Chapter 15

Chapter

Fifteen

Captain Coltrane tapped the marker against the whiteboard at the front of a conference room in Corvin manor. Notes on the vanishing shifters were scrawled across in red and black. "Lord Ruin has to be involved."

Of course, she'd blame Ruin for this. She had no clue who the high demon really was. Most people didn't.

But Anna Coltrane had always hated demons, ever since they killed her sister and brother-in-law, Hawk's parents. She worked her way up in the organization until she became the leader of the Savannah chapter. She stood with her back ramrod straight, her ash-blonde hair slicked into a ponytail, and dressed in the raven's all-black attire.

She was so average-looking, almost forgettable. Now that my blinders had been removed, I didn't see anything special about her other than her ambition to police nightworlders.

When Hawk looked back from his table in the front with Roxie and gave me another scathing glare, Fane stiffened in his seat next to me, feeling the pangs tearing into my heart. Roxie smirked at Hawk's disdain. Did she whisper horrible things about me into his ear at night? Did she coax his hatred like a devil on his shoulder?

That bitch had hated me from the beginning. She'd hid it so well. Her betrayal made me second-guess my opinions of everyone.

My gaze flicked to Barric who sat with Jax at a table on the left. Could the head alpha be fooling me into believing he was a kind, reasonable leader when he was really an elitist asshole belonging to a secret hate group?

Barric invited me to this meeting since I was a former raven, and he thought I could mend ties with them.

He thought wrong. The only ravens who didn't openly loathe me were Gia and Kortney.

Tran had an actual reason to be pissed after Venna used her to get to me, but she didn't hold a grudge. She'd even asked Fane and me to join her table.

"Any nightworlder could be involved," I said, resisting the urge to look at Barric. Ruin wasn't to blame, but something was definitely going on with demons. Some had gone batshit crazy while numerous sub-demons were entering Earth and attacking humans.

"What about that royal, Princess Venna?" Kortney asked from my other side. "She seems like the type to concoct a nefarious plan."

Tasha, the gorgeous Amazonian and Kortney's best friend, nodded next to her. "She sent her minions to capture Kort to get to Tate all because she killed her sister?" She shook her head, her blond waves dancing around her shoulders. "I'm not buying it. I think the princess has other plans. Maybe that was just a distraction for something else."

Barric swiveled in his seat, his brow arching in my direction .

Shit . I was hoping no one would mention that little incident during the meeting.

He took a deep, calming breath and turned back around, shaking his head. Jax smirked at me and mouthed, "You're in trouble."

"Barric is going to give me a full-time guard or lock me in my damn room," I muttered to Fane through our link.

He snorted. "I doubt he'll lock you up, but the guard is a real possibility."

"From what I know, Venna is a petty royal who bounces from one thing to another," Coltrane said, stopping my spiraling thoughts. "She's never had any real aspirations other than taking control of Vlehull, and even that she's abandoned."

After scribbling a few notes while ignoring Roxie's attempts to steal his attention, Hawk cleared his throat. "Venna and her sidekick, that giant dux demon, have been causing enough trouble to warrant further investigation. I've followed them and witnessed their damage. They have no regard for human life or other nightworlders."

Coltrane shook her head and turned to the board to write something, disregarding her nephew's concerns. An angry flush crept all the way to the tips of his ears.

"The culprit behind the disappearing shifters is someone in a higher seat of power here in Savannah. The high demon lord is cunning, calculating, intelligent, and extremely dangerous." Coltrane wrote his name on the board and circled it. "Lord Ruin Bacchus has the means to pull off something as widespread and large as abducting and possibly killing shifters across the entire state of Georgia."

"Why are you so quick to blame Ruin?" I blurted as hot anger inundated my bloodstream .

Her dark eyes narrowed. "Why are you so quick to defend Lord Ruin? How well do you know him, Tate?"

"Well enough to know he's not involved in this." My talons threatened to burst through my fingertips, so I dragged my hands into my lap.

As every raven's heavy stare weighed on me, Coltrane sneered. "I've known the high demon lord longer than you have, but it seems like his charms have clouded your judgment. Perhaps you're too close to see the truth. I've heard many men and women defend him over the years after falling into his bed."

Flames rushed into my cheeks at her insinuation, and I shot to my feet. "I'm not sleeping with Ruin."

"Captain Coltrane," Barric warned, his broad shoulders stiffening under his red-and-blue flannel. "Don't be disrespectful to one of my wolves."

She gave a noncommittal shrug as the tension in the air swelled. "She's not in your pack, Alpha Barric. There's no need to defend her honor."

I couldn't believe this was the same woman I'd idolized for years, the same woman who treated me like family and taught me to become a top-notch fighter. She was nothing but a bitter, closed-minded, cynical jerk.

"Keep talking to her like that, and I'll remind you of how much power you don't have, Captain." The voice coming out of Fane wasn't a growl or a yell but a low cadence that pulsated with power. He didn't even need to stand to be the most intimidating creature in the room, and the head alpha was a few seats away.

The raven captain cocked her head, nervously crossing her arms against her chest. She was definitely afraid of Fane, but she refused to back down. "Don't get angry with me because the girl you turned into a shifter has interests in another nightworlder. She clearly isn't loyal to you."

My jaw dropped. Coltrane might as well have called me a slut.

A bone-chilling laugh rumbled out of Fane, and everyone in the room leaned away from him except me. "Tate is loyal to those who earn it. Ruin has earned it, and not with tricks in the bedroom." Fane slowly rose to his feet, the power surrounding him choking the room. "She isn't just some girl I bit either. She's a warrior who you once considered the best. Don't belittle her because she's become something you will never understand. And I can smell the fucking jealousy all over you."

Her head snapped back as if he'd slapped her. "Jealousy? Why would I ever be jealous of a creature like her?"

"That's enough." Barric slammed his hand against the table he and Jax were at, rattling phones and water bottles. "We're on your turf, Captain Coltrane, but I won't stand for you insulting a shifter under my care."

"Maybe you shouldn't have brought her, considering her connection with the ravens." The captain turned her back and set the maker on the shelf beneath the whiteboard.

"That's the reason I brought her," Barric said. "Most of you know Tate and how much she fought for your cause. She nearly died for it and was turned into a shifter to save her life. How can you treat her with such blatant disrespect?"

My throat tightened, and unshed tears burned my eyes. It was so strange that the people I thought were my family for years were the ones bashing me while nightworlders defended me. Fane wanted to kill me, and part of him despised me for my role in his brother's death, but he wouldn't let Coltrane insult me. And Barric? He could very well be a closet racist who might have something to do with the missing shifters, and he still defended me.

"I need some air." I marched toward the door, catching Gia's gaze. She looked torn, sympathetic even. But she didn't stand up for me or follow.

Fane did.

Once we were in the hall and around the corner, he pulled me to a stop, gripped my chin, and angled my face to his. "She shouldn't have said those things. She just wanted to put you down, make you believe you're beneath her."

My bottom lip trembled. "I just don't understand how she could hate me."

Fane gently used his thumb to brush away a tear that ran down my cheek. "She secretly envies you."

I scoffed. "I doubt that."

He lowered his head until his ebony hair brushed my forehead. "I wasn't messing with her when I said she reeked of jealousy. I smelled it on her like rotten meat."

His stare seared into mine, and the way he came to my defense had my heart clenching. I was terrified to think—to even wish—that the spell could break on its own. What if Fane changed his mind the moment I believed that and went back to openly hating me? I couldn't take it.

"Thanks for having my back, Maverick." I pulled his hand away and put distance between us. "I just need to take a breather and clear my head."

His brow furrowed, but he didn't protest or question the walls he felt me erecting. "Stay out of trouble."

I smirked. "I'll try, but trouble seems to find me."

The demon shifter shook his head as he lowered his massive body into a chair, deciding to stay out of the meeting. "I'm aware. "

After meandering through the halls of Corvin Manor, I broke into Coltrane's office. The door was locked, but I brought a lockpick with me. Maybe I'd subconsciously planned to sneak away and snoop.

Or not subconsciously at all.

Her office still reeked of coffee and overly sweet caramel creamer. I wrinkled my nose and shut the door, hoping I didn't hurl in her trash can from the overwhelming aroma. Obviously, my shifter senses were way more sensitive to the smell.

A lifetime had passed since she called me in here to propose her special assignment. A bitter laugh slipped out as I rummaged through a file cabinet on the left. What a joke. She'd used me and then tossed me away like a piece of trash.

Nothing of importance stood out in the file cabinet, so I moved to the built-in bookshelves that held a collection of antique leather-bound tomes and current paperbacks and hardbacks. I nibbled on my bottom lip and studied her copy of The Art of War . The book looked pristine except for the top of the spine, as if someone was always pulling on it.

I tried to tug the book out of the shelf, but it wouldn't budge. Then, I placed my finger on the top and tilted it. A click echoed, and the shelf below rattled.

What the hell?

When I removed the books, a hidden compartment appeared where part of the wall had slid down. I pulled out a worn leather book with embossed gold writing in a demon language, and as I flipped through it, a few of the strange symbols stuck out.

They referred to the Infernal Sol. Somehow, I recognized its name in the foreign tongue. My stomach clenched as frost crawled over my shoulders. How long had Coltrane been researching this amulet, and how much did she really know about it ?

I withdrew one of the files in the hidden compartment, opening it to information about a male raven from nearly ten years ago. He was a runaway Coltrane brought in after saving a bunch of kids from a vampire. He went missing a few years after he joined.

As I pulled out two more files with similar scenarios, the blood drained from my face. Their stories were so similar to mine that it had my hands shaking. Had Coltrane sent them on a mission to find the Infernal Sol, one they never returned from?

Was Maddie in here?

I frantically sifted through more than a dozen names until landing on one marked Maddie Reynolds . My pulse pounded in my ears like thunder as I opened the manila folder and scanned the information on my former friend and cellmate.

According to her file, Maddie was charged with infiltrating the Underworld to locate a mystical amulet. There was no doubt in my mind that it was the Infernal Sol. And that had led to Maddie's incarceration in Heldrok and her eventual death.

The captain had lured these runaways into this organization, trained them, and then sent them on risky missions with a high chance of failure because she knew no one would ever look for them. Like me, they were expendable.

A cold sweat surged down my nape as my thoughts spiraled. Why was Coltrane obsessed with finding the Infernal Sol? She claimed it was a noble cause, to get it out of demon hands, but feeding innocent ravens to monsters wasn't all that noble. Her actions were premeditated. She searched for suitable candidates and spent time training them. She couldn't call this a coincidence or accident.

Something in my gut told me Coltrane had bigger plans for the demon amulet than simply getting it out of dangerous hands .

Footsteps suddenly echoed outside of the door, and my head snapped toward it as the handle began to turn.

Oh, shit. No doubt that was Coltrane, and there was no telling what she'd do if she knew I found her dirty little secrets.