Savage Fate (Den of Shadows #5)

Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

Fane stood in the Anderses’ kitchen, rage pulsating around him as his fiery gaze ping-ponged between the other male shifter and me. The black tattoos on his tan skin twitched, and I felt his demon wolf longing to break free.

Part of me wanted to calm him down and reassure him that nothing was going on.

The other part was pissed.

“Oh, now you decide to show up?”

Deep lines crisscrossed Saint’s forehead. “Who are you talking to?”

Of course, only Fane’s consciousness was here. His body was still miles away. “Couldn’t take the time to actually come back? You just wanted to spy?”

Fane’s eyebrows slammed down. “I felt your panic. I thought something was wrong.” He flicked his hand toward Saint. “But I guess I’m not needed when you have your very own fated mate to tend to you.”

I scoffed and pried my consciousness from my physical form to stand mere inches from the demon shifter. “Don’t be an idiot, Maverick. After all we’ve been through, do you really think I’d suddenly decide to be with someone else?”

“Then why is he here?” he gritted out from behind bared teeth. “Touching you?”

Saint had gotten up and now loomed over my body, gently tapping my cheek. “What’s wrong? Should I call someone?”

“I took pity on him,” I explained. “He’d left Camus’s and was planning to sleep in the woods because Marissa wouldn’t leave him alone.”

Fane huffed and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “That doesn’t explain why he’s touching you.”

“I’m staring off into space. He probably thinks I’m catatonic.” I propped my hands on my hips. “Instead of grilling me on Saint, maybe you’d like to know the reason behind the panic that had you racing over here.”

He tore his attention away from Saint, and some of the harsh lines carving his face evaporated while a wave of worry rushed through the bond. “What happened?”

“I figured out the visions I’ve been having are real. And they aren’t just the fears of shifters.” Acid oozed up my throat as their terror washed over me again. “I was watching the last hours or maybe even days of their lives before their bodies were mutilated, hearts cut out, and corpses dropped off for us to find.”

This completely wiped the remaining anger from Fane’s expression, and he reached for me, pulling me toward him. “Are you sure?”

“I’m a hundred percent sure, Fane.” Damn him for not being here for real when I needed him. “I should have realized it sooner.”

Maybe the craving for the Infernal Sol had distracted me from seeing the truth.

“Tate!” The terror in Saint’s voice had risen, and he looked around like he was moments away from either slapping me or waking up Nora and Ephraim.

“I better get back to my body before he has a panic attack.”

Fane scowled but didn’t press me on my concern for the alpha. “We need to tell the others about your visions.”

A flicker of anxiety radiated through my chest. “How will we explain this? It’s not every day a shifter has visions of murders. This has to be some kind of freaky side effect from the Infernal Sol.”

“We can blame it on your demon side from me.” Fane shrugged. “No one else needs to know about the Infernal Sol right now.”

I’d have to tell Fane I accidentally let it slip to Saint, but that could wait until later. He wouldn’t be happy about it.

“I guess that’ll have to work.” I stared up at Fane, wanting to fall into his arms.

He must have sensed my need for him because he stepped forward, his warmth leaking into me as he stroked my cheek. “I’ll meet you in Savannah tomorrow afternoon.” His gaze flickered toward Saint as he continued to try to wake me from my daze. “Ride with Hawk or someone other than Saint.”

I snorted. “I never thought a day would come when you’d rather I spend time with Hawk.”

“He’s the lesser evil.”

Fane leaned forward to drop a kiss on my forehead before evaporating. I sighed and floated back to my physical form, startling Saint when I jolted out of the daze.

He jerked back and almost fell on his ass. “What the hell, Tate? What happened? Are you okay?”

“Sorry.” I rolled my shoulders. “I just slipped out of my body for a few minutes.”

Saint crossed back to his side of the island, blinking. “What do you mean you slipped out of your body?”

“It’s a thing Fane and I can do. We can astral project to each other. He was here.”

“Did you develop this ability before or after you claimed each other?” Saint asked, taking his seat on the stool.

“We discovered it shortly after he bit me.” Why was I so easily spilling all my damn secrets to this man? This was something only a few people knew. “He felt my panic and came here.”

The alpha jammed his fingers through his hair as he considered my words. “I’m beginning to think there’s a bond much stronger than a fated mate one.”

He was right. I didn’t think anything could top the crazy connection Fane and I had.

“You said panic? What were you freaking out over?” Saint motioned toward his phone, the screen now black. “What does it have to do with Alison Marks?”

The invisible band around my lungs returned, and it was suddenly hard to breathe. “Ever since the Infernal Sol was removed from me, I’ve been having these side effects, one of them being visions of cloaked creatures chasing and tormenting shifters.”

Saint pressed his palms against the counter and leaned toward me. “You’ve been seeing the shifter victims?”

I nodded. “I just realized it. And the culprits aren’t The Collective Hunt.”

“And you’re sure it’s not The Collective?” Ari asked from the head of the table in the same conference room at Silver Ridge we visited a few weeks ago. “They couldn’t be the ones behind the masks and cloaks? All of the victims so far have been bitten shifters.”

I dragged a hand down my face. “They didn’t feel like shifters.” A chill skated across my back, and I shivered. “They felt evil.”

Sure, Barric and most of his followers were evil as hell, but they never gave off an ominous, diabolical vibe.

“Maybe it’s simply a coincidence that the victims are all bitten shifters.” Fane rested his hand on my knee to stop it from bouncing, and his thumb rubbed circles to soothe my anxiety.

“And why would The Collective remove their hearts?” Saint asked from his seat across the table, as far from Fane and me as possible. It was the only way they could be in the same vicinity.

Fane wasn’t happy when he found out Saint knew about the amulet. I was surprised the two males hadn’t immediately clashed when we entered the room.

Gia passed over a stack of photos, and a sick feeling hit my gut when I realized what they were. “A few more bodies have been found. Study these to see if you recognize anyone or any details from your visions.”

“Were any bodies dropped off or found near demons?” Logan asked, pouring a handful of Skittles into his palm.

The raven captain nodded. “A dux demon carried one of the deceased into a bear pack territory in Michigan.”

Fane leaned closer as he sensed the turmoil rushing over me. “Recognize anything?”

“Yeah.” After scrutinizing each photo, I placed at least three of them in my visions from minute details I recalled. A tattoo, a scar, an article of clothing, and jewelry. “These.” I laid out the pictures, swallowing back bile as I replayed their last moments in my mind.

Cross-checking their times of death with the timing of my visions, at least one shifter was murdered after the fact. If I’d realized what was happening, could I have done something to save him?

“Don’t do that, Tate.” Fane gripped my chin and forced me to meet his eyes. “Don’t blame yourself for this.”

“But what if I could have prevented some of these?” I tapped the photos.

Like Fane had predicted, no one questioned the reason behind the visions after he reminded them that I was part demon. Logan and Wrath were skeptical, but they knew about the Infernal Sol and had put the pieces together without further explanation.

“Not everything is your fault,” Fane said. “Maybe you weren’t meant to get the visions to prevent the deaths but to stop the creatures responsible.”

“Do you recall seeing any symbols in the rooms where the shifters were taken?” Wrath asked, shaking his head when Logan offered him some candy.

Wrath had become the new demon lord of Savannah, much to his protest. He’d rather live in obscurity than have all the responsibility and power of ruling the demons of Savannah, but Kesa, Fane’s mom, finally convinced him that the city needed him. She reminded him of all the demons like Warin who needed someone fair and just looking out for them.

“There were symbols on the walls and ceilings.” I rubbed my temples as I strained to recall their shapes. “Every time I try to remember, they lose focus.”

After thinking for a few moments, Wrath stood, leaning over the table with his palms pressed against the surface. “I believe the culprits are demons.”

Logan leaned back in his chair so its front legs lifted. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

He gave a curt nod. “The Norsterium.”

Ephraim, here as pack liaison since Camus couldn’t make it, folded his arms. “And what is that?”

“It’s an organization of demons my brother belonged to ages ago. They were mostly bored demons looking for power and a chance to party.” Wrath pushed back strands of blue hair from his face. “It was all about offering sacrifices to the original demons for more power.”

Gia scrawled in her notepad. “And why do you think they could be responsible?”

Wrath shrugged. “Some of the details fit, like the missing hearts, for one. And the cloaks and white masks were their traditional ceremonial garb.”

My heart squeezed. Obviously, I’d never really known Ruin at all. To think that he was killing people in the name of power made me want to reach through the past and pummel him.

“I don’t recall them specifically going for shifters, but for all we know, Ruin could be at the helm of this whole thing to exact revenge on shifters for destroying his plans.” Wrath’s electric-blue eyes met mine. “We never found a body.”

Not this again.

Wrath just wanted his twin to be alive so he could punish him for his part in Warin’s death.

“We didn’t find a body because there’s no body to be found,” I said. “I literally watched him evaporate.”

“I’m still confused about how that happened.” Gia’s brows knit. “I don’t understand how?—”

“Like we said, Nadia cast a spell that killed Ruin.” Fane shrugged. “And Barric killed her, so we’ll probably never know what she did.”

Hawk cleared his throat, trying to divert attention away from Ruin’s mysterious death. He knew the amulet had killed the former high demon lord and not some spell. “Even with Ruin dead, could this group, The Nosterium, still be responsible?”

Wrath took his seat and nodded. “It’s possible. I haven’t heard much of them in decades, but I didn’t exactly run in the same circles as my brother.”

Ari’s lips thinned into a grim line. “So not only do we have The Collective Hunt to worry about, but now there’s a possible demon threat sacrificing us for power.”

After the meeting ended, Fane, Wrath, and Logan stepped outside to discuss the Nosterium or the Infernal Sol, and Saint took the opportunity to cross the room to my side.

“How are you?” he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets as if he was afraid he’d touch me. “Have you had any more visions since last night?”

Saint’s beta glared across the room as he watched us, probably expecting Fane to march in and attack his friend. Hopefully, Fane had a little more control than that. We were only talking.

“Nope. No visions.”

Saint had begrudgingly returned to Alpha Camus’s house, deciding to barricade his bedroom door closed so Marissa couldn’t sneak in. The poor guy didn’t look like he’d had an ounce of sleep. He declined when I invited him to sleep on the Anderses’ couch. It probably had something to do with pissing Fane off more than he already was.

News about us being fated mates hadn’t reached Silver Ridge yet, or at least, no one had mentioned it. I didn’t want to imagine the stares I’d get then.

“Part of me dreads getting another one, but the other part is hoping for one.” I nervously fiddled with the ends of my hair. “Maybe it would give us more clues as to who’s really behind the murders, whether it is this Nosterium or some other demonic group. Or maybe I could get a vision early enough to save someone.”

One of Saint’s hands slipped from his pocket and landed on my shoulder. “Don’t let the visions get to you. You can’t blame yourself for these deaths. Blame the ones doing the killing. We’re lucky to have any insight, and that’s all because of you.”

An unsure smile pulled at my lips. “Thanks. I just wish I could do more.”

He scoffed. “Of course you do. You were a raven. You’ve got that need to protect and?—”

A tingle crackled over my neck tattoo and down my arm moments before Fane ripped Saint’s hand off my shoulder and shoved him back.

“How many times do I need to remind you that Tate is mine ?” The possessive growl he released had my teeth chattering.