Page 126 of Savage Blood
My hair was plaited into a long braid down my back, and black satin ribbons twisted through the strands to hide its unique color. As we moved through the crowd, shifters dressed in finery with an assortment of masks chatted away, sipping drinks and nibbling on food. Not one of them suspected interlopers in their midst.
But they did look.
Of course they looked. The imposing creature next to me turned heads everywhere we went.
Fane Maverick in jeans and a t-shirt was impressive. Fane Maverick in a fitted black tux with gelled-back midnight locks and an ebony mask covering all but those tantalizing lips was heart-stopping.
Godly, actually.
“Keep looking at me like that, fiera mika, and we’ll have to vanish in a shadowy corner for a while.”Fane’s rumbling voice in my head had shivers racing over my back.
Heat slithered down my back, and a pulse throbbed between my legs with the sudden need to rip Fane’s clothes off. But his next words effectively doused the lust with cold water.
“We need to find Roman.”
My gut clenched, and I swallowed back the bile shooting up my throat.
Right.
I had to kill Roman.
“Let’s head upstairs to get a better view of the entire room,” he said, towing me toward the same crimson staircase I ran up when I came to find the Infernal Sol.
Clearly, I’d come full circle. I was in this forsaken place to steal the demon amulet once again.
Fane and I made it up to the second story without incident, and we loomed in the shadows against a wall. So many shifters of all types mingled below, and a few leaned against the railing of the balcony. Gold and silver pins or necklaces bearing The Collective Hunt symbol flashed on most of them, like a badge of honor.
I stanched the urge to sneer. These proud douchebags should all have their asses kicked. Mangling them would be better than having to slaughter Roman. At least the witch realized how awful these shifters and their mission was.
Killing Roman would tarnish another piece of my soul. How much would remain by the end of this? Rejecting Saint and breaking his heart the other night had left a giant stain on it, and I still felt the hole in my chest the fated mate bond left behind.
As if sensing where my thoughts had gone, Fane slipped behind me and held me against him. His hand lay over my heart.
“It will heal, fiera mika,” he murmured, his lips brushing my ear. “I’m still pissed you did it, but I hate you feeling this way. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
I leaned into him, savoring his warmth and inhaling his familiar scent—because this might be the last time I did. As me, anyway.
There was a good chance the amulet would take me over and I, the real Tate, would cease to exist.
“I’m not losing you,” Fane growled, his breaths quickening. “No matter how far gone you are, Iwillbring you back.”
Tears burned in my eyes, and the lavish room blurred as I bit my lip so hard I drew blood. If anyone could bring me out of the darkness, it was Fane.
But I wasn’t sure it was possible this time.
I choked back the lump rising in my throat and cherished this feeling just a little longer. I wanted to tell him how much I loved him, how he owned part of my heart and soul, but I couldn’t get the words out. My mind wouldn’t even form the thoughts to project to him.
Fane kissed my cheek and then buried his face in the crook of my neck, pushing aside the leather jacket that hid the mark. “You don’t have to say the words for me to know what you’re trying to say, Teague. Ifeelit.”
A booming voice cracked the comforting bubble around us, and frost crawled over my flesh despite the warmth from Fane’s body.
“I’m so glad to have so many allies and friends in attendance tonight.” Barric sauntered into the center of the room, his black tux barely containing his broad shoulders and thick muscles.
My pulse spiked, and I fought the urge to bolt forward as the Infernal Sol gleamed in the center of his chest like a scarletflame dangling from the gold necklace. Fane lowered his hand to my stomach, right over the sun tattoo.
The black ink seemed to warm as if it knew the amulet was close by, out in the open and ripe for the taking.
Of course, it wasn’t. I couldn’t take it until I killed Roman.
