Chapter 8

Chapter

Eight

I peeked over Sorin's shoulder at Tajeed who watched with a bored expression. The other COs either sported the same blank look or excitement as they waited to see how Sorin would break me.

If Fane were here, he'd destroy the high demon.

But he wasn't. And just like the amulet, I couldn't rely on the demon shifter to rescue me. I didn't need anyone before, and I didn't need anyone now.

"Back off, Sorin, or you'll find out why I'm really here." My hands curled into fists, crushing the soap in my left one. "You have no idea who you're dealing with."

He scoffed. "I'm a high demon, little wolf. I might have this power-dampening sigil on me, but I can find ways around it to suck your soul dry."

His friends—Alister and Emerick—slinked forward to flank Sorin's. They salivated as their gazes raked over me.

My stomach heaved, and my breakfast attempted to reappear as I imagined what they would do.

Would Fane feel it? Would his phantom form be drawn here to witness it?

As panic drowned me, invisible titanium bands wrapped around my lungs to cut off my breathing. The other prisoners continued washing, screwing, or watching the drama unfold. The guards didn't give a flying fuck either. Some would happily watch me be humiliated, defiled, and torn apart by these inmates.

I didn't have a weapon or my shifter abilities, and I hadn't been able to grow talons or teeth with the sigil branded on me.

"Boys, don't worry." Sorin dragged his hand over his shaved head as he stepped forward. "You can all have a piece when I'm done."

"Back off, Sorin." Knox shoved his way through the prisoners surrounding me and faced the high demon. "You're not touching her."

Sorin scoffed. "Why are you protecting some unknown wolf? Do you really want to go against me for her?"

Knox brushed back wet strands of chocolate brown hair as a pair of sharp green eyes impaled the high demon. "She's Fane Maverick's mate, and I don't fucking put up with demons abusing our mates."

My brow arched. Why did he think Fane and I were mated? Sure, he beat a guy who attacked me to death in the cafeteria, but we weren't technically mates.

"She's not a claimed female wolf," Sorin said, motioning his hand toward my naked form. "Even I can tell that. So, why don't you take your alpha bullshit and stick it up your ass."

Knox moved so that he stood in front of me, his bare ass touching my skin. "Take a look at the tattoo on her neck, Sorin. He might not have claimed her officially yet, but he turned her and marked her in the process. His scent is all over her. That's good enough for me."

Had Knox noticed that the other day in the cages, or did he not put that together until Fane flipped out during the fight in the cafeteria?

Sorin folded his arms over his chest. "Since when do you care about that hybrid's mate?"

"Since they're here and I'm an alpha." Knox jerked his head, and several other shifters—not just wolves—moved through the crowded shower. "Do you really want to provoke that hybrid's anger by hurting his mate?"

"I could give two fucks about him."

Knox's deep laughter puckered my flesh. "You will care when he rips your intestines out and chokes you with them. You saw what he did in the cafeteria. Don't be stupid. He'll grind your bones into dust for even thinking about doing this."

Sorin's friends glanced at each other and then started backing away. The high demon snarled at them, but they were more afraid of Fane.

They should be.

"Fine. Protect the little wolf." Sorin licked his lips as he stared at me over Knox's shoulder. "But she can't always have bodyguards at her side."

"I don't need a fucking bodyguard," I hissed as fury boiled my blood.

Sorin shook his head and backed away. "Believing that is just proof that you need one. You're not on Earth where you have nice little rules to protect you. This is Heldrok. And one day, someone—hopefully me—is going to make all your nightmares come true. "

After the high demon vanished, I turned to Knox and choked back the sour taste coating my mouth. "Thanks for stepping in, but like I said, I don't need?—"

"Shut up and finish showering." Knox stepped away, and then a line of other shifters, their backs to me, created a shield so I could clean in privacy. "Like I said, I'm doing this because I can't sit by while demons and a fae threaten to defile a mated shifter, but I have no loyalties to you beyond that."

Well, at least he was honest.

Venna's piercing blue eyes, as sharp and deadly as the dagger in her hand, penetrated me while I was strapped to the metal table. A fresh coat of Devil's Nightshade dripped from her blade, mixing with my blood.

She'd been torturing me for hours, maybe even days. Heldrok felt like a place that didn't exist in time or space. A hundred years could have passed on Earth by now or maybe only two days.

"Tell me what Ruin is working on in his lab." She dragged the tip of the dagger down my arm.

I ground my teeth to choke back a scream, sweat gliding down my temples. "I have no idea. The demon lord didn't exactly share information."

Venna's sneer twisted her stunning features. "It's pretty obvious Ruin has a soft spot for you, Tate. And you are the type of person who searches for answers. You wouldn't have allowed him to experiment on you and the Infernal Sol without possessing any details." She rested her elbow on the table. "So I'm going to ask one more time. What little secret project is Ruin working on?"

"I. Don't. Know."

She stabbed my thigh. Searing pain erupted through my limb, and a scream burst out of my mouth. My back arched away from the table, black spots popping in my vision and blurring the chains hanging from the ceiling.

Hot poison from the Devil's Nightshade brought another layer of anguish to my system. Tears ran down my cheeks, mixing with sweat.

"I can do this forever, Tate." Venna wiped the bloody blade on my orange jumpsuit and picked up the glass vial of poison. "In fact, it's my favorite hobby besides sex."

My lids fluttered just as a light tingle crackled in my neck tattoo. I turned to the left where Fane's phantom form loomed in the corner, snarling as his pupils lengthened to black slits. Apparently, Warden Damarcus had been right. After our encounter in the cafeteria, our bond was pushing through the magic of the dampening sigil more every day.

I didn't want Fane to see me like this, though. Since he couldn't take my pain, he'd try to force some of his energy into me, but he needed to keep it for himself.

I shook my head when he marched forward. "Don't give me energy, Maverick."

A deep frown pulled at his features. "Why?"

"This is nothing. I can handle a little torture."

Venna ran the blade over my lower abdomen, the cut burning like acid had been poured on me. "Ruin isn't a mindless villain. He wants the Infernal Sol for something far more dangerous than the average demon. He's more strategic and less barbaric." She opened another cut in my stomach. "When my demons broke into his lab, they saw evidence of magic and science combined."

"Maybe you should just ask Ruin," I said, trying my hardest to mask my pain so Fane wouldn't feel it through the bond. "I'm not a scientist or alchemist. I didn't understand anything they were doing."

Venna scoffed as she dumped more Devil's Nightshade onto the dagger, her revealing leather getup making her look like the queen of this hellhole. "You're not as stupid as you'd have me believe." Her blood-red lips pursed. "You managed to tame that brutal hybrid beast."

A low growl spilled out of Fane's mouth, and his desire to rip Venna's head off seared through the bond.

"What are you talking about?" I swallowed past the dryness in my throat. What I wouldn't do for some water right now. "Fane is hardly tame."

"He is where you're concerned." Her cruel laugh bounced against the stone walls and vibrated the steel. "Even though you killed his brother, you still have him wrapped around your little finger."

My gaze lifted to Fane's, but his remained locked on Venna's as rage pulsated from him. "You're not wrapped around my finger." That implied I had control over the demon shifter, and that certainly wasn't the case.

"I don't give a fuck if you do." He rolled his shoulder, the tattoos on his arms stretching and constricting. "You can put a chain around my neck and drag me along. Actually, you would probably enjoy being my pet." A savage grin pulled at his sinful mouth, the piercing glinting under the lights .

How could I be turned on while a mad woman tormented me in a pool of my own blood?

Fane fucking Maverick. That was how. The man—no beast—oozed sex and lust.

"We'll have to try that when we get out of here," I told him.

Venna unfastened the buttons on my jumpsuit and pulled my tank top up to unveil the swirling sun tattoo. She sliced tiny but painful cuts all around it as if releasing her anger for the amulet. "I will get this out of you one way or another."

"Good luck." No matter how badly she wanted to, she couldn't simply cut it from me.

Her irises blackened, flesh paled, and features twisted into a grotesque version of the stunning woman as the demonic side took over. "I don't need luck, little girl. I have power, and you'll feel the brunt of it one day soon." She brought the dagger down into my abdomen below the Infernal Sol tattoo.

A scream ripped my throat apart as blood gurgled out of the wound. The color drained from Fane's face while panic rushed out of him, so acute it squeezed my chest.

Venna yanked the knife out and tossed it aside before strolling toward the door. She yanked it open, poking her head out to speak to someone.

"Tate!" Fane pressed his hands over the wound, but the blood flowed through his fingers.

"It's okay," I murmured. This wasn't the first time she'd given me a deadly wound. It was just the first time Fane witnessed it.

An old male witch with pale, leathered skin and a bald head slithered in, his black cloak floating around him as if he were a wraith come to steal my life instead of save it. Venna had used him plenty of times when her torture sessions went a little too far.

She flicked her hand in my direction. "Do your thing, Kaspin."

The witch's gaze burned violet as he leaned over me on the opposite side of Fane and held his hands above my body. He uttered an incantation under his breath that wrapped power around me. Electric tingles crackled and popped as the energy sank in, and my flesh knit back together.

Healing wasn't easy, and it took an extremely powerful mage to work that kind of magic. Mending a broken bone or closing a little cut wasn't the same as repairing a deadly stab wound in the abdomen.

I gritted through the pain and burning it always brought, my nails digging into the metal table. Fane rested his hand over my forehead, but he knew better than to push his energy into me now. It could interfere with Kaspin's spell and make things worse.

Venna was wise to keep a witch on hand. She had almost no control when it came to torture, probably even less with me.

Finally, my blood stopped spilling out, and the hole in my stomach and thigh closed. He didn't bother with the shallow cuts and gashes. They would heal on their own soon enough.

"Thank you, Kaspin."

"Of course, your majesty." He spun and left in a swirl of black. Venna closed the door and browsed through a cabinet, probably looking for more poisons or torture devices.

Fane ran his hand over my cheek. "I fucking hate this," he snarled. "When I get out of here, I'm going to strap Venna to a table and rain every bit of torture onto her that she did to you."

"Don't leave me out of all the fun. "

Venna clapped. "Perfect." She took a long, thin poker out of the cabinet and strolled over. "We should try hanging you from the chains instead of the table. That way, I can get your front and your back." Her words and the evil grin pulling at her mouth sent ice through my veins.

This would be a long session.