Page 137 of Savage Blood
My pulse skyrocketed as I craned my neck and stared up at my father. This close, he was even worse. Gray and yellow scales wrapped the thick muscle of his hide. Not an ounce of fur was left on him. Slitted onyx pupils cut his blood-red irises in half. Horns curled from his forehead, and spikes protruded from his neck and ran down his shoulders.
As Barric bared his teeth at us, saliva dripping, I stumbled back, shoving Fane with me.
My nose wrinkled at the rotten stench pouring from the beast, and his hot, fetid breath made me gag.
“I can still take him.”Fane moved from one side to the other, trying to slip past me.“In my beast form.”
“Are you out of your damn mind?”
For every step he took, I took two just to remain between the two creatures.
“Get out of my way, Teague.”
“Barric won’t kill me, but he won’t give two shits about tearing your head off,”I reminded him.“Plus, he won’t die. He spat silver bullets out of his body like they were nothing. The amulet is protecting him.”
When my Barric tried to dart past me to get to Fane, I jerked into his path and lifted my hands. “You’ll have to go through me, asshole.”
Barric’s lips curled back in what looked like a grin. He could bat me out of the way easily to get to Fane.
And that was exactly what he did.
One moment I stood between Barric and Fane, and the next, a gigantic paw rammed into my abdomen.
Pain burst through my stomach as I flew through the air, hit the ground, and slid into the ritual table. My skull cracked against its leg, and the coppery tang of blood filled the back of my mouth.
But that wasn’t the real problem. Now that I was out of the way, Fane tore his jacket off, and steam rose from him as he prepared to shift.
“Don’t!” Roman pushed off the wall and threw Vulcrum cords at the demon shifter, halting his transformation as violet magic wrapped his form. “You’ll only make this worse.”
Barric lifted a paw and aimed his serrated talons at Fane’s throat.
Sheer panic tore into my chest, and I bolted up, racing toward them. My pulse pounded out a frantic beat as I jumped and gripped the former head alpha’s front leg, my feet swinging in the air.
“If you hurt him, I’ll make you wish I was never born.” The fury pumping through every syllable I spoke halted my father’s attack on Fane.
Plus, I was hanging onto his fucking leg for dear life.
“Stop playing with them, Barric, and get this done.”
The familiar voice had chills rippling down every vertebra. My eyes closed as I pleaded with the universe that I was wrong—that I did not hear that silky, smooth tenor.
I released Barric’s scaly leg, dropped to my feet, and spun, my heart sinking like a lead weight in the middle of a calm ocean.
Apparently, Roxie wasn’t the only one who betrayed us.
Ruin pulled the silver mask off his face and tossed it to the floor. Once again, he wore an expensive tailored suit that fit his tall, lean frame perfectly.
“A deal is a deal, Barric,” Ruin said. “Do your ritual and get the fuck out of my domain.”
Hisdomain?
Chapter
Thirty-Four
My heart shatteredinto a thousand pieces as understanding settled through my roiling gut. Once again, Ruin tricked me, made me think he had some semblance of humanity in that black soul of his.
As it turned out, he was nothing but treachery.
