Page 148 of Savage Blood
My lips pursed as I took stock of myself.
“Are you there?”I asked the Infernal Sol.
No response followed—because the amulet’s thoughts and mine were the same.Wewere the same.
No voice would tempt me to take what I wanted, do what I wanted.
There was only me.
Iwould desire those things. AndIwould be the one to stop myself from taking them.
The weight of that settled on my shoulders, but it wasn’t as heavy as the death of thousands of shifters.
Marcel.
My head jerked to the right as the bitten shifter pushed into a sitting position, wiping blood from beneath his nose.
He was alive.
The ritual had failed.
“What did you do, girl?” Barric yelled, his complexion the color of bleached bone.
Knowing it was my time to face down my father, Fane released my hand before his ghostly form floated back into his body, still bound in the chair across the room. A sneer curled my lips as I broke out of the chains like they were made of paper.
Then I sat up and spun toward Barric.
Horror twisted his expression. “Your eyes.”
My consciousness slipped out of my body and found a mirror. In my reflection, blood coated my chest and neck and splattered my nearly undone braid. And my eyes—one remained hazel while the other had transformed into a stunning electric blue.
Demon blue.
“I’m not sure who’s more demon now,” Ruin said. “Tate or Fane.”
“I’m going to go with Tate.” Hawk grinned. “It looks good on you, Strawberry Shortcake.”
As Barric let out a ferocious roar, I returned to my body with a jolt. The other Collective Nosterium members removed their masks and hoods now that the ritual had stopped. The candle flames winked out one by one, smoke drifting from each wick.
“Bind her, Roman,” Barric ordered.
Roman stalked forward and shoved Torin out of the way with a flick of his hand. “Go fuck yourself, Barric. You don’t have the amulet anymore, and your commands no longer work on me.”
As the witch snapped, the Vulcrum binds fell from Fane, and the metal vines encasing his legs slithered back into the floor. Roman whispered an enchantment under his breath to release the chains from Hawk and Marcel.
I swung toward Barric, my menacing snarl sounding darker and more ominous than any wolf shifter’s should. Of course, I was never just a wolf to begin with, but now, an ancient demon power flowed within me.
Barric turned his attention to The Collective Nosterium still gathered in the ritual room. “Attack them!”
They peered at one another and then back at me, fear sifting through the air like a pungent cloud. They knew I was the one with the amulet now. Not their alpha.
“You will all go down for this!” he yelled. “You’re all guilty. Not just me.”
A laugh slipped from my mouth. “I’ve never seen an alpha look so scared.”
Barric’s nostrils flared, claws sliding out of his fingertips. “You are nothing but trash, Tate. Neither that amulet nor Fane’s bite makes you any better. You’ll always be that piece ofhuman garbage who was abandoned to suffer abuse at the hands of plenty.”
Anger pulsed in my core, and that familiar rush of power coiled through me. The sickness vanished, as did the cravings for the amulet. I was healed and fully capable of ripping the former head alpha of Georgia to pieces.
