Page 14 of Savage Hunt

“A few years ago, I guess. Time doesn’t always work the same here as it does on Earth. I’m not even sure of how long I’ve been here. Sometimes it feels like hundreds of years.”

She must be a badass if she’d survived years in Heldrok. Hell, surviving just months was a feat.

“Is Coltrane still leading the Savannah chapter?” she asked. “Please tell me someone has replaced that egomaniac by now.”

On instinct, I opened my mouth to defend the captain even though she’d unceremoniously kicked me out. “She’s still there.”

A smirk pulled at Maddie’s lips as she gauged my reaction. “Let me guess. You’re another runaway Coltrane indoctrinated with all her fancy promises of glory and saving the innocent.” She rolled her eyes. “That woman is so damn predictable.”

Another runaway?

I blinked, replaying her words in my head. “What do you?—”

Sharp tingles erupted across my neck tattoo, and I slapped my hand over it as I clamped my mouth shut to keep a moan from bursting out. I hadn’t felt anything like this since the last time Fane and I were in the same room…

As the door opened, a group of guards escorted a prisoner with bound hands and feet, and a chain wrapping his torso that connected his extremities. My heart went into overdrive, and every nerve ending sizzled in his presence.

Hair as black as midnight coiled around his face, partially covered by a metal and leather muzzle strapped to his jaw.

They put a fucking muzzle on him!

I couldn’t breathe, and the cafeteria sounds faded as those mismatched eyes—one golden amber and the other blue—locked on mine.

“My fiera mika.”

Chapter

Five

The very presence of Fane Maverick stole the air from the room, and every inmate and CO ogled him out of fear or intrigue. Hell, probably both. That rough, gravelly voice inside my head had shivers rolling down my spine while the heat of his gaze set me on fire.

I hadn’t seen him in weeks—maybe months—and the sight of him, even muzzled and wrapped in chains, had my blood singing.

“He’s something, isn’t he?” Maddie’s words barely penetrated the fog in my brain. “In case you’re wondering, he’s in black because he’s a demon and a shifter, as in he can shift. It’s a rarity.”

The urge to go to him had me in a chokehold, destroying any rational thought. I spun in my chair and pressed my feet into the ground to stand.

“Don’t, Teague.” Fane shook his head and finally broke contact with me as a CO moved to unhook the chains around his torso. “You take one step in this direction, and you’ll be on the ground with your hands locked behind your back in seconds. They know to keep us apart.”

My molars mashed against the slew of curses I wanted to scream, and I grabbed the bar connecting my chair to the table to keep from standing. Having Fane this close and unable to touch him was pure fucking torture.

“I hate this,” I said into his mind. “I’m not sure how much longer I can take not seeing you.” I rubbed my neck tattoo, the electric tingles still ricocheting from Fane’s presence.

“We’ll figure something out,” he assured me. “But in the meantime, we have to keep our distance.”

Maddie sipped her water before speaking. “Fane Maverick is infamous and so scary he trumps Sorin in that department. Obviously. You don’t see the guards putting a muzzle on Sorin.”

My nostrils flared at seeing the contraption on Fane. Did they believe he was that dangerous, or did they just want to humiliate him?

Probably both.

“He’s totally hot, though,” Maddie said.

“Yeah, he is.” No one could compare to Fane Maverick. What I wouldn’t give for one touch.

As if he heard my thoughts, an invisible hand skimmed along my cheek and then dragged down my back. I shuddered and it took all of my control not to moan. Did I imagine that, or was Fane able to access that power now?

The guard moved, and Fane’s gaze seared into mine again, sparking an inferno inside me. Flames pooled low in my belly, and my heart crashed against my ribs in a frantic rhythm.

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