Page 136 of Savage Blood
The beta stomped on a few bouncing grapes as he strolled toward the injured shifter and hauled him up. “Stop being a baby. It’ll heal soon.”
As the crowd parted for them and they left the room, Barric turned his focus on us, his nostrils flaring. “Playtime is over, you two. Get down here before I come up there myself and get you.”
Fane didn’t back down. Instead, he rolled his head, and his demon wolf rushed forward. The air around him shimmered as his spine curled forward.
“Shift and so will I, Fane,” Barric warned. “And I’m bigger, stronger, and more powerful than you now.”
Panic tearing through me, I slapped my hand on Fane’s chest. “Don’t.”
He turned his luminescent eyes on me. “I’m not the type to back down, Teague.”
“Barric will shift and tear your head off like he did to Hudson,”I hissed into his mind.
The demon shifter scoffed.“I’m a lot harder to kill than Hudson.”
“But you’re not invincible, Fane! At least this will bring me closer to Roman.”
The witch now leaned against the far wall, with folded arms and an unreadable expression.
Huffing in irritation, my mate finally relented and pushed his demon wolf back down. But when a Collective Nosterium member tried to grab my arms, Fane bared his teeth.
“We’re going willingly,” he said. “If you touch her, I’ll willingly tear your hands off and make you choke on them.”
“I hope Barric kills you soon.” The coyote shifter flipped Fane off but didn’t touch me again. “The stairs. Now.”
Once we reached the bottom level and marched toward Barric, the shifters flanked us. My stomach clenched when we passed Charla’s corpse, blood coating her torso and dripping from the table.
Barric loomed before me as power throbbed from the Infernal Sol, making me crave the darkness that used to swirl in my veins before Nadia ripped it out.
“Do you miss it?” He stroked the amulet, taunting me.
Slick talons slid from my fingertips again, and my pupils shrank to slits. The urge to yank that necklace from Barric overwhelmed me.
What would happen if I tried? Would it remain stuck like it had in Wrath & Ruin?
His laughter grated on my ears. “Please try it, Tate.”
Fane snarled, his hot breath blowing over my back, spreading goose bumps across my flesh.
“Maybe you don’t need to get the amulet from Barric,”he said into my mind.“I could just rip him limb from limb and let him bleed out.”
Barric glared at the demon shifter behind me. “You can’t kill me, Fane.”
“Why don’t you just give up the Infernal Sol?” Sweat glided down my back, making the leather jacket stick to my dampskin. “You know it’s taking you over, poisoning your brain. Soon, you’ll be nothing but a shell.”
Barric’s teeth elongated, a definite threat. “Iam in control. Not the amulet.”
I barked out a laugh. “You’re no more in control than a puppet is. That thing is your master, and you’re its bitch.”
Unease rippled through the crowd, and Amelia stepped forward with her claws raised, ready to slice my face off.
She didn’t need to, though.
Barric had it covered.
A bone-shaking growl tore out of him, and tremors raced through his body as the amulet glowed. Moments later, his giant paws hit the floor, shaking the tiles beneath my feet.
Having already witnessed the monstrous transformation, the crowd didn’t scream this time. They just shuffled back, hoping to stay out of his way and off his radar.
