Page 10 of Savage Blood
“There’s no escaping, Tate.” Her voice came out in a gravelly rumble, the words distorted by the change taking over her body, but she hadn’t fully committed to transforming yet.
Why wouldn’t she shift?
A hand clamped down on my shoulder, and she whipped me around, slamming her fist into my cheek. Stars exploded in my vision, and I plummeted to the ground again, my skull cracking on the hard stone. Roxie’s keys fell from my grasp.
Son of a bitch.
The copper taste of blood spilled into the back of my mouth as a weight pressed against my chest. When I opened my eyes, sharp teeth, dripping with saliva, eclipsed my sight.
“You’ll pay for your part in my son’s death.” Amelia’s knee dug into my sternum. “You and that lowlife Fane Maverick.”
Golden irises seared into mine, and something about them poured chills down my spine. It wasn’t the fury in them but the ice-cold darkness clinging to the outskirts of the gold, like shadows attempting to overwhelm everything.
Amelia opened her mouth and leaned forward, attempting to bite my throat.
She wasn’t thinking about her loyalty to Barric right now. He wanted me alive for some reason, but she’d rather sink those teeth into me and tear my head off.
I headbutted her nose, and a satisfying crack echoed, a savage snarl following. Warmth leaked onto my cheeks as blood dripped from her nostrils.
Ugh, gross.
Before she recovered, I punched her thigh, and the weight on my chest vanished long enough for me to roll out from under her. My boots dug into the stone ground as I scrambled up and dashed around a corner.
My arms and legs pumped, the Malbraxis manacles shaking on my wrists.
Please let the doors be unlocked.
A short flight of stairs appeared up ahead, but as soon as my foot hit the first step, claws snagged my shirt, and someone yanked me back.
Air burst from my lungs when I crashed into a solid form and then tumbled to the ground. My pulse shot through the stratosphere as Amelia snatched my ankle and dragged me toward her.
My fingers raked over the floor, willing my talons to make an appearance, but the cuffs had my shifter and demon side muted.
“Get off of me!” I gritted my teeth as Amelia flipped me over, her face in a horrifying transition between human and wolf.
And something else.
She didn’t look right.
“Fuck Barric’s rule.” Her jaws snapped, spit flying across my cheek. “I’d rather kill you and pay the consequences.”
Amelia shoved my head sideways into the ground as she lurched forward, her teeth skimming my throat.
And then someone jerked her off me.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Jax, Barric’s beta, hauledthe female shifter farther from me, his grip on her arm so tight his knuckles showed white.
“She tried to escape. I was only subduing her.” A sinister smile curved her mouth. “With a little extra force.”
“Bullshit,” Jax spat, releasing her. “You were moments away from ripping Tate’s throat out. You know we need her alive.”
My brow arched as I wiped Amelia’s disgusting saliva off my face and neck. Theyneededme? Barric wanted me alive, but I thought it was just so he could torment me himself.
Ice coiled over my body, prickling my nape.
They needed me.
For what?
