Page 30 of Savage Blood (Den of Shadows #6)
“Fane and I are doing what’s best for Tate.” Saint wiped his fingers on a napkin. “And right now, that’s me being here with her instead of him.”
“What’s best for Tate or best for you? ” Knox challenged. “Because all I see is a male trying to steal a mated female away from her claimed mate. ”
Marcel whistled and lowered his head as the tension in the room thickened. Just as I opened my mouth to tell them all to fuck off, the kitchen blurred out of focus, and I fell through a black hole…
A familiar dark room erected around me, and the fire dancing in the hearth cast ominous shadows across the walls. My throat tightened as Barric’s private quarters in Karn’s manor came into focus while I stood in the center.
Oh great. Another damn vision.
The last time I was there, he killed that poor kid Erica to torment me because she looked like Jayla. My stare drifted to where her body had collapsed, curls falling around her head like a halo and her vacant eyes staring up at the ceiling.
Even Erica’s death resembled Jayla’s.
A throb in the room, like a heartbeat, drew my attention toward the coffee table where that iron box sat in the center. My pulse spiked, and sweat slicked my nape. I knew what was in that box, hidden just beneath the iron and nestled in black velvet.
As if it sensed my presence, the lid opened with an eerie creak, and the blood-red stone gleamed within the bed of velvet.
I bit my lip against a moan, but it still tumbled out like a jagged cry.
Why did you betray me? You wouldn’t be sitting alone in a box if you were with me.
Those thoughts were dangerous, especially when I claimed I could get the amulet from Barric without allowing it to burrow inside of me.
Was I lying to everyone ?
Or was I lying to myself by believing I wouldn’t embrace the Infernal Sol and welcome it with open arms?
I should have been ashamed. I should have confessed how much I still craved it.
But if I did, would Fane and the others be so inclined to let me steal it back?
Ruin would.
Maybe Wrath and Logan too.
But Saint and Fane would put up a fight.
Oh, Tate, don’t think I’ve forgotten you.
I gasped at the familiar voice in my head, mine with shadows twisting around every syllable.
We can be reunited, Tate.
“We can?” I whispered, inching closer to the stone as it throbbed.
Don’t you want to feel that rush of menacing, uncontrollable power flowing through your veins?
“Yes,” I admitted, unable to feel any shame or guilt.
I would later.
“Tell me how?” Now that it was within reach, I ran my finger over the hot stone and moaned at the delicious burst of power. “Please.”
All you have to do is come to me, Tate.
“I will.” Sweat rolled down my temple. “When I’m stronger.”
No! Come to me now. Take me, and I’ll make you strong.
“I can’t. Barric will never let you go without a fight.”
Just come to me now, Tate, and I’ll make everything better. You won’t have to fight Barric. We’ll be together again, and you can have whichever mate you want. Both if you wish.
Cold scuttled across my shoulder blades. , and I yanked my hand back, cradling it against my chest as if the amulet had burned me.
This was all a trick.
A big fucking trick to lure me back to the Underworld.
My teeth clenched as I snarled. “Nice try, Dad.”
He’d used the amulet to draw me into a vision and tempt me. If the fate of the bitten shifters weren’t on my shoulders, I might have let the longing for the amulet win.
Asshole stone.
The walls dissolved, and I jolted back into the kitchen, all four shifters staring at me.
Saint held me upright, his strong, warm arm around my back as tremors raced through my body. “Are you okay?”
With a shaky hand, I wiped the sweat from my forehead. “Uh, yeah. It was just a vision.”
“Of The Collective stealing another bitten shifter?” Marcel asked.
“No.” I chugged my lemonade, my throat dry and tasting of ash. “Just Barric being a prick and taunting me.”
Saint nodded. “The amulet.”
“Thanks for the food, but I’ve lost my appetite.” I pulled out of his hold and slipped off the stool, hiding my trembling hands behind my back as the longing for the amulet sped through my bloodstream. Fuck . I felt like a junkie who needed a fix. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“Do you need help?” Saint stood and reached for me.
Knox scoffed. “I think she can take a shower all by herself.”
Saint ignored the other wolf and kept his worried gaze on me. “I can finish eating later.”
The laugh I forced didn’t fool anyone. “I’ll be fine, Saint. Seriously. Finish eating, and I’ll see you in a bit.”
When I reached for my plate, he blocked my hand.
“At least let me clean this up for you. ”
I nodded, thankful I could escape the kitchen before I had a full-on meltdown. “Thanks.”
By the time I entered my room and slammed the bathroom door shut, a cold sweat beaded my flesh. I leaned over the gray counter, sucking in gulps of air.
The cravings for the amulet and its twisted power hadn’t been this strong in a while. Had touching the stone, even in the vision, screwed up all my progress?
What would happen when I tore it from Barric’s neck?
Electricity popped along my neck tattoo, and when I met my reflection in the mirror above the counter, Fane’s phantom form stood behind me.
I should have known my emotions would call him.
Heat flushed my skin as his mismatched gaze roamed over my trembling form. But he didn’t need to ask what was wrong. He felt it, like a tempest crashing within, fighting to shatter me like I was a piece of delicate driftwood.
“It looks like you could use a distraction to get your mind off of that amulet.” His rough voice sparked flames low in my belly.
My fingers dug into the edge of the counter as my heart started a frantic beat that had nothing to do with the cravings for the Infernal Sol. “What did you have in mind, Maverick?”
The corners of his lips pulled into a sinful smile as his hand slid up my spine and then curled around my throat, his fingers branding me. “I think you know exactly what I have in mind, fiera mika.”