Willow had refused to cry out for herself, but now it tore free from her, and she lurched toward him. The hands on her arms and shoulders yanked her back as the hunter stopped in front of her.
She didn’t look at him as she craned her head to see around him. Savages blocked her view, but she caught a glimpse of Declan lying on the ground. She found it increasingly difficult to breathe as terror constricted her chest and blood clogged her nose.
Kneeling before her, the hunter clasped her chin and jerked it toward him. Willow bared her fangs at the piece of shit. The turned hunter examined her with a coldness that caused her skin to ice over.
They’d succeeded in turning him Savage, but something about the man told her it wasn’t a difficult task. Her skin crawled when his thumb stroked her cheek. When she got the chance, she would make him pay for this.
“Under normal conditions, you are quite lovely,” he murmured.
“Leave her alone!” Declan roared. “Let her go and take me.”
The hunter turned away from her, and the Savages standing behind him parted until she had a clear view of Declan again. He lay on the ground with his hands pinned behind his back while eight Savages knelt on top of him.
The black and red color originally in the corners of his eyes now encompassed his face, neck, and what she could see of his skin. It made his eyes shine brighter as violence oozed from him. If he broke free, he’d destroy them all… and possibly himself.
“We already have you,” the hunter purred.
“I’ll leave here without a fight,” Declan said.
“Fight all you want; you’re still going to lose.” The hunter turned dismissively away and back to her. His eyes narrowed as he leaned forward to inspect her more closely. “Are you a purebred?”
Willow refused to recoil from the stench he emanated as he leaned so close their noses nearly touched. The sound Declan emitted caused the hair on her nape to rise. Over the hunter’s shoulder, she saw a couple of the Savages edge away from Declan while some of the ones holding him cringed.
“Your blood reeks of power,” he murmured. “I think you’re a purebred.”
Willow kept her attention focused on Declan; she wouldn’t give this monster the satisfaction of looking at him again. Declan’s eyes held hers as the red faded from them. Instead of returning to their beautiful silver color, they turned an obsidian shade. Her mouth parted as the black vanished and his eyes turned red again.
What the hell? She hadn’t imagined it; she was sure of that. His eyes had turned black. She’d never seen or heard of anything like it before.
The hunter laughed as he rested his fingers against Declan’s marks on her neck. It was all so surreal that only hours ago, she was in his arms, making love to him, and now they were surrounded by these monsters and bleeding all over the sidewalk.
Turning to look at Declan, the hunter’s mouth curved into a cruel smile. “And she’s your mate. How sweet. Maybe when Kirkau finishes with her, he’ll return her to you. I’m sure she won’t be much good to you by then, but he only needs her to bear his children.”
Declan growled and lunged against the weight on top of him. The Savages on his back shifted, and one of them bashed his face into the pavement. Declan barely felt the pain as his head buzzed with the asshole’s words.
The hunter turned back to her. “You’re the one we really want. If you’re a purebred, you’ll be the perfect incubator for Kirkau’s seed.”
She inwardly recoiled at the idea of anyone other than Declan touching her in such a way. She had no idea who this Kirkau was, but she knew demons were behind the increase and grouping of Savages. Judging by the strangeness of the name, she suspected Kirkau might be one of them. She’d die before she ever let one of those things use her body to breed its offspring.
“And don’t worry, if you’re already pregnant, he’ll have no problem tearing it out of you,” the hunter continued.
Willow restrained herself from jerking against the arms holding her as she sought to protect her belly. She was far from ready to be a mom, but the idea of anything harming her and Declan’s child made her murderous.
The Savages restraining her didn’t let go when the hunter rested his hand against her belly and patted it. Willow’s fangs snapped near his ear as she lunged at him. The hunter laughed and removed his hand.
When his head turned toward her, she spit blood in his face. “Fuck you!”
Red filled Willow’s vision when he petted the top of her head like she was a dog.
“Derrick,” one of the Savages hissed.
The hunter turned away from her. When he did, his knee-length, duster jacket opened enough for her to catch a flash of the red-orange stone in the sword strapped to his waist. She recalled seeing the weapon near the waterfall too.
“Derrick,” another Savage said.
Willow smirked when she saw why the Savages wanted Derrick’s attention as Declan struggled against their hold. There were eight of them on him, but he was working his way free as the red and black color encompassing him pulsed and swirled around his skin. More Savages stood nervously nearby, but none of them looked like they were going to get any closer.
“Kill him,” Derrick said flippantly.
“No!” Willow screamed and threw herself forward. “No! I’ll go with you willingly. I’ll do whatever you want and won’t put up any fight. Don’t kill him.”
Derrick cast a pitying glance back at her. “You can fight; Kirkau will probably enjoy it more if you do. Kill him.”
The Savages hesitated as they glanced between Derrick and Declan. “Doesn’t Kirkau want him alive?” one of them asked.
“Then bash his brains in until he can’t move anymore,” Derrick said. “He’s a liability, and we can’t have that. Either make it so he can’t move or kill him.”
“No!” Willow screamed as one of the Savages lifted a brick and approached Declan with it.
When the Savage lifted the brick over Declan’s head, something inside her snapped. With a ferocious snarl, she succeeded in ripping one of her arms free and spun toward one of the Savages holding her. She didn’t have time for a killing blow, so she plunged her index and middle finger of her right hand into its eyes.
The Savage howled as his hands flew to his brutalized eyes, and he released her. Willow jerked free of the rest of her captors and dove at Derrick. All rational thought vanished as she brought him down beneath her and pummeled his face. He’d ordered Declan’s death, and because of that, she would make him regret ever learning how to talk.
His cheekbone cracked and gave way. Grasping his shirt, she lifted him and caved in the back of his skull when she smashed his head off the pavement. She’d never felt this amount of strength and power before, and when her gaze fell to her hands, a ripple of shock ran through her. The red and black color was seeping out from her fingers to spread across her skin.
Derrick’s words, and the brutality of what they planned for Declan, had unleashed the demon part of her, and it was going to make them pay. She basked in the power it gave her as she punched Derrick’s demolished face one more time.
Wrapping her hand around the hilt of his sword, she pulled the weapon free. The red-orange jewel in the hilt glinted in the moonlight as she turned it in her hand. She’d never seen a gem like it before, but she didn’t have time to study it as something hit the back of her head and knocked her forward.