Page 38 of Savage Blood
“Stop her!” Barric commanded.
Seconds before I reached the table, crackling ropes of electric magic wrapped around my body and dragged me across the room, my rubber soles screeching over the glossy floor. Roman shoved me into a wooden chair, using his Vulcrum cords—the ability every witch had—to bind me to the wooden seat.
“What are you doing?” I hissed, struggling in the pulsating violet chains. “Let me go.”
Pain etched Roman’s features as he shook his head, the scarlet walls casting a pink tint on his dangling crescent moon earring. “I’m sorry, Tate. This has to happen.”
Barric’s rumbling voice permeated the room as words in a demon tongue poured from his mouth. My pulse thundered, and a droplet of sweat rolled down my temple as he lifted the dagger above Alicia’s heart.
“Your sacrifice is greatly appreciated, Alicia.” And then he jerked the blade down.
Chapter
Ten
The world slowed,and The Collective’s chanting became muffled, like I was underwater, slipping farther from the surface with every passing second. Barric’s horrible smile as he lowered the blade toward Alicia’s chest sent a blast of arctic air over my body.
How could this man have ever loved anyone? If fate hadn’t blessed him with a mate, he never would have carried an ounce of genuine affection.
But in the end, having a mate wasn’t enough. He still killed my mother.
And now he led more shifters down a path of destruction that would leave hundreds dead.
A thunderous crash exploded through the ritual room, snapping the world back into focus.
Barric jerked the dagger up moments before it could pierce Alicia’s heart. “What the hell is going on?”
Members in flowing black cloaks scattered as more than a dozen mid-sized sub-demons rushed into the room.
“How did they get in?” Amelia ripped her hood down and tossed her mask off.
Wes raked his claws through the air to ward off a massive flying insect-like creature. “Why are they attacking?”
Slime oozed from the slugs, and a few baby agrigons slipped on the viscous trail in their wake. Tertaliums raced across the slick floor, their goat heads whipping back and forth on their scaly red bodies.
Curses and growls sounded as the erupting chaos ruined The Collective Nosterium’s ritual. A shaky breath fled my lungs, and when I looked at Alicia across the room, the same relief was reflected in her hazel gaze.
Sub-demons bursting into the magically hidden manor wasn’t a coincidence. Someone had arranged this interruption.
Flutters ricocheted through my heart. Could Fane have broken into Karn’s manor despite the magical wards?
I struggled in the Vulcrum cords Roman had used to bind me to the chair. “Maybe someone should get me out of this. Some of those agrigons could be poisonous.”
“How did these damn creatures get in?” Barric backed away from the table and ripped his cloak off, his nostrils flaring. “Do something, Roman!”
The witch lifted his hand and shot a stream of violet magic at a group of sub-demons surrounding Amelia, Wes, and Torin. “I can’t do it all. Your pack is more than capable of handling?—”
Vibrations rippled across the floor, rattling the iron candelabras in each corner and the table holding ritual supplies. My heart pounded against my ribs as sweat slicked my nape.
What the hell was that?
Trepidation thickened the air at the approaching threat. And then a massive black figure bulldozed through the entrance, ripping the doorjamb apart. Shrieks sounded asshifters and sub-demons scattered out of the way of falling debris.
Chunks of bricks tumbled to the ground, candelabras toppled over, extinguishing the candles, and a bowl of blood—probably Alicia’s—toppled off the table, splattering over the reflective tiles. Dust and rubble blew through the room as a demon beast emerged from the cloud, his crimson eyes finding mine.
Icy dread punched me in the chest, pushing my heart into overdrive as a wave of déjà vu crashed over me.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
