were evil as hell, but they never gave off an ominous, diabolical vibe.

“Maybe it’s simply a coincidence that the victims are all bitten shifters.” Fane rested his hand on my knee to stop it from bouncing, and his thumb rubbed circles to soothe my anxiety.

“And why would The Collective remove their hearts?” Saint asked from his seat across the table, as far from Fane and me as possible. It was the only way they could be in the same vicinity.

Fane wasn’t happy when he found out Saint knew about the amulet. I was surprised the two males hadn’t immediately clashed when we entered the room.

Gia passed over a stack of photos, and a sick feeling hit my gut when I realized what they were. “A few more bodies have been found. Study these to see if you recognize anyone or any details from your visions.”

“Were any bodies dropped off or found near demons?” Logan asked, pouring a handful of Skittles into his palm.

The raven captain nodded. “A dux demon carried one of the deceased into a bear pack territory in Michigan.”

Fane leaned closer as he sensed the turmoil rushing over me. “Recognize anything?”

“Yeah.” After scrutinizing each photo, I placed at least three of them in my visions from minute details I recalled. A tattoo, a scar, an article of clothing, and jewelry. “These.” I laid out the pictures, swallowing back bile as I replayed their last moments in my mind.

Cross-checking their times of death with the timing of my visions, at least one shifter was murderedafterthe fact. If I’d realized what was happening, could I have done something to save him?

“Don’t do that, Tate.”Fane gripped my chin and forced me to meet his eyes.“Don’t blame yourself for this.”

“But what if I could have prevented some of these?”I tapped the photos.

Like Fane had predicted, no one questioned the reason behind the visions after he reminded them that I was part demon. Logan and Wrath were skeptical, but they knew about the Infernal Sol and had put the pieces together without further explanation.

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