Page 3 of Savage Blood
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Just stop already. I need to concentrate so I can contact Fane. He’s probably going out of his mind right now.”
“I certainly would be if I lost you.”
My lips thinned. “He didn’t lose me. This is just a temporary separation that we will quickly rectify.”
At least I hoped we would.
“Of course.” Ruin winked. “Fane won’t let anyone keep you from him for long. I would know, wouldn’t I?”
My eyelids closed, and I leaned against the cold, rough-hewn wall, trying not to remember the torture I endured at the hands of Lord Karn the last time I was in this dungeon. Instead, I pictured Fane with startling clarity.
Those mismatched irises seared into me as that wicked smile turned my stomach upside down. My fingers felt his silken strands of midnight hair between them as his soft lips brushed over my throat.
Tingles radiated from my neck tattoo all the way down the ones on my arm and to the delicate one inking my hand. Fane’s leather, fire, and cinnamon scent filled my nostrils as the memory of his calloused hands running down my back materialized.
Unbearable heat exploded through my body, and I hunched over as a scream burst from my mouth.
What the ever-loving fuck!
“Tate?” Ruin rattled the bars between us, his voice distant. “Tate? Are you okay?”
Pain battered every square inch of me, and the cell swam in a dizzying whirlwind. My knees hit the hard floor, shooting more agony up my legs. Fane’s image shattered and slipped right through my grasp.
My palms shot out in front of me as I fell forward, barely keeping my face from slamming into the ground. Warmth leaked from my nose, and droplets of crimson painted the stone beneath me.
I couldn’t contact Fane. The thought alone had my chestthreatening to cave in. Without our mental link, the separation anxiety would hit us harder than ever before.
As I wiped the blood from beneath my nose, the metal cuff around my wrist caught my attention.
“I have to get these damn Malbraxis manacles off,” I mumbled and propped my side against the bars. “I can’t reach Fane with them on.”
Ruin knelt and passed me a metal cup. “Drink some water.”
I reluctantly took it and sipped the stagnant, lukewarm water that held a weird aftertaste.
Shit.Was that poisoned?
“It’s not just the manacles, Tate.”
The fleeting thought of Ruin’s potential betrayal faded as I glanced at him, worry lines developing across his forehead. “What do you mean?”
The manacles prevented us from using our full powers, and I couldn’t shift. Of course they interfered with my mystical link to Fane.
Ruin brushed a lock of hair out of my face. “It’s the piece of the Infernal Sol still inside of you.”
Frost crawled over my flesh, and it wasn’t from his touch. “How did you know about that?”
“I overheard Barric talking with his witch, Roman. And I know it’s killing you.” He sat back and swallowed hard. “It’s weakening you and your powers, even the ones you share with Fane.”
Just perfect.
Not only did this remaining sliver of the amulet give me nasty cravings for that seductive power while slowly poisoning me, but it also affected my ability to contact Fane when I needed him the most.
I set the cup down and dragged a hand through my hair. “Barric says he has a cure. Is that true?”
Ruin shrugged. “The Infernal Sol could have let him know of a way to heal you.”
Or Barric could have just used that to lure me in. And the skeptical tone in Ruin’s voice said he believed as much.
