Page 52 of Savage Blood (Den of Shadows #6)

Chapter

Thirty-Six

Blinding pain slammed into me, and I bowed away from the table. As the blade pierced my chest, hot blood spurted out. My vision turned white, bleaching everything like a bolt of lightning in the darkness.

Fire.

I was on fire.

There was no other explanation.

Molten lava replaced my blood, scorching every inch of my body, every damn cell, until nothing but a searing puddle remained.

As the white receded and colors and shapes re-formed, Marcel convulsed on the floor, scarlet leaking from his eyes, nose, and mouth.

Acid shot up my throat. The Admordum Nexia Covenant was killing him.

Bitten shifters all across the realm were dying because I couldn’t stop Barric.

“Tate! Tate!”

Someone called my name .

Not someone. I’d recognize that voice anywhere.

Fane.

My beautiful beast.

He thrashed against the Vulcrum cords that bound him to the chair, slamming its legs so hard against the black floor that the wood would splinter soon. Steel vines ruptured from the tiles and wrapped around Fane’s feet to immobilize him—obviously another of Roman’s enchantments.

Barric’s eyes rolled in the back of his head as he chanted, the amulet glimmering and burning so brightly it threatened to blind me. The Collective Nosterium danced and chanted around the table like satanic cult members, their cloaks twirling around them.

Sweat and blood slicked my hot flesh while the chains dug into it. They felt so damn heavy. Everything was heavy, even my eyelids.

“ Gegnum ríkin pervenire eru notare .”

A gust of wind stirred my hair, and a copper tang filled the air, colliding with the electric hint of Roman’s magic and the dark energy from the ritual. My head swiveled to the left and landed on Ruin, who stood beyond the dancing idiots.

“This is your chance,” he mouthed. “Take it now.”

How the hell was I supposed to do that with my hands bound to the table?

Warm energy rushed through me, and my gaze snapped toward Fane. Power throbbed around him as he shoved his strength into me.

“Save some for yourself, Fane,” I warned. “You’ll need it.”

As my mate’s strength and power swelled within me, my incorporeal form came alive and detached from my body. Tingles radiated through my limbs when I lifted just my phantom arm and reached for the Infernal Sol .

Fane, seeing me make my move, pressed his lips together while pride washed through our bond. To everyone else, I remained immobile on the table, blood seeping around the dagger sticking out of my chest.

The throbbing pain in the wound subsided, and the madness from the Soulvation also calmed. I no longer focused on draining every soul that pulsated in the ritual room.

Of course, I still craved them.

“Be with me,” I told the amulet in my mind, my ghostly fingers stroking the warm stone. “I am worthy.”

Ah, yes. You are worthy. I feel the power flowing through you. We would make a lovely combination.

I choked back the urge to release a maniacal laugh. The Infernal Sol thought it would slither inside me and take control, but it would get one hell of a shock when it realized there would be no more manipulating me.

There would be no more Infernal Sol.

The amulet brightened and physically rose from Barric's chest, floating in the air. If he noticed, he didn’t mention it. Maybe he thought it was part of the ritual.

I will bond with you, creature. And we shall become a thing of nightmares. We shall be darkness incarnate.

Black tendrils twisted around my phantom arm and glided down my body as the amulet bonded with me. Even though the stone still dangled from Barric’s neck, that power seeped into my bloodstream, filling every square inch.

The familiar rush of pleasure rippled through me, and I bit my tongue against a moan.

“We’ll be perfect together,” I said.

We will grind our enemies’ bones to dust and reign over a vast kingdom. The terror we cause will be spoken about for eons. Together we will ? —

Wait.

I know you.

A laugh burst out of my mouth, catching Barric’s attention, but he quickly returned to the chants of the Admordum Nexia Covenant.

He couldn’t stop this. No one could, not even the amulet. Once the Infernal Sol sent that first swirl of power into me, I grabbed hold of it and had no plans to let it go.

“You do know me, old friend,” I said. “Part of you is already inside me.”

Tate.

Clever, clever girl.

You tricked me. You do not wish to bond.

You wish to merge.

Blood coated my teeth as I laughed again. And again.

You are not strong enough to reconstruct me within you.

“It’s already happening. Look at it this way; you’ll be whole again.”

The Infernal Sol never meant to leave that tiny shard inside of me, and I felt its desire to be reunited with it.

A few moments of silence stretched before the amulet spoke again.

Perhaps this will be a new, exciting journey to experience.

“There you go! Way to look on the bright side.”

As if it had any other choice.

But I understood its need to have some semblance of control in this situation. The Infernal Sol would no longer be an object for anyone to possess. It would be within me forever. It would be me.

A wash of warmth and power hit me once the stone finally surrendered. The ancient, eons-old power submitted to me .

Very well, Tate. You were skilled enough to trick me. You may be strong enough to bear my power for eternity.

But be warned, my madness will be your madness. My hunger will be your hunger. You will not have me as an excuse when you cause chaos and destruction.

Because it will be you behind the darkness.

I shivered as those foreboding words sank into my bones. This ancient force would still crave those things, and I’d have to keep myself in line, in control. There would be no separating myself from the power.

Marcel’s scream tore through my doubt and hit me right in the gut.

That was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

My sanity for the lives of thousands of shifters.

Repeat this phrase three times, Tate, and I will re-form all my power within you, become you.

Sameinast facti raftur veroa.

I took a shaky breath, knowing this moment would seal my fate.

“ Sameinast facti raftur veroa .”

Barric cocked his head to the side as he scrutinized me, the amulet floating away from his chest.

“ Sameinast facti raftur veroa .”

Unease twisted through his luminescent irises as the blood slowed its oozing from my now that the Infernal Sol worked to heal me.

“You’re too late, Barric.” I tutted. “You just weren’t that fucking worthy.”

His eyebrows slammed down, and he lowered the copper bowl full of blood he had collected from me while it ran off the table. “What are you?—”

“ Sameinast facti raftur veroa . ”

Something stirred within me, like waking from a deep slumber, yawning and reaching out. Familiar warmth pulsed right alongside my inner wolf. The stone around Barric’s neck roiled and then melted into my outstretched phantom hand like a puddle of blood floating in my palm.

Panic erupted from my father as he tried to grab the liquid, but it wouldn’t allow him to touch it. “What are you doing?”

As the molten crimson stone sank into me, traveling down my arm and into my torso, waves of bliss infiltrated my veins. There was no pain.

Never mind.

There was pain.

A lot of it.

A scream burst from my mouth as I jerked away from the table, the knife teetering in my chest. The dozens of candles sputtered, and their flames burned brighter. A radiance encased my flesh, and those black symbols Ruin had painted disintegrated, falling around the table.

Why did everything have to hurt so damn much?

Agony seared my insides and traveled out to my limbs, the tips of my toes, and the ends of my hair.

“I’m here, fiera mika.” Fane’s phantom form appeared by the table, gripping my real hand as he gritted his teeth, attempting to take some of my pain.

Sweat beaded on my glowing skin and soon popped along his forehead as he absorbed my anguish.

But he couldn’t stay connected. I knew what was coming. I felt it.

“Let go, Fane,” I pleaded.

He shook his head. “I’m never letting you go.”

“You have to. Just for a moment.” I squeezed his fingers.

“I’ m not fucking leaving you, Tate.” He bared his teeth. “I’m staying right here.”

Let him stay.

Let him stay.

He is part of you.

He is strong enough.

As the amulet’s words echoed, I finally gave in.

I stopped fighting. And let it all in.

A blast of power erupted from me, and the sounds of screams, breaking glass, and crunching metal filled the room. Ash and fire lingered in my mouth.

So did blood.

Darkness swept through the room, blinding me.

But within that darkness, the ancient power swirled. It didn’t stay in my center like before. Those ebony tendrils raced through my insides, wrapping around every muscle, every organ, and every fiber of my being.

Fane remained by my side, his hand in mine, experiencing everything through our bond.

When the Infernal Sol finally settled, my wolf roared within. The demon power didn’t quiet her. Instead of fighting for dominance, they melded together and inhabited the same space. The ancient power wrapped my wolf in armor, and she embraced it all.

As the light slowly returned to the room, a deafening silence stretched. My heart beat firm and steady. And the pain vanished.

The ceremonial dagger had evaporated from my chest, and my wound had healed.

Fane squeezed my hand, his mouth open and eyes wide. “You’re still you.”

My lips pursed as I took stock of myself .

“Are you there?” I asked the Infernal Sol.

No response followed—because the amulet’s thoughts and mine were the same. We were the same.

No voice would tempt me to take what I wanted, do what I wanted.

There was only me.

I would desire those things. And I would be the one to stop myself from taking them.

The weight of that settled on my shoulders, but it wasn’t as heavy as the death of thousands of shifters.

Marcel.

My head jerked to the right as the bitten shifter pushed into a sitting position, wiping blood from beneath his nose.

He was alive.

The ritual had failed.

“What did you do, girl?” Barric yelled, his complexion the color of bleached bone.

Knowing it was my time to face down my father, Fane released my hand before his ghostly form floated back into his body, still bound in the chair across the room. A sneer curled my lips as I broke out of the chains like they were made of paper.

Then I sat up and spun toward Barric.

Horror twisted his expression. “Your eyes.”

My consciousness slipped out of my body and found a mirror. In my reflection, blood coated my chest and neck and splattered my nearly undone braid. And my eyes—one remained hazel while the other had transformed into a stunning electric blue.

Demon blue.

“I’m not sure who’s more demon now,” Ruin said. “Tate or Fane. ”

“I’m going to go with Tate.” Hawk grinned. “It looks good on you, Strawberry Shortcake.”

As Barric let out a ferocious roar, I returned to my body with a jolt. The other Collective Nosterium members removed their masks and hoods now that the ritual had stopped. The candle flames winked out one by one, smoke drifting from each wick.

“Bind her, Roman,” Barric ordered.

Roman stalked forward and shoved Torin out of the way with a flick of his hand. “Go fuck yourself, Barric. You don’t have the amulet anymore, and your commands no longer work on me.”

As the witch snapped, the Vulcrum binds fell from Fane, and the metal vines encasing his legs slithered back into the floor. Roman whispered an enchantment under his breath to release the chains from Hawk and Marcel.

I swung toward Barric, my menacing snarl sounding darker and more ominous than any wolf shifter’s should. Of course, I was never just a wolf to begin with, but now, an ancient demon power flowed within me.

Barric turned his attention to The Collective Nosterium still gathered in the ritual room. “Attack them!”

They peered at one another and then back at me, fear sifting through the air like a pungent cloud. They knew I was the one with the amulet now. Not their alpha.

“You will all go down for this!” he yelled. “You’re all guilty. Not just me.”

A laugh slipped from my mouth. “I’ve never seen an alpha look so scared.”

Barric’s nostrils flared, claws sliding out of his fingertips. “You are nothing but trash, Tate. Neither that amulet nor Fane’s bite makes you any better. You’ll always be that piece of human garbage who was abandoned to suffer abuse at the hands of plenty.”

Anger pulsed in my core, and that familiar rush of power coiled through me. The sickness vanished, as did the cravings for the amulet. I was healed and fully capable of ripping the former head alpha of Georgia to pieces.

“You know what, Barric?” Roman stepped toward him. “It’s about time for my magic to bind you for a change.”

As Roman’s hand rose, purple electricity shooting forward, a cloaked figure moved behind him. Claws flashed and curled around the witch’s neck.

“You know nothing of loyalty, witch.” Jax yanked his claws across Roman’s neck, and blood spurted out.