Page 12 of Savage Blood (Den of Shadows #6)

Chapter

Nine

The titanium box in the back of my mind that housed all my hellish memories exploded as reality splintered into a thousand pieces of sharp glass. The haunting images tore my body to pieces, and I plummeted into a nightmare that had no exit.

No escape.

Barric had freed my worst memories, and the haunting image of my pain and guilt stared back at me.

“W-what’s going on?” The girl looked among the three of us, fidgeting with the unraveling hem of her faded t-shirt as cold fear eclipsed her eyes. “You said if I came with you, you’d help my sister and me. You’d pay us.”

Barric rose from his chair and stroked the amulet before hiding it back under his shirt. “Erica is a runaway, too, Tate.”

This was the reason Barric pulled me out of my cell.

“How did you know about her?” My pulse tapped a frantic beat as I searched the table for a weapon. He hadn’t given me a knife, but I could do some damage with a fork.

Barric chuckled. “The amulet showed me many things, especially about you. ”

Fucking traitor.

“She has an older sister,” Barric continued. “About your age.”

Sweat beaded my forehead as tension so thick it choked me filled the room. “She’s not Jayla. You don’t need to use a look-alike to torment me. Just let her go.”

Amelia slinked through the room, inching closer with every passing second. “Where’s the fun in that, Tate?”

“Fun?” I scoffed and cracked my knuckles. “Fun would be ripping out your throat.”

“Too bad you can’t do that with the Malbraxis manacles on.” Amelia walked in front of the fireplace, the flickering light dancing across her sharp features and shining on her dark hair.

I curled my fingers, beckoning her closer. “Take them off and let’s see who wins the fight. I dare you.”

A golden glow spilled into Amelia’s irises, and her canines sharpened. “You’re nothing but a bitten piece of trash. You’re stronger than the others because Fane turned you.”

“Don’t forget about my parents.” I tilted my head toward Barric, who watched with an amused expression.

“What are you?” Erica stumbled back and fell onto the leather couch.

I inched toward the girl. “She’s just a pathetic, racist bitch.”

A snarl slid between the female shifter’s teeth. “When will you let me avenge my son, Barric? You said I couldn’t kill her, but I could hurt her.”

“In due time, Amelia. But for now, enjoy this.”

Dread ripped a hole open in my gut, but I couldn’t move fast enough. One second, Barric stood by the table, and the next, he jerked Erica off the couch, sending her ebony curls flying.

“I’ m craving a little power boost,” he said with a disturbing twist of his lips, black shadows cascading over his eyes.

When I realized his intentions, my heart clenching, I bolted toward him with no regard for my own life.

I had to save her.

I had to save Jayla.

Hands fisted in my long, wet hair and yanked me back before I reached Barric.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Amelia’s hot breath poured down my nape as her cruel laughter made spread goose bumps across my flesh. “You have to watch.”

Erica, so small compared to huge, rugged Barric, struggled in the shifter’s grasp, and then he grabbed her chin between his powerful fingers to pry her jaw open. When his gaze captured hers, the fight drained out of her, and her arms dangled at her sides.

“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 the cuff. 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 .

Alpha power.

It poured through my system, throbbed around me, and fueled my roar. The female shifter couldn’t help but submit. The hatred pulsating from her made the feeling that much sweeter.

If only I had more time to revel in her pain, but Barric still had Erica’s mouth parted, sucking her soul.

I darted toward them and reached for my father. “You’re done, you sick son of a bitch.”

Strong arms wrapped around my torso and lifted my feet off the floor.

“It’s too late to help her, Tate.” Jax kept a tight hold on me as I bucked and kicked the air. “She’s gone.”

“No!” I gathered my strength, ready to pull on my alpha power again when Barric released Erica.

She dropped to the ground with a thud and stared up at the ceiling, unseeing. Her midnight curls spread out around her head like a halo.

Just like Jayla’s had.

My gut roiled, and I gagged.

Jax released me with a curse, and I lurched forward, heaving onto the glossy hardwoods.

Barric just sucked a human’s soul out like it was nothing, like that innocent girl was nothing.

When I had the Infernal Sol, I at least tried to fight that impulse, but he reveled in all the darkness that came with the amulet.

Maybe because he was already an evil prick to begin with.

Once I finished emptying my stomach, Jax handed me a napkin and drew me back. The scents of food, death, and blood had bile threatening to shoot up my throat again.

“You see, Tate”—Barric strolled toward me, avoiding the puddle of puke—“there isn’t a secret about you I haven’t learned. I know everything.”

He stroked the amulet.

I doubt that.

He had no idea I’d overheard his little conversation with Jax and Roman about the Admordum Nexia Covenant.

“And I know what makes you tick and how to control you.” Barric tsked as he saw my ravaged wrist. “Jax, put a bandage on that. I don’t need her dripping blood all over the place.”

Amelia kicked a cup as she marched toward me. “I’ll do it. And then I’ll take her back to her cell.”

“Absolutely not, Amelia.” Barric ran his hand over his thick, wiry beard that covered some of the scars on his jaw. “Do you really think I’d allow you to be alone with Tate right now? You have very little control over your anger.”

As he and Amelia argued, my attention fell on Jayla.

No. Erica.

She lost her life because of me, because she looked like Jayla.

Why did I have to be the reason for so much fucking pain and bloodshed? If Warin had killed me that night instead of the other way around, everyone in my life would probably be better off.

Barric’s snarl interrupted my spiraling thoughts. “Keep defying me, Amelia, and you’ll end up like her.” That unnatural shade of black still eclipsed his irises as he jerked his chin toward Erica.

The color drained from Amelia’s cheeks, and she bowed her head. “My apologies, Alpha.”