Page 21 of Savage Blood (Den of Shadows #6)

“Damn right you did. And more.” Logan tried to lunge for Ruin again, but the young alpha snatched his arm and hauled him back.

“We have to lie low until we can get out of this realm,” Saint said, his grip unyielding. “Two powerful high demons fighting will draw attention.”

Fane sighed and moved toward them, his footsteps somehow silent even though the old boards should have groaned under his weight. “Saint’s right. You two can fight all you want when we get back to Earth.”

Ruin rubbed his face. “I’m such a popular guy. I’ll have to start a list of who wants to kick my ass or kill me.”

“You can add me to it,” Enid called from her spot on the couch, pulling her blond hair into a low ponytail. “And most of the shifter population in Georgia too.”

The high demon gave a charming smile, widening the split in his lip. “Being murdered by an angry shifter or friend is far better than any fate Barric had in store for me. I’d rather not let those psychos steal more of my power.”

Hawk came to my side and offered me a bite of his protein bar. “I’m pretty sure Logan doesn’t consider you guys friends anymore.”

Ruin scowled. “Why are you here? Don’t ravens have far more righteous things to do than save nightworlders from other nightworlders?”

“I go where I’m needed.” Hawk tossed his arm over my shoulders and winked. “And wanted. Unlike a certain former demon lord.”

Ruin opened his mouth, but his eyes glazed over, and his expression slackened.

Logan motioned toward the silent high demon. “What’s that about? ”

Wrath snorted. “My brother broke his formerly steadfast rule and created a bond with someone.”

“Who?”

Ruin raised his hand to quiet everyone. “Roxie says Barric has everyone preoccupied with performing a ritual on the dead Collective Nosterium members.”

“Roxie?” Logan’s mouth dropped. “Are you shitting me?”

Alicia reached for her water on the coffee table, wincing from the wounds in her leg. “What kind of ritual?”

“To suck any remaining power and energy from them.” Ruin snorted. “Barric is desperate now that he’s lost Tate and me. He couldn't care less about losing a half dozen members.”

I took another bite of Hawk’s bar and passed it back to him. “While they’re busy, we should make a run for the door.”

Saint nodded. “This could be our best shot.”

The candlelit room blurred suddenly, and sickness roiled through my stomach. I dropped to my knees like a bag of bricks as warm liquid poured out of my nose.

Oh hell.

“Tate!” Panic surrounded Fane’s voice in my head and seconds later, his rough hands ran over me. “What the fuck?”

He hadn’t seen this happen yet, not like Ruin, Enid, and Alicia had. Fane didn’t know how badly the sickness affected me now.

Black veins spiderwebbed across my arms and slinked all the way up my neck. Tremors raced through me, and as I hunched over coughing, black liquid splattered the wooden planks.

The terror now gripping Fane rippled through our bond, and I reached out for him, longing to take his emotional pain even while this sickness tore me apart .

“Don’t even think about it,” he hissed, knowing what I was on the verge of doing.

“What’s happening to her?” Saint knelt on my other side, his silver eyes full of worry.

Ruin’s bare feet—Wrath refused to give him a pair of boots—appeared in my eyeline. “It’s the broken bit of the Infernal Sol attacking her.”

“This isn’t the first time this has happened, is it?” Fane asked.

“No.” Ruin motioned toward Hawk. “Get her some water.”

Moments later, Hawk pressed a bottle to my lips and helped me take a few small sips. For shit’s sake, I hated feeling like a victim.

“I’m fine,” I muttered, heat rising to my cheeks.

“You are not fine.” Fane jerked his head toward Saint. “Heal her, damn it! You’re her fucking fated mate.”

Saint jammed his fingers through his hair. “It’s not that simple, Fane.”

Enid moved toward us and rested her hand on her son’s shoulder. “It doesn’t work like that, Fane. They’re fated mates but not mated. Saint can heal her in some ways, but he wouldn’t be able to remove this sickness. There’s a good chance if they were…”

Her words dropped off because we all knew what she meant.

Saint couldn’t heal me from the Infernal Sol’s sickness unless we were actually mated. And that sure as hell wouldn’t happen. I already had a mate.

Before I even glared at the demon shifter, I could feel the wheels spinning in his mind. “Stop what you’re thinking right now, Maverick.”

His lips thinned. “You don’t even know ? — ”

“I sure as fuck do. And there’s no way in hell you’ll get me to break our bond to be with Saint just so he can heal me. Not. Happening. Ever.”

Hawk lifted the drink toward my mouth again, but I grabbed the bottle and took my own damn sip.

“Everyone can stop staring at me now.” I set the water down and rolled onto my feet to stand. Nausea hit me, but I choked back the urge to hurl. “We need to get moving if we ever want to get out of this realm.”

Ruin nodded. “Roxie says they’ll be busy for a while. I say we take a straight shot through the front of the city and out the gates to the forest. It’s riskier but faster.”

“I agree,” Wrath said, stuffing a water bottle into his bag and zipping it up.

A few murmurs of agreement circulated the room.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said.

Thanks to Ruin’s connection to Roxie, we didn’t run into any Collective members on our way out of Vlehull. A few patrolled the city, but Roxie alerted Ruin to their routes, so we avoided them.

The twisting black trees hid us as we sped toward the gateway to Earth, our steps pounding the hard, cracked soil. Fane kept shooting me anxious glances even though the black veins crisscrossing my flesh had already faded.

“Stop doing that,” I hissed into his mind.

A growl rumbled his throat. “I can’t help it, fiera mika. I’m fucking worried.”

The oddly arched trees framing the gateway to Earth appeared, the portal already active and swirling with magenta magic. Mystical wind stirred the barren tree branches, and as three figures emerged, it tossed their hair around .

“About time.” Kourtney lowered her sword and wiped her forehead. “The witches on the other side were ready to leave.”

Mina gazed directly toward Hawk, who gave a crooked grin.

“Were you worried about me, pretty wolf?” He winked. “I’m perfectly fine.”

A scowl pulled at the shifter’s lips, and she tucked a lock of hair back into her braid. “Oh great. I was hoping a sub-demon would eat you. Or at least rip your tongue out so I didn’t have to hear your constant yapping.”

He grinned. “If I don’t have a tongue, how can I do that thing you like so much?”

“I told you not to tell anyone about that.” Crimson flooded her cheeks as she vanished into the portal.

“Are you two hooking up?” I asked.

He shrugged, biting his bottom lip, doing a terrible job of hiding his cocky smirk. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

Kourtney jerked her chin toward me. “Glad to see you’re still hanging in there, Tate. My life has become a lot more interesting once I stopped hating you.”

“Still have love for me?” Wrath winked at her.

She opened her mouth, but her jaw dropped when she noticed his twin. “You… look different.”

Ruin snorted. “Yeah, I look just like my brother now. Pedestrian clothes and unwashed hair.”

Kourtney touched the black earpiece she wore, apparently listening to someone on the other end. “Come on, guys. The witches prepared a spell to close this portal for twenty-four hours. They can’t hold the magic much longer.”

As Alicia, Enid, and Saint stepped toward the swirling doorway, Alicia stumbled. She grabbed her injured leg, and Hawk jogged toward her and helped her up .

“Thanks,” she muttered.

“No problem.”

A strange tingle rippled down the back of my nape, and I lifted my hand to rub the spot.

Fane arched his eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”

I peered around the eerie forest of burned black trees but didn’t see anything. “Nothing.”

Wrath and Logan crossed through the portal, and Ruin waited for Enid, Saint, and Alicia to go before stepping toward it.

“Enid hates me,” Ruin muttered, the mystical wind blowing his navy hair around.

“She’s not the only one.” Hawk laughed at the high demon’s grimace.

As Ruin stuck one foot into the portal, he froze, his eyes unfocused. “Wait, something’s wrong. I don’t think?—”

Before he could finish his sentence, a hand reached through the portal and snatched him into the churning magic.

Unease twisted through my gut, and it felt as if bugs crawled over my flesh. Something wasn’t right.

“Did you really think it would be that easy to escape me, Tate?”

Like a nightmare ruining a happy dream, Barric emerged from the shadows. The Infernal Sol glowed on his chest, instantly drawing me in.