Page 7 of Savage Fate

“I like living on the edge, Strawberry Shortcake.” He shrugged, and I could imagine the grin pulling at his lips. “Plus, it’s good to keep Fane on his toes. He can’t get lazy now that you two are mates.”

I shimmied into my jeans. “He won’t have a chance to get lazy, considering I have a habit of finding trouble.” The burgundy knit shirt fit snugly over my chest and hit right at the waistband of my jeans, showing a peek of toned abs when I moved. “You can turn around.”

Hawk whistled and wiggled his eyebrows. “On second thought, Fane should kick my ass for the fantasies I’m having right now.”

I flipped him off and tossed my wet towel on his face. “How aboutIjust kick your ass, Brycen?”

“Feel free to spank me.” He pulled the towel off and winked. “I’ve been a bad boy today.”

A laugh slipped out, and I grabbed the towel as I passed by and hung it on the hook in the steamy bathroom. Joking around with him after more than a year of being on the receiving end of his hatred felt amazing.

When he’d stood by while his aunt kicked me out of Corvin Manor and the ravens, I never thought we’d be friends again.

“When have you evernotbeen a bad boy?” I asked, shuffling back into the bedroom.

“True.”

As light tremors still laced my hands, I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorjamb. “So, what brings you into the enemy’s lair?”

Some of the humor faded from Hawk’s eyes, dimming the gold flecks. “I heard about the shifter body dumped outside Silver Ridge.”

“It can’t be a coincidence.”

“Obviously.” Hawk dragged his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know why Barric would cut out a shifter’s heart, but The Collective has to be responsible. What other nightworlders would go after shifters like this?”

“My thoughts exactly.” I uncrossed my arms and fidgeted with my shirt before shoving my hands into my pockets. “Barric is more unpredictable than ever.”

Hawk’s gaze drilled into me, knowing exactly why. “We have to get that amulet back from Barric.”

No shit.

But Hawk didn’t want it for the same reason I did.

“What can he actually do with it?” he asked.

I shrugged and tried to ignore the emptiness in my gut. “Honestly, I have no idea. Barric doesn’t have demon in him like I do, and the amulet’s not inside of him.”

“But it could burrow inside like it did to you, right?”

The flood of jealousy infiltrating my veins had me fighting to keep my talons from bursting free. The mere thought of the amulet choosing Barric as a vessel made me want to fly off the handle.

“It’s possible,” I admitted through gritted teeth. “He can still cause serious damage with it simply in his possession.” Would Barric even know how to use the stone, or would it whisper words into his mind to show him the way?

It should be withme.

“We need to get witches involved,” Hawk said, unaware of the storm of fury crashing within me. “They don’t need to know about the amulet to scry for him.”

“That might work.”

“The ravens have some powerful witches at their disposal. We can go to Captain Gia for help. She’d be more than happy to provide some assistance.” His attention lowered to the bedspread. “Iamstill a raven. I’m just taking a break.”

Unable to stop myself, I pushed away from the door and rested my hand on his thick shoulder, hoping he didn’t feel the tremors. “It’s okay to need a break, Hawk.”

“My aunt would be seething if she knew I was staying with shifters. She might have had a cordial relationship with them, but she definitely saw them as nightworlders.”

“Fuck her.” She didn’t give a damn about Hawk and put him at risk just to obtain the amulet. “It’s a good thing she’s far away in Chicago, or she’d be hunting the Infernal Sol too.”

If word got out that Barric had it, he’d become a target for powerful demons who coveted the stone. Not many would havecrossed Karn when he had it, and most hadn’t known it was even inside of me.

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