Chapter 7

Chapter

Seven

Ruin wiped the blood off his face, and then his head tilted back, laughter erupting through the archives. "Looks like someone's jealous. Good for you, Mav. You're finally admitting that you'd rather kill anyone that touches Tate than actually kill her."

Fane vibrated as a warning snarl crawled up his throat. "What are you doing?" he repeated.

My heart thumped when he didn't deny the demon lord's words.

I hopped from the table and tossed Ruin the cork to the vial. "He came for a sample." My hand rested on Fane's taut back. "Relax. Nothing happened."

"Didn't look like nothing." The demon shifter turned to me, gripped my neck, and dragged his thumb over my lips as if to rub away Ruin's barely-there touch. His mismatched eyes burned into mine, the heated look setting me on fire a hundred times more than Ruin's little soul sip had.

"Aw, look at the two lovebirds gazing into each other's eyes." Logan patted Fane's shoulder. "I think they're going to kiss. "

Fane released me but remained close enough that his body heat wrapped me like a blanket. "Stop instigating shit, Logan."

"I can't instigate shit if there isn't shit already there to instigate." The high demon gave a boyish grin.

My pulse spiked, and tingles rippled down my spine. They'd spoken the same words to each other one day in Logan's apartment when Fane returned to find us sparring. And flirting.

Was Fane remembering?

I shook the thought off before I got my hopes up. The two had been friends for years and probably said similar things to each other all the time.

Ruin climbed to his feet and corked the bottle, slipping it into his pocket. "The bond with Tate is obviously fighting against Kaspin's spell. Don't you think things would be easier without that pesky enchantment? We could try to break it without the old, wrinkled prick, and if that doesn't work, I'm sure we could locate him."

The demon shifter's mouth thinned into a white line. "I'm not letting witches poke around in my head to break this spell. I'd rather keep it."

It would hurt less if he'd punched me in the chest and shattered a rib. Fane actually flinched from the pain his words caused, feeling it through our link. He opened his mouth, but I shoved him back before he could get one word out and marched toward the door.

"You're such an asshole," I muttered loud enough for him to hear.

"Tate, don't go," Logan called out. "He's sorry. Tell her you're sorry, Fane."

He wasn't, though. Fane didn't really give a damn about me. If he did, he'd break the spell. Instead, he'd rather keep the distance between us and battle the urge to kill me .

Dying would be easier than having my heart stomped on every day. I needed a break from him and all of this bullshit. I needed to get out of there.

Classic rock from the jukebox filled the small dive bar, mixing with the crash of pool balls and laughter. I waved at the bartender from my spot at the bar, huddled in the corner. No one noticed me except him, probably because I'd already flagged him down five times.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" He winked as he passed me another whisky. "I'm a terrific listener."

The panther shifter ran his long fingers through his silky ebony strands, his honey irises glittering under the row of lights dangling over the length of the bar. His gray t-shirt stretched over his thick, corded arms as he leaned against the glossy counter, gouges from shifters ripped into the wood.

If my heart didn't belong to the asshole demon shifter, I could have fallen for Dante's smooth charm. He was sexy, with a smile that melted hearts. And panties.

"I'm good," I said, sighing and staring into my drink. "Just having one of those nights." Ha! Having one of those lifetimes was more like it.

"Wave me down if you change your mind."

I wouldn't but nodded anyway.

The bartender sauntered away and rained his attention on a group of female coyotes at the other end of the bar.

Lunar Souls, the shifter bar on the outskirts of historic Savannah, posed as a private establishment to keep humans out. The only membership needed were teeth, fur, and claws. Technically, I didn't have the fur, but they didn't know that. As I'd walked toward the door, the bouncer sensed shifter and let me in.

"The head alpha will lose his position if he doesn't find another mate." A tall woman with blonde ringlets running down her back leaned against the counter a few feet away, waiting for Dante to look in her direction.

The brunette next to her sipped the last of her fruity cocktail. "He's heartbroken, Greta. You don't just get over losing your fated. It doesn't matter how long ago it was."

Greta rolled her eyes. "He's an alpha, the freaking head alpha of Georgia. It's his duty, Jasmin. He looks weak without a mate by his side."

"You're just sour he turned you down." Jasmin smirked as crimson blossomed in her friend's cheeks. "You wanted to be the shifter queen of Georgia."

"Don't be ridiculous." Greta tapped her long nails on the bar. "Besides, I realized being his mate would come with too many responsibilities."

Another female planted herself on Greta's other side, closer to me. "Barric turned you down because he's a snob." She laid her purse on the bar and took out a tube of lipstick, using the mirror along the opposite wall to reapply it. "He would never mate with a bitten shifter."

Jasmin peeked around Greta to glare at the other girl. "Kerri, don't believe those stupid rumors. Some jealous skank probably started them."

My brows furrowed as I listened to their conversation and doodled on a cocktail napkin, Kerri's claim echoing Knox's. In Heldrok, the wolf shifter said that Barric treated shifters who were bitten and turned differently than born ones.

I hadn't noticed anything like that. Barric could be harsh, but he'd always been fair. He didn't seem like the prejudiced type. Plenty of bitten wolves were in his pack. Hell, he believed I was bitten.

Maybe Jasmin was right, and someone started rumors about him to hurt his reputation.

When Dante returned to check on me, his bright smile dropped as he looked at my drawing of a tree with twisting branches and roots within a circle. "Don't go flashing that thing around here," he hissed under his breath and flattened his hand over the napkin.

My head snapped back. "Do you know what that is?"

His eyebrows shot up. "If you don't know what it is, why are you drawing it?"

"I've just seen it before—doing some research on shifter history," I lied. "But I haven't found any information on it."

"You wouldn't." Dante glanced around to ensure we didn't have an audience and leaned forward. "It belonged to a group of shifters called The Collective Hunt, or just The Collective, who believed only born shifters were worthy and any humans turned with a bite were mutilations of the bloodline."

My skin chilled as Dante's words collided with the females' conversation about Barric. Why would this symbol be on the head alpha's painting and on the page recording his son's death?

Barric couldn't believe that bullshit. Why would he protect me if he did?

Dante's head dropped forward so that our noses almost touched. "The Collective was destroyed decades ago, but some believe it still exists in secret. No one knows who's involved, though. There could even be people in this very bar, bonding over their hatred for turned shifters."

Ice continued to crystallize in my veins as a conspiracy theory emerged. Was it just a coincidence that the missing shifters were all bitten ?

A tingle suddenly slithered over my back, and the tattoo on my neck crackled. I didn't need to look over my shoulder to know who just walked into Lunar Souls. Hushed murmurs circulated as the demon shifter's presence demanded attention. The women's conversation halted, their gazes following the domineering creature across the bar.

Dante drew away, his charming grin in place as he balled the napkin up and tossed it in the trash. "Ready for another one?" He was the only person oblivious to the approaching beast.

Two powerful arms slid around either side of me, tattooed hands pressing into the bar. "That won't be necessary. I'll pay her tab now."

Dante's smile vanished, and his nostrils flared as he sniffed the air, probably realizing who the male scent clinging to me belonged to.

"Unless you'd like to flirt with her some more." The lethal threat twisted around Fane's words like barbed wire.

He was such a possessive prick. He wouldn't admit to wanting me, but he got all growly anytime another guy even looked at me for too long.

A string of curses burst between Dante's teeth. "Sorry. I didn't realize?—"

"Now you fucking do." One of Fane's arms disappeared as he dug his wallet out of his back pocket. "How much is her tab?"

"I'll be right back." The bartender dashed away almost as fast as a vampire.

I elbowed Fane off and spun toward him, scowling. "Was that necessary? Did you have to come in here and make a big scene?" I motioned to the patrons staring at us. "You know I hate being the center of attention."

He leaned so close his warm breath danced over my lips. " Could have fooled me. I've lost count of how many times I've found you surrounded by males."

"Go to hell, Maverick." I shoved him back and jumped from the stool. "The only reason you care is because you can't stand the thought of someone ruining your chance to murder me, right?"

His eyes narrowed, the pupils thinning ever so slightly. "I wouldn't say that's the only reason, fiera mika."

Heat fueled by fury brewed in my gut. The bastard liked to toy with me, stringing me along but never really giving me what I wanted. When I stepped around him, he snatched my arm to haul me back.

"You're not going anywhere without me. You snuck out of the compound again, and I can't trust that you won't run off."

I yanked out of his grip. "I'm going to the bathroom, asshole. Do you really need to hold my hand while I pee?"

"If you're gone more than five minutes, I'll come looking for you." His teeth flashed within the twisted smile. "I can find you anywhere, Teague."

"How could I forget?" I marched away, ignoring the stares following me to the women's restroom.

When I returned to the bar after finishing in the restroom, that fury in my stomach intensified as the three females who'd been talking about Barric surrounded Fane. The twitch to his lips made it clear he felt the rage through our link.

This motherfucker…

As I marched toward the cozy group, Greta had the nerve to glide her hand down his torso and then encircle his forearm. That was enough to have the entire bar coated in a red haze.

"Remove your hand before I do it for you." The threatening growl building in the back of my throat roughened my voice.

The other two were smart enough to step away from Fane, but the blonde clearly had a death wish because she only flashed a saccharine smile.

"We're just getting to know each other." She tossed her ringlets over her shoulder and fluttered her lashes at the demon shifter. "Having a friendly little chat."

My brain switched over, running on shifter instincts, and I shoved between Greta and Fane, ripping her hand off him. "Don't touch him."

Fane's low chuckle only pissed me off more. "Is someone jealous?"

The bastard was actually enjoying this.

Greta shook her hand out. "You two aren't claimed to each other, so don't get bent out of shape." She had the balls to blow Fane a kiss. "Maybe you're not enough to satisfy his primal needs. Maybe he needs a little more help in that department."

Lava erupted through my bloodstream, and my senses sharpened, my pupils thinning into slits as my shifter and demon side bubbled toward the surface. "He's mine ." The deadly snarl burst from my teeth as a flood of power erupted through the bar.

Greta stumbled back as she felt it, and the color blanched from her face. "What the hell?"

"Stay the fuck away from him." I stepped forward as her knees began to tremble from the invisible force flowing out of me.

Fane grabbed my waist, trapping me against his chest. "You've made your point, Teague."

"I don't think I have, Maverick."

"You proved it to the whole damn bar." His lips ran across my temple as he breathed me in. "Can't say it's not a turn-on to have someone release that kind of power just to lay claim on me."

Talons sprouted from my fingertips, and my teeth sharpened, the desire to shred Greta to pieces suffocating me. I wanted to taste the metallic tang of her blood in my mouth as I ripped her throat out.

The door burst open, and a coyote shifter stumbled in, his jeans and sweatshirt torn and blood scenting the air. Everyone forgot about us, and music from the jukebox sheared off.

"There's a bunch of monsters out there." The guy jerked his thumb toward the door, and a few patrons rushed to help him into a booth along the wall. "They're attacking people. Humans ."

My heart leaped into my throat, and I reached for the transformative hilt I used to carry with me. Instead, I found nothing but claws still protruding from my fingers.

Fane's mismatched gaze settled on me, darkening. "I don't suppose you'd stay out of this."

"What do you think, Maverick? I can't stand by while sub-demons attack humans." I tore out of his hold—or he let me—and sprinted for the door, the demon shifter close on my heels. "Besides, wouldn't you rather me rip Underworld trash to pieces than that female shifter vying for a spot as your side chick?"

Fane grumbled behind me. "I don't need a side chick when you monopolize all my attention."

I couldn't decide if that was an insult or not.

We bolted onto the street as chaos unfolded. Sub-demons about the size of large dogs with green scales, sharp teeth, and onyx sickle claws chased humans and battled nightworlders. A single horn rose out of the center of their forehead like a miniunicorn from hell.

"Maltera demons," Fane muttered. "Those bastards are stupid, but they can bite, and their horn is poisonous. We'd survive a hit but not the humans."

I cracked my neck and drew on my supernatural senses. "Avoid the horns and teeth. Got it. "

Before I could dash off, Fane gripped my arm. "Be careful."

My mouth parted as a burst of concern flooded the bond before he could hide it. His lips thinned when he realized he let his real emotions slip.

"You too," I said and then sprinted toward a maltera demon attacking a group of humans. Someone would need to compel them to forget all this—any that survived. My heart clenched at the two dead humans sprawled on the sidewalk.

I slammed my talons into the sub-demon's back, crushing his spine, and then I ripped his head off. The humans screamed and scuttled back on their hands and knees.

I pointed to the door of Lunar Souls. "Get inside!" They'd be safer if they simply ran away, but they couldn't leave without getting their memories wiped. It was for their own good. I knew what kind of trauma something like this caused.

The man and woman scrambled up and sprinted for the bar, a female shifter waving them in.

It only took minutes for the nightworlders to contain the situation once Fane and I joined the fray. A few demons still scampered around when a pair of eyes drilled into me, glaring from the shadows between two buildings across the street.

A broad form peeled away from the wall, and glowing yellow irises burned like two sinister suns. Ice flowed through my veins instead of blood as those wide shoulders materialized, and then the beginning outline of small horns protruded from his forehead.

Son of a bitch. Had Venna finally ordered her henchman Mykel to attack me?