Page 35 of Savage Blood
“Did you ever feast on human souls when you had the Infernal Sol, Tate?” He licked his lips. “They’re divine.”
As a gossamer string of white light swirled out of Erica’s mouth, Barric inhaled it, his eyelids fluttering.
“No!”
My scream cracked, and the agony I’d tried to keep submerged beneath layers of a tough exterior exploded out. Memories of finding Fane’s brother hunched over my sweet, innocent Jayla crashed over me. And for a moment, the scene I’d walked into in the warehouse years ago unfurled around me.
The stench of death and blood clogged the air, mixing with the Chinese food I’d dropped, rice and noodles spilling over the dirty concrete. Her little body, unmoving and helpless as he stole her life, her soul.
It was happening all over again, slicing deep, jagged wounds into me.
Those wounds would never heal.
Even now, they were still open, dripping blood.
“I wish I had a camera to capture your tortured look.”
Amelia’s spiteful voice brought me back to Barric’s room in the abandoned manor. The young girl whose soul he was stealing grew paler by the second.
Ice water filled my veins. He wasn’t stopping.
He’d kill her.
All because of me.
“Stop!” I gathered my strength and crushed my elbow into Amelia’s ribs.
The female shifter stumbled back into the table, rattling the dishes and silverware. Caught off guard, it took Amelia a few moments to collect herself, so I took full advantage of her slow reaction.
I smashed a plate on her face, cracking the porcelain. As the butter lemon sauce dripped into her eyes, I slammed a fork into her palm and pinned it to the table.
Her feral shriek erupted through the room, but it didn’t stop Barric. Consuming Erica’s soul distracted him from the rest of the world.
This couldn’t happen again. I would not fail Jayla—Erica—again.
No more innocent blood could stain these hands.
While Amelia was busy freeing her hand from the table, I snatched Barric’s fork and slipped the handle beneath the Malbraxis manacle on my left wrist. A string of curses burst from between my clenched teeth when the damn restraint wouldn’t budge and the silverware bent.
With a curse, I dropped the fork and yanked savagely at thecuff. The pain didn’t matter. I had to save that girl, even if I shredded my wrist apart.
I pulled and pulled and then twisted and jerked.
Tears blurred my vision as the metal tore my flesh, blood blooming out, but Barric’s sadistic act across the room gave me the strength to ignore the agony throbbing through my entire arm.
A crash echoed as Amelia flipped the table, scattering uneaten food and broken dishes. She stormed toward me, her eyes bloodshot, her shirt stained, and potatoes clinging to her hair.
“You’re not going anywhere, Tate. You’re going to watch Barric kill that girl just like Fane’s brother did to your little friend.” She tossed aside a wooden chair, a sneer curving her mouth. “What was her name? Oh right.Jayla.”
Hearing her name come out of Amelia’s mouth with so much disdain sent rage pumping through my veins instead of blood. A burst of adrenaline hit me, and I snarled—a feral, animalistic sound—as I finally wrenched the cuff off my left wrist.
My skin tore, and blood splattered the floor. But I was halfway free.
Power surged through my system, and even though the mystical circlet on my other wrist still hindered me, a faint connection to my shifter and demon side manifested. As Amelia reached for me, my pupils thinned into onyx slits, and I slammed my fist into her cheek.
She stumbled sideways, shaking her head. “You can’t?—”
A growl started deep in my chest, worked its way up my throat, and pushed between my sharpening teeth. When it filled the room, rattling the broken porcelain on the ground, Amelia dropped to her knees.
