Page 33 of Savage Blood
Of course not. He needed me for the Admordum Nexia Covenant.
Once I was so full my stomach threatened to pop, I looked up and pushed the nearly empty plate away. Barricwatched me as he stroked the amulet beneath his shirt again.
He treated that thing like a beloved pet.
“Do you ever take the Infernal Sol off?” I asked.
Barric dropped his gaze and stabbed a potato with his fork. “Occasionally.”
“Can I see it?” I blurted. “Please.”
The craving for the amulet twisted around me, and even though I could ignore it, I let it wash through my veins, exaggerating the effects for show. I rubbed my hands together and gnawed on my bottom lip, trembling like I needed a fix.
Maybe I did. Just a little.
Believing my lie, Barric smirked and drew the amulet out of his shirt, the blood-red stone blazing in the firelight.
A hot tingle raked down my scalp, and I reached out to touch the Infernal Sol but Barric’s expression hardened, and I dropped my hand.
“It’s so…”
“Impressive.” Barric became transfixed on the glittering amulet, hypnotized by the power throbbing within.
Come back to me. I’m a better vessel than Barric. I’ll take you within me, and we can live as one. Just give me another chance.
My chest wanted to cave in when the Infernal Sol didn’t respond, remaining just as cold and indifferent as a jewel plucked out of the earth.
Had I ever mattered to it? Did our bond mean anything?
Clearly not.
“The amulet has told me many things, Tate.” Barric’s unnerving words tore my attention from the Infernal Sol, and my pulse spiked. “Lots of things about you.”
My spine straightened as the dread I’d been waiting for finally infiltrated my veins. “Likewhat?”
A knock sounded at the door, and the smile spreading Barric’s mouth made frost crystallize over every inch of my body.
“Come in.”
Amelia emerged from the doorway, barely masking her eerie grin. “I’ve brought your special guest.”
When she shoved a young human girl—around twelve or thirteen—through the doorway, all the food I’d just inhaled threatened to shoot back up.
“Thank you, Amelia.” Barric waved them over. “Come join us, both of you.”
The girl trembled as Amelia pushed her forward. Raven curls twisted around her soft, innocent face, and those eyes, pools of obsidian, ripped the air from my lungs.
Blood thundered in my ears as I shot to my unsteady feet, the room spinning. “What the hell is going on?”
She looked so much like Jayla I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
I wasn’t.
An invisible poker, lit orange by hellfire, buried into my heart, and my knees almost buckled from the agony erupting through my chest. The sinister expression Barric and Amelia shared had warnings blaring in my head.
Barric had found a new form of torture to rain down on me.
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