Savage Fate (Den of Shadows #5)

Chapter 18

Chapter

Eighteen

Sweat trickled down my nape as a dozen members of The Collective Hunt closed in like a pack of rabid dogs circling their prey. I wouldn’t be surprised if saliva started dripping down their chins.

“You really should just cooperate and come with us, Tate.” Jax slinked closer, the lighthearted air that used to surround Barric’s beta gone. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

I scoffed even as my heart pounded a hundred miles a minute. “Like I’m really going to surrender so Barric can kill me.”

“You should just kill her now, Barric.” Amelia’s dark hair was pulled into a low ponytail, sharpening her features even more. “She doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as us.”

“Patience, Amelia.” The former head alpha leaned against a tree as his minions drew closer. “I have my reasons for keeping Tate alive, but she will meet her end eventually. I promise.”

Why wasn’t Barric killing me? He’d been on the verge of tearing my throat out in Ruin’s lab, so what was suddenly stopping him?

“Perhaps we can have a little fun with her first.” Wes, Torin’s father, gave a sickening smile, the scars on his neck glinting in the sunlight. “You really shouldn’t have embarrassed my son. He deserves a little personal retribution.”

My stomach soured, but I kept my shoulders back and head high. “Your son deserves to get his face smashed in.”

Wes bolted toward me, claws extended and teeth gnashing in a sudden, violent motion.

I darted out of his path at the last second, pivoted, and crushed my foot into his shin. He went down with a snarl, and before he could counter, I slammed my fist into his cheek and kicked his chest.

Bloodlust permeated the atmosphere as the rest of the crowd converged on me, but unlike Wes, none of them went for a kill shot.

Barric didn’t want them to fatally wound me. Maybe he wanted to take me to his hideout, torture me for a while, and then rip my throat out.

Pain unexpectedly lanced over my back as Amelia’s claws sliced through my sweater and carved into my flesh. A growl burst from me, and I spun, dragging my talons through the air.

She darted away just as another set of claws whipped across my leg.

Damn it!

There were too many of them to take at once, and even though Barric didn’t want them to kill me, I didn’t trust their control.

And to prove just how precarious my situation was, Reese, Camus’s mate and Marissa’s mother, lunged at me with a murderous rage in her green eyes.

“Fane!”

Before I could even finish yelling his name, he appeared, cursing in a demon language.

“What the fuck!” His nostrils flared as he took in The Collective Hunt members attacking me and Barric standing off to the side wearing a sadistic smirk.

I ducked a hit from Reese. “No time to explain. Just get here.” I staggered and fell on one knee, a throb racing up my leg.

My energy was waning.

“Everyone in the pack is distracted,” Fane said. “Hailey never showed up at the healer house, and no one can find her.”

My head jerked in his direction. “She’s missing?”

Fane gave a grim nod. “We assumed the Nosterium had gotten her, but since The Collective is here, they may have her.”

Son of a bitch.

“Where’s Hailey?” I demanded, ducking another hit from Wes.

Barric’s laughter filled my bloodstream with fire. “You’ll find out sooner rather than later.”

Maybe it was better that The Collective had her instead of a mysterious group of demons who may or may not be sacrificing shifters to gain more power.

“I can’t figure out where you are.” Fane rested his hand on my shoulder, taking my pain and pouring his energy into me. “I can find you in this form, but your location gets muddled when I try to physically get to you.” He looked around for any kind of recognizable marker.

The Infernal Sol was probably blocking the location. That ability would have been useful when I’d had it.

“I ran west, I think.” I grabbed Amelia’s claw as she attempted to shred my flesh off, and with Fane’s energy revitalizing me, I broke her wrist.

Her scream tore through the forest, and Fane’s head jerked.

“I heard that.” He shoved more energy into me. “I’m on my way?—”

His ghostly form suddenly vanished as if something had yanked him out of my reach. I ducked a hit and rolled across the ground, tripping a few members.

Maybe I could outrun them if I shifted. I was nearly as fast as Fane.

Just as I pulled on my inner wolf, Barric appeared directly in front of me, his fist going for my face so fast it blurred out of focus.

A blast of pain exploded, and then everything went dark.

A metallic taste coated my mouth as I opened my dry, gritty eyes to a tan upholstered ceiling only a few feet above. Something jostled me, clearing more of the daze from my mind. Painful throbs pulsated on the side of my face.

I was jostled again, and chains rattled.

Son of a bitch. What the hell happened?

Ice crystallized through my veins as I finally searched my surroundings. Heavy chains bound my wrists and ankles, and the hot sensation on my skin told me they were made from silver.

If I’d been any other shifter and not part demon, the silver would have drained my energy and maybe burned my flesh.

As rock music registered in my ears, I tilted my head, finding two male shifters sitting in the front seat.

I was in a van.

Movement on my left caught my attention, and I choked back a gasp when Hailey struggled next to me, gagged and bound in chains.

Beads of sweat coated her forehead, and redness and pain rimmed her eyes.

The silver was pure torture for her.

“I’m going to get us out of here,” I mouthed.

She nodded and stilled her struggling.

Without the Infernal Sol, I wasn’t strong enough to simply pop the chains off, but I’d kept a few lockpick tools in a little pocket inside my boot. Hopefully, no one had removed them.

I brought my knees up to my chest and wiggled my fingers inside, a breath of relief releasing from my lungs when metal edges touched my skin. Once I pulled out the tool and got to work on prying open the lock, a tingle registered on my neck tattoo.

“You’re finally awake.” Fane’s faint form appeared in the back of the van, worry crashing through the bond.

My brows slammed down, and I peered out the front window where the sun lit the sky. “How long have I been gone?” It couldn’t have been that long. It was still daylight.

His lips pressed together. “You’ve been gone since late yesterday evening. It’s the morning of the next day.”

A string of curses exploded through my mind. “If we’ve been traveling for that long, we could be anywhere. And how the hell was I kept unconscious for so long?”

“I’ve been going fucking crazy, Teague.” He kneeled beside me, his mismatched irises glowing. “I couldn’t get a read on your location until now. And as we suspected, The Collective has Hailey too.”

I finally popped the lock off and gently slid the chain from around me. “Why are you barely here?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe the amulet is still working to hide you or Roman used a blocking spell.” He dragged his hand over my cheek, and even though his phantom form wasn’t solid, I felt his touch as if he were really here. “Don’t do anything crazy, Tate.”

I scoffed. “Unless you want me going all the way to their hidden location to be tortured and murdered, I’ll need to get a little crazy, Maverick.”

“Your crazy and my crazy aren’t the same.”

A smile curved my mouth. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry. And when you find me ? —”

Fane suddenly vanished, and my heart squeezed.

I had to get Hailey and me out of this mess.

After I peeled the tape from her mouth, I went to work on the lock securing the silver chains that bound her as the two shifters in the front struck up a conversation.

“Do you really think this will work?” the driver asked, his chubby hands tightening around the steering wheel, the sun gleaming on his shiny bald head. “Barric’s plan, I mean.”

The other one scoffed. “Of course it’ll work, Jeff.” He bit a massive chunk off the beef jerky stick in his hand. “He’s not like the others who have led the cause before. They were all small-minded and idle. Their laziness allowed so many bitten shifters to multiply and muddy the lines.”

Jeff gave a barely noticeable shrug. “But, Tom, you don’t think this is a little extreme?”

Knots fisted in my stomach at their conversation. What was Barric planning, and how was he using the Infernal Sol?

The extremes Barric could go to with the amulet’s dark power had panic racing through my veins.

“Sometimes, we have to go far beyond the limits to get the job done right.” The muscles in Tom’s arms tightened as he made a fist with his free hand. “This is the only way to fix things. And once we do, every pack will be better for it.”

“I guess.” Jeff rubbed the five o’clock shadow hugging his jaw. “We’re only as strong as our weakest link, right? And we all know bitten shifters are always weaker.”

It didn’t take much to alleviate Jeff’s fears.

Finally, I freed Hailey from the silver chains, but she wasn’t in great shape. She didn’t look like she could even stand, much less fight. I’d have to do most of the work.

“I’ll be fine,” she whispered. “Just tell me what to do.”

“Can you get out your claws?” I asked.

She nodded and gritted her teeth as sharp claws pushed through her fingertips.

“Go for the passenger’s throat.” Since I could handle the chains, I wrapped the ends around my hands as a weapon.

We slinked forward, and I held my breath as I settled behind the driver while Hailey crouched behind Tom.

I started a silent countdown using only my lips.

Three. Two. One.

As I lifted the chains up and slammed them around Jeff’s neck, Hailey slashed her claws into Tom’s throat.

Cursing erupted in the cab, and the van swerved over the slick, narrow road lined with snow-frosted trees.

Shit.

How far north had we gone?

Tom elbowed Hailey off, and she rolled to the back of the van. Her strength had clearly not recovered much from the silver.

“You little bitch.” Tom pressed his hand against the bleeding wounds in his throat, and when he noticed I had ahold of his partner, he lunged for me.

I kicked him off and then tightened the chains around Jeff, his hands dropping from the steering wheel. The van skidded on an icy patch and careened off the road.

As we barreled through the forest, taking out smaller branches and the rearview mirrors flying off, I lost my grip on the silver chains and tumbled sideways.

Pain erupted through my head when I hit the metal wall of the van. The vehicle crashed into something, and we all flew toward the back.

My ears rang as pain ricocheted through my entire body, and blood coated the back of my mouth. Black spots popped within my blurry vision, but when Haley’s whimper registered, I shook off the dizziness.

Tom dragged her out of the van by her blond hair. “You’re going to learn your lesson, bitten trash.”

Hot anger poured over me, and I scrambled toward the opening, but a hard grip coiled around my ankle and yanked me back.

“You’re not going anywhere, Tate.” Jeff donned black leather gloves as he attempted to wrap the silver chains around me again.

I kicked his face, the satisfying crunch of bone echoing through the van. He screamed, and blood gushed from his nose. “In case you have noticed, silver doesn’t do much to me.” I yanked the chains out of his grasp. “You, on the other hand, have a real problem with this shit.”

My fist, wrapped in silver, slammed into his lips, busting them. I shoved the links into his mouth, forcing him to choke on them. If I’d still had the Infernal Sol, that dark part of me would have reveled in his pain.

But the Infernal Sol wasn’t inside me, and I shouldn’t enjoy inflicting this torment.

My teeth sharpened, and I darted forward, latching on to his throat. The briny taste of blood spilled over my tongue.

And then I ripped his throat out.

He stopped struggling and dropped to the tan upholstered floor, his eyes glazing over. I nearly gagged when I spat out a huge chunk of his skin. A shudder rippled over my spine. That was definitely a different experience without the Infernal Sol.

Hailey’s scream tore through the wilderness, stealing my attention from my kill. I scrambled out of the van, my boots sinking into a snowy patch of ground, blood dripping from me.

Another shriek pelted the atmosphere, and I took off, my pulse racing and cold sweat leaking down my forehead. I could not let her die.

If you had me, you wouldn’t be this weak.

I ignored the amulet’s voice and jogged through patches of snow, frost, and ice. As the sound of rushing water grew louder, I burst out of the tree line where Tom dragged Hailey to the edge of a cliff.

“Let me go!” She fought him with her teeth and claws, but the silver still weakened her, and the slashes she carved into Tom’s thick arms barely affected him.

I sprinted toward them, and just before Tom threw Hailey over the edge, I tackled him.

He cursed as we rolled across the icy ground. “You’re lucky I can’t kill you.”

My talons scraped over his chest, shredding his flesh to ribbons. “Unfortunately, you don’t have that same luck. I can and will kill you.”

Blood bloomed across his torso, but Tom wasn’t giving up so easily. He slammed his elbow into my mouth and then kicked me off. Pain throbbed across my jaw, and I was thankful for the brief encounter with the snow as my face fell in it.

“You, blondie, I can kill.” Tom darted toward Hailey again and shoved her over the edge.

“No!” My voice cracked with a vicious growl as I barreled into him and crushed my fist into his temple as hard as I could.

Tom hit the ground, unconscious.

He’d wake up soon enough, so I’d better kill him first.

It was either him or me.

“Tate! Help!”

My heart thumped against my ribs. Hailey was still alive.

I scrambled to the edge and found her clutching a root barely hanging on to the soil. “Give me your hand.”

As she grabbed my hand, the earth gave way, and the root snapped.

Agony drowned me as I struggled to pull her up, every muscle on fire from fatigue and injuries. I had to choke down the whimpers and tears.

Finally, I dragged the other shifter up enough for her to get a knee onto the ledge and lift herself onto firm ground.

Our ragged breaths filled the silent forest, mixing with the rushing river waters below.

“Thanks,” Hailey said, wiping blood from her nose. More stained her blond hair pink. “I thought I was going to die.”

“It can still happen.” Tom grabbed Hailey’s hair again, having recovered faster than I anticipated.

Part of my rational brain shut down, and I acted on animal instincts. And my instincts were to protect Hailey.

So instead of wasting time to get on safer ground, my hand darted forward, my claws sinking into Tom’s throat.

His roar of pain made me smile.

I yanked my talons through his flesh to kill him, the force of it sending me backward.

And I tumbled off the cliff, soaring right toward the river below.