Page 130 of Savage Blood
Barric downed the entire glass, handed it back to Amelia, and waved her off like she was a servant. She gave a tight smile, clearly displeased with his dismissive treatment.
“This ritual will allow me to destroy every bitten shifter—in one single moment.”
Shock throbbed through the room, and a tiny flare of excitement rippled despite most of the guests being scared shitless. The shifters clapped, some of them genuinely pleased at Barric’s announcement.
Disgusting assholes.
“I only need to perform one more sacrifice,” Barric said, nodding toward Wes and Patricia, who stood by the set of doors on our left. “And you will all bear witness to it.”
The air catapulted from my lungs as my father’s words sank in.
He wouldn’t.
Saliva collected at the back of my mouth while the grand room spun in a sickening whirlwind. If Fane wasn’t standing behind me, holding my waist, I would have collapsed.
Barric planned to sacrifice a shifter, cut out his or her heart, and mutilate the body right in front of us.
Wes banged his large fist on the onyx doors, and a few moments later, they opened with a slow, eerie creak. Torin and a woman I couldn’t recognize through her gold mask dragged in a female shifter bound in chains.
My heart dropped, and I clamped my jaw shut to keep from screaming.
No!
“Get your hands off me,” she snarled, the chains rattling as Torin and the masked woman led her forward. “You won’t get away with this.”
Blood spilled from a cut on the blonde shifter’s face, and bruises darkened her flesh. Her jeans were torn and bloodied, as was her pink tank top. The Malbraxis manacle around her wrist wouldn’t allow her to shift, but even if she could, she didn’t stand a chance against them.
“It’s fucking Charla,” I hissed through cold, numb lips.
My blood iced over, and the room tilted as Charla tried to elbow Torin, but he angled out of her reach, chuckling at her feeble attempt. Her bloodshot brown eyes turned on Barric, her teeth baring and fury pumping out of her.
When did The Collective Nosterium grab her? They couldn’t have had her for long. No one at Silver Ridge had reported her missing.
“You won’t get away with this, Barric.” The sheer contempt and disgust radiating from her voice made the shifters uneasy,as if her clear disobedience put them in danger. “Youare the stain on our race. All of you!”
Once they reached Barric, he lifted his hand and gently stroked the blonde hair away from her face. “Sweet Charla Campbell. You’re stronger than I thought. You survived your first round of captivity, but unfortunately, this is the end of the road for you.”
“Go the hell,” she spat. “I might die tonight, but you’ll meet your end soon too. And I’m betting it will be a slow, horrifying death that will have you screaming in pain like a scared little boy.”
Pride swirled through me as Charla put up a fight even with the odds stacked against her.
My nostrils flared as I glanced at Fane, knots forming in my chest.“I can’t let them do this.”
His pupils shrank to slits, and his irises gleamed red as I fought his tight hold.“You can’t reveal yourself.”
“So you expect me to do nothing? You expect me to watch her die?”
Too many people had met their ends because I couldn’t save them. I wasn’t adding another to that damn list.
Fane’s arms tightened around me, and he’d probably squeeze me until I passed out if he thought it would keep me from going after Charla.
It wouldn’t.
“You will fuck up the entire plan,” he hissed. “Not only will Barric have his last sacrifice, but he’ll have you, and not one single bitten shifter will survive, including Charla.”
He was right. I knew he was right.
But watching them mutilate her and listening to her screams would break me.
