Page 127 of Savage Blood
“While I enjoy seeing all of you, I brought you here for a reason.” Barric’s grin spread across his face, shooting ice through my bloodstream.
Was he too good to wear a mask?
He probably thought so.
“You all know how hard I’ve been searching for a way to eradicate the undesirables in our lines. And I’ve finally found it.”
As applause drifted around the room, hot rage pummeled my insides at the scent of their intrigue and delight. They were clapping at the thought of killing thousands of shifters. If I still had the Infernal Sol, I’d make every one of them fall to their knees while I plucked their fears out and tormented them.
They deserved that and much more.
“Easy, fiera mika,” Fane murmured. “Your fury is spilling through the air, clashing with the contented emotions around us.”
I gritted my teeth and forced the anger down.“I want to tear that asshole’s throat out.”
He chuckled.“Can I watch?”
“Thanks to my inner circle and help from a powerful ally”—Barric stroked the amulet— “I’ve discovered exactly what we need.”
A huge panther shifter, dressed in a black and white tux, interrupted another round of applause as he parted the crowd lining the balcony and lifted his hand.
“I’ve heard some wild stories about your recent methods,Barric.” The shifter’s voice held a slight Southern twang. “Maybe too wild, even for our group.”
Nothing friendly resided in the smile my father adopted. “Hudson, so glad you could attend tonight’s special event.”
Hudson lifted his white mask, revealing a handsome face marred by a few scars. He ran a hand over his mussed black hair, and a dimple appeared in his cheek as he grinned. He looked to be in his early thirties, and even though he was much leaner than Barric, his body was still a block of hard, chiseled muscle.
“I was surprised by the invitation, considering you and I haven’t been on the best terms these last few decades.”
My brows rose. Hudson was definitely much older than he looked.
Barric gave a one-shoulder shrug. “I figured it was time to bury the hatchet. Your attempt to steal control of The Collective Hunt is water under the bridge now.”
The panther chuckled, his smoky gray eyes hardening. “Well, youdidsteal it from my father first. Technically, the leadership position should have been mine.”
“Barric won it in a fight.” Jax strolled across the polished black and white tiles to his alpha’s side, the gold mask covering most of his face except for his hard jawline. “Jerome couldn’t defeat him. You’re lucky he let your father live.”
Unease twisted through the room at the beta’s words, and some of the attendees seemed to be on Hudson’s side, casting covert, narrowed glares at Barric and Jax. If they knew the crazy shit Barric and his inner circle had been up to, they’d flee the manor as fast as their feet could carry them.
Hudson’s fist tightened on the crystal goblet of wine he held. “My father didn’t turn the society into a hellish cult of fanatics. We had respect then.”
Respect? They hunted down bitten shifters and killed them.
Barric unbuttoned his blazer and shrugged out of it, passing it to Amelia as she scurried over to take it. “I’ve done what was necessary to achieve our goals, Hudson. That is something your father was incapable of doing.”
“What’s necessary?” Hudson scoffed and motioned the wineglass around the gothic grand room. “You’ve got us celebrating in a demon lord’s mansion—in the Underworld, for gods’ sake. We’re shifters.”
A few murmurs of agreement traveled through the crowd. At least some of them found it odd they were in the demons’ domain, and not everyone seemed happy about Barric’s unconventional methods.
“How would they feel if they knew he was cutting out hearts and drinking blood?”
Fane smirked.“Seeing their animal forms with scales and horns would have a sobering effect.”
Barric lifted his palms toward the crowd, something unsettling flashing over his expression as he stared at Hudson. “I’ll be the first to admit that things do seem a little strange from the outside looking in. But that’s why I’ve brought you all here—to tell you exactly what The Collective Hunt is all about and to prove that Iwillaccomplish our mission.”
The panther shifter smirked and leaned his forearms against the balcony. “Then please enlighten us.”
My flesh crawled at the danger suddenly pulsing from Barric. Hudson didn’t sense it, or maybe he just didn’t realize how unhinged the former head alpha of Georgia really was.
