Page 24 of Savage Blood
Besides Maddie and Fane, Knox had been my only other friend in the Underworld prison. He’d tried to warn me that Barric was a racist piece of shit, but I didn’t listen.
My stomach plummeted like I was on a roller coaster, and numbness crept through my limbs. Capturing Alicia wasn’t a coincidence. When Barric wouldn’t allow Knox to turn her, his own mate, he left Silver Ridge and joined another pack for her.
I cursed, resisting the urge to punch something, since everything near me was either stone or iron. Instead, I made my way back to Ruin and knelt in front of him.
Please let him be lucid enough to answer me.
“Ruin, have you ever heard of the Admordum Nexia Covenant?”
His head tilted in thought. “It sounds familiar, but I can’t remember the details.”
“I heard Barric, Jax, and Roman talking. Apparently, it’s what they’re gearing up for, doing these sacrifices and siphoning your power.” My fingers curled around the bars, my knuckles turning white. “Please try to remember, Ruin. They need me and the Infernal Sol for it.”
After a few moments of Ruin silently staring off into space, combing through all the knowledge in his mind, his mouth parted. And the color drained from his face.
“Fuck.”
My breath hitched. “What is it?”
When his gaze met mine, the trepidation in them had me shivering. “It’s a ritual fueled by an ancient demonic relic and the sacrifice of a living conduit tied to that dark power.”
Chills broke out over my flesh, radiating all the way to my bones. “The Infernal Sol is the relic, andI’mthe sacrifice.”
Ruin nodded. “The ritual can magically connect living creatures that share a unique quality or characteristic and manipulate them all at once.”
“They’ll use the Infernal Sol and me to…” My words trailed off, and I crashed back on my ass as the realization hit me like a thousand flaming arrows piercing my body.
Oh. My. God.
“Tell me I heard you wrong.” Enid’s voice shook as she reached the same conclusion as Ruin and me.
“They’re going to kill us all,” Alicia whispered. “Every single bitten shifter in one fell swoop.”
Ruin’s chains jingled as he jammed his hand through his hair. “Tate, you have to get the Infernal Sol away from Barric.”
“No shit.”
“You don’t understand. It has to be you.” He gripped the bars, his chest heaving. “You might be the only one whocantake it off him.”
Ice swept through my veins, and frost converged over my spine until every vertebra froze solid. “Why me?”
“The amulet is too attached to him now, and it might kill anyone else who tries. It’s why I failed when taking it from you.” Ruin bared his teeth, his nostrils flaring. “Nadia lulled it with magic, but since she kept me out of the loop, I have no idea what spells she used.”
“But if Tate escapes, then Barric can’t use her for this ritual,” Enid said. “That sounds like a better, safer option for her.”
“You really think he’ll stop coming for her if she escapes?” Ruin’s grimace made the tiny shred of hope in me evaporate. “He could always find another ritual and cause more destructionalong the way.”
My head bowed as if the weight of the world rested on my shoulders.
In a way, it did.
Ruin was right. I couldn’t run. And no one else could get the amulet from Barric. It was the reason Jax and Roman had to coax him to remove it.
“I have to be the one,” I muttered.
The high demon rubbed his forehead, wincing as if it hurt to think so hard. “Taking the amulet and reuniting it with the remaining piece poisoning you will most likely cure you. The Infernal Solwillprotect its vessel.”
Protect its vessel. And steal all my control.
