Chapter 39

Chapter

Thirty-Nine

A threatening growl curled out of Fane's mouth as he hovered over me, his talons stuck in my neck, drawing blood as a mystical purple sheen coated his irises. If he pressed a little harder, the sharp claws would shred my flesh into ribbons.

We'd claimed each other last night, and he'd finally stopped pretending he didn't want me. So, of course, Kaspin's spell took over, threatening to ruin everything. If Fane killed me now after we were mated, I couldn't imagine what it would do to him once the magic wore off.

"It's okay, Fane," I whispered. "It's me."

Still, nothing registered except the bloodlust calling for my death.

My hand shook as I slowly lifted it, placing it over the new tattoo on his heart, the one from me. "It's okay, Fane. I love you. Just know that I love you." I swallowed hard, his claws digging in. "No matter what. I love you."

This was the first time I'd said those words to him. I'd known I loved him since Heldrok, maybe even before, but I'd never voiced it. We'd gotten close our last night together in the Underworld prison. At the time, we'd been too afraid to admit how deep our feelings ran, fearing something would rip us apart.

Something had ripped us apart. And we were slowly finding our way back to each other only to have that asshole's spell emerge. But I still needed him to know how I felt even if he tore my throat out in the next few seconds.

"I love you, Fane," I repeated it, my lips trembling.

He tilted his head, scrutinizing me. After several long seconds, the mystical violet faded from his eyes, and his expression softened. He looked at his hand, his talons in my throat, and panic erupted over his features.

Fane cursed and stumbled off the bed, hitting the wall so hard a painting fell, the wooden frame cracking. "Not again."

I scrambled out of bed, wiping the blood off my neck and smearing it on the shirt of his I'd tossed on last night. "It's okay."

"It's not okay!" He jammed his hand into his ebony hair, pulling on the roots. "I almost killed you."

"You've almost killed me plenty of times." I motioned down my body. "I'm still here."

He frantically shook his head. "This is different."

Was it different because we were mated now?

I approached him, ignoring his protests, and grabbed his face. "I'm okay."

"But I'm not."

The anguish tearing him apart pulsated around him like it had a life all its own. So I opened myself and took it from him, inhaling all the pain and guilt eating at him for hurting me.

The air catapulted from my lungs at the deep agony filling my veins and stealing my sanity. His anguish was so much worse now that I was his mate. A shifter's natural instinct was to protect his mate, and Fane wanted to cut his own hand off for attempting to kill me .

"You can't trust me," he hissed.

"I trust you more than anyone."

He cursed in a demon language and yanked my hands off, gripping them in an unrelenting hold. "You shouldn't, Teague. You should stay far away from me."

"I rarely do what I'm told, Maverick." If I couldn't stay away from him before we claimed each other, he was an idiot to think I could do it now.

Fane's head cocked to the side as footsteps sounded in the hall. His nostrils flared moments before he yanked me behind him in a protective stance.

Like I needed protecting.

"It comes with the territory," he growled into my mind.

The door suddenly swung open, and Ruin poked his head in. "Wrath said you two?—"

Logan shot past him into the room, his electric-blue eyes frantic. "Is it true? Are you two officially mates?"

Fane snatched a pair of my sweatpants off the couch, tossing them to me. "Yeah, and I just tried to kill her."

I yanked the pants on without arguing even though I had every right to walk around in a t-shirt if I wanted to. Just because we were mates now didn't mean I'd lost the ability to make my own decisions. But Fane was having a shitty morning, so I complied just this once.

"What?" Logan's gaze dipped to the thin trails of blood streaking my neck. "I thought since you were willing to claim her, you'd overcome those urges."

"Obviously not." He grabbed a shirt from a drawer and shoved it over his head. "We fell asleep, and then the next thing I know, my talons are in her neck, and I'm seconds away from ripping her fucking throat out."

Ruin motioned toward my arm. "Is someone going to say anything about the addition of your tattoo?"

Logan closed the distance between us and lifted my arm to study the markings. "They look like Fane's except for the delicate ones covering your hand."

As soon as the high demon touched me, a threatening snarl glided out of Fane.

"Look at you, getting all possessive and puffed up over your mate. How cute." Logan chuckled as he released me and sauntered toward his friend, grabbing him in a bear hug. "Our little boy's all grown up."

Fane rolled his eyes and pushed his friend off. "Fuck you, Logan. And stop joking around. This is serious. I could have killed Tate."

The teasing hint vanished from Logan's smile, and it softened. "I know it's serious. I'm just glad to see you show how much you care about her."

Fane did care about me. That was obvious. I didn't expect him to say I love you, but he didn't even acknowledge it.

"He's got a new tat too," I said, trying to ignore the emotional pain sinking in so Fane wouldn't feel it. "Show them."

He lifted the t-shirt and pointed out the graceful black swirls that matched mine. "They just appeared."

Ruin unbuttoned his black blazer and perched on the arm of the leather couch, the morning sun brightening his navy hair. "You two really are something."

"What else did Wrath say?" Fane glanced out the window, his brows furrowing. "Who cleaned up the backyard?"

Acid pooled in the back of my throat at the memories from last night and all the body parts strewn across the yard.

Logan drew a leather pouch out of his pocket. "Whither dust." He grinned at my surprised expression. "You think ravens are the only ones who use that stuff? "

"Your family is safe." Ruin pulled his phone from his pocket and tossed it to Fane. "Here's a text from Ephraim. Dylan is healing nicely."

I grabbed the back of the couch to steady myself as agony and disgust swirled in my gut at what they must think of me. Did they regret calling me family?

Fane's presence materialized behind me, and he showed me the screen on Ruin's phone. "They asked if you're okay." Sensing the turmoil in me, he gently stroked my spine. "You saved Dylan."

And I did a lot of damage and nearly lost myself in the process.

"That's kind of why we're here." A crooked smile curved the demon lord's mouth. "We found a spell that should be able to remove the Infernal Sol."

My head jerked up, too afraid to believe his words. "You've tried so many things already. What's different this time?"

" You are different." He waved his long, tattooed finger between Fane and me. "After researching in Illyria the last few days, we realized that if you and Fane were to complete the mate bond, the amulet's hold on you would temporarily weaken."

Fane tossed Ruin's phone back to him. "Did you and Wrath plan this? Was claiming her your idea?"

"We just discovered it last night, and I didn't say anything to Wrath about it." Ruin shrugged. "We are twins. Maybe we still have that connection."

"It's true," Logan said, pulling a bag of M&Ms from his pocket. "We've been pouring over spell books with the help of a few trusted witches in Maleor Suprema."

"What about Kaspin's spell?" As Fane flanked my side, his arm brushing mine, sparks of worry crackled over him. "Is there a chance to break it without the witch? "

Logan flicked golden-brown locks from his face and tossed back a few colorful candies. "Who do you think we are? Of course we've had some mages working on that for us, too, just in case. It won't be easy, but it's not impossible. According to these witches, Kaspin's death actually created a tiny loophole in the enchantment."

"I need to do that as soon as possible." Fane's hands trembled as he clenched them into fists. "I can't risk going into a trance and killing her."

Ruin nodded. "Then it's settled. I'll take Tate to my lab to get the Infernal Sol out while Logan takes you to Illyria to sever that asshole's spell."

Fane's shoulders tightened the same time my stomach sank. "You want us separated so soon after I claimed her? What if she needs me to take her pain?"

"And what if you suddenly snap and kill her while we're in the middle of the spell?" Ruin asked. "Like you said, you can't risk it. You need that enchantment removed. You're no good to her with it."

I scoffed. "He's been fine for the most part."

"No, I haven't." Fane dragged his hand down his face and released a shaky breath. "I've been fighting the spell more and more."

Ruin left the couch and approached, laying his hand on Fane's shoulder. "I won't let anything happen to Tate. If the spell puts her in too much danger, I'll call it off."

Fane's jaw clenched, and the tattoos twitched on his arms as he mulled over our choices. Anticipating the separation, the bond already had me inching closer. He angled toward me, a flash of uncertainty and pain in his eyes.

He didn't want to be apart any more than I did. But he was still trying to keep a small, flimsy barrier between us.

"I did hear you, Tate."

The air catapulted out of my lungs as he finally acknowledged my confession. I wasn't an idiot. Fane hadn't claimed me because he was so madly in love he couldn't bear to be without me, but he couldn't deny that he cared about me. I felt it deep in my soul.

"Those words from you pulled me out of that and back to reality." He skimmed a finger across my cheek, catching a stray tear just as it fell over. "I have to do this."

Ruin released Fane's shoulder and stepped back as if he sensed that Fane had made his decision. "She's safe with me."

I might have been safe, but I couldn't say the same for Ruin. There was no telling how the Infernal Sol would react if the demon lord attempted to extract it from me. Would the amulet view him as a threat?