Chapter 13

Chapter

Thirteen

I halted, letting the dagger fall to my side. The old witch looked like he'd been imprisoned for months. His sickly pale skin appeared ghostly under the silvery moonlight, a murky glaze eclipsed his eyes, and dirt and grime covered his torn, black robes.

Venna smirked, knowing she had me backed into a corner with Kaspin in her clutches. "This witch's enchantment is forever—unless he ends it or you die."

"We can break the spell without him." At least, I hoped.

The royal scoffed. "You can have a dozen witches try, but they will never be able to fully undo the enchantment around Fane. Only Kaspin can restore the hybrid to his former self."

"She's right, little girl." Kaspin's voice came out in a dry, weak hiss that had the hairs on my nape rising. "That enchantment is unique, and my magic is embedded deep inside the beast. No one else can fully remove the cords chaining him."

I wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans as my limbs tingled, blood rushing to my head. "Fane is around me all the time, and he's fine. He hasn't even attempted to kill me."

Kaspin's laugh sounded like dead leaves skittering over concrete. "He can't fight the impulse forever. It will eventually take over."

Acid poured through my gut at his words, and my knees threatened to collapse from the invisible weight pressing on my chest. Could this spell really have permanently altered Fane? Would he always feel the desire to murder me if Venna slaughtered Kaspin?

Kortney tried lunging at Mykel, but I threw my arm in front of her to keep her back. "Don't." My breaths came in ragged spurts as I considered my options.

What options?

"Run that blade across your throat, Tate, or I'll slaughter him." Venna forced Kaspin to his knees and shoved the gag back over his mouth to muffle his protests. "The moment you take your last breath at Fane's hand, the spell will break, and he'll drown in sorrow and guilt."

Mykel slowly inched away from Kortney and me. "Isn't it better to kill yourself now than allow Fane to do it later and be crushed by guilt?" He cradled his arm, the hacked limb still oozing black blood. "He won't be able to live with himself after taking your life."

"That's true, Tate." Venna patted Kaspin's bald head. "This bond will force Fane down a dark path, and he'll never make it out. Save him the misery. Take your own life before he does."

The metal beams, concrete pillars, and shadows spun as I tried to think through the chaos filling my brain. Part of me feared that they were right. Fane would eventually kill me, and it would destroy him. If Kaspin was our only shot at bringing him back and Venna slaughtered him, I was as good as dead anyway. And Fane would suffer the most in the end.

I lifted the knife to my throat .

"What the hell are you doing?" Kortney hissed. "Offing yourself for any reason is insane."

For shit's sake, was I really considering this?

There was a chance the Infernal Sol would fight to keep me alive. It had done it plenty of times before. If I didn't cut too deeply, the wound could be repaired. And I was only part demon. The poison didn't kill me last time.

I could do this.

I pressed the blade into my skin, warm blood oozing down my neck just as my tattoo tingled.

Shit .

Fane appeared out of nowhere, snatched the knife from my hand, tossed it aside, and grabbed me around the middle. "The fuck are you doing!"

Logan flanked Kortney's side as Mykel turned to her, poised to attack. "Looks like someone lost a hand. Need a hook? How about I rip one of those eyes out too? Then I can get you a patch to go along with your hook."

"You're a dead demon," Mykel snarled and raked his talons through the air, but Logan was too fast, ducking out of the way and grabbing Kortney.

"Too late, Tate." Venna's grin had my body recoiling. "You lost your chance." Her talons emerged, slicing into Kaspin's throat.

My scream pelted the air as blood poured out of the witch, soaking the concrete beneath him. "Let me go! I can still save him." I struggled in Fane's grasp, wildly kicking the air.

His hold tightened to keep me from escaping. "She'll kill you."

The royal demon dug her claws in and then ripped Kaspin's head off, splattering crimson blood all over her pale face and hair. "There's no saving him, little girl. "

"No!" All of the fight drained out of me, and my knees buckled. I would have hit the ground if Fane wasn't holding me against his hard form. Tears blurred my vision as my lungs refused to work.

It was over. We'd never break the spell on Fane. I'd never get him back.

"Do you know what you did?" My words broke at the end as agony ripped into me.

Fane spun me toward him, his nostrils flaring. "I saved your fucking life. Again. I know what you were thinking, and you have no idea if the demon amulet could have saved you. You probably would have died."

I steadied my legs and shoved him off. "Kaspin was the only one who could break the spell on you."

The demon shifter's nostrils flared as he grabbed the collar of my leather jacket and yanked me to him, his lips almost brushing me. "I already told you I'm not having any witches screw with my mind again, even Kaspin. I control my life. Not some enchantment. You should know by now that I'm stronger than that."

Was he? Or did Fane just prefer to keep the spell intact to keep his true feelings for me from fully surfacing?

Movement caught our attention as dux demons suddenly swarmed into the area, Venna barking orders at them.

Logan cursed and gripped Kortney's arm. "Time to go, kids. I really don't feel like fighting a bunch of demons tonight. This was supposed to be my rom-com movie night."

Kortney squirmed in his grasp as he towed her by us. "Let me go. I can fight if I want."

Fane grabbed me, and I allowed him to drag me along as the loss of hope twisted through my veins. I wouldn't be any good in a fight anyway, distracted as I was.

Venna would pay for this. That royal bitch had been a thorn in my side for years now. She'd thrown Fane and me in prison and had us tortured and torn apart. She wouldn't continue to ruin my life.

I'd end hers before she could, no matter the cost.

I bolted upright in bed, panic consuming me as the interior of the Bowden's pool house still lingered, trapping me within the horrifying scene that replayed in my mind. The stench of chlorine, sweat, and gin clogged my nose, and my dinner threatened to reappear. The feel of Mr. Bowden's sick, unwanted touch branded my flesh.

If I could move, I'd climb into a scolding shower and scrub my skin clean like I'd done after every encounter.

As the pool house walls faded, my room at Silver Ridge materialized, my body trembling from the aftershocks of the nightmare.

But it wasn't just a nightmare. It was a memory, one of many, that haunted me. I'd never be able to wash away what happened, no matter how many times I curled up on the shower floor and prayed for the images to disappear.

Having a nightworlder compel me to forget wouldn't work. The trauma was engrained too deeply, and nothing could remove it, not even magic. This sick feeling would still twist around me even if I didn't remember why.

Tears ran down my cheeks, hitting the tops of my knees as I curled them to my chest, resting my chin on them. Darkness coated the windows, and the clock on the nightstand read a little after one in the morning. I wouldn't get much sleep tonight. The moment I closed my eyes, the memories would flood my mind .

Movement across the room caught my attention as Fane stirred on the worn leather couch, his feet hanging off the end. He turned in my direction, his luminescent stare penetrating the shadows.

This was one time I didn't internally protest when he decided to sleep on the couch instead of the bed. Fury still seared my veins at what occurred with Venna and Mykel earlier tonight. He let her kill Kaspin. He let her destroy any chance we had at breaking the spell, taking away his urge to kill me and returning his memories.

"I didn't let Venna do anything." A rough growl infiltrated Fane's gruff voice.

My eyes narrowed. "Stay out of my head, Maverick."

Surprisingly, Fane didn't say a word to Barric about my confrontation with the demon princess and her favorite henchman. If the head alpha knew I'd snuck off to meet the very creature he was trying to protect me from, he'd probably put a bodyguard on me twenty-four seven.

Fane sat up, jamming his hand through his unruly locks. "What good would breaking this spell do if you'd killed yourself? Do you know how crazy that is?"

"I wasn't really going to do it. I only wanted her to believe it." The Infernal Sol would pump me full of power to keep me alive like it had before. And if I had died, then I would have saved Fane from his doomed fate of killing me and finally breaking the spell only to be consumed with guilt.

The demon shifter yanked the blanket off, stood, and closed the distance between us with silent steps, the rage around him palpable. He gripped my jaw and tilted my head back to look at him. "If anyone's going to kill you, it'll be me. I'm not fighting this urge just to have you commit suicide over a pipe dream of bringing your old boyfriend back. "

I pulled out of his grasp and slapped his hand away. "Cut the bullshit, Maverick. You don't actually want to kill me. Stop pretending." The spell might have poured the craving for my death into his veins, but Fane knew it was a lie.

He scowled and folded his arms across his bare chest. "Then stop pretending like I'm the same guy who bit you to save your life. I'm not him. I'll never be him."

"Not after you let Venna kill Kaspin."

Fane tossed his hands in the air. "You are fucking impossible."

"And you are insufferable."

After Fane glared at me like he was trying to shoot lasers out of his eyes, he grumbled and yanked the covers back.

"What the hell are you doing?" I squealed as he effortlessly pushed me to the other side of the bed and got in.

"Neither one of us will get any sleep tonight if I go back to the couch." He settled on his back and pulled the covers around us. "Don't be difficult about this, Teague. I'm too tired to argue. It's been a long day."

My molars ground as I resisted the urge to punch him. "Yeah, I bet. Did you have fun with your ex-fated and her mate?"

"I wouldn't call listening to Marissa whine and Dorian bitch fun."

I scooted as far from him as possible without tumbling off the bed. "Why wasn't I allowed in the council hearing? They tried to kill me ."

"Because Barric knew Marissa and Reese would antagonize you into a fight. And any attack on them would have made their claim that you instigated the situation a little more believable."

My jaw dropped. "It was premeditated murder!"

Fane shrugged. "They're willing to try anything."

"And I wouldn't have attacked Marissa. "

Fane's head angled in my direction, his brow arching. "Yeah, because you're so calm and collected."

"Look who's talking." I jabbed my elbow into his side. He could fake it all he wanted, but the beast growled anytime another guy looked at me. "You still should have told me."

"You should have told me Venna contacted you instead of walking into her trap alone."

I rolled onto my side away from him. "Well, everyone's fine except Kaspin. It all worked out, according to you." Fane was probably glad my hope had been squashed when Venna killed the witch.

After we dropped Kortney off at Corvin Manor, Logan and Fane escorted me back to Silver Ridge where I'd said good night to Logan and stormed off without looking at Fane. This was the first time we spoke since then.

"Dorian and Marissa were banned from every pack in Georgia for the next ten years," Fane said as if that would make me feel better.

"Great."

He huffed. "I thought you'd be little happier about it."

"I'm happy. Ecstatic. Yay." There was no denying the sarcasm dripping from my words.

I tried to yank the covers off him, but his arm snaked around my side and dragged me into his chest. "Get off!"

His lips brushed over my ear, hot breath skating down my neck. "What if I told you I hunted that motherfucker down from your nightmare and tore his throat out? Would that make you happy?"

My heart stopped, and I slowly angled my head to stare up at him as shockwaves rippled over me. "Did you?"

Fane brushed a strand of hair from my face, his fingers lingering on my cheek. "Do you really want to know? "

When he first realized what happened, Fane pledged to kill Mr. Bowden. After Kaspin's spell, he learned of the abuse again and, apparently, had the same sentiment as before.

Had the demon shifter really gone after that man to punish him for what he did to me?

When he pulled me out of Barric's office the other day, the red splatters on his neck didn't smell like paint. They'd smelled like blood. Could that have been Mr. Bowden's?

I finally shook my head. "I don't want to know."

He didn't need to say it, though. I already knew.

Fane did hunt that sick bastard down. He drew his death out and made sure he knew why he was being torn apart by a beast.

How could Fane want to kill me while also seeking revenge on my behalf?

Would I wake up one day with his teeth in my throat?