Page 133 of Savage Blood
Coltrane, smaller than most of the shifters, slinked through the guests on the first floor toward Barric. She had to be using a mystical dust or enchantment to hide her raven essence. The shifters would have noticed her scent.
When Roman reached the center of the room as Patricia and Amelia finished locking heavy chains around Charla, he swept his hand through the air and manifested dozens of demon sigils across the floor and ceiling.
Chills skittered down my back at the sight of the same ominous black slashes from my visions. If I didn’t kill Roman and get that amulet, Barric would sacrifice Charla.
“What the fuck?” Fane glared at something over my head.
I turned and followed his line of vision as a silver object flashed in Coltrane’s hand. “Is that a?—”
The demon shifter slammed his hands over my ears seconds before a loud bang erupted through the manor.Screams rang out, and the acrid scent of gunpowder and smoke permeated the air.
And silver
Silver bullets.
Barric stumbled back, blood gushing out of a wound in his chest. Coltrane fired the gun at him again. And again.
The guests and even some of Barric’s inner circle scattered. None of them could survive even a single bullet through the heart.
Adrenaline poured through my bloodstream as hope blossomed in my center while I waited for Barric’s reaction. A silver dagger did nothing, but maybe the Infernal Sol couldn’t save Barric from a silver bullet right to the heart.
If the former raven captain succeeded in killing Barric, I needed to be ready to jump off this balcony and snatch that amulet before she did.
“Or maybe you should just let her take it,”Fane said into my mind.“And I’ll take it from her.”
Barric’s roar puckered my flesh and made every hair on my nape stand on end. The massive chandelier shook from his fury and power, the tiny crystals clinking and the candle flames sputtering. Dark burgundy blood puddled on the floor beneath him.
And then his roar transformed into a manic laugh. “Do you really think I can be killed that easily, Anna Coltrane?”
Coltrane tore her mask off, dropped it on the floor, and cocked the gun again. “I have more bullets, Barric.”
“They’ll just go to waste.” A red sheen spilled into his irises as the Infernal Sol pulsated, his blood splattering it.
Another feral growl burst out of him, and tremors raced through his body. Moments later, a silver bullet emerged from a wound, hitting the marble floor with a clink.
My sharp intake of air joined the gasps circulating the room. Even The Collective Nosterium stared at Barric with wide eyes and open mouths. Thinking someone was invincible but seeing them spit out bullets was on a whole different level.
Barric forced the rest of the bullets out. The deformed silver pellets bounced on the floor and splattered the blood beneath his feet.
“You can’t kill me!” His head tilted back as laughter filled the room. “I am a god.”
Frost spread down my nape, and all the hope that had unfurled a moment ago was extinguished like the dying embers of a fire sizzling in a sudden downpour. The Infernal Sol had protected me many times when Death came knocking.
Why should I be surprised it did the same for my father?
My head lowered, and I cursed. There was no other way. I had to kill Roman, take the amulet, and then kill my father.
Coltrane lunged for the leader of The Collective, her gun aimed at his head, but before she could shoot, Barric batted her out of the way like she was an annoying gnat. When she hit the floor, the gun slid out of her grasp and collided into the leg of the table Charla was bound to.
Charla turned her pleading brown eyes to Coltrane. “Help me, please.”
Barric tore off his shirt, and while the stunned crowd watched his wounds heal, Coltrane staggered to her feet and withdrew a dagger from the holster on her thigh. She loomed over Charla, studying the bound shifter.
A deep breath filled my lungs for the first time in several long minutes as Coltrane searched for a way to free the female wolf.
Was that dagger imbued with magic? Could Coltrane cut through those chains with it?
My fingers curled around the balcony railing, my heart slamming into my ribs as the former raven captain lifted the knife.
