Page 92 of Savage Blood
I’d use that one.
My stomach heaved at my twisted thoughts. Heldrok had really screwed me up.
“But why torture Hawk?” I rested my hand on my best friend’s shoulder, his head falling forward and eyes drooping. “What’s the point if I’m not here to witness it?”
Fane rubbed a hand down his face, scratching at the stubble coating his jaw. “Maybe Barric plans on ensuring youdofind out.”
The moment my father slipped the Infernal Sol out from beneath his navy and gray flannel shirt, stroking the amulet like a precious pet, fire lit my veins.
Memories of reveling in that seductive power sped through my mind, and I had to bite my tongue to keep a moan from spilling free. Having felt the sensations bombarding my system, Fane stiffened beside me.
His muscles coiled, ready to grab me in case I went off the deep end and tried to snatch the stone right off my father’s neck.
Of course, I couldn’t take the amulet now, but maybe I could get a tiny drop of that power…
Fane gripped my chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing me to turn away from the amulet.
“Can you always feel it like this in visions?” he asked,tilting his head toward the former alpha. “The Infernal Sol, I mean?”
I gently pulled his fingers off but didn’t let my gaze travel back to the glimmering red stone. “Sometimes.”
Barric’s hushed voice filled the room, and when we turned to him, he held the stone close to his lips, whispering to it. His irises darkened, and his complexion paled.
He chuckled. “Yes, yes, I think that would be a good one.”
Ice prickled my flesh as I thought about the many times I’d communicated with the amulet while it was inside of me. Had I looked as mad as he did?
“You became darker, a little insane, but you never had a sickly pallor or appeared weakened by your connection,” Fane answered, hearing my thoughts. “Is the amulet even speaking to him right now, or is it all in his head?”
“All of it can’t be in his head. The amulet gave him information about me and on how to perform these rituals.” I ran my fingers over the sun tattoo still branded on my abdomen. “But it’s also driving him crazy.”
Like it had done to me. But Barric’s psychosis was worse.
Barric grabbed a small serrated blade from the table. “Perfect.”
As he passed by, the amulet pulsed more brightly, and that familiar power brushed against my skin.
Fane’s tongue toyed absentmindedly with his lip ring as the stone dimmed again. “It knows you’re here.”
Prickles crawled over my scalp like tiny invisible bugs. “Barric has gotten it to call me into a vision before. Maybe he was torturing Hawk because he knew I’d end up watching.”
Barric slapped Hawk’s cheek to wake him up. “I have another toy to play with, raven.”
“Have at it, old man.” Blood stained Hawk’s teeth as he smiled. “Still won’t save you in the end.”
“Your faith in my daughter is pathetic.” Barric waved the knife around. “But I am hoping she gets a vision of one of our torture sessions. She’ll be so heartbroken, so filled with anguish, that she’ll act on impulse and rush here to save you.”
His mocking tone made my nostrils flare and my teeth grind. But knowing that he was right, that I had been thinking of doing exactly that, was even worse.
Was I really that easily manipulated?
“Getting her this early would leave more time for her to escape, but…” Barric hovered the blade over Hawk’s body, clearly trying to decide where to harm him next. “Adding her blood to the sacrifices would speed up the timeline. We could prepare the ritual so much sooner.”
Hawk tilted his head. “And you’re not the least bit worried Tate will kill you?”
The former alpha snorted, the flames in the hearth glinting on the gray threading his russet hair. “The piece of the amulet remaining in Tate is still poisoning her. Fane can’t help her, and even if Saint could, she’ll never allow him to get that close. I highly doubt she can heal on her own.”
I swallowed back the acid oozing up my esophagus. Was there really no cure—other than letting my fated mate heal me?
