Chapter 1

Chapter

One

The sharp edge of bricks dug into my palms as I stuck my boot into a thick knot of ivy to climb higher. City lights cast a glow across the deserted blacktop just a few feet away. My heart pounded and breath quickened.

Freedom was within my grasp. I only had to clear this wall.

A cold wind coming off the Savannah River whipped my long raspberry hair around as I breached the top, inhaling several gulps of icy air, a smile tugging at my lips. When was the last time I was on the outside?

Seemed like a lifetime ago.

Maybe it was.

As I swung my legs to the other side, my boots dangling over the sidewalk, a prickling sensation coiled over my neck, and it had nothing to do with the winter temperatures.

Son of a bitch.

Hard fingers gripped my calf, digging in like rods of steel, and I was yanked from the wall. An embarrassing squeak burst out of my mouth as I fell through the air and landed against a solid chest, unyielding arms caging me in .

"Where do you think you're going, fiera mika?"

That rough, rumbling voice still poured heat through my belly, and his intoxicating scent of fire, cinnamon, and leather infiltrated my senses. Part of me longed to melt against him while the other wanted to punch that infuriating smirk off his ruggedly handsome face.

Fane Maverick was the bane of my existence.

But he was also my heart.

He just didn't remember that.

"Put me down," I hissed, struggling in his grasp, my feet flailing in the air as my fist beat into his chest. He might as well have been a marble statue for all the good my fighting did.

His chuckle grated on my eardrums, and he unceremoniously dropped me. Luckily, my reflexes were that of a shifter and demon, so my boots hit the ground before my ass did, and I stood up.

"Bastard," I muttered under my breath.

He folded his arms, the long-sleeved Henley straining against his broad form. "This is the third time I've caught you attempting to sneak out of Barric's compound this week. Why do you keep trying when you know I can sense your presence drifting farther away?"

Despite the tension between Fane and me—and the fact that Kaspin's spell still had him thirsting for my death—our bond continued to strengthen over the last few months while we'd been with the Silver Ridge pack. Sharing the same bedroom might have had something to do with it.

Cirilla claimed that the more time we spent together, the stronger our link would grow. It didn't matter that we could barely stand each other.

"Well, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again." I flicked my hair over my shoulder and marched down the sidewalk. "See you later, Maverick."

He gripped my arm and yanked me to a stop. "Again, where do you think you're going?"

I jerked out of his grasp then smoothed my black leather jacket. "On a walk."

"You can't just go on a walk, Teague." He motioned his huge, tattooed hand around Whitaker Street, empty at this hour and devoid of most tourists in the winter. "In case you forgot, a couple of dangerous enemies are after your stubborn ass."

"How could I forget when you and Barric remind me daily?" Venna had given up on getting the Infernal Sol. She simply wanted to maim, torture, and slaughter me. And then there were the culprits behind the missing shifters who, thanks to Joseph Morric's information, we knew wanted me for something .

A few days after Joseph's return, his mind had cleared, but he couldn't remember jack about his abduction. It was like someone had snuck into the healers' house and compelled his memories away. Only an extremely powerful nightworlder could have been able to compel a shifter—if that was what happened.

The city lights glinted on Fane's nose ring as his nostrils flared. "Barric doesn't know about Julia's test results on your blood, so that one's on me. And why am I more worried about your true lineage than you?"

The healer's tests revealed I was a human born from at least one shifter parent, probably a wolf. According to her, a spell camouflaged the truth, and then Fane's bite woke up the dormant shifter gene. To everyone, I appeared to be a bitten wolf with no biological connection to shifters.

Apparently, enemies had been after me long before the Infernal Sol decided to burrow under my skin.

Fane jerked his head toward the looming iron gate that led into Head Alpha Barric's compound in downtown Savannah. "Let's go. Your little escape interrupted my sleep, as if your nightmares don't do that enough."

"Go to hell." I flipped him off and planted my combat boots to the sidewalk. "Like I said, I'm going on a walk."

The demon shifter's brows slammed together, his jaw ticking. "And like I said, it's too dangerous. Now get your ass back through the gate, or I'll throw you over my shoulder and carry you back. The choice is yours."

A sharp, humorless laugh exploded out of my mouth. "What choice? I haven't had a choice in anything since the night we collided and fought over the Infernal Sol." I'd always thought my life splintered when the demon amulet sank inside, but I was beginning to think my fate was irrevocably altered the moment Fane and I locked eyes across Wrath & Ruin.

"And you think I've had a choice?" His question burst between gritted teeth. "I'm stuck in a bond with you, the woman who killed my brother."

My eyes narrowed, and it took all my strength not to slap him. "Stop bringing that up. I've already explained what happened to Warin, and you admitted that you don't blame me. I was a scared kid and did what I had to." I shoved his chest, but the massive beast didn't budge an inch. "Don't use his death as an excuse to keep hating me."

Fire crackled in his mismatched irises, one demon blue and the other luminescent gold, and he shortened the distance between us, his addictive scent filling my nostrils again. "I have plenty of reasons to hate you. My current one is the inconvenience you're causing me by sneaking out. Again."

"I don't need a babysitter, Maverick. I can take care of myself." I pushed him, but this time, he caught my wrists and backed me up until I hit the icy brick wall .

Dark hair fell across his forehead, making me itch to run my fingers through the silken strands. The scar on his left cheekbone stood out beneath the glow of the gas streetlight a few feet away. "If it were up to me, you'd be locked in a cell."

Fury rushed through my veins, and his flinch made it clear he felt it. "I'm already a prisoner. I've been one for years." I blinked back the hot tears trying to brim over. "First when you sold me to Ruin, then in Heldrok, then with Venna, and now with Barric. I'm tired of it."

"And I'm tired of fighting the urge to kill you." Fane's long, calloused fingers coiled around my throat, his thumb stroking the center and applying the tiniest bit of pressure. "It would be so easy to squeeze the life out of you."

Electricity crackled over the swirling tattoo on my neck, and tiny embers burned in my core. My breaths quickened, blowing puffs of steam that mingled with the ones Fane produced. His nostrils flared as he sensed the change in me.

He licked his lips while his pupils thinned. "You never react like you should, Teague. When I threaten to kill you, it turns you on." His body pressed into mine, so hot I was surprised steam didn't curl from him.

I rolled my hips into his, rubbing the hard bulge between his legs. "I'm not the only one. Violence and brutality have always been our love language." He didn't remember, but the bond between us sure as hell did.

Fane's savage grin had my legs trembling and heart pounding. His head dipped forward, his lips running over my jaw, the warm metal of his piercing making me tremble. "Sometimes I don't know if I want to kill you or fuck you."

Moisture pooled between my legs. "Right now? I'd say the latter." We hadn't had sex since that hot session in the bathroom at the healer house in Mohan Wilds. We'd been toying with each other ever since, though.

He dragged his hot, wet tongue over my neck, and I released a low groan. His growl of satisfaction rumbled against my throat. "Come back inside with me, and I might be inclined to test the durability of our bed. The dresser too. And maybe the bathroom counter. You liked that before."

Once his words sank in, I shoved him off. He allowed it and took a tiny step back, but still crowded over me.

"You are such a prick. You really think you can lure me into compliance with sex?" I slipped under his arm and marched down the sidewalk. "You'll have to do better than that, Maverick."

He was at my side with a few long strides. "It was a risk I was willing to take." He adjusted his jeans, his erection trying to burst through the material.

My stomach fluttered again. At least he really did want me, and it wasn't all a game.

"Thirty minutes, Teague." Fane dragged his fingers through his hair, further messing up the wayward strands. "And then we're going back."

My lips pursed as I studied him out of the corner of my eye. "You don't need to come. I'm fine all on my own."

"It's nonnegotiable." He gave me a narrow glare. "Either I'm coming on your little walk or tossing you over my shoulder and hauling you back to the pack house."

"Whatever," I mumbled, knowing it was futile to argue. At least I could experience a bit of freedom, even if it was only thirty minutes and with the guy who owned my heart and soul. The same one who wanted to kill me.

Silence stretched between us as we ambled through the empty streets of downtown Savannah. Well, not entirely empty. Nightworlders roamed the area, some hidden in the shadows and others out in the open like us. Most of the humans remained in their cozy homes on nights as frigid as this one.

Without realizing it, my feet had carried me through Forsyth Park, and pangs instantly slashed at my heart as I thought of my former best friend. Hawk and I had spent plenty of time hanging out under the giant oaks, fantasizing about our future as ravens. I'd fallen hard for his charming smile and boyish enthusiasm. His innocence had drawn me in like a moth to a flame.

When he finally admitted his feelings for me, I should have been ecstatic, but the demon shifter had already burrowed under my skin. And then Hawk discovered I was no longer human, and he wanted nothing to do with me.

Maybe I never really was human, not entirely.

"Why are you frowning at that tree?" Fane asked as we stood in front of the same oak Hawk and I had taken a picture under the night he told me we were connected forever.

Forever didn't mean shit once I'd crossed enemy lines.

"No reason," I muttered and resumed my stroll, my steps heavier than before. The demon shifter didn't remember anything about Hawk or that he'd ripped my heart out. Fane had been the one to comfort me the night the ravens turned on me and Coltrane kicked me out. He convinced me to walk out with my head held high while he remained by my side, lending me strength.

He had no idea how much that meant to me.

Grunts and growls suddenly echoed on the icy wind cutting through the trees, and Fane and I angled toward the source.

"Teague, don't even think of getting involved in whatever that is." Fane's jaw ticked as he anticipated my protests because he knew damn good and well that I would.

I pursed my lips as more battle sounds tore through the night. "Yeah, that's going to be a no." I pivoted and dashed off, Fane cursing up a storm behind me.