Savage bite den of shado.., p.9
Savage Bite (Den of Shadows Book 1), page 9
Tingles rolled down my arms and over my scalp. She trusted me, and only me, for this? No one had ever held me to such high standards before, and it terrified the shit out of me. What if I disappointed her?
Coltrane stood and ran her finger over a row of books on the shelf behind her, finally plucking out a large, burgundy leather one. She dropped it on the desk and flipped through the thick pages until coming to one with a vibrant drawing. “This is the Infernal Sol.”
As I leaned across her desk to get a better look, she twisted the book and slid it to my side.
A blood-red stone shaped like a sun rested in a large gold medallion dangling from a necklace. “What is it?” The letters and symbols running across the page weren’t any language I could decipher.
“The Infernal Sol is a dangerous amulet with powerful magical properties.” Coltrane traced the sharp rays with her pinky finger. “I doubt we know half of what it can do.”
A chill slinked down my back as I studied the depiction in the book. “Where is it?”
She blinked the haze from her eyes and slowly lowered to her cushy chair. “It’s a demon artifact and currently within one of their lord’s possessions.”
My muscles tensed, and my fingers curled into the book's edges until it felt like a million paper cuts tore at my skin. Please tell me this thing is not with Lord Ruin Bacchus.
“Recent rumors have started to fly about the Infernal Sol, catching the attention of creatures who would use it for evil. I can’t have that.” The captain grabbed her ceramic coffee cup and took a sip, the caramel beverage no longer steaming. “We need to get it out of demon hands before others steal it. We’ll secure it in a safe place where no one can find it.”
The hair on my arms and nape rose as if the picture itself had power. “Why me?” The question came out as a whisper, but the uncertainty surrounding it screamed into the room. “Shouldn’t you give this mission to a raven with more experience? I only went through initiation yesterday.”
“You’re the one I need.” Coltrane leaned back in her chair, her head tilting as she scrutinized me. “You’re special, Tate. I knew that the moment I saw you standing over the body of a high demon. Not many could have done what you did that night. You were barely seventeen, untrained, and completely ignorant to the supernatural, and you still managed to take out a high demon and survive.”
My gaze lowered to her desk as acid seeped up my esophagus from the images trying to overwhelm me. “What if that was a fluke?”
“It’s not.” Her chair creaked as she shifted to rest her hand on mine, pressing it into the book. “Your determination, fearlessness, and grit aren’t the only things I need you for. You can move like a ghost. You can make yourself nearly unnoticeable in an empty room or a crowd.”
Memories from my childhood bubbled up, and I shifted uncomfortably in the chair. A few good foster homes sent me back because they’d noticed that trait. I could move through a room without catching their attention or I’d walk in, quiet as a mouse, and scare the shit out of them when they finally spotted me.
My foster parents would give me this look and pretend not to be uneasy, but fear pulsated off them. And then social services would show up to get me.
But I was thankful for this ability in the bad homes. I would have had it worse if some of my foster families had noticed me as much as the other kids.
“I’ve seen you do it out in the field.” Coltrane’s voice brought me back to the present. “You sneak in under the radar, and no one sees you coming until it’s too late. And even when they do, they don’t expect the storm you bring.”
Had the high demon I killed felt that way when he realized the fight he had on his hands? Was he utterly dumbfounded that this petite girl had bested him?
“I need a ghost and a fighter for this mission, Tate,” Coltrane said, removing her hand from mine and sitting back in her chair. “You’re both.”
“What exactly do I have to do? You haven’t told me anything about the actual mission.” I prayed it didn’t have anything to do with Lord Ruin since I’d already piqued his interest. It wouldn’t be easy to sneak around him.
“Before we get to that, I need you to know that this is a dangerous assignment and beyond anything you’ve ever faced.” Coltrane opened a drawer and pulled out a dossier outlining the mission's details. “I won’t force you to say yes, and I won’t think any less of you if you decline but getting the Infernal Sol out of demon hands and safe will save so many innocent lives.”
“I’ll do it.” Protecting others from harm was my job. I wouldn’t refuse something just because it was dangerous. My life had always been hazardous. At least I had a purpose now.
The edges of her lips twitched. “I was hoping you’d say that.” She flipped the packet over and pushed it toward me. “The Infernal Sol is with a demon lord named Karn. He rules the city of Vlehull—in the Underworld.”
My head snapped up as her words echoed like warning bells during a silent night. “I have to enter the Underworld?”
Captain Coltrane nodded. “You leave tonight.”
Chapter Eleven
A bouquet of lavender tulips on my dresser surprised me when I walked into my room after the meeting with Captain Coltrane. Only one person in this place had the balls to break into my room.
I snatched the tiny card and yanked it out of the envelope.
Roses are red.
These tulips are purple.
Please forgive me.
I couldn’t think of anything that rhymed with purple.
Geez, I’m not a poet. Sorry.
A succession of happy face emoji stickers preceded Hawk’s name.
Despite my anger, a snort slipped out at the very Hawk-like sentiment. Kind of half-assed and lazy but a little cute and funny.
A small box with a black ribbon sat next to the glass vase. My lips pursed as I pulled on the silky material to release the bow and lifted the lid, revealing a slip of paper folded into a square. I unfurled it and read the neat black handwriting.
Found you.
The silver bullet nestled within tissue paper gleamed in the sunlight cascading through the sheer curtains on my window.
Ice trickled down every vertebra, and my pulse doubled as the realization sank in. The demon shifter had been in my room.
Did he touch anything? Did he take anything?
My breath quickened as I tiptoed toward my closet and yanked it open, sending the few clothes I owned—mostly black—flying on the hangers. The jerk probably couldn’t even fit in the small space. He certainly wouldn’t be able to squeeze beneath my bed.
But the bathroom…
My fingers curled around the knob before I whipped the door open. Empty.
Tingles crawled over my skin at the thought of that beast in my room, among my things. He warned me that he could find me again. And he was so cocky he gave me a silver bullet. Did he really not think me capable of ending his life?
“You’re a popular girl today.” Roxie flounced into my room, eyeing the bouquet of tulips and the box in my hand. “What’s the gift?” Her neon green workout shorts and sports bra barely covered anything.
“Nothing.” I marched to my dresser and shoved the silver bullet, note, and box into my top drawer. “What do you want? I’m kind of busy.” I came here to get my shit together for my first assignment, which happened to be in the Underworld.
The fact that I was leaving Earth to go to the demon realm alone had not fully set in yet.
Roxie plopped on my bed and leaned back on her hands, smiling as if I hadn’t caught her screwing the guy I liked. “Just wanted to see what you were up to.”
I slammed my drawer shut and glared at her. “Are you really going to pretend like last night didn’t happen? That you didn’t fuck Hawk after pushing me to go for him?”
Roxie groaned and planted her black sneakers on the ground. “That was the Rapture. I had no control over my own actions. I swear. I never would have done that on purpose.”
She was worse than Hawk.
“But you had control over whether you took that shit. And you had control over convincing Hawk to do it with you.” The memory of the two of them together bombarded my mind, working my gag reflexes into a frenzy. “You chose to do those things, Roxie.” I stormed to my closet and yanked out a duffel bag already full of a few essentials. As a foster kid, I’d developed a habit of being prepared to run at any moment.
“I’m sorry, okay?” She flicked her hair over her shoulder and didn’t even bother to hide her eye roll. “I shouldn’t have done it. I totally regret it, and I feel really bad about it, Tate. I swear.”
“That’s great, Rox. I’m glad you feel bad about it.” I should have known better than to trust her. Hawk was one thing, but Roxie had been so persistent when she arrived that I eventually cracked. Maybe she only wanted to be my friend to get close to Hawk. “I have to go. I have an assignment.”
Her brows furrowed as she stood. “Hawk didn’t say anything when I saw him earlier. Aren’t you two partners?”
I threw the bag over my shoulder, suddenly thankful to get the hell out of this place without either one of them, even if it was to slip into the Underworld. “Not this time.”
Demons meandered through the cobbled streets, passing me without a second glance. The runes a powerful faerie with ties to the ravens drew on me—now invisible—would mask my human and raven energy. My faux leather pants, black boots, bralette, and sheer shirt matched the current fashion for most of the other citizens in Vlehull. Even my bright locks hanging out of the hood on the ripped jacket helped me blend in. The only things missing were the tattoos and piercings.
I slipped by two demons arguing on the street near a light pole that spilled an eerie crimson glow over the bland grayness of everything. None of the stone buildings that rose high in the ebony sky appeared particularly stable, leaning precariously or consisting of odd geometrical shapes like the set of a gothic Tim Burton movie. Most of the structures shouldn’t have been able to stand, but magic existed in the Underworld. Anything was possible.
A large dux demon stomped by, a pair of colorful horns curling out of his forehead. His lime green eyes flitted right over me without acknowledging my existence, much less my human essence.
This was why Captain Coltrane wanted me for the job. Even without the fae runes, the demons probably wouldn’t have noticed me yet.
An intense, briny odor drifted through the air, and smoke plumed from a nearby metal cart where a demon with fluffy yellow hair and scales grilled meat for a line of customers trailing down the road. My stomach grew queasy. I didn’t want to imagine the kind of animal that had become those sizzling slabs. Hell, human parts could be cooking on that flattop.
Contrary to popular lore, the Underworld was not all fire and brimstone. Some regions did consist of fire and ash fields, but the realm also had cities, settlements, and even kingdoms. Families of royal demons reigned in some parts.
A dog barked, and a golden retriever bounded down the road toward the food cart. The grilling demon laughed and tossed a piece of meat to the furry animal, and when he opened his mouth, his jaws unlatched, revealing several rows of saliva-dripping teeth as he caught the morsel of food.
Not a golden retriever.
A high-pitched giggle parted the crowd before a small demon with pale green skin ran after the demon dog. Air whooshed out of my lungs as the child ran down the street with his apparent pet, chuckling and waving. I’d never seen a demon child, not that I knew of. Obviously, they existed since their kind procreated. They couldn’t be made. Rumors floated around about the demon queen in Chicago turning humans once with a special dagger, but it had been destroyed years ago.
The young demon acted like any kid playing through a neighborhood. I always imagined them as tiny terrors like something out of a horror movie.
I turned a corner and headed to the demon lord’s house. Before going through the Underworld door hidden in Bonaventure Cemetery, I memorized a map to Karn’s mansion. After traveling through a dense forest, the eerie, twisting trees had opened to a city with stone walls and an iron gate rising toward the sky.
Vlehull.
Coltrane obtained intel that Lord Karn was hosting a party tonight, which would present the perfect opportunity to slink through his home and steal the Infernal Sol.
Karn’s mansion stood in the heart of the city like a mini gothic castle among the oddly shaped buildings. A line of demons—some dressed in clothes like mine while others donned fancier attire—meandered around, awaiting entrance into the manor. The high demons appeared as human as me, and some dux demons kept their glamours up even in the Underworld. Others preferred their nightmarish natural form with horns, sharp teeth, colorful flesh, scales, or all of the above.
“If you’re not on the list, your entrance will be denied.” A massive dux demon—sans his glamour—guarded a fence and held a leather-bound book. “Later, if the lord feels generous, he may allow some of you inside.”
I slinked behind a group of well-dressed demons as they approached the security guy, their heads held high and noses upturned. They reeked of arrogance and superiority.
They were definitely invited.
“Stacia Morenz and guests,” the woman said, tapping her black stiletto and waving the hem of her nearly sheer dress.
The demon checked his book and nodded before opening a bone gate into Karn’s small yard. “Have a delicious time.”
My heart slammed against my rib cage as I tailed them through the skull-topped poles framing the entrance, my hand going to one of the knives strapped to my thigh. Plenty of demons carried weapons. None of them had a dagger with a secret compartment full of Demise, though.
The guard’s sharp blue gaze skimmed over me as I followed the group, but he didn’t stop me from entering the large, scarlet front doors. Now, I was locked in and surrounded by the enemy.
Black and white tiles stretched across the foyer, and eerie music played in the mansion, growing louder the farther I traveled. After passing through a decorative archway, a grand room in gothic decor unfurled, boasting a collection of black, white, and blood-red accents mixed with muted silvers.
Demons swayed in the middle of the room to the unusual melodies while others lounged on chairs and couches, drinking from gold and silver chalices. Chills scuttled down my back as Karn’s presence throbbed on the left like a signal of terror.
The dux demon relaxed in a throne of bone, metal, and crushed red velvet, a jewel-incrusted silver cup dangling from his lazy grip. Golden hair curled around his sharp jaw, and his rosebud lips melted into a careless smile as the woman on his left leaned toward him. His long fingers clutched her chin, and I expected him to kiss her, but his mouth opened to suck a fine gossamer strand of light out of her.
Her soul.
Frost crawled over my veins as I studied the woman, her cheeks pale and eyes sunken in. She was human.
Instincts had my hand reaching for a dagger on my belt, and the urge to jab the blade into Karn’s chest screamed through my muscles. The whole point of becoming a raven was to protect the innocent.
But saving her would mean outing myself, and according to Coltrane, getting the Infernal Sol out of Karn’s possession took precedence over anything else.
The demon lord released her, and she staggered back into the seat next to him, a sleepy smile melting over her face. Some of the humans in that back room at Wrath & Ruin had the same look. She must have been high on Rapture. She’d probably fight me if I tried to pry her away from Karn.
With gritted teeth, I lowered my hand from the dagger’s hilt. I concentrated and glimpsed past the glamour around the demon lord, ghostly nails raking my shoulders. His blue eyes transformed to red orbs with thin black diamond pupils, and midnight horns curled from his head, parting his stringy, blond hair. Leathery bat wings moved behind his back, protruding from his scarlet blazer. Razor-sharp talons tipped the edges near his shoulders where a row of small horns spread out. Instead of flawless alabaster, his wrinkled, withered skin held a grayish hue.
The real Karn was a monster behind the young, pretty guise he used to lure victims in like the human at his side. She probably didn’t even realize she’d left Earth.
Chances were, she’d never make it back.
I rolled my shoulders and pressed into the room, determined to successfully complete this mission. I couldn’t disappoint Coltrane.
A staircase with crimson carpet and a silver railing split in the center and curled up to the second-story balcony overlooking the room. A few demons loitered around the edges, watching the party while they mingled and drank.
During debriefing, Coltrane explained that a witch had scried for the Infernal Sol and located it somewhere in the upper levels of Karn’s mansion. She also gave me Venari dust enchanted to find a trail to the powerful talisman.
I’d never used any magic potion or dust except Whither for dissolving bodies. Coltrane didn’t push for the ravens to be more involved with magic and supernatural defenses like some cities, but she’d made it clear how important getting the Infernal Sol was.
I pushed through the meandering demons, heading for the stairs when fingers curled around my arm.
My pulse soared as I twisted around, facing a male demon who towered over my petite frame. Lean muscles wrapped his body beneath his black shirt and jeans, and piercings ran down one ear. A half-smile cocked his lips.
“Dance with me.”
“Uh, what?” I asked, fighting the compulsion to stab him in the neck with one of my daggers.
He jerked his head toward the guests gyrating to the strange music.
He wanted to dance?
The red fog clouding my brain cleared, reminding me that I was at a party in Lord Karn’s house, and this guy thought I was a demon. How the hell had he noticed me in the first place when no one else had?
At least I knew the fae runes worked.
