Savage bite den of shado.., p.28
Savage Bite (Den of Shadows Book 1), page 28
I slammed my knuckles against the other fighter’s cheek and then ducked to miss his fist. My elbow crushed into his ribs, and I kicked his knee. A jagged cry tore from his mouth as he stumbled to the ground. I charged, but he rolled to the end of the makeshift ring, and the crowd booed.
“Are you really that much of a bitch you have to run from me?” I grinned, my teeth covered in blood. “Can’t you take a loss like a man?”
Griffin staggered up and wiped sweat and blood from his face with his arm. His lips curled into a sneer as he stepped back into the ring. “Don’t worry, Tate. I know how to take a loss, but can you?”
I scoffed. “I haven’t lost a fight yet.”
His laugh crawled down my back like a swarm of bugs. “I’m not talking about the fight. I’m talking about that cute little kid who’s always hanging around you. What’s her name?” He snapped his fingers. “Jayla.”
“Keep her name out of your mouth before I break every tooth.” I punched his shoulder, but he saw it coming and angled away to lessen the blow.
“Isaac’s been eyeing her lately.” He shook his stringy black hair back and licked blood off the corner of his mouth. “She’s, what, thirteen? Such a young, tender age and those rich fucks will pay a lot of money for her sweetness.”
My gut heaved at the images his disgusting words shoved into my mind. “Stay the hell away from her.”
“Did I touch a weak spot, Tate?” He rubbed his crotch. “I bet Isaac will let me break her first.”
A cloud of crimson consumed me, and all my thoughts turned to one thing. Violence. Plain and simple.
No one would harm that little girl while I was around. I’d stop them, kill them if I had to.
My fist snaked out, connecting with his face so hard the crunch of cartilage and bone echoed like a gunshot.
I didn’t stop. My other fist delivered a left hook to his cheek, and then I rammed an uppercut into his jaw. Another crack resonated, and Griffin screamed.
That didn’t stop me either.
I crushed my knee into his ribs, and he doubled over, giving me an open shot again. My fists pummeled him from the left and right as ringing filled my ears instead of the crowd’s shouts. My knuckles split and tore open, but I felt no pain.
Only violence.
He would not touch Jayla. He would not ruin her like countless others had been. Like I had been.
Bones crunched under my hits. Griffin fell, and my knees scraped the ground as I went after him. Arms wrapped around my waist and hauled me up, pulling me away from my opponent.
“He’s done, Tate! He’s done.” Remy’s voice did nothing to quell the murderous rage. It had me by the throat, choking all the sense and humanity from me.
I struggled in his grasp, kicking and screaming, fighting to get back to Griffin to ensure he would never touch Jayla.
Remy whipped me around, his dark chocolate eyes so wide they could have swallowed me whole. “Are you trying to kill him?”
“Yes!” That was my intention, even if it wasn’t clearly laid out in my head. Death was the only surefire way to keep him away from Jayla. Maybe I needed to kill Isaac too.
Remy glanced over his shoulder, and a string of Spanish spewed out of his mouth. “I think you did.”
I stopped fighting, and he let me go except for his hand around my upper arm. Griffin was sprawled on the ground, beaten to a bloody pulp. He didn’t move.
Was he even breathing?
The realization slammed into me, and I doubled over, puking on the concrete. Remy cursed and jumped aside.
Holy shit. I really killed him. I beat him to death with my bare hands. Griffin taunted me to throw me off my game, and I let him get to me. Only I didn’t lose the fight. He did. And his life.
“Is he dead?” Remy called out.
“He’s still breathing,” someone answered. “He needs a hospital. Like now.”
I spat and wiped my hand over my mouth, a tiny ember of hope suddenly burning. He was still alive. Maybe there was a chance he’d survive…
The warehouse crumbled away, returning to the cell in the Underworld as Karn watched me with those terrifying eyes, full of something sinister and dreadful.
“Well, well…” He scratched his chin with the tip of his talon. “You were a killer even before becoming a raven and long before Fane’s bite.”
They’d rushed Griffin to the hospital and dropped him off on the curb. He had a concussion, severe internal bleeding, and a mess of other injuries. I visited him in the hospital and begged him to wake up. I didn’t want to be a killer.
Three days later, he died.
And I became a killer.
“I’ve never had so much fun using the Verity stone on someone before. You haven’t given up the Infernal Sol yet, but you’ve offered so many delicious things.” The demon lord licked the tears off my cheeks with his forked tongue, and I jerked away from his revolting touch. “Let’s continue. I’m having too much fun to stop now.”
I wasn’t sure what would kill me first—the demon lord consuming my soul or having to relive the horrors of my past.
Chapter Thirty-Five
My lids felt like thousand-pound weights when I tried to open them, and barely more than a sliver of the cell appeared between the thin slits. The cold concrete pressed into my body as I curled on the ground in a ball, shaking. Sweat and the coppery hint of blood filled the air.
After hours of torture, Karn needed a break and ripped the stone off me. He lowered the chains until I dropped to the floor but kept the manacles fastened around my wrists and ankles. My eyes burned from the emotional pain my past had dredged up. I’d buried most of those memories in a cage I never wanted to unlock.
They still haunted me every night but having to face them out in the open and in front of Karn left me raw and vulnerable. No one had seen the horrors living deep inside of me—except Fane, and that wasn’t by choice. Karn, though, watched them all with a grin. I wouldn’t be surprised if he memorized the worst ones so he could replay them in his head later. He probably got off on shit like that.
The tattoo on my neck tingled, and I rested my hand over the swirling black lines. As much as the demon shifter irritated me, I wouldn’t mind seeing him right now.
Something stirred in the room, and I pulled my knees tighter to my chest. If a demon slithered in here to torment me, I wasn’t sure I had the strength to fight back, not after Karn’s torture.
A warm, callused hand touched my cheek. “Teague.”
Recognizing that voice, my head angled up, and Fane kneeled on the ground next to me. “What are you doing here?” A guard hadn’t let him in, and no chains bound his wrists. He appeared perfectly unruffled in his heather gray Henley and faded jeans. Those dark strands of hair fell across his forehead in perfect messy waves, framing his eyes. “You’re not really here. I’m hallucinating.”
“No, I’m not here, but you’re not hallucinating.” He searched the cell and beyond the bars into the hall where the dingy yellow bulb swayed from the low ceiling. “I’ve been trying to find you.”
I lifted one of my arms to wave, jingling the chains. “Well, here I am.” He had to be a delusion cooked up by my tired mind. There was no way he’d be able to project himself into the cell to find me. It was too good to be true. “Glad you could join me.”
The small muscles in his face tightened, hardening every facet so he looked like a bronze statue. “I heard you screaming.” Fane’s hand lightly ran down my leg to the knife wound.
“Karn’s a demon. He likes torture.” I rotated onto my back to stare up at him. Damn. He looked so real. “He’ll be back soon. I’m not as easy to break as he expected.”
“Of course you’re not.” Fane’s lips thinned as he studied me, my haunted gaze reflecting in his. “I’m going to get you out. Just hold on.”
I flipped him off. “I don’t need you to rescue me, Maverick. I can get out of this all by myself.”
He snorted, fighting back a wry smile. “Just don’t die on me, Teague.”
“Right.” I curled onto my side again as tremors rippled over my body. “Wouldn’t want to ruin your chances of getting the amulet.”
“That’s not what—” He shook his head and dragged his hand through his hair. “Just don’t die. I’m coming.”
Footsteps echoed, scattering my hallucination of Fane, and a guard appeared with a tray. The clank of metal resonated as he unlocked the cell and strode in, dropping the tray of food at my feet.
“Eat,” he demanded.
I struggled into a sitting position and surveyed the glob of unrecognizable mush, some kind of meat, a piece of hard bread, and a cup of water. “I’d rather starve.”
A snarl pulled at his lips, revealing jagged teeth. “I suggest you eat, girl. You’re going to need your strength.”
“Why’s that? So Karn can torture me more?” Or was the food part of the torment? Maybe it was poisoned.
His laugh boomed within my cell, clashing against my already throbbing head. “There’s a party tonight. And you’re the entertainment.”
The thick manacles rubbed my wrists raw as the guard dressed in all black with daggers and a leather whip strapped to his waist jerked me up a narrow flight of endless stone steps. His citrine eyes glowed through the dim light while his horns created ominous shadows along the walls.
My breath came out in ragged pants by the time we reached a door at the landing. Maybe I should have eaten more food, but I could only stomach the water and stale bread. I didn’t want to take my chances on the meat. It could be human.
“Where are you taking me?” I wheezed.
The demon ignored me and used a key to unlock the door before dragging me through. After several turns within an elaborate maze of hallways, the familiar garish red, black, and white decor of Karn’s mansion in Vlehull emerged.
I choked back the rising panic as we trekked down another hallway. Voices and music filled the air along with food and alcohol. The guard shoved me through a set of double doors, and we entered the grand room packed with demons lining the edges of the ground floor and the second-story balcony. Their attention snapped to me, eager and salivating for my death or torture. Probably both.
Karn lounged in his throne of bone, metal, and crushed red velvet on the other side of the room, his glamour intact so he appeared as the young, handsome blond with striking cheekbones and piercing blue eyes. A beautiful witch with honey hair and a milky complexion sat next to him in a lavender dress of lace and cobwebs.
He lifted his hand to quiet the crowd. “Our guest of honor has arrived.”
The guard pushed me forward, and I stumbled, catching my balance at the last second so I didn’t slam into the black and white tiles. The demons, some dressed in finery again while others wore leather or ripped jeans, sipped cocktails and waited as anticipation choked the room.
A million painful and humiliating scenarios played out in my head, ending with my demise. What exactly did the demon lord intend to do, and why the public scene?
“You have such terrible memories, Tatum Teague.” Karn drank from his silver, jewel-incrusted goblet. “You were a vicious fighter, a bloodthirsty creature. You’d fit right into my inner circle if you shed all that wretched humanity.”
I tugged at the manacles binding my wrists in front of me. “I’d rather be tortured than belong to your inner circle.”
Gasps echoed through the grand room, and some of the demons howled at my insult, but Karn wasn’t bothered.
He gave a sinister chuckle. “We’ll see about that, Tatum.”
The doors on the other end of the room opened, and a tall guard in the same tight black attire with weapons strapped to his body escorted in a male and female around my age or slightly older. Their jeans and black shirts were clean, and chains didn’t bind either of them, but they were still prisoners.
And human.
“As entertainment tonight, you will fight these two.” Karn motioned for my guard to release the restraints on my wrists. “Don’t worry. Kalis performed The Calling spell and gave them the same speed and strength as a raven. Since you’re special, I thought you could handle two.”
Just because they were given superpowers didn’t mean they knew how to use them. I’d been trained, and I was a fighter even before that. “I won’t do it.”
The guard roughly grabbed my hands and used a small key to unlock the manacles. I rubbed my wrists while considering my chances of escape. Demons surrounded me. My chances of escape were nonexistent.
As if Karn saw my hope disintegrating, he gave an ominous grin. “I suppose you don’t have to fight back, but Arisa and Oliver will certainly not forfeit.” He motioned to the male whose copper locks curled around his hard, scowling face. “If they beat you, they will be taken back to Earth and set free.”
Arisa stood several inches taller than me with wild, black curls that reminded me too much of Jayla’s. Lean muscle wrapped her frame, and the overhead chandelier glinted on a few scars mottling her arms bared in the black tank top. She was no stranger to fighting either.
The black t-shirt Oliver wore strained against his broad shoulders and then loosened around his trim waist. His fists clenched and unclenched as he mentally prepared for the battle ahead. Even though he had a muscular build, he showed signs of malnutrition.
Both had that haunted look in their eyes.
I knew that look very well.
How long had they been in captivity? What kind of horrors had they experienced in Karn’s dungeon?
“Let’s get started.” Like a bell, Karn tapped his talons against the silver chalice to signal the beginning of the fight.
Adrenaline spiked through my veins as Oliver and Arisa attacked simultaneously, one on the left and one on the right. They hadn’t devised any strategy and were already sloppy, especially Oliver. His fist darted forward, but I ducked his punch. Arisa tried a lazy kick that I blocked.
I expected her to attempt another hit, but she backed away as Oliver advanced.
“I don’t want to do this,” I hissed, deterring his strike. “Do you really think Karn will let you go?”
“I’m sure as hell going to try.” Oliver charged and wrapped his arm around my waist to tackle me.
As we crashed to the ground, I twisted so that he took the brunt of the hit. He cursed as I wrapped my legs around him and flipped him so his cheek crushed into the hard tiles. I punched his shoulder and then his right side before rolling over and climbing back to my feet.
Arisa danced around the circle, pretending to wait for an opening while studying my moves. As Oliver softened me up, she’d learn my fighting style. It was smart and cunning, much better than the guy’s brute attack that would only earn him a swift knockout.
She was the real danger out of the two.
Oliver scrambled up and charged again like a linebacker. If he managed to hit me with that much force, he’d probably break one of my ribs, but he didn’t know how to use the supernatural speed to his advantage, and I easily evaded his attempt.
He slammed into the crowd of demons on the lower level who shoved him back so hard he crashed to his ass and slid several feet away. As the spectators laughed, hot embarrassment flushed his cheeks.
“Stop playing with me,” he snarled and struggled to his feet. “You’re barely fighting back.”
Because I’d kill him despite The Calling spell.
“He’s like a bull. A dumb one too.” Arisa danced toward me and gave a sloppy punch to my arm. “You should stop avoiding him and just end it.”
I scoffed. “You want to talk about avoiding shit? I know what you’re doing. It won’t help you, though. I’ll win.”
The air stirred behind me as Oliver approached. I let him curl his arm around my neck to give him a false sense of security, and then I slammed my heel into his leg, broke his grip, grabbed his arm, and twisted until a snap echoed.
He screamed as his shoulder dislocated, and the crowd of demons cheered. Sickness churned my stomach as memories of my last fight for Remy clouded my thoughts.
Oliver recovered and gritted his teeth, attacking me again. I planted my legs, angled to the side, and dropped my shoulder, ramming into his sternum.
His eyes widened as the air flew from his lungs. I didn’t give him a chance to retaliate before I crushed my fist into his face. His head snapped around, and he hit the ground with a thud.
I wiped sweat off my forehead and shook my hand out. He wasn’t dead. Just unconscious.
Applause rippled through the room, and Karn tipped his cup toward me. “One down. One to go.”
My teeth mashed together so hard my jaw bones rattled. He knew I wouldn’t stand by and let these two knock me out. It wasn’t in my nature, no matter how much sympathy I had. Karn’s gaze lifted to something behind me, and I didn’t need to look to know Arisa had finally joined the game. What choice did she have, though? I’d already taken out Oliver.
I blocked her fist and then punched her torso, her ribs straining beneath my knuckles. She gasped and staggered back, holding her side as black curls swayed around her shoulders.
“You won’t win this.” I unfurled my fingers to stretch them. “I’m trained.”
“Just because I didn’t have some fancy coaching doesn’t mean I can’t take you, especially with this spell.” She shook her arms out. “I’ve been fighting to survive all my life.”
“Me too.” A pang resonated through my chest as I recognized the same angry look I used to see in the mirror every day. We had similar backgrounds and had been through the same bullshit growing up. Karn probably chose her because of that.
The demon lord cleared his throat. “Did I forget to mention that this is a fight to the death?”
Two guards approached and dropped a few daggers in varying shapes and sizes into the circle, the blades scattering across the tiles.
I whipped toward the demon lord who gave a devilish grin. “Fuck no. I’m not killing anyone.”
“You sure about that?” He nodded to another guard who stood at the same door Arisa and Oliver had entered.
