Page 36 of Savage Hunt

“Get it away from me!” Sorin crawled on his hands and knees, his arrogance zapped away and replaced by terror. “It’ll kill me.”

My laugh bounced through the torture room, cold and cruel. “The venom from his tail will put you through immense pain until you finally die. And then he’ll eat your corpse piece by piece.”

Before this moment, I’d never heard of a vargos sub-demon, but when the Infernal Sol had control, I seemed to know things I wouldn’t usually.

Sorin hit the wall as the vargos’s tail curved over and stung him. Even though he hadn’t really been stung, the fear vision made him believe it. He shrieked as horrible pain erupted within him.

I chuckled and danced around the filthy room, inhaling the fear from Sorin like a drug. It pumped endorphins and energy through my veins, feeding the ancient power deep inside. I didn’t care that I was in my undergarments. “The lion thought he could prod and poke the little rabbit. But the rabbit turned out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” My bare foot brushed over Sorin as he convulsed on the ground, slobbering and crying. And he was no lion at all. Just a scared house cat with a loud roar.

“Why are you letting her do this?” The dux demon asked the royal as they leaned in a corner.

She smiled, her lips painted blood red. “The Infernal Sol is now in control. Not Tate.”

My dancing halted in front of her, and I tilted my head, studying her. “You put me in this place.” She was also the one who had upset my beast by threatening his mother.

My beast.

The urge to find him flooded my body with warmth. I should go to him. He’d be happy to see me.

But the royal demon moved to block my path. No matter. I could visit him without this physical form.

“Why are you smiling?” she asked. Venna, that was her name.

I coiled a lock of hair around my finger. “I know many things you don’t.”

Venna arched an eyebrow. “I’m well aware.”

Her dog stepped forward. “Should I bring out the magical binds for her, Princess Venna?”

I wiggled my fingers at him. “You’ll have to get close to cuff me, and I’d love to see what kind of fears hide in that giant head of yours, dux demon.”

Some of the color drained from his face, and he looked at Venna for direction—because he clearly couldn’t think for himself.

“That won’t be necessary, Mykel.” She regarded me with curiosity as she walked toward the left, grabbing a knife from the wall. “How would you like to torture prisoners for me?”

Tricky trickster in a viper’s skin. The royal demon wants the answers from within. She’s a princess with a poisonous tongue and wishes to eat my soul and my beast’s, but she’ll get none.

For shit's sake, even my thoughts were a chaotic mess.

“I don’t work for anyone, demon.” I snatched the bottle of Madness from the counter and flicked it, creating a ping. “I torment on my own terms.” They gasped as I downed a gulp of the toxin.

My laughter echoed against the stone and steel walls. “This is weak compared to the magic inside of me. It tastes like hopes and nightmares.”

Not even Madness Elixir could penetrate the hold this dark power had on me.

Princess Venna toyed with the knife. “Think of how much fun you’ll have. You can torture for hours with these toys.” She held her arms out wide at the instruments and chains hanging on the walls. “Or you can feed on their fears and satisfy that hunger.”

My lips pursed as I considered my options. “It would be fun, but I don’t like you. You called me a little girl last time, and I don’t appreciate you underestimating my powers.”

Venna’s smile turned into a sneer. “I’m not taking no for an answer.” She slammed the dagger into the table, piercing the metal. “I’ll kill your precious monster, Fane.”

A warning growl curled out of my mouth as rage infiltrated my system. “He’d eat your heart out, and then I’d feast on your eyeballs and suck your bone marrow.”

“You paint a lovely picture, but it will never come to fruition.” She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a familiar picture, slapping it on the table between us. “I will kill every last one of the Anders.”

My beast was all I cared about—or that was how it should have been—but those faces each punched a hole in the swell of power wrapping me. Those wolves were special to Fane. They were his family.

That made them important.

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