Page 76 of Savage Blood
Coltrane deactivated her blade and shoved the hilt into her pocket. “The what-ifs don’t matter now, Tate. What matters is getting that amulet away from Barric. And since I don’t trust you to make the hard choices, I’ll be the one to take it.”
My head jerked back. “And how do you plan on getting it from him?”
“You’ll find out.”
Electricity crackled over my neck tattoo, and my head jerked to the left as Fane sprinted into the alley like a blur of pure fury.
“Tate!”
The relief that washed over me made my shoulders slump and the sword droop toward the ground—until I remembered the former raven captain’s unexpected appearance.
But by the time I turned back, she had vanished.
As I went after her, Fane gripped my arm and forced me toward him. His mismatched eyes were wild, his broad chest heaving.
“What the fuck happened? I heard you calling me, and then there was pain.”
“Coltrane was here.” I jerked out of his hold and marched down the alley, sniffing the air to find her trail.
He jogged after me and stepped over the three dead Collective Nosterium members. “Coltrane? She killed them?”
“I killed one while she got the others.” My head rose as I took another deep inhale. “Those Collective freaks almost dosed me with Malefic ash, but she helped me.”
Whydid she help me?
“Tate, stop!” Fane darted in front of me to block my path. “The Collective almost snatched you, and now Coltrane ishere? Why were you out here alone in the middle of the night, anyway?”
A growl wove through his words, but so did fear. It pulsated from him and twisted within our bond. He lifted my mangled hand, his teeth baring at the scraped and bloody condition.
“I’ll explain everything in a minute. Just let me?—”
Pain seared through my skull, and I dropped to my knees as a scream burst from my mouth.
“Tate!” Fane fell to the ground with me and gripped my shoulders to keep me upright.
My vision blurred, and warmth leaked from my nose. As the pounding in my head intensified, I gritted my teeth to choke back another cry, but broken sobs tore from my mouth.
The remaining piece of the Infernal Sol was dead set on poisoning me. If Barric didn’t kill me, this thing would.
Ebony veins spread over my flesh again, and my stomach heaved. Nothing came out except choking gasps.
“Fane,” I mumbled, clutching his shirt as I rested my head on his shoulder.
No matter how much we fought or how much his betrayal cut me, he was the only person I reached for when the world crashed down on me.
The alley became a blur. Then I was floating on air, wrapped in a warm, safe blanket. Obviously, Fane had picked me up and carried me back to Silver Ridge. I must have passed out because the next thing I knew, he placed me on my bed and removed my shoes.
“I’m okay,” I mumbled and pushed myself up to rest on the pillows. The pain had lessened to a dull throb, like little invisible hammers tapped all over my skull.
Fane marched from the bathroom with a damp cloth, saton the edge of the bed, and wiped under my nose. His bloodshot eyes with dark circles beneath them, and his pale, sweaty face barely contained the worry and anger simmering below the surface.
And then the realization hit me, and I wanted to sink back under the covers to hide from the guilt. The reason my head wasn’t on the verge of exploding was because Fane had taken my pain into him, as much as he could handle.
“You arenotfine, Teague.”
Instead of blood, black liquid stained the rag.
Ice sank through my body. When Dominic stabbed me with a silver blade laced with Demise, black sludge poured out of me.
