Savage bite den of shado.., p.1
Savage Bite (Den of Shadows Book 1), page 1
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Read more from J.N. Colon
About the Author
Savage Bite © copyright J.N. Colon 2023
www.jncolon.com
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Cover Designer: Ryn Katryn Book Covers
www.rynkatryn.com
For my loyal readers.
I’m sorry about the cliffhangers. I promise to never do another one.
HAHAHAHA. Just kidding. You should expect them now.
I love you! Please don’t be mad.
A hunter with a dark past. A mysterious shifter out for vengeance. And a stolen power every monster desires…
I finally get my shot at redemption as part of a supernatural task force only to botch my first assignment in the Underworld.
Great way to let the captain down, Tatum.
A demon artifact sinks its claws into me, and now I’m bound to a vicious shifter who wants to rip me to pieces.
But Fane Maverick covets the amulet more than my death. And he’d do anything to get it. Even play dirty.
While searching for answers and evading supernatural enemies, we discover the true dangers of the ancient power leaking through my veins. And the only person who might be able to pull me from the brink of destruction is the one who wants me dead.
Trust him, and I may die.
Don’t, and the world will suffer.
Chapter One
I hated being demon bait. At least the one slithering on his belly between ancient headstones couldn’t hide his true nature behind a glamour. His lethal teeth, slimy body, and claws exposed him for what he really was. A monster.
Just like me.
My black military boots sank into the soggy ground of Colonial Park Cemetery as I meandered around the cherub and angel statues, my grip tightening on the dagger’s hilt where magic concealed the blade. I didn’t have claws or devil horns, but darkness ran through my veins, and innocent blood coated my hands.
Thanks to the ravens, I had a shot at redemption. And I sure as hell wouldn’t let anything stand in my way, even if it meant slaughtering this sub-demon and any other nightworlder who deserved it.
To be honest, most deserved it. They were lucky ravens followed the accords.
I halted at a small gravestone and brushed away the coarse grime to uncover the dates below the carving of prayer hands, my throat constricting at the short lifespan. Susan Marie Johnson died at thirteen. Her life had been severed before she ever really lived—just like Jayla.
A twig snapped, and I whipped around, my long ponytail slapping my face. Spanish moss hanging from twisting oak branches drifted in the warm wind like ghosts while the creaking of limbs produced an eerie cadence. The sub-demon still lurked behind a tall statue, his stench crinkling my nose.
Nervous energy built within me, and sweat vanished into the black, moisture-wicking shirt suctioned to my body. I’d melt in the brutal summer heat of Savannah, Georgia before this creature attacked.
What the hell are you waiting for, demon?
Once this was over, I’d be cleared for The Calling spell tomorrow.
My fingers clenched and unclenched around the dagger, the warm metal digging into my palm. I couldn’t bear the disappointment in Captain Coltrane’s eyes if I botched my field test tonight.
I couldn’t fail. At anything. Ever again.
One by one, the lightning bugs winked out, leaving behind a thick shroud of darkness. The crickets stopped chirping, and the cicadas’ repetitive song ceased. Even the croak of frogs in the distance halted.
The hairs on my nape rose, and goose bumps scuttled along my arms like writhing bugs. Tension solidified through the night, heavy and oppressive.
My muscles tightened, poised for battle.
A massive, slug-like animal lunged out of the shadows, short legs carrying his slimy body across the slick grass. The grotesque thing, twice the size of a Great Dane, opened his giant maw to reveal circular rows of razor-sharp teeth that glistened with gooey saliva.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins. Damn, he was a nasty one.
When the sub-demon was close enough to make me gag on his fetid breath as it poured over my face, I activated the dagger’s blade, jerked my arm forward, and stabbed his neck.
Black blood spurted out of the wound while he released a shrill cry.
My lips hitched into a smile. “Gotcha.”
His shock quickly faded, and the creature snarled as he realized his mistake. I wasn’t his next meal. I was his death.
I snatched the knife out and rubbed my thumb over the rune again to lengthen the blade into a sword, my movements quick and precise. Any hesitation could leave me vulnerable. And I didn’t do vulnerable.
The beast’s roar shook the ground beneath my feet, but before he could sink those jagged teeth into my flesh, I lopped off his head.
Decapitation was the only surefire way to kill a demon.
Shrieks erupted into the night, and another sub-demon slug skittered through the graveyard, leaving a viscous trail in his wake. I twisted into a battle stance that had been drilled into my brain until it became second nature.
“This one’s mine.” My partner emerged from behind a tall headstone, his beaming grin a stark contrast to the dangerous situation.
What else would I expect from Hawk, though?
He jumped onto a stone bench, spun, and slashed his sword through the air, cutting off the demon’s head in one swift arc. Ebony blood sprayed the statues and granite slabs.
I lowered my weapon. “Was the spin necessary? And the jump? You could have just as easily walked around the bench.”
Hawk’s smile grew even wider, brightening the gold filaments in his chocolate eyes. “I have a flare for the dramatics. Someone’s got to put a little spice to our duo, Strawberry Shortcake.”
“Don’t call me that.” Being short—barely five-two—and redheaded had earned me plenty of nicknames over the years. I flung demon guts off my sword. “And just because I prefer to get the job done correctly doesn’t mean I lack spice. You’re the one who can’t handle one little jalapeño on your burger.”
“Just admit I was awesome.” The playful hint to his words pulled my attention away from scanning the perimeter. He disengaged the blade on his sword, tucked the hilt into his pocket, and crossed his corded arms against his chest. “Come on, Tate. You’re impressed.”
I scoffed. “You’re an idiot.” Why did he have to show those damn dimples? He knew exactly what they did to the opposite sex. Hell, the guy’s charm worked on anyone. That tight black t-shirt clung to the muscles rippling over his torso, and those pants showed off that quarter-bouncing ass. “But I guess it was kind of cool.”
Hawk pumped his fist. “I knew it. You’re totally jealous of my moves. Maybe when we get back to headquarters—”
Tingles spread over my scalp, my only warning, and I spun just in time to duck the sub-demon’s bite, his teeth grazing my shoulder and ripping my shirt. Luckily, I still had my sword ready and made quick work of the slug, chopping his head off.
He hit the ground with a slimy splat.
“That sucker came out of nowhere,” I breathed. “He moved at warp speed compared to the other two.”
Hawk cursed. “Incoming. And that’s not a sub-demon.”
I followed his eyeline, and my heart dropped to the bottom of my boots as a massive dux demon stomped through the cemetery, his heavy feet sinking into the ground with each step.
Sub-demons were animals of the Underworld with primal instincts driving them.
This was no animal.
A bellow burst out of his mouth, flashing a row of sharp, serrated teeth. Onyx horns curled from his forehead, and tiny ones rippled down his neck and shoulders. Large talons, lethal enough to slice me into ribbons, shined in the moonlight.
Since we were still novice ravens, we shouldn’t have seen beyond his glamour, which meant he’d dropped it. And demons didn’t do that around non-nightworlders unless they planned to kill.
The beast moved too fast and grabbed Hawk’s throat before he could activate his sword, slamming him into a long stone slab. Cold panic stole through my veins like ice water as the demon opened his maw to suck out my partner’s soul.
Images hammered against my skull like a storm lashing a house. I’d seen a demon take a soul before. All of it. Gossamer strands of light had drifted out of her little body and into a demon to feed his immortal existence, allowing him to live on Earth.
As if a hot poker jammed into my spine, I snapped out of my daze and bolted toward them. I wouldn’t let Hawk suffer that fate.
Not on my watch. Never again.
I crushed the heel of my boot into the demon’s knee, and he stumbled away from Hawk, breaking the connection on his soul. My partner dragged in a harsh, ragged breath and rolled off the granite slab.
I swung my sword toward the monster’s neck. But a dux demon was a hell of a lot stronger and faster than those putrid slugs.
He batted my blade away, grabbed my arm, and yanked me into his chest as a pair of lime-green eyes bored into mine. “Caught a little human.” His baritone voice rattled my bones and poured frost down my back. Patches of scales ran along his jaw, and tuffs of black hair sprouted from between his sharp horns that could easily impale me.
“Get the fuck off.” My heart tapped out a frantic beat, and I fought in his grasp, thrashing to no avail. I tried to slip my arm out of his hold, my sword barely clutched between my fingers.
The demon ignored my struggling and gripped my ponytail, jerking my head to the side so hard I couldn’t stop the cry from bursting out.
“Such a pretty color.” He wrapped the pinkish-red strands around his knobby, clawed fingers. “Like blood and bubble gum.” His grin had been ripped right out of nightmares. “I bet you taste just as delicious. Tangy and sweet.”
The bastard didn’t just want my soul. He was a flesh eater too.
As his jagged teeth angled toward my neck to take a bite, I twisted and strained my arm to skim my thumb over the rune on my weapon. Tears from the pain turned the cemetery blurry, but I managed to transform the long blade into a knife. And then I dropped it to my other hand.
The prospect of a tasty meal distracted the demon, so when my weapon reverted into a sword and stabbed his chest, it took a moment for him to comprehend the sudden turn of events.
I slipped out of his grasp, pulled the blade out, and sank it into his neck. Black blood gushed down his shoulder, but Death wouldn’t claim him yet. My strike hadn’t been strong enough to sever his head.
A growl so fierce it rattled my eardrums exploded out of him. “When I finish draining your soul and eating your flesh, I will do the same to your boyfriend.”
Fiery rage hemorrhaged through my bloodstream, spreading a crimson cloud over my vision. I didn’t give the demon a chance to retaliate before I lifted the sword, and with a battle cry, carved it clean through his neck. Dark blood splattered my face as his horned head spun in the air and bounced on the ground, followed by the thunderous crash of his body.
I sucked in ragged gulps of air and wiped at the speckles of black on my face, doing nothing more than smearing them into streaks. Hawk staggered up, his mouth opening and closing as he glanced from me to the dead beast at my feet.
“You bagged a dux demon.”
Per the accords, we could only kill nightworlders—except sub-demons—if they broke the rules. Trying to murder us without provocation was a damn fine example of rule breaking.
“He wasn’t that hard to put down. Not with a sword, anyway.” For a second, the demon resembled another corpse I’d stood over years ago, blood splashing the concrete. And me.
Hawk scoffed, bringing me out of my thoughts before they could breach that dark place. “Demons, and I don’t mean the brainless sub-beasts like those slugs, are the hardest nightworlders to kill.” He brushed his palm over his shirt to knock off the blades of grass stuck to it. “Vampires? A wooden stake to the heart. Shifters? Silver. Fae? A little bit of iron. Witches can die from any mortal wound as long as they aren’t allowed to heal. But demons? Chopping off a dux, high, or royal’s head is no easy task.”
Footsteps pounded through the cemetery, and two figures sprinted in our direction, their black attire blending in with the night.
“He attacked us first.” Hawk leaped over the tombstone and flanked my side as Gia and Axel halted in front of us. “We killed three sub-demons, and then he showed up, not even bothering with a glamour.”
Gia studied the dead demon and shook her head, her honey and caramel braids swaying behind her back. “That’s—unusual.” Hawk opened his mouth to argue when she lifted her hand. “But I believe you. Tatum wouldn’t have put him down without a good reason.”
Axel nudged the demon’s head with his boot as he dragged his hand through his short, plum hair. “We weren’t expecting a dux demon. We swept the area before leaving you two and didn’t see any evidence of other nightworlders, not even vamps who like to frequent this place.” His jade eyes lifted to mine, a grin melting over his face. “Tatum Teague, you had to go above and beyond for your test, didn’t you?”
I shrugged and ran my thumb over the rune on my sword’s hilt to disable the blade. “I just did what any of you would.”
Gia snorted. “Yeah, but both of us have already gone through initiation. We’re stronger and faster than any human. You aren’t.”
“We make an excellent team, don’t we?” Hawk threw his arm over my shoulders and pulled me into his side.
Axel dug into his pocket where a raven emblem was stitched and pulled out a pouch of Whither dust used to disintegrate nightworlder bodies. “You distract them with all of your crying while Tate kills them.”
Hawk’s grin turned into a sneer, and he flipped Axel off. “Did we pass the field test or what?”
Gia reached her hand out to shake mine and then Hawk’s. “Congratulations, you two. Tomorrow, you’ll be initiated as full ravens.”
Chapter Two
Hot water rained over me and washed the black blood down the drain in murky swirls. I ran the gray loofa across my left arm, the soap suds skating over the faint scars still mottling my wrist. Matching marks crossed my right one.
A whole plethora of scars spotted my body, but most weren’t from demons or any other nightworlder.
I hung the loofa back on the hook suctioned to the wall and pressed my palm against the white tiles, leaning into the stream of hot water. My reddish-pink hair hung around my face in long strands, obscuring my vision.
The demon called the color blood and bubblegum. I grimaced at the imagery. That was definitely a new one in a long list of names used to describe my hair. I’d been born with the odd shade, and as a kid constantly passed around to different foster homes, I’d experienced my fair share of ridicule.
People always feared anything unusual or different, and a shy kid with bright hair stood out like a dandelion in a bouquet of roses. A weed among pretty flowers. Something to pluck out and destroy.
I shook the macabre thoughts away and cut off the water. I’d finally found my place as a raven—someone who policed the supernaturals in this world and protected the innocent—and this was my opportunity to right some of my wrongs.
