Page 145 of Savage Blood
He thrashed against the Vulcrum cords that bound him to the chair, slamming its legs so hard against the black floor that the wood would splinter soon. Steel vines ruptured from the tiles and wrapped around Fane’s feet to immobilize him—obviously another of Roman’s enchantments.
Barric’s eyes rolled in the back of his head as he chanted, the amulet glimmering and burning so brightly it threatened to blind me. The Collective Nosterium danced and chanted around the table like satanic cult members, their cloaks twirling around them.
Sweat and blood slicked my hot flesh while the chains dug into it. They felt so damn heavy. Everything was heavy, even my eyelids.
“Gegnum ríkin pervenire eru notare.”
A gust of wind stirred my hair, and a copper tang filled the air, colliding with the electric hint of Roman’s magic and the dark energy from the ritual. My head swiveled to the left and landed on Ruin, who stood beyond the dancing idiots.
“This is your chance,” he mouthed. “Take it now.”
How the hell was I supposed to do that with my hands bound to the table?
Warm energy rushed through me, and my gaze snapped toward Fane. Power throbbed around him as he shoved his strength into me.
“Save some for yourself, Fane,”I warned.“You’ll need it.”
As my mate’s strength and power swelled within me, my incorporeal form came alive and detached from my body. Tingles radiated through my limbs when I lifted just my phantom arm and reached for the Infernal Sol.
Fane, seeing me make my move, pressed his lips together while pride washed through our bond. To everyone else, I remained immobile on the table, blood seeping around the dagger sticking out of my chest.
The throbbing pain in the wound subsided, and the madness from the Soulvation also calmed. I no longer focused on draining every soul that pulsated in the ritual room.
Of course, I still craved them.
“Be with me,”I told the amulet in my mind, my ghostly fingers stroking the warm stone.“I am worthy.”
Ah, yes. You are worthy. I feel the power flowing through you. We would make a lovely combination.
I choked back the urge to release a maniacal laugh. The Infernal Sol thought it would slither inside me and take control, but it would get one hell of a shock when it realized there would be no more manipulating me.
There would be no more Infernal Sol.
The amulet brightened and physically rose from Barric's chest, floating in the air. If he noticed, he didn’t mention it. Maybe he thought it was part of the ritual.
I will bond with you, creature. And we shall become a thing of nightmares. We shall be darkness incarnate.
Black tendrils twisted around my phantom arm and glided down my body as the amulet bonded with me. Even though the stone still dangled from Barric’s neck, that power seeped into my bloodstream, filling every square inch.
The familiar rush of pleasure rippled through me, and I bit my tongue against a moan.
“We’ll be perfect together,”I said.
We will grind our enemies’ bones to dust and reign over a vast kingdom. The terror we cause will be spoken about for eons. Together we will?—
Wait.
I know you.
A laugh burst out of my mouth, catching Barric’s attention, but he quickly returned to the chants of the Admordum Nexia Covenant.
He couldn’t stop this. No one could, not even the amulet. Once the Infernal Sol sent that first swirl of power into me, I grabbed hold of it and had no plans to let it go.
“You do know me, old friend,”I said.“Part of you is already inside me.”
Tate.
Clever, clever girl.
