Page 57 of Savage Blood (Den of Shadows #6)

Music pulsed through Wrath & Ruin as I stood on the balcony overlooking the dance floor. A collection of nightworlders and humans filled the club tonight, and not one ounce of fear permeated the atmosphere.

There could be—if I wanted to make it happen.

My fingers curled around the steel railing as I imagined peeking inside a few people’s heads to uncover what scared them the most. It would be so easy just to slither inside and poke at their deepest fears.

No one could stop me.

A presence entered the second-story VIP room, and all my tattoos tingled like tiny bolts of lightning struck each one.

“You’re not thinking of doing something naughty, are you?”

That voice alone could have my knees quaking, but when his mouth lowered to my throat and kissed his mark, I nearly passed out from the flood of desire hitting my bloodstream.

“Of course not,” I murmured as Fane wrapped his hands around my hips and drew me into his hard, scorching body. “I’m a good girl now.”

His rich, husky chuckle caused a throbbing sensation right between my legs. “Only for me, little rebel.”

Fane Maverick, my undeniable soul mate, had gotten a second chance at life. We’d gotten a second chance. I would have stayed in that fear with him for eternity, but luckily, I was able to lead him out.

He woke up on that table, gasping for air, his heart barely beating.

I brought him back from the brink of death, but it took time to really heal him and rid his system of the toxins from Demise and the other mystical properties in Coltrane’s bullet.

Weeks, actually.

And those were the scariest days of my life.

That didn’t seem like a long time, but for someone who was used to taking down enemies like bowling pins, Fane’s slow recovery was torture. He hated it almost as much as I did.

“Have you thought anymore about Wrath’s offer?” he asked, sliding to my side, one hand still burning my hip.

“Nope.”

Merging with the Infernal Sol made me more demon than shifter. And apparently, I was the most powerful one in Savannah. The title of demon lord should go to me.

I didn’t want it.

But neither did Wrath.

“You would make a good leader.” Fane chuckled at my scowl. “You’ve been human, a raven, you’re part shifter, and now your demon powers make Wrath and Ruin’s look like child’s play.”

No one, including me, knew what I was capable of. I certainly had no idea how to do much more than suck out fears and cause a little—okay, a lot of—chaos. The visions hadn’t returned, but we’d be stupid to think other abilities wouldn’t arise.

“I didn’t want to be the alpha of Silver Ridge. Why the hell would I want to be a demon lord?”

Fane tucked a strand of long hair behind my ear. “Because you’re a natural at it. You’re selfless and put everyone else first. And you look out for the underdog.”

After we took out Barric, the remaining Collective members surrendered. Most of them were still locked up as punishment for their crimes, and the rest of the group had crawled back under the rocks they came from.

The Collective Hunt was no more, not even in secret.

We laid Charla to rest in Silver Ridge’s mystical forest, dozens of shifters paying their respects. A lump clogged my throat as I thought of the brave woman. She would have survived if not for Coltrane.

Anna Coltrane didn’t get a funeral. She didn’t deserve one. Hawk mourned the loss of his aunt, but he didn’t feel any guilt for killing her.

The few surviving members of Barric’s inner circle, including Torin, were locked in Wrath’s lab downstairs while he and Logan attempted to return their animals to natural forms. Now that the Infernal Sol wasn’t influencing them, their madness had cleared, but they were still corrupt pricks.

They wouldn’t get a taste of freedom for a while.

“How’s your mom?” I asked, changing the subject.

“She’s fine. Having a blast rebuilding Vlehull to what it once was with Lord Ryker.”

Finally, a new lord had been chosen for the Underworld city, and it wasn’t Ruin. He’d never wanted the position.

He and Roxie escaped shortly after I brought Fane back from the dead, but I had a feeling we hadn’t seen the last of those two. At least Fane didn’t growl every time someone said Ruin’s name.

Ruin’s leaving had more to do with Roxie than anything. He worried about her safety and freedom now that the raven council sought to punish her for breaking several accords and for siding with Barric.

Their little demon bond was a lot more powerful than Ruin let on. I could see it in the way they looked at each other. The Infernal Sol’s influence had caused some of her more psychotic behavior in the Underworld, so maybe she’d mellow out.

“Do you think she’ll bite him?” Fane asked as he watched Mina and Hawk on the dance floor. They split their time between Mohan Wilds and Savannah, since Hawk was still a raven, but I wasn’t sure how long that would last.

If they really loved each other, she’d want to bite him. And Hawk would let her. He’d been drifting further from the ravens after seeing his aunt for what she really was.

Sensing the streak of panic through the bond, Fane used his thumb to stroke a circle on the strip of flesh above my jeans. “Hawk is strong enough. He’ll survive the bite.”

Saint said the same thing during his visit to Silver Ridge the other day.

The packs had to choose a new head alpha of Georgia, and plenty had thrown his name in the hat.

Things between us were still awkward after rejecting each other, but he seemed open to being friends—one day.

Without him, Fane might not have survived.

I never would have thought to heal him if not for Saint.

Fane’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and when he drew it out to check the text, he smiled. “My mom found this the other day.”

My heart clenched when he showed me the picture of him and Warin, his brother’s broad smile radiating warmth. Not an ounce of cruelty shone in his electric blue eyes.

Fane spoke about Warin more often now, the pain from his death not gone but softened, as if the wounds had started to heal. He wanted to keep his memory alive so that the world never forgot him.

I wanted the same for Jayla. Unfortunately, I didn’t have even one picture of her.

“Don’t be sad, fiera mika.” Fane put his phone on the table and rubbed his thumb across my cheekbone. “I have a surprise for you.”

“Does it involve you getting naked?”

He chuckled, his white teeth flashing. “We can do that later.”

Fane crossed the VIP room, moved behind the bar, and stooped to grab something. As he brought up the picture frame and I closed the distance between us, a sharp breath caught in my lungs.

“How did you…?” I took the frame from him and studied the picture of Jayla and me that hot summer day we snuck into the movies.

But we never took any pictures.

And then it dawned on me. Fane painted the scene with such realistic clarity that it could be mistaken for a photo.

He captured the moment better than any camera could.

“I’ve seen her dozens of times through your dreams.” He shrugged. “I can paint hundreds of these. Hell, I’ll make albums for you for every damn memory.”

A bittersweet ache unfurled in my chest, and tears instantly rolled down my cheeks. “Are you real, or did I dream you up?”

Fane took the frame and placed it on the table before pulling me into his arms. “Maybe both. You’re definitely the creature of my dreams.”

“Or nightmares.”

“Dreams, nightmares, fantasies, all of them, Teague. You have been all of them.”

I rose on my toes while he lowered toward me, and our lips met in a fiery kiss that turned the smoldering embers into a blazing inferno. Wrath had pretty much given us this VIP spot after we broke the third couch while partaking in some naughty fantasies.

We had a habit of breaking things.

Fane lifted me, and my legs wrapped around his waist, the wall pressing against my back. I moaned as our hips rocked together, his hard length rubbing my center.

“I will never get enough of you,” he murmured against my lips. “Never.”

As he sucked my tongue into his mouth, shivers rolled down my spine. I drew his shirt over his head, dropped it, and went straight for the button on his jeans.

I needed him inside me more than I needed my next breath.

“Guys! Seriously?” Logan groaned as he sauntered in. “You were going at it in your room less than two hours ago. Do you ever stop?”

Fane set me on my feet and licked his lips. “Jealous?”

“Yes!” Logan ambled around the bar and began making an elaborate cocktail. “You two have always been hot for each other, even when you pretended to hate each other.”

No truer words were ever spoken.

Reluctantly, Fane grabbed his shirt from the floor and shoved it over his head, covering his naked torso, much to my disappointment .

“I remember you two getting hot and heavy in my living room apartment after the agrigon bit Tate.” A grin chased Logan’s lips as he dropped ice cubes into a shaker. “Did you really think I was oblivious to what you two were doing on that chair while I had my back turned in the kitchen?”

“Oh, hell.” Heat flamed my face as memories of that night rushed forward.

Fane’s tongue had been between my thighs as he sucked poison out of the bite. And then his phantom fingers had me coming apart with Logan a few feet away.

The demon shifter didn’t look the least bit ashamed. In fact, he was smirking, looking pretty damn proud of himself.

“I need a drink,” I mumbled and shuffled toward the bar, where I took the one Logan just made.

“Don’t stay up too late, Tate,” the handsome high demon warned, starting on another cocktail. “You promised to be at the lab bright and early tomorrow morning.”

My mouth curled into a sarcastic grin. “Yes, Logan, I know. You’ve reminded me a dozen times today.”

Now that the Infernal Sol and I were one and the same, Logan was confident I could balance the Soulvation formula into a stable version. After working his undeniable charm, plenty of shifter volunteers lined up to donate tiny pieces of their souls.

Fane sipped my drink, nodding in approval at the zesty lemon flavor. “Are you sure you want to do this, Tate?”

The missing component might be my blood, a sample of my soul, or some untapped power within me. Even if all three were needed, I’d give them all to help.

“I want to help those demons who want to live on Earth without taking souls,” I said. “They deserve a choice.”

“Not everyone will be happy when they find out,” Fane warned, passing the drink back to me. “Especially the older demons and royals. They’ll resist.”

When I started down this path at seventeen, I’d wanted to slaughter every demon for simply existing. After years of living in this world, being one of the supernatural creatures that lurked in the shadows, I realized that just like humans, some were good and some were bad.

On my quest for redemption, I also came to understand that not everything was on my shoulders and I couldn’t carry the blame for every bad thing.

But I could do this. I could help demons coexist with other creatures on Earth.

“Fane is right, Tate,” Logan said. “Ancient demons might even come for you.”

Ruin had been worried about that very possibility.

But Ruin didn’t have what I did. And I wasn’t talking about the powers of the Infernal Sol. I meant a wide collection of family and friends who had my back, no matter what.

My pupils thinned into onyx diamonds, and my eyes burned crimson, their reflection cast in the glass I held. “Bring on the devils, and I’ll rip their crowns of horns off. Rivers of ebony will flow until an ocean roils beneath my feet.”

The two guys traded glances, clear worry flickering in their expressions even as they tried to hide it.

Of course, Fane couldn’t hide his concern. It swirled through the bond every time my sanity slipped. And that happened more than either of us wanted.

I gave a shaky shrug. “You know what I mean.”

Logan waved a dismissive hand and chuckled. “You’re going to kill them. Got it.”

Fane intertwined his fingers with mine, his thumb stroking the delicate tattoos that appeared after we claimed each other. “Whatever comes our way, Teague, we’ll face it together.”

We’d been enemies, lovers, and mates, and now that I’d become this primeval power, Fane would be my anchor in a sea of wicked temptation and allure. He was my light in the darkness, the hand beckoning me to safety.

No matter how heavy this burden of power became, Fane Maverick would never let me drown.

“I’ll make sure you don’t fall too far into the dark, my little rebel.” Fane gave one of his sexy, sinful smiles that stole the air right out of my lungs. “If you get lost, I will always find you.”

The End.