Page 143 of Savage Blood
Oh hell.
Waves of fire and ice rushed over my sweaty skin as the concentrated, unbalanced Soulvation took effect. A crimson fog descended on my mind, numbing my senses and stealing my rational thought.
Stealing my sanity.
My back arched away from the table again, the chants spinning around me in incoherent whispers. I fought the chains while my talons burst out and teeth elongated. The longing for souls crashed within me like a hurricane wrecking the shore.
Hungry. Hungry. Hungry.
The multitude of souls, no matter how dark they were, pulsated in the room like flashing lights, tempting me. I wanted to consume every last one, inhale them, and revel in their energy and life.
“Hungry,” I hissed over the mystical wind twisting the candle flames and tossing the strands of my hair that had fallen from the braid.
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.
Which creature should I rip that pretty light from first?
None of them seemed very bright, except for the chained male across the room. The birdie, a raven with golden eyes.
The one on the floor, a wolf in a man’s clothing, was pretty too. He would be easier than the bird, considering he could barely stay awake.
A male, the one closest to my head, gaped at me as confusion swirled in his golden-brown gaze, a sliver of scarlet around his irises. He slipped off the white mask, and his mouth opened as he spoke to someone.
“Is this supposed to happen?”
The tall, beautiful high demon who lingered near the altar above the fireplace shrugged. “I’ve never performed thisritual before, but the textdidmention something about the sacrifice fighting the magic.”
“But she can’t, right?” the leader asked.
The demon scoffed. “Not in the end. She will succumb.”
The other one’s smile curved into an eerie split of his mouth, much too wide to be natural. A red stone dangling from his neck glimmered in the flickering candlelight like fresh blood—the blood I wanted to see pouring out of his nose.
But he wasn’t a man. He was a wolf.
My father.
Barric.
I took a deep breath, fighting the thick fog trying to consume me. The amulet dangled above my head, so close I could touch it if my hands were bound. I’d rip it free and swallow it whole.
Focus, Tate.
The hunger pounding within me attempted to control my every thought, but I had to concentrate on the amulet and not my sudden desire for souls.
Warmth circled my finger as the symbols on the gold ring came alive again. Sharp tingles rippled up my hand and then twisted around my arm, making me shiver.
What is this? I feel an ancient demon in my midst.
“Who said that?” I blurted. “Who’s speaking to me?”
The voice in my mind laughed, a silky, unnerving sound like black smoke.
Oh, right. The Infernal Sol.
I have not felt a power like yours in so long, locked up in that box and hidden by the unworthy Karn. And then there was the girl. So very malleable and easy to control.
Seriously? The amulet thought I was so easy, and yet here Iwas, tricking the ancient power with Soulvation and an antique ring.
