SOUL REDEEMED A SONS OF WRATH NOVEL, #4
KERI LAKE
SOUL REDEEMED A Sons of Wrath Novel, #4 Keri Lake Copyright © 2017 All Rights Reserved. AUTHOR’S NOTE This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. Cover Art © CT Cover Creations Photo © Andrei Vishnyakov Editing by Julie Belfield
CO NTENTS
VIP Email List Glossary Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22
Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Epilogue Acknowledgments Other Books By Keri Lake AUDIOBOOK LOVERS! About the Author
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For my readers, who’ve patiently waited for this book.
She’s mad but she’s magic. There’s no lie in her fire. — CHARLES BUKOWSKI
GLOSSARY
Abyzz: A potent, hallucinogenic drug of the demon realm; dangerous to humans Aecorisz Demon: Demons with red skin tone and horns resembling those of a bull. Alexi: An army of soldiers bred to slay lycans Alterrealm: An opening that allows access from the human realm to the demon world. Amec: An intense emotion, stronger than human love, of deep affection and loyalty Amegation: The illegal impregnation of an unbonded female Basiliaj: A very rare female Wrath demon, born sterile; often bond with princes. Berserker: Violent genetic mutations as a result of failed human Lywa trials Brozszius: A demon advocate for prisoners of Obsidius, willing to endure half the punishment
Brutesz Demons: Boorish hit men of the underworld; shady and untrustworthy Cartazmus: An ancient book of demon history, which resides within a crypt in Orcosia Casting: Energy given off by an aroused succubus. Catatones: Ghouls who inhabit the catacombs of the Wrath Demon manor; guards Deceleration: The rapid mental and physical decline of a starved incubus. Demortis: The metal of the gods; the only known element that can kill a demon; not commonly found in the human realm Divine Matrons: Governesses to children born of demon princes Du amec: Demonic phrase for I love you. Du et gloriasz: Demonic for I honor you. Elysia: A strong demon liquor Enforcers: Bounty hunters of the underworld Eradis: The binding of souls, after which, the couple becomes tazschla and servosx Fallen: Former angels who seek to corrupt humans, known for violent sexual appetites. Feshjule: Demon equivalent for ‘fucker’ Flowerbomb: A term used by the succubi to describe the first orgasm with a victim. Gambis Demons: Demons whose most notable talents are thieving and gossip Gaszla: Black arts witch
Guardians: Fierce angels of the heavens who protect humans. Halfling: A recently bitten human awaiting the full change to lycan House of Bereavement: A tomb for the grieving; found in the underworld; demons call it Mortuadium. Impetusi Demon: Bulky demons who are mostly docile and used for hard labor, but can become violent when provoked. Imprinting: The transfer of a victim’s memory to another following a lycan bite. Incubi: Breed of male demon that feeds off sexual energy; they have the power to erase shortterm memory Lamb: The derogatory Alexi term for weak human beings (those who do not carry the antibody to lycan venom) Lenovidus Demons: Pimps assigned to succubi at a young age; collect souls for the underworld Lycan: A supernatural species that can take the form of any animal; most common form: wolves Lywa Antibody: A powerful concoction designed by biochemist, General Jackson Wade, which confers resistance to lycan venom after a bite Mortuadium: House of Bereavement Nephilim: Half Fallen-half human species known for violence and corruption.
Nicus Demons: Demons whose knife-like claws carry venom that prevents healing. Obsidius: underworld prison for the damned Optevyl: The demon equivalent to the KKK. They believe in pure demon species. Orcosia: The underworld realm, otherwise known to humans as hell Orcosii: Council of Elders in Orcosia Progenitors: The eldest and purest Sang, and the only ones capable of producing offspring. They possess bat-like features, including wings. Pureblood: A lycan created as a result of natural birth as opposed to having been bitten. Raptorzhus: A bird, similar to a falcon, found in the underworld; symbol of the Optevyl. Red Queen: A modified form of Abyzz that uses the blood of the succubi and brings hallucinations to life. Renoshza: Sexual maturity of a succubus after her first orgasm with a victim. Sanctuary: A bar and casino in downtown Detroit owned by the Wrath Brothers Sanctisz: A plea of innocence Sang: Short for Sangexzha Sangexzha: An ancient species of the underworld, extinct for centuries, with an appetite for blood Saevious Demons: Violent sexual predator demons
Savidon: A demon male’s sexual prime, wherein he’s forced to choose a mate for life ScalWags: Slug-like snacks of the underworld, often served with alcohol at supe bars. Scelius Demon: Violent breed of demon that roam in packs and pick up women to share among themselves Semptresz: A seamstress to royalty in the underworld Sentinels: The most violent angels in the heavens who hunt the Fallen. Servosx: Male demon mate Shine: A hallucinogenic drug popular in the underground scene Stygius: The realm of absolute death for the damned. Succubi: Breed of female demon that feeds off sexual energy and, at one time, were bred as sex slaves to demon lords; often prostitutes; typically mother many children from different fathers; avoided by most male demons Sucorosz: Flesh eating, spider-like insects of the underworld. Sudesz: Suicide; a punishable crime of the underworld Szexus organ: An organ in mature male demons responsible for bonded sex Tazschla: Female mate Trolls: Employed by demons as security guards
Umbraki: Warriors known for their fearless military prowess and guerilla warfare. Underground: Parties held in the basements of abandoned buildings in Detroit Verbrizh: The most painful form of punishment in the underworld, carried out with a specialized whip designed to inflict severe injury. Veneficiusz Demons: Manipulative demons who can probe the mind for memories to use against a victim. Vitiusz Demons: Potentially violent demons with severe facial deformities Wrath Demons: Warriors of vengeance; sons of the demon prince, Wrath; punishers to those who’ve wronged; each specializes in a form of mental or physical pain Zedrigast: Motorcycles of the Guardian angels. Zshula: Midwife for lost souls; she brings them back from the otherworld
1
T
he sounds of suffering were nothing new to Ava, having grown up with a sadist most of her life, but the screams that bled through the walls of the abandoned psychiatric hospital set her teeth on edge. Not even the tortures her brother, Ryke, exacted upon his most unwilling victims had produced such sounds of suffering, the likes of which had her trembling against the thin cot to which she’d been strapped down with Diablis steel. For centuries, she’d listened to the wails of humans being torn apart, begging for their lives. Tonight, the screams were different. Exhausted. Begging for an end. Supes rarely registered cold, but the frosty tendrils snaking up her spine told her that the human half of her feared what lay on the other side
of the cell wall that separated her from those screams. A wall that, soon, would no longer keep her barricaded from whatever shit went down in that adjacent room. Arms stretched above her head, she tugged at the cuffs, attached to a square plate that’d been drilled into the concrete wall. Didn’t matter that it was attached to a manmade wall that Ava could otherwise easily bust through, because the Diablis steel carried its own tensile strength, so yanking wouldn’t do a damned thing to break it free. The metal of the gods held just about every supe, and the fact that it was only found in the demon realm told Ava that her human captor had supernatural ties to which most of his species wouldn’t be privy. Spiked tips dug into her wrists, keeping her from struggling too much, unless she was willing to forego her hands—a thought that’d become more of an enticement with each passing day. Darkness swallowed her as she glanced around the room for some fissure in the scenery—some weak point that would give her the upper hand the next time her captor entered the room. As a Nephilim—a patchy mix of human and fallen angel —she’d inherited a much more acute set of senses, including a sixth that allowed her to pick up on an individual’s true nature. Her Fallen half afforded her the vision to slice through the dimly-lit space, catching even the minutest details—a pastime she’d
spent weeks wasting the hours on, up until two mornings ago, when Oliver, the younger of the two men who’d captured her, had entered for her daily vaccine. Whatever they injected her with often made her wretch, but not even that kept her from being keenly aware of one simple mistake. Oliver, in his klutzy haste, had dropped his keys on the way out, and though he gathered them up quickly, he’d failed to notice the big ass opportunity he left lying beneath the chair propped against the wall. Ava hadn’t, though. Her eyeballs practically bounced in their sockets, as she’d tracked the skittering metal that skated into the shadows. A key. Not just any key, either. The one that made a much louder clang than all the others because it was bigger, bulkier, and could transform any door into a portal to the underworld. A skeleton key. His weak human mind hadn’t registered the clank of six keys hitting the cement, not like hers had, so when he’d only retrieved five of them, the first blossoms of hope peeked through the gloom of despair she’d been withering beneath every day since she’d been captured. It was only a matter of finding a vantage. Something that could be used to retrieve that key. An ache throbbed between her thighs, but not
out of arousal. The day before she’d been taken into the surgical ward, as she had a number of times before, but something felt different. The dull and hollow cramp reached deep inside her and radiated over her womb. Like her insides had been tainted somehow. Light cut through the darkness as the door creaked open, revealing a tall, lanky human standing in the doorway. “Time for your shot, sweetness.” Ugh. Ava hated that goddamn nickname—the one he’d been calling her since the moment he’d had his hands up her shirt, fondling her like the asshole knew what he was doing. He didn’t. Oliver was a bumbling idiot when it came to women, a failure that Ava hoped to exploit, as he entered her room for her routine vaccinations. He wasn’t a stupid man, though, just adding to her frustration that a human could hold her captive for so long. Long strides brought him beside the bed, and he stared down at her through the glasses he wore, designed to block out her charms. If she could get him to remove them, she could use her ethereal manipulation, or hypnotize him into retrieving that key. Much as it killed her, she’d let a small bit of her guard down with every visit, so that she’d come to make him believe she enjoyed his visits. As Oliver
laid out the black case containing the day’s injections, Ava slipped her lip between her teeth, giving him the impression she was anxious for what would come after. “You will behave, won’t you?” He stroked a finger down her face, the action just begging Ava to snap her head and skin it to the bone with her teeth. Instead, she nodded. “Good girl. You’re such a good girl, sweetness.” From the leather sheath, Oliver removed the first of four needles and held it up as he flicked the barrel of it. “You know, soon you won’t need the needles, love. Soon you’ll be strong enough.” That one, she knew from experience, carried a fluid that entered her system like thick lava, searing her veins, and when he tipped the needle to her skin, Ava flinched. “Oh, come now, Ava. It only burns a minute. We’ve done this so many times already. Surely you’ve grown used to the pain.” “It hurts, Oliver.” She hated saying his name, but knew the effect it had on him, evident when his brow lifted and he tipped his head, gently stroking her temple. “It’ll be over soon. I promise, my love. You know I would never intentionally hurt you, Ava. Right? I love you too much, my sweet.” “Then, don’t do this. Please.” His shoulders sagged as he blew out a breath
and leaned forward, resting his head against her breasts. “I wish I didn’t have to. I wish I could take you away and make you mine.” With the needle still held in his hand, he lifted his head and kissed her nipple through the thin tank she wore. “I’d worship you, Ava.” Her body writhed beneath his lips, but not in pleasure. Only one person had ever brought Ava true pleasure, out of the centuries she’d given up her body for one reason, or another. As an incubus, he’d honed his craft. Could bring her to climax without even touching her. His voice. His aura. Everything about Calix had been designed to fulfill a female’s darkest fantasy, and Ava had fallen prey to his charm. There was no ulterior motive whenever she gave herself to Calix. She’d done it because she’d wanted to, because the male had breached her defenses in a way no other before him, including her own flesh and blood, could ever achieve. Her lip crimped at Oliver’s tongue flicking against her nipple as if he had the power, the knowhow, to bring a Nephilim to climax. The half-human in her couldn’t even get off to the awkward and inconsistent fumbling of man. “Let’s do this quickly.” Oliver pushed off her breast and jabbed the needle into her bicep. Flames slithered up her arm, and Ava arched her body, mouth opening to release a silent gasp,
while the fire inside of her took hold, blanketing her muscles, bathing them in an unbearable scorch. “Fuck!” she screamed, bucking as Oliver flicked the second needle. “Three more, love. Hang in there.” Trembles wracked her body, every muscle tense and fighting the pain. She shook with a grieving sob as her insides felt like they’d been liquefied with acid. Two more stabs, and a cool wash slid over the burn, crystalizing the blazing tracks through her veins. “There, there. See? All better now.” All traces of the first assault disappeared, as if she’d become numb to it. “Don’t I always take care of you?” Sweat broke out on Ava’s skin, her lids growing heavy, her body so exhausted from fighting she almost didn’t sense Oliver’s fingers slipping beneath her panties. “Let’s see how your beautiful pussy responds this time.” Her whole body focused its attention on that one place, between her thighs, as he glided his fingers up inside of her. The ache from before intensified, her womb throbbing with his invasive probing. “I think you’re almost ready.” Below the glasses perched atop his nose, Oliver’s mouth stretched into a smile. “The injections are
working!” “What’re they?” The slur of her voice left her frowning. Her head rolled back and forth as Oliver blurred and sharpened, then blurred again. “Ichor. Blood of the ancients. You’ll be able to properly feed the fetus now.” “Fetus?” “We’re going to breed you, Ava.” At that, his fingers pushed higher into her, most of the sensation drowned by her apathy at his pathetic ministrations. “You c-c-canno’do’tha.” “Silly girl, I’m not going to do anything. The Sang will breed you. We’ve been giving them two succubi slaves as a control. As you know, the succubi are quite susceptible to pregnancy. Unfortunately, unless they’re part angel, they don’t produce a clean bloodline.” Oh, God. The sound through the walls. The suffering. That was what she’d been hearing. “It’s my theory that Ichor is required in the final stages of fertilization.” As Oliver went on, a tight fist of panic clenched her lungs. “Once we’ve proven that fact, we’ll move on to human trials. In the meantime, you’re our supernatural guinea pig, of sorts. You’re not quite an angel, being halfFallen, but close enough.” “Please, Oliver. Don’do …” Exhaustion and fear claimed her voice. “Don’t give me to them. I
want you. Take me with you.” “Oh, sweet, you have no idea how much it thrills me to hear you say that. Truly. I love you, Ava. I’ve never been more in love in my whole life.” “Make love to me,” she said on a desperate breath. Disgust churned in her stomach, but Ava would do whatever she had to, if it meant staying away from the Sang. For centuries, she’d heard stories about the ancient species. How they colonized the underworld like insects and bred females like drones in a hive. “Please.” “I’m afraid I can’t. Not now, love. Intercourse with anyone but the Sang would mean death. A slow and agonizing death. Your body has been made to accept this impregnation. To carry it to term. I can feel it inside of you. The thick walls that keep me from breaching your womb. If anyone were to ejaculate inside of you, or break that, the results would be tragic. It’s a protective measure to keep the fetus pure and unsullied. You are the most important thing to me now, Ava.” “You say you love me. Then, don’t do this to me.” “I do love you.” “Then, why? Why are you doing this Oliver?” “Because I can.” He stroked a hand down her temple and removed his fingers from between her thighs. “Tomorrow, we’ll transfer you to the
breeding room. For tonight, try to get some rest. You’ll need it. The Sang aren’t exactly what I’d call … gentle lovers.” Packing up his leather case, Oliver smiled down at her and planted a kiss to her forehead before exiting the room. Ava lay staring up at the ceiling, tears streaming down her temples. Ice cold fear branched down her spine. She had to get out of there. She had to find a way to escape. To get back to the one place she never should’ve left. The only place she’d ever really been safe. Calix, help me.
2
B
eing an incubus sucked sometimes. Skin slick with sweat, Calix tipped his head back, digging the back of his skull into the pillow as his hand furiously slid up and down his shaft. The sounds of female moans filling his head with wicked fantasies of what they were doing behind his shuttered eyes had gotten him hard enough, but it was clear, after hours of jacking himself off, it was another futile attempt. Veins popped beneath his skin as blood pumped to feed his rock hard dick. His muscles shuddered and burned, turning weaker by the second. His knuckles ached, and the line of tension that smarted his jaw damn near shattered his clenched teeth. “Fuck!” he growled, yanking the earbuds from his head and releasing the strangling grip of his cock. For weeks, he’d done the shit. Watching porn.
Frequenting strip clubs. BDSM clubs. Fetish clubs. Night after night spent trying to sate his appetite for sex by acting as a voyeur to the kinky fuckery of others, and not once could he effectively get the relief he’d felt in one night of burying his own stubborn dick into a female. Not just any female. The female. The one who’d sated him every time his incubus nature required a recharge, which’d happened to be just about every damn night if he could swing it. Ava. Her name sprung goosebumps across his skin, and the painful hard-on tenting the sheets hardened more. Calix writhed against the mattress as the ache swelled his balls and had him involuntarily thrusting his hips toward the invisible body he imagined riding him at that moment. Muscles tight, jaw clenched, he beseeched his mind to materialize her, to let him have one brief moment of reprieve when he could find the release he craved and stop thinking about slamming his dick into something for once. “Fuck!” He threw back the sheets and held his stubborn cock as he made his way to the adjacent bathroom, damn near stumbling as he went. He didn’t want his mind to be consumed by sex. He wanted to focus on finding Ava, but the needs he’d ignored for weeks while searching for her had begun to turn physical. His body had come to rebel
the abstinence of daily, or even hourly, sex that an incubus craved—the needs that were as essential as food and water to a human. Deceleration happened when his species ignored its requirements, and a bastard underwent three stages when that shit went down. Obsession, which he’d already suffered, thanks to the Nephilim woman. Vexation, the phase he’d begun to slip into, the longer he ignored his hunger for sex. And infirmity—the final stage just before the body took over and his head no longer steered the ship. At that phase, an incubus would be weak, manipulative, taking a nose-dive into mind-fuck territory, and Calix would rather sever his own cock than suffer that kind of agony. He’d seen firsthand what happened when bastards reached that point, terrorizing entire cities, raping up to a hundred men and women in a single night while they slept. It was how the incubi had come to be feared amongst humans. The ancients had often starved incubus slaves and used them to overthrow villages in the underworld. Calix wouldn’t let that happen. If he had to, he’d rub his dick raw to get the release that would keep those symptoms as far the fuck away from him as possible, because being with another female just wasn’t an option when he longed for only one. Sliding the shower door aside, Calix stepped
inside and flipped on the ice cold water, but it hardly touched the heat of his skin. Gods, he’d have given anything to have Ava crowded against the tiles, pushing into her as the water beat down his back. The unyielding cold wall pressed into his forehead as he rested it there, eyes clamped shut. If he could just reach her. Typically, after having sex with a victim, an incubus could materialize wherever he, or she, happened to be just by invading the mind and wishing himself there. It was why human victims could never really get rid of their demons. Often times, they’d bounce from one house to another, thinking the place was cursed, or haunted, only to find themselves seduced in their new dwellings, too. In his prime, Calix’d had his fun terrorizing beautiful human females that way, but those days were over. As a half-Fallen breed, Ava could be enough for him. He could have her every night without the worry of taking too much, without the worry of accidently depleting her. She’d be his, and he’d see to it that she was happy, sated, and all kinds of spoiled. As she gave him what he needed, he’d give her more in return. Unfortunately, his brothers—particularly Logan —probably wouldn’t welcome her back into the mansion again, not after what she did to Calla.
Stealing her away for Draven had put Ava on Logan’s shit-list, and Calix would be hard-pressed to convince him to forgive. Calix wasn’t even sure if he could forgive her for that, so he certainly didn’t blame his brother. After all, since having bonded, Logan’s only purpose in life had become to protect his female and unborn child—even if it meant going fist to fist with his own blood. It wouldn’t come to that, though. Calix would rather die than be forced to fight his brothers, so maybe it was all for the best. Maybe he just wasn’t meant to find her. The frigid water did little to ease his erection as he washed himself before exiting the shower. Once dressed in his dark jeans, black button-down shirt, and leather jacket, he made his way down the stairs. The mansion suffocated him sometimes. The whole damn city suffocated him, but getting out was better than straining the muscles in his hand to find some relief. “Calix!” Gavin called out from his office. Veering from his initial intent, Calix popped into his eldest brother’s office and took a seat in one of the chairs across from him. “What’s up?” Tipping his head, he frowned at the shadows beneath Gavin’s eyes and those behind his expression that confessed he hadn’t slept in a while. “Gods, you’re looking rough, man. Thought I was the only one
losing sleep at night. Everything alright?” “What’s troubling you?” Typical Gavin. Always concerned about everyone else. “You first.” Rolling his head on his shoulders, Gavin leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up onto the desk. “It’s rare that I regret a decision I’ve made, but I’m beginning to think having Zayne go after Denya was a mistake.” “He take off?” “I don’t know.” Gavin pinched the bridge of his nose and squinted. “I don’t know where he is. What he’s doing. How he’s doing. It’s been weeks since I received the call, and I haven’t heard from him since. Sabelle hasn’t been eating, she’s been so worried about her sister and feeling guilty about Zayne. And Zeke keeps having nightmares about his twin that are oddly similar to the vision I had a while back.” “How can I help?” Gavin’s hand fell away from his face, and he stared for a moment toward somewhere beyond Calix. “I’m getting the impression Zayne doesn’t want to be found. At least, not for now. I’ve decided to look for Denya myself.” “Gav, I’m happy to—” “You’ve got Ava to worry about. I’m just sorry that I can’t help you track her down, as well.” “Yeah, well. Probably wouldn’t matter if you
could. I doubt anyone’d roll out the red carpet for her.” With a huff, Gavin crossed his arms and nodded. “She’d definitely need monitoring. Particularly as Calla could go into labor any time now. Logan will undoubtedly be edgy in the upcoming weeks. Perhaps less agreeable than usual.” “Is that even possible?” “It’s normal for a male to become overprotective in these final stages of his female’s pregnancy.” Gavin reached for his drink and kicked back a long sip until he’d emptied it, knocking the ice back into his mouth. “Logan just likes to assert himself every chance he gets.” “Easy there.” Calix smiled and jerked his head toward the glass. “Don’t need you passing out on Elysia.” The nectar of the gods carried the potency of human liquor on a massive dose of steroids. One sip could kill a human. Multiple glasses could knock his demon brother flat on his ass, if he wasn’t careful. “It’s ginger ale. I wouldn’t dare with Elysia right now. Which brings me to my next request. I’m going to have Maddox cover me at the casino while I’m out looking for Denya. If you could help keep an eye on Zeke in my absence, that would be great. The doc says he’s clear to be up and around. Maybe take him out. Get him drunk.” Gavin
smirked and slid his feet from the desktop. “Or talking to a female. Anything to distract him from the worry, so his body can heal quickly.” Great. Exactly what Calix needed. Trying to forget about sex would prove impossible with Zeke, since the bastard only ever talked about women. “Gavin I don’t know if I’m the best person for that job. I’ve been struggling for a bit of distraction myself. Away from the hookup scene.” Struggling was an understatement. His brother’s brows came together and he tipped his head, studying Calix. “You’ve been starving yourself, haven’t you?” He shook his head and rested his elbows on the desk. “My apologies, Brother. I’ve been so caught up in a shit-storm, I didn’t even see how all of this has been affecting you.” “It’s nothing.” The last thing Calix wanted was Gavin worrying about his dick problems on top of everything else he had going on. He regretted saying anything as he watched the tension in his brother’s face tighten again. “I can deal with it. Know what? Maybe the bar scene is exactly what I need.” “If you’re starving yourself for Ava, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Whatever the outcome with her, you’re going to need your strength. And until the two of you have bonded, or at least seen each other, you’re going to have to
harvest that energy in another female.” “Just doesn’t feel right, you know? I hate what I am.” Calix gestured to himself and grimaced. “I hate that my whole existence depends on how many women I can fuck.” Gavin’s gaze fell from his and he nodded. “I feel you, Brother. I do.” His stare met Calix’s again. “But at least you have the freedom to choose now.” A phantom tingle danced around Calix’s throat, prompting him to grip the place on his neck that the collar spikes had once poked into his flesh there. A slave’s collar. Tied to a bed. Females touching him. Using him. Starving him. Removing his hand from his throat, he blinked away those images and straightened in his chair. “You’re right. I need distraction. I’ll take Zeke to Sanctuary. Get him out of the house.” Gavin blew out a breath and nodded a second time. “Thank you, Calix. It’ll be good for both of you. I’m certain.”
“E ver wish you could talk to it?” Propped on the
stool beside Calix, Zeke rested his elbow on the bar and kicked back the shot of Elysia, shaking his head after. He’d only just healed to the point he
could hang out at Sanctuary, but still wore a patch over the one eye that hadn’t yet grown back entirely. “Talk to what?” Calix asked. “Your dick. I mean the conversations would be fucking awesome, right? Reminiscing about all the amazing pussy the two of you ever had. ‘Cause only your dick would truly get where you’re coming from.” Zeke snorted and knocked Calix in the shoulder. “Get it?” Calix dragged a hand down his face. “I think I liked you better when you were strapped to a bed, half-blind and screaming in pain.” “I’ll bet yours would have some stories to tell.” Glass tipped almost vertical, he polished off the last of his Elysia and knocked the bar-top, signaling for another round. “Ever fuck a Bizetist demon? Man, I’d love a long night with one of those bitches.” The Bizetists were double endowed, with two pussies instead of one. Yeah, Calix had been with one, many incubi recharged themselves that way, but they happened to be a species that mated for life, and getting rid of one after sex often proved to be twice the hassle. “Think about it. You could have another chick eating her out while you fuck and finger her at the same time.” “You can do that now. It’s called anal.” “No, no. I’m talking the same female. They
always get distracted. Then somebody ends up neglected when its time to come. ‘Sides that, females don’t get off on anal the same as they do the other. I like the hard-fucking-core orgasms when they shake and seize against me.” Zeke shivered in the stool beside him, impersonating it, and flexed his fingers. “That shit rattles my nerves and makes my hands all tingly.” “You’re not doing something right if you can’t get a female to come with anal.” Calix tipped back his drink, letting the warm liquor slide down his throat, willing himself to focus on the buzz instead of Zeke’s distracting conversation. “I can get them to come,” he went on, “I’m just saying it’s not the same. It’s like pseudocoming. Two pussies and a threesome, though? Imagine the possibilities.” “Sounds like a lot of work to me.” “Says the asshole who only has to breathe to make a female climax. Seriously, how in Obsidius do you not have an orgy in your room every night? If I’d been born an incubus, I sure as shit wouldn’t be moping around as much as you do.” “How much longer before you can get laid again?” “Doc says another week and my dick’s open for business. I’ll be offering up shots of Vitamin Z like its fucking flu season, baby.” “Great. Refrain from talking to me for a
week, then.” Zeke surely wasn’t helping the situation, and if Calix didn’t distance himself from all the sex talk, he’d end up banging a hole in the wall before the night was over. “What’s your problem lately, Brother?” Zeke twisted to face him, as Calix rose up from the barstool. “Maybe you need to recharge your battery. Ava’s Fallen, right? Hook up with one of their kind. You know they can make themselves look like anyone you want. I hooked up with one a few months back, asked her to turn herself into Scarlett Johansen—” “You’re right.” Through the fog of his musing, a thought struck Calix. A Fallen angel could create whatever fantasy he wanted. As an incubus, Calix had the power to do the same, just not his own fantasies. Hell, he wouldn’t even have to touch her. Just seeing Ava would help him get off. Then maybe he could give up the notion of trying to find her. Because the fact was, if Ava wanted to be found, she knew how to get in touch with Calix. All she had to do was think of him. And as much as he’d obsessed over her the last few weeks, one thing was clear: she hadn’t thought of him once. He patted Zeke’s back. “Shit, I’m actually glad I hung out with you tonight.” Zeke’s brows pinched as he hiked his elbow
onto the bar-top. “The fuck is that supposed to mean?”
3
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he woman dangled from a ceiling cable with a ball gag in her mouth, her back carrying the welts and cuts of whatever torment she’d suffered. Soft red lights touched every corner of the room, illuminating all the torture devices it held: whips, paddles, cages and prods, electrostimulation devices. All seemingly normal items one would find in a proper BDSM club, except one thing—a safe word. They didn’t exist in the kind of club where Calix had ventured. The Fallen were sick bastards. It’d be hard to determine whether the woman— tethered at her throat to a collar, with her legs spread-eagled, her nipples clamped and arms bound behind her in a painful looking knot—had been willing to participate, or not. Asking her would be futile, since the sadist who slammed into her from
behind had likely charmed her. She’d undoubtedly say she enjoyed the torture. Though, unfortunately, not every woman who ventured inside was charmed to know the difference. Some women came to the club as dolcetts—those with sick gynophasia fantasies, who didn’t realize until it was too fucking late that some species take that shit seriously. A crowd had gathered around the room, eyes riveted on the scene that played out, which thankfully appeared to be nothing more than hardcore BDSM and rough sex. Calix couldn’t stand by and watch the guy gut her open or rip out her spine, which happened to be considered good fun for the Fallen. Jumping in to save a human would’ve thrown him into a fight with a variety of species that enjoyed the mutilation of innocents. “I’d ask you if you want to find an empty room, but something tells me you’re not here to hook up with my kind.” The disembodied voice hit Calix from the left, and he swung his gaze toward silvery sapphire eyes that gave her kind away, and long brunette locks that fell around her shoulders. Fallen angel. “What makes you say that?” “Not every day a Wrath demon comes through here.” She kept her eyes locked on the scene, and Calix glanced around to see that all of the surrounding supes did the same, not at all interested
in their conversation, it seemed. “Are you looking for something?” Calix leaned in, taking in the spicy clove and mandarin orange scent that watered his mouth. “I want a fantasy,” he whispered. Jerking her head toward the sex scene on display, she smiled. “This isn’t enticing enough for you?” For the first time, she peeled her gaze away and lifted her nose in the air, the twinkling of her nostrils telling Calix she could smell the pheromones that gave his species away. “An incubus, as well. In a club like this? You could take any species you wanted into a room, and supes would pay to watch you play.” “I’m not interested in putting on a show. I want to watch one.” “It won’t be cheap. I don’t do that shit for free. It depletes my energy. Makes me vulnerable.” The tickle of her fingertips dancing down Calix’s arm sent shockwaves across every nerve ending, as his body reveled in the touch he’d craved. “Easily taken advantage of.” “I won’t lay a hand on you. You have my word. I’m just looking for some relief.” Tipping her head, brows pinched together, she studied him. “A starving incubus? I don’t think so. Not even I’m that crazy.” As she spun away, Calix nabbed her arm, squeezing tight to her wrist as she wriggled in his unyielding grasp. “Let go of me,”
she murmured. “Or I’ll make a scene that’ll have every supe in here on your ass.” “Please.” He loosened his grip and allowed the misery to sweep over his expression. “This would set me straight again. Make things right. I’ve not reached the point of desperation.” Not quite a lie, but not entirely true. Nibbling her lip, she eyed him up and down, and without a goddamn how ya doin, she cupped his bulge, eyes wide. “Gods in Obsidius, you’re fucking hard as stone.” “A single fantasy. That’s all I’m asking for. Please.” “I do this for you, you promise you won’t drain me. You won’t try to consume my soul.” She prodded a finger in his face. “’Cause I’ll tell you what, buddy. I may look harmless enough, but I can turn your fantasy into your worst nightmare with the snap of my fingers.” “I swear to the Gods, I won’t hurt you.” “You’ll take only what you need to get right again.” “You have my word.” “I’m only doing this because you’re hot. You realize that, right?” “Sure.” Her grip on his hand prompted Calix to follow the female through the crowd, down a dark corridor to a staircase. His whole damn body came alive at the thought that he’d soon be looking at
what his mind could take as a lifelike image of Ava. She’d be as much flesh and blood as his brain could possibly project, and considering Calix had nearly every piece of her committed to memory, it’d be like staring at the real thing. Beyond a heavy door, the girl led him deeper into the basement of the building, where the pipes radiated heat that left a damp humidity clinging to the air and the stench of mold assaulted Calix’s nose. “What’s your name?” he asked, taking in the tight skirt that clung to her curves. Not even that could trample the excitement that he’d soon see Ava. A quick glance over her shoulder, and Calix just caught the roll of her eyes. “Does it matter? I’m not your fantasy, right?” “You read my mind.” “This female must be something special for you to go through all this trouble. Nephilim, huh? That sucks.” “How so?” “’Least I chose to be this way.” Hands on her hips, she came to a stop at the back corner of the basement, where a couch, empty bottles of Elysia, a sleeping bag, and a pair of Beats were scattered around. “You live down here?” “No, I come down here to knit when I’m
feeling particularly crafty. Yeah, I live down here. Temporarily, until I find my own place.” “Camped out in the basement of a nightclub owned by the Fallen? If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were hiding out.” Ignoring his comment, she nodded toward the couch. “Get comfy. I’m only an observer. If you want, I can give you privacy, but it’d be no different than you making up the fantasy in your own head. Or I can embody her and it’ll be more real.” “I want you to embody her.” Fortunately, embodiment only happened within the fantasy, so she’d essentially be commandeering the thoughts that Ava might have in the scene. It’d be Ava’s body. Ava’s face. But the girl would be something like a puppet master, pulling the strings. As long as she didn’t destroy it by saying something un-Avalike, it’d be damned close to the real deal. “No talking, all right?” “No talking. Now lose the clothes, pretty boy.” Unclasping his jeans, Calix watched her light up a cigarette. “So, what’d you do?” “For what?” “You said you chose this life. What’d you do?” Drawing in a long inhale, her eye squinted, before she blew the smoke off to the side. “Secrets. I gave them away to the wrong person.” “What kind of secrets?”
“They wouldn’t be called secrets if I told you, would they?” “You already gave them away, so what does it matter?” He tossed the jeans onto the couch and unbuttoned his shirt. “I have certain gifts. I trusted someone I shouldn’t have. Now, unless you want me to record you jacking off and upload that to a porn site, no more questions. Capisce?” Calix was surprised she’d offered as much as she had, which told him she happened to be one of those chatty females—something that could very well annihilate the whole experience he sought. “Gods of sin, what the hell are you dealing in fantasy for?” Her gaze roved his body from where she stood with the cigarette dangling at her fingertips. “A body like that, you could feed yourself for the next millennia. Bitches would kill for that.” “Please. No talking, okay?” “Rightio. It’ll be a thousand argentumus. Paid upfront.” Her chin lifted as it should have, asking that much from him. Argentumus, the currency of Obsidius, essentially equated to souls paid to the underworld. He didn’t have to pull it from a wallet, or a bank. If he’d paid enough souls throughout the centuries, the money would merely appear at his request. The paper itself acted only as a physical
transfer of contract. Essentially souls paid to the underworld released to a new owner. Flipping his palm, he studied the way her eyes sparkled with interest, when the cash materialized in his hand with all seven demon princes represented on a single bill. “I doubt anyone else would pay such an outrageous amount. Something to keep in mind if you intend to stay in business.” She snatched it from his palm, tucking it into her pocket. “Yeah, well, considering you could easily end me today … and I doubt it’s as risky an investment for you. ’Sides, it’s not like I’m living the high life here.” Stood in nothing but his boxer briefs, Calix glanced around, taking in her sad and sorry little space. “Thais.” With her non-cigarette toting hand, she scratched the back of her head, while Calix’s brows pinched to a frown. “I saw the question still sitting at the back of your head. My name is Thais.” “Thanks,” Calix said, falling back onto the couch. “What do you see when I’m doing this?” “Only what’s projected. Don’t worry, I can’t see you doing your … thing, if that’s what you’re worried about. When I embody, all I see is what’s in your head. I told you, I don’t like doing it. Makes me feel vulnerable.” “I won’t let anything happen.” “Then, let’s get started.” She put out the
cigarette in a big red plastic cup and took a deep breath, squinting her eyes closed. When she opened them again, a magnetic swirl of blue and silver drew Calix to stare. His instincts battled it, knowing all too well that such a thing had gotten his kind killed for centuries. A Fallen’s charms happened to be their strongest weapon, and Calix could feel the energy radiating along the space that separated them. “Relax,” she whispered. “Think of her.” Calix turned his mind to Ava, as she instructed, and immediately, the scene around him morphed into his bedroom, as he lay on the bed, watching the shadowed figure stalk across the room. His eyes feasted on every curve that lined the familiar body edging toward him. Muscles hardening, he stroked a sweating palm up and down his shaft, as she sunk a knee into the mattress at the end of the bed. “Come to me, Ava,” he whispered. “I’ve missed you.” Licking her lips, her gaze trailed downward, to his hand sliding along his shaft, and she crawled toward him, her voluptuous tits begging to be squeezed. She planted a kiss to his thigh and dragged her stiffened nipples across his cock, stopping to set another kiss to the V above his groin. Instead of climbing farther, she dipped her head and licked the small bit of fluid leaking from his tip, lapping it up as if she were thirsty for it.
“Fuck!” Calix, flexed his ass, lifting his hips from the bed as her tongue coaxed dark fantasies from the depths of his mind. “Ava, please.” Not even the tight squeeze of his cock could calm the sudden urges beating through every muscle in his body and begging him to throw her onto the bed. He tangled his fingers through the long pin-straight hair that slid across his skin like strands of silk. Exactly as he remembered. Her skin crossed his like satin caught in his palm, and plump lips clamped down over the head of his cock. “Feels so fucking good, baby. I needed you so bad. No one else. Only you.” He circled his hips, thrusting upward into her mouth as she took him the way she always had. The way Calix had obsessed over for months. Gods, he wanted to pound into her, feel her tight pussy contract around him. Why not? It was his fantasy, after all. He rolled on top of her, slapping at her hip to direct her onto her hands and knees. She complied, resting her head against the mattress, which put her pussy on full display for him. Calix bent forward, his tongue following the crease of her ass down to her pussy, and he closed his lips around her flesh, sucking her there. With a quiet moan, she bucked forward, and her fingers curled into the sheets.
If he didn’t fuck her right then, he’d probably combust into flames. “I need to do this now, baby. Right now.” He slid into her, watching the curve of her spine deepen as she arched her back. “Gods!” The sound of her voice was oddly similar to Ava’s and a smile tugged the corner of his mouth. His whole body sank into each thrust as waves of calm and pleasure shot like bullets through his nerves. Head kicked back, Calix slowed his hips to a lazy roll and savored the warmth of her silken walls as his cock expanded inside of her, stretching her with every drive. Her quiet whimper drew his attention back to the dip in her spine where sweat pooled. He slid his hands from her hips to the edges of her back and plunged into her balls deep. “How’s that feel, baby?” he asked, grinding his cock. When she turned her head to the side, though, a zing of panic washed over him. The face wasn’t Ava’s. Pin-straight black hair had morphed into the cascading curls of Thais. He pulled out of her, gripping tight to his swollen cock, and squinted in pain as the promise of climax faded. “What the fuck?” His bedroom fizzled like smoke around them, into the dark and dirty basement, as Thais lay
across the room on the floor in front of him, skirt drawn up to her hips, her sleeping bag crinkled around her. “What the fuck did you do?” Calix stumbled on his knees toward her, his entire body shuddering with the pain of his still-hard cock. “I’m sorry!” Thais kicked herself back, eyes wide with panic. “I must’ve … I just got carried away! You felt …. I’m sorry!” Falling forward, Calix held himself up on one arm, the flames of tension seething through his veins. He needed to come. If he didn’t, he’d turn. He’d drain the woman in front of him and every other woman in the place. And they’d let him. They’d fall at his feet like demon sacrifices, thanks to his pheromones. “You have to finish. I can see it … you’re turning. Please, let me help you.” “No!” Calix roared, but as much as his mind urged him to get away from her, his body wouldn’t move. “I won’t touch you. No fantasy.” She tipped her head, eyes narrowing as she continued to study him. “Your scars. I didn’t notice before.” A quick glance at his eyes, and hers trailed back to his throat, while the marks of his collar had undoubtedly begun to poke through the redness of his skin. It happened whenever Calix reached the point of starvation, a hunger he hadn’t suffered in
centuries. “You were a slave.” Her brows creased as flickers of his past zipped through his mind. Flickers she could surely see. Chains. Demortis. Hellsfire. “What did they do to you?” “Enough!” Calix growled, lurching toward her. Fury, the kind that held no meaning but only crazed thoughts of pain, slammed inside his head and set his bones aflame. He could snap the female’s neck, watch her eyes turn from curiosity to the vacancy of absolute death. “I should kill you for what you did just now.” Again, his body begged him to get out of there, but he remained paralyzed on all three’s, his left hand gripped tight around his throbbing shaft. “Feshjule!” He shook violently as his needs swarmed his mind, threatening to overpower the last threads of self-control that kept him from tackling the female and turning her the fuck out. “It was just a fantasy. We didn’t really—” “I don’t give a fuck! It felt real!” Another zap of pain hit his groin, and he curled into it as shards of broken glass rolled inside his stomach. “Ah, fuck!” A soft chant reached his ears, spoken in the ancient tongue Calix knew from his youth. His head grew dizzy, the room spinning around him, and he rested his forehead against the soft cotton sleeping bag. Warmth spilled into his veins, like lying a cozy bed with Ava in his arms, and his entire body
suddenly drained. He lazily rubbed his hand along his shaft, so relaxed and content, he didn’t want the feeling to end. For the first time in months, jacking off felt fucking good. So good, his spine tingled with a warning. Head pressed into the concrete, he stroked faster, fingers curled into the sleeping bags. The chanting grew louder, faster, more staccato than before. His senses filled with the heady aroma of warm pussy, watering his mouth as if he could damn near taste it on his tongue. Fuck, yeah. Fuck, yeah. Fuck, yeah. His muscles tensed up, body trembling as the orgasm made a slow climb along his spine. Balls drawn tight, Calix opened his mouth to a silent roar, and with the first shot of climax, his ass lifted, back bowed up while he rode out the explosion of ecstasy that hit the back of his skull. “Fuck! Gods, fuck!” His hand still slipping along his cock, his muscles tightened and trembled. Another pleasure blast exploded behind his eyes with a second climax, and the small pulses that followed beat out a third and a fourth. An incubus could come as many as a dozen times in one round of sex, which was why females generally ended up pregnant if they happened to be bonded. A demon, though, rarely ejaculated unless bonded, or tricked. Only the slick pre-cum lubed his strokes as Calix slowed them. Finally abandoning his cock, he breathed hard, still bent over himself on the floor.
“Gods of Obsidius, I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.” Calix finally lifted his head to Thais, as she sat with her legs crossed and trembling. Only then did he notice the swirls of black ink along her neck— demonic symbols associated with black magic. “What did you do?” He spoke in a dry, husky voice that didn’t quite match the calm and serenity washing over him. “Just something to ease you a bit. Sort of like a demon cure for impotence.” Her eyes widened as she sucked in a gasp. “Not that you’re impotent. It just helps you relax.” “How?” Even he could tell it was temporary, by the way his muscles flickered with tension again. He’d starved himself for too long to get relief from a single jacking off, but it was the best he’d felt in months. She shrugged. “Just something I do.” Her knees knocked together and Calix could see she struggled to keep her legs closed—an effect of watching an incubus come. The final pheromones during climax worked like Viagra for women, turning them submissive, pliant, and sex worked like a powerful weapon for the incubi. The female had begun to succumb as her ass ground into the sleeping bag. “Gods, I need to come so bad right now.” Pushing off the floor, Calix rose to a stand and slid his shirt on, followed by his jeans and boots,
until fully dressed once more, staring down at her. “I’m sure you’ll find relief upstairs,” he said, striding back toward the staircase. Had he finished her, she’d be satisfied for days, but after the shit she pulled earlier, Calix couldn’t give a damn if she writhed in pain. He shouldn’t have trusted her. The Fallen were tricky, and it sucked that he’d become so desperate as to seek one out. “Please!” Her voice echoed through the basement as he made his way back to the staircase. “I helped you! Please don’t leave me like this.” She hadn’t helped him, though. Had he come inside Ava, or at least the Ava in his head, his body would’ve taken it as the real deal. He would’ve been good for a while. Unfortunately, he’d gotten a taste of sex with another woman—something he’d tried to avoid for months. Because his dick suddenly remembered how fan-fucking-tastic it felt to be inside a female. And the next time his cravings hit, he could damn well take what he wanted by force.
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hree days. Tucked into the corner of the damp, cold room, Ava mumbled to herself, her face buried into her knees so as not to rouse the Sang that hung from the ceiling like bats. Progenitors, she’d heard Oliver call them. The darkness in the room gave no indication of time itself. Only Oliver arriving to check on her between long intervals, as he had each morning, suggested that entire days had passed between. Prayers. She’d never prayed for anything in her life. Not when her father had tormented her as a child, not when her mother abandoned her and Ryke in a back alley, forcing them to survive amongst a host of predatory demons, and not even when Ryke had turned on her, giving new meaning to living in hell. No, she’d always been a survivor, taking care of herself without use for prayers.
Until then. “Gods of Obsidius, forgive me for my insolence, for I lack understanding. Forgive my transgressions, for I lack direction. Restore my faith, and I shall continue to worship you for all of my immortal life.” Straining her muscles, she pulled her knees tighter to her body and squeezed her eyes, concentrating on the next words. “Protect me from this uncertain demise. Grant me this prayer, and I vow to walk this earth in your name.” For three days, she’d sat in the room like a fly caught in a spider’s web, waiting for one of the creatures to swoop down and bring her nightmares to life. For whatever reason, they’d kept their distance from her, watching her with their glowing eyes in the darkness. She’d heard the screams of the succubi. Knew damn well the horror they’d be capable of, if they decided to swarm her. Oliver had told her that it wasn’t unusual for all three to have their way with a single female, so when she’d woken from the drugs he’d given her, to knock her out inside the cold tomb, she’d felt like fresh meat for the slaughter. Oliver had also said that the pheromones given off by the Sang virus they’d been injecting into her would prod the creatures into their mating cycles. Any day. Any moment. She’d been starved, left naked and dirty, to the
extent that she couldn’t stand the smell of her own skin. A strong scent that’d surely made her presence known, even when she’d kept herself tucked quietly in the corner without moving. Still, those things hadn’t bothered with her. A boom echoed inside the room, and Ava lifted her gaze to see Oliver standing at the door, peering through the small square window and wearing a mask of frustration. How badly she wanted to kill him. To dig her claws into his flesh and watch his eyes go wide with horror as she tore his organs right out of his body. She’d keep him alive just long enough to watch him suffer. Another part of her wanted to laugh hysterically at his failure, to throw it in his face that months of preparations had been for shit. And then she’d slice him open after, of course. Grinding her jaw, she curled her hands into fists at the thoughts slipping behind her eyes. But at the fluttering of wings above her, the visuals faded quickly, and Ava turned her attention toward one of the Sang that twisted its head as though curious, its lip curved into what she surmised as a smile. Could it read her thoughts? Most species couldn’t penetrate the Nephilim that way. Only a select few that she avoided at all costs. Not much was known about the Sang, though. Centuries of extinction had all but wiped them out of the demon taxonomy.
Abandoning her torturous thoughts, she slipped back into her fear, in hopes that its sudden interest in her didn’t mean she’d flipped the damn rutting season into gear. It didn’t move, though. Only stared its unnerving stare, inviting her to fall into the madness of hope. Hope that maybe she’d be spared. The hinge of the door squealed, reverberating off the walls, and her gaze shot toward the hulking silhouette in the doorway. The opened doorway. The beastly thing she’d first met in the butchering room of whatever this place was stared at her with one good eye through its deformed gorilla face. The metal plate covering its other eye caught the reflection of light from somewhere down the hallway. She’d once been afraid of the beast, but not even its grisly, muscled form could surpass the fear that the Sang had instilled in her. Mentally counting off the seconds, she slid her legs beneath her, hoisting herself into a pouncing position. The crazed desire for escape overpowered the faint warnings beating through her skull. Ones telling her she’d never make it. Reaching out beyond the doorway, he maintained his stare, and tossed something toward her. It fell just a few feet from where she pressed her fingers into the concrete like a runner waiting for the gun. Allowing a quick downward glance,
she grimaced at the severed human leg that’d begun to turn a grayish tone. The scent hit first. Like rotted meat that should’ve made her want to gag, yet didn’t. Her bottom lip trembled with the realization that it smelled oddly delicious. So delectable, in fact, she stole another glance. And another. Her mind quickly becoming so consumed by the proffered meat that she didn’t immediately notice the Sang beside her, feasting on other scattered limbs tossed into the room. Ignore it, she told herself and clamped her eyes shut, willing the effects of the smell away. When she opened them again, the beast stood with his feet set apart, arms crossed, watching the creatures feast. She had to get out right then. What if mealtime was what they’d been waiting for? Perhaps Oliver had intended to starve them, and once he’d sated their hunger, they’d be looking to mate? Without a second thought, she darted forward. A slam at her throat jerked her head back, while her feet shot up from beneath her, and the cold concrete slammed against her spine. A crushing blow to her skull radiated down into her limbs, and Ava flinched at the ache throbbing in her head. She allowed her fingertips to drift across the steel around her throat, squeezing her neck. She kicked back to loosen it’s stranglehold, and
her chest cracked with a deep cough, one that set her ribs rattling. The snort from the doorway drew her attention to the beast. He stood with a smile, those fucked up teeth mocking her in all their ugly deformed glory. “Fuck you,” she rasped, sucking in a breath. The sliver of light filtering in dimmed as the beast slammed the door shut, and the sounds finally reached her ear. Sucking. Moaning. Feeding. She tipped her head back, taking in the upside down view of all three creatures hunched over like vultures, each with a limb held at its face. Her tongue puckered again, and a tingle skated down her spine. Scrambling to her knees, she crawled across the floor toward the leg that lay waiting for her. With a hard swallow, she lifted the cold flesh to her lips and closed her eyes, the rot and putrid aroma taunting her to bite down. A whimper leaked through the small gap between her teeth, but the decayed skin as she rammed it between her incisors trapped it inside her mouth and her lips sealed it with a moan. Ava loathed the ecstasy that danced across her tongue with the first trickle of blood. As if she’d been thirsty her entire life up until that very moment. Nails digging into the tough flesh, she sucked every drop, until her jaw ached. Turning the meat over in her hands, she bit into another part of the leg and
sucked again. And again. Again, until the limb carried a few-dozen bite marks and had turned a sickly shade of white. Ava tossed the leg aside and turned her attention toward the Sang still feeding from their pile of human remains. No doubt, the beast had given them more on purpose, to throw her in the middle of their feeding, because having had a taste of that delicious blood, she damn near considered diving amongst them for more. Instead, she scavenged their discarded pieces, sucking the last of the blood from each chunk of meat, until a fossil-white tone gave them the appearance of discarded chicken bones. Once she’d finished, Ava tucked herself back into the corner like an animal and waited for them to attack her, her body re-energized by the blood, but trembling with fear. Minutes ticked by, and she crouched there, waiting, until all three of them climbed the walls and returned to their upside down perch from the ceiling.
A
loud clang had Ava’s attention shooting back toward the door, where Oliver stood. She scratched at her skin that’d begun to itch
beneath the grime. Had four days passed already? Muffled screams tensed her muscles and Ava braced herself, as a naked redhead and a blonde stumbled into the room and tripped forward, their hands smacking against the concrete. The beast stood over them, and when he ripped the tape from their mouths, the screams sharpened, prompting Ava to cover her ears. At the slam of the door, the two females scrambled to their feet, knocking at the small window, behind which Oliver stood with a smug grin. “Shhhh.” Ava placed a trembling finger to her lips. “You’ll wake them,” she whispered. Craning her neck toward Ava, the blonde’s terrified expression shone back perfectly in the darkness, and her gaze trailed toward the ceiling and back to Ava. What Ava must’ve looked like, naked, dirty, and chained to the wall like some kind of animal. One split second of paralysis, and the blonde fell into a frantic screaming, twisting back toward the door, slamming her hand against the glass. “Please! Don’t do this! Please help us! I’m begging you!” Ava tucked her legs in tight and rocked to the beat of panic pulsing through her. Whatever calm she’d summoned in the last three days was quickly doused by the woman’s terrified screams. Shut up, shut up, shut up. She clamped her eyes shut, still
holding her hands over her ears. For one brief moment, she fell into a peaceful stillness, until she opened her eyes again. The blonde had disappeared, and a single highpitched scream sliced into the dull white noise inside Ava’s head, while the redhead continued pounding against the door. A dark shadow swooped in from behind her, and in the next blink she disappeared, too. On a whoosh of breath, Ava lifted her gaze toward the ceiling. Above, the creatures twitched and jerked, their wings wrapped tightly in front of them, between which strands of blonde and red hung down like party streamers. They held the females against them, upside down, and for one brief moment, it was blissfully silent. In the next breath, the familiar agonized sounds that Ava had heard for months filled the room. Shuddering at the thought of what was happening behind those wings, she tucked her head back into her knees and pressed the palms of her hands to her ears. Gods of Obsidius, forgive me for my insolence, for I lack understanding. Forgive my transgressions, for I lack direction. Restore my faith, and I shall continue to worship you for all of my immortal life.
5
T
he cold concrete pressed against Ava’s cheek as she stared up at the object hanging beside the Sang closest to her. Her eyes tracked the incessant drops of red blood that pooled beneath the brown, cocoon-looking sack housing the blonde. Ava could just barely see her face peeking out of the top of it, coated in a clear, slimy fluid. A second cocoon hung in the corner, that one holding the redhead. For the last hour, or however long it had taken for the screaming to end, Ava studied their faces to see if they were still alive. Agony etched their expressions in the deep furrow of their brows and she wasn’t sure if that was a permanent mark of suffering, or temporary. They almost appeared to be sleeping, frozen in time. A protrusion slid around inside the sack,
indicating some kind of movement. It slithered beneath the shell of the cocoon, and for the first time in a while, the blonde let out a whimper. She sniveled and broke into a weakened sob, but never once opened her eyes, as if she couldn’t bear to face the reality. Ava thought for sure she’d be next, after they’d finished with the two females, and particularly when the one Sang creature resumed its staring down at her. It never came, though. A hissing sound interrupted her thoughts, and Ava tracked it toward a sprinkler-looking object above her, that rained smoke. Pushing up from the floor, she slid herself back into the corner of the room, watching the smoke descend, filling the room. She covered her nose and mouth inside her cupped hands, not daring to breathe. An overwhelming dizziness took over, and her eyes blinked heavily under the weight of whatever had penetrated her senses. The room spun, the cocoons shifting around her as if she were trapped inside a tornado. Faster and faster they spun, until her view shrank into a pinprick of light, and she could no longer hang on.
“I don’t get it.”
The sound of Oliver’s voice penetrated Ava’s mind like a scythe through a field of daisies. Whatever momentary reprieve she’d gotten from the nothingness gave way to the gray concrete walls of her old confinement, the same dull cell from before, and she glanced up toward where she’d once again been shackled to the wall. Beside her, Oliver sat on the bed, chin resting on his knuckles as he stared away toward the opposite wall as if deep in thought. “I followed the Cartazmus. Word for word.” He shook his head and clutched either side of his skull. “It makes no sense. You were as pure a sacrifice as we could possibly get, and they rejected you.” “Those females. What happened to them?” she asked. With a dismissive wave of his hand, Oliver glanced back. “They’ll be discarded before you go back in, don’t worry. I just wanted to see if they would attempt to mate with them. They’re nothing but a control group.” “Is that what … that’s what they …” “Yes. That’s how they fuck. It’s quite fascinating. For weeks, they’ve merely poked at the females, probing them with their penises. But earlier, they began the mating ritual.” “Those … cocoons.” “In the Cartazmus, they’re apparently known as mating sacks. They spin them from their own
bodies, just like a spider. It’s made of ingested materials that—” Acids climbed Ava’s throat, and she slung her head to the side in time to shoot a torrent of vomit onto the floor. Oliver’s chuckle grated her spine as he rubbed her thigh. “We’ll have that cleaned up, love. Probably the aftereffects of the gas.” “You’re a sick fuck,” Ava rasped and spat the last strings of slime from her lips. “What’s sick? Their mating is beautiful, if you think about it. Those cocoons? They’re filled with nutrients and a gelatinous fluid that bathes the female’s skin, softening it to help it expand for the pregnancy. Their penises break off inside the female, pumping semen into her until her eggs have effectively been fertilized.” Another shot of bile flew from Ava’s lips, splashing onto the floor beside her. “If you can imagine having a vibrator left inside of you for weeks,” he prattled on, ignoring her. “Then they grow another cock, and the cycle begins again.” “I hope you burn in hellsfire.” Not that Ava had ever been particularly sensitive to another woman’s plight, but those females had essentially saved her from that very fate. “Ava, you fail to see the importance in all of this, and that is unfortunate. This is a brand new
species. One that could give humans the upper hand when the world goes to shit. Demons sit at the top of the food chain, and that doesn’t bode well, even for your kind. As a half-human, surely you can understand this.” “You sacrifice me to a bunch of disgusting creatures, and you’re asking for my understanding? Go fuck yourself.” “Science requires sacrifice. I’m not exactly thrilled that I have to turn you over to them. Believe me, I’d much prefer to keep you for myself. To have you as a pet. But pets never thrived under my care. Curiosity always got the best of me, and I suppose I can thank my father for that.” His body jerked with a half chuckle that only served to curl Ava’s lip. “I once received a puppy for Christmas, and by Easter the following year, I had him pinned to a board with his insides dissected. I grow bored of pets. Ultimately, it all comes down to science.” Ava’s lips stretched with a smile. “And you failed. They rejected me. You fucking failed, you worthless piece of shit!” Oliver’s eye twitched, his lips thinning as he stared down at her through the special glasses—the only barrier that kept him safe from her. “I suggest you keep your mouth shut.” “Why? Afraid someone might hear what a failure you are?” From the conversation she’d spied
on, between him and his father when they’d first taken her, and the many that followed with him alone, she had a sense that Oliver strived for his father’s approval. “Failure! Failure! Failure!” His bottom lip trembled, as he drew in a deep breath. He pulled a phone from his hip, and the wicked grin that spread across his face set Ava’s nerves on edge as he placed the device to his ear. “She’s ready for phase two. Please come retrieve her.” Ava tugged at the binds, wishing she could knock that smug grin right off his ugly face. “I hate you. I fucking hate you.” “My brother was the handsome one, you know. Smart. Good looking. Charming as a snake.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “He ended up dating one of the daughters of a man who worked for my father. Beautiful blonde named Calla.” The name shot bullets of agony straight to Ava’s heart, as it was Calla whom she betrayed. “She ended up ravaged by the wolves, and my brother was so distraught. For years, he mourned her. And then he got curious. And his curiosity led him to a world he’d never dreamed of. A world of creatures that walked among us. A world he would’ve been blinded to, if not for her death.” He stroked a finger down her temple. “I want your death to open a whole new world for me, as well. I’m willing to sacrifice you. To suffer the misery of
watching you endure a very painful delivery, and ultimately the consumption of your body as those things finish off what’s left of you. All in the name of discovery and the beautiful mystery that awaits me.” Nausea roiled inside of Ava’s stomach at the visuals swimming through her head, and she didn’t bother to turn her face away when the vomit sprung from her mouth like a fountain, hitting Oliver in the face. “Fuck!” He removed the glasses, and as if everything moved in slow motion, she waited a split second for him to open his eyes. The moment he did, she caught his stare and held it, allowing her charms to wrap themselves around him. “Oliver. I want you to lock the door.” Eyes wide and hypnotized, his face still coated in a glistening layer of bile, he nodded. Stiff as a statue, he rose up from the bed, strode across the room, and locked the door. “Good boy. Now undo my binds.” Like a robot, he shuffled back across the room and sat beside her on the bed. A pounding at the door didn’t even deter his vacant stare, but Ava’s nerves tensed as the beast peered through the window at her. A click told her that he’d unlocked the first cuff, while the pounding at the door dented the frame into the distinct shape of the beast’s shoulder
as he rammed the metal. A second click set her other arm free. “Now my neck.” To hasten the process, she shoved his hands to her throat and allowed him to unlock her collar. “I want you to stand in front of that door and don’t move. Even if he pushes you. Stand. Your. Ground.” Oliver stood from the bed and crossed the room to the door. The beast didn’t even seem to register his approach, but continued slamming into the steel panels until the hinges began to pop. She’d probably set Oliver up for the kind of blow to the spine that would cripple him, but what the fuck did she care? Dashing across the room, Ava skidded to a halt and bent forward, patting her hand over the floor beneath the chair, in search of the key Oliver had dropped in there before attempting to sacrifice her to the Sang. Many supes simply carried a special kind of chalk to traverse worlds, but unless she was mistaken, the one Oliver had lost was a skeleton key that would turn any door into a portal to Obsidius. Metal slipped beneath her fingertip, and she held it up in victory. Scrambling to her feet, Ava dashed across the floor to the door, and as she slid the tip into the lock, the metal entrance slammed into her, knocking Oliver to the floor. Kicked back
a step, she tensed as the grip at her throat damn near squeezed the last bit of air from her. “Don’t kill her!” Oliver shouted beside her, his fingers probing a gash that she could hardly make out in her periphery. “She’s going to pay in ways she can’t even imagine. Get her chained. Quickly!” Stars floated in front of her eyes, as the room began to shrink. As the seconds of her fading consciousness ticked by, only one face came to mind. Calix. In vivid detail, she could see his bedroom in her mind’s eye, the silk sheets that drifted across her skin, the scent of him, the woodsy aroma with a hint of spice and tobacco, the soft plush mattress upon which he’d held her well into the afternoon, and the warmth of his breath against her nape as he’d slept peacefully beside her. When she opened her eyes, all that she’d imagined surrounded her. As she sat up in Calix’s bed, a beat of panic inside her chest brought tears to her eyes. The beast had killed her, after all, and somehow she’d found her way to heaven. To the one place, the only place she could be safe from the horrors that had plagued her. For once in her life, Ava finally felt peace.
6
C
alix sat at his desk, flipping a pencil between his fingers while he watched the security cameras. Sanctuary had the best security team of any nightclub, so it certainly wasn’t necessary to watch, but one particular supe had caught his attention. To the human patrons in the club, he looked like a big, muscled, tattooed guy with a shaved head— the kind one might see in a biker gang, or something. The cameras revealed his true nature, though, and Calix instantly recognized him as an Impetusi demon with his deep set eye, long forehead and top heavy build that gave him the appearance of a gorilla. Zooming in, Calix could see that, over one of his eyes, a metal plate had been seared into his flesh. The Impetusi demons tended to be strong but somewhat docile creatures,
mostly called on for grunt work, but like many demon species, they could be violent and destructive when provoked. He’d taken a seat at the bar, where Pat had served him a mug of beer. Many supes opted for demon liquor, so it struck Calix odd that he’d order a human drink. That, coupled to the fact that he didn’t seem to take an interest in any of the surrounding females, seized Calix’s attention, since Impetusi demons worshipped the female form. Some could get off just by observing a female for a time. Lucky bastards. On screen, Calix watched Zeke move in beside the demon, no doubt drawn by the crowd of scantily clad females standing nearby. Calix rolled his eyes and shook his head. Although his brother was big enough to take care of himself, he was weak. An Impetusi feeling threatened could certainly do some damage to Zeke, if he wasn’t careful. Zeke leaning into the demon set Calix’s nerves on edge, but when both kicked their heads back, laughing and pointing at their eye patches, the tension eased a bit. Perhaps Zeke might be able to determine what the hell the demon happened to be doing in their club, looking around like he was looking for something. Surely Zeke noticed his beer and could see past the façade the demon wore.
Ten minutes of watching the two chitchat, and Zeke stood up from the bar, disappearing from the cameras view. Calix’s phone rattled against the desk beside him, and he leaned forward to see Zeke’s number popped up on the screen, before he answered it on the second ring. “What’s up?” “Demon at the bar. You see him?” Zeke spoke low into the phone. “Yeah. ‘The fuck does he want?” “Asked about a girl. The way he described her, it sounds like yours.” Calix’s lungs crystalized in his chest, quickly doused by the flames of fury rising up from his gut. “Ava?” “Sounds like. He didn’t say a name, but sounds pretty spot on for Ava.” “I’m going to have security detain him. Keep him distracted.” Calix pinched the bridge of his nose. “Zeke, don’t piss him off, okay?” “I’m easy going, Brother. I’ll tell him some jokes.” “Nothing insulting. He’s the first tip I’ve had in months.” Calix didn’t wait for Zeke’s response before he ended the call, and in the next breath, he dialed security. “Mack, I need the team to detain the big guy at the bar.”
“The one next to Zeke?” Mack had probably already spotted him on one of the many camera screens in the security office. “That’s the one.” Calix rose up from the desk and strode across his office. “I’ll meet you on the security floor. Tell Britus to play it cool. He’s looking for someone, so tell him we might have some information.” “You got it, Boss. Sending Britus to get him now.” Exiting his office, Calix shoved his phone back into the holster and made his way to the elevators, his whole body edgy and jittery, like livewires bounced through his nerve endings. If the bastard had any information on Ava, he sure as hell wouldn’t be leaving—perhaps not ever, if Calix sensed he’d hurt her in any way. When the elevator arrived, Calix pressed the fourth floor button, and the reopening doors spat him out into a stark white hallway, where security offices and detainment rooms lined the corridor at each side. He waved at Mack as he passed the room with all the cameras and security shit, and made his way to one of the empty rooms, taking a seat. Waiting. Perhaps only ten minutes passed before Britus entered with the demon, but it felt like a goddamn eternity, as Calix waited for the beastly looking
thing to take a seat across from him. How badly he wanted to reach across the table and strangle the ever-loving shit out of the asshole. In his human form, he reminded Calix of something out of a Sons of Anarchy episode—a gnarly bastard spoiling for a fight. Zeke stood at the doorway, arms crossed, and the glance the demon shot him told Calix he might be feeling a bit edgy himself. No telling how he might react. With a sharp nod, Calix sent Zeke off, and the line of tension in the demon’s face seemed to sag again. “I understand you’re looking for a female,” Calix started. “Yes.” The Impetusi’s deep voice carried a rasp, as if he wasn’t accustomed to talking. “She’s in trouble.” “How so?” “She stole something. Something that belongs to us.” “Us?” He pointed to the patch on his leather vest. “So, she stole from your motorcycle club, and now you’re after her.” His nod had Calix’s hands balling into tight fists, itching to knock the fucker back onto his ass. “What exactly does she look like?” Stroking the stubble of his chin brought his fat fingers to Calix’s attention—far larger than the
average human’s. “Black hair. Bright blue eyes. Star tattoo right here.” He pointed to his temple— the exact place Ava’s tattoo was inked, further exacerbating Calix’s fury. “Where’s your club? Perhaps we can start where you last saw her?” “Why’n’t you tell me where you live, eh?” Calix clenched his jaw in his best effort not to give away the impatience brewing inside of him. “Fair enough. Do you know what I am?” His eye twitched, and Calix caught the flicker of metal peek below the eye patch, beneath which the plate he’d seen on camera remained mostly concealed. “The owner of this club?” Calix chuckled and shook his head. “Thank goodness.” He feigned relief and entwined his fingers, resting them on the table between them. “For a moment, I thought you were an Impetusi.” Eyes narrowed, he rolled his shoulders, keeping his gaze locked on Calix. “What’s ‘at?” “Assholes are the dumbest fucking species in the underworld.” It didn’t take someone all too perceptive to catch the flare of his nostril that told Calix he’d gotten under his skin with the comment. “They come into this club like they own the fucking place and can’t leave with a woman to save their lives. Well, with their enormous hands and gorilla faces, who could blame a chick, right?” The rise and fall of the demons chest confessed
he’d gotten pissed. One more button would set the bastard off. “The female you’re talking about is my girlfriend. And yes, I know exactly where she is,” Calix bluffed. “If you think I’d tell you, you’re as dumb as I already surmised.” The table flew up from the floor, crashing into the wall beside them. Calix didn’t so much as flinch, as he watched the biker morph into the beastly thing he’d seen onscreen. His scarred deformed body burst through the leather vest, twisting Calix’s lip. The human face it wore split in half, revealing the metal-plated eye and one fucked up grill. The roar it gave, as it jumped to its feet, bounced around the walls inside the small room. Still, not even that moved Calix from his chair. “Tell me where she is!” It growled, sending a heat wave of rancid breath in his direction. “Tell you what.” Calix kept his cool composure, tucking his nose inside his button-down shirt, muffling his voice. “You promise to brush your teeth before you go to bed tonight, and I might let you walk out of here alive.” The beast lurched forward, it’s enormous hand throttling Calix’s windpipe as it knocked him backward off the chair. Cold marble crashed into Calix’s spine, while the beast straddled his body, its mouth contorted into what he guessed was a look of fury, though it was hard to tell with its messed
up face. Zeke knocked at the window, performing some kind of hand gesture that Calix interpreted as do you need help, which he ended on a thumbs up. Lodging his fingers into the beast’s throat, Calix shook his head, prompting Zeke to give a double thumbs up before disappearing out of sight again. Calix plowed his fist into the beast’s temple, knocking him off his body, and seized the upper hand—literally—squeezing both hands against the bastard’s thick gullet. Damn near impossible when it didn’t have much of a neck to begin. “Who do you work for?” He spoke past gritted teeth and slammed the beast’s head into the floor. “Tell me before I send your ass packing to Stygius.” “The female … we’ll find her.” “You go near her, and I’ll take a blow torch of hellsfire to your body, burning every inch of your fucking skin. Then I’ll feed your charred remains to my hellhounds.” Calix hammered another punch to its teeth, knocking one down into the black depths of its mouth. Eyes wide, the demon gagged and choked, coughing up a disgusting green phlegm that hit Calix’s face, oozing down his cheek. “Motherfucker!” Releasing one hand, Calix wiped the shit on his sleeve. The beast disappeared beneath him, and he fell forward, just catching himself before face-planting
the floor. “Where’d he go?” Zeke asked from the doorway. “I didn’t know Impetusi demons could do that shit!” With a huff of frustration, Calix sat back on his heels. “Neither did I.” “That’s a Sang thang, ain’t it?” He glanced over at Zeke and back. “It’s fucked up, is what it is. So close. So goddamn close!” Slamming his fist into the tiled floor left a fissure in the marble, and Calix pushed himself to a stand. “I need you to cover me here,” he said, passing Zeke at the doorway. “Where you going?” “To look for Ava. If she’s out there, I’m going to find her.” Without breaking stride, Calix headed for the elevators. “Calix! Wait!” Zeke called from behind. “Just … wait a second.” Sagging his shoulders, Calix swung around. “Don’t fucking talk me out of this. She’s out there. I’m going to look for her.” “Bro,” Zeke said, walking up on him. “You got some green shit on your collar. Just thought you might want to clean that off before heading out. I know how particular you are about your clothes.” Calix glanced down at the phlegm still clinging to his shirt and back to Zeke. “If that bastard comes back, you let me know.”
“Will do.” “And, Zeke, don’t let Gavin know I left you in charge.” “What the fuck?” he called after Calix’s retreating back. “Seriously?”
7
I
t made sense. Whatever they’d injected Ava with had given her the ability to flash. She’d seen some of Ryke’s little pets, like that Draven kid, do the same thing. With the first smile she’d managed in, possibly, months, she slid off Calix’s bed, feeling bad for how dirty she was, and looking down at herself only seemed to bring the stench closer to her nose. One thing she’d come to appreciate about the demon mansion was its tight security, so no chance Oliver would find her there. Still, her instincts remained on guard as she moved toward the bathroom. The adjacent room had always been her favorite part of staying with Calix on nights she’d managed to sneak away from her brother. The elaborate and ornate fixtures, the marble floor and gold trim, were just a small part of the opulence
she’d missed, while tied to a dirty mattress in a dingy cellar for weeks. Ava caught her reflection in the mirror as she passed and dared to let her eyes roam the damage. Dirt and grime clung to her skin. The sharp protruding bones confessed she hadn’t eaten well in weeks. At the crook of her neck, tiny black fissures branched beneath her skin, marking the tortures she’d suffered with Demortis, the unearthly metal that her brother had used to end a number of lives. The gaunt shadows of her face nearly brought her to tears. How could she ever face Calix looking like that? Flipping on the shower, she allowed the water to get warm before stepping inside the glass enclosure, letting the warm steam swallow her. It’d felt like forever since she’d last taken a shower. Oliver had given her the occasional sponge bath, and washed her down with a hose of icy water, but nothing like the heat of the spray hitting her then. As she oozed the soap onto her palm, the familiar scent of Calix filled her nose. Gods, she missed him. Would he even want her back after the way she’d betrayed him and his brother, Logan? Ava hadn’t wanted to hurt him that way, but doing so had earned her freedom from the soulbinder that Ryke had kept tied to her throat for
years. Had she not betrayed him, she’d have perished alongside her wicked brother and burned eternally in hellsfire. As she washed her hair, a million questions she hadn’t thought to ponder invaded her headspace. What if Calix had fallen in love in her absence? What if he’d bonded, and the soap she spread over her dirty, used body belonged to a female worthy of such opulence? What if he refused to forgive her? Ava’s survival instincts urged her to push those thoughts aside. She’d cross that bridge when she came to it. In that moment, she didn’t have anywhere else to go—nowhere she felt as safe. Whether he wanted her, or not, didn’t matter. She rinsed the last of the soap from her body and, flipping the water off, slid the door open. Memories of times with Calix, when he’d wash her down after they’d had sex and carried her in his arms to his bed, danced through her mind, as she grabbed a towel from the shelf just outside the shower. Even the soft cotton smelled good as she held the towel to her nose and inhaled the clean scent of bleach beneath a floral aroma. After quickly drying, she wrapped the towel around her body and made her way to Calix’s armoire to borrow a T-shirt and sweatpants. To think there’d once been a time she’d scoffed at wearing such garments, and yet she couldn’t wait to slip into the cozy cotton.
She retrieved the clothes, knowing their exact location. As she closed the door, a gasp hitched in her throat. Leaning against the armoire stood a tall, bulky male wearing a black Metallica T-shirt that clung to enormous biceps. He toyed with a toothpick that half-hung from his mouth and tipped his head. The silvery glow of his eyes told her he was pure Fallen, and Ava remembered him from before. The demons had hired him as their security. Xander. “Thought I’d wait for you to shower.” Ava clamped her eyes shut to will herself somewhere else, but an ice-cold grip cinched her throat. Her hands flew to her neck at the same time her eyes opened to the angel, holding her effortlessly off the ground. He lifted a hand covered in metal, twisting it in front of her. “Diablis steel gauntlets. Pretty fucking cool, right?” “I’m … friend … Ca … lix.” “What’s that, love? Can’t understand you with my hand around your throat.” Fucker. She clawed at his arm in her completely futile struggle to get out of his unyielding grasp. Tugging a phone from his hip, he kept his toothpick lodged in his mouth and one-handedly dialed a number. “Calix, I know Gavin’s MIA at the moment—said you’re his next in command. Got a
chick here. Said she knows you.” Ava could only make out the mumblings of Calix’s voice on the other line, and her heart leaped in her chest. Caught between fear and excitement, she could damn near piss herself. Perhaps she should. Maybe the asshole’d let her go. Not likely, though. “Hang on. What’s your name, sweetheart?” “A … va,” she rasped, fighting against the tight squeeze of her windpipe. He loosened his grip only slightly. “Try again.” “Ava.” “Says her name’s Ava, boss.” Calix’s shouts rang through the receiver over the distinct sound of squealing tires. “Got it. I’ll make sure she doesn’t go anywhere.” His wicked grin fell on her once more as the angel hung up the phone and tucked it back at his hip. “Says he’s been expecting you.” His gaze flicked down and back, before the towel fell away from her body, leaving her completely naked in front of him. “Perhaps you should make yourself decent before he gets here.”
8
C
alix floored the gas of the black Trevita, weaving in and out of traffic along Jefferson Avenue so fast that all he caught in his periphery were white streaks of light. Ava. Goddamn. She’d finally returned to him. As much as Calix wanted to torment his mind with why she hadn’t bothered to contact him before, the shivers of excitement forced him to keep his focus on the road, or risk slamming his car straight into a building. He didn’t exactly like the idea of Xander finding her first, no doubt the male had probably already come on to her—a thought that made Calix want to rip the eyeballs out of the angel’s skull. Better him than Logan, though, because without a doubt, his brother would’ve struck first and asked questions later.
Yet another issue that weighed heavy on Calix’s mind: how could he trust Ava? What could the female possibly do to redeem herself in the eyes of his brothers? And him? It was her brother who’d nearly ended both Calla and Logan’s lives, and for that reason alone, Calix shouldn’t be so quick to forgive her. But the needs of his body warred with his head, and by Gods, he’d attend to those before anything else, because one thing Calix knew for sure—if he continued to starve himself for the female, his brothers would have a much bigger problem to contend with. And Calix never liked the idea of being a headache for anyone. Within minutes, he arrived at the mansion’s gates that had already begun to swing open. Across the lawn, spectral figures roamed the property—the ghouls who kept guard all hours of the night, scaring the shit out of any trespassers. He pulled the Trevita onto the circular drive and one of the ghouls materialized just outside the door, flipping it up. “Evening Sir,” Wyatt said, holding out his hand to accept the keys that Calix tossed him. “What’s up?” Calix quickly rounded the vehicle. “Careful. Gas pedal is touchy on this one.” The kid had a thing for fast cars and often raced Ben for the opportunity to park them. Speaking of the devil, or troll, Ben stood
shaking his head as Calix climbed the stairs. Calix patted him on the shoulder as he passed. “Better luck next time, Ben.” Striding through the foyer and up the staircase, Calix could hardly stand the anticipation that threatened to burst inside him at any moment. He slammed through his bedroom door, and found Xander slouched in the chair, flipping a chain attached to Ava’s throat, while she sat in the adjacent seat with her arms crossed. “What is this?” The sight of her imprisoned flared his anger and Calix lurched toward Xander. “Easy, bossman. She tried to do that flashing shit earlier. Don’t think she meant to check in for the night, ain’t that right, sweetheart?” Shooting him her signature pissed off glance, Ava shook her head. “Thanks, Xander. I can take it from here.” As Xander passed, he set the end of the chain in Calix’s palm and gave a squeeze of his shoulder. “No worries, Brother. I didn’t touch her.” Part of Calix didn’t honestly believe the angel would have the balls to do something like that, particularly in Calix’s room, but his words came as a relief nonetheless. Because the truth was, Xander didn’t always play by the rules of etiquette. Particularly where females were concerned. At the click of the door, Calix looked down at the chain in his hands and back to Ava. “Where’ve
you been?” “Living it up with a sheik-daddy. Sipping expensive champagne on a yacht.” Her comment left him frowning, and Calix gave a tug of the collar, forcing her to stand. One hand over the other, he tugged her closer, watching her throat lead the way as she didn’t bother to fight him. “I’ll ask you again. Where have you been?” “Why does it matter?” “An Impetusi demon visited Sanctuary tonight. Asking for you.” Her brows crinkled at that, and for the first time, she gripped the chain to keep Calix from tugging her any closer. “What did you tell him?” “That if he so much as breathed in your direction, I’d slice his head from his shoulders and use it for kickball.” Calix figured he’d spare her the more gruesome threat he’d made. Her gaze fell from his, and he could just make out the slight lift of her brows and the harsh swallow before she cleared her throat. “I missed you.” “So much, you didn’t bother to think of me once?” “I thought of you every day,” she whispered, and Calix would’ve called her a liar if she hadn’t wiped a tear from her cheek. Ava never cried for anything. “I would’ve come for you. Wherever you were,
I would’ve brought you back to me.” Tears still welling in her eyes, she shook her head. “He wouldn’t have let you.” “Who? Who’s he?” Another shake of her head set Calix’s nerves on edge. “Enough with the fucking mystery! Tell me who kept you!” As quickly as the words shot out of his mouth, he instantly regretted raising his voice to her. “I’m sorry.” “Don’t be. I know you have a lot of questions. I know you probably haven’t forgiven me for what I did. But I swear to you, Calix. I never meant to hurt you. Not you.” She lifted her chin but cast her stare away from his. “I’ll understand if you … found another.” He allowed his gaze to roam downward. “You’re wearing my clothes.” “I didn’t have any.” Yet another admission that traipsed the fine line of his patience. “Again, if you have another female, I’ll return them and leave.” Ignoring her comment, Calix took in the slight protrusion of her bones. “You look hungry. I’ll have Anna bring you some food.” Wrapping her arms around her mid-section, she gave a nod. Calix licked his lips and gave one more yank of the chain, one that she resisted. He tugged anyway, until she stood before him and he could feel her hot
pants of breath fall against his skin. “Do you think I’d have let you stay this long if there was another? Do you think I could disrespect my female that way?” When she glanced up at him, her brows knitted to a frown as she seemed to study him for the first time. “Gods, Calix, you’ve been starving yourself.” The drift of her fingertips down his face was heaven, setting his skin on fire, but Calix snatched her wrist, and she lowered her hand. “You don’t trust me. You shouldn’t. I betrayed you.” She’d also tried to flash away, which meant she’d become infected with the Sang virus. Not that Calix worried about that so much, but things were beginning to add up to something he didn’t want to believe. That perhaps she had been sent to him. “You’re not to leave. You’ll remain in my bedroom, attached to Diablis steel.” It killed him to speak to her so coldly, when she clearly had suffered something, evident in the bones peeking through her skin and the dark circles under her eyes. And no matter what they’d been through, bottom line—Ava was a Nephilim. One of the species in the underworld that few others trusted, for good reason. Pulling tricks happened to be one of their strong points, and Ava had pulled that shit once on him already. “I’ll see to it that you have everything you need. Like blood.” Her gaze fell again, and she swiped at her face.
“I’m infected. Disgusting. Maggot of the underworld.” The words hurt Calix’s heart, and still he kept his guard up. “How did you become infected? And how long?” The cold tone of his voice didn’t even begin to reflect the pain of knowing she might’ve suffered. “Injections. Probably months?” “Why haven’t you turned? Like the others?” She shrugged and her fidgeting fingers told Calix the questions made her nervous for some reason. “I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before I look like one of them.” Calix would see to it that didn’t happen. His brother’s mate, Calla, had survived the virus, reversed its effects with her pregnancy. Having the fetus’s demon blood circulating with her own had somehow made her stronger, until she’d fully recovered and didn’t require a human bloodmeal, at all. If it came down to it, Calix would impregnate Ava to keep her from turning. He just had to find a way to forgive her first, because he surely wouldn’t think of knocking her up without bonding first. His whole body rejoiced in the thought of her carrying his child, though, with her round belly housing his future son, and the beautiful glow to her face that’d easily heal the bruises and dark circles. The scent of her steeled his muscles and
something wicked pumped through his veins. Something dark and carnal that he had to push down inside for fear that, if it took over, he might be acting on the pregnancy shit quicker than he’d planned. Having her so close to him might be dangerous. Could very well set off his cravings, and clearly she needed some rest. With another tug of the chain, Calix jerked his head toward the bed for her to follow. “C’mon. You need some sleep.” The old Ava would’ve laughed and told him sleep was for when they were dead. She loved a party as much as Calix and could easily keep him up for days at a time. Not that Calix required much sleep, anyway, but nights with Ava were often fraught with the kind of sex that drained her and kept him buzzing like a goddamn battery. The high of sex couldn’t be matched by any drug in the otherrealm, so Ava had become something of an addiction while they were together. Something he couldn’t have imagined giving up for the three months she somehow managed to stay away from him. She didn’t fight him. Didn’t smile that wily smile, at all. Instead, she nodded and followed him toward the bed. Whatever had happened to her in the last few months had clearly changed her. Even so, the moment she climbed onto the mattress, Calix secured the chain to the bed. The beauty of
the collar was, only the one who held the end of the chain could unfasten it, and because it was made out of Diablis steel, she couldn’t flash away, either. No other binding required. The only way she’d be leaving the bed was if she up and severed her own head. “Will you lie with me?” she asked. “No.” The word killed Calix. He wanted nothing more than to climb in beside her and hold her until she slept. Perhaps that time would come, if she somehow proved that her coming to him wasn’t a trick. Because one thing was certain—Calix sure as fuck wouldn’t forgive her twice.
9
T
he building that stood in front of Zayne looked like it had been stretched through lenses that gave a soft and fuzzy blur to the edges. The hit of Abyzz, paired with the Elysia he’d taken before leaving his hotel room, would’ve probably killed any other demon. At least knocked them the fuck out. Zayne feared his lack of full-on fucked-up-ness might mean that he’d become totally immune to the drug. Turned into a straight-up junkie. Nothing would kill his reality anymore. And nothing would give him the brass balls to walk into a place like Pandora, asking about a young succubus. But that was exactly what he planned to do, as he stumbled forward, making his way toward the front door. The bar, owned by the Fallen, had
certainly seen its fair share of strung out supes, which is why Zayne had sought it out. Drug deals, prostitution, mind-jacking—all that shit went down in the place that had a cold industrial front on the outside, made up of steel and concrete. Etched with the same swirling demonic design as the box on the sign out by the road. To the human eye, it’d be just another club like any other in the city, but those etchings told demons all manner of debauchery was welcome. The dark hallway swallowed him as he entered the club and made his way toward the main floor, with the pounding of bass beating against his skull. He hated the techno shit, much preferred alternative, or even heavy metal, over it. Laser lights bounced off a throng that’d gathered in the center, creating designs on the ceiling. The crowd swayed beneath a flashing strobe light, and when Zayne eyed the Nephilim at the opposite side of the building, sitting in a booth alone, he made his way through a sea of vibrating bodies, until he reached the person he’d specifically come to see. The guy across from him looked to be about twenty-five, wearing a hoodie pulled up over his head, with black curls peeking from it. Scanning down to his throat showed the signature track marks of a slave—the scars, equally spaced, where a spiked collar had been drilled into his throat. Sexual fetishes and torture happened to be two
prominent ingredients in a Nephilim’s diet, and if Zayne had to guess, the guy’d probably enjoyed his time as a slave. “You look like shit,” he said, as Zayne fell onto the leather seat and leaned back in the booth. He slid a palm across the table and flicked his fingers, eyes on Zayne’s hand. Zayne reached forward, and the guy slipped an object beneath his palm that felt like the familiar small glass vial. “They’re cracking down on this shit,” he said, explaining his covertness. “Apparently, the Lords don’t like synthetics.” “Synthetics?” With a slight lift of his hand, Zayne eyed the glass vial, in which the usual black liquid he’d grown to crave glistened back in a pearly dark burgundy. “So, Abyzz is made of Abicere plants and black souls, right? This shit? Contains the blood of the succubi.” His ice-blue eyes stared up at Zayne, while his lips tugged into a smile. “Fucks you up. Literally. Those hallucinations you get? You could stay in that shit forever. Basically live in a world with every bitch you’ve fantasized about wanting to fuck you.” A tingle hit the back of Zayne’s neck. For months, he’d had dreams of his dead mate, Shey, that’d damn near felt real, until he’d tried to touch her and couldn’t. The alter-realm he’d fallen into,
back at Denya’s apartment, was about the closest he’d ever gotten to physically feeling her again, but even that had been chimera. “I get that every time I go to the club, asshole. What makes this shit so special?” His words were arrogant, but mostly filled with skepticism. The Nephilim’s lip stretched to a wicked grin. “You never have to go back. Asshole.” He nudged his head toward the crowd dancing below them. “That woman.” A blonde stood out from the crowd, in her tight mini skirt and thigh-high boots, sipping on some fruity-looking drink. A wily smile danced across her face as she turned away from them and stole a glance over her shoulder, toward the Nephilim. “I killed her last week. Fucked her for three days and killed her.” His confession had Zayne frowning, and he concentrated on the guy, digging into his conscience—a gift Zayne had been born with that allowed him to see the purity of another’s soul. Shitholes like the club, he did his best to turn it off, or he’d be bombarded with the sins of everyone around him. As the Nephilim stared back at her, though, images passed through Zayne’s mind. One after another, the macabre scenes of picking her up at the very club they sat in. Feeding her a drug in the car on the way back to some dark and empty building in the city. His body railing into her as she lay passed out. Feeding her drugs. More
drugs. Every time she woke, another pill was popped into her mouth. Every time she passed out, he took his pleasure in her. Never feeding her. Never giving her anything more than his violent indulgence. Zayne’s hands curled into fists at the visions, and a soft red glow hung on the fringes of his eyes, as the urge to strike out stiffened his muscles. When the Nephilim turned his attention back on Zayne, his eyes widened, and he threw his hands up. “Chill the fuck out, man. She’s my girl now. I take care of her. I’m bonded to her.” Sticking his wrist out showed the bands across his flesh, made of skin. Soul-binder. “You kill me, you send her soul to Stygius along with mine.” “How the fuck am I seeing her?” Zayne’s voice carried his seething anger, and he had to will the images away that taunted him to tear the Nephilim into a thousand pieces. “The juice. You inject that shit enough times, you can bring them back.” “The girl. She isn’t real. She’s a fantasy.” “So, what? You see her, right? You see what I’m projecting.” He tapped a finger to his temple. “That shit’s so potent, your fantasies become real.” “Why kill her? Why didn’t you just charm her? You fuck-twats are good at the illusion bullshit.” “That’s just it. It’s bullshit. I charm her, and she’s nothing but a zombie fuck-toy. Yeah, she’ll do
what I say, but that shit’s boring. With this? She wants me every time I look at her. Because that’s what I fantasized. I saw that bitch dancing with her friends, and I wanted her to want to fuck me. She was a virgin. Some goodie-two-shoes, and now, she’s everything I fantasized.” “And what will you do when you tire of her?” Zayne asked, glancing over at the girl who kept stealing glances back at the Nephilim. As if no one else in the club existed. “What happens to her when the fantasy comes to an end?” “What does it matter? She’s a fucking human?” Zayne leaped out of the booth, across the table, and slammed his palm into the Nephilim’s throat. Eyes like saucers, the Nephilim stared back at him, mouth gaping, as Zayne throttled his neck. Could’ve killed the bastard right there in the booth, and not a single one of the assholes around him would’ve taken notice, or given two shits about some dead Nephilim. It’d be nothing more than an open booth in the cluster-fuck, so long as someone was willing to drag his ass out of the seat afterward. At a brush of skin against his arm, Zayne snapped his head toward the woman who stood beside them, eyes glistening with tears. “Please,” she beseeched. Lip peeled back, Zayne set his gaze back on the Nephilim. “You think turning her into a lost fucking puppy is going to keep me from killing you?”
“You … kill … me. You … kill … her.” “You’ve already killed her.” “I … got … information. You … might … want.” “What information?” “The … succubus.” He released the Nephilim’s throat and fell back into the seat, watching the little prick rub his neck. Zayne had almost forgotten what he’d gone there for in the first place. The guy had been a long-time supplier but he also had information that most supes weren’t privy to. The female darted toward the Nephilim, running her fingers through his hair and speckling his face with red-stained kisses. “’Sokay, baby. Go dance. We’re almost done.” Without giving Zayne so much as a glance, she walked off. “You got a lot of nerve, Mister Fucking Righteous.” The Nephilim leaned forward, setting his hands flat on the table. “Coming up in here asking about virgin succubi.” He lowered his voice, and good thing. Asking about a virgin succubus would have him fitting right into the depraved shit-fest. The only succubi known to be virgins were generally under the age of fifteen, which would make Zayne look like a damn predator. If he didn’t happen to be interested in the only college-aged virgin succubus
in the whole damn city. Hell, Denya was probably the only virgin succubus in the world over the age of eighteen. Not even the asshole across from him would believe a twenty-something virgin roamed the city somewhere. “What’s the news?” The Nephilim rolled his shoulders and cleared his throat. “I hear the authorities are after a female. Fallen.” By authorities, he referred to the angels who hunted The Fallen. Sentinels, they were called. Fiercest goddamn supes in the underworld. Had to be, to watch some of the shit that went down when they worked undercover. Shit not even a Wrath demon could stomach. “And?” “She’s wanted for practicing black magic. Like, the dark shit. Apparently, she escaped a compound where they had a bunch of succubi. All virgins.” Zayne’s eyes narrowed on him, and he leaned back into the booth, casually pulling a blade from his holster, his focus on the Nephilim who tracked his every movement. “And just how do you know this?” “My supplier. Learned from some dude on the inside. That’s where this shit comes from.” He nodded toward the vial still clutched in Zayne’s palm. “Virgin succubus blood is the best shit. I ain’t no vamp, but it’s potent. And the older they are?
Like a fine fucking wine, man.” “Where is she? This Fallen angel?” “If I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. But unfortunately, no one knows.” “Then, this information is useless.” “Maybe. But you find that woman. You find a whole lot of virgin succubi. Otherwise, you’ll just have to watch the snuff shit like the rest of us.” “You like to watch young girls, huh?” The Nephilim sneered and stretched his arms across the back of the booth. “I’m an equal opportunity offender. I do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, or age. Now, I think you owe me something for that shit you got in your hand.” Zayne stood up and drilled his fist in the bastard’s face. Not once, but twice. Three times. Bone cracking against bone, as his skin split with the punch. And another for good measure. Blood sprayed up from the Nephilim’s lip and nostrils, until his head kicked to the side and he fell forward, smacking his head against the table, motionless. “There’s your payment, shithead.” Zayne strode past the woman who rushed toward the Nephilim, and without a single glance back, he exited the club.
10
A
va buried her face into the pillow, breathing in the delicious hint of tobacco over notes of sandalwood and spice, like an old gentleman’s club. Not that Ava picked those up herself. She’d gone out of her way to read the ingredients on Calix’s cologne once, to find out what made him smell so mouthwatering and masculine. Gods, the male brought out some primitive part of her that made her want to devour him. The sight of him had stolen her focus, the moment he’d stepped in the room. It reminded her of the first time she saw him stroll into one of Ryke’s parties like he owned the place. Every female had had her eyes on Calix, commanding the space in his fuck me jeans and button-down shirt. Dark hair and cerulean eyes, paired with a chiseled jawline and
the body of a god, made him look like he’d walked right off a magazine. When Ryke had introduced him, Ava had to push the words right out of her mouth to speak— his virility and sex appeal radiated from every pore on his body. A year later and he still had her heart leaping in her chest. Warm silk slid across her skin, a reminder that, while she’d lain chained to a cot with the smell of mold and rot and death lulling her to sleep, comfort still existed somewhere, and all she’d had to do was wait for the moment when she’d feel it again. The moment had finally arrived, and Ava could’ve stayed in the bed for the rest of her life. Even if nothing else worked out afterward, she’d relive the moment over and over in her mind. She scissored her legs across the sheets, letting the soft fabric glide beneath her skin, as she breathed in the delectable scents. Heaven. The door clicked, and the silhouette outlined the frame of the only person in the world who could make her feel even better. She lifted her head just enough to catch Calix’s eyes skimming across her bare legs that peeked from beneath the top sheet. “Are you comfortable?” he asked, strolling across the room to the chair beside the armoire. “Very.”
“Good.” He fell back into the chair, allowing his legs to casually splay open as he drummed his fingers against the plush upholstery. “Why are you here?” Falling back on the pillow, she remained on her side, tucking her hand beneath her cheek as she watched him, the chain still tugging at her throat. “There was nowhere else I felt safe.” “What makes you think you’re safe here?” “Do you no longer care for me, Calix? Is that what this is about? You’ve given up on me?” “I never gave up on you. I scoured the streets every night. Every club. Every ugly corner of this fucking city. All for you.” Tears welled in her eyes, and she gave a subtle brush of her finger to wipe them away. “Why? Why would you do that after I … after I betrayed you?” He shook his head, eyes casting away from hers. “I asked myself that every night.” Ava’s heart sank at that. His gaze lifted to hers once more. “But then I asked myself why I wouldn’t. If I could live in a world without you in it.” Shame tore at her so much, she could hardly lift her gaze to him. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness, Calix. I won’t ask for it. But if you give me another chance, I promise you, I won’t betray you again.” It could’ve only been a matter of seconds that passed in what seemed like minutes, before Calix
cleared his throat. “These demons who are after you. What claim do they have on you? Why do they think you belong to them? Have you … have they laid claim to you?” His venomous words shot through her like flames, stoking up the kind of anger she hadn’t felt in months. The man she’d fallen in love with seemed to have grown bitter and cruel in her absence. Perhaps she deserved it, but she hadn’t had a choice at the time. She’d be frying alongside her sadistic brother in Stygius, had she opted not to release Draven and steal Calla away from the mansion. “Burn in Stygius, Calix. I was a fucking prisoner for months!” The anger on his face snapped to surprise, and Ava internally chided herself for the confession. Why she’d felt the need to keep it secret, she didn’t know. Calix and his brothers were certainly formidable enough to eliminate Oliver in one swoop. Something about that compound felt bigger than her bumbling captor and his henchman, though. From what Ava had learned of the Sang, entire races had once been wiped out by their kind. “Tomorrow, I’ll leave,” she continued. “I’ll leave, and you’ll never have to hear from me again. I just needed a place to feel safe for a minute.” “You’re safe here. I’ll watch over you tonight. And in the morning, we’ll figure out where we go from here.”
With a nod, Ava pulled the sheets up to her chin and lay on her side, watching Calix as he watched her from his chair.
11
S
creams ripped Calix from sleep, and he shot up from the chair where he’d drifted off himself. “No! Don’t let them do this! Please! It burns! It burns!” Ava thrashed in the bed, her body twisting beneath the sheets with every kick and flail of her arms. “Help me! Calix! Help me!” On instinct, Calix shot across the room, dodging the swing of her fist, and grabbed both of her wrists. “Ava, you’re okay.” Her eyes were wide, crazed, her pupils dilated as she stared up at him, squirming in his grasp. “Let me go! Let me go! You don’t know what they’re going to do! The women! They’re dead. They’re dead!” The roundness of her eyes shrank into the sorrowful tip of her brow, and sobs ripped from her chest. “That’s what they want. To hurt me. Just like
those poor … women.” The chain tugged at her throat with each jerk of her body, and rather than risk her decapitating herself, he loosened the chain and slid it over her head. “Let me go! I have to help them! They’ll die!” “Who?” Calix brought both of her wrists together and held them against her chest. Stroking her hair brought her gaze to his once more, and still they appeared distant. Vacant. “Tell me who did this. I’ll punish him.” Tears slipped down her temple. “You can’t.” Her body softened, muscles going lax in his grip. Limbs trembling, she curled into her side, and tucked her head into the blankets, still shivering. As if she’d never awoken, she drifted back into dreams. He made quick work of the buttons on his jeans, sliding them off, and tossed them onto the adjacent chair, then stripped out of his shirt. Once naked, he sank into the bed beside her and curled himself around her small frame. Within seconds, her shivering dissipated, and she turned into him, burying her face in his chest while she continued to sleep. Everything about her felt right, and it pissed him off that being with her was so wrong. There’d once been a time when Calix had thought Ava was it for him, that he’d never need another. That
everything he’d dared to dream about her might be real. Calix sat on the edge of the bed, head hung in shame as the last five minutes replayed through his mind. A whisper of touch drifted across his back, and he flinched, turning to see Ava on her knees behind him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she tipped his head to the side, exposing the scars that tracked the spikes of his collar. The moment her lips made contact with the scar, his eyes screwed shut in a bid to keep from wanting to tear himself out of his own skin. “Don’t be ashamed.” Her whisper reached through his dark thoughts, pulling him back into her. “You are every bit as worthy as anyone else. Don’t ever think you’re not, Calix.” As if on cue, her sigh of contentment brought a smile to his face—one that quickly faded with the sudden rush that swept through his veins. Muscles hardening, his heart beat faster, his breaths arriving quicker. Pangs of starvation beat through him, his groin hammering out the raging pulse of blood that fed his erection. He needed to feed. Being close to Ava, taking in her scent, her body’s softness and curves, the sound of her sleepy sighs, it called to the primitive incubus inside of him—the one that yearned to feed off the sleeping innocent. His hunger would get worse—much worse—with the close proximity, so
Calix slid to the edge of the bed, unraveling her body from his, and lifted his pants from the floor. He quietly slipped the jeans over his hips, while Ava continued to twitch in dreams. Huffing out his frustration, Calix ran his hand through his hair and backed away from the bed. Touching her, feeling her skin against his, had penetrated to his very bones, and he needed some distraction. Something that would tamp down the desires that had him feeling like a cold-hearted bastard for whatever it was that she’d already suffered. He exited the room, padding quietly down the hall, and when he reached the top of the staircase, he noticed Gavin’s office light on. Down the stairs, he strode across the foyer and knocked twice as he entered his brother’s study. Instead of finding Gavin, his muscles flinched when cascades of red drifted over the slim shoulders of his brother’s mate, Sabelle. Her gaze shot to his, while she sat hunched over papers scattered across Gavin’s desk. “Sorry, Sabelle.” Calix took a step back toward the door. “No, wait. It’s okay, Calix. You might be able to help.” She waved him over, inviting him to sit in the chair across from her. The female had become much more regal in Calix’s eyes since mating with his brother. Like the queen she was meant to be, if
Gavin would choose his birthright as the ruler of all Wrath demons in Obsidius. He knew Gavin would rather rot in Stygius, though, than take on the added responsibilities of royalty. Still, his mate held herself as something more than the courtesan status her birthright offered her. And just like royalty, Calix was proud to honor and protect her, would lay down his life for her and any one of her children, because that was the code that he and his brothers lived by. Sabelle huffed and sat back in Gavin’s chair. “You’re an incubus.” “Half.” Calix rolled his shoulders at the part of his being that he wished he could cut right off his bones. “Half incubus.” “Right.” The warm and knowing expression on Sabelle’s face told him she’d been handed her own barrage of bullshit throughout the years. Being sex workers for the underworld sucked balls. “Your brother refuses to let me accompany him on his nightly crusade to find my sister. So I’m doing the next best thing—useless investigations that might offer a clue as to where she is.” “How can I help?” “Gavin seems to think she was taken and enslaved, based on visions he’s had. I’d … truly like to believe that’s not the case. But I’m preparing myself for just about anything. Are you familiar with the Seven-Level Club?”
The very word cast a shudder down Calix’s spine. Through no fault of her own, Sabelle’s question forced him back to the days of his youth, when he and his sister had been captured by the sadistic band of marauders who stole children, selling them off to corrupt high lords and royalty. Each child was trained for the seven levels of sadism—the worst being seven. Just like the seven levels of hell. He knew all too well about the club. In the underworld, it was a means of buying and trading supes beneath the radar of the authorities, like cattle at a steer auction. Incubi and succubi happened to be fertile as fuck, so whether for sexual slavery, or stud services, the auction served as an effective means of trading. And as they were virtually impossible to track down, the victims were never typically recovered. Calix had been among the very rare and select few who’d ever made his way back after being submerged in the darkness of that world. His sister hadn’t been so lucky. “How are you aware of it?” he asked. “I actually stumbled upon it. A few wayward clicks, and you fall into a black hole.” Her eyes blanked as she stared off somewhere beyond Calix. “I can’t un-see some of those images. Those poor children.” Frowning, Calix screwed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose to stifle the horrific visuals
from his past stirring inside his head. He couldn’t afford them. Not at that moment. “You think they have your sister.” “Denya is … an anomaly. Virgin succubus.” Jesus. Anomaly wasn’t the right word—more like something of a mystical unicorn of succubi. Most lost their virginity at fourteen, fifteen years old. The slaves, even younger. “If she remains a virgin, I’m afraid she’ll be one of the most sought after slaves in the underworld.” Fear glossed her eyes. “And then what, when she’s no longer virgin? She’s discarded? Left for absolute death?” He sat forward, entwining his fingers. “They won’t de-virginize her immediately. She’ll be worth far too much. Fucking princes will pay to have her.” Running her hands through her hair, she let out an exasperated breath and cupped her face with both hands. “Is she worth enough that they won’t hurt her?” “Perhaps. It depends on her handler. If he happens to be a money hungry piece of shit, he won’t touch her. But if he becomes obsessed …” Even if the woman didn’t possess the ability to read minds, Calix still lowered his gaze for fear she might see right through him, into the dark and desolate parts of his soul that he couldn’t bear to look inside himself. “What makes you certain they
have her?” “Nothing makes me certain anymore. I’m grasping at possibilities. If I can accept what I deem the worst, then I can accept anything.” “Absolute death isn’t the worst?” “No. Where there is slavery of any kind, death is only a means to an end.” The scars at his throat suddenly itched, and Calix shifted in his seat at his surmising that Sabelle thought her sister better off dead than subjected to slavery. Perhaps she was right. The horrors never truly disappeared. He never stopped seeing them in his mind’s eye. He’d been offered a chance, by another very powerful incubus, to erase those memories, to completely blank out the first centuries of his existence. Most incubi could only affect the short-term memories, but Sirius had powers no other possessed. With one wave of his hand, he could’ve taken the tortures, the starvation, the life Calix had lived shackled and used for the twisted amusement of his mistress, all of it could’ve disappeared like ash on the wind. But that would have included his sister, Calypso, who’d perished in hellsfire trying to save him. For that reason alone, Calix had refused. He vowed to remember her. To honor her sacrifice.
Even if the memories he kept locked inside his head could one day destroy him. “Death isn’t the only means to an end of slavery, Sabelle. Hope is just as powerful.” Her brows flickered as if to frown, but at the same time a fine mist covered her eyes, her lips thinning as she nodded. “You’re right. Sometimes hope is much more powerful. Thank you for reminding me of that, Calix.”
12
A
va shot up to a sitting position, as a moan ripped from her throat into a fullblown scream. The progenitors surrounding her, closing in on her with their bat-like faces and maggot-white skin, dissolved into the surrounding darkness, and her mind checked off familiar objects in the room—the chair beside the armoire, the dull gray drapes covering the window, the pale sketch of a skull framed on the wall, white-washed antlers poking out above the print, and the incessant tick of the clock beating out the rhythm of her slowing pulse. Safe. Fingers drifting across her throat, she glanced back at the chain hanging from the bedpost, the Diablis steel that’d kept her from flashing away. Not that she would. Even the most frightening
Wrath demon, Ferno, would be better than facing Oliver and his gorilla-faced sidekick, who loved nothing more than to torture her for their own sick amusements. Ava would gladly take Ferno’s torment any day of the week, over what those twisted bastards considered good fun. She patted a hand on the bed beside her, recalling her earlier awaking from dreams. She could’ve sworn Calix had crawled into bed beside her, his big arms enveloping her, his scent calming her. A quick sweep of the room told her he wasn’t there, but the phantom touch that lingered on her skin argued that she hadn’t dreamt it. As an incubus, Calix had the power to enter her room at night, as he so often had when Ryke had company of his own. Had her brother known that the demon visited her as she’d slept, he’d have summoned the darkest magic against Calix, but as it were, Ryke always found some distraction in the many females he’d entertained long into morning. Their screams would sometimes keep Ava awake, somewhere on the cusp between agony and pleasure—she could never discern which through the walls. She wouldn’t put it past her brother to have tormented the females in vile ways, and still, they’d practically lined up at his door to sleep with him. Made her sick, the way Ryke had abused his powers of persuasion for his own selfish gain. Fortunately, his tricks had never worked on
Ava, as she was certain he’d have attempted to take her in the same manner. Calix had been a godsend those nights. He’d often appeared when she most needed him, and he’d sweep her away into what Ava had come to view only as a fantasy, because good things didn’t often happen to the Nephilim. He’d taken her to places she’d never otherwise been, while whispering promises she’d never believed— promises of bonding, of children, and happiness. Happiness the likes of which she’d never known before, and if she had to be honest, would never know, even if she wanted to fall into Calix’s illusory. If the incubi were the prostitutes of the underworld, then Nephilim were the trashy counterparts living in trailer parks and dumpsters, waiting like predators to feed their twisted sexual desires. At least the incubi felt some remorse for what they did to humans. The Nephilim thrived on sexual violence and torture. Most of them, anyway. And even if her very genetics made them an unlikely match, Ava had wanted to believe those promises Calix’d offered her, because at least she’d know some peace in her life. She wanted Calix more than she’d ever wanted anything. Sliding from the bed, her feet hit the cold hardwood floors, and she padded quietly toward
the door. Calix’s shirt hung loose on her, long enough to cover her ass, but thin enough to remind her she was in a house full of sexually-charged demons. She cracked the door and, slipping through, tiptoed down the hall toward the staircase, eyes searching for Calix, nerves on edge all the while. Should she run into Logan, in particular, she might’ve fared better back at the abandoned hospital. The sound of voices drifting across the foyer piqued her hearing, as she reached the bottom of the staircase. Crossing over the marble tiles, she reached the cracked door of what she knew to be Gavin’s office and peeked inside. Through the dim lit room, she could just make out skin. Lots of it. Muscles flexing. Grunting. Heavy breathing. Rhythmic thumping against the furniture. All the distinct sounds of sex. She quickly realized the voices had actually been moans, and Ava’s eyes shot to the cascades of red. The male rutted behind the female, groaning with every slam into her body bent over the desk. Clothing lay scattered on the floor and desktop, as if the two had damn near torn them off each other. With his back to her, she couldn’t make out his face, only a tight muscled ass and cords of steel that braced him, as he ground that ass into the female, but the dark hair left her questioning which
of the brothers she’d stumbled upon. Calix? Surely he wouldn’t … but then again, he’d been desperate to feed. She’d seen it in his hollow cheeks and dark circles. He’d starved himself. Why, she didn’t know, but perhaps it’d become too much for him. Hands clenched to fists, she sent up a quick prayer that the male who clearly had a hankering to fuck something, as he stood in plain sight railing into the female, without a care in the world that someone watched or could possibly hear them, wasn’t Calix. It’d be bad enough that she couldn’t sate him herself, but seeing him fuck another woman in front of her would throw Ava into crazy bitch mode. They’d toyed with the idea of threesomes and foursomes when the two of them had dated a while back, but that was well before Oliver had ruined Ava. When jealousy had been nothing more than a fun and kinky pastime the two had indulged in on occasion. A force hit her from behind, slamming her skull into the wall beside the door, and fingers dug into her neck as she stood pinned in place. “Well, what the fuck do we have here?” She recognized the gravelly voice of Calix’s brother. Logan. Her heart slammed inside her chest, and she braced her hands against the wall, pushing
back against his grip. “I’m looking for Calix!” “Yeah. I see that.” With a bruising grasp of her shoulder, he spun her around, and his hand slid to her gullet. Red glowed inside his irises—the signature effect of a pissed off Wrath demon. “Didn’t think you’d have the fucking balls to come back here, bitch.” The door beside her flew open, and the redhead from before stepped out of the office, straightening the shirt Ava had seen slung beside her on the desk. Behind her, Calix’s eldest brother, Gavin, followed, looking more disheveled than she’d ever seen the usually well-kempt male, with his shirt buttoned wrong, his belt undone, and his hair sticking up from his head. “What’s going on?” he asked. Logan gave them a once-over, silently shaking his head, before his stare returned to Ava. “Caught this fucking peeper watching the two of yous. Might want to keep your little fuckscapades to your room, know what I’m sayin’?” “What are you doing here?” Gavin asked her, while placing a hand on Logan’s arm. He’d already begun sapping the oxygen reserves in her chest, as white spots floated across her field of view. “I don’t think so.” Logan snarled, his nails scoring her flesh as he tightened his grasp. Pressure against her windpipe left her squinting with every attempt to swallow. “This bitch isn’t taking my girl again. Should’ve ended her the last time.”
Eyes wide, Ava’s gaze lifted toward the top of the staircase, and in the next breath, her body went cold, clammy, and she stood in the hallway, looking down on the three of them as Logan flipped his palms up. A second later, his gaze swung to her, lips peeled back, and he barreled toward the staircase. With a choked breath, Ava dashed down the hallway to Calix’s room and burst through the door. “Calix! Calix!” She quickly scanned the room for somewhere to hide, but the door behind her crashed into the wall, and she spun around, catching sight of Logan filling its frame. Backing herself deeper into the room, Ava shook with panic. She could only flash to places she’d been before, which would take her to her brother’s burned-down lair, or the abandoned hospital. Throat dry, her pulse hammered inside her veins, as she tried to think of what to do. Where to go. Logan lurched toward her. She closed her eyes, visualizing the wreckage of Ryke’s old funhouse of pain, and a bite of cold steel sank into her flesh. Hands to her throat, Ava scratched at the Diablis that kept her from flashing. The metal grew tighter and tighter the more she struggled—the second goddamn collar that’d been wrapped around her throat in the mere hours since she’d returned to
the Wrath mansion. “No! Logan … please!” “Been keeping this shit handy since the last time you tried to disappear. I’ve been waiting for you. You thought you could steal the only fucking thing in the world I’d die for? Not today, sweetheart. I’m going to watch you fall straight into the hands of Stygius with your cunt of a brother.” Teeth gritted, he gave another yank of the chain, and a burst of stars drifted into her field of view. “Logan!” The distant sounds of shuffling, the jerk of the chain, shouts and slams echoed inside her head, before fading out, and Ava tilted her head back and allowed the blackness to take her under. At least then she might know peace. Perhaps the gods would be merciful, they’d opt not to send her Stygius. It didn’t matter anymore. Nothing mattered. The pain drifted. The view before her shrank smaller and smaller. “Do you see those stars, Ava?” The voice of her mother echoed inside her head as Ava peered up into the night sky. “They’re all the angels watching over you at night, love. Making sure nothing ever hurts you.” “Even Nephilim, Momma?” “Yes, baby. Even Nephilim. Now go to sleep.”
13
C
oncrete pressed into Denya’s back as she stared up through the distant hole above her, the twinkling of stars giving a false sense of hope. Her bones ached with the cold, her eyelids heavy as sleep settled over them, but she wouldn’t close them. She’d promised Safina. Instead, she yawned, and lowering her gaze brought her dreadful surroundings back into view— the empty well, where she and five other young succubi had been dumped. A moldy, earthy stench stung her nostrils, while she trailed her watchful eyes over the sleeping bodies of the other four who lay scattered across the cracked concrete and moss. Three of them were under sixteen. Farah and her twin sister, Felice, had been with the captors the longest, and Denya guessed them to be only a few months younger than
she, making her the oldest of the group. They’d been dragged from one hostel to another in the city, never knowing in what shithole they’d end up next. Her captors were two large males and a woman. The males appeared to be some demon breed she’d not become privy to—a cross between lycan with sharp teeth and hunched backs, and something else, with a sort of carapace covering their pale white skin beneath. The female was undoubtedly succubus. Her fluid movements, attractive features, and dominatrix persona told Denya that she held some command over the males, which happened to be the only time she’d heard the female raise her voice. Aside from some messed up sleeping arrangements, like the dirty well they’d forced them down, the three of them hadn’t mistreated any of the girls. They were well fed with three relatively healthy meals a day, they’d been given warm clothes and blankets, allowed to shower each day and provided with some mindless form of entertainment to pass the time—mostly books, but Farah had been given a Rubix cube that’d had all the girls scrambling for a shot at it. They’d taken them on long walks through parts of Obsidius Denya had never been before—beautiful countryside and skies that twinkled with golden flecks while the moons gave enough light to watch the slumbering city from wherever they happened
to stay for the night. By evening, they were typically exhausted. What troubled Denya, though, was the thought that someone, or something, was after them, as much as they moved around, and that each night, one of the girls would go missing. The night Denya had been captured, at least a dozen girls had been piled into the same truck she’d been thrown inside, after she’d watched Zayne disappear into the alterrealm that’d been set inside her apartment. For every new girl her captors had picked up, one disappeared. Felice and Farah suspected that they’d been sold off, as they’d come to know the one thing each of the girls had in common—they were all virgin succubi. Odd that the eldest had been held the longest. Whether sold, or captured, by something else, Denya didn’t know, but she vowed to keep her eyes open. As the youngest of the group, Safina feared that she’d be next. For days, the poor girl hadn’t slept, until she’d finally confessed her worries to her captured friends and Denya offered to keep watch. She yawned and stroked her hand down the girl’s long cornsilk hair, as Safina lay across her outstretched legs. In the two short weeks since the young girl had been picked up, she’d hardly spoken to the group, except when working on puzzles or
playing games. For whatever reason, though, she’d latched on to Denya, and in some ways, it’d become a comfort, as she reminded her of a younger version of Janie. Gods, she missed her niece, along with her sister and nephew. She hoped Sabelle was happy somewhere, because if anyone deserved it, her big sister, who never hesitated to take on the world for those she loved, totally did. And Gavin seemed like the perfect mate for her—dominant enough to take the reins when she needed it, yet reverent enough for Sabelle to fall madly in love with him. A perfect combination. No doubt Sabelle would scour the city looking for her. She’d never find her, though. Not in the parts of Obsidius she’d been taken to, with locals who spoke a language Denya had never heard while watching their group like buzzards waiting for the kill. They were demons who’d been isolated from society for too long, kept to themselves in the hills, and Denya didn’t trust them one bit. No, no one would find her again. Whatever life she’d once had was nothing but a memory now. A dream she’d once had. Strange that her biggest worry at one time had been figuring out how to stay in her apartment and make it to graduation. She didn’t even know if she’d make it to the end of the week. She and the other succubi girls had obviously been gathered up for something. She
just wished she knew what. The sleepy haze loomed over Denya as she sat listening to the deep breathing of the others, and her eyelids grew heavier by the minute. Rolling her head against her shoulders, she gave a sharp shake that damn near spun her eyeballs out, and triple blinked. Have to stay awake. An annoying tickle hit the back of her throat, and despite her efforts to keep her mouth clamped, she caved in to the third yawn in minutes. Not the coziest place they’d stayed, particularly as she’d felt the patter of bug legs earlier, but she had to believe her captors had opted for the well to keep them safe from something. Even if the three of them didn’t say much outside of the occasional terse command, Denya had a sense that each of the girls held some value to them, and that whatever had taken the girls in the night made them just as uneasy. Through the narrowing slit of her eyes, she kept her focus on Safina’s peaceful face as she slept. A flash of white hit her periphery. Flipping her lids wide open, she scanned the dim space and rubbed her eyes. “Damn, must be seeing things,” she muttered. A minute passed with nothing. No movement. Her muscles slackened with each minute that followed, her breaths arriving even and calm again. Sleep tugged at her eyelids, and Denya thought how
wonderful it would feel to erase the burn by closing them. A jerk at her arm brought her to the realization that she had closed them, and when she opened her eyes again, she was greeted with a hand slapped over her mouth and two beady black eyes staring into hers. They belonged to one of the female demons she’d seen earlier, on the path toward the abandoned well. The female had been sitting out on her dilapidated front porch, sewing, as she’d watched the girls march down the path with their captors following close behind. At the time, Denya hadn’t bothered to put up a fight or scream for help, because she’d sensed something evil about the woman. Could’ve been the sinister smirk on her lips, or the deformed squint of her eye that’d given her away, but something had kept Denya from acting on her instincts. One hand trapped beneath the painful pressure of the demon’s bent knee, Denya lifted her other hand to shake Safina, her effort cut short by the tight grip at her wrist. Fear vibrated through her muscles, and she let out a scream against the palm at her mouth to alert the others. In her periphery, Denya could sense the others shifting. The moment Safina let out a sleepy moan, the weight against Denya’s legs lifted and the barrier at her mouth disappeared, along with the female demon and Safina.
Tears welled in Denya’s eyes, her body stiff and cold. So goddamn cold. She stared down at her legs, where just moments ago, Safina had lay peacefully sleeping. No screams. No struggling. No evidence that she’d ever lain there, at all. The shouts of the other girls filtered in as a distant echo. And then it hit Denya. All at once, the realization hit her, and she lifted her gaze to the panicked expressions of the other girls. One by one, they were being picked off. “Did you see it, Denya? What happened? Please, tell us!” Felice’s voice didn’t prompt her to acknowledge the girl. Instead, she lifted her gaze to the stars once more. “Help!” Her voice hardly carried, still choked by shock. “Help!” Only when the others screamed in unison did the first waves of urgency beat through Denya’s bones. For the first time in weeks, she’d gotten a look at their assailant. She had to find Safina. She had to get her back. She’d promised.
14
S
creams breached the void, ripping Ava from the blackness that tugged her deeper. She clawed at the sounds that echoed through her skull and opened her eyes to the white ceiling, across which shadows rollicked. Two figures tumbled and swung at one another, while other shadows danced around them. With a frown, Ava lifted her head, and the film that coated her eyes stretched the scene to a blur, before sharpening into the view of Calix and Logan fighting. Gavin stood locked between them, as he attempted to block Logan’s swings. The redhead from downstairs stood with her hands lodged in her hair, shouting at the males. Calix pushed against his eldest brother’s back, before coming around to pop Logan in the jaw. The veins in his neck pulsed a
rhythm of rage, and his snarls and growls gave him all the features of a wild animal that’d been unleashed. “I’ll fucking kill you!” he yelled, taking his brother to the floor, and scrambled over top of him, hammering his fist into Logan’s face. “You’re dead!” Beside Ava, the chain of Diablis steel that Logan had wrapped around her throat earlier, called to her. If she could get it around Logan, she might immobilize him—if she could get it around him without being pummeled to the ground first. In spite of the weakness begging her limbs to stay put, Ava flopped onto her elbows, and the moment her bones smacked against the marble floor, she army-crawled toward the chain and, once she’d retrieved it, continued on toward the two brawling brothers. “Calix.” Her voice arrived as a rasp, failing to overpower their shouts. “Calix!” “Logan!” A second voice thundered inside the room, and Ava looked up to see the familiar blonde standing in the doorway, clutching her belly. “Stop, this instant!” At her command, the male paused mid-punch and took a hard blow to the cheek, the crack rippling down Ava’s spine as Calix socked his brother in the face. At that, Logan growled and volleyed another punch, throwing Calix to the
floor. The bigger demon scrambled over top of him, but was thrown back by his scruff when Gavin nabbed hold of his shirt. A shirt that lasted about two seconds before it tore from Logan’s body, leaving Gavin to clutch nothing but threads. “Logan! It’s time!” The blonde screamed once more, and everybody, including Calix, paused like mannequins. With heaving breaths and a hunched back, the blonde seemed to be struggling to stay upright as her knees made a slow bend toward the floor. In the next second, she collapsed, her eyes closed. The room broke into a commotion. “Calla! Calla!” Logan scrambled toward her, his hands trembling as they danced around her face like the demon wanted to touch her, but couldn’t. The redhead fell to her knees beside him, setting her head to the blonde’s chest. Slipping his hands beneath her arms, Logan lifted her upper half with little effort. “I have to get her to the bed!” Gavin grabbed hold of her legs, and as both males lifted her off the floor, Calix lodged his fingers into his hair and paced. He paused for a moment to stop and examine the female, before his gaze swung to Ava. “Calix’s bed!” The redhead backed away, allowing the males to carry the fallen female across
the room. “Call Drechler! Her heartbeat is faint!” With a nod, Gavin helped Logan set the female onto Calix’s bed, and tugged a phone from his pocket on his way toward the hallway. Beside the bed, Logan knelt, clutching the female’s hand to his lips. All that strength. Virility. The steel that made Logan such a formidable demon withered under the weight of his obvious worry. Within seconds, he’d become broken. So broken, Ava could hardly believe she was staring at the same demon who’d held her pinned against the wall. Sabelle carefully slipped a pillow beneath the female’s head, then one under her knees. The housekeeper that Ava had come to know as Anna shuffled into the room. “Oh, dear!” She hobbled toward the bed, setting a gentle hand on Logan’s shoulder, as the demon’s body shook with a sob. “Calla, baby. Come on. Wake up, baby. Don’t do this.” His hand trembled over her stomach, before he hesitated, drawing it back, still clutching her hand. “I’ll get some fresh washcloths.” “Are you okay?” Ava hardly registered Calix’s question beside her, and she lifted her gaze to the male standing over her. “I-I-yes. I’m fine. How can I help?” She nodded toward the bodies scrambling around the
blonde who lay motionless on the bed. “I suspect if you go anywhere near her, Logan will …” Calix huffed and reached out a hand. “C’mon, we’ll wait downstairs. Sabelle’s a zshula. She’s pretty good with this stuff.” “Sabelle?” Ava asked, pushing herself to a stand. “Gavin’s mate. Redhead.” Fingers entwined, Calix led her out of the room, passing Gavin in the hallway. Tucking his phone back into his pocket, he patted Calix on the shoulder. “Drechler’s on his way now.” With a nod, Calix kept on, tugging Ava behind him, until they reached a smaller room lined with bookshelves and an array of books. He gestured for her to take a seat at the table that had books sat stacked at one end. Calix shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I get it. Y’know? He’s … with Calla … it’s just that.” Setting both hands on his hips, he sniffed and brushed a thumb across his nose. “I saw his hands on you, and I snapped.” “He thought I’d come for her.” “All this time, he knew I was searching for you. He knew you’d end up back here eventually. He’s been waiting to get his hands on you.” Crossing her arms over her chest, Ava slouched in her chair, setting her gaze on the swirling
patterns of wood that made up the smooth tabletop. “I betrayed all of you. Especially you, Calix. I made you question your love for me.” “Why? Why did you do it?” Fuck it. He deserved to know. Hell, they all deserved an explanation. “If I hadn’t, I’d be in Stygius alongside my brother.” She drew in a breath, encouraged when he remained quiet, her mind searching for the right words with the opportunity to finally explain. “Years back, he cursed me. He died, I died. With as many stupid fucking things as he’s done over the years, I feared for my life every damn day. Then Calla came along. He wanted her more than anything. More than me. So, to save myself, I handed her over to him. It was selfish. Weak.” Ava lowered her gaze further and shook her head. “I’d have rather burned in Stygius than sit here wondering if you still love me. If you can ever forgive me. If you can ever trust me again. And I don’t want you to answer me, because in all honesty, your forgiveness hurts worse. It only serves to remind me how much of a piece of shit I am.” “He wanted to take you under with him.” “I was his painful reminder of who he used to be. Before he became bitter and hateful.” The tear blurring her vision slipped down Ava’s cheek and she quickly wiped it away. “I’m sorry, Calix. I’ve
never been more sorry in my life.” The quiet that followed seemed to last for an eternity, until Calix snorted, prompting her to lift her gaze. “You have, once.” A hint of amusement broke through his voice, completely misplaced in what Ava deemed one of the most emotional moments of her life. “What?” “Two years ago. Demon’s Bluff in Obsidius. You dared me to dive off. Remember?” She couldn’t forget. They’d gone there for a romantic lunch, sitting on the infamous rock that extended out over the rough Meridian waters. Ava didn’t think he’d take her up on the challenge, but when he’d dived head-first, he’d seized her galloping heart with him. It’d taken her an hour to climb back down the mountain to the water’s edge, where Calix had washed ashore. “Let’s not make fun of the fact that I thought you were dead.” She fought the smile that lifted the corner of her mouth. “Oh, God, Calix!” He fluttered his hands like a true asshole, impersonating her panic. “I’m so sorry! I’m so, so sorry! Please be okay! I’ll bond with you. I’ll have your babies. Whatever you want, just please be okay!” Ava rolled her shoulders at the embarrassing memory of her spilling her goddamned soul to the demon after months of him pining after her to bond
with him—a proposal she’d have taken in a heartbeat, if not for her bastard brother who’d have destroyed every ounce of happiness. No doubt the prick would’ve taken his own life just to ensure that Calix never claimed her. “Again. Kinda thought you were dead. Let’s not poke fun at one of the most devastating days of my life.” “What you felt that day is exactly what I’ve felt every day that you’ve been gone.” The tone in his voice had suddenly turned serious, the smile from before slipping from behind his eyes. “Do you remember what I said to you that day?” Another mist of tears covered her eyes as she allowed her gaze to fall from his. “You said …” She sniffed and slid her fingers across her cheek as the fallen tear brought her sight back into focus. “Not even death.” It was the exact moment Ava had come to realize her love for the male was deeper than she could’ve fathomed. That she’d understood the gravity of his words and not even death would change what he’d come to mean for her. For her, there would never be another. “Should I have perished in Stygius?” she asked. “Because I would have, if I had to do it over again.” “No.” Calix casually strolled around the table and knelt before her, taking her hand to his lips, where he planted a kiss to the back of her palm. “I
forgive your betrayal, Ava, but I could never have forgiven myself if I’d let you leave me eternally.” Leaning forward, he gripped either side of her face, but hesitated, his eyes shifting between hers, as though asking for permission. And then he took her to his lips. Ava sucked in a gasp only a second before Calix closed his mouth over hers, his tongue exploring, his fingers digging into her jaw. “I’ve missed your taste.” Another kiss stole her breath, as he dipped his tongue past her teeth, toying with hers. Urgency beat deep inside Ava’s womb, and she slid from the chair onto his lap, threading her fingers into his hair. Gods, she’d missed him. Missed the sensation of his hands on her, his delicious scent, and the low growl he always made at the back of his throat while kissing her. In seconds, his erection pressed through his jeans against her core, and she closed her eyes, the world tilting on its axis. When she opened them again, she lay on her back, beneath him, Calix’s strong arms planted at either side of her. He stared down at her, and Ava wanted to drown in him, immerse herself in that cerulean sea and never come up for air. A roar of agony echoed down the hall, and Calix’s gaze shot toward the door.
Pushing off her, he scrambled to his feet, and Ava rolled to the side after him. Together, they darted out of the library and up the stairs to Calix’s room. Inside, an older man sat beside the bed, while Calla still lay unmoving, her skin much paler than before. To the right of him, Gavin held Logan back, as the male clawed the air as if desperate for purchase. The two males stumbled, the eldest brother’s grip unrelenting. Another roar bounced off the walls, forcing Ava to cover her ears, until the sound faded into quiet sobs. Logan collapsed, his brother’s body over top of him, holding him, in spite of the male’s resistance. “She’s gone, Logan. Gods, she’s gone.” Calix’s grip tightened around Ava’s hand. The older man slid a stethoscope down his neck and shook his head. “I’ll need to perform a bedside C-section. The baby’s heart is slowing. There’s little chance to save it, but we have to hurry.” “Gods,” Calix whispered. “Oh, Gods in Obsidius, what have you done?” Ava’s heart thumped in her chest. The tension in the room, thick with gloom and sadness, twisted her stomach. “What’s going on? What happened?” “Soul-binder.” The voice arrived from the right, and the tall blond she recognized as Calix’s brother, Zeke, shook his head. “Baby wasn’t doing good. Probably won’t survive.”
“The baby has a soul-binder?” she asked. “Calla,” Calix answered beside her. “Ryke put it on her.” “My brother?” The rush of fury pulsed through Ava’s veins. That her bastard brother would endanger an unborn baby had officially piqued her level of disgust. Ava lurched forward into the room, but the squeeze of her wrist halted her steps. “Ava, you can’t. Logan’s not right. It’s best we get you out of here. I don’t know what he’ll do.” Squirming out of his grip, she clenched her jaw. “I can save her, Calix. But I don’t have much time.” She could feel Logan’s eyes on her as she made her way toward the bed. “Get her the fuck away! I’ll fucking kill her!” The redhead stepped in front of her and gripped her shoulder. “I don’t know who you are, or what you want, but if you think I’m letting you go near her, you’re wrong.” “She has a soul-binder.” Ava nodded toward the lifeless female. “My brother put it on her, yes?” “As far as I know.” “We’re blood.” Ava raised a brow, watching as understanding dawned on the female’s face. “Blood takes, and only blood can return.” Red released her grip and allowed Ava to pass. Logan’s roar slammed against the walls, and if
not for Gavin holding the male down to the floor, Ava was pretty sure she’d be torn into tiny pieces. The older man who’d sat beside Calla stepped aside, allowing Ava’s approach. “We’ve very little time before that child is lost. I pray, for your sake, that you know what you’re doing.” “I do.” Ava slid her finger across the skinny bands of human skin used to bind the soul. She hated the feel of the thing, could swear they pulsed beneath her fingertips with the lives taken to make the bands. “Do you have a scalpel?” Without taking her eyes off Calla, Ava held out her palm, allowing the man to set a silver scalpel there. “She’ll kill her! She’s going to fucking kill her!” “Logan,” the redhead said softly, “she’s the only one who can save her.” Ava sliced into her finger, noticing the golden flecks mixed with the crimson drops leaking from the cut. Her blood had changed with all of the injections, but regardless, it was still her blood. The burn disappeared as quickly as it arrived, while the wound healed itself, but the bulbous dot of blood sat atop her finger. The second her blood touched the band, it softened into the sickening smoothness of supple human skin, and she slipped her finger between the female’s neck and the bands. Had it been anyone else’s blood, the bands wouldn’t have relented their
grip—only that of the one who’d placed the collar could remove it. As the blood coated the inner part of the threads, the bands separated from Calla’s skin, leaving a deep ligature that marked the tight constriction. Ava closed her eyes and spoke the ancient chant she’d memorized when Ryke had released her. Had she known what it was, she could’ve saved herself without having to betray Calix, but no doubt her brother would have taken those words to the grave if she hadn’t delivered on her promise. As she moved her finger back and forth, the bands loosened. More and more, they relinquished their death grip, until at last, they fell away, fizzling to dust across the blonde’s chest. Ava spoke the chant twice more. Beside her, the elder leaned forward, his stethoscope dancing across the female’s belly, and shook his head. “I’m not getting a heartbeat. Nothing.” In spite of his hopeless words. In spite of Logan’s threats to send her to Stygius himself. In spite of the redhead asking what she was doing beside her. Ava continued to chant. Minutes passed. Warm hands gripped her arms at either side. “Ava, we need to go.” Calix tugged her back toward him. “Leave her now.”
“No. This is my chance to make things right. I have to make things right.” An elbow knocked her from the side, and the elder swiped the blade from her fingers. “I need towels. Warm water. I’m going to cut the baby out of her.” He lifted his gaze toward the redhead. “I need you to grab the mortar and pestle out of my bag and grind some Sanitatum plant. Green jar.” Red gave a sharp nod and caught the bag he tossed to her. “No!” Ava pushed him back. She leaned forward to the female’s ear, whispering the chant. Over and over. As fast as she could. It had to work. It’d worked for her. Why didn’t it work for this female? Please. Gods. I need to make it right. Help me make this right. A force from behind threw her backward, the burn skidding along her skin as she slid across the floor and crashed into the wall. Bullets of pain shot up her spine, and she set a hand to her lower back, trying to catch her breath. Logan lurched toward her, his big, looming shadow a threat of hurt and misery as he inched closer. He vanished behind a hulking figure that stepped between them. Calix pushed against his brother’s chest, sending the larger demon two steps
back. “Killing her won’t make it go away!” Their muscles shook as Calix fought to keep him away, and Logan pushed to get to her. Ava should’ve been scared. Logan had fully intended to tear her to pieces, from the way his red eyes glowed with hatred and fury. And he should’ve. All she could summon were thoughts of failure. Of the unrelenting guilt, knowing that her own blood had ended not one life, but two. Whatever Oliver had done to her had changed her very bloodline. “Logan?” The soft voice cut through the room, and the incensed red in Logan’s eyes faded to the warm brown from before. His face morphed from fury to the vulnerable expression of a humble man, brows upturned as if that sound alone could destroy him right there. “Calla?” He swung around, giving Ava a moment’s breath to tip her head toward the blonde who sat up against the pillows, clutching her belly. “Ah, God, Logan! He’s coming!” She screamed, and her head shot back, slamming into the pillow behind her. The elder had already positioned himself at the parting of her thighs. “Oh, God! Please! Save him!” Ava covered her ears and closed her eyes. She couldn’t bear to face the next few minutes. Or
hours. However long the torment would last. She’d released the female of her binds, but may have put the baby in peril. The seconds it took for the chant to reach her may have determined the baby’s fate. She could never live with herself. She could never face Logan. Or Calla. Or even Calix, for that matter. Ava would be better off in Stygius. She’d welcome Logan’s wrath, would let it cast her into the place she belonged, rotting away alongside her brother and all the other reprehensible souls there. Her mother had once told her that her father would one day be sent to Stygius for all the unspeakable things he’d done throughout the years. Ava often wondered what her mother would’ve thought of her, had she stuck around. Would she have thought her bound for the same fate? Would she have thought her redeemable? Her mother’s faith dictated that she and Ryke were born creatures of the unholy, but somehow the woman still believed in the good of people. Had she stayed and not abandoned them, perhaps Ryke would’ve been a different being. Perhaps Ava wouldn’t be curled up on the floor, begging forgiveness for sins she couldn’t change, and praying to gods that she was certain no longer heard her. Pressure hit her arms, attempting to pry them away from her ears, but she shook her head, clamped her eyes shut and bowed her head. “No. Please. I don’t want to.”
Against her resistance, her hands were tugged from her head, and she lifted her gaze to Calix, who knelt in front of her, a cross between sadness and a smile on his face. “Listen.” Over the low commotion of others talking, one distinct sound reached her, forcing her to a stand. The full-blown cry of a baby. Ava covered her mouth, the tears slipping down her cheeks as she tried to hold back the hysterical burst of laughter that beat from her chest. “He’s okay?” “She,” Calix clarified. “She’s okay. Both of them are okay.” Holding her wrists together, he pulled her into him. “Because of you.” Ava shook her head and watched from across the room as the redhead passed the tiny naked body to her mother. Even through the dimness of the room, Ava could make out the smile on Logan’s face. The tears in his eyes as he kissed the small crown of his baby girl. She could damn near feel the joy and relief that the male exuded in waves, as if the sun had shone for the first time in days. He leaned in and kissed the blonde, then kissed the baby once more. With a sigh of contentment, Ava allowed Calix to lead her out of the room.
15
B
oots kicked over the edge of the parapet, Xander stared down at the eighteen story drop below him, where the cars looked like little Hot Wheels vehicles tooling down Woodward Avenue. His blood vibrated, skin prickled with goosebumps. He allowed a hint of a smile, before unsheathing his blade in time to twist around and prop the knife beneath the female’s chin. The sting of Karinna’s blade poked into Xander’s chest, as her lips slid into a smile. “I could gut you open right here.” “Quit talking dirty. Turns me on.” With her fingers digging into his crown, she yanked his head back and slid onto his lap, knocking him backward onto the gravelly bed of
the rooftop. Rising to her knees, she slid her blade back into its sheath. “You had to pick a place closest to the heavens, didn’t you? Trying to get me in trouble?” “If they haven’t figured out you’re a bad girl by now, they haven’t been paying attention, anyway.” Letting his knife drop to the gravel, Xander ran his hands up her thighs, along the edges of her body, and pulled her into him. “Let them watch.” He tangled his fingers in her hair and lifted his head to crush his lips to hers. “Fuck me, you smell like flowers and a craving for filthy sex.” She smiled against his mouth and sucked his bottom lip into hers for a sharp bite that drew a groan from Xander. “You smell like a cheating bastard. Is that cheap pussy, or eau de whore?” A chuckle rumbled in Xander’s chest as he grazed his teeth along her jaw. “Doesn’t matter who I fuck, the one I want is sitting on my cock right now. All you gotta do is push those panties to the side and ride it, baby.” He slapped her ass, and her eyes rolled back as she curled her lip between her teeth. “Mmm. You want me to fuck you?” “No, I thought we’d cuddle and talk about our feelings. Now show me your tits before I rip your suit.” Xander palmed the perfect mounds sticking out of the slick leather suit she wore, wishing he could suck on the nipples passing beneath his
fingertips. A tight grip of his balls had Xander kicking his head back, shooting waves of ecstasy through his veins. “Don’t tease me. If you’re gonna play dirty, get down on it.” “I need information. That’s why I came to you.” “I can give you another reason to come,” he countered. “Multiple, in fact.” Still gripping too damn tight to his nutsack, she dipped her head and dragged her teeth across his throat. “Don’t make me torture you. You know I will. Whatever I have to do to get you to talk.” “You’re killing me. Fucking killing me, baby. This no sex shit isn’t gonna last. At some point, I’ll be so keyed up that I’ll do something stupid, like throw your ass against the wall and take what I want.” “Try it.” Her tongue glided along his jaw to his mouth and circled his lips, before she slanted over them in another kiss. “I’m not the weak girl you used to know. I’m stronger than you.” “I wouldn’t go that far, sweetheart.” Pain shot up into is groin as her nails dug into his balls, and he groaned, arching into her. “Foreplay,” he croaked. “There’s a female. Fallen angel. She’s been practicing black magic. The heavens aren’t taking kindly to the fact that she’s capable of cleansing souls.”
Xander frowned at that, somewhat irritated that she managed to take his mind off her tits for a minute. “What?” Karinna shook her head. “Glad you’re paying attention. She’s wiping out sins. Cleaning the slate.” “In other words, doing the job of the angels. What’s the problem? Let her do all the work, purifying souls, and you and I can vacation in Ibiza. I’ll suck tequila from your nipples while I make you come.” “Xander. Listen to me.” She tapped at his temple. “Use that brain of yours to think, instead of your dick, for a minute. Not everybody is willing to do what they have to do, to keep from burning up in Stygius. That means you’ve got demons walking around who look like saints, but aren’t. That’s like taking away prisons for inmates who refuse to go the straight and narrow.” Her eyes turned serious, perhaps even on the verge of panic beneath her furrowed brows. “The heavens will be forced to step in. It’ll be war.” He brushed the hair from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. “I don’t like you worrying about shit. Distracts you from important things. So I’ll keep an eye out for this chick. My usual haunts. I find her? I’ll report back to you.” The crease in her forehead softened again as her gaze dipped to his lips, and she leaned in to kiss him. “Thank you.”
“There’s a finders fee in this, angel.” With a huff, Karinna tilted her head back and rolled her eyes. “You’ll never give up.” “I track her down, you give me the one thing in the world that I want more than anything.” “What’s that?” “You. Black lace. Stilettos. All chained up, lookin’ helpless on the cross.” Xander dug his fingers into her ass and pushed his jean-clad dick up between her thighs. “You miss that shit, baby?” In slow, taunting circles he ground himself against her pussy. “Remember when I’d punish you all night? Make you wait for it?” At the slow, heavy blink of her eyes, Xander smiled and licked his lips, wishing he could act on the fantasies playing out inside his head—the memories of the two of them before he fell, sacrificing his wings to save her soul. “Remember how fucking wet you’d get with your ass in the air, gag in your mouth, waiting for me to give it to you?” “Stop.” But the breathy quality of her voice told him he’d crawled beneath her skin. She remembered all of it, judging by the lust-drunk expression on her face. “No,” he whispered, pinching her nipples, and tugged at the leather barrier. “I find that Fallen angel, you’re mine. Whatever the fuck I want. All night.” Her tongue slid across her lips, but goddamn it,
she shook her head. Hooking his leg over hers, he flipped her over onto her back and straddled her, pinning her arms into the gravel. “Say yes. Or you’re on your own.” The last thing Karinna would want was having to partner with another angel and use her body to track down Fallen angels. Xander made it easier for her, by going undercover on her behalf. “Say it, beautiful. You’re mine.” Struggling against him was futile. She was strong, no doubt, but when it came to Xander finally striking a deal with her—one he’d been pining after for a long-ass time, he could damn near take on a half dozen of her kind at once. “Big bust like this will give you a promotion. Cozy little office in the heavens. Archangels rubbing your shoulders. You avert a war, and they’ll make you a hero.” After minutes of writhing, twisting, and a pisspoor attempt to kick out at him, she finally stilled. “Fine. You have a deal. And what happens when the heavens find out, huh?” “They won’t.” Leaning forward, he rolled his hips against her thighs as if fucking her right there on the rooftop. “I didn’t say I’d stick my dick in you.” “I’m not watching you fuck another woman in front of me.” He grinned at that and curled his fingers into
hers. “I just want one taste of the forbidden. I’m starving for your pussy.” At her shiver, Xander laughed and stared down at her. “We’ll chat in a week.”
16
A
va sat beside Calix on the couch in the billiard room. The male hadn’t stopped smiling since they’d left his bedroom. “There’s so much blood to clean up in there. Probably going to have to sleep down here. Not sure I can deal with another female’s birth fluids.” “Stop being a male for a minute.” Ava chuckled, pulling her knees into her chest. “I think it’s beautiful that life began there. It’s like … sacred now.” “Sacred? Maybe. Nasty? Absolutely.” She punched him in the arm. “What if that was me? Is that how you’d act?” No sooner had the words fallen from her lips, Ava instantly regretted them. She couldn’t be certain, but she sensed that whatever had been done to her by Oliver ensured that she’d never know a beautiful experience that
way. She’d give birth to a baby maggot, just like The Fly movie she’d watched years ago, and everyone would scream in horror. A shiver rushed down her spine, and her expression must’ve changed, because Calix leaned forward, gripping either side of her face, and kissed her. “It’d be different in that case,” he whispered. “Why?” Ava knew the answer, but after what’d happened, she wanted to hear him say it. She wanted to know there was still a male who desired her that way, and not as a hollow vessel to deposit some disgusting maggot sperm. “Because you’d be mine. The baby would be mine.” Blowing out a breath, Ava gently nudged Calix away and leaned forward, suddenly needing air. “Calix … I have something to tell you.” The knock at the door, followed by the clearing of a throat, brought both of their attentions toward Logan who stood filling the frame. Brows furrowed, he seemed unwilling to look at her, his gaze directed toward the floor. “I um … can I … talk to Ava?” Ava sensed Calix’s muscles tense beside her, and setting her hand on his arm confirmed as such. Yep, he didn’t like the idea. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine.” Calix rose from the couch and strode toward the door, pausing just outside the room beside his brother, as if he might say something, but still,
Logan refused to lift his gaze. After a quick glance back at Ava, Calix kept on, leaving the two of them alone. Logan stepped inside the room, and it was then she took a moment to appreciate how enormous the male was. How easily he could crush her if he wanted. He cleared his throat a second time. “Are you … did I hurt you?” Her spine carried the vestiges of a dull ache, but nothing overtly painful. “No. I’m okay.” The sag of his shoulders told her the news relieved him, and he stepped deeper into the room. “I um … a lot of things … I said some … you know, I was just …” Jesus, Ava had never seen the male so softspoken and tongue-tied. In the few times she’d met Logan while she’d dated Calix, the most she could say about the male was that he growled a lot. “You worried. For her. And for the baby. I understand.” He shook his head. “What happened before, when you took her from me. You almost killed me. I thought she was dead then.” His brows pinched into a frown, as if the pain of that moment had stabbed him in the heart right where he stood. “Sorry isn’t enough, Logan. I betrayed you. And Calla. All your brothers. Calix. I’ve regretted it every day since. I’ll understand if you want me to leave.” His brow flickered with his harsh swallow, as he
continued to keep his gaze from her. “What you did back there.” He gripped his skull, running his hand back and forth across his short-cropped hair. “When I thought I’d lost them both. That was … the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.” “Really … it was … no big deal.” Her eyes widened with horror. “I mean, I know it was a big deal, but it was …” She shook her head, stifling the next disastrous string of words before they could tumble out of her mouth. “Thank you.” “No. You saved my girl. Both of them.” His cheek dimpled with the hint of a smile, as if he couldn’t talk about his baby girl without that single emotion getting the best of him. “It’s the biggest fucking deal of my life. So, thanks.” “She’s beautiful.” “Calla sent me to get you. She wants to see you.” For some reason, that summons had her chest beating harder than if the Orcosian lords had summoned her right then. She gave a nod, her throat suddenly dry as a cotton sock. “Okay.” As she pushed up off the couch, it occurred to Ava how quickly her body had morphed into panic mode, as weakness claimed her limbs and she stumbled forward. Logan caught her arm before she tumbled to the floor. “You’re certain I didn’t hurt you?” Remorse danced across his face, as his eyes flicked back
toward the floor like a young boy facing punishment. “I’m certain. I just tripped, is all.” “Ava.” Logan released his grip, tucking his hands into his pocket, and took a step back. “You’re welcome to stay. What I said about wanting to kill you—” “I get it. You wanted to ground me into hamburger and feed me to the dogs. You were pissed. I messed with your life, and I promise it won’t happen again.” He gave a slow nod and rubbed his chin. “So you know, I’d never feed you to the dogs. There’s a dirty ass lycan tiger that likes to run with Ayden. I’d definitely feed you to him first.” A burst of laughter beat from her chest. “Never pegged you for having a sense of humor, Logan.” “Seriously, though. Thanks. And I’m sorry for being a dickbag earlier. It’s genetic.” “Lovely. I’ll take that into account where Calix is concerned.” With a jerk of his head, Logan led her out into the hallway, back up the staircase, but instead of turning toward Calix’s room, she followed him to the right, and into a much darker room. A lamp illuminated the space, and still, it was eerily darker than Calix’s room. Cleaned up and lying in bed, Calla sat holding a thick bundle, all wrapped up in small blankets.
Somewhere in that mess of cotton was a brand new baby, confirmed by the fresh powder smell that drifted through the room. Ava’s eyes instinctively shot to Calla’s throat, with the marks from the bands still tracing the soulbinder she’d removed from there. A warm smile stretched Calla’s face, as Ava made her way beside the bed. Calla patted mattress beside her. “Please sit,” she whispered. With a bit of hesitance, Ava did as she’d asked. Folding her hands into her lap, she let her gaze wander everywhere except on the female beside her. A warm hand gripped hers, and she looked up to see tears in Calla’s eyes. Oh, God. I can’t do this. Never in her life had she done something particularly spectacular, and in her mind, what she’d done for Calla really was no big deal. Just a prick of blood and some quick chants. “I can’t thank you enough.” “It was … really, you don’t have to thank me. I kind of … you know, betrayed you.” “That’s not important anymore. You saved me. My baby. I owe you for this.” Ava cleared her throat and shifted on the bed. “Truly, don’t thank me. That’d make me feel like sh —” Her gaze dipped toward the baby and back.
“Really bad. Let’s just call it even.” “It’s not even, though. I’d planned to leave that night. I was going to go out on my own. I could’ve been killed then.” “I doubt it. You seem … pretty strong.” She chuckled and glanced toward Logan and back. “You know, I was certain that I’d deliver a boy. I was going to name him Jacob Logan after my brother.” “Yeah, I was … surprised you had a girl. I thought Wrath’s mostly gave birth to boys.” “They do. A female is very rare, so I …. Well, we … decided to name her Avalon.” Ava wanted to smile, to show some appreciation for that, but all she could summon was a frown. Why on earth would they name the child after her? After what she’d done? “You don’t—you don’t have to do that. I’m sure there are a number of females you’d prefer to name her after.” “I don’t remember my mother’s name. Nor my grandmother’s. Besides, it’d be an honor to name her after the female who saved her life.” “I really didn’t …. I meant to bring you back, but I honestly didn’t know …” Ugh, the guilt of having to confess that she didn’t think about the baby at all weighed down on Ava. What a horrible thought. And even if she happened to be staring down at a perfectly healthy baby, the thought of what could’ve happened still slapped her in
the face. “You didn’t know if she’d survive. And still, you didn’t hesitate. Quit minimizing it Ava. You did something incredible, okay?” Pressing her lips together, Ava smiled and gave a nod. “Okay.” “Would you like to hold her?” A twinge of panic beat against her ribs as her heart prepared to leap through her bones. Babies had never been her thing, but with Logan as it’s father, standing over her with his arms crossed, visuals of dropping the baby had her shaking her head. Hard. “Please … I’m not good with … maybe in a few days.” Years? “It’s okay.” Calla gave another squeeze and released her hand. “Her daddy’s been itching to hold her again, anyway.” Her muscles finally softened, as Calla passed the tiny bundle to Logan. He held the baby out from him for a moment, in a proud moment of admiration, before he tucked her into the crook of his elbow, like a little bean against his massive chest. For a brief moment, Ava’s mind taunted her with visuals of Calix holding one of their own and brought a smile to her face. Gods, to be that doted upon and protected. Ava had never known that feeling in all of her life, and yet, the baby in Logan’s arms would only know that feeling for the
rest of hers. Between all of her uncles, she essentially had her own army of brawny males who’d give their lives for her without thinking twice. “She’ll be considered royalty by birth. A basiliaj. I thought a regal sounding name would be appropriate.” Calla’s voice broke Ava from her musings, and she turned her attention back toward the blonde. By birth, female Wrath demons were sought after and lavished upon in royal bliss. The child would never know hunger, poverty, pain, or suffering—all the things her namesake had suffered. And for whatever reason, that made Ava happy. “It’s beautiful. Avalon. I love it.”
17
A
va stared at the wall across the room from where she lay in Calix’s bed. The mattress and linens had been completely replaced since Calla’s water had broken, leaving no trace that a child had been born there just hours before. It brought to mind how easily life came by, living in the mansion. Always someone to take care of things, to ensure comfort. Ryke had always kept a butler to make himself look regal, and maids who were better suited for the Playboy mansion. None of it had been for her benefit, or comfort, though. It was all part of his façade. His show. Not like at the demon’s mansion. That was real, as real as luxury could possibly get for her, and yet, she still couldn’t entirely surrender herself to it. A part of her felt as though she were dreaming, perhaps still trapped in that cold cellar
with those disgusting creatures staring down at her from the ceiling. The visual only cast a ripple of disgust down her spine. Since leaving that place, a part of her felt undeserving. Dirty. Infected. The bed dipped from behind as Calix slid beneath the blankets, and cords of muscle banded her stomach before her body slid backward into his. The clean scent of soap drifted over, and that aroma he wore like his own brand of masculinity watered her mouth. A warm palm skated up her body, his other arm beneath her, crossing over her chest, and when his fingers dug into the supple flesh of her breasts, she arched into him, prodding them into his hand for more. Nothing would ever compare to sex with Calix. The man’s body acted as a weapon, and all she could do was surrender to him and hope that she’d survive the aftermath. His knee slid between the gap in her thighs, and he shoved her leg over his spreading them open. “Let me give you release. You need to feed.” She set her hand on his, but he swatted it away, spreading her wider. “I’m fine. You first.” Calix’s greatest talent lay in his ability to do two things at once, so when his
fingers slid back and forth along her cleft, his rolling of her nipple never once faltered, while his tongue traced the shell of her ear. As if his body had been made strictly for bringing a woman the ultimate pleasure. Ava’s lip slipped between her teeth, while his deft fingers stroked her slick sensitive flesh. Her mind fell into fantasy, visuals of exactly what he was doing to her, and because Calix could read her mind, her darkest secrets like a book, he knew to pinch her nipple at that exact moment, creating the most exquisite mishmash of pain and pleasure. An appreciative moan leaked from her mouth, and she rolled her hips with his assaulting caresses. She’d never have to tell him what to do. He could see it all. So when his finger dipped inside of her, followed by a second, she cried out, clutching her pillow. “Ah, Gods, Calix.” “You’re wet, Ava. Fucking hell, your pussy is so wet right now.” “Isn’t that the standard for you?” “No female has ever had me this strung out.” In and out, his fingers pumped, until the sounds of her weeping pussy confessed her pleasure. She closed her eyes to something dark that clung to the fringes, and as it became clearer in her mind, sweeping over the visuals of what he was doing to her, Calix paused. As much as her mind scrambled to reel it in, to tuck it back inside it’s
wicked vault, she couldn’t. It was depraved, but it was her truth, and no amount of lying would convince Calix otherwise. “Are you certain that’s what you want?” Her brows furrowed in shame. She’d never asked him for anything like it before. As kinky as they’d gotten, it’d never crossed that line, but something had shifted inside of her in the last few months. The darkness she’d managed to keep hidden from Calix, vestiges of her past, had begun to slip through the cracks and make themselves known. “Please.” He wouldn’t question it. No matter how odd or twisted or depraved. Calix had come to appreciate that some fantasies were darker than others, and he’d never shamed her for them, or given her reason to be embarrassed. But then, she’d never asked for something so out of the ordinary. His only rule was that he refused to do anything that put her in danger, or left any kind of permanent damage. “Only because you want this.” “I do,” she whispered, pushing off the bed until she’d propped herself on all fours. Lowering her upper half, she rested her cheek against the mattress with her ass in the air and pushed her arms above her head. Calix huffed and slid from the bed. He stood looking down on her, as she waited. And waited. And waited.
Perhaps she’d crossed the line. She almost told him to forget what he’d seen in her mind. To pretend she’d never suggested it, but as she lifted her head to tell him, he bent forward and tugged at the drawer of the adjacent nightstand. From inside, he pulled a strand of Diablis steel, positioned her hands behind her back, and wrapped it around her wrists. He withdrew a black silk scarf and crammed it into her mouth until the fabric tickled the back of her throat, and she gagged. When he drew some of the cloth out, though, she shook her head to stop him. It was common knowledge that the Nephilim had some strange fetishes. Many had grown up abused and enslaved, so rape fantasies weren’t unheard of. Ava knew exactly how hers had derived. To make cash on the streets, her brother often sold her to his friends for an hour at a time. Boys she’d developed small, girlish crushes on. Unaware that her brother had collected payment, she’d viewed their attractions to her as real. Their abuse of her body as acceptable, even when they’d wanted nothing to do with her afterward. They’d called her a slut. A whore. All while pleasuring her to orgasm, so how could it possibly be wrong? Over time, her mind had come to twist their indulgence into acts of affection. She’d welcomed it. Fantasized about it. Attempted to replicate those
same sensations when she’d climaxed alone. Until she watched her brother collect payment from a male she’d fucked minutes before, and the humiliation had settled over her with a sudden clarity—she still craved the depravity. With Calix, she didn’t have to suffer the rejection after. Wouldn’t be made to feel worthless and alone. He’d crave her in a way that no other male had, and she could let go with him. Enjoy her fantasies for what they were and nuzzle into his warm embrace afterward. He covered her head with a pillow, and she could scarcely draw in a breath as the cotton closed in around her. Another pause. Another huff. He was clearly conflicted, but at the slow stroke of her ass cheek, followed by the harsh sting of a slap, Ava smiled in spite of the gag in her mouth. Pressure against her head flipped some deepseated switch inside of her, and she moaned into the fabric. As in her fantasy, Calix’s thumb pressed into her ass, breaching that tight ring of muscle, while his fingers probed her pussy. Warm skin slid across her walls, and she jerked forward as the thickness of his thumb plunged deeper inside her ass. The gag in her mouth, lack of breath, taut muscles, and pressure inside of her collided, and a deep belly grunt shot up into her chest. The silky sheets grazed her erect nipples, tickling her chest in
a maddening bid for her attention. Ava’s whole body came alive as her mind took her back to the days when she’d lie in her bed, masturbating to the very same scenario. Calix finger fucked both holes while pushing down on her head, and as Ava saw the scene from a birds-eye view in her mind—the T-shirt slid up to her neck, her ass sticking up in his face, arms tied —the humiliation and pleasure created an exquisite clash that left her gripping the steel that bound her wrists. That was her fetish. Her deep, dark secret. Calix had toyed with humiliation before, but nothing on the verge of asphyxiation. Mostly, he commanded her to do things in public. She once masturbated beneath the tablecloth at a crowded nightclub. On another occasion, he had her breasts smashed against the window of an abandoned building overlooking busy downtown, where they’d met up for sex. Another time, he’d put a remotely controlled vibrator up inside of her before taking her to the movies, where he’d tormented for two hours in a packed theater. Never had she asked him for violence, though —until then. If Ava was honest, her darker fantasies walked the line of rape, and as much as she’d have loved to dip into those turbid waters, she accepted that Calix would do just about anything she desired, but
needed a gradual introduction. Even if his incubus nature made any manner of sex appealing, Ava knew his feelings for her drew a distinct line that he’d be hard-pressed to cross. He upped the pace, pounding his fingers into her in the same rhythm slamming inside her skull, as the air diminished and dizziness settled over her. Gods, he’d hate what came next, but she knew Calix wouldn’t hesitate. He was designed to make fantasies come true, no matter how strange the fetish. “How’s that? My dirty little whore. You like getting fucked, slut?” A stiff clip to his words told her his jaw had been clenched through every word. She moaned again, muscles turning warm. Tense. The sounds of wetness had amplified from moments ago, confessing an embarrassing truth. She loved every second of it. Her body begged to keep going, but the lack of oxygen told her she didn’t have much time left. Would need to come, or risk passing out. “C’mon, whore.” He slowed his pumping to a tormenting, languid pace and the pillow lifted from her face. A sharp sting hit her nipple as he pinched it. “You like that, don’t you?” Exactly why no one would ever compare. Calix’s prowess couldn’t be matched. Even if she didn’t visualize that part, he knew her body’s needs. Her muffled cries only added to the
excitement beating through her muscles, and when his fingers upped the pace again, she buried her face into the mattress and let the darkness pull her under. Belly tight, ass high, muscles trembling, she felt the tingles of pleasure climb her spine, and as they reached the back of her head, they exploded into a blinding light that had her screaming into the mattress. Calix’s fingers slowed, slowed, until he withdrew them. Gripping her hips, he tugged her to the edge of the bed, and as he positioned himself, a thought struck her. She moaned in protest and panic as soon as his rigid cock pressed against her entrance. Gods, she hated having to deny him, but the warning Oliver had given her sought to annihilate her high, and with it, any hopes that she could bring Calix relief that way. The fabric unraveled from her mouth as he tugged it out, and she coughed the last bits of dust clinging to the back of her throat. “I can’t. Not that way. I’ll bring you release, but not that way.” “What’s going on?” He didn’t sound disappointed so much as concerned, and that only made it worse. A starving incubus who didn’t take the very sustenance he needed to survive, but instead tried to console her. Any other, and she’d have come to find out exactly what Oliver had
done to her—because had he been any other incubus as starved as Calix, she’d have been raped repeatedly. “Please, undo the binds.” She clamped her eyes closed, once again burying her face into the mattress while he released her wrists from the Diablis grip. Once free, she pushed onto her back and covered her face behind her palms. “I was taken. Kidnapped by some freak fucking scientist. For months, I was kept in some … underground hospital that’d been abandoned. I was to be used to mate those disgusting maggoty Sang.” Shivers ran down her body and, coupled to the coating of sweat across her skin, left her feeling cold and dirty. “They injected me. Every day I was given these horrific injections that felt like they were melting my bones.” Ava slid her hands from her face and looked down her body, to see Calix’s arms crossed, the male rubbing his chin as if trying to rub away the detonator of a bomb ready to go off. “I can only have sex with those … things, or whomever I’m with will die.” “How?” “I don’t know. I don’t want to find out. Oliver says it’s a disease that’s only transmitted through intercourse.” “I just finger fucked the shit out of you and nothing happened.” She shook her head, sitting up on the bed,
wishing she could scrub every inch of her body. “When you ejaculate, it apparently sets off some reaction inside of me. He said it’s a way to keep the progenitor lines clean and pure. Unsullied.” “We don’t come unless we’re bonded, Ava.” Brows drawn, she shot him an unamused stare and tipped her head. “You know damn well it’s been known to happen.” “We’ll call Drechler back. See if he’s got something for it.” Lodging her fingers through her hair, Ava pulled her knees into her chest. “There isn’t a cure, Calix. It’s in my blood. I’m ruined. Disgusting. Nothing but a walking disease.” She buried her head into her folded arms and choked back a sob. “I’ll understand if you don’t want me anymore. I’m not an ideal mate. I’ll never bear a son for you.” Arms slid beneath her legs, prompting her to look up as Calix lifted her off the bed and into his lap. He pressed her head against his chest. “Hear that? Bastard only beats for you, Ava. I don’t give a shit that you can’t bear a son. I’ve tried living without you, and I can’t. I won’t.” She closed her eyes to stifle the tears welling there. “I want to give you everything, Calix. I want to give you what you need. But I can’t. I never will.” “That’s not what I need from you, baby.” Gripping the back of her skull, he lifted her face
until her eyes met his, swirling with compassion and sincerity. “I need your smile. Your voice. Your feisty bullshit that makes me crazy sometimes.” His lips tugged to a half smile. “All I need is you.” “You’ll starve with me. You need sex, Calix. It’s a necessity, not a luxury for you.” “Then, I’ll starve.” With a frown, she pushed against his chest to break his hold. “And you think I could live with that? You think I’d ever want that for you? I can’t live in a world without you in it, either.” “I’ll figure it out.” He pushed a strand of hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear and cupped her jaw. “I’ll find another way. If I gotta beat off every hour to the sound of your voice, then that’s what I gotta do.” A grin tugged at her cheeks. “That sounds like a lot of work.” “You’d be surprised how easy it is.” She stroked her hand along his stubbled cheek and pressed her lips to his. “Let me help you with that.” Palm to his chest, she urged him back onto the bed and straddled his body. Unlike him, she didn’t have access to the male’s fantasies, but he never seemed troubled by her efforts. “I’ve been so damn miserable without you, Ava. Can’t fucking think. You’ve got my head so messed up right now.” Crawling down his body, she paused to kiss the
Wrath tattoo over his chest, moved down his washboard abs, and let her tongue trail his flesh until her chin hit his tip. “I’m going to take care of you, Calix. I want to make the pain go away.” With a dip of her head, she allowed his tip to breach her lips and dragged the small bit of fluid over her mouth, lubricating it, before she lapped it up with her tongue. Calix shifted beneath her and groaned, both hands balled into fists at either side of his body. “Fuck, you feel like a dream.” “Close your eyes.” His scent made her ravenous, watering her mouth as she licked and sucked along his shaft. The veins pulsed against her tongue, hammering a rhythm of desperation inside her mouth, and when she finally took him to the base, she damn near gagged as his tip hit the back of her throat. Up and down, she sucked his flesh, the sweet taste of his cock dancing across her taste buds. Every incubus had his own distinct flavor, and Calix’s was like none she’d ever tasted. Like caramel and apples—a taste that took her back to childhood, when she’d roam the orchards alone, lost in the endless rows of trees, where she’d lay in the sun as she’d enjoyed her favorite treat. Another perk of the incubi. The more she sucked him, the more intense the memory and joy and the flavor filled her mouth.
“Ah, fuck, Ava!” She sucked harder, ravenous for the taste, her mind lost to memories and warmth. She moaned against him, never wanting it to end—not even when the dull ache cramped her jaw. Calix bucked beneath her, and she pushed against his thighs to hold him down, unwilling to finish until she’d had her fill. She dug her nails into his flesh, sucking harder, milking the caramel taste that’d become an insatiable craving. His curse boomed inside her skull, reverberating over the lost memories, breaking her spell, and when the first spurts of hot cum hit the back of her throat, Ava swallowed it, along with the pulsing jets that followed. “Motherfuck—!” Calix arched up off the bed, and still she wouldn’t relent, wouldn’t release him until the last of his load filled her mouth. Pulling herself off his cock, she sensed he’d finally stilled and glanced up at him, licking the last of him from her lips. He lay unmoving, his body trembling, and a twinge of panic had her crawling up his body and placing her hands either side of his face. “Baby? Calix?” He still convulsed beneath her, and she lifted his lid, her panic amping up a hundred notches at the way his eyes rolled back. “Calix? What’s wrong? Tell me what’s wrong?”
His body planked and sagged, the shivering subsided, and his breathing finally slowed. For a moment, he lay still, eyes closed. Ava’s breath hitched, her eyes searching for any sign of movement, until at last, his lips stretched to a smile, and she allowed herself a shaky exhale of relief. “Calix? Are you all right?” “I’ve never been so fucking right in my life.” “You scared me.” She slapped his chest and pushed off of him. “Jesus, I thought I’d killed you, or something!” “Death by blowjob? That’s exactly how I want to go.” “I’m serious. You freaked me out.” Staring down at his tight jaw and bliss-tinged expression, she tipped her head. “Is that the first time you’ve ever ejaculated?” Nodding, he licked his lips and pulled her in for a kiss. “You’re mine now, Ava. We may not be bonded yet, but we both know you’re mine. My body’s already claimed you.” She wouldn’t dare say it, but Ava knew. The moment she’d returned to him, she’d known his touch would make everything right. And that scared the shit out of her.
18
T
he silky red substance, like ribbons, danced around inside the vial, as it sat on the dashboard, calling out to Zayne like a siren. Fantasies made real. Should he take the drug, he might as well kiss the search for Denya goodbye. No way he’d come back from Shey. He’d want to drown in her for as long as he could, even if she wasn’t real, even though she’d be visible to those around him, constructed entirely out of his fantasy. Would his memories be strong enough to flesh out the beauty who was once his mate? She’d never be the same Shey. What he’d always loved most about her was not knowing what she’d say, or do. She’d been crazy. Unpredictable. Absolutely perfect. In life. Zayne couldn’t bring himself to fuck that up by throwing her back into a world that didn’t belong to
her anymore. She’d never bear a son. And she’d disappear with the effects of the drug. Which meant he’d be on a never-ending search for a high that’d never last long enough. He swiped the vial off the dashboard, tossing it into the open glovebox, and trained his gaze back on the club entrance. Zayne had gotten word from one of his contacts, that the female who had a connection to the kidnapped succubi liked to hang out at some sleazy night club owned by the Fallen. Abyzz would’ve made the whole experience much more palatable, because he sure as fuck had gotten sick of frequenting the joints over the last couple of months. Something about the Fallen made even the toughest demon’s skin crawl, and Zayne was only skimming the surface. If he dug deeper, he’d be faced with the kind of horrifying shit that bubbled up from the underbelly on prime time news from time to time—kidnappings, rape, torture, mutilations—the world that existed beneath the cover of normalcy. Abyzz shielded him from all that shit. If not for the drug, those images would implant themselves deep enough to drive him mad. He craved the fog. The thin veil that allowed him to walk up into a club like he didn’t give a shit what he’d see go down. Unfortunately, the only thing the bastard’d given him was the succubi grade, and he sure as hell couldn’t afford that level of distraction.
A tremble wracked his body like the deep rumble of an earthquake, and Zayne’s hands shook. Withdrawals from human drugs meant some shakes, some throwing up, pain and seizures. Withdrawals from the demon variety meant madness, a deep psychosis that’d have him seeing images from the darkest side of his mind. And pain. Pain so unbearable, it’d make human childbirth feel like a spa day. A knock at his window yanked Zayne out of his trance, and he rolled it down, staring into golden eyes on a dark-haired kid, early twenties. Standing with his hands in his pockets, he stretched his neck, looking beyond Zayne into the interior of the car. “Nice ride. Wanna sell it?” Zayne might’ve been desperate for Abyzz, but he sure as hell wasn’t desperate enough to give up his beloved Mustang Shelby. “Just give me the shit. No questions, kid.” Bodhi was decent, probably the most straightforward of Zayne’s suppliers. College kid, trying to get through a doctorate degree. Only half demon, so he dealt in human currency—lots of it. “Twenty K. Unless you want to do an even trade for the car.” From his pocket, he pulled out a vial of the all too familiar black tarry substance and handed it off to Zayne, who examined it through the glass to make sure it didn’t have any of those silky red ribbons.
Another thing Zayne appreciated about the kid —always had the clean stuff. From the glovebox, Zayne nabbed a stack of bills and passed it through the window. “I don’t think so. Good luck with school.” Flipping through the bills, Bodhi smirked. “You gave extra.” “Didn’t feel like counting twenty grand. ‘Sides that, you’ll put it to good use, right?” “Tuition. Housing. More product. Yeah, I got a place for it.” “You make that shit yourself?” Zayne asked, watching the kid stuff the cash into his coat pocket. “Yeah, gotta keep it clean. Lotta dirty shit on the streets right now. Some succubus mix going around. Fucking with peoples’ heads.” “Heard about that.” Zayne could almost feel the vial of succubus blood burning a hole in his pocket. “Stay away from that shit, man. There ain’t no coming back.” “How so?” “I know a guy. Overdosed on it, and now he’s locked in a trance. Like a walking zombie. Or a schizo. The comedown is supposed to be easy—no shakes, no pain. But then you don’t want to come down. The visuals are so vivid, you don’t want to come back to reality.” He glanced around and shook his head, directing his attention on Zayne
again. “Those fantasies are great in the beginning, but you open that door, you open a whole lot of wounds. Wounds that have the power to drive you straight into madness.” “Any idea who makes the shit?” “Nah. Whoever it is, is asking for trouble. The world runs on supply and demand. With Abyzz, you get a nice steady stream of highs and lows. Majority of my business is regulars, like you, who like a nice, temporary buzz. That shit?” His brows winged, and he scratched at his jaw. “I know some bastards whose houses have been raided by crazy junkies looking for more.” “Sounds like a dangerous way to live.” “’Swhy I keep making my own shit. Some of these breeds who get hooked are crazy without the drug. I don’t need to wind up in a ditch because some asshole wants to fuck his dead ex.” That comment punched Zayne right in the heart, but he kept his face stoic to keep from showing any emotion. Whoever was producing the drug obviously had a well-thought-out financial plan, if the demand was so high. But if they were using the succubi to produce it—and using succubi for anything was punishable by Orcosian law. Was it worth the risk of imprisonment? Even if the females willingly donated their blood for it, nothing was worth having the Orcosian Lords summoning a bastard for crimes against the
succubi. “Got a name for it?” Zayne rolled the new vial around in his fingers, anxious to break into the seal at the top. “It’s been called Rapture. On the streets, it’s known as Red Queen. But do yourself a favor and stay away from that shit.” “Will do, man. Thanks. Take care of yourself.” Zayne gave a sharp nod, rolling up the window as the kid walked off. He tugged his sleeve up to his elbow, and the tracks of his addiction damn near glowed in the dark. Tiny silver scars, almost invisible, from the needles trailed up his forearm. Since most metal couldn’t penetrate a demon’s flesh, the syringes he used had to be laced with a small bit of Diablis steel. The unfortunate side effect of injecting it was that it burned like a bitch and left traces of the metal beneath his skin. His black leather sheath sat inside the glove box, and with it’s retrieval, another round of tremors rushed through his body. Fuck! His bones stiffened, muscles twitching with the pulses of sheer agony that claimed his hand. He dropped both the vial and the sheath into the glovebox, waiting for the painful quakes to unlock his tight muscles. Like a horrible cramp, the agony twisted around his bones, holding him still, eyes squinted, until it slowly subsided.
He had to hurry. The intervals between the trembles and pain seemed to be getting shorter and shorter. Meaning he’d be in full-blown withdrawals soon. Zayne scrambled for the needle, unzipping the leather satchel in time for a small nauseating shudder to threaten another round of cramping. He’d seen pictures of bastards who’d gone through withdrawals, looking like tetanus patients of centuries past, their bodies twisted and contorted into painful arches. Uncapping the vial, he tipped the syringe into the fluid, squinting his eyes so hard he saw stars behind his lids, while his stomach warned of eruption. Zayne pumped his fist to pop his veins and opened his eyes, jabbing the needle into the largest in the branching map of vessels. Cool waves of bliss stamped out the flames that threatened to pull him into another bout of pain. Instead, they fizzled into a warm, fuzzy sensation that left goosebumps across his skin. Relief was immediate. More immediate than he’d ever felt before. A smile stretched his lips as he sank back into the leather seat. Two minutes, he’d give the drug to work its magic, before heading into the club to look for the female. Two blissful minutes of euphoria. Goddamn, he’d never been so relaxed before,
so calm and sated. Bodhi had whipped up his best shit that time. Had Zayne known it would be that good, he’d have given the kid his car and his left nut. Last time Zayne had ever been so right was after a marathon night of sex with Shey. He could damn near smell her scent. Could taste her juices on his tongue. Zayne licked his lips as the memories of that night pulled him deeper. Deeper. He reached down to grab hold of his straining dick and felt the tangle of silk wrap around his fingers. His eyes shot open to long trusses bobbing up and down against his lap. A soft moan told him she enjoyed it. She always had enjoyed giving him head in the car. The riskier the better, as far as Shey was concerned, and if anyone happened to catch them, they’d be in for quite a show. The woman put everything into sex. Wet warmth slid along his shaft, as her mouth continued its merciless assault, and Zayne curled his fingers into her hair, clenching his teeth. It’d never felt so damn real before. Maybe he’d waited too long in between. Maybe he needed to wait longer in between his highs. Hell, if the effects were that good, he’d suffer some shitty withdrawals for it. “Fuck, baby, I can’t do this right now. I want to, but I have to take care of something.” “Mmmm-mmmm,” she moaned around
his cock. “Shey, you know I’d stay if I could. But I have to go. I’ll take another hit before bed, and we’ll fool around like we usually do.” Zayne spent most nights putting himself to sleep with a shot of Abyzz and a bottle of Elysia. The fantasies of Shey were enough to send him off to some sweet fucking dreams. Her bobbing hastened, and with one long suck, Zayne threw his head back, pleading to the gods never to let the sensation end. With one fist clamped to her hair, he clutched the steering wheel for support, as she stroked and sucked and licked and pulled him along for the goddamn ride. Lifting his ass off the seat, he screwed his eyes shut, while she slammed her mouth to the base of him and sucked so hard the pressure tugged at his skin. “Fuck!” He bucked beneath her, thrusting his hips up into her throat, and when she grabbed hold of his balls, Zayne fucking lost it. Jets of hot cum pumped from his cock as he finished in her mouth. He never finished in his fantasies. His ass hit the seat, his whole body shuddering with the orgasm, trembling as the best high of his life washed through his muscles. He opened his eyes, expecting the fantasy to fade, as it always had, but when Shey sat back in the seat, licking the last of his cum from her lips, he frowned. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“I’m back, baby. You brought me back.” Even through the effects of the drug, Zayne felt the ice-cold grip of his lungs that told him something was off. “How?” She lifted the vial, in which the red ribbons danced like mesmerizing little mermaids, damn near laughing at him. No. Fuck, no. He’d taken the wrong drug.
19
B
lood. Everywhere. Ava shielded her eyes from the light, so bright her sockets ached. Though, even through the blinding illumination, she saw the shimmering pools of red. A distant sound grew closer, until the screams in her ears forced her to cover them with her hands. She lifted her gaze to the pale-skinned demons feeding on the body beneath them. Smooth ivory skin marred with teeth marks. White wings spattered with blood. They fed on an angel. One still struggling beneath them, clinging to life. A horrific panic churned in her gut. To feed on earthly creatures, or those from the demon realm, was one thing, but the very purity and innocence of the creature they’d attacked told Ava a whole new evil had risen and the heavens had been breached.
The angel turned, the terror in its eyes meeting hers, and for one brief moment, she could feel the pain and suffering down in her gut. He reached out to her. A silent plea to save him, and she went to him, knelt beside the demons who viciously tore at the angel with no remorse. No abandon. Her fingertips trailed down the cold flesh of the angels arm. “Please!” he rasped, before a spray of blood left a spattering across his ivory skin. An overpowering scent hit the back of her throat and tingled her teeth. She bent forward and sank her teeth into his flesh. Sucking in a gasp, Ava shot up from the bed, the darkness of the room falling around her like a shroud. Body trembling, she scanned her surroundings for the demons, the Sang, who’d fed on the angel, but neither they, nor the heavenly creature, were in sight. She touched her lips where the divine taste still teased her palate—one so innocent and sweet, she felt wrong for having indulged in it. “Oh, Gods, just a dream,” she whispered. “What’s wrong, baby?” Calix asked beside her. Before his hand could reach her trembling arm that’d surely confess her rattled state, she nuzzled herself back under the heavy blanket and shook her head. “Just a bad dream. I’m okay.”
With a tired yawn, he leaned forward, kissed her lips, and for a brief second, Ava panicked that he’d taste the angel’s blood there. When he settled back into sleep, she blew out a breath of relief. The Nephilim, as a whole, were far from saintly, but Ava couldn’t deny that the day an angel was slaughtered by demons would be the day the world would crumble and hell would break loose. That she would willingly partake in such a travesty frightened her more than anything. Could her cravings, the disease that festered inside of her, ever reach the point of her doing something so immoral and wrong that she could never redeem herself? Could she ever take life so innocent and pure? She feared the ghost of the taste on her tongue —a flavor so delicious, it terrified her to think what she’d do for it. Clamping her eyes shut, Ava willed those thoughts away, as far away as she could. “You’re hungry.” Calix’s voice reached her ears like balm on a festering wound, and she opened her eyes to his staring back at her. “Gods, I’m sorry. You’ve been craving it all this time.” “I’m okay, Calix.” “You’re not. I can see you’re not. I’ll be right back.” Before she could protest, he pushed out of bed, giving her a brief glimpse of his muscled ass before it disappeared behind a pair of track pants. As he left the room, Ava couldn’t help but
ponder what the hell he saw that gave him the impression she was starved, so she slid out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. A flip of the lights allowed her reflection to swallow her composure. Dark circles rimmed the bottom of her eyes, eyes so red with hunger, she didn’t even look human. The gaunt tone of her skin left her wanting to crawl into herself and die. She hadn’t recalled looking like that before bed. In fact, she felt as if she’d begun to fill out a bit and reclaimed the happy glow since staying with the Wraths. How could that happen in a matter of hours? Sensing a presence at the door, she turned toward Calix, standing with two clear bags filled with blood. “I’ve got pedophile and rapist. Take your pick.” She crinkled her nose at him. “What’s this?” “Calla needed blood, like you. So Logan spent a good couple weeks hunting some down and stocked up for her. Eventually, she no longer required it.” He shook both bags and tipped his head. “So, what’s it going to be?” “Neither sounds appetizing.” “Beggars can’t be choosy.” She huffed and swung her attention back toward the mirror. “I wish I didn’t have to beg. I don’t understand how this happened so quickly?” “From what I gather …” Calix held the bag up
to his mouth and bit into the plastic, allowing a small fountain of blood to spurt up before falling into the sink. “The Sang virus works pretty quickly. If you’ve not been getting injections of ichor, your body might be repairing itself. Flushing out the ichor. Which means the cravings hit pretty fast.” Keeping the bag over the sink, he held it out to her. “I know it’s not the most appetizing, but it’ll help. Of course, you’ll crave more. There’s about a week’s supply in the kitchen. We’ll get more.” Ava held the bag to her mouth with a grimace, but the moment that coppery scent reached her nose, she bit into the place Calix had started for her and sucked it down as if it’d disappear at any second. Gulp after gulp, she polished off every last drop of the delicious blood. “Logan killed to get this blood.” “Logan selectively rid the world of assholes who’d have fed off the innocent with as much remorse as the blood-sucking Sang.” Ava inwardly flinched at the visuals of the angel still haunting her thoughts. “I tasted it. In his blood. His sins left a bitter taste.” Staring back at the blood stained across her lips in the mirror’s reflection, she frowned. “Calix, promise me you won’t ever let me take innocent life. Promise me you’ll never let me become a monster.” He stood behind her, and pushing a strand of hair away from her neck, he kissed her nape. “I
promise,” he whispered.
20
D
enya’s hands slipped against the rope, the burn on her palms like fire, but she kept her footing. If she slipped, she’d undoubtedly break her neck and all would have been for naught. For six days, they’d been left at the bottom of the well. Sure, they’d been given supplies—boxed food and bottles of water, moistened cloths for bathing, and mouthwash, but she’d surely never get that piss smell out of her nose. In fact, she doubted she’d ever be able to take a piss herself, without wanting to puke. As she climbed the rope that’d been fed down into the well, Denya thought about what she’d say to her captors. How to broach the topic of Safina was a stress that plagued the entire climb. They never bothered to investigate the missing girls, didn’t even question if any of the girls had seen
anything, on the few occasions it’d happened. As if they didn’t want to talk about it, at all. And Denya hadn’t bothered to care, until the girl she’d sworn to look after had gone missing. As she approached the mouth of the well, her arms turned to jelly for a brief second, and she slipped again, squinting at the flames that scorched her skin, before catching herself. A couple of months ago, she could’ve made the climb in record time, a true athlete, but she’d since grown weak. Softer than she cared to admit. While the other girls stood around the open hole, with the two males keeping watch behind them, the succubus captor reached out. Clutching to Denya’s arm, she pulled her onto the grassy hill that welcomed her with the scent of fresh primulaj —a bright and cheery flower of the underworld, and a welcomed contrast to the putrid smells to which she’d begun to grow accustomed. Once upright, Denya rubbed her hands together, as the female and two males gathered up packs scattered on the ground as if preparing to start moving. Always moving. “They took her,” Denya said. “I saw who took her.” “It doesn’t matter.” The succubus’s dismissive tone grated on Denya’s nerve, as she tossed a pack filled with their supplies, which Denya swiped from
the air. “It does matter. Someone took her. I saw who did it.” Denya followed behind the female, determined to make her listen. “I can tell you where she lives.” “That’s nice. If it mattered, I might ask.” Perhaps it was a hint of starvation that’d already worn her patience thin, but Denya couldn’t stand it. She refused another step. The woman needed to acknowledge the gravity of her tone. The unwillingness to let it go. “What the hell is wrong with you people? Why are you acting like nothing happened?” “Unless you want to be thrown back into that well, I suggest you shut up.” “No! I made a promise. A promise I intend to keep. I told her I’d keep her safe. I’m going to find her.” “You’re going to get your ass in line and walk until I say it’s time to stop walking.” “I’m not taking another fucking step.” “Then, you’ve made your choice.” “You won’t throw me into that well. Because for whatever reason, I’m more valuable to you than Safina was. Or any of the girls that were taken. You made a deal, right?” Denya didn’t even know, for sure, if they had, but she’d suspected as much. Why else would they turn their cheeks?
“You’re replaceable.” Jaw clenched, Denya shook her head. “No, I’m not. If you lose me, you lose a lot of money.” Totally bluffing, but at least she might get some answers out of it. Seconds passed in a quiet standoff, while Denya pondered whether the female might toss her back into that well, after all. The succubus’s jaw ticced, eyes narrowed. “She was young. Not as pure.” “So, that makes her worth less?” “Did it ever occur to you that she might be better off than you?” It hadn’t, actually. Denya had no idea what awaited them at whatever destination they’d arrive —if they’d ever arrive, at all. The female had never bothered to entertain so many questions, though. “What are you doing with us?” Only a small fraction of a smile slid across her face before it quickly disappeared. “Get in line.” “I want to look for her. I want to know that she’s okay.” “The only thing that I’d be concerned with from here on out, is how many days you have left.” “You plan to kill me, then?” “I don’t, no. But what happens between you and your master is another matter.” “Master?” She smirked and shot a glance back at the males
behind her. “I already told you. Focus on your own wellbeing.” The sting of metal hit Denya’s chin as the succubus propped a blade beneath it. “I’ve never so much as laid a hand on you. Don’t give me a reason to start. Safina will be fine. That’s all you need to know.” It wasn’t, though. At her first chance, Denya would attempt what she hadn’t since the night she was captured—she’d try to escape. Even if it killed her, she’d never break her promise, and she sure as shit wouldn’t be calling someone master.
21
C
alix tipped back a shot of Elysia and continued scanning the Sanctuary crowd. He hadn’t wanted to leave Ava’s side, but duty had called, and he didn’t want to let it fall on his brothers’ shoulders. Someone had to man the club while Gavin searched for Denya. Calix knew all too well how maddening the unknowns could be. How a man could search for someone, night after night, and wake with the singular ambition to do it all over again. How, against all of the odds and possibilities stacking up against him, he could cling to one thread of hope and push himself to keep trying. Calix had been there. And he was damn sure not planning to be in that position again. Ordinarily, he’d tuck himself inside his office and watch the crowd of club-goers from the digital
monitor on his desk. But if the gorilla-faced bastard dared to step into his club again, Calix wanted to be the first on his ass. Not a chance in all of Obsidius would he let anyone take Ava from him again. He watched. Waited. Kept himself on alert, knowing the chances of that bastard showing up were slim. “Don’t see you much, down in the trenches, Boss.” The voice from behind prompted Calix to turn on his stool until facing Pat, the bartender, who pushed another shot in front of him. “What’s the occasion?” “Keeping an eye on things,” Calix said, tossing back the amber liquor. A bitter warmth slid down his throat, and Calix squinted his eyes as he downed the last of the Elysia. “Shit I’ve seen go down in this club, I think you’d need an army to keep the peace sometimes.” With a smirk, Calix nudged the shot glass back toward Pat and glanced over his shoulder at the relatively calm throng of scantily-clad females, and the males who studied their every curve. “Seems quiet tonight.” “Don’t jinx it. For fucks sake, I slept a total of two hours last night. Can’t deal with demon bullshit.” “How do you keep this all under wraps, Pat?” Calix gestured toward the variety of supes in the crowd. “I mean, humans talk. You’ve got
barbecues, poker night, church on Sunday. How the hell do you go day to day without slipping up and saying something?” “What, demon shit? It’s easy. I have an aversion to being considered crazy.” A chuckle burst from Calix’s chest, and he gave a nod. “This shit is definitely crazy train material.” “My mother asks how work is going. I tell her it’s boring. All I do is serve drinks to sorry saps looking to avoid going home to their wives. If she knew that I served a Saevious demon last week? She’d be asking the priest to perform an exorcism on me.” Another bout of laughter pushed back Calix’s thoughts from earlier, and for the first time, he realized he could relax and enjoy a simple conversation. For months, he’d been preoccupied. Years, really, because prior to Ava running off, he’d had her brother Ryke to contend with. Only recently could he let his mind go blank and enjoy the moment. “I got an order to take care of. Chat later, boss.” Pat knocked the bar-top and made his way to the opposite end, toward a young blonde sitting with two brunettes. All three sets of eyes riveted on Calix, and a flash slipped behind his eyes, paralyzing him in his seat. In the visual, the two brunettes ate each other out, while the blonde sucked him off.
Fuck, stop it. Stop it. Calix shook his head, horrified that he could even fantasize such a thing, when the love of his life waited for him back at the mansion. Pinned to the bed. One female feeding him her tits. Another licking her asshole from behind. The blonde riding him. Christ! He thumped his temple with the heel of his hand and clamped his eyes shut. Unfortunately, the visuals had already taken hold, and Calix’s body responded with the urge to act on them. A tremble moved through his muscles, as the blonde made her way toward him with both girls in tow. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Molten lava crawled through his veins with every step they took closer, his dick so hard in his pants, he damn near wanted to cry. He hated his body’s reaction. Wanted to tear the urge right the fuck out of his gut and walk away from the three beautiful females, but he couldn’t. Every muscle remained locked up in a state of paralysis. A unison of moans. Calix fucking a brunette from behind, while she buries her face in the blonde’s pussy. No, no, no. With every fantasy, the urge grew stronger. The thirst ready to drive him mad. “Hello, handsome.” The blonde leaned in, dangerously close to his ear, her breath fanning his
sensitive skin. “My friends and I were looking for a quiet place to eat some pussy. Know where we might find one?” Jaw clenched, Calix willed himself not to answer, but when the words, “My office,” slid past his lips, he knew he was fucked. “That sounds perfect. You’re welcome to watch us.” He wanted to tear her voice-box out and tell her no, but instead, he rose up from the barstool, his legs on autopilot as they carried him to the elevator. Don’t do this, the sane part of him argued, but the urges had become stronger than Calix’s resistance. He’d gotten some relief with Ava, but the incubi required sex. And because he’d denied himself it for so long, his body had begun to commandeer his mind. The moment they stepped inside the elevator, the blonde and one of the brunettes backed themselves in the corner, and only the slurping sound of their wet kisses could be heard above the gears of the elevator. The second brunette stood beside Calix, a smile stretching the bright red lipstick across her face, and her hand drifted inside his buttoned down shirt. “I like having a fourth. Sometimes, I feel left out, the way those two go at each other.” Her lips were at Calix’s ear before he could utter a protest—as if he could, at all—and she licked the shell of it. “You should hear Nadia
scream when she comes. So fucking hot.” A shudder rippled down his spine at the thought. He didn’t want it to. He wanted only to imagine Ava’s face, steeped in ecstasy that he’d brought her, but he could damned near hear the blonde crying out, her voice drowned by his own grunts, as he fucked one of the girls while watching her climax. Head swelling with the agony of debate, his body reveled in the pleasures to come. He’d fuck them a thousand ways before the night’s end. Three times the relief, all at once. Each of them would be more sated than they’d ever been in their lives, if they survived, and he’d have the torment of going back to Ava, knowing he’d betrayed her. That he’d completely destroyed her trust, however uncontrollable it was. She’d never understand the complex nature of his body’s needs, and how it could take over his mind, if Calix tried to stop it. He’d reached the point of madness without even knowing. Somehow Calix envisioned the stage as something more dramatic. He’d never dreamed that he’d be fine one moment and desperately clinging to restraint the next. Starvation was funny sometimes. At the ding of the elevator, the doors opened onto the office wing of the club, and Calix led the three females down the hall. A strange sensation
moved through him, something dark and carnal. He closed his eyes, and behind his lids, more fantasies played out like a bad movie. Blood. Screams. Lifeless eyes staring back at him. His body shook as he reached his office, and Calix gripped the doorframe for support. The small measure of control he’d clung to had begun to thin, on the verge of snapping away. “Are you okay, babe?” The blonde set a hand on his arm, and against all of his instincts roaring inside his head to throw her against the wall and fuck the life right out of her, he clenched his teeth. “Get. Out of here.” “But you said—” “Now! You want to die tonight? Get the fuck out!” Heat blazed across his skin as his incubus itched to break free, to take its natural form and hunt for food. Branches of red danced across his skin, while the demon inside of him pushed through his flesh. “Go!” All three girls backed away and twisted on a dead run toward the elevators. His senses piqued. A cold bite of excitement struck his muscles like a snake pumping wicked venom through his veins. The chase. It enticed him. Calix’s nails dug into the wall as he struggled to
hold on, to keep from going after the girls. The urge took over. He pounded down the corridor, amused by their screams that echoed throughout the hallway. How he couldn’t wait to hear them scream beneath him. The blonde jabbed a finger against the elevator button. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!” “Hurry! Nadia, hurry!” The brunette screamed. When the elevator opened, all three girls piled in. Calix pushed speed from his legs, watching the light dim as the doors closed. He ran faster. Determined to catch them, he dove headfirst as the doors made their final click, and the cold slam at the top of his head zinged down into his spine and nose, filling his sinuses with the warm tingle of pain. He fell back onto the floor, and as he stared up at the rafters in the ceiling, they blurred and sharpened, then blurred completely out of focus again.
22
Z
ayne could handle the shakes—the agony in his gut that begged him to shoot up another dose of Abyzz. He’d been through withdrawals before. Many times. Usually only took the first buzz to feed that relentless monster before he was good again. Watching a physical version of Shey slowly fade with his high, though, was something Zayne wouldn’t be able to take. Digging the heels of his hands into his eyeballs, he sent up a prayer that she’d be gone when he unshielded his eyes. That whatever fantasy he’d had, however real it may have felt, was nothing but illusion. Like every other time he’d dreamed of Shey and she’d disappeared soon after. The moment his hands fell away, though, his stomach sank.
In silence, she watched him from the passenger seat, head tipped with the kind of innocent curiosity that made him nervous. The kind that told him she had no idea that she wasn’t supposed to be there. She wasn’t. Shey was gone. He’d had to come to terms with that a long time ago. The female beside him was a fake, and no matter how many times he took that drug, she’d always be a fake. “You’re not real.” Zayne clutched his head and opened the car door, tumbling out onto the pavement. He pulled himself up, tripping back a step, and slammed the door shut. A few strides away, an echoing slam flinched his muscles, but Zayne kept on toward the bar ahead of him. Stay focused. She’s not real. Not real. Don’t look at her. Pushing through the door of the club, he let the sounds, the flashing lights, and the sins of every patron up in the place distract his mind from the ghost that trailed his steps. Didn’t help that every bastard they passed checked her out, their gazes flitting from Zayne to her, making him all the more aware that she wasn’t just his secret little fantasy anymore. Zayne slid between two females on the way to the bar, eyeing the way they bit their lips, staring him up and down, before frowning as their gazes
skipped toward Shey. They saw her, too. So fucking wrong. Yet, right at the same time. A part of him wanted to believe it. What the hell would it hurt? Except, nothing he’d ever taken in his life scared the shit out of him more than knowing, with the diminishing effects of the drug, she’d eventually fizzle away to nothing. “I come back from the dead, and you decide to take me to the bar? I thought we’d be going back to your bed, after what I offered up in the car.” Christ, even her voice was spot on, casting the same ripple of calm down his spine as it had when Shey was alive. “You need to go.” Somewhere deep inside, Zayne knew, the longer he spent with her, the faster his addictions would take hold. She felt like Shey. Smelled like Shey. Even frowned like Shey, as she stood crossing her arms in the same defiant attitude that’d endeared him to Shey. “No. I’m staying with you.” “I told you. I’m looking for something,” he said, spinning away from her before he could do something stupid, like scoop her up and check out of the gig all together. “Someone, you said in the car.” The hint of jealousy in her voice made Zayne cringe. It wasn’t like Shey to be jealous, but then
again, he’d never have ignored her for anything, or anyone. It hurt him to turn his back on her, even the fantasy of her, but entertaining the possibilities with her would be detrimental. It’d taken too damn long for him to accept her death. Too many nights spent contemplating suicide. Too many drugs. Too many fights. “Someone, yes.” He slid into the barstool, angling himself away from her, so as not to look back when he could feel her stare drilling into him. Did she eat and drink? Would she be like the ghouls back at home, who, for shits, Zeke would make drink a shot of Elysia, only to see it trickle through their bodies and pool onto the floor beneath them? As the bartender strolled up, Zayne sat forward. “Two shots of Elysia.” He gave a sharp nod and spun around to the bottles of liquor lining the back wall. “I can’t drink anything. Just so you know.” Another reminder that she wasn’t Shey, because the female he knew could drink and cuss like a fucking sailor when she’d wanted. In some ways, it relieved him to know he could point out such differences, when every other detail, down to Shey’s tiny freckles, happened to be exact. “I’ll drink yours.” As the bartender slid the two shot-glasses across the bar-top, Zayne guided them
both in front of him. “And what for the lady?” He gave a nod toward Shey. Gods, he wished she’d stayed in the car. For every bastard that acknowledged her, made her real, Zayne lost another notch of control. “I’m good. Thanks,” she responded, plopping into the stool beside him. “Zayne?” No sooner had the rim of the glass touched his lips than a familiar voice from behind prompted him to gulp the shot before he choked on the drink. Spinning on his stool brought him face to face with Xander. A twinge of panic shot through his veins, when the angel’s gaze slid toward Shey and his brow furrowed. “’The fuck … is going on here?” Xander had met Shey on a few occasions back at the mansion. Though he’d not been there when shit had gone down with Ferno, he certainly knew the female shouldn’t have been staring back at him with her doe eyes like she belonged there, even if he’d never formally asked Zayne what’d happened to her. “What do you want?” “Your brother’s been trying to get a hold of you. For months.” “I’m aware.” Zayne spun back around on the chair and kicked back the second shot of Elysia,
squinting as the hot liquor slid down his throat. “Are you also aware he’s running on fumes right now, holding down the fort while searching for Denya himself?” “’The fuck is he looking for her?” Zayne’s attention swung back toward the angel. “I told him I’d find her.” “I see that.” Xander gestured toward Shey, who remained smiling, but silent. “You’ve been digging up graves.” “She’s an illusion.” “Well, I sure as fuck haven’t turned as bat-shit as you, and I see her just fine.” “She’s an illusion you can see.” Zayne waved his hand in dismissal, facing the bar again. “What the hell are you doing here? Gavin send you to check up on me?” “I’m no fucking babysitter to you demons. I’m here on a separate request. One that promises a prime piece of ass at the end of it. You seen a Fallen come through here? Long black hair? Tattoo on her neck. Goes by the name of Thais.” Zayne’s brows lifted in recognition, and he twisted back around to Xander. “Thais? I’m looking for her.” “Yeah? Well, looks like you got your hands full. This one’s mine.” “She has ties to the succubi.” Glancing around the bar to make sure no one had heard him, Zayne
leaned toward Xander and lowered his voice. “What do you want her for?” “She’s my ticket to heaven. But that aside, she’s been wiping souls clean.” “Sins?” “Yep. The heavens don’t look kindly on that.” No shit. The repercussions would be devastating, having a bunch of demons whose sins had been erased. As one who read them daily, it took seconds for him to identify a truly dangerous breed from the harmless variety. “What do you plan to do with her?” “Hand her over to the Sentinels. But I’ll let you do your little interrogations before I do. And not that you will, but if you find her first, you hand her over to me when you’re finished with your little ménage.” “She may know where Denya is.” He tossed cash onto the bar before coming to a stand. “I got told she was last seen at this bar. Between the two of us, we should be able to find her.” “I came here because the bastard who owns this shithole is known for nabbing lone female supes off the streets.” Xander’s eyes slid to the left, and he frowned again. “Hey, where’d your girl go?” Zayne swung his gaze to the empty chair Shey had sat on moments before and scanned the crowd. A twinge of frustration beat through him. Fake, or not, she was the closest he’d ever get to his mate
again, and just as he’d feared, her sudden disappearance left an aching hollow in his chest. “She wasn’t real,” he muttered. “What kind of shit have you been smoking?” Ignoring his question, Zayne shoved his hands into his pocket, his finger brushing over the small vial of Rapture. “So, who do we talk to?” “C’mon. Bastard never leaves his office.” Xander jerked his head for him to follow, but Zayne couldn’t help giving another once over the throng for Shey. The effects of his high had begun to wane, the creeping sensation of dread climbing his spine. He’d need another hit soon, but not with Xander around. Asshole’d probably go back to Gavin, who’d undoubtedly order him back to the mansion. Not that Zayne wanted to stay away from the brothers he loved, but the suffocating reminders of Shey were everywhere. Particularly when he looked into Ferno’s sad and sullen eyes. After the fiasco in the alterrealm, when he’d wanted to kill his brother, Zayne had welcomed the opportunity to search for Denya. To put some distance between him and Ferno. Through the dark club, Zayne schooled his thoughts on Denya, because without the Abyzz, every fucking sin up in the place wafted across his skull like a torture porn flick and left a filthy taste in his mouth. Between trying to mentally compose
a list of questions for the Fallen female, and attempting to ignore the stomach-turning images of rape fantasies and blood fetishes that the Fallen were known for, Zayne nearly lost sight of Xander, as he took a turn down a dark hallway. Trailing after him brought the two of them standing in front of a door. With two knocks, a brutish male answered from the other side, cracking a narrow view of the room within. The suit and tie, paired with sunglasses and an earbud wire sticking out from his head, made him look like the Secret Service. “Here to see Ivan,” Xander said, crossing his arms. “He’s busy right now. Come back later.” Before the demon could slam the door in their faces, Xander wedged his boot in the opening and leaned forward. “Let me rephrase that.” From his hip, Xander tugged a long, gnarly-looking blade with a hook at the end of it. “Get Ivan now, or I’ll gut you open and play with your entrails.” Without taking his eyes off Xander, the demon kicked his head to the side. “Boss, got someone here to see you.” A disembodied voice from inside groaned with irritation. “Who is it?” “Your fairy-fucking-godmother,” Xander responded. A nervous chuckle lightened the tension, and
the brute stepped aside, allowing both Xander and Zayne passage into the dimly lit office. “Xander. Buddy. How are ya?” Across the room, a dwarfish-looking demon, whose species Zayne didn’t recognize off-hand, sat sprawled in an oversized chair with a three-breasted female draped over his lap. At a sharp slap of her ass, the female squeaked and scrambled to her feet, giving every male in the room a view of her kitty tail plug that dangled from between her cheeks and swayed as she sauntered toward a door to the right of Ivan. Zayne’s gaze followed after her, as she disappeared through the door. Though too narrow an entrance to see inside, Zayne guessed it a dungeon room attached to his office, like so many of the demons who owned the fetish clubs kept. With his fingers fidgeting atop the desk, Ivan leaned in for a sip of his drink, and Zayne caught the tremble of his hands. “Been a long time, my friend. You’re looking healthier these days.” By Xander’s chuckle, and the way the demon squirmed in his seat, Zayne took healthier to mean not in the thick of the torture Xander had been known to exact while working as a Sentinel, before Gavin had hired him. That was before he’d fallen, and his torment had only become more sadistic in the years that’d followed.
Zayne had been on enough missions with Xander to know the angel had something of a reputation in the underground scene. They feared him. No doubt the brute who’d tried to shut them out had only come to his senses once he’d recognized Xander. “Fuck you.” Ivan dared an upward glance, but quickly shifted his gaze back toward the desktop. “Oh, c’mon now. What happened between us was years ago. I’ve forgiven you.” With a furrowed brow, Ivan sat back, and the glare he shot Xander could’ve killed him, had it been loaded. “You’ve forgiven me? You cut off my dick, asshole!” The demon’s lisp made the word sound like ath-hole, and when he flinched, Zayne swallowed back the urge to laugh at the visual. If there was one bastard Zayne would never want to be at the mercy of, it was Xander, who kept himself wickedly amused during his tortures. “Did it not grow back? You had a teenage girl working for you. You’re lucky I didn’t take your fucking head, while I was at it.” “I told you. I didn’t know she was a teenager. Humans … it’s hard to tell.” “Had you been one of the Fallen, you’d have been dead.” With a sneer, the demon lifted his glass, watching Xander out of the corner of his eye. “I see I’m not the only one who lost a piece of myself.
When did you decide to trade your white wings for black, friend?” Xander’s cheek flinched at that, his tongue gliding along his teeth. “I’m not here to talk about me. I’m looking for a female. Fallen. Has the Thurisaz tattooed on her neck.” The Thurisaz was something like an ancient rune. Zayne didn’t know much about them in general, but from what little demon history he’d gleaned over the years, Thurisaz had always been associated with the blackest magic. The sucking in of his bottom lip and the intensity of the demon’s fidgeting told Zayne the bastard had seen her. “Don’t make me pull the blade, shithead.” Xander shook his head. “My friend can easily take on big boy over there, and you’d be nothing but a nugget of sadistic play to curb the craving I’ve had for plunging my blade into something. Hard.” The demon’s eyes slammed shut at that, lips thinned, while his face turned a lighter shade of pale. “I’ve seen her. She needed a place to stay, so I obliged. Look, whatever she did, I had nothing—” “Where is she now?” Ivan stretched his neck and rubbed his nape. “See, I can’t. I promised that—” “Where. The fuck. Is the female?” Subtle as it was, Zayne caught the quick slide of Ivan’s right eyeball toward the room off to the side
and back. Xander obviously caught it, too, as he shot up from his seat beside Zayne, knocking the chair ass over applecart. As Xander strode toward the room, with Ivan stumbling after him, the brute lurched toward them, set into motion like a statue come to life. Zayne thrust up from the chair, allowing the red to take over his eyes, and crossed his arms in a no bullshit stance. “I wouldn’t.” The brute took a step back, gaze locked on Zayne’s, his jaw shifting with irritation. “Ivan, Ivan, Ivan. You sick and sorry bastard. What the fuck do we have here?” Xander’s voice held a tinge of amusement, piquing Zayne’s curiosity. The angel had seen some pretty nasty shit in the underground scene, so sick and sorry could’ve been stomach turning and horrific, for all Zayne knew. Backing himself toward the room, Zayne kept Brute in his sights until he reached the door’s threshold and peeked inside. A morbid scent hit him first, like the stench of rotting flesh over the heady aroma of sex, that crinkled Zayne’s nose. The lights had been flipped on, illuminating a macabre scene of human females hanging from cables like puppets, suspension hooks lodged into their backs. Whether they were dead, or drugged, Zayne couldn’t tell, but the coppery scent of blood hung on the air with
a toxic cloud of sins that made him want to gag. On the bed, the three-breasted kitten female batted around a demon’s severed head as if playing with a ball of yarn, and seemed completely oblivious to their presence. In the corner of the room sat a cage, and inside, a naked woman crouched, curled into herself. Zayne strode toward it, eyeing the bruises and cuts at either side of her spine that indicated she’d been tortured. In a slow and easy drop to his knees, he reached for the lock on the cage, noticing one of those combo varieties. “What’s the combination?” Zayne said over his shoulder. “I … um. I can’t remember. Truly, that’s why she’s stuck there. I’m … I’m not lying.” Jolting up from the floor, Zayne crossed the room, and before the demon could so much as squeal, he pinned him to the wall. Staring into his eyes brought forth a flood of sins that Zayne couldn’t stand to watch—twisted scenes of the male luring women, strangling them, dressing them up in lingerie, finding a female in the basement, strapping her to a bed, while he, the Brute and the cat cut her, had their way with her, and threw her into the cage. They taunted her, poking at her through the metal. Zayne saw the demon punching in the code of the lock. Seven sevens. He dropped the demon and, at Ivan’s sharp
intake of air, realized he’d nearly snapped his gullet while throttling his throat. Slumping to the floor, the dwarf clutched his neck and sputtered a dry cough. “You ever touch a female again,” Zayne gritted, the anger claiming his voice, “and I’ll hunt you down and sever your dick every night until your body can’t regenerate.” “I think it’s lesson time again, Ivan.” Slipping out of his leather coat, Xander draped it on a chair and set his hand on the hilt of his blade at his side. “I thought we’d already established how much it pisses me off when you don’t cooperate.” Zayne quickly returned to the cage and knelt down beside it, punching in the seven’s until the lock popped, swinging the door open. The female juddered with the clang of metal, but didn’t dart for her freedom for some reason. “Are you okay?” he asked, tipping his head to catch a glimpse of her face as he broke the chains that bound her hands behind her back. Nothing but a whimper came from behind a curtain of curls. He backed away, giving her ample room to crawl out, and when she finally emerged, he could see her entire body trembling. As her hair fell away from her face, the silver flicker drew his attention toward her mouth where tape had been applied. She ripped it away, revealing a long, stringy object that she tugged, producing a small white mouse whose head had undoubtedly been
crushed by her teeth. Fuck. That was gross. Zayne had watched demons eat mice before, without so much as flinching, but that must’ve been a hell all it’s own for the female. Lips peeled back, she leaped onto the adjacent bed, startling the demon cat, and wrapped her hands around the other female’s throat. “You fucking cunt! You demented fucking cunt!” The rasp of her voice told Zayne she’d had her mouth taped for a while. Drawing her fist back, she slammed it into the female’s face. Cat girl bounced and bucked beneath her, but couldn’t throw the female off. “Caterina! Caterina!” Ivan’s screams bounced off the walls from the other side of the room, where Xander had tied both him and the brute. Zayne didn’t bother to intervene. What’d been done to her deserved far more wrath than she was doling out. The captive’s steel grip kept to cat girl’s throat, until at last, the freakish feline stilled beneath her. As the Fallen female growled and scrambled across the bed toward the other two, Zayne gripped her shoulder to stop her. “They’ll be dealt with. Thais?” “Who’s asking?” “I’m Zayne. This is Xander.” Her brows creased as she swept her gaze
toward Xander. “Fallen?” “He is.” Without ceremony, she leapt from the bed toward the door. Zayne darted after her, just catching her ankle. Face-planting the floor, she clawed to get away from him and kicked back, clocking Zayne in the jaw. The hit hardly registered as pain, and certainly didn’t falter his grip. With a sharp yank, Zayne slid her back toward him and climbed up her body until he straddled her back, trapping both her wrists while she squirmed beneath him. “We’re not going to hurt you.” In an unrelenting bid for freedom, the female continued to writhe against Zayne’s grasp. Completely futile, as he had no intentions of letting her go. A scream reverberated from across the room, and Thais stiffened. The dwarf hung by his back from one of the hooks above the bed, sobbing as he stared down on the unmoving female sprawled out and turning blue. Beside him, Xander held one of the hooks, which dangled a large wobbling chunk of skin and meat. The pained moans rising from the other side of the bed told Zayne the flesh belonged to the brute. “How deep are these hooks supposed to go?
Fucking hell, the asshole must weigh a goddamn metric ton.” Xander huffed his irritation and hoisted the demon to his feet, revealing the gore glistening across the brute’s back in the exposed fascia. “What do you want from me?” The female’s voice shifted Zayne’s attention back on her. “You’re coming with us. You’ll be safe.” “Yeah, that’s what that motherfucker told me, too. Take your safety and shove it square up your ass.” “You know black magic, yeah? Why didn’t you use it on him?” Zayne knew the answer, though. As much as she may have suffered in her torment, she couldn’t risk drawing attention to herself. Summoning the darkness would’ve drawn all variety of supes to her, including the Sentinels, whose acts of punishment made those twisted bastards behind him look like bumbling circus clowns. “Just do whatever the fuck you want to do to me and let me go.” “I told you. We’ve no intentions of harming you. I’m a son of Wrath.” She kicked her head to the side. “Wrath?” “I’m surprised you didn’t pick up on that yourself.” Another scream echoed through the room, and Xander groaned, lifting the hook that’d scalped the
Brute. “I give up. I’ll need to lodge the hook to the bastard’s bones to get him to hang.” Tossing the hook away, Xander twisted the scalped mop of hair free and chucked it toward Ivan, who startled with a scream. Xander’s obnoxious laugh in response left Zayne shaking his head. “They messed with my head. All my natural senses are out of whack right now.” Thais shifted beneath Zayne. “Let me up. I promise I won’t run.” Zayne slid off her, allowing her to sit up, and pushed to his feet. Across the room, he rifled through a dumped duffel-bag of clothes, presumably hers, from which he tossed her a T-shirt and jeans. Slipping the shirt over her head concealed her battered body, giving Zayne some relief. One thing he hated more than anything was seeing a female who’d been hurt. A part of him didn’t know what he’d do if he found Denya battered like that. Beautiful and innocent as she was, her soul was one of the cleanest he’d ever read, aside from a few small lies. She was like a fresh glass of water during a drought. Zayne studied the female before him, allowing his senses to dig into her mind. A cloud of murk hung on his visions, keeping her sins completely hidden from him. “You’re trying to probe me. I can feel it. Tickles
a little.” “What are you hiding?” “I’ve got secrets that I intend to take to the very pits of Obsidius.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Got a smoke?” At the shake of Zayne’s head, she toyed with the button on the jeans still draped across her lap. “This place you’re taking me. It’s safe?” “Safest in the city. Guarded by ghouls and the Fallen. And my brothers.” “All sons of Wrath?” Zayne gave a nod, pushed off the floor to his full height, and looked down on her. “No one can touch you there. I promise.” “Okay, then. Take me there before they find me.” “You don’t have to fear the Sentinels. Not even they would set foot on our property.” “I don’t. The ones who are after me are much worse.” She glanced back toward where Ivan still swung from his hook. “I don’t want to talk about them here, though.” Zayne whistled for Xander’s attention. “Let’s wrap this up. We’re taking her back to the mansion.” “You think Gavin will go for that?” “My brother gave me a job. I intend to see it through.” And perhaps by the end of the week, he’d have found Denya, and all would be good
again between them. Because all Zayne wanted at that moment was another shot of Abyzz. Of the red variety.
23
C
alix thumped the heel of his hand against his temple, as he sat at his desk, locked away in his office. Idiot. Fucking idiot! The knock at the door came as a relief, before Maddox peeked his head inside. “How goes it, Brother?” “Thanks for taking watch. I’ve got some shit going on.” “So I saw.” Mack would undoubtedly have sent him the security footage that undoubtedly showed Calix chasing after those females like a goddamn wild beast. The guard had been the first to arrive on scene, when Calix came out of his spell, and he’d immediately contacted Maddox on his cell. “Mack didn’t know what to make of it,” Maddox continued. “Said he’d never seen you so
out of control before. You’re losing your touch with the ladies.” He chuckled, but if his brother knew what the hell Calix had to contend with, how close he’d been to ripping into those females as if they were fresh meat for the slaughter, he’d have had the same somber expression that Calix couldn’t help but wear. “I’m becoming a danger.” “You’re starving yourself.” Maddox strolled across the room, always looking like some kind of mafia Don, the way his steps carried a certain swagger. The slight Italian accent, courtesy of his mother, a very powerful Strega, only added another layer of suave. “Look, you found your girl. I say you take off a few days, fuck her ‘til she can’t see straight, and come back refreshed.” Calix rubbed a hand down his face and shook his head. “I’d love to, but Ava … some bad shit happened to her. She can’t.” “My man, you’re an incubus. I don’t need to tell you what happens when an incubus refuses to feed.” “I thought just having her back would make it better. Make it go away. It’s gotten worse.” “You starve a lion then dangle a fresh piece of meat in front of him, what do you think is gonna happen? Bastards gotta eat, Brother. I get that Ava’s got some stuff going on, but she’s going to have to be cool with you hitting the buffet
somewhere else, if she can’t help you.” Calix frowned, choking back the urge to clock his brother in the jaw for that. “I don’t want another. Only her.” “I understand. I do. But what happened tonight? That’s going to be a regular thing for you, if you keep this up, and only one of two things will happen: you’re either going to take from Ava without asking, or your ass is going to be sitting in the pits of Obsidius for doing something stupid. Gavin would have me lock you up for what you did tonight, and maybe I should. I want you to promise me you’ll take care of this. You’ll do what you gotta do, because when it comes down to it, none of your brothers are going to stand by and watch you hurt others, or yourself.” With a solemn nod, Calix stood from his desk. “I’ll figure something out. I promise.” “Soon. Or I’ll be forced to figure shit out for you.” No wonder Gavin left Maddox as second in command. He carried himself with the same unflinching confidence as their eldest brother, and spoke with the same dominant, yet gentle tone. “I won’t let you down.”
he drive back to the mansion served to tie Calix’s
stomach into knots of pure agony. What had happened at the club had come on quick, with no warning. One minute, he’d felt fine, chatting with Pat, and in the next breath, he’d become a predator, outside of his own mind. Only the slightest glimmer of himself had remained intact as he’d chased after those females while completely overpowered by the hunger that urged him to take what he wanted. What was to say he wouldn’t flip again? As Maddox had pointed out, he could end up taking from Ava, and what then? She’d hate him, fear, him, and leave him. No. No matter what, he wouldn’t hurt her. If he had to stab himself with Demortis and commit the ultimate sin of sudeszx, he would not take from her. For the night, he’d resigned himself to having Xander lock him in the catacombs, in one of the cells, chained to the wall with Diablis steel. Even though it might not do much good for him, as a Wrath, since they happened to be the only species that could break it if one really wanted to. Wasn’t easy, but wasn’t impossible. Calix reached the gates of the mansion, and they opened up the moment Ben’s face popped up on camera. Farther along the drive, he noticed a familiar Mustang—Zayne’s. It’d been a while since he’d last seen his brother. Months, actually. Perhaps his presence would serve as a much
T
needed source of distraction. Once he’d parked behind the vehicle and climbed from his own wheels, Calix tossed Ben his keys, as he climbed the concrete stairs. “Zayne’s here?” he asked, passing by the troll. “Master Zayne doesn’t intend to stay. He and Xander have brought a female back with them.” “What kind of kinky shit …” At that, the troll crinkled his nose and shook his head, continuing on toward Calix’s car. “I’ve no interest in the details of the female’s purpose.” Calix laughed, and what a damn relief. After the night he’d had, he didn’t think it possible to laugh at anything. Finding Zayne standing in the foyer, Calix approached from behind and wrapped his arms around the brother in a bear hug. He’d always been one of Calix’s favorites, one of few he could talk to about Ava, mostly because Zayne was one of few who understood the desire of monogamy, while his brothers chose to indulge in females. Though, perhaps Zayne’s beliefs had shifted in the time he’d been on the streets, if he was willing to share a female with Xander. Breaking out of his grip, Zayne spun around, kicking Calix back a step. He’d always carried something of a somber expression after what’d happened to his mate, but the male had become downright gaunt in the last few months. A Wrath
didn’t lose much bulk as a general rule, so he’d remained physically fit, but the shadows beneath his eyes and the prominence of bones in his cheeks told Calix he’d reached the bare minimum weight for a demon of his size. Of course, judging by the pinch of his brows, he probably thought the same of Calix. “How are you, Brother?” Calix asked. “Could be better. You?” “Could be better. Ava’s back, though, so it’s just a matter of time before I bounce back.” “You look … starved.” “As do you.” His lips curved with a slight smile. “I can only imagine what I must look like right now. Not gotten much sleep.” “Are you staying?” He shook his head, resting his hands at his hips. “Just here to chat with the female we picked up tonight.” Calix offered a sly grin and rubbed at his jaw. “Ben said you and Xander had a female. D’you decide to take a walk on the wild side?” “Not even. I’m here to ask her some questions. I think she might know where to find Denya. She was roughed up pretty bad.” He jerked his head back toward the hallway. “Xander took her to shower and get settled.” “Xander? Think that’s a good idea?”
“She’s his prisoner, by order of the Sentinels, so there’s not a whole lot I can do about that. He has no intentions of touching her, though, unless he suddenly has a hankering to burn in Stygius.” “Think she’ll talk, if she knows you’re handing her over?” “She doesn’t know. She thinks we’ve offered her sanctuary in exchange for some information.” “Ouch.” “I don’t want to be here when that shit goes down, so my plan is to get the information I need and get out. I have to find Denya. So don’t tell anyone you saw me here, got it?” Calix patted his brother on the back. “Don’t be a stranger. Gavin’s been worried about you.” “Gavin worries about everyone.” “True. His intentions are good, though.” Even with the momentary contentment of seeing his brother, one thought circled in Calix’s mind like a fucking turd in the toilet. Zayne had the ability to see inside someone’s soul, and if the brother didn’t happen to catch what Calix had done earlier in the night, it was only because he was too preoccupied to probe his thoughts. Because Zayne surely would’ve asked what the hell Calix had been thinking, going after those females. Before he had a chance to rectify that, Calix stepped past him toward the staircase. “See you around, Zayne.”
“Glad Ava’s back, Brother. You take care of that female,” he heard him say from behind. A wave of dread claimed Calix’s muscles as he climbed the stairs toward his bedroom, until they were so stiff with guilt, he could barely turn the knob when he reached the door. What had he done? What could he have done? Had he fucked those females and left them for dead, how could he possibly look Ava in the eye again? Thankfully, as he entered the dark room, his eyes caught the motionless mound of blankets on the bed that told him she slept. He circled the bed, quiet as a stalking incubus, and stared down at Ava. Black hair fanned over the pillow, her skin carrying the soft glow that’d begun to return to her face since having taken the blood. Beautiful. Peaceful. Delectable. His muscles hardened, thoughts twisting into a horrific visual of her body covered in sweat, tied to the bed, so weak and frail, as he pounded into her for gods knew how many hours. Calix had never tested a female’s endurance. Sure, he and Ava had had some long nights of sex, but as starved as he was, he could undoubtedly go for days, straight. And in his delirium, wouldn’t even register her needs. His fantasies drew him closer to her, until his knee hit the mattress and red swallowed up his vision.
No. Get away from her, a small voice inside his head rattled, batting those visuals out of his head until he backed away. “Calix?” Her syrupy voice broke his spell. “R’youc’min t’bed?” “I’m going to hang with Xander for a bit. I’ll be up soon.” “’Kay.” She smiled, eyes still closed, nuzzling her face into the pillows, and the deep, easy breaths told him she’d fallen back to sleep. Gods, he needed to get out of there before he did something he’d regret. He exited the room, jogged down the stairs to the empty foyer, where Zayne had stood just a bit ago, and made his way to the catacombs—the only part of the mansion Calix couldn’t stand. Cold, damp and creepy reminded him too much of a place trapped at the back of his mind, one he refused to venture inside, for fear it’d pull him under the surface. A place from his past that would explain why he happened to be the only incubus who wasn’t interested in fucking everything that moved. The dark concrete walls closed in on him as he descended the stairs, with only the soft flicker of the sconces lighting his way. A cold curtain of death swallowed him, the deeper he went, until at last, he reached the cells.
The wicked tone of an angry female reached his ears, and Calix followed the sound toward the chambers in the back. Xander’s distinct laughter left him shaking his head as he approached the last set of bars on the left. Stopping just outside the cell, Calix peered inside, and could just make out a female’s slender legs peeking out between Xander and Zayne, who stood with their backs facing him. “Xander, can I talk to you for a sec?” Calix asked through the bars. The angel twisted around, giving just enough space for Calix to see the female chained to the wall, wearing a T-shirt and what appeared to be a pair of men’s boxers, kicking and tugging at her binds. Long strands of curls hung over the edge of the cot upon which she lay. The familiar tattoo blinked from her neck. “Thais?” The bed stilled, and her head shot up, her disgruntled expression staring at him. “Fucking brilliant. You live here, too? So, what’s your plan? Torture me sexually until I talk?” “I hadn’t planned to, but if that’s what it takes …” Xander chimed in, crossing his arms over his chest. “Happy to mete out that punishment.” “Nobody’s going to torture you.” Zayne threw an arm in front of Xander and stepped past him. “It’s not my first choice to have you down here, but
we can’t have a Fallen angel roaming the place.” “Oh, except him.” She nudged her head toward Xander. “Yes. He is the exception.” Pulling a chair from against the wall, Zayne took a seat beside her. “A young girl has gone missing. I need some information.” “You lied to me.” Thais jolted and hissed, rattling the chain against the wall with her abrupt movement. “You told me I’d be safe here. So I’m not telling you shit.” “I never lied. You are safe here. No one is going to hurt you.” Xander hiked a thumb over his shoulder and backed up toward the cell door. “While you two sort this out, I’m going to see what Calix wants.” Once out of the cell, Calix led him down the hall until they were out of earshot, and spun to face him. “I need you to lock me up.” “This sounds familiar.” “How so?” “Well, not long ago, your brother asked me to lock him up down here to keep him away from his girl.” Xander crossed his arms and shook his head. “Obviously, that didn’t go over well.” He almost felt like an ass asking for the same thing. “Why don’t you just fuck her and make it all better?” Xander shrugged his shoulders. “Worked
for Gavin. I wasn’t going to say anything, but you look like shit, man.” “My situation is a bit more grave than Gavin’s. I’m not asking you, I’m telling you. Lock me up.” “And if your girl comes down here looking for you?” “Make her leave. Whatever you have to do. I’m a danger to her.” Xander’s dramatic eye roll had Calix’s fingers twitching with the urge to punch the expression right off the bastard’s face. “Right, right. Sounds like she’s a danger to you, brother. I get that you’re trying to be all chivalrous and shit, but at some point, this is going to be a security matter, and I’m not interested in playing the role of some fucked-up porn director, making sure you get your daily dose of pussy so the world is a better place. I mean, if push came to shove, I’d do that shit, but I’m more of an active role kind of guy.” “Xander. Just put me in a fucking cage, chain me up, and keep your mouth shut.” “Fine. But once I lock you up, you’re in for the night. None of this, Xander, unchain me, you rotten prick bullshit. I’m speaking from experience here.” Brow cocked, he prodded a finger into Calix’s chest. “I lock you up, you better not summon your incubus powers to curse my dick, or something. I’ve got plans, and I need this bastard,” he said, grabbing a handful of himself, “fully functional.”
“I’m not touching your dick.” “I didn’t say you couldn’t touch it.” “I’m about ready to sever the fucker, if you don’t lock me up.” “All right, all right. In the cage with you, then.” Xander jerked his head toward the cell behind him. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
24
Z
ayne’s skin crawled as he sat staring at the female who lay on the cot, lips thinned with her stubborn refusal to talk. The shakes had begun to settle over him again, every muscle stiff and aching, along with his jaw. Interrogating her wasn’t the best idea, when he needed a hit of Abyzz so bad, he could damn near taste the sweet licorice flavor swimming through his veins. He wanted to wait. To see Shey again, get lost in her for one night to set him straight, before he returned to focusing on Denya. Even if it wasn’t the Shey, she was damned close enough. Enough to make him come. Enough to make his body all fucking warm and tingly. Enough that he couldn’t stand one more minute of the female’s stubborn bullshit that kept him from drowning himself.
Zayne shook his head of those thoughts. He rarely got pissed off at women as a general rule, but his patience had worn thin, and the intervals between the stiffness had grown closer and closer, until once again, he faced falling into a monster case of withdrawals. “Why don’t you take a hit of whatever it is that’s bothering you?” Her voice drew him out of a momentary spell, catching him off guard with the sound he hadn’t heard in the last hour they’d stared each other down. “What’s that supposed to mean?” “You’re a junkie. It’s written all over your face. And you’re about ten seconds from falling into a seizure.” Zayne licked his lips, slightly embarrassed at her mostly accurate assessment of him. “Why don’t you talk, so I can get right on that?” “You’re asking for secrets. Secrets I can’t give you, unless I happen to like my skin extra crispy while bathing in the flames of Stygius.” “You know where the succubi are kept.” A tic in his muscles twitched his neck, and his hands curled into his body as a violent spasm wracked his bones. “I give you about five minutes before you’re seizing on the floor.” “Then, fucking talk!” Another wave of agony struck his muscles, and Zayne fell from the chair,
just as she’d said. With a trembling hand, he managed to snake his fingers into his pocket and pull out two vials. The angry cloud of red slid across his eyes, giving both vials the same hue. “Fuck!” He pushed his muscles to raise a hand, holding up the small glass bottles to the female. “Which is red?” “The one on the right.” “Which right?” “My right.” With a nod, Zayne tucked it away and held to the one on the left. He pulled a capped syringe from inside his coat and set it into the top of the vial, drawing up the fluid inside. Not bothering with a tourniquet, he slammed the needle into his veins, exhaling a sigh of relief the moment that warm, fireplace sensation spilled into his blood. Eyes closed, he took three long breaths, allowing the drugs to work their magic, and when he opened them again, the red haze had dissipated to the stark fury in the female’s tightly-drawn brows. “Where did you get that? Who gave that to you?” “Gave what?” “Red Queen. The red vial. Do you have any idea what that is? How it’s made?” “It’s made by the succubi, isn’t it?” Her jaw hardened, eyes narrowed on his.
“Perhaps you should ask your fucking junkie supplier.” “Funny, he told me to ask you.” “That high is great, right? Your fantasies come to life. Want to know why? Every vial is a sacrifice. Every vial contains the soul of a young succubus.” Unless Zayne was mistaken, her eyes carried a shine in the flickering flame illuminating the room. “Those poor girls are slaughtered, so pieces of shit like you can get high.” A jolt of shock ran down Zayne’s spine. “What?” Eyes rolling, she shook her head. “The fuck does it matter anymore? I’m tired of running. I’m tired of being scared. Trapped. I’m tired of watching bastards like you get off, while these innocent little girls are taken from their homes.” “What girls? What are you talking about?” Zayne eagerly followed the trail of breadcrumbs that tumbled from her mouth, exactly the information he needed. “Virgin succubi are the cleanest. Their souls are essentially untainted, as they haven’t taken life. They also produce the purest offspring. For that reason, they’ve been used by the Lycans to create Purebloods, and most recently they’ve been bought by the Optevyl to prolong their blood lines in the event of war. Or decimation.” The Optevyl were something like the KKK of the Underworld, those,
often in powerful positions, who believed in pure demon breeds. “As you know, virgin succubi are rare, but they can be made clean.” “How?” “By injecting them with hellsfire.” “That’s madness. Hellsfire kills. It consumes.” A twinge of panic struck Zayne’s heart at the memory of his mate getting swallowed by the deep blue flame. “It can be controlled.” “How?” “Me.” She lowered her head back against the cot, and Zayne caught the glisten of a tear falling down her temple. “I was taken hostage by a group. One that produced the very drug you showed me just now. My job was to clean the souls of these … children. I had no idea what they were doing with them at first. I was told they’d been forced to seduce their victims into sudeszx after sex, by their pimps, and that I was merely helping to cleanse their souls, to keep them from burning in Stygius for assisting suicide.” Her lip trembled as more tears slipped down her temple. “Lies. All of it. I managed to escape the room they locked me in, after one of the girls fought them and made a scene. While searching for an escape, I found the room where they … drained all of the blood from these poor girls, until all that was left was a pale lifeless child who’d been taken for no good fucking reason!
Children! And I had unknowingly facilitated their murder.” “That’s why I couldn’t read your sins. You blocked them.” “I will never be used to kill the innocent again. I’ll die before I let that happen. But they’re still manufacturing the drug.” “How?” “Head Hunters. They’re hired by the Optevyl to seek out virgin succubi. They’re the best at finding them. In addition to what the Optevyl pay them, the demons who produce the drug, the ones who’re after me, somehow managed to work out a deal with them. For a cut of the drug profit, the Head Hunters look the other way when one of the girls goes missing. As long as they don’t take the oldest, most valuable succubi.” Denya. “Where are they?” “You’ll never find them. They’re so deep in the hills of Orcosia, the locals couldn’t even tell you. Always moving. They never stay in one place.” “If they’ve worked out a deal with the Optevyl, why do they want you?” “She’s the ticket to war in the heavens.” The voice came from behind, and Zayne turned to find Xander standing outside of the cell. “She uses hellsfire to clean souls, giving evil the access it needs into the heavens.”
“They can’t find me. If they do, I’m as good as dead.” Her gaze flicked from Xander, back to Zayne’s. “I’ve told you what you want to know. Now will you let me go?” Zayne gave a quick glance toward Xander. “We’re going to keep you safe. We’ll help you.” “Uh, ‘the fuck?” Xander’s stare damn near drilled a hole in the back of Zayne’s head. “Too much Abyzz messes with your head, my man. I ain’t helping shit.” “Excuse us for a minute.” Zayne stood from his chair and exited the cell, nudging Xander’s arm along the way for him to follow. “What exactly do the Sentinels want with her?” He spoke low as they exited the cell block. “I don’t much give two fucks. That female is my ticket to heaven. Neither you, nor any other bastard, is going to get in my way.” “She’s innocent. And how is she going to get you back into the heavens? You chose to fall, remember?” “Not the actual heavens. More like a motel room with raunchy porn in the background and a sex swing at the ready.” “How is that any different from any other night for you? And what does she have to do with that? You’re not planning to fuck her, are you?” “Not her. And what makes this different, you ask? A once in a lifetime night with an angel. Ever
fucked one before? They don’t call them divine for nothing.” Zayne rubbed his hand across his skull, trying to absorb Xander’s reasoning. “You’re going to hand over a female, who for the most part is innocent, for a piece of ass?” “First of all, it ain’t just a piece of ass. It’s a divine piece of ass, and it so happens I made a promise to that ass. I don’t make promises as a general rule, but when I do, I don’t break ‘em for anyone. Second, she’s Fallen. She ain’t all that innocent. Third, and most importantly, she’s fucking Fallen. Which means every bit of what she just told you could hold as much truth as a porn star dressed in a priest’s vestments.” “She confessed a sin. One that someone’s trying to kill her for.” “You read her soul? You saw the truth yourself?” Zayne crinkled his brow and clamped his mouth shut. “Give me until tomorrow. I may have more questions for her.” At the very least, it would buy him time to come up with a plan—even if it meant taking the female with him, to help him track down the drug-dealing demons and find Denya. “You have until tomorrow. I’m getting in touch with the Sentinels the following day. No exceptions.” “Deal.” Zayne would try to figure something
out. Setting her free would put her at risk, and from the sounds of it, more so than what the Sentinels had in mind with her.
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hrough a black void, Ava stretched out her arm, and as clarity slowly trickled into her mind, she registered the emptiness beside her, the absence tugging her eyelids open. Lifting her head, she found half of the bed where Calix usually slept vacant. Beyond his spot, the clock glowed two in the morning. She sat upright, gaze sweeping the dark room for him. “Calix?” Sliding out of bed, she wrapped her arms around herself and made her way to the bathroom, where she flipped on the lights. Empty. A vague conversation filtered into her thoughts. Something about Xander and hanging out. One she’d have sworn she’d dreamt, but it guided her feet out of the room and down the staircase, before she realized she wore only Calix’s thin T-shirt and a
borrowed pair of briefs that fit a bit loose. Damn it. She tugged the shirt down to cover as much of her ass as possible. Sucked not having her own clothes. Thankfully, the mansion sat in a lull of quiet, so Ava continued on, figuring the brothers were in bed, even if they weren’t necessarily sleeping. Ava had been to the catacombs once before, and she inwardly flinched when the cold, damp air wound around her, as she stared down into the dark stairwell lined with flickering sconces. That was the night she’d set Draven free and her act of betrayal in motion. At the time, she’d stood at the top of that staircase in chaos, contemplating right and wrong, before deciding the alternative of burning in Stygius alongside Ryke was far more frightening. An echo of shouts piqued her ears, and Ava recognized Calix’s voice. Without a beat of hesitation, she scampered down the remaining stairs, into the bowels of the mansion. If she happened upon the Fallen angel, Ava couldn’t be sure what she’d do, as they tended to wield twice the strength of the Nephilim. But she sure as hell wouldn’t stand by and let him hurt Calix, either. At the bottom of the staircase, Ava peered into the eerie hallway that led to the cellblocks. Much as she yearned to call out to Calix, to know if it was, in fact, him that she’d heard, she didn’t dare.
The Fallen angel slept in the catacombs, only adding to the creeptastic ambience that surrounded her, while phantom tendrils of cold air drifted over her skin like the translucent touch of a ghost. Christ. No wonder the angel was a bit on the psychotic side. Having to sleep down there would probably turn her into a raving lunatic, too. Pace unfaltering, she tiptoed toward the cells and the sounds of Calix’s moans, but winced when a sharp stab pierced her toe. “Fuck!” Ava bent forward, lifting a sharp-pointed square of glass from the cobblestone floor. “Yeah, I called that one.” The voice prompted Ava to spin on her heel, nearly falling backward onto her ass. Silver eyes stared back at her through the darkness—the telling features of a Fallen angel, and one that distinguished them from the Nephilim, who were known for icy blue eyes. She held the tine of glass up, while tugging the hem of her shirt down over the loose briefs. “You fucking touch me, or him, and I’ll slice you open.” The white glow of teeth told her Xander smiled back at her, and the deep rumble of a chuckle echoed around her. “That’s like … foreplay for me.” A swipe through the space separating them didn’t make Xander so much as flinch. “Stay away from me.”
“I’m not going to touch you.” He stepped into the light, arms crossed, wearing nothing but boxer briefs that Ava didn’t attempt to look at twice. “Look, I’ve been instructed to send you back along your merry little way in a scary voice, with threats of locking you in my room and tying you to my little cross of pain. But we both know that’s not going to happen.” Chin angled up, she kept her defenses in place, still holding the glass between them. “Why is that?” “Because I want what you want. Your man needs to get laid.” Confusion settled over her in a frown. “You want him … that way?” “No. I want you to do what you gotta do to set him right.” “Why is he locked up?” “He asked me to lock him up. To keep you safe.” He rested his forearm against the stone wall beside him, drawing her attention to muscles that rivaled Calix’s. No doubt, the male could’ve done some damage if he wanted. “This ain’t my first rodeo. These Wraths, they’re all about playing hard to fucking fuck, know what I mean? Just give the poor guy what he needs, so I can get some much needed beauty rest.” “You won’t stop me?” “Sweetheart, I’m giving you the fucking keys.” The rattle of the tossed object lifted Ava’s chin
higher, and she reached out, snatching the ring of metal from the air. “The Kingdom is yours. Just stay away from the cell at the end. You open that one, and you will surely piss me off. Trust me when I say, you do not want to piss me off.” Ava gave a nod, watching the angel retreat back into the shadows before she continued on toward the cells. Beyond the bars, Calix lay on a creaky old cot, hands chained by Diablis steel to the wall, his body writhing and twisting up into an arc of agony as he cried out. The sight of him took her back to the lab, when Oliver had injected the poisons into her and watched her suffer. “Oh, Gods, Calix.” Hands trembling, she fumbled with the single key that she presumed opened all of the cells. “Ava! Ava, go! Don’t come near me!” The strain of misery bore down on his words, and Calix groaned. “Get out of here!” “No, I won’t watch you suffer. Let me help. Let me ease you.” “You can’t! I swear to Gods, I’ll take from you. Mercilessly. I’ll hurt you. Don’t come any closer!” “I won’t leave you like this, Calix.” Slipping the key inside the lock, she twisted to a click and opened the cage. “I won’t.” “Get the fuck out of here! Now!”
Ava flinched at the sharp tone of his words, undoubtedly produced by his suffering. “I can help him.” A female’s voice hit Ava from the right, and she peered down the row of cells to the last on the left. The one Xander had forbidden her to open. Even so, under the circumstances, the strange female’s words remained a curiosity. “Who are you?” Ava asked, tipping her head to see beyond the bars. “A healer. I know how to soothe his pain.” “How?” “It’s a mind trick. I’ve, um … done it before.” Soothed him before? She glanced toward Calix then back toward the other cell. “To him?” “Yes. He came to me, looking for some relief.” Who the hell was this woman? Ava wanted just a peek of her, to put that soft spoken voice to a face. “What kind of relief?” “A fantasy. Of a female. I made his pain go away.” “Ava! Don’t!” Twisted into himself, Calix hung over the edge of the bed with his arms trussed over his head. “Calix, if she can help … ” “She can’t!” The pleading in his voice left her in conflict, and Ava remained glued to the floor, trying to decide what the hell to do. “I can. I have before. Let me go, and I’ll
show you.” Could be a trap. She didn’t know the female enough to unlock her without some consideration that she might try to escape. From what, though? Why did Xander have her down there, anyway? Was she his sex slave? Ava’d heard that he liked the darker side of sex, and perhaps she fulfilled some prison sex fantasy, or something. “Bullshit. Do your mind trick from where you are.” “Doesn’t work that way. I have to have the subject in front of me. I have to feel his pain. See his pain.” Xander’s threat from earlier drifted through her mind. Last thing she wanted to do was piss off another male in the house. “No. Forget it.” “Then, he’ll suffer. And if you go to him, he’ll attack you. He’ll drain you.” Ava padded down the hallway until she arrived at the cell that held the female, who lay wearing a T-shirt and men’s boxers. Definitely one of Xander’s playthings. She lifted her head from the cot, eyes wide. “You’re her. The one from his fantasy.” “He … went to you. So you’d pretend to be me?” “I didn’t touch him. I projected what was in his mind, is all.” She shook her head, and something in
her silvery eyes told Ava she was being honest. “Me.” “You’re very beautiful. I can see why he’s pained at the sight of you. I can ease that pain.” Ugh. Ease. Soothe. All words that didn’t seem to fit in Ava’s vocabulary anymore. “This trick. You don’t have to … you and he don’t …” “Not at all. It’ll be all you.” Ava stared down at the key in her hands and flinched at another outcry from Calix’s cell. “I may not be Fallen, but I have some tricks of my own. If you try to escape, you’ll regret it.” “Understood.” Slipping the key into the lock, Ava gave one reluctant turn and opened the bars, stepping inside. She crossed the room with haste, and instead of removing the chains from the female’s hands, she disconnected them from the wall. “You’ll remain tethered. Anything tricky, and I’ll wrap the chain around your throat and sever your head from your body.” “You don’t fuck around.” A half-cocked smile kicked her cheek up. “I don’t.” Ava led the female down to Calix’s cell and ushered her inside. Calix’s eyes grew wide. His body planked on the bed. “Keep her away from me!” Ignoring his protest, the female slipped inside,
backing herself against the bars, and nudged her head toward him. “With his hands bound, you’ll have to stroke him. Get him off, while I speak the words.” “In front of you?” Not that Ava had ever been above performing sexual acts for an audience, but something about the situation felt too personal for her. Perhaps the visuals of Calix getting himself off in front of her continuously played on loop, inciting pangs of jealousy. “Do you want my help, or not? That Diablis steel isn’t going to hold when he decides to take what he needs.” Glancing back at the woman, Ava nodded, before kneeling beside the cot. With his head tipped back, body thrashing, she eyed the enormous erection that tented his boxers. Sweet merciful gods. As an incubus, his cock was designed to pleasure a woman—long, thick, and rigid with a slight upward curve that hit the spot every damn time. The monstrous beast poking up through the silk fabric could split Ava in half if she tried to impale herself, and when she peeled back his boxers, her eyes widened at it’s girth. Of course, she’d seen Calix’s package a number of times, but never so fully erect and … huge. Christ, no wonder he was in such pain. At the same time, her thighs clenched and
wetness dampened her panties at the thought of how deep, how good he’d feel inside of her. Like with most incubi, the throbbing of his dick felt like a vibrator, which was why females who’d been fucked in their sleep often assumed they’d dreamed having used one. Another feature that put his race higher up on the food chain from human males. The way his hips rolled on the bed, muscles straining, eyes clamped shut, it reminded her how smooth and perfect he’d once moved inside of her. His body had a natural rhythm for sex, and every upward thrust, the tight squeeze of his ass, and the power in his thighs had always left Ava on the brink of madness. Her pussy ached with his mesmerizing moves, as much a part of his seduction as his eyes, his voice, or his touch. “Gods, you are a lucky woman.” The voice from behind left her scowling, and Ava slid her body just enough to block the other female’s view of his dick, but not his face. “I stroke him as you’re doing this?” “Yes,” the female croaked, and cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. He’s … hard not to look at. No pun intended.” “Do your best.” The venom in Ava’s voice surprised her. She’d shared Calix with another female before, but had always been the one to bring him to climax at the end. It killed her to know the
female, a stranger who hadn’t learned all of his nuances and didn’t have a clue what got him off, happened to be the only person who might bring him some relief. “You can see his face, right?” “I can,” she responded, and a low chant filled the room. Licking her lips, Ava gripped his shaft and Calix turned rigid beneath her, hissing with her tight clasp. Up and down, she stroked his length, while the female’s words danced around them like an erotic song. Grunts of pleasure and the smile tugging his lips told Ava it was working. She hadn’t seen him look so relaxed in the few days she’d been with him. “Climb on top of me, baby.” His voice oozed down Ava’s spine, tingling every nerve ending. She had to look away from him, his slow and steady movements along her palm, the flexing of his muscles that reminded her of his exquisite control, or she’d risk giving in to him. Gods, the voice of his incubus was deeper, though, and filled with so much promise, her thighs clenched for relief. Instead, she glanced back at the female behind her, who seemed focused a little too intently on Ava’s face rather than Calix’s. Even as his body calmed, his pain subsiding, she kept her gaze trained on Ava. Perhaps the Fallen female didn’t trust her, but a flicker of something in her eyes suggested trickery.
Confirmed, when Ava set to relent her grip of Calix, but couldn’t. Her whole body failed to respond to her head’s demands. “What have you … done?” While she fought the stiffness claiming her limbs, Calix continued his hammering, his pace hastening in her unmoving hand. Her fingers remained curled around his thickness, and though she visualized unfurling them from his shaft, she couldn’t. “Calix!” Jaw clenched, she pushed the words past her frozen lips. “Calix!” “He can’t hear you. The chant is all he can sense.” The female’s voice from behind her snarled Ava’s lips. Faster and faster, he pumped his hips, locked in some sort of fantasy with his head tipped back, a line of tension running through his muscles that told her he was close to climax. “You … paralyzed me!” Even Ava’s vocal chords felt locked up in whatever hold the female had placed on her. A clamor bounced off the walls, as Calix arched his back and roared with the warm jets of cum that coated Ava’s fingers. “Ava,” he mumbled, head rolling against the pillow. “Ava.” All at once, he stopped moving, head lolled to the side. “Xander!” Much as she hated the thought of
him finding out what she’d done, she wouldn’t stand by and let the female get away. “Not paralysis, per se.” The Fallen female’s voice slithered down Ava’s spine, inciting the urge to strangle her. “I merely convinced your mind that you’re unable to move. You think you’re speaking, but you’re not. Xander can’t hear you. I’m simply reading your thoughts.” Her gaze fell from Ava’s, and she jerked her chin toward Calix. “And he will sleep like the dead, now that you’ve sated him. It won’t last, though.” As she spoke, her face morphed, the silver of her eyes turning to an ice blue, the curls of her hair straightening, until it was as if Ava stared into a mirror. “You … stole my … face.” “Again, it’s all in how you perceive. You’re seeing me as you, because I told your mind to see that. Now, unlock my binds.” Calix’s flesh slid past Ava’s palm as she relinquished her grasp, her fingers still glistening with the evidence of his release. “Other hand, if you don’t mind.” “No.” Ava mentally willed her hand not to do as the female ordered, but even with every ounce of restraint, she watched like an unwilling participant while she unlatched the binds and the Diablis steel fell away from the female’s wrists. “Why … are you … doing this?” “It’s nothing personal,” she said in a voice that
sounded hauntingly like Ava’s own. “Now sleep.” And despite all the protests inside her head, Ava dropped to the floor, and the cell that surrounded her faded to black.
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hais didn’t like having to deceive, but while it reminded her of her own damn kind, deception happened to be her most valuable gift. The only thing that’d kept her alive for so long. Ruse still in play, she made her way through the cellblock, anxious for a clean and uneventful getaway. The spell she’d cast worked on most supes. Even the Fallen. So anyone who happened upon her would think her to be Calix’s female, unless she managed to get distracted—impossible, when her only objective was escape. The staircase lay ahead, as she exited the row of cells toward her freedom. “All good?” Hearing the familiar voice rattled her spine, and Thais jumped back, quickly recalling that she wasn’t she. “All good,” she said, licking her lips.
“He’s down for the count.” “You must be one skilled female to sate a starving incubus in one quickie.” “You’ve no idea.” Xander’s brows lifted, and he rubbed a hand across his chin. “Well, if things don’t happen to work out between the two of you, maybe you can show me your tricks of the trade.” “You’re a dirty bastard, you know that?” He nodded, his lips stretching to a grin. “You’ve no idea. Goodnight.” “Yeah. Goodnight to you.” She continued on up the stairs, and reaching the top, she gave a glance over her shoulder, making sure the weaselly bastard hadn’t followed. A solid mass crashed into her, bringing her to a halt. Her head whipped back around, and Thais trailed her gaze up the enormous form blocking her way. He must’ve stood a good six-foot-seven—hell, maybe even seven feet tall. Hard to tell with her nose damn near buried in his chest. His body was solid, covered in muscles and tattoos that screamed scary, pain, death. Scars marred his throat where he’d obviously attempted sudesxz, and a gnarly-looking scar ran down his cheek. As she lifted her gaze higher, dark eyes took her into a dark and wicked place, one that called to her Fallen wiles.
His lip peeled back into a snarl, like she’d invaded his world when she’d bumped into him. “I’m sorry.” She placed a hand to his chest to push back, but felt a blaze of heat move across her palm like a snake. It tingled her senses, all the way down to her toes, and she tipped her head back, reveling in the sensation she’d missed. Gathering it up into her hands, she opened her eyes to the hellsfire dancing in her palm. The demon’s brows raised, from the pinch of being pissed off to enchanted, as he stood, mouth gaped, while Thais allowed the blue flames to swirl around her arm, across her body, and back to her awaiting palm. The beastly male let out a groan and shivered. Thais lifted her palm and blew the flame back toward him, smiling when it retreated beneath his skin once more. The male studied her without saying a word, only the occasional twitch of his eye telling her he hadn’t gone statue on her. Gods, he was beautiful. Broken, scarred, and tragically handsome. And hell if she didn’t flock to the ones whose very aura screamed stay the fuck away, if you know what’s good for you. Breaking away, a downward glance revealed that she’d allowed the façade to drop. “Excuse me,” she said, scampering her way around him toward the door, feeling the brush of his
finger against her arm as she passed him. The demon stood frozen in place, staring down at his palms as if in shock. Probably best that he was, seeing as she happened to be making an escape. Resuming the mask she’d worn moments before, Thais quickly exited the front door before the troll she’d met on the way in could reach her. Ahead of her stood the iron gates off in the distance, at the end of the long, gravelly driveway, and the bark from behind told her the property was guarded by hellhounds. The place really was a fortress. Wondering just how fast her ass could scale that gate, she upped her pace to a run.
27
“Y ou let her go.” Xander paced inside the cage, where Ava sat on the floor across from Calix, her knees tucked up into her body, fingers lodged within her hair. “I had one fucking rule. Just one. Do not go down to the last cell. She could be anywhere by now. And she knows where the mansion is. Fuck!” Beside her, Zayne towered above her, quiet as ever, thank goodness, because she’d already met her asshole quota for letting the female go. “Chill the fuck out, man.” Calix perched on the edge of the bed, rubbing the heel of his hand against his temple. “I gave you one directive, too, as I recall. You followed that one real well. I’m sure you handed over the goddamn keys on a platter.” “More like a really good toss than a platter,” Xander countered with a hint of amusement. “Now
I gotta go hunt her ass down. Again.” As he shook his head, all eyes shifted toward the opening of the cell, where Ferno stood rubbing his hands together. Out of all the brothers, he scared Ava the most. She’d heard the story of Shey, how he’d burned her alive with hellsfire. An accident, so Calix had said, but Ava still kept her distance from him. “I’m going with you.” The gravelly rasp of Ferno’s voice perfectly matched his scarred face. “The fuck you are. Consider that punishment for letting her go.” Xander pointed a finger at the guy, as if he could keep him from going. The sheer size of Ferno would make that impossible. “How the hell does a chick just waltz by you and straight out the door?” Ignoring him, Ferno stroked his palm, eyes momentarily lost to a trance. “Who was she?” “Trouble. A whole lot of fucking trouble.” Xander continued to pace, stroking his hands back and forth over his skull and down his face. “She touched me.” Ferno’s comment brought Xander to a halt, and the angel set his hands on his hips. “That a first for you, or something?” “She held the flame.” Zayne pushed off from where he stood leaning against the wall, the only one of the bunch who didn’t seem all too troubled that she’d disappeared. “She can control it. It’s why she’s being hunted.
Demons want her, but so do the angels. She’s dangerous.” “I’m going with you,” Ferno repeated. Resuming his pacing, Xander shook his head. “No. I’m done doing you all a favor. You want a piece of ass? Get it from somewhere else. I’m not taking a chance again while you have your onehour motel rendezvous with this chick. She’s my quarry, who’s about to get the ass-spanking of a lifetime.” As soon as he’d spoken the words, Ferno strode into the room, his hand gripping the angel’s throat as he slammed him into cement wall, pinning his neck. Xander’s jaw shifted, a flash of silver warning the demon that he held the power to rain hell, and still Ferno didn’t relent. “Fine,” Xander rasped. “I won’t touch her. But neither will you.” “I’m going. With you.” “I don’t think you need to be near this female.” Zayne set his hand on Ferno’s arm, a move that flinched the giant’s muscles, and he dropped Xander to a slump on the floor, taking a step back. As Ava understood it, the two brothers still hadn’t set things straight between them, and the deep grooves etched by Ferno’s scowl suggested neither Zayne’s touch, nor his comment, were welcome.
“I didn’t mean it that way.” As Zayne took a step forward, Ferno took one back. The demon’s lip twisted into a snarl, and he punched a fist into the concrete, knocking out blocks of cement, before he spun and exited the cell. “Ferno, I was only saying it’s dangerous. She’s dangerous.” Without so much as a glance back, Ferno continued on toward the staircase. Rolling his shoulders, Zayne puffed his cheeks and exhaled an exasperated breath. “It’s never fucking normal with him. He’s gotta make every interaction awkward.” “This shit between the two of you,” Calix said, rubbing his hand across his nape. “Hurts to watch. Wish there was a way to make things right again.” “All I meant was that she could manipulate him. It’s obvious, whatever she did had some kind of effect on him. As for the shit between us? It’s as much him as it is me. He won’t let it go. So I can’t let it go.” Zayne tromped out of the cell, kicking one of the cement blocks that his brother had left behind, as he, too, made his way toward the staircase, leaving Xander, Ava and Calix alone. “Well, guess I’ll grab a bottle of lotion and kiss my divine piece of ass goodbye. The odds of finding this female twice are slim to none now that she knows I’m after her.” Xander set his hands on
his hips, his gaze sweeping over Ava’s still-bare legs, as she curled them into her body. “Anybody up for a threesome before I get shipped off to Stygius?” “Thought you and this Sentinel had something going on?” Calix stood from the bed, stumbling back a step before he caught himself. “Yeah, well. That was before I blew her chance of getting in good with the top dogs.” Sighing, he crossed his arms over his massive chest. “I’d be better off trying to fuck a tree stump now.” “I’m sorry.” Ava shook her head. “For the millionth time. I was just trying to calm him. Whatever she did, worked.” Ava pushed up from the floor, willing her heart to detach itself from the shame and embarrassment washing through her at the thought of another female bringing Calix relief. “Calix, maybe you should go with Xander to find her. She’d be better off with you.” Jaw stiff, Ava made quick strides out of the cell, knowing all too well that the steps trailing after her belonged to Calix. “Ava! Wait.” She continued on, contemplating a dead run, when a firm grip of her arm brought her to a screeching halt. “Let me go.” “No. You need to listen to me. That female, I sought her out in your absence. Unwillingly. I asked her to provide a fantasy. Of you.”
“Well, while you were looking to get your dick stroked, I was lying chained to a wall in a goddamn underground hospital!” As soon as the words escaped her mouth, Calix’s brows lifted with surprise, and her chest burned with regret. “Underground hospital? Where?” She dropped her gaze in an effort to hide the remorse chipping away at her. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.” “It does matter. Whoever kept you is still on my shit-list.” “Don’t bother. You don’t owe me anything, and I shouldn’t have come back here.” She tugged at her wrist, but Calix held tight, dragging her into his body. “I’m sorry I sought her out. I’m sorry I’m half fucked up. I hate this part of me. I hate that in a few hours, I’ll be hungry again, looking to feed. And I hate that it can’t be you. I’d give my fucking soul to be with you again.” His grip of her arm tightened, and he tipped her head, guiding her eyes to his. “I do not want any other female, Ava. But my hunger is getting worse. The cravings are tearing me apart inside. And I would sooner starve to fucking death than hurt you. I won’t allow myself to have you. Or anyone. I don’t know what else to do.” Ava’s heart ached at the thought of such a thing. That he would suffer in pain for her, for gods
knew how long. Some incubi suffered for years before succumbing to absolute death. They had one of the highest rates of sudeszx amongst all of the supes in the underworld, and if he thought for a moment he could take her and drain her, Ava knew all too well that Calix would rather take his own soul by committing the ultimate crime. “You need to feed, Calix. Tonight, I’m going to find you a female—” “No.” He released her, taking a step back. “Absolutely not. I’ll either drain her, or … no.” “You can’t drain a succubus.” At that, his hand gripped his throat, his eyes tracking to the right of her like he’d been swiped up right there. Like something had swooped down from its perch and yanked him right out of his own mind. He stumbled back, until he hit the wall behind him, and slumped to the floor. “Calix?” Dashing forward, panic gripped her lungs, and she fell beside him, searching for any sign of pain, or agony. Any evidence that another bout of hunger had arrived without warning. His hands balled to fists at either side of his temples. And for the first time, Ava saw fear claim him.
28
W
earing Ava’s face, Thais weaved in and out of the bodies waiting to get into the swanky human club called Faeria. And since Nephilim were half human—flawed while being divinely beautiful, thanks to their angelic half —she fit right in. Not a single person batted an eyelid as she passed them, making her way down the sidewalk toward the edge of the building. Only a few breeds had the ability to see past the façade she’d put up, and they wouldn’t be caught dead in a place where humans were known to congregate. Thais had always wanted to check out the popular bar, located right off Woodward in the heart of downtown, but supes stuck to their own clubs for good reason. Particularly the Fallen. Most supes didn’t trust them, and humans happened to
be an enticement they rarely had the willpower to refuse. Hiding out on the streets for so many months, trying to keep a low profile, had made her immune to such cravings—particularly having kept company with the homeless. Unlike many of her kind, she’d taken the opportunity to learn of their suffering, to absorb it, and in some ways, she understood them. They were no longer prey to her, but actual souls, with different personalities and hopes. Individually flawed, yet beautiful at the same time. Bored with the perfection of her angel brethren, Thais had come to appreciate flaws, which was why she’d found herself drawn to Calix’s female. How she wished her own life had been etched into her flesh like the Nephilim’s, which marked their time on earth. Even if they never aged like pure humans, their faces held laughter lines, dimples, their bodies all varieties of shapes and sizes, giving them character and life. As long as she remembered the female’s face, Thais could continue to project her appearance, deceiving everyone she passed, until she rounded the corner of the building to a dark alley. An old fire escape had been tied up, high enough that no human could possibly reach it. With a quick glance around, Thais allowed her wings to push through the fabric of her shirt, and with a forceful jump, they caught the wind, carrying her
upward, where she grabbed hold of the iron bars. Pulling herself over the bannister brought her onto the landing of the fire escape, two stories above the ground. She retracted her wings, flinching as they slid beneath her skin once more. Tucking them away was like wearing two pairs of wool socks at once. Uncomfortable and bulky, but necessary in a human club. They fluttered against her bones, and Thais shivered at the tickle down her spine. Two months, she’d spent breaking into shelters and clubs, trying to lay low and out of sight. The abandoned buildings had been great for a while, up until she awoke to a rat scampering across her legs. Earthly creatures were disgusting. So, too, were those found in Obsidius, but at least the ones from her native world knew what her kind were capable of and kept their distance. The thought worked up a gag in her throat as she remembered the mouse she’d been forced to hold in her mouth, and bile crawled up her stomach, but she choked it back. Peering through the window, Thais could see the second floor of the club was used mostly for storage. Props and office equipment filled an open floor, marked by the occasional cement pillar. Lifting the window, she climbed inside to the bass beating against the floor below her. Unusual for a Fallen, she happened to like
human music, with all of its imperfections. The angelic variety reached certain parts of the ear that humans didn’t have the capacity to tap into. And if they did, they’d be greeted by a pitch, rhythm, and beat unlike anything they’d ever heard before. One that climbed the spine and hit the back of the skull as it stoked the senses with sheer delight. Still, Thais enjoyed the slightly off-key, offrhythm sounds that the humans mistook for perfection, and the beat from below had her nodding her head in sync. The surroundings would make a good place to camp for a while. No two-faced club owners to keep her locked in a cage while his twisted catbitch mistress had her fun, and no house full of muscle head Wraths keeping her locked in a dungeon. Thais had grown tired of being kept as someone’s pet. She’d grown tired of constantly having to defend herself. She yearned for a place to lie down and feel safe. The Wrath mansion could’ve been safe from her enemies, if she hadn’t caught on to the Fallen angel’s plan. What kind of hellspawn teamed up with the heavens, anyway? Absolutely unheard of—an insult to her species. She plopped onto a discarded couch, flinching at the sharp sting that poked into her back from the springs that’d broken through the fabric. Nightclubs made great hideouts—quiet during
the day when she could rest, and hopping at night, when she’d have to keep her eyes open for anyone hunting her down. The demons who were after her would stick out in a place like the one she’d chosen for the night. Even in the demon realm, they didn’t fit in, but at a club like the one pounding below her feet, they’d look like rednecks in a sea full of socialites. Thais stared down at her skin, or, rather, the Nephilim female’s, where tiny fissures marked Demortis burns. She’d recognized them on the succubi girls back at the compound, and the ones marring her borrowed flesh left her wondering what kind of cruelty Calix’s female had been subjected to. At the hands of that male? The Wraths didn’t seem sadistic, and the fantasy that she’d provided him a while back showed only love and devotion toward the female. Aside from that, she seemed so willing to please him, though Thais understood that could’ve been a mind-altering trick, as Wraths had the power of bullshit-buzz. A flash of the large demon’s face that she’d seen while escaping the compound zipping through her mind, Thais closed her eyes. If she had to guess, no one messed with that particular male. Apart from his tattoos and stern brows, a demon born of hellsfire was one of the most dangerous breeds in all of Obsidius. He could wipe out armies in one wave of his hands, could
command the hottest flames of Stygius to do his bidding. He could easily take out his enemies in one fatal deadpan stare. Unfortunately, the demons who wielded that power rarely had control over themselves. They all too often allowed the flames to consume them, and, in some cases, could wipe out more than their intended target. Thais had grown up with hellsfire, as her mother had often required it to make healing potions. She’d eventually learned to direct the flame, a very dangerous skill, but at the time, she merely used it to sculpt and shape metal into beautiful works of art that she sold at market in Obsidius. One mistake could’ve ended her life, but Thais had become so proficient and skilled with the flame that criminals, black magic alchemists, and drug dealers sought out her talent, and so began her life on the run. With her projected identity still in place, Thais pushed up from the floor and padded across the open space toward the stairwell at the opposite end. The bass rhythm pounded a steady beat as she rounded each flight of stairs. At the bottom, she reached a door, and setting a hand to the panel of it, she could feel the vibrations of the music and, just below that, the sway of human bodies that called to her natural instincts to hunt. She wouldn’t feed on them, of course, but
yearned to have those vibrations pulsing through her blood, and as she opened the door to a back hallway of the club, a wave of excitement washed over her. Stepping into the throng, she closed her eyes, taking in the sway and pull of the bodies as they crowded her. The souls tickled her spine, teasing and taunting her, and Thais smiled, realizing for the first time in a very long time, she was no longer hunted. She didn’t have to hide herself. No chance that anyone would recognize her. “Ava!” A tap to Thais’s arm had her spinning around to face a female covered in tattoos and piercings. Her head had been shaved on one side, dyed to a deep purple, but the dark vibe she emitted told Thais exactly what she needed to know. Fallen. Muscles tense, Thais prepared herself for an ugly fight in the thick of all the surrounding humans. “Ava, I’ve been calling you for the last five minutes!” The female chuckled, catching Thais offguard. Ava. Of course. She still wore the female’s face. “I’m sorry.” Thais pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I was kind of lost to the music.” “You don’t remember me, do you?” “I …”
“Lyric. I dated your brother, Ryke.” She rolled her eyes. “Right. Yes, I remember you. How are you?” “Could be better. Hey, did you ever end up getting back with Calix?” She nodded, uncertain how the exchange would end. “I’m … I’ve been staying at his place.” “How’s Zeke?” Zeke? She hadn’t met a Zeke. Perhaps the demon she’d run into on the way out? “Good. Doing great,” she lied. “Gorgeous as ever.” Her brow furrowed a bit, then softened to a smile. “I’ve been thinking about him. Ever since I … well, I took care of him for a while. He was in pretty bad shape.” If it was the male she met, he was still in bad shape. “He still has scars.” She motioned across her throat, marking the path of the of his most serious scar, and the female’s eyes widened. “Oh, Gods. Sudesxz?” Her eyes tracked to the side, as if in thought. “I’d have never guessed … he was bad, but he seemed like he’d pull through.” “Could’ve been an old scar.” Desperate for a change of topic, Thais tipped her head. “What are you doing in a place like this?” Lyric reared back and frowned. “You and I used to meet up here for drinks sometimes. When
we’d bitch about your brother, remember? Good riddance to that sadistic bastard.” A strange sensation struck Thais from behind and ruffled the feathers beneath her cloaked skin. Someone watched her. Damn it! She’d been so distracted by conversation, she’d ignored her instincts, and as her gaze swept the crowd, searching for one of the hillbilly variety of demons, she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “Am I right?” The female, Lyric, pulled her attention back around. “Yeah, good riddance. Hey, I’m going to go get some fresh air. Be right back.” Thais pushed through the crowd that’d grown thicker in the time she’d spent talking to the female. She hated the distraction and knew damn well the eyes were watching her back. No going to her secret hideaway—she wouldn’t dare at that point—and instead, she weaved through bodies until she reached the front entrance of the club. A bouncer stood about six-foot tall, black Tshirt with ‘Security’ plastered across his broad chest. “Just need some air,” she said, her fingers fidgeting at her sides as the tension inside her body intensified. A grin stretched his lips as he eyed her up and down, taking in the outfit that belonged to Ava.
“You come see me when you want back in.” On the verge of crawling out of her own skin, Thais gave a demure smile and nodded. “What’s your name, beautiful?” “T … Ava.” “Tava?” That’s different. I like it. Idiot. She skirted around him, but at the stroke of her ass, instinct kicked in, and she swung around, fingers digging into his throat while she held the brawny male pinned to the wall. “You touch my ass again, and I will snap your head from your neck and use it for tetherball. Got it?” Eyes wide, he nodded. “Yeah,” he rasped against her throttling. “Got it.” Another fluttering of her wings beneath her skin alerted her to danger, and Thais released him, letting him fall to the floor while she scampered out the door. Once on the streets, she kept a brisk pace along the sidewalk, angling her head low to avoid catching anyone’s attention. And then it struck her. Why the hell was she hiding? She held out her arms, stilled marred by the Demortis scars. The disguise had been in place the whole time. Even so, the creeping sensation of paranoia swept over her, and Thais willed the thoughts away. “You’re Ava. Not Thais,” she whispered. “No one
is after you.” A force slammed into her from behind like a Mack truck, knocking her forward until the cold concrete crashed into her face. An ache throbbed deep inside her bones, while intense pressure at her back locked up her lungs. “Oh, Ava,” a voice said beside her. Whatever held her down allowed her enough movement to turn her head toward the speaker, and her gaze took in a lanky human male kneeling alongside her body. He removed his glasses, exhaled on the glass, and wiped them with his shirt before setting them back over his eyes. “I’ve missed you, sweetness. We’ve looked all over this goddamn city for you.” From his coat pocket, he tugged a black case, and from the case, he pulled a syringe. Thais wriggled in her captor’s grasp, kicking out like crazy. Before she could lift the veil and reveal herself, everything turned black and the human male fizzled into the void.
29
A
va tilted her head, trying to catch Calix’s attention. Laying strapped to the bed, he’d been staring off for the last couple of hours. Although she’d managed to get him to his room, with a bit of help from Xander, he’d not said a word since she’d offered to find him a succubus. Had that set him off, somehow? Xander had suggested that she tie him up in preparation for his next ravenous frenzy, otherwise she hated the idea of chaining him like some kind of wild animal. “Calix,” she whispered, stroking a finger down his cheek, but the gesture didn’t so much as summon a blink. She needed a break. Maybe giving him a few minutes alone would allow him to gather himself. It’d only be a matter of time before his hunger
would strike again, and as Ava hadn’t fed for most of the day, the craving for blood kept hitting the back of her throat with an intense dryness, and she figured she’d need to gather her strength for whatever was yet to come. Without a word, she padded out of the room, closing the door as she backed herself into the hallway. “How is he?” At the sound of Gavin’s voice, Ava spun around to find the eldest brother standing behind her, arms crossed and concern etched deep into his expression. “He won’t talk. Just stares off at nothing.” “He continues to starve himself?” Casting her gaze away in shame, Ava nodded. “I’ve offered to find him a female, but he refuses.” “Ava, it’s not my place to tell you any of this, but as he gets worse, so might his triggers.” “Triggers?” He jerked his head for her to follow, and she trailed behind as he led her down the stairs. Reaching his office, he ushered her toward one of the seats across from his desk. As he plopped in his chair, Ava was suddenly taken aback by the intimidating presence he held when behind a desk. Regal and dominant, all at once. Entwining his fingers, he leaned back in his leather chair. “How much do you know of
Calix’s past?” She puffed her cheeks and blew out a breath, shaking her head. “I know that he and his sister left home very young, and that he had a pretty hard life on the streets for a while. I know he was enslaved at one time.” Gavin pressed his lips together and sat forward, nabbing the decanter of amber liquor beside him, and poured two glasses, pushing one of them toward her. “I’m good.” Ava nudged the drink back toward Gavin, but he slid it back in front of her. “You’re probably going to need it.” With a frown, Ava reached for the glass and held it in her lap. “Calix was fourteen when he and his sister were removed from their home.” “Removed for what?” “His mother. A rather young succubus who’d sold the two of them to a much older female. The wife an Orcosian lord. Foolishly, she thought she’d take better care of the two.” Gavin tipped back a sip and sniffed, setting the glass back atop the desk. “As it turned out, she kept the two of them in some kind of dungeon. No daylight. Very little nourishment. During the many social gatherings held at their mansion, she’d allow her guests to use the siblings in whatever manner they desired. Most times, believe it, or not, it was Calix chosen to
entertain. This wicked and deplorable excuse for a female collared him, and for decades, she kept him in a cold dark room, forcing him to pleasure all variety of males and females. Some more cruel than others. Only one time did he try to escape, but he was captured, and upon his return to the mansion, he was forced to watch the murder of his sister, as it was she who’d facilitated his freedom by attacking the mistress.” As Gavin’s words sank in, they knotted her heart into a tight ball of sadness, making it ache for Calix. “Oh, gods.” Gavin gave a grim nod. “Years after, our Divine Matron, Cefirina, went in search of Wrath’s heirs and found where he’d been sent to live. He’d been starved to the point of madness, burned with Demortis, had suffered the wrath of a scorned succubus, and was left to rot in that cell, while the charred remains of his sister had been preserved in glass jars that he was forced to see every fucking day.” Gavin’s lip peeled back with disgust, his jaw tight in what she interpreted as rage over the thought of such a thing. Tears spilled down Ava’s cheek at the visuals. She knew firsthand how it felt to suffer at the hands of a sadist, but nothing she’d ever experienced came close to what Calix must have been through. “I … offered him a succubus. I had no idea.” “Calix has been around the succubi often, and
he’s well aware there are good ones and bad ones. When Cefirina first brought him here, he was unreachable. Withdrawn. He suffered a number of triggers. Any other day, I suspect he’d have brushed your comment off, but as he continues to spiral into starvation, his mind is not as adept to protect him as it has all these years. In fact, it’s more likely to cause torment and push him over the edge. In the upcoming days, he’ll become more manipulative, more aggressive. More likely to do something regrettable.” “I want to help him, I do. But he refuses. He says he’d rather starve.” Ava couldn’t bear to see the curiosity in Gavin’s eyes—the one question that must’ve itched to break free from his mind. Why can’t you sate him? “The female that Xander kept in the dungeon eased his pain, but she escaped,” she continued, ignoring the inward flinch as she contemplated the very reason she couldn’t help him herself. “Xander had a female in the dungeon?” “He … well, yes. They had her chained in a cell. Fallen female. I set her free to help Calix, and she stole my face and escaped.” “Stole your face?” “She did that façade crap that the Fallen like to pull sometimes.” “Never a dull moment.” Gavin pinched the bridge of his nose. “Did Xander happen to say why
he had her down there?” Ava shook her head. “He was pretty upset with me for letting her go, though.” “I’ll inquire with him. As for you and Calix, I don’t know the circumstances that have kept you at a distance.” Gavin held up his hand as she opened her mouth to protest. “And I don’t need to. But at some point, the two of you will face a very difficult decision. My only advice is, choose what’s best for both of you.” The hint of concern in his tone rang clear in Ava’s mind. She’d betrayed Calix once, and Gavin would ensure that didn’t happen again. Easing his pain would prove detrimental to the male, though. Oliver’d made certain that no one but the Sang could breach her womb. And yet, Calla had been infected, as well, and proved otherwise. She’d delivered a perfectly healthy baby. “Gavin, the Sang virus. Why didn’t Logan become infected?” “Our blood is too strong. The virus is weak.” Weak? “It has no effect on you? At all?” “Not so far. Why do you ask?” The first bloom of hope unfurled the knots in her stomach, and while Ava itched to smile, she held tight to her serious expression. “I’ve no intentions of hurting Calix. I … care very deeply for him.” She didn’t dare say the words she knew were true in her heart—that she loved Calix more
than anything in the world and would do whatever it took to ease his pain. “I’ll help him through this, Gavin. I swear it.” “As futile as it may seem to you, it so happens you’re the only who can. He won’t listen to anyone else.” He wouldn’t listen to her, either. Luckily, it wasn’t up to Calix anymore. To save him, it was up to her.
30
C
alix balled his hands into tight fists against the binds, staring through the dim light of his room at nothing in particular. His mind sought to tug him into the vault where his darkest memories awaited him. Body shaking with the effort of holding on to his consciousness, he slammed his eyes shut and willed happy thoughts to arrive, ones that might weaken the hold of those threatening to pull him under. Months ago, when he’d sat at the bar with his brothers, laughing and drinking Elysia as they lightheartedly bantered Zeke about one of his bat-shit exes. Lying underneath the stars with Ava, sweat coating their naked bodies after he’d laid his claim to her. Please. Anything to peel his mind from the dark
cloud that loomed at the back of his head. A pang of hunger struck his stomach, and a flash of Calix, lying against the cement floor with the blood-stained burlap draped across his groin and his arms tethered to the wall, slid behind his eyes. He winced and recoiled, tugging the chains that bound him in reality. No, no, no. The screams of his sister pierced his thoughts and Calix slammed his head back into the pillows, eyes clamped as he whipped his head back and forth. “You hear that sound, love?” The female’s voice had been programmed to incite him, evident in the hardening of his muscles. “The male who’s taken your sister loves watching her bleed.” “Why are you doing this?” The panic in Calix’s chest had weakened his voice. “You’re a dirty mutt, Calix. Filthy scum of the underworld. And you’re an incubus. A slave.” “Please. Let us go. We won’t say a word about this.” Calix knew his pleas would fall on deaf ears, but he was desperate to save his sister, yet far too frail to fight. “My mate is a prominent figure. Letting you go would destroy his reputation.” “I won’t say a word! By gods, I swear!” Kicking her head back, she let loose a
mirthless laugh that bounced off the empty walls. “No, no, Calix. You will feed my sexual desires, ones my husband wouldn’t dream of entertaining. That is your lot in life. The sooner you accept this, the more you’ll come to enjoy my hands on your body. Whether it’s a hard slap, or a kind caress.” A stroke of Calix’s hard cock alerted him to the pangs of starvation roiling in his gut, and he arched off the ground with an outcry. “You’re starving. So fucking hungry. And hard.” Leaning down, she tongued the tip of his dick, teasing the small bit of pre-cum that leaked from the head as she sucked him. The sensation tightened his stomach with a wave of nauseating pleasure, and he hated himself for enjoying it. For craving the fullness of her lips, taking him to the hilt. “Such a beautiful cock you have, Calix. I could suck you for days.” At the release of her grip, hot jolts of pain needled his stomach like the stab of a knife. “Fuck!” “Yes, it’s nearly time for that. And I have a surprise.” Lips to his ear, she nipped his lobe with her teeth and whispered, “A female. Taken as a slave by a gang of incubi. For weeks, they had their way with her. Tormented her. Kept her prisoner. Starved her. And nearly left her for dead. I lied and told her that I had a brother of one of
her captors locked in my dungeon. She can’t wait to meet you.” “Why do you hate us? Why do you do these things to us?” “Because I can.” The white of her teeth glowed in the dim light of the room as she smiled, taunting Calix’s fists to knock her back on her ass. “I enjoy watching you suffer.” “I’ll drain this female. You’ll bear witness to her murder.” Another laugh rattled his skull, and when her finger stroked his cheek, his lip peeled back in disgust. “Silly boy. You can’t drain a succubus.” Flames tore through his veins as the hunger made itself known. The salve had worn off, and Calix needed another fix. Arms stretched above his head, he curled his body into the angry lash of pain and thrust his hips into the air, while his rock-hard erection pressed against his pants. He writhed atop the mattress, needing to bury his dick so deep, he’d sleep like the dead after. Not even the luxurious silk of his sheets could abate the tension that held his body so goddamn stiff he could hardly move. A mouthwatering scent drifted across his face, and Calix wanted to lick the air, to swallow the smell of Ava, to consume her. He flipped to his stomach, arms crossed over each other, burying his face into her pillow, and moaned at the delicious
taste of her that filled his mind. So fucking good. He rolled his hips, dry fucking the bed, imagining her small body beneath him. He needed her. Gods, he needed her. Not having her sparked a rage inside of him that had his hips slamming harder, his lip peeled back into a snarl. “Fucking mine!” Visuals filtered in, of Xander’s hands fondling her tits, his tongue in her mouth while he kept his eyes on Calix, watching his reaction. Taunting him. The fury twisted in his gut, and the roar that cracked from his chest would’ve been the only warning before he snapped the fucker’s neck. Mine. He dragged his hips against the sheets, savoring the friction against his cock, but it provided no relief. Only Ava could do that for him, and she’d left him alone. Chained to a fucking bed to suffer. Light filtered into his room, and Calix lifted his head toward the opened door. Ava stood in the center of it, her willowy silhouette calling out to him like a siren. Something inside of him snapped at the sight of her, and as much as Calix fought his mind to stay put, he felt himself beating the chains like a caged animal. He flipped onto his back, his dick harder than even moments ago and tenting his pants like a flagpole.
“Ava! Get out of here.” “No, Calix.” Her stepping inside the room shot bullets of excitement down his spine, and more of his willpower slipped as he slid against the bed. “I want to help you.” She lifted a key where he could see it and a stab of panic struck his chest. “No!” “Yes,” she argued, and the click told him she’d set his hands free, hovering dangerously close, and as she unlocked the second bind, her sweet smell wafted past him, hitting his senses like a potent drug. A scratchy, hazy cloud blanketed his skull like static and all sound muted to silence. He shook his head and beat at his ear, and when he lifted his gaze, Ava stood beside the bed, staring down at him. Her eyes were wide and brimming with desire. “Take me, Calix.” “You’re telling me what I want to hear.” The cloud slipped behind his eyes as he clamped them shut, the sound filtering in and muting to silence, before pulsing through his skull again. “Go. Please.” He shot up from the bed, nabbing her elbow on his way toward the door. Christ, he’d only have his senses a few more minutes, and then she’d be in deep shit. So would he.
“No.” She snapped her arm from his grasp. “I want you. Take from me, Calix.” No, no. Stop. Gods, stop! A demonic chant, the ancient charm of the incubi, rattled inside his skull, and Calix screwed his lips shut to keep from speaking the words that would seal Ava’s fate. The sounds grew louder, though, overpowering his desperate implorations for her to keep her distance. “I’m charming you. I don’t even know it, because I can’t hear what I’m saying to you.” “You’ve not charmed me.” Ava’s voice held a touch of amusement, and she stroked a hand down his arm. His lids flipped open again, taking in her serious expression as she stared back without a hint of vacancy that would suggest she were in in a trance. “The Sang virus, or whatever the hell it is, it can’t hurt you, Calix. I know that now.” “It’s not me I’m worried about right now, Ava. It’s you.” Her hand held his face and the satin touch of her skin had his fists clenched tight, for fear he’d take her to the floor and rip her panties off right then. “Please, don’t.” Gods, if she knew he held himself with the strength of a thousand oxen, she wouldn’t dare tempt him that way. “Shhhh.” She pressed her lips to his temple, and
Calix could sense the pulse at her throat, the very essence of life, of her fragile human half that he longed to feed upon. “I’m going to take care of you.” “I can’t let you do this.” “I won’t let you starve.” Before he could utter so much as a whimper of protest, that warm satin skin wrapped around his length as she stuffed her hands down his pants, and Calix’s eyes rolled back at the pleasure of her touch. “You’re going to charm me. And I’m going to let you. I want you to use me. Make me your whore. Your lover. Whatever you need me to be. I want you to fuck me, Calix, and don’t stop until you’ve had your fill.” “No.” The tension snapped inside of him, and with a curl of his lip, Calix gripped her hair, yanking her head back. “You’ll regret this.” Chin held to an angle of defiance, her lip quirked. “I won’t.” Something dark and wicked rose from Calix’s gut. As if those two words unlocked a beastly shadow hidden deep inside of him. “Ava, once you open this door, I can’t stop it. I won’t have the strength to overcome the hunger.” “I don’t want you to stop.” She stepped closer, her sweet breath fanning his skin, heating his desire. “Use me. I want this.”
Calix gripped the collar of her T-shirt with both hands and split the fabric down the middle. A shudder of excitement zipped up his spine as her tits bounced with his roughness. His thumbs circled both nipples, and he licked his lips as they puckered beneath his skin. He tugged at her nipples, reveling in the sight of her head tipped back, mouth gaping, just begging to be filled. “Gods, Calix. I’ve waited so long for this.” “And when I’m finished, you’ll wish you’d have waited long—” An intense knot hit just above his groin, and Calix chuffed a grunt, the tight squint of his eyes shutting Ava off from his view. Flames shot through his veins, every muscle burning with the effort of keeping himself under control. Ava pinned beneath him, sweat pouring off his body, as she lay nearly comatose. Used. Exhausted. He held the heel of his palm at his temple, rubbing the ache there as he mentally willed those images away. Fucking stop. Please. Not Ava. The monster inside of him craved her, though, so much that it forced a grin on Calix’s face, just thinking of her body beneath him. Helpless. Trapped, for days. “Calix? Are you okay?” The softness of her fingers drifting down his arm tingled all the way to his damn bones, rattling and teasing the beast.
“No, Ava. I’m not okay.” Scooping her legs out from under her, Calix lifted her into his arms and tossed her onto the bed, his eyes glued to the jostling of her tits. The hunger blinded him for anything but her body. He wanted to ravage her, bury his dick so deep inside of her, she’d scream. Peeling out of his clothes, he didn’t bother to look at anything else in the room. The singular objective of getting inside of her had him kicking his clothes away from his feverishly warm body, while pulses of tension wound tight through his groin, the pain like a war drum in his muscles. The misery of his hard-on brought his attention down to the bastard, sticking up completely erect, and Calix grabbed up his fallen jeans, tugging the belt free. He folded the thin leather and held it to her mouth. “You’re gonna need this.” Pushing up onto her elbows, Ava shot him a quick glance before dropping her jaw, and allowing him slide it between her lips, she bit down. Gripping her hips, he flipped her over onto her hands and knees, grinning at her muffled gasp. A bastard evil had risen to the surface, and all that he was, all that he cared about dissolved to nothing more than plunging his dick into something warm. Calix kept himself on the brink of insanity as he tugged the briefs she’d borrowed down over her ass, before a harsh yank tore the bastards to shreds, unveiling her perfect ass. Tossing the tattered fabric
aside, a tingle hit the back of his jaw at the site of her perfect flesh that begged to be bitten, and he shivered, every muscle flexed and ready to feed. With rough hands, he licked his lips and skimmed his palms over those plump cheeks, spreading her apart to reveal both holes he’d be taking pleasure in before night’s end. Take her. Fuck her. “Grip the bars.” The husky tone of his voice reflected his desperation. The moment her fingers curled around the bars of his headboard, Calix scrambled to his knees behind her and lined his tip at her tight entrance. Guiding his dick inside, he tipped his head back with the motherfucking relief that swallowed him. He held himself there for a moment, his eyes closing as he savored the second’s worth of calm before all hell would break loose. And without apology, he plowed into her, pushing past her natural urge to resist him. Around the leather clenched between her teeth, Ava cried out, but not even that would stop him. Nothing could stop him. Calix didn’t even feel himself at that moment, but like a starved animal feeding on a delectable cut of fresh meat. Carnal. Ruthless. Prepared to devour her until she was nothing but a pile of soft bones that he’d lick as a reminder of his savagery. Holding tight to her hips, he curled his fingers
over her small waist and fed his cock in and out of her, the wet slide of her pussy making his knees damn near buckle beneath him. His muscles buzzed with excitement. The exhaustion of before fizzled into the exhilaration of renewed strength. He could feel his body energizing, becoming more virile with every drive of his hips. Don’t stop. Feed. The beast beseeched him, reveling in the heat and scent of her body. The sweet vanilla of her skin mingled with the heady scent of arousal and called to his instincts. Ava’s pussy contracted around him, drawing him deeper inside of her, and the tiny vibrations exploded into a full-blown twitch and arch of her back. “Oh, Gods!” She screamed out the last of her orgasm, and still he kept on, ignoring it. As the wet spurt of her arousal slickened his thrusts, his grip of her arms tightened. The sting of his fangs told him he could claim her. Bite the hell out of her throat and anesthetize her. He wouldn’t, though. Calix would get his fill of her. All night. “Fuck, that’s a good girl, Ava.” He rested his head against her spine, hips jackhammering into her thighs. “You’re mine. No one else touches you.”
She cried out, taking each slam from behind. His muscles tightened, stomach tensed with the impending blast of ecstasy. More. More. More. The beast demanded inside his head, forcing him to hold out until every muscle in Calix’s body trembled, ready to snap. The tingle climbed up his spine, shooting straight to the back of his head, and exploded. “Motherfuck—!” Stars danced in his eyes like he’d breached the heavens, while supernovas burst all over his body, tingling his limbs. The relief. Sweet goddamn relief bathed his muscles as he unleashed months of pent-up frustration. “Calix! Oh, Gods!” He’d climaxed for the first time inside of a female. His female. And he couldn’t stop. Still pumping in and out of her, Calix continued to feed his craving. From the depths of his body, a quiet whisper of words passed his lips, and he watched with awe as Ava’s head slowly rolled against the pillow, her body arched upward, knuckles white as they held the bars of the bed. She moved and undulated in a seductive roll of her hips with every thrust, finding a rhythm through the pain, meeting him for every violent drive of
his hips. The sound of her wetness watered his mouth, and as she moaned her pleasure, he upped the pace, accumulating more sweat that damn near sizzled across his skin. Fangs still in place, he stared at the back of her neck. It begged to be marred, claimed. Calix needed to sate the hunger. He needed to calm the fire burning inside of him that craved more of her. All of her. Every fiber of his being taunted him. Mine. He needed distraction, or he’d risk doing something without her permission. His muscles damn near screamed when he slowed the pace of his hips to a lazy roll that produced a long droning moan from Ava. She reached between her legs, fingers brushing over his balls, and the way she bounced into him told Calix her body craved fast and hard as much as he did, desperately searching for another orgasm. As Calix drove into Ava from behind, he caught the curl of her fingers gripping tight to the sheets. Closing his eyes, he savored the stricture of her tight pussy, and groaned at the way she tilted her hips, taking him deeper. The silky walls welcomed his cock, while her ass bore the bruising clench of his fingers. Calix upped the pace again, and allowed himself to fall forward against her back. He gripped both of her wrists and held tight, locking her small
frame in a cage beneath him as he pounded into her. The beast inside of him broke free on a possessive growl, and Calix snarled with every glide. It wanted more. More. Faster. Harder. The red clouded his eyes while he continued to rut against her, ignoring the mewling cries that died into the cotton of the pillow below her. Take. Take more.
31
X
ander lay back on the bed in his chambers, arms crossed behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. What a fucking joke. To think he’d have been anywhere near close to having Karinna—the only female he’d give up his fucking soul for. It must’ve been a moment of boredom for the gods. They must’ve been looking down on him with a blunt half hanging from their lips, stoking up the cruelest joke they could conjure by allowing him to find the Fallen so easily, giving him a brief moment of hope, before ripping it out of his hands. He’d never have Karinna. Xander realized that after he’d lost the Fallen female, in a moment he could only describe as the split second that flushed his fucking dreams down the toilet.
The same moment he’d handed over those damn keys to Calix’s female. “What the hell was I thinking?” He’d been far too concerned with Calix’s wellbeing to take notice of his own shriveled up dick that would soon be firing his ass for new management. Shifting his gaze down his body, he stared at his cock resting against his stomach, still hard after the throttling he’d given it moments ago. “Sorry, buddy. I failed both of us.” Christ. He’d resorted to talking to his dick. Didn’t get much more pathetic than that. Next thing would be looking into getting a cat and joining one of those knitting clubs Anna liked to talk about. At a buzz on the nightstand, Xander glanced over, and at Gavin’s number flashing across his cellphone screen, he lifted the phone to his ear. “’Sup, Bossman?” “I’m at the club. Just had a chat with our old friend, Lyric.” Xander frowned at that. “Not following.” “The female who took care of Zeke after the Enforcer had his fun with him.” “Ah, yeah. Fallen chick. I remember her.” Cute girl, in a Mad Max Thunderdome sort of way. Probably a hellcat in the sack. “She inquired about Zeke,” Gavin prattled on, interrupting his musings. “Was worried that he
might’ve committed sudesxz, though I’ve assured her Zeke is just fine.” “Forgive me, but what the fuck does this have to do with me?” “It so happens, I spoke with Ava last night. She told me what happened down in the catacombs. It seems Lyric ran into Ava number two last night. East side.” No shit. “She say where?” “Faeria Club. Apparently, she went out for some fresh air and never returned.” “Sounds like our girl.” “Xander, the next time you decide to imprison a female at the compound, I’d ask that you run it by me, first.” “Wasn’t my idea. Zayne brought her back here.” “You saw Zayne?” Xander flinched at the confession, realizing he hadn’t said anything prior to that moment. “He interrogated her and left. Ava didn’t tell you that?” “She must’ve skipped that part. Any idea where he took off to?” “Said he was following up on a tip the female gave him about Denya.” Gavin huffed through the phone, and if Xander had to guess, he probably stood pinching the bridge of his nose, like he always did when more shit got added to his platter.
For that reason, Xander didn’t bother to tell him that he’d found the demon talking to his dead mate, who Xander happened to witness himself, or that Zayne looked like hell on steroids. “He’ll be fine,” Xander assured him instead. “He fits in with the underground. They wouldn’t even bat an eye at him. What could go wrong?” “It’s Zayne.” Gavin’s voice lowered to a grim tone, as he added, “Everything.”
32
A
va’s body had grown weak, so much so, Calix had to hold her up against the shower tiles while he pumped out the last of his orgasm. For three days, the demon had ravished her against every wall and surface of his bedroom, and if not for Anna leaving the occasional bag of blood outside the bedroom door for her, she’d have surely starved. Calix, on the other hand, had feasted on her like a king. He hadn’t sleep. Hadn’t seem to tire, at all. They’d fucked so many times, she’d lost count. So many orgasms, she didn’t think her body could possibly mount another, but as his climax crested, his cock swelling inside of her and pressing against her walls with each water-slick glide, she tipped her head back against the cold tiles and allowed yet another explosion up her spine that shot to her
limbs in a wash of warm tingles. “Gods!” She collapsed forward, resting her head in the crook of his neck, while the last of his cum filled her. Her bones turned soft, and she could hardly muster a single twitch of her muscles as she allowed him to hold her while he pistoned his hips into her with the final spurts. Nephilim were hearty species, but being half human meant she’d never match Calix’s stamina. Even so, it warmed her fragile, racing heart to hear his pleasured moans and know he was getting stronger. And bigger with each round of sex, too. Gods, surely any other male would’ve gone flaccid, each subsequent hard on less than before, but not Calix. The more they fucked, the harder he grew each time. His lips found her throat, and the tickle of his kiss tugged a half smile that quickly faded when she felt his headshake and his groan rumble against her skin. “Why did you let me do this to you? You let me take from you and take from you. I’m a fucking bastard who deserves the flames of Stygius for what I’ve done to you the last few days.” “You’re an asshole who’s ruining my post-coital glow, so shut up and set me down.” Still holding her against him, he turned her so the top spigot sprayed against her back while she continued to lay against his shoulder.
She hummed a moan, letting the warm spray soothe the ache in her battered muscles. “You’re stronger now, yes?” “And you’re weaker.” “I just need some rest. I’ll be ready again soon after.” “I’m not taking from you again tonight.” “You’ll take as much as you need.” The hot spray cut off to a cold blanket of air that sprang goose bumps across her skin, and Calix pressed his lips to her cheek, carrying her out of the shower. Warmth engulfed her as he wrapped a towel around her body, as if she were a child in his arms, and when Ava caught their reflection in the bathroom mirror, that was exactly as she appeared, curled into his massive chest. “I can walk, Calix. You can put me down.” “No.” His grip tightened, pressing her against his body. “Tonight, I’m taking care of you.” The light of the bathroom gave way to the darkness of his bedroom, and he set her down across his bed. The heady scent of sex still filled the room, and she caught the tremble of his hands that told her it excited him. “Turn onto your stomach.” She’d heard that command so many times over the last three days that her body moved on its own until she held her ass high in the air for him. “No, baby. Not that.” He pushed her hips flat to
the bed, spread her arms out at either side of her, and the towel slid down her back, covering her lower half. “It’s a temptation that’ll never tire, but it’s your turn now. Close your eyes and relax.” The moment she did as he’d asked, Calix’s strong hands pressed against her back, moving in long, gentle circles. An exhausted whimper escaped her as he dug his fingers into the tight knot of muscles, loosening the toxic vestiges of her toil. Ava was thankful she lay on the bed or she’d have collapsed into a pile of goo, as he eased the ache she wasn’t aware had twisted up there. Across her back, he rubbed and kneaded, knowing when to add more pressure and when to let up, like a pro masseuse. “How’re s’good at this?” The slur of her voice reflected the relaxed state of her muscles, her drowsy mind begging for sleep. “You do this for all the girls, don’t you?” A chuckle escaped him as he worked her arms, and Ava released a pleasured moan at the halo of pure heaven with each press of his fingers, and the rush of endorphins that had her feeling like she’d just taken a hit of Abyzz. “You’re the only girl who gets my premier service.” “And you’re the only boy who gets me.” His fingers stilled and his chest pressed against her back, his warm cinnamon breath fanning her ear. “Tell me that’s true, Ava. Tell me you’re mine.”
She’d wanted nothing more than to believe it herself, but a sadness settled over her, stripping away any such hope. “Calix … I don’t think … I’ll never … I can’t bear a son for you. I’m ruined.” “You’re more than enough. If it’s only you and me for eternity, I’m happy with that. I don’t want another.” “You say that now, but … you’ll want a son someday. A legacy.” “No doubt every male wants a legacy. Some are blessed to have a son, to carry on future generations. But few know the pleasure of having a beautiful female to enjoy the present.” He kissed her cheek and dragged his lips down to her back, kissing along her spine. “Du amec,” she whispered into the sheets, thinking he wouldn’t hear her. “Du amec,” he responded, and flipped her over beneath him. Leaning forward, Calix crushed his mouth to hers and stole her breath with another kiss.
A
va sat on the bed, sipping blood through the straw poked into the plastic bag, but crimping her lip, she pulled it away. “Ugh. This one
tastes a bit metallic.” “Logan hunted that one for you.” Calix smirked, pulling his dark jeans over his hips. “Child abuser. Said he had a bit of fun with him first. He worried there might be a strange flavor to it.” “What kind of fun?” As much as she wanted to quit drinking it, she couldn’t stop herself. Perhaps it was all the sex with Calix, sapping her energy, but her craving for blood had doubled in intensity over the last couple of days. “Said he made the asshole swallow shrapnel.” “Why?” “Who the hell knows? It’s Logan.” He shook his head, before slipping a black button-down over his shoulders. Nabbing his dagger from the nightstand, he sheathed it at his hip and rested his hand there. “I feel sorry for the kid who asks his daughter to prom.” She eyed the blade at his side, then set her gaze back on Calix. “Think you’re going to need that?” “Doesn’t hurt to be prepared.” Ava smiled at that and polished off the last of the blood, shivering at the lead flavor as it coated her tongue. “Can I go with you?” Tipping his head, Calix stroked a finger down her cheek. “Not yet, baby. Not until I find the bastards who’re after you. I don’t want anyone making the tragic mistake of taking what’s mine.” She turned to kiss his palm and gripped his
wrist. “Okay, Boss. If you say so. I need to find something to do, though. I’m not used to all this freedom.” “I want you to enjoy it. Indulge. Relax for once.” “What about you? Are you relaxed now?” A roguish grin tugged the corner of his mouth, and Calix bent forward, urging her to lean back until his fists were planted at either side of her, his body held up by his massive arms. “More than I’ve ever been in my life.” He kissed her throat, and his growl rumbled against her skin, the tickle prompting her to laugh. “I’ll see you later, and we’ll pick up where we left off this morning.” “Anything in particular I should wear?” “Nothing,” he said against her skin, before kissing her jawline. “And a pair of heels.” “I don’t have any heels. I’ve been living in your T-shirts and boxers for over a week.” He pulled away from her neck and set a kiss to her lips. “We’ll have to fix that. I’ll let Anna know to order you some clothes. And heels.” “In the meantime, I’ll see if Calla has a pair I can borrow. Or Sabelle.” His lip twisted with disgust as he shook his head. “I don’t want the same heels that’ll have dug into my brothers’ backs.” “Do you all enjoy the same kink?” “I haven’t a clue what my brothers are into. All
I know is their mates have developed an obsession with shoes since living here. I find them everywhere. The library. The game room. The Wreck Room. Nobody wears heels to work out.” Ava frowned before her brows winged up with intrigue. “Do people fuck in the gym?” “Depends on the people. Two mated couples? They’ll fuck in front of you, if they feel up to it.” “Promise me we won’t ever be one of those couples.” “Never. When I fuck you in the gym, you’ll be wearing nothing but Nike’s.” Wrapping her arms around his neck, she caught his lip, dragging it between her teeth, before kissing him. “Have a good day at the office, baby. I’ll send you some texts later. Perhaps a preview for tonight.” Calix hung his head and shook it as if trying to shake the visual. “Christ, I won’t be able to concentrate on a damn thing.” “That’s kind of what I’m hoping for.” She smiled against his lips, giving one more kiss, and released him. “A girl could get used to this, you know.” “If that girl is you, she should.” As Calix strode out the door, Ava lay back on the bed, staring up at the gods painted across the ceiling. Only a short time ago, she’d stared at dull cement walls and ceilings, praying that she’d die
during one of the injections, or that someone might find the underground hospital and save her. She never dreamed she’d escape on her own and end up sprawled out on Calix’s bed in luxury. And the last thing she’d ever expected was for Logan to have forgiven her, going so far as to hunt for her and name his firstborn child after her. Like a dream come true, she’d made amends with the brothers and their mates. Not a chance in all of Obsidius would she screw things up again. At knock at the door, Ava covered herself with the towel just before a sliver of light sliced through the darkness. “Miss Ava, dear, Master Calix has asked that I assist you in picking out some clothes.” Anna hobbled in, pushing a silver cart, upon which a laptop sat open. Ava sat upright, holding the towel to her breasts, and tugged at the slit that showed most of her thigh. “Oh. I … didn’t expect that so soon.” Anna’s eyeballs tracked her up and down. “Well, we can’t have you walking the halls in nothing but a bath towel. A few of the boys in this house would appreciate that a bit too much. Particularly Master Zeke.” “Yes, of course.” Keeping the fabric to her chest, she kicked her feet over the edge of the bed and watched as Anna pulled up a website. “Master Calix asked that you choose a
wardrobe of clothes. And he asked me to remind you not to forgot the shoes.” Ava slapped a hand to her mouth at the joke Anna wasn’t privy to. “Yes, we can’t forget the shoes.” “I’d say a pair of black stilettos ought to please the Master. Wrath skin is rough for the wear, as I’m sure you know.” The warmth of embarrassment filled Ava’s cheeks at the same time a snort of laughter escaped her. “Um. What?” “Who do you think has to clean up all the shoes left lying about?” The old demon winked and cleared her throat. “Now, let’s get you something to wear, child.” With a smile plastered to her face, Ava settled in beside the female. Things had definitely taken a turn for the better. And Ava’d be damned if she’d ever allow herself to be subjected to Oliver and his sadistic torment again.
33
F
rom the corner of her eye, Thais caught the lanky male staring down at her as she lay chained to the bed. With her gaze set beyond him, blurring out of focus, she didn’t bother catching any of the details in his face. Instead, she contemplated what the hell had just happened. One minute, she’d been standing on the streets of downtown, and in the next blink, lying on a cold steel cot with her hands tethered to the wall. Again. She’d have shivered with fear, if not for the surge of laughter trying to escape. What the fuck were the odds that she’d be captured so quickly after her newfound freedom? And how the hell did they know it was her? “Who are you?” she asked, tugging at the chains.
The male frowned down at her, taking a seat beside the bed. “If you think I’ve any intentions of falling prey to your trickery twice, you’re wrong. We’ve been hard at work since you escaped, sweetness. Remember the succubi? I can’t wait to show you what’s become of them.” The succubi? Was he .... No. He couldn’t have been there. She’d been taken hostage in Obsidius, a place no human could set foot. The demons there would’ve sniffed him out and made a meal out of him. With the Nephilim mask still in place, she puzzled over how the male knew her. “What happened to the succubi?” Those poor young girls who’d been kidnapped for the blood, so assholes like the Wrath demon junkie she’d met earlier could get their rocks off. She couldn’t even fathom what additional torture they’d have been subjected to. “Let’s just say … they weren’t as fertile as I’d anticipated. They were completely devoured. Mating sack, and all. I left the remains for you.” Fury lit her veins, and gods, what she wouldn’t have given for the hellsfire to burn the surrounding shithole right to the ground. “You sick and sorry son of a bitch! I hope you rot in Stygius. I hope the soul of every girl you’ve ever murdered torments you for eternity. When I get out of here, I’ll see to it that you never kill another innocent girl again!”
His mouth stretched to a smile. “See, that’s the thing. You’re not escaping me twice, Ava.” How did he know Ava well enough to know her name? More importantly, why? “What am I to you?” “We’ve discussed this. Over and over, and over. Ad nauseam.” He bent forward, resting his elbows on the tops of his thighs. “You know I care for you very much. But alas, you are simply a means to an end.” He definitely didn’t know who she was beneath the charade. What the hell had Calix’s female gotten herself wrapped up in? Another succubi operation? More drugs? “What kind of means?” “I suppose that is going to depend on how much damage was inflicted. I understand you made your way back to the Wrath demons. And I’d be willing to bet that you allowed one of the horny bastards to fuck you.” His lip twitched, and he rolled his shoulders. “I’ll need to examine you. Make sure your womb is intact.” “For what?” Rolling his eyes, the male threw himself back in the chair and slouched. “For Christ’s sake, woman, have you had a lobotomy in the last few days? We’ve gone over this a million times. You’re to be impregnated by the Sang. And then consumed.” Thais’s veins turned ice fucking cold. She’d
have switched to her own identity, if not for the sudden paralysis that took over her body. A tremor of fear clinked the chains as she lay shivering. Sang? Why did the name sound so familiar to her? Yet, something told her not to ask. “I … I’m not who you think I am.” “Don’t be so modest, darling. The succubi may have been a disappointment, but I know how to fix things now. I know what I did wrong with you, and it’ll work this time. It has to.” “No, you’re not understanding.” Clamping her eyes shut, Thais focused on the change, willing her mind to relax and accept the silent command inside her head. Her skin prickled with a slight burn as the façade faded away. “I’m really not who you think I am,” she said in her own voice. Eyes widening, the male’s mouth gaped. “Well, shit.” His brow furrowed, and he tipped his head, staring hard at her face. He removed his glasses, rubbing the heel of his hand against his eyes and replaced them once more. “Who the fuck are you? And why were you wearing the face of Ava?” “I was just … I, um. Was just … some asshole gave me a hard time at the bar. Was just trying to get away.” “Right. And how did you come upon this face you used for escape?” “I … think I saw her on TV? Something. I don’t remember exactly.”
“You’re lying.” With a wicked smile, he pushed to his feet and paced alongside the bed. “I don’t think you understand the very grave circumstances that you face. In the adjacent room is an ancient creature. One responsible for wiping out entire demon species.” “The Sang?” Only a vague recollection of their history fluttered inside Thais’s head, but at that moment, what little she’d picked up about the Sang crashed over her with terrifying understanding. They were a plague from the underworld that’d somehow been resurrected and introduced to the human realm. “Yes, the Sang. I’ve not kept them as well-fed as I should. They’re starving. Entering their mating cycle and looking to offload a shit-ton of sperm. So, unless you want to be the vessel that both sates their sexual desires and their hunger, I suggest you cut the shit and come clean.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “How do you know Ava?” Fucking hell, was that what he’d done to Ava? Was that why she couldn’t comfort her man? One thing that’d kept Thais alive, when she should’ve been dead a number of times over, was her unwavering commitment to saving her own ass. Besides that, while she lay strapped in chains, facing a grisly and gruesome demise, the other female happened to be living it up in a guarded fortress where the asshole couldn’t get to her if he
wanted, anyway. Probably why he’d snatched Thais up from the streets as quick as he had. “I don’t know her, per se. I’m an acquaintance of her mate.” Better to associate herself with the Wrath demon than Ava. The human seemed to have enough knowledge about supernaturals, and most knew not to fuck with a Wrath. And if he didn’t? To hell with him. His funeral. The raising of his brow left Thais secondguessing herself. “Friend of the Wraths?” His smile spurred a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and left her wondering if she’d just fucked herself. “Acquaintance. There’s a difference.” “And what, might I ask, is the nature of your acquaintance?” Shit. “I delivered some goods once.” With every lie, she attempted to lessen her connection to them. “His girlfriend happened to greet me at the door. I thought she was pretty, and I used her face.” “The door? Of the mansion?” “Yeah, well, the troll who guards it must’ve had to take a piss and left her in charge of the door. Look, I don’t know why she was there. I made my delivery and left. You don’t fuck with the Wrath demons, right?” “Right. What goods did you deliver?” “Drugs. For his brother. This is all very secret stuff you’re asking me.”
“Yes. I know.” He lifted a phone from a holster at his side and turned his head to the side to speak. “Bring the injections,” was all he said before clipping the device back at his side. Thais tugged the chains to seat herself higher on the bed, as if she could get away. “What injections?” The rapid pattering of her heart left Thais one whimper away from falling into panic. “What are you going to do?” “It’s not so much what I’m going to do. It’s what you’re going to do, my dear. You see, the only time you’re able to flash from one location to another, is if you’ve been there before. It plays off of your memories.” He bent forward, holding himself up over her. “And since you’ve been to the mansion, and have seen Ava there, you’re going to retrieve her for me.” “What makes you think I’d come back to this shithole?” “Ah, I’m glad you asked.” He strode across the room and threw back the iron door, revealing the monstrous, gorilla-faced beast who’d brought her there. Standing behind a silver cart, he carried three syringes. “My friend will accompany you. He’ll see to it that you not only retrieve the girl, but that you return her to me. And if you fail to do so, if you attempt to escape, he’ll bring you back here. And what happened to the succubi will be merciful compared to what happens to you.”
Thais swallowed a harsh gulp. “How?” “I’m going to inject you with the Sang virus. It’ll take a few hours to settle throughout your body. A couple days until you level out. Once I remove the chains, you’ll have the power to flash just by thinking of the place. If you try it with the chains, you’ll decapitate yourself.” He shivered, and his face screwed up into a grimace. “Trust me, I’ve seen it too many times.” She jerked her head toward the gorilla-faced mutt standing in the doorway. “And him? What am I supposed to do? Walk around with a big, ugly ass demon following behind like a puppy?” The beast growled at the same time the human male lifted the second syringe. “I believe that mistakes are made to make us more aware of our shortcomings. So we can fix them. This second injection contains his pheromones.” He glanced back at the demon and smiled. “It works the same way as bonding. He’ll sense you at all times. Wherever you flash to, he’ll follow.” Syringe held before his face, he examined the clear fluid that appeared to have small black specs floating around within. “Shame I couldn’t have used this on Ava, but that would’ve surely fucked with my experiment, and I believe in the fewer variables, the better.” Disgust churned in her gut as he approached the bed, and Thais tugged on the chains in a futile
attempt to break them. “Keep that the fuck away from me. I don’t need some snaggle-toothed bastard thinking I’m his mate!” “It’s temporary. It’s effects only last a few days.” “And if he tries raping me in that time?” “He’ll wait outside the compound for you. I suggest you get in and get out. We wouldn’t want him getting jealous and barging in.” The human ran a finger along her throat, smiling when he found her pulsing artery. “You’re nervous. Don’t be. Do as I say, and you’ll be fine.” “And what happens to me after? You’ll let me go?” “One step at a time, dear.” A sharp sting hit her neck, as he jabbed the needle into her flesh there, and waves of euphoria struck her brain. “Let’s first see how you respond to the virus.”
34
A
va hardly recognized the female staring back at her from the full-length mirror attached to the armoire. The white translucent tone of her skin allowed the network of veins to peek through from beneath, while the stark blue of her eyes had begun to dull. The usual shine and thickness to her hair seemed unruly, and frizzier than usual. Whatever post-coital glow she’d been blessed with the last few days had surely faded away. Calix hadn’t said a word about it, thank goodness. Even after four straight days of sex, his appetite hadn’t seemed to wane, his lust for her unshaken by her noticeably changing appearance. Perhaps she needed some time outside. Her human half afforded her the ability to tan, and with the late spring sun shining through the window, she
decided that might just be the cure for whatever had taken hold in the last week. Slipping on one of the tanks she’d picked out with Anna, and a pair of cut-off shorts, she nabbed the blanket she’d pulled from the closet and a pair of sunglasses, making her way out of the dark bedroom. As a teenager, her favorite pastime had been lying in the sun and reading. Unlike most of the supes, who preferred the cover of night, Ava enjoyed daylight, loved the warmth and the outdoor activities Ryke had rarely allowed her to partake in. Some Nephilim chose the nocturnal life and ridiculed the ones who didn’t. She’d once tried waterskiing with a friend and spent a night at the lake, and she’d paid the price when she’d snuck back home. Ryke had made a point to torment her, by slapping and scratching her already-painful sunburn, while calling her a whore for the bikini she’d worn. Calix would never say, or do, something so cruel. The thought of him brought a smile to her face as she descended the marble staircase. She’d never been a stranger to opulence, as her brother had always sought to impress, but the demons had genuine class. The art and furnishings of the mansion expressed the exquisite taste each of the brothers possessed, whereas her brother had always gone for flashy and gaudy as hell.
Anna rounded the corner, as Ava passed through the foyer toward the back entrance, and the smile on the plump female’s face quickly faded to a tight pinch of concern. “Ava, dear, are you getting enough blood? You’re looking slightly pale, love.” “Yes, I’ve increased my blood intake in the last few days. Calix brought fresh bags of it and urged me to snack during meals. I think I just need some fresh air and sunlight.” “Well, you’re sure to get plenty of it out there today! Gorgeous outside. Might take the laundry out to dry on the lines.” “I’m looking forward the warmth. Can I help you with the laundry?” “Oh, you are a sweet dear, but no.” Anna shooed her away with a chuckle. “Get out there and enjoy it.” “Okay, but if you change your mind, I’m pretty decent at folding fitted sheets.” “I shall keep that in mind.” Anna tottered off down the hall, with a quiet hum and a skip in her step. Through the long hallway, Ava finally reached the back door, and the moment she opened it, the invited blast of air scarcely cooled her face with the pounding rays of heat quickly stamping it out. Too hot. Too damn hot! As if something had peeled back her skin and
exposed her insides, the sun she loved so much had quickly become the enemy and bore down on her from the cloudless sky. She shuffled across the patio, finding shade beneath a gazebo, where Calla sat nursing the baby on a luxurious couch with plush pillows and a thin blanket. “I’m sorry,” Ava whispered, trying not stare at the half of her breast she could see over the baby’s head. “It’s okay.” Calla smiled and waved her over. “Come sit with me.” “It won’t … disturb the baby?” “Not at all.” Disappointed that she couldn’t sit in the sun, Ava sulked over, taking a seat on an equally plush chair across from Calla, who discreetly tucked her breast back into her shirt and stroked the baby’s head. “She looks so content.” Ava kept her voice low, smiling at the tiny bundle curled into her mama’s chest. “I’ve always heard horror stories about newborns and parents never getting to sleep.” The adoration in her eyes as she caressed the baby’s crown spurred an ache in Ava’s heart. That she would never have the opportunity to cradle one of her own someday needled the hollow there. “She sleeps all the time, rarely cries, and loves to cuddle.
She’s like, the perfect baby.” “She really is,” Ava agreed, studying the absolute roundness of the baby’s head and the healthy glow of her skin. “Thank you.” A menacing growl tingled down Ava’s spine, and she turned to find Gavin’s hellhound, Magnus, baring its teeth from where the dog stood just a few feet from her. At Ava? Surely not. On the few occasions she’d come with Calix to the mansion, the hounds had always seemed to adore her. “Magnus? What’s up, buddy? Come here.” At the patting of her hand, the dog barked, and Ava turned to see the baby startle against Calla. His growls intensified, turning to snarls. Her instincts told her to get up and move away. Before she had the chance, Calla stood, cradling the baby in her arms and waved them off. “Shoo! Back off!” The hound’s snarls turned to a whimper, and it paced in its spot, as if reluctant to follow her command. Hellhounds didn’t tend to have the same body structure as domestic dogs. Their long bodies and predatory behaviors almost gave them the appearance of a large cat. “Magnus! Go on! Go away!” Calla edged closer to the dog, and it finally tucked in its head and bounded off toward the woods. “I don’t understand.” Ava shook her head,
watching the dog disappear into the dark cover of trees, but its red eyes, still visible, told her he continued to survey from a distance. “I’ve wrestled and played with the hounds. I thought we were cool.” “Don’t feel bad.” Calla sat back down on the couch, setting the baby on her chest, and she nuzzled her face into the crook of her neck. “Before the baby’s blood really started to circulate, I came out here with Logan, and I swore those dogs wanted to tear me apart. I think they sensed the Sang virus. Viewed me as a threat.” Of course. Though Calla most likely didn’t know Ava was infected, what she said made sense. “Do you ever crave blood?” Tracing a finger over the baby’s crown, Calla shook her head. “Not as much anymore. I think the hunger is always there. I know the virus is still inside of me, but the baby’s blood circulating in mine weakened it. I can sit in the sun and everything now.” Which explained why Ava had felt like her skin was peeling away from her while exposed. “The pregnancy cured you, then?” “It didn’t cure me, no. It just … let me live with the benefits, while lessening the bad parts of the disease.” Disease. Ava hated the crippling sound of the word.
Running her thumb across her lip, Ava sat quiet a moment. She’d not told anyone except Calix about the virus, mostly because she felt shamed, dirty, ruined. If anyone could relate to her, though, it was Calla. “I, um …. I was kidnapped by a human and his demon sidekick. They kept me in an underground prison for months. Giving me injections. I found out I was being prepped for the Sang.” Calla’s brows lifted, her expression filled with concern. “You’re infected, then.” Gaze locked on her fidgeting hands, Ava nodded. “Soiled. Tainted. Ruined. Yes. I’ll never bear a child of my own after what they did to me.” “Oh, Ava, I’m so sorry.” “No. I’m the sorry one. This is my penance for what I did to you. That was unforgiveable.” Calla shook her head so hard, Ava lifted her gaze. “What you did isn’t deserving of what they did to you. And I do forgive you.” The itch of tears softened with Calla’s words. “Thank you.” “Alexi soldiers are supposed to be sterile, did you know that?” “I didn’t.” “Demons are more powerful than we give them credit for.” She chuckled and rubbed her hand down the baby’s back. “I thought I’d never have a child myself. Had never dreamed I’d be a mother.
So don’t give up on the notion. If … when you and Calix bond, your body will decide on its own.” Double-blinking back the tears welling in her eyes, Ava smiled and nodded. “I’m not saying I want a baby right away. But … I’d like to know the option is there. Thank you, Calla.” Her lips stretched with a smile and she offered a slight nod. “So. I really, really have to pee. Do you mind holding her?” A ripple of dread climbed Ava’s spine at the thought of holding a baby. She’d always been somewhat nervous around them, but Logan’s child made it terrifying. “What if … I mean, if Magnus comes back.” “One thing I will say about Magnus is, he wouldn’t let anyone, or anything, hurt his baby. I think he believes Avalon is his.” Calla chuckled and shook her head. “Which is an utterly disgusting thought, yet at the same time, kind of sweet.” She pushed off the couch and gripped the nape of the baby, holding her to her body. “If you’re not comfortable, I can ask Anna.” “No. It’s okay. I’ll take her.” What the hell was she thinking? Ava wanted to choke herself for offering to hold a baby. A baby! Before she could protest, though, a warm smile lit Calla’s face, and she knelt forward, setting the infant into the awaiting crook of Ava’s arm. Taking a deep breath, Ava stared down at the
little angel in her arms, whose tiny fingers were curled against her throat. The roundness of her chin and her button nose were definitely Calla, but the stern pinch of her brow reminded Ava of Logan. A much cuter version, but she definitely had her dad’s angry scowl. Perhaps she’d grow to be a little spitfire, but at the moment, she was an absolute doll. Her lips twitched as she slept, as if she smiled, and the idea bloomed a warm and happy feeling in Ava’s heart. “She likes you,” Calla said softly beside her. “If … if she cries?” “I’ll only be a minute, or two. And she looks pretty cozy to me.” Ava nodded, casting her gaze back down at the child, while Calla walked off. How sweet and right it felt holding her. She slid her pinky into the baby’s curled palm and quietly giggled when Avalon’s tiny fingers squeezed around it. “You are the most precious thing,” she whispered. “So beautiful.” The baby didn’t belong to her, and yet she couldn’t help the overwhelming feeling that she wanted to protect her. So tiny and fragile. And trusting. Perhaps what touched Ava most, was that this child lay quiet and vulnerable, and Ava wanted to honor that trust with the silent assurance that she was safe. Ava could only imagine what Logan must’ve felt every time he held her.
And no wonder Magnus growled at her. A gusting wind fluttered the blanket, and Ava bent forward, tucking her head against the baby’s to block the cool air. Mingling with the baby’s newborn scent came the coppery undertones, an essence that struck the back of Ava’s throat. Blood. She lifted her face from the still-sleeping child and shook her head, closing her eyes to break the spell settling over her. Behind her shuttered lids, the dream from the other night, with the angel, played inside her head. She inwardly cringed at the memory of biting into the innocent creature’s flesh, but the tingle of its blood left her licking her lips. She opened her eyes to find the three hellhounds had emerged from the forest. Their hunched backs and red eyes held a warning as they prowled toward the patio. Ava hissed, clutching the baby tighter. Avalon whimpered in her arms, her lips creating a downward pout, eyes still closed as if she was caught in a nightmare. The sight of her broke Ava from her enchantment, and she lightly rocked the infant in her arms. “Shhhh, it’s okay. I promise, I won’t hurt you.” A sickness churned in her stomach, though. Thoughts she couldn’t bear to face, and when she
lifted her gaze, she noticed the dogs had halted their advance toward her. Even so, they watched from across the yard. Waiting. No, I can’t. I can’t do this. “How was she?” Calla’s voice struck her muscles, and Ava jumped, startling the baby a second time. A soft mewling cry set Ava’s nerves on edge and her arms went stiff. “Just in time,” she said on a breath of relief. Calla reached down and lifted Avalon from her arms, immediately settling the baby as she kissed her head. “You’re a natural.” Without a word, Ava pushed up from the couch, needing to find a place she could quietly crawl into herself and die. What had she almost done? What could she have done? The question batted her skull as she made her way to the door, ignoring the scalding burn of her skin and whatever Calla said as she called after her. Need to get away. Can’t be here. She gave one more glance toward the hounds still sitting at attention, and retreated back inside the house. Up the staircase, she made her way to Calix’s room and closed the door behind her, shutting out the light.
What had she become? The floor hit her tailbone as she fell to a slump against the wall, tucking her knees into her body. She sent up a prayer to the gods that she’d stopped herself. And what exactly had stopped her? Not the dogs, nor the possibility of Calla returning. It was Avalon herself who’d saved her own life by appealing to the small bit of humanity that Ava so desperately clung to. Seeing the discomfort on her face had broken the trance and cast a cloud of shame over Ava. For a brief moment, she took some comfort in that thought, quickly tamped down by the question of what would happen the next time? Would she stop? “I couldn’t have hurt her.” She wouldn’t. Still, it didn’t keep her from flashing to the only place she could think to go, where she wouldn’t hurt an innocent. A place she could sate the craving, but one she loathed to return to, packed with low lives and human scum. Faeria club.
va opened her eyes to the black scribblings
scrawled across the bathroom wall. Suck cock stood out as the most legible, and she sighed. Ryke had sometimes sent her to the club, when he’d been too lazy to pick up a female on his own. Whomever she’d nabbed there probably had some questionable background. Mostly drug addicts, prostitutes, deadbeat moms. Not that they’d deserved to die, but Ryke would’ve been picking teenage girls off the cheerleading squad, had she not done his scouting for him. She pushed to a stand, still wearing the shorts and tank from earlier. Even with her pasty white skin, she’d no doubt be a magnet in a place like Faeria. Without sparing herself a glance in the mirror, afraid of catching a baby killer staring back at her, she exited the bathroom. At just four in the evening, the bar hadn’t yet picked up, but there were enough patrons to for her seek out her next meal. Glutting on the asshole alcoholics might keep her hunger in check. Scanning the bar, she set her gaze on a male who sat off toward the back of the area. Balding, with a crown of greasy tufts of hair, he watched the crowd behind from his spectacles, while sipping what might’ve been soda. Something about him screamed creepy, though, and the longer she stared, the more she picked up on the aura of sins that wafted across the room.
A
“Rapist, or pedophile, for sure,” she muttered, sauntering across the room. Didn’t take long for the asshole to perk up and shift in his seat, the quicker she closed the space between them. Before she got close, though, pressure hit her throat, tightening its grip, and Ava halted in her tracks, hands flying to her neck where something dug into her windpipe. “Well, hello, pretty lady.” She recognized the voice. Xander. The cold steel of Diablis tautened the more she tugged, ensuring a snug fit. “Hey, let her go.” As the male in the booth shimmied up to a stand, Xander came from behind her, his towering presence suddenly shrinking her. Eyes wide, the male scrambled back into his seat. Coming around front of her brought Xander’s shit-eating grin within punching distance, and Ava swung out at him, missing the mark as he dodged her. “I’m not the Fallen angel! I’m Ava!” “Sure. You were Ava back at the mansion, too. The real Ava wants her face back.” “I am the real Ava!” “Well, real Ava, you’re coming with me, regardless, and we’ll sort this out back in my chambers.” Gripping her elbow, he led her back
through the bar, down the hallway toward the bathrooms. “What the hell are you doing here?” She jerked her arm to break his grip, and growled at the futility of trying to fight him. “Well, for a while there, I was hoping for a goddamn miracle, and poof! You showed up as though I deserved that shit.” Coming to a halt in front of the emergency exit he’d led her to, she tugged at the chain tethered to her throat. “If you don’t let me go, I’ll fucking scream right here.” Xander swung around and shrugged his shoulders. “Go ahead. I already let the owner know why I’m here. He knows I’m picking up a crafty female who’s being hunted by the Sentinels, and I warned him to stay the fuck back if he wants to keep both his dick and his bar intact.” “How the hell did you even know about this place?” “Lyric.” Holy shit, Ava hadn’t heard that name in forever. They’d been good friends while she’d dated Ryke—one of the only females Ava had ever bothered to form a relationship with. “What about Lyric?” “She ran into you the other night. Ring any bells?” “No. Because I was with Calix the other night.”
Xander’s cheeks puffed up, and he blew out an exasperated breath before turning back around and prodding her forward with a tug. “Right,” he said over his shoulder. “And the real Ava hasn’t left the mansion since she arrived, so what are the odds?” “Gods, you’re impossible!” “I’ll give you some credit. You dicked me over pretty good the first time, but that shit doesn’t happen twice.” Ava yanked on the steel, urging him to stop. “I can’t … go … back there! Please! I don’t belong there!” “I don’t give a shit.” “Xander!” “Thais!” He gave another jerk of the steel and continued on. “I hope you’re down with crosses, sweetheart, because I’ve got a cold steel gem that I can’t wait to strap you to.” “Calix is going to kick. Your. Ass.” She crossed her arms, leveling her gaze on the bastard angel. “You’re really into this role. I’m impressed. As for Calix?” He tipped his head, grinning the kind of grin she wanted to scratch right off his face. “No. He. Won’t. That poor bastard is looking forward to a long and happy life with his girl. Who isn’t you, by the way.” Still pissed off, Ava couldn’t help but chew on her tongue at that. “Oh, yeah? Did he … say that?” “You see the way he looks at her? Of course
you have. You’ve studied that shit, right? Psycho chicks pay attention to that stuff.” “Xander! For fucks sake, I’m Ava!”
35
T
hais hated herself. Tiptoeing through the dark corridor of the demon’s catacombs, she made her way up the staircase. Wearing the face of the Nephilim female felt like she was mocking the poor female’s demise. Gods, what the hell would that bastard, Oliver, do, once he had her? Her hands rattled to the beat of her anxiety, and as she rounded the corner, toward the foyer, every hair on her body stood on end, as she waited to run into one of the demons. A pudgy female descended the stairs, as Thais climbed them, her head held low to dodge her gaze. A maid, if she had to guess, judging by the apron she wore as she hobbled along in her periphery. “Oh, Miss Ava! You’re looking much brighter, dear. You were right, sunlight was exactly what you
needed.” “Yes,” Thais muttered and cleared her throat. “I’m feeling better.” “Looking it, too.” The demon’s voice held a enthusiasm, but she continued on her path. “Master Calix asked for you. He’s in the Wreck Room, getting in some gym time.” “Thank you.” A sense of urgency burned in her gut, as Thais eyed the many doors at the top of the staircase. She didn’t have a whole lot of time, and with that beastly gorilla-faced demon waiting outside the compound for her, it was only a matter of minutes before disaster could set the plan to shit. It’d already tried a number of times to stake it’s claim to her, stopped only by the skinny human that seemed to have some control over it. She paused at each door, listening for sound, until she heard a soft voice. Assuming it to be Ava, she padded further down the hall, and on reaching a cracked door, she pushed it open. A blonde stood in the middle of the room, clutching a baby, and when she spun around, Thais’s heart leapt into her throat. “Ava! I was looking for you.” “Oh?” “Yes, I wanted to apologize. For out on the patio.” The blonde shook her head and clamped her eyes shut. “I’m such an idiot. You were talking about not being able to … and I handed the baby to
you …. I didn’t mean to be so insensitive. Please forgive me.” A forced chuckle made Thais want to cringe at how fake it sounded. “You’re forgiven.” “Good.” She smiled and kissed the baby on the cheek. “Well, I’m going to tell Calix I found you. He was looking for you earlier.” “No!” A twinge of panic lit her veins, and every thought inside her head blanked to a white void. “I … have to shower.” “Oh. Well. No problem. I’ll give you privacy, then.” Frowning, she slipped past Thais toward the door. The scent of blood carried on the air and watered her mouth. Thais screwed her eyes shut, trying not to focus on it too much, but all she could see was red, that coppery flavor coating her tongue as she fed from the blonde in her mind. And the baby. What? No. Oh, Gods, no. “Hey, Ava.” The female’s voice arrived too close, and when she swung around the blonde’s eyes saucered. “Wait. Who are you?” Frowning, she stepped back, clutching the baby. “Shhh.” Thais edged closer, panic burrowing into her bones while she desperately concentrated on the Nephilim female’s face as a mask. “You’re not Ava. You’re not Ava!” As the female twisted away from her, as if to run for help,
Thais panicked. She grabbed the blonde’s arm, and as she spun to break free, Thais locked gazes with her, forcing an enchantment upon the girl. The charm settled over her in the heavy blink of her lids, and before she could drop the baby, Thais snatched her up, while helping the female fall to the floor. The infant screeched a wail, and Thais searched through the dim light of the room rushing toward the bed, setting the baby gently against the sheets. The frustration tamped down the urge to feed, and at the sound of boots tromping toward the bedroom, she sought the shadows, hiding on the other side of the armoire. “Forget it. It’s no big deal, Xander.” The keen hearing Thais had acquired alongside her already acute senses identified the speaker as Ava. She hunkered back into the darkness while they approached. “Look, don’t tell Calix I made a major dick of myself.” “I don’t have to tell Calix that. He already knows you’re a dick.” The chuckle that followed, along with the footsteps, came to a halt just outside the room, and Thais eyed the silhouette of one set of shoes through the crack below the door. “Avalon?” The light bled into the room and Ava gasped a breath, falling beside the blonde. “Calla?” She
shook the female, and at the pause that followed, Thais braced herself to rush out of her hiding spot. I can’t do this. I can’t take her back there. Oliver had given her a glimpse of the Sang, though, hanging from the ceiling like bats, just before she’d flashed to the Wrath mansion, an alternative that skated down her spine like claws. It’d been a reminder for her to return with the girl. Ava scrambled to her feet and scooped up the baby before Thais had the chance to make herself known. She glanced around the room. “Who’s there?” A second wave of panic swept through Thais as she watched, desperate for the moment that Ava would set the baby down. Not the baby. Can’t take the baby. Put the baby down. Please. She sensed it would only be a matter of time before the demons’d burst in on the scene. No doubt, Ava was on the verge of summoning them. She couldn’t steal her away with that baby, though. She wouldn’t. Who knew what the hell those sick bastards had in mind? And after the gutwrenching sensation she’d felt just moments ago, she wouldn’t risk having the child near herself, either. Put her down. Put her down. A flash of black streaked through the room, and
in the next breath, Ava and the baby disappeared into thin air. Thais gasped and slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, Gods!” The demon. The gorilla-faced bastard had nabbed the wrong one! She closed her eyes to get the fuck out of the place before someone could find her, but cold steel gripped her throat. Her eyes widened on opening, as the Fallen angel from before held her up by her neck. Her hands flew to the gauntlets he wore as she wheezed a breath. “Gotcha.” The menace in his tone cast chills down her spine. Behind him, two large brawny males, including Calix, filtered into the room. “Calla!” The largest of the three knelt beside the blonde, and a sinking feeling hit the pit of Thais’s stomach. “Avalon! Where is Avalon?” His head whipped back and forth, searching through the darkness for what she presumed was the infant the female had been carrying. When his gaze landed on hers, the murderous expression in his eyes told Thais she wouldn’t be leaving the manor alive.
36
“W hat the fuck is this?” Oliver’s voice raked down Ava’s spine, and she hissed from the corner of the familiar cell, as she sat crouched with the wailing baby in her arms. “A baby?” The demon grunted and shrugged its shoulders. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Oliver shook his head. “Whatever, a snack, I suppose.” If not for the steel at her throat, she’d have escaped, but as she’d nearly decapitated herself once, Ava kept her distance, like a rabid animal attached to a leash. “Look at you, Ava. You’ve progressed. Which means you’re tainted.” Oliver paced in front of her, his footsteps clicking over the infant’s cries. “Didn’t I warn you of this?” “Shhh.” She kissed the top of the baby’s head, rocking on the balls of her feet. “It’s okay. It’s
okay, Avalon.” “In mere hours, you’ll be dead.” He threw a syringe across the room, one he’d attempted to inject unsuccessfully into Ava, and it crashed against the wall. “You’ve ruined everything!” Ignoring him, she continued to calm the baby, holding the crown of her head. “Let me return her to her mother. You can have me. You can bind me with steel and let him take me. I won’t fight. I’ll accept your injections. I’ll do whatever you want. Just … let her go back to her mother.” “Do I look like a fucking idiot to you? Seriously.” His lips peeled back with a snarl, and he crouched too close, taunting her fist. “You’re useless to me now.” “Then, let me go,” she said on a whimper. “I have three starving and incredibly sexuallyfrustrated Sang in the next room. If they don’t mate you, they’ll at least find some nourishment in the two of you.” The thought twisted Ava’s stomach, and she held the baby tighter, shaking her head. “I won’t let you hurt her. I’ll fucking kill you!” Clutching the baby with one hand, she lurched forward, nabbing his arm. The sinking of her fangs into his flesh had her eyes rolling back at the tinny flavor of his blood on her tongue. The sharp sting of a smack to her face dislodged her teeth from his arm. Ava fumbled for the baby,
catching her in the crook of her elbow, and huddled back into her corner. “You fucking bitch! You dirty fucking bitch!” Oliver shot to his feet, clutching his bleeding arm. Two painful blows of his foot hit her ribcage. As she curled into herself, trying to catch her breath, Ava flinched at the pulses of agony shooting through her body. “Put her in the room with them! Put both of them in there. Let the fucking Sang finish them off.” Oliver strode from the room, his curses echoing down the hallway. Gorilla tightened his grip of the chain, and Ava cried out when the metal bit into her throat. “Gods! S-s-stop!” The bastard would sever her head right there. She rose to her feet, fingers clawing at the steel that clamped around her throat, and with the baby still screaming in her arms, she stumbled behind the demon. The creak of the door fluttered the wings of the Sang, sounding like a shuffled deck of cards. A sharp push from behind, and Ava tumbled to her knees, the cold concrete tearing into her skin as she fell to the floor. Still, she held tight to the baby. She closed her eyes and imagined Calix’s room, could see it so vividly inside her mind, but when she opened her eyes, the smell of rotted meat and the gray concrete walls closed in on her,
suffocating her. Gods, she couldn’t flash! Why couldn’t she flash? Eyes glowed from the ceiling, watching her with pointed interest. The baby’s cries reverberated off the walls, and Ava tucked her into her shirt in a feeble attempt to swaddle her. For a moment, she thought she’d been spared, just as the last time she’d been locked in with the creatures, but when the white bat-like figure swooped down from the ceiling, limping toward her, terror rose from the pit of Ava’s stomach. A second, and the third followed the first, and her pulse throbbed beneath her flesh. The Sang weren’t after her, though. Their eyes fixated on something else. Avalon.
37
“I can’t. I can’t go back there!” The female lay against the bed, her limbs held down by each of the males in the room. Calix lifted the blade to her throat. “You will take us there, or we will gut you open right here, right now.” He’d not done such a thing to a female in over a century, but his patience had thinned to madness. “If I do, you’ll spare my life?” Her chasing outcry told Calix that Logan was running on little patience himself. The demon wasn’t known for hurting females, but where his daughter was concerned, he’d undoubtedly make an exception. A cold hard smack echoed in the bedroom, and Calla leaned into her, hovering above her face. “You stole my baby!” She’d come to soon after they’d stumbled upon Thais hiding in the shadows.
“I didn’t! I swear I didn’t! It was a demon. A … gorilla-faced demon that took them back to him!” The one that’d come to the bar looking for Ava, Calix suspected. “Take us there.” With a sob, the female nodded. “Okay. I’ll do it.” “I’m coming with you.” Calla set her hand on the woman’s arm alongside Logan’s. “No,” Logan protested. “My baby is out there, Logan. I’m not staying here like some mousy female, hoping you return!” Logan’s brows furrowed, the hurt clear on his face. “Calla, they may return.” Calix set his hand on her shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. “Ava can flash, remember? She’ll come back here.” Tears filled Calla’s eyes as they burned with conflict. “Are you sure?” The implication was clear, and Calix couldn’t blame her lack of confidence. A part of him prayed that Ava hadn’t known anything about their plan, that she hadn’t been a willing participant in the baby’s abduction. He nodded, clenching his jaw. “Absolutely.” She slid her hand away and took a step back. Turning back to the female on the bed, Calix held tight to her hand, and a coldness swept over him, casting a chill down to his bones while setting a nauseous gurgle in his stomach, before they
materialized into a dark empty hallway with a lone light bulb hanging from the ceiling. The female stood surrounded by Logan, Calix and Xander, the three of them glancing around the long, dimly lit corridor. “This is where they keep them.” Thais pushed through the barricade of bodies, toward the longer stretch of passage that disappeared into darkness, and all three males followed behind her. “Nearly a week, that twisted bastard kept me here. Chained to a bed. Injecting me with shit. Letting that fucking demon touch me.” “Why? What’d he want from you?” Calix asked, keeping on her heels as they ventured deeper into the dark hallway. “He wanted your girl. Said she was an important part of his research. With the Sang.” She glanced back at Calix with a remorseful expression. “I was supposed to retrieve her, or the human said he’d throw me in the room with the Sang. But she picked up the baby. I waited, praying she’d set her back down, but then the demon rushed in. Probably mistook her for me.” “Thought they wanted Ava?” Logan asked from behind, his voice still carrying a pissed-off tone. “Why would he be after you?” “Because. The son of a bitch injected me with the demon’s hormones. He views me as his mate, so I won’t escape them.”
“He sounds sadistic.” Xander sneered, bringing up the rear of the group. Thais glanced back at them from the front of the line. “As a fallen angel, I’m certainly no stranger to torture, but if your girl was subjected to this for months, it’s a wonder she’s still sane.” Her comment punched Calix in the gut, left him feeling every bit the sorry bastard for not having found her sooner. Ava had seen some bad shit, too, in her lifetime, and Calix wished he could erase all of it for her. Take her memories and wipe them out, from the moment she was born, up until her cunt of a brother was finally sent to Stygius. He’d even be willing to risk that she forget him, not remember Calix, at all, if it meant she’d never have to suffer the flashbacks of her torment. Only the most powerful incubi could do that, though, and Calix certainly hadn’t acquired that clout. They reached a door; it creaked upon opening and led to a stairwell. Once again, Thais took the lead, descending deeper into the bowels of the building, her feet hardly making sound beneath the hard thumps of the demons’ boots—particularly Logan’s. Calix glanced back at his brother, whose bunched shoulders made him look like a lion ready to pounce on the first thing that crossed his path. “Pick your damn feet up, man. You sound like a fucking Clydesdale.”
“Fuck off.” Another door stood before them, and Thais set her ear against the panel. Movement from behind gave little warning, before the door flew off the hinges, knocking the female back onto her ass, and Logan tromped through the open passage. “Well, then. Let’s move on.” She pushed to her feet, clearing her throat as she followed behind Logan. Xander snickered from behind, as each passed through the open door. The stairwell had deposited them into another hallway, like the first, but older and in decay. White and brown patches on the wall marked the wear of water leaks and time. Rusted pipes lined the top of the passage, and the damp stench of mold mingled with rot and decay, telling them they were close. “Why’d you flash us a level above?” Calix asked. “I was going for an element of surprise. There are other demons here. I sense them, but I’ve no idea where they are.” “Sang?” She shook her head and shrugged. “I don’t know. Perhaps something else. Something more violent.” Rounding a corner brought a male into view, lying slumped against the wall, holding his arm. To the left of the male, stood a door, just like all the
other doors lining the corridor. As the first to approach, Logan crouched beside the male, examining him. “I remember you,” he growled. “Came into the casino. Looking for Calla.” A chuckle escaped the human as he adjusted his thick black-framed glasses. “Yes. Yet another demon … who fucked with my work.” A dewy shine glistened off his skin over the white pallor beneath. Clumps of clotted blood and a gray-tinged fluid oozed between his fingers that gripped his arm. Infected, based on the sour smell he gave off. “There was a baby brought here. Where the fuck is she?” Logan rested his knuckles against the wall beside the male and leaned into his face. “And if you lie to me, I’ll rip every one of your fucking limbs off.” A burst of maniacal laughter from the male struck Calix’s last nerve, and tested his patience, and his urgency to find Ava overrode his usual level-headedness. Knocking his brother out of the way, Calix slammed a fist into the male’s cheek, cracking his bone on impact. A wail of agony echoed down the hallway, cut short when Calix throttled the male’s neck. “Where the fuck are they?” He could feel Logan’s eyes on him, no doubt trying to assess if he’d lost his mind. “I’s qui’ beau’ful,” he slurred. “Look. In
th’window.” Eyes closed, he jerked his chin toward the door behind the demons. Calix and Logan shot to their feet and swung around toward the iron door. The small window in the center of it gave a narrow view of the dark room within. Bat-like creatures crowded around a large brown object on the floor that appeared to be some kind of cocoon, though all their fuss made it hard to see. They hissed and danced, slamming their fangs into it, knocking it with their wings. One jumped atop of it and seemed to gnaw at its surface. Without a beat of hesitation, Logan kicked at the door. It didn’t budge. Calix added his boot, and still the door remained on its hinges. The laughter from behind innervated Calix’s spine. “Diablis steel. The whole damn thing is lined with it. My own special design. Keeps them from flashing. Also keeps the supes out.” Logan spun around and drilled another pop to the male’s face. “Except Wraths, fuck-face.” When he twisted back toward the door, both demons put their full weight into the kick, knocking it right out of the frame. The clamor ruffled the Sang enough that they hissed and took flight inside the cell.
Calix nabbed hold of a leg of one, yanking it toward him, and as the Sang snapped its fangs at him, he hammered his fist in its skull. Once in his grasp, the creature’s fangs pierced his skin, exacerbating Calix’s fury, and he reached for the dagger at his hip, the upward swing of his arm jabbing the blade into its skull, and with a quick swipe, he detached the head, spilling clear ichor onto the cement. Beside him, Logan pounded his fist into the other Sang’s face, crumpling it with each forceful blow. Xander had the third pinned to the wall, where he sliced long cuts into its flesh, until the body of the creature slithered to the floor, and Xander stood clutching the head. A loud crack ended the commotion, when the Sang’s brain matter spattered across the floor, and Logan slid his Glock back into its holster. At a roar behind them, they spun their attention toward the doorway—and the gorilla-faced beast blocking the empty frame. It charged toward Logan, but at Xander’s intercepting fist, the demon flew backward, slamming into the floor. “I got this one!” Xander shouted, scrambling atop the demon. “C’mon, shithead.” “Where the fuck is she!” Logan’s thunderous voice boomed over the grunting and thud of fists hitting flesh, as Xander fought the demon.
A soft sound hit Calix’s ears—Logan’s, too, from the way he lifted his chin. Muffled. Crying. A baby’s cry. Calix’s eyes shot toward the cocoon in the middle of the room that the Sang had tried breaking into. “’The fuck?” Logan strode forward and dug his fingers into the sack, pulling at the threads until his muscles shook. He relaxed and tugged again, until his skin turned red, veins popping through his neck with the exertion. Calix dug his fingers in, too, grimacing at the gooey dark strands that swallowed his hand as he yanked in the opposite direction. Muscles stretched to long cords of tension with his effort, and still the two of them couldn’t tear it away. He straightened, wiping the slime onto his jeans. “’The fuck is this?” “Avalon!” Logan yelled into the sack, and paused at the mewling from the other side. “Ava!” Calix followed suit and remained still for a moment. “Calix?” Ava’s voice, weak and subdued, sagged his muscles with relief. “Are you all right? We’re going to get you out of there.” “It only breaks from the inside.” The hush of her words gave the impression she was miles away, yet something moved beneath the skin of the cocoon, and both brothers stepped back when a
web of fingers pushed up from inside. The breach of the sack spewed forth a clear fluid from inside that pooled at Calix’s boots, and the first cries of the baby had Logan reaching through the mess for her. He paused to shed his jacket and lift the T-shirt over his head, tucking it under his arm. Through a glistening layer that clung to their bodies, he lifted the infant from Ava’s arms and wrapped her inside his oversized Tee, holding her to his chest. “Shhh, Daddy’s here.” Within seconds, the baby’s cry quieted, and Calix lifted Ava to a stand. In the next breath, her knees gave out from beneath her, and he swooped her up into his arms before she could hit the floor. “’Msorry. I tried to keep her safe,” she whispered, and Calix took in her frail and fragile appearance. He’d noticed the paling of her skin earlier and had made a point not to say anything, hoping he’d figure out how to slow it down. Perhaps with pregnancy. But she seemed to be getting worse with each passing day, and particularly right then. “You created the cocoon?” With a tired nod, she smiled. “I had no idea I could. I wished for a safe place to hide, and out of nowhere, my body started tingling until we were covered like a blanket. Side effect of being one of
them, I guess. ‘Swhy they left me alone. I’m a dirty Sang.” Logan stopped his pacing, still clutching the baby to his chest. “Thank you for keeping her safe. I’d have lost my fucking mind, if they’d hurt her.” “Oh, shit, that’s fucking nasty.” Xander’s voice drew everyone’s attention to where he straddled the mangled demon and held up the metal plate that’d once been attached to its face. A white golf ball looking object clung to the front of it. “Took the whole goddamn eyeball out.” “Let’s go. Wish Ferno was here to burn this shithole to the ground.” Logan strode out of the room with the baby, and Xander pushed off the demon, following after. They reached the hallway where the human lay hunched over, his blood drying to his wound. “Should’ve fed him to those fuckers.” Logan kicked the male, whose grunt told them he was still alive. A clang echoed down the hall, lifting Calix’s gaze. “Where’s Thais?” They needed her to flash back to the mansion, as Ava, loosely draped over Calix’s arms seemed too weak. “Ava’s blacking out. I need to get her back.” Another clang and a thump. Calix’s eyes shot toward a door that, with another thud, shivered with dust. All three demons edged toward it.
“’The hell is in there?” Xander asked, stepping in front of Logan. He reached the door first, peered inside the small window, and took a step back. “What the unholy shit …” “What is it?” Logan replicated his move, peering in and backing away. “Let’s get the fuck out of here. Now.” It wasn’t until Calix saw for himself through the window what had rattled the other two. Inside was a much larger room, with an open space, where at least three or four dozen Sang, in various stages of the virus, swarmed like insects. Some crawling like maggots. Some hanging from the ceiling. A face slammed into the window, leaving a sliver of a crack, and Calix frowned. Half its face had a milky-white bat-like appearance, deformed with snaggled teeth and a pure white eyeball. The other half of its face could scarcely be identified as a Saevious demon. Another slam shot a cloud of dust from the hinges. “Let’s go!” Logan roared again, clutching Avalon to his chest. “Now!” They doubled back toward the stairwell door that Logan had blown off earlier, and up the staircase toward the second door. “What about Thais?” Calix asked, halting his steps.
“I got her.” Xander spun back toward the direction they’d come, jogging down the stairs. Seconds later, the steel door ahead swung open to reveal Thais ushering them inside “We have to leave! Now! They’re trying to escape!” “Xander!” Logan’s voice thundered inside the empty stairwell, quickly drowned by a much more intimidating sound. At the rear of the group, Calix swung his gaze toward the mouth of the stairwell. The fallen angel stood frozen in the doorway. Brows furrowed. Listening. A human scream interrupted the momentary stillness, and in the next breath, Xander lifted his gaze, before bounding up the stairs toward Calix. “Fuck! Go!” With Ava passed out in his arms, Calix sprinted up the remaining stairs toward Thais. The thud of multiple oncoming footsteps beat down his spine. One of the mutations breached the stairwell. Xander drew his blade and slammed it into the creature’s skull with a twist. A spray of clear fluid glistened across the angel’s hand. “Ah, what the fuck, man?” Xander swung around to a second mutation clambering up the few stairs toward him. Two more broke through the entrance behind it. “C’mon, Xander!” Calix called out, flinching at the sensation of Thais gripping his elbow. “We have to go. Now.” Her eyes held focus, as
if she’d already begun to visualize the demon’s mansion. Yanking his arm from her grip, he snarled. “Not without Xander.” More mutations filed into the skinny stairwell, with Xander only a few steps ahead of them. The angel slammed through the door where the demons waited, and the moment he plowed into them, the stampede of mutations scrambled up the staircase toward them. A dizzying cold swept over the group, and the agonized cry of the human male echoed in Calix’s ears, until he opened his eyes to his bedroom, where Gavin, Sabelle and Calla shot up from their seats. Xander had fallen atop of Thais beside them on the floor. Logan broke into movement, the second the baby released a cry, and Calla rushed toward them, brows drawn as she wiped the slime from the baby’s head. “What the hell happened to her?” The panic in her voice settled when she took the baby into her arms. “Oh, baby. Oh, my sweet Avalon.” Ignoring her own question, she rose to her tiptoes, yanking Logan by his nape for a kiss. “Thank you. Thank you for bringing her back to me.” Ava shifted in Calix’s arms, groaning with pinched brows that told him she was in pain. “Is she all right?” Sabelle asked, lifting Ava’s
hand to examine the increasingly translucent skin. “What happened to her, Calix?” “She’s been injected. With Sang virus.” He half-heartedly explained while lying Ava on the bed. “Call Drechler. Now!” “He’s on his way.” Gavin’s voice arrived from behind, along with a squeeze of Calix’s shoulder. “Wasn’t sure what to expect when you returned. Just thought it better to have him here, in case.” “I get it now.” Eyelids heavy, Ava lifted her chin to meet his gaze, and the glisten of a tear streaking down her temple churned knots in Calix’s stomach. “You get what? What is it?” he asked, tamping down the dread that threatened to crush him from the inside. “When Oliver said that being with someone other than the Sang would result in tragedy. He didn’t mean for you.” “You’re going to be fine. You hear me? Fine.” Calix stroked her hair that still held the wet muculent texture of the cocoon. “I love you, Calix. Just in case … whatever happens. You should know I’ve always loved you.” Her eyes shuttered close, and he frowned down at her, the knots in his gut twisting to an unbearable bulge that scarcely allowed a breath. No, no. “Ava? Ava!” He shook her body, but it didn’t
move with the jostling. “Ava!” “Doctor Drechler is here, Masters.” Anna’s voice couldn’t peel his attention from Ava’s face, so peaceful, as if she slept. “Calix, let him examine her.” Gavin’s voice reached his ears, but failed to make him move. “Ava,” he muttered, watching her blur through a sheen of tears. “Ava!” A firm grip of his shoulders tugged him away, but Calix thrashed out of the hold on him. “Ava! Wake up!” Once again, arms wrapped around his chest, dragging him away from her. One singular objective called him to stay by her side. A sickness deep inside his gut told him she was drifting away, and all he could think to do was hold on to her. Calix twisted to get loose, but the arms that held him were unrelenting, and he stood, muscles-tense, while the doctor took his place beside her. “I know what you’re going through, Brother. I know this pain.” Logan’s voice carried a tone in his ear like he’d never heard before. One brimming with understanding and true remorse, that if he’d not been reluctant to ignore everything around him, he might’ve been comforted by it. As it was, nothing could comfort him right then. “She’s dying.” Drechler’s grim words sent a cold stab of pain to Calix’s heart, and another shield of tears distorted his vision. “It seems the
virus has entered her bloodstream, causing sepsis. I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do at this point. It’s taken hold of her.” “There is, though!” Spittle shot from Calix’s mouth, while the irritating blur of tears left him rapidly blinking them away. “Calla, she was cured. The baby’s blood cured her. All I gotta do is give her my blood. It weakens the virus.” The doctor’s gaze fell away from his, shriveling Calix’s hope. “She’s too far gone for that, Calix. It’s spreading faster than your blood could reach it.” “I won’t let her die! Not for me!” Calix jerked out of his brother’s grasp and fell to his knees, crawling across the floor to the bed. When he reached Ava, her body cold and lifeless, his muscles shook with rage and pain. So much pain, he could hardly hold himself upright. The agony roiled in his gut, while flashes of an impossibly happy life with her played behind his eyelids. Her laughing as he chased her through the gardens. The contentment in her eyes as he held her in bed. The wonder and bliss that’d stare back at him as she held their son. All of it crashed over him in tidal waves of misery and anguish. “Ava.” He lifted her hand to his lips, kissing the back of it. “There are so many things that I need to say to you right now. But I’ve already told you the
most important,” he whispered as he stroked her hair. “Do you remember?” Tears choked his question, and Calix swallowed back the urge to break down in front of his brothers, who stood around him while a somber hush blanketed the room. He pushed forward, pressed his lips to her forehead and spoke against her skin. “Not even in death.” Calix couldn’t bring himself to back away from her, because the moment he did, he’d be faced with the reality that she was gone. Once a magnetic force in his life that’d kept him tethered, suddenly a hollow void that he’d never fill. “I can save her.” The voice from behind wouldn’t have reached him, had it not been for her words. He peeled himself away, turning to see Thais standing in the doorway, where Xander held a chain attached to her throat. “There is a way.” Anger snarled Calix’s lip as he made a slow rise from the floor and lurched toward the female. “And why should I believe you?” “Because you don’t have a choice. It’s dangerous and painful. And could still kill her.” Calix didn’t dare allow the blossom of hope in his chest to spread so much that he’d actually believe her. “What is it?” “I would cleanse her with hellsfire.” “Madness!” Drechler’s voice bounced off the walls. “This voodoo isn’t medicine, it’s unnatural!
One slip could kill every person in this room!” “Wait a minute.” Logan stepped forward, shaking his head. “I’m not putting my tazschla and child at risk. I don’t want to be a dick here, but you don’t fuck with hellsfire.” Thais’s gaze remained fixed on Calix, as if she spoke only to him. “I can do it. I’ve done it before. The flame will touch no one but Ava.” “My kids live under this roof as well.” Sabelle seemed to chew on her bottom lip, brows upturned. “Are you certain this is safe?” Gavin asked. “I’m certain all of you are safe, yes.” Thais’s attention snapped from Gavin to Calix. “The sooner we do this, the better her chances.” “I’ll be no part of that.” Throwing his hands up in the air, Drechler made his way toward the door, stopping at Calix’s side. “I’m very sorry for your loss. But believe me when I tell you, what she’s offering comes with far too much risk. Would you have this poor woman’s final moments spent in agonizing pain?” The question swirled inside his head, over and over, and brought to mind his own sister who’d suffered hellsfire for nothing. “If it saved her.” Calix lifted his gaze to the surprised stare of the doctor he’d come to respect for so many years. Part of him felt shamed and selfish for such a confession, but he couldn’t deny the truth. He’d risk everything to save her.
“May the gods be merciful. And may her pain end quickly.” He shuffled past, glaring at Thais on his way out of the room. “Calix, is this what you want for her?” Gavin’s voice held a somber tone as he approached from behind. “Either way, you have my support.” “It is.” Calix could hardly speak past the tightness in his jaw, and his gaze fell on Thais once more. “What do you need?” “Your brother. The one who commands hellsfire.”
F
uck, the nervous twist in Calix’s gut, as they waited for Ferno to enter the room, could’ve split him right in half. His slick palms slid across one another, as he sat rubbing his hands beside the bed, on which Ava hadn’t moved since Drechler had delivered the bad news. Ferno had avoided females since the accident with Shey. Couldn’t even bear to look one in the eye, perhaps the only nick in the demon’s armor. It gave him a weakness, because gods knew, he was the most formidable of the brothers. Asking him to do whatever Thais had in mind would be drudging every dark and agonizing demon from his bank of memories. He’d never agree to it.
But if, by some miracle, he did and failed, it could very well throw him over the edge. If he didn’t take his own life, Calix would have to find the strength not to look at him with blame, or that alone would ensure his brother’s death. “He’ll resist,” Gavin said beside him, toying with the cuff of his sleeves. “But if it’s successful, it might bring him back around. And if it’s not. We may need to have him locked away for a while, as he’ll be a danger, not only himself, but perhaps to anyone else he comes into contact with. My hope is that you’ve considered all possible outcomes, Calix.” Gavin’s words only served to tighten the already-coiling knots in his stomach. “Do you think I would ask such a thing, if I had another choice?” “No. I don’t. But I want you to be prepared. The very question could set him off.” “I’m a ball of fucking nerves right now.” Gripping either side of his skull, Calix leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I’ve never been so afraid of my brother in all the centuries I’ve known him.” “Of him? Or for him?” “Both.” Calix tipped his head back and shrugged. “Christ, I can’t even remember what he looks like without all that guilt weighing down on him.” A tall silhouette took up the doorframe, and
Ferno stepped inside, his eyes surveying the room. No doubt he wondered what the hell he’d been called in for. “What is it?” The rasp in his voice upheld the same unfriendly vibe as his scars, tattoos—hell, his whole being. Calix stood from the chair and took cautious steps toward his brother. “I need your help. And believe me when I say, I wouldn’t ask you this if I had another choice.” His throat went dry as cotton, and Calix cleared the lump that formed there. “Thing is, see. I don’t have much time to tell you all the reasons why you should. Because every second that ticks by is another that I lose the most important thing in my life.” “Spit it out.” Ferno’s voice held little patience, only stoking the worry in Calix’s gut. “I want …” Calix rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat a second time. Damn the tightness in his chest and rapid breaths that left him dizzy. “I need you to inject your hellsfire into Ava. To cleanse her and save her life.” Ferno’s brows pinched to a frown, and the twitch of his jaw told Calix the male sat on the brink of losing his shit. “Is this a fucking joke?” “I wish it was.” Tears got the best of Calix, and he stared back at his brother, clenching his jaw to keep from breaking. “I know you’d sooner take your own life than hurt your brothers. I know this,
Ferno. Zayne knew it, too. This isn’t about Shey. I wouldn’t ask you to do this, if you weren’t the only chance I had.” “No. And fuck off.” He spun around, only to be stalled by Gavin and Logan blocking his exit. “Ferno. Please,” Gavin said. “I understand this isn’t easy for you. If I could take this pain, this guilt that you carry around your neck like a goddamn albatross, I would. I’d take it all. She doesn’t have much time.” Gavin crossed his arms over his chest and let his gaze fall away. “It could make things right again.” “Move.” The wobble in Ferno’s voice told Calix the male could crack any moment, and it broke his heart to place his brother in such a painful position. “No.” Gavin shook his head, leveling his gaze on the giant before him. The heaving of his chest confessed the panic swelling inside of Ferno. His mind must’ve been a warzone, pulling him under with Shey’s final moments. He paced like an animal caught in a cage, rubbing his skull back and forth with the kind of quiet suffering that set Calix’s teeth on edge. Only when he paused did Calix hold his breath, bracing himself for the onslaught. “You want to see me kill again? Is that it? You want to watch her burn?” He pointed a finger back toward where Ava lay on the bed. “Hear her beg
for her life?” His hands balled to fists that he beat at his temples, and the roar of pain that followed brought another round of tears to Calix’s eyes. Gavin swiped at his own eyes and cleared his throat. “Shey was an accident.” “Shey is dead! I killed her.” Ferno held up his scarred, tattooed hands. “With my own fucking hands!” He paced again, rubbing his skull. “And do you know what she said to me? Her last fucking words.” Coming to a halt again, he dropped to his knees and tucked his head into his elbows. “She said, tell Zayne I’m sorry.” Not even Shey could let Ferno take the blame on his own. She’d recognized her own mistake and knew the pain Zayne would suffer as a result. Ferno’s muscles shook as he cracked like the fragile shell of an egg in front of them. If not for the urgency beating through Calix, he’d have told him everything was okay and released him from the request as an act of mercy. But Calix would do anything to save Ava. Even if it meant putting his brother through hell again. “Ferno, is it?” Thais’s voice snapped everyone’s attention to where she stepped forward from the shadows, and Ferno lifted his head, the fury and pain still clinging to his face. “I don’t know who Shey was, or the circumstances that led up to her death. You’re burdened with it, as you
were burdened with the gift of hellsfire. Of all your brothers, you hold the greatest pain and the deepest sorrow, not just for what happened to this female, but because you know what you’re capable of on a daily basis. You hold it inside. You tamp it down.” She shook her head, looking down at him with mercy, and gods, Calix was grateful for it. “But fire is unruly. And hellsfire, it burns hotter at its core. It is a curse and a blessing, for you have the power to cure the only thing in the world powerful enough to wipe out entire species of demons.” She knelt in front of him, her eyes soft and understanding— something that Calix prayed would reach his brother as nothing else had. “More importantly, you have the power to give that young female another chance. She’s lived in pain for so long, and she doesn’t deserve this end.” “I’ll kill her by doing this,” Ferno said past gritted teeth. “I won’t let you.” She reached out a hand to him, and the seconds that ticked by had Calix’s heart ready to pound right out of his chest. “When controlled, hellsfire can heal with as much potency as it harms.” “And it’s safe?” Logan stood with his feet set apart, hands at his hips. “Or do I need to relocate my tazschla and daughter a few cities over?” “I can assure you, I’m very adept with the flame. It’s something of an art for me. I’ve held his
fire before.” Gavin stroked his jaw in contemplation, as he stared down at Ferno. “Is this true? She’s already wielded your hellsfire?” Not bothering to lift his gaze, Ferno gave a subtle nod. “Once.” When Ferno rose to his feet and rolled his shoulders back, it was clear in the female’s raised brows that she couldn’t anticipate his next move. “What do I have to do?” he asked, looking every bit defeated. Like a fucking answered prayer. Calix exhaled a relieved breath and ran a trembling hand through his hair. Taking the demon’s hand, Thais led him to the bed beside Ava. “Close your eyes. Relax.” Ferno took one look around the room, his jaw set to a hard line. He didn’t have to say a word. The conflict burning in his eyes told every brother in the room that if it didn’t work, he didn’t plan to come back. He’d very well set himself aflame. Turning back toward the woman, he took deep breaths and closed his eyes as Thais had commanded. In the next inhale, she set her hand against his chest, pulling away a flickering red and blue flame. It danced across her palm, as if reveling in its freedom, and the very sight of it had every muscle in Calix’s body stiff as a plank. That flame, as small
as it was, could take out half the damn city, and the female planned to channel it through Ava’s veins. A thought that spurred sickness in Calix’s stomach. “The calmer you remain, the calmer the flame, the easier it is to control. I want you to put yourself somewhere peaceful, Ferno.” Thais’s voice held a soft calm that must’ve struck Ferno like a balm, from the way his breaths slowed and he licked his lips. “Somewhere that pain can’t touch you.” His brow flickered along with the flame, but quickly eased. Thais held out her palm, closed her eyes, and spoke a chant that filled the room like a song. Soothing as a lullaby, yet it carried all the determination of an overture. Calix stole a glance toward Gavin, whose eyes remained fixed on the flame. No doubt, he worried that one faulty move could send that fire throughout the room and wipe everyone, except Ferno, out. The flame moved like the dragon costumes Calix had seen during a Chinese new year celebration, bouncing and slithering toward Ava. A tight fist gripped his lungs when the flames disappeared beneath her skin, adding a soft orange glow that shot through her in all directions. Her body arched on a gasped breath, and she convulsed.
Calix clamped his eyes shut, praying to whatever gods would listen to a bastard son that she’d survive it. That Ferno wouldn’t have to live with the agony of having killed a second brother’s female. That Ava would come back to him. He opened his eyes again, to find Ferno’s fist clenching and unclenching at his side, and Calix felt the first twinge of fear. Should his brother lose his calm, lose control, and that flame become erratic, it would burn Ava from the inside out and quickly catch to everything else in the room. “You’re doing great, man.” With a stiff jaw, Calix forced the words and swallowed a harsh gulp, but it seemed to put Ferno at ease. The demon slipped back into a peaceful state, taking deep breaths, while the chants continued over Ava’s grunts and whimpers. Calix fell to his knees. The next few minutes would be agonizing. His mind refused to entertain the thoughts that Ava might never wake. That she might never rise up from that bed, cradle his face in her hands and tell him she was his. “C’mon, Ava. C’mon!” Urgency in Thais’s voice prompted Calix to clasp his hands in prayer. “Gods. Please.” “Hang in there, Ferno. Hang in there.” Thais curled her fingers around Ferno’s wrist, and by the slouch of his brother’s body, it was clear he’d grown tired and weak.
Calix pushed up and rushed forward, hooking Ferno’s arm around his shoulders to hold him up. At the opposite side, Logan did the same, and behind him, Gavin stood with his hand clutched to the demon’s shoulder. His skin was hot to the touch, burning up as if he’d spiked a massive fever. Calix almost couldn’t stand the scorch to his skin, but as he stared down at Ava, he tucked those thoughts away. If she could suffer the flame, then so could he. “Fuck’s sake, he’s going to implode.” Logan clenched his teeth, muscles trembling. “Almost there,” Thais assured, weaving her fingers through the air. “A few more seconds.” “Gods, he’s burning up!” Calix’s knees buckled, threatening to take him and his brother down. “Okay, it’s done.” Thais gathered the flame into her palm and closed her eyes, holding it to her chest where it disappeared inside of her. When she opened them again, the fire materialized along her arm outstretched to Ferno’s chest, before it retreated within him. On a groan, his weight slouched in their arms, and both Calix and Logan set their brother on the floor. The red of his skin took a deep shade Calix had only seen when demons took their natural form, his breaths arriving as puffs of steam from his mouth.
“Anna, please start a cool bath. Frigusza herbs for cooling.” “Right, Master Gavin.” The second she’d shuffled out of the room, Gavin lifted his gaze to Calix. Without a word, Calix swung around to Ava on the bed. Thais fussed around her arms, checking her pulse. Someone had fetched cool washcloths that she set to Ava’s forehead. “Is … is she—” Gods, he couldn’t bring himself to ask. Damn the shakes that settled over him and the harsh grip of his chest that left him oxygenstarved. “Faint. She’s burning up. His fire is powerful. I’ve never seen flames burn so intensely before.” She glanced back toward Ferno, who it took all of Gavin, Logan and Xander to lift from the floor, before they carried him from the room. “We need to move her to cool water until her temperature stabilizes. And you’ll need to watch her until she wakes.” “She will wake, right?” “Look, there are no guarantees. Prepare your mind for the possibility that she might not. And ready yourself for how your brother will receive such news.” “Will he recover?” “Yes, he should be okay in a few hours. A steady stream of controlled fire takes quite a toll on
his body.” Thais threw the sheet back from Ava, revealing a bronze glow to her skin—one he hadn’t seen in a long time. “The pigment will remain. Her skin color won’t return to its original hue.” “I don’t quite give a fuck.” Calix slid his hands beneath her body and lifted Ava’s limp form from the bed, tucking her close to his chest. Like Ferno, her skin felt hot to the touch, and he yearned to cool her. Thais followed behind as he carried Ava into the adjacent bathroom, and she jumped ahead to flip on the water in the oversized bathtub. “You may need to go in with her. That’s … an impressive tub.” With a nod, Calix set her down into the water and quickly removed his pants, his shirt and his boots, until he stood in nothing but boxers. Tucking his finger into his waistband, he lifted his head without meeting her gaze. She cleared her throat and turned around, while he removed the boxers and stepped into the water, positioning himself beneath Ava’s body. Water had begun to rise to the level of her legs, and Calix lifted her shirt away, exposing her breasts. Scooping water into his hands, he spilled the cool fluids onto her chest and neck, dispensing it all over her body. Thais crossed her arms and stared down at them, the chain of her imprisonment still dangling from her neck. If the trick worked and saved Ava’s
life, Calix would personally make an appeal to the Sentinels on the female’s behalf. “Now we sit and wait,” she said with only a half-smile. “I’ll give the two of you some privacy.” “Thank you. For everything.” “Don’t thank me yet.”
P
erhaps an hour had passed, Calix had no concept of time, as the water chilled their bodies. The prune of Ava’s fingertips passed beneath his own as he stroked her hands. Wrapping his arms around her, he stilled and closed his eyes, breathing in her scent. A twitch jerked beneath him. His eyelids shot open. Had she moved? The answer arrived in a second twitch, with an accompanying arch of her back that pressed into Calix’s chest. He swallowed back the excitement, careful not to get his hopes up too soon. After all, her twitches could’ve been brought on by the fever, though she hadn’t moved since being set in the water. A gasped breath brought a smile to his face, though, as Calix watched her come to life.
38
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va pushed through the void, to a soft tha-thump pulsing through her eardrums. Every muscle in her body ached, and she flinched, willing her arms to move. Like a dream where she had no control over her limbs. A warm band around her stomach lifted her up, and the muted sounds from before sharpened into the distinct splashing of water. She didn’t want to open her eyes, didn’t want to move. “Baby, I’m going to get you out of this tub, okay?” Calix’s voice climbed over the thoughts running through her head, and she mustered a nod in response. “Water,” she rasped. “Thirsty.” “I’ll get you some water.” His lips pressed to her cheek, a slight scruff tickling her skin. Shifting from beneath her, Calix exited the
bathtub, leaving a cold rush in his wake, but only a few seconds passed before he lifted her up into his arms as if she weighed nothing. Warmth blanketed her as he covered in her the soft cotton, and Ava tucked her head into his neck, opening her eyes in time to catch the mirror’s reflection of his naked form carrying her towelwrapped body from the bathroom. The plush mattress captured her fall, as Calix set her down on the bed and ran his hand across her forehead. “You’re still pretty warm.” From beside the bed, he cracked a bottle of water and set it to her lips. The cold, crisp fluids trickled down her throat, coating the parchedness in a soothing blanket of relief. Once half the bottle had been sipped, Calix set it back down beside her and crawled into the bed. “What happened?” Her voice didn’t hold as much gruff as before, but remained weak. “The Sang illness had … consumed you. Drechler said it spread into your bloodstream. You weren’t expected to live.” “And I did?” Recalling the intense pain from before, it wouldn’t have surprised her if everything around her were some kind of dreamlike state before death. “You did.” Calix’s smile beamed through the darkness, and Ava caught a shine in his eyes.
“Ferno saved your life.” “Ferno?” “The Fallen female used hellsfire to sterilize your blood. Killed it off.” “Is that why I’m hot?” A chuckle lit up Calix’s sad eyes. “No, you were born that way.” With a heavy blink, Ava smiled, nuzzling her head into Calix’s chest. “I only remember … the baby. And the Sang.” Flashbacks of the pasty creatures closing in on her sprung a pattering of her heart. How frightened she’d been that they’d get the baby from her and consume it like fresh meat in front of her. Ava had imagined a dark, safe place, felt the tickle of her skin, and the warmth of her hiding spot closed in around her until only the numb pecking of the creatures could be felt. She had no recollection of how she’d managed to evade them, only remembered Calix calling to her from the other side of the sack that’d enveloped the two of them. “Is Avalon … safe?” “She is. Because of you.” Ava inhaled a breath of relief and closed her eyes. Safe.
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he dark and simple room reminded Calix of a pre-Calla version of Logan’s, with sparse furniture and very little light streaming through the heavy drapes. The scent of tobacco and leather hung on the air, overpowering the burn of Ferno’s skin. With Ava peacefully sleeping, Calix had felt compelled to check on his brother and know that all the important pieces of his world had remained intact. The slow rise and fall of Ferno’s chest brought Calix some modicum of relief, though hours later, his brother still hadn’t awakened. Long slices across Ferno’s throat captured Calix’s attention, and he stared through the dim light at the path of the most unforgiveable marking that’d nearly claimed Ferno’s life. If it had, Ava would’ve been dead.
Only a handful of demons were born with the gift of hellsfire, and it was by a miraculous string of events that his brother would possess it, and that a complete stranger who’d fallen into their lives would happen to know how to wield it. Calix’s gaze dipped to another scar across Ferno’s collarbone, and covered by tattoos was another oddly-shaped scar, like some kind of branding. Tattoos covered most of Ferno’s shoulders, but Calix could just make out the tiny white slivers that marked a life of pain and suffering, and it occurred to him how very little he knew of his brother’s life before he’d come to live at the mansion. Cefirina had warned Gavin that Ferno was perhaps the most damaged of all, that of any of the brothers, he’d be the most likely to betray them, but only as a means of the brainwashing he’d suffered. She hadn’t gone into details of his former life, and Ferno rarely spoke to anyone, so it remained a mystery to most. Except, perhaps, Maddox, with whom he seemed to have the closest relationship of anyone. Her concerns turned out to be unfounded, because even when Ferno had ultimately killed Shey, he’d done it to protect his family, whom he’d believed to be at risk. “Your female …” Ferno’s neck bobbed with a swallow, and Calix focused on the male’s atomic
orange eyes that stared back at him beneath a frown. The corner of Calix’s lips lifted with a smile. “She’s alive. Thanks to you.” Calix caught the slightest parting of Ferno’s lips as relief blanketed his scowl. “She’ll be okay, then?” “Yes.” Rubbing his hands together, Calix gave a nod. “Will you?” “Yeah.” Ferno sniffed, casting his gaze away, and cleared his throat, letting Calix know he’d dipped into awkward territory with his brother. “We done here?” Calix set his palms against his thighs to stand. “Yeah. I know you’re not one for fuss, so I’ll make it quick. Thanks for what you did back there.” “Let Anna know, if she comes in my room one more time to check on me, I’m going to set this whole fucking place aflame,” Ferno said, ignoring what he’d said. A beat of laughter ruptured in Calix’s chest as he stood from the chair and made his way back toward the door. “Thought you were asleep this whole time.” “Hard to sleep, when she’s wiping me down and ruffling the goddamn sheets.” “I’ll make sure she knows.” “And Calix.” His words brought Calix to halt with his hand resting on the doorknob. “Glad your
female’s okay.” With a sharp nod, Calix opened the door to the hallway, not wanting to exacerbate his brother’s discomfort. One thing was clear—Ferno did not like playing the hero. Anna hobbled up to him as he exited, carrying a tray of food and a top-sheet, neatly folded over her arm. “Was just going in to check on him. How is he?” “I wouldn’t go in there, if I were you.” The smile on her face fizzled to a puzzling expression. “He’s fine, Anna.” She lifted the tray and slumped her shoulders. “Just wanted to offer him a snack. Poor dear is so weak.” Calix held out his hands in offering. “I know Ava will eat it.” “Is she up and around, love? I wanted to pop in on her but didn’t know if the two of you had emerged from the bathtub.” “Yes, she’s sleeping at the moment, but I suspect she’ll be hungry when she wakes.” If the trick’d worked, her craving for blood would have abated with the elimination of the Sang virus, and her human half would go back to craving a more regular sort of sustenance. Handing the tray off to him, Anna offered an appreciative smile. “Well, then, perhaps she’ll
enjoy some pancakes and bacon. Quite a bit there for you to share.” “Thank you. I know she will.” She cupped his cheek and kept on down the hall, toward Zeke’s room. Perhaps needing to check in on someone.
H
aving dropped off the tray on the nightstand beside where Ava continued to sleep, Calix made his way down to the catacombs. The cold chill of the stone walls, coupled with the souls of the ghouls who guarded the place, couldn’t steal the warmth brimming inside of him. When he reached Xander’s bedroom door, he waited a brief moment, unsure of what he’d hear on the other side, and at the greeting quiet, he knocked. In all of ten seconds, Xander cracked open the door wearing only a pair of boxer briefs. “She’s in the first cell. Figured she’d want to know how things turned out before they come for her.” “You’re still planning to hand her over, then.” “Look, I get it. She did a lot of cool shit with the fire. But let’s not forget, she just did a whole lot of crazy shit with hellsfire, too. What’s to say she won’t turn around and opt to burn your ass extra crispy.”
Calix frowned back at him. “Why would she?” “Sheer amusement.” “You’ve always been the best at guarding this place, man. I’ve no argument about that. But this girl, she doesn’t deserve to be put to absolute death.” Xander stroked his hand back and forth across his skull and exhaled a sigh. “You think this shit isn’t troubling me? Hell, I don’t like the idea of putting any female down like that. What a waste. But it isn’t my call.” “You and Karinna have some history. Talk to her. Tell her what happened here last night.” “This female is her big break. A promotion to keep her out of the shit trenches.” The angel shook his head and glanced away. “Fuck, man, every night she goes out looking for these Fallen bastards. If something happened to her? I’d burn this whole goddamn city to the ground, and the heavens, too. Karinna makes a big bust like this, and she’ll never set foot inside a sleazy ass club again.” “Why don’t you go in together, then? Undercover partners? You handle the dirty work, and she stays out of trouble.” He stroked his jaw and sneered. “You don’t know Karinna. Fucking stubborn as they come.” “Will they, at least, consider a trial? A pardon? Probation? She saved a life. That’s gotta account for something.”
“From what I understand, she took some, too. I’ll talk to Karinna. See what I can do.” With a nod, Calix backed away from the door and continued on toward the cells. Inside, Thais sat on a cot, reading a book. A pile of plush blankets and pillows lay scattered around her, and bottles of water sat beside a stack of empty plates. At least Xander had tried to make her a bit more comfortable. She lifted her gaze with a slight smile, as if sensing his presence, setting the book down beside her. The chain had been removed from her neck, leaving Calix puzzled as to why she remained where she was. “I used the hellsfire on myself,” she said in answer. “After Ava. Can’t flash anymore.” “So you say.” Calix’s lips tugged into a half grin. “I’m not going to run. I’m tired of running. Always looking over my shoulder. About the only time I really felt safe was here, with you guys. And for a while there, you wanted to kill me.” Her chuckle bounced off the cold cement walls before dying away with the clearing of her throat. “How is she?” “I think she’ll be just fine. Sleeping a lot.” “It’s a bit like the flu at first. Achy joints, tired bones, headache, fever. She’ll come around. And your brother?”
“Ornery as ever. He’ll survive.” Smiling, she pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around them. “He’s an interesting character. Shame I’ll be shipping off to angel prison. Could’ve shown him a few tricks with the hellsfire.” “I’m sure he’d have loved that.” Calix shoved his hands in his pockets. “I spoke with Xander. He’s going to talk to his contact and see what can be done. No promises. They’ll likely apprehend you, but perhaps we can strike a deal. “We?” “My brothers and I will do what we can. You did us a great service.” Her gaze fell toward her knees, and she shook her head. “I almost handed her over to that sadistic bastard. You have every right to turn me over.” “Believe me, I wanted to. But you’ve redeemed yourself. And you deserve a second chance.”
W
hen Calix returned to the room, he found Ava sat up in bed, holding three pieces of bacon. The sight of her brought a smile to his face as he closed the door behind him. “You know, I never really appreciated bacon. I can’t believe I faced the possibility of never eating it again.”
“That’s what you’d have regretted most in death?” Chuckling, Calix climbed into bed beside her and nabbed a piece from the enormous mound Anna had cooked. “It’s a damn close second.” She licked her fingers, moaning in appreciation, before reaching for another piece. Calix bit into the salty meat that he certainly didn’t need to survive on, but hell if he could stop himself from eating the addictive shit. Most human food didn’t hold any appeal for demons—except bacon. “And what was your first?” “You.” Her gaze fell on his, and she leaned over, pressing her lips to his cheek. “You told me even in death. And, as someone who’s been there, I can assure you, it changed nothing for me. You’re my number one, Calix. You’ve always been.” “Be mine, Ava.” He tossed the bacon onto the plate, and setting it on the nightstand, he straddled her body. “Forever.” Her smile beamed with happiness, and for the first time, she looked happy. Truly happy. “I already am, demon.”
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va felt sick. Like, truly sick. Nearly a month had passed since her body had been cleared of the Sang virus, yet the anxiety gurgling in her stomach right then damn near felt like an encore performance, and she swallowed back the urge to spew all over the demons’ gorgeous patio furniture. Below her, Calla painted a very girly pink polish onto her toes, while Avalon slept in the playpen beside her, in the shade. “I mean … does it hurt?” Ava asked, tipping her head as she watched from the patio chair. A chuckle paused Calla’s painting, and she shook her head with a smile. “It’s the most incredible feeling in the world. Unlike anything you’ll have ever experienced before.” “I’ve been with Calix. Many times. I mean …
there’s, like, no surprises.” “All I can say is, expect to be surprised.” Blowing on the freshly painted toenails, Calla waved her hand over top of them. “Bonding was the most beautiful moment of my life. Next to having Avalon. But in all fairness, I did sort of die during that, so … it’d have to come in a close second.” “You said … they change during the bonding. Like, do they get aggressive?” Though she didn’t meet Ava’s gaze, Calla smiled. “It’s a sexy aggressive. Imagine someone so anxious to be with you, and protect you, and make love to you, that they go a little bat-shit.” A burst of laughter beat through Ava’s chest at the thought. “Reminds me of Calix’s change.” “Yes, but that was about him. Bonding is about you.” Ava couldn’t hide the smile creeping over her, the excitement of what the evening and the following day might bring. Her bonding with Calix and the eternal commitment she’d make. “Voila! Perfectly painted summer toes.” Calla dipped the brush back into the bottle and set it on the table beside her. “You’re going to be perfect.” Admiring Calla’s work, Ava allowed her gaze to fall on her fidgeting hands, where the polish glistened against her bronzed skin. “I’ve never had a sister before. No one’s ever done my nails
for me.” Calla grabbed hold of her hand and her teeth shone through her bright smile. “Welcome to the family.”
A
va exited the bathroom, wearing a white satin and lace teddy, a gift from Sabelle. Her soon-to-be sister, Sabelle. Lying sprawled on the bed, Calix slammed his face into the pillows below him and groaned. “Gods, what are you trying to do to me?” Demon tradition dictated that sex was forbidden the night before a bonding. Silly, really— the idea was merely to reserve energy for the bonding that would take place the following night —but those traditions certainly hadn’t been based on an Incubus who drew energy from sex. “The offer’s there, demon. All you gotta do is let go of your stupid traditions.” Calix’s head popped up from the pillow, and he smiled. “Is it so wrong for me to want to uphold your virtue for just a bit longer?” “You’re the only one who seems to be concerned with that.” She sauntered across the room and slid beneath the covers beside where he lay on his stomach, his hot gaze burning into the
side of her face. “Don’t tempt me, woman. We know what happens when an incubus gets too excited.” “Exactly why I wore this.” Her body slid across the bed, swallowed by Calix’s massive arms that he wrapped around her. “I’m stronger than you give me credit for.” His voice in her ear brought a smile to her face. “Yes, but my powers of persuasion can’t be matched, demon.” “No doubt.” He kissed her ear, and his arms tightened like a band around her middle. “But you underestimate my powers, too, female. Now sleep.” “Calix!” Ava pushed at his arms to release her, but it was too late. The charm settled over her, and Ava had no choice but to fall prey to it. A heavy sleep weighed down on her, urging her eyes closed. A second ago, she’d been wide awake, prepared to stay up most of the night with Calix. Probably the first time she’d felt the level of energy that hummed though her body since the night she’d nearly died. It quickly slipped away in the warmth that ran through her muscles, though, like a cozy blanket in winter, bringing with it the sudden yearning to sleep. “N’please. I’wan stay ‘wake.” “Not tonight, baby.” His lips traced the shell of her ear and he left a kiss at her cheek. “We’ve got a long night tomorrow. You’ll need your energy.”
T
he angel’s wing curled around its body, shielding it from the creatures that circled like vultures. Specs of blood colored the pure white wings, and Ava’s heart sank at the sight of the angel writhing on the ground. Save him. Ava lurched forward and lay across the angel, sacrificing herself to save him. Beneath her, she peeled back the wing to reveal long black hair covering the angel’s face. A female? The angel turned to face Ava, and the reflection that stared back at her knocked her backwards. She kicked away from what appeared to be a doppelganger version of herself. A pure white angel. A hiss from behind prompted her to lift her gaze, and horror struck the pit of her stomach, when Calix strode toward her, monstrous in his red demonic form, with his fangs bared. Ava could only watch as a helpless bystander, as Calix fell to his knees beside the angelic version of her and sank his fangs into her neck. Ava’s eyelids shot open, and as she sucked in a breath, her attention darted toward the empty bed beside her. She scanned the room in search for Calix, and found him in the corner, crouched
against the wall with his head tucked into his body. “Calix?” “It was me.” A sadness clung to his tone and struck Ava’s heart. Momentarily confused, she contemplated his words, trying to puzzle their meaning. “What?” “I saw your dream. The angel … was you. You were scared.” “Calix. My dreams don’t make sense. Even to me.” “For weeks, I’ve struggled, Ava. You’re pure now. Untainted. Your blood is clean as a newborn demon’s. By claiming you, I’ll be sullying you.” “Hey.” She pushed to her knees, knuckles pressed into the mattress. “Stop that. Stop that right now.” “You dreamed it, Ava. You know it’s true.” “No, it’s not. I also dreamed that I was one of those creatures, tearing into that angel. All my dream proved was that I’m stronger than my temptations.” She slid off the bed, feet hitting the cold floor, and she padded toward Calix, crouching beside him. “You are as much a temptation as any, and my dreams are a reminder that I should never take you for granted.” “Are you prepared to give me eternity?” “No, because not even that is enough. Even in death, remember?” Ava pressed her lips to his, eyes closing as she took in the flavor on her tongue. “Du
amec, Calix.” “Du amec, tazschlama.” He spoke against her mouth, and deepened the kiss.
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va had never actually seen a bonding before. As a human, her mother hadn’t known of the demon rituals, and as a Fallen angel, her father wouldn’t have cared for her mother enough to make her his eternal mate. She’d heard stories of that kind of love, though. One so strong, the male would face an army of demons to protect his mate. Would fight to his last breath for her. And lived solely to pleasure her. Like something out of a romance novel. Staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror brought a smile to her face. She almost didn’t recognize herself in the silky pink chemise. Her breasts plumped over top, waist small and curving out to full hips. The bronze of her skin gave her a Mediterranean appearance, set against the ice-blue of her eyes that’d held specs of fiery orange ever
since the night with the hellsfire. Healthy. Happy. She rubbed her hands over her stomach and smiled. Two days before, Drechler had examined her, offering the incredulous news that her womb had remained intact. Should she and Calix decide to, they’d have the choice of starting a family. A choice. When she exited the bathroom, Calix stood at the end of the bed, wearing a druid-style robe, his face shielded inside the hood of it. He reached out a hand to her, his expression indiscernible from where she stood. From what Ava had gathered from Calla, bonding happened after midnight. She’d expected Calix to wake her from sleep and do his thing. His thing being the most exquisite sex she’d ever experienced. She placed her hand in his and allowed him to lead her toward the door. “Wait. Calix. We’re doing this outside of the bedroom?” “Yes,” was all he said in response. “Then, I should probably get my robe. Or something, in case we run into Bennett on the way.” At his release, she darted back toward the armoire, nabbing the robe draped on the chair beside it, and slid it over her shoulders before
returning to Calix’s side. Down the hallway, he led her to a dark corridor, lit only by sconces. She’d never been there before, where ghostly paintings stood before various phases of the moon. There seemed to be a pattern to the images that, had she been given the opportunity to study them, she may have picked up on, but Calix didn’t pause to admire the scenery. He kept on down the hallway, which seemed to darken the further they ventured, until they reached a door at the end. Light bled through the cracks, and as Calix pushed it open, the source of the lambent glow was confirmed in the dozens of candles lit around an open room. All of Calix’s brothers, with the exception of Zayne, lined either side of a path that led to a fire pit. Beside Logan, stood Calla, who held a sleeping Avalon, and Sabelle smiled from Gavin’s side. Both women wore a sleeveless stola and palla, looking like something out of the Roman era. Ava shrank at the sight of them, feeling underdressed in her nightie, particularly as they seemed hell-bent on avoiding her gaze with their eyes focused downward. “Calix,” she whispered, as they made their way toward the fire pit. He didn’t answer. Panic swelled inside her chest at a single
thought racing through her mind—one that would seem almost ridiculous, if not for the fact that she understood demon rites to be some of the most strictly followed and respected practices of the underworld. Finally reaching the pit of fire, she turned to face him, and from the way he tipped his head and reached out to stroke her cheek, the conflict must’ve been flashing like a marquee across her forehead. “Calix,” she whispered, glancing at the others out of the corner of her eye. “Do we … bond in front of them?” Again, Ava was no stranger to sex with an audience, but for chrissakes, they were his brothers, and she’d never consider such a thing in front of Avalon. “Yes.” He chuckled, pulling back the hood of his robe to reveal his exquisitely handsome face. Truly, Calix was something to behold when he was groomed and his incubi nature had been sated. “But my claiming of you is quite private,” he whispered in her ear. “No one gets the pleasure of your O face, but me, from here on out.” Ava bit the inside of her lip to stifle a laugh and cleared her throat. “So, this is something like a wedding.” “If human weddings were a proclamation of the male’s eternal servitude, then yes. Probably more like your coronation.”
“What, like a queen?” “Yes. My queen.” The words cast a chill up her spine, and Ava could hardly force herself to look at the others in the room. She’d never been looked upon as anything important—only a lowly Nephilim that preyed on innocence, like some kind of vulture of the underworld. Gavin approached them, cloaked in the same robe as Calix, and the two of them exchanged a glance and a nod, before Calix’s gaze swung back to her. “A demon must have the blessings of at least one brother in order to consummate a bonding,” Gavin explained. “Calix is fortunate to have three.” Watching Gavin kneel before her and take her hand was about the most unnerving thing she’d ever witnessed, since the regal male carried himself like a king. “For saving Calix, soothing him, and caring for him in his time of need. Du et gloriasz.” I honor you. Ava’s cheeks flushed, body trembling, as he kissed the top of her hand, and she nodded when he rose to his feet before her, then stepped aside. Logan strode forward, wearing his usual stern expression, but when he fell to his knees before her, dropping his hood back, Ava fought the tickle of embarrassment sweeping through her.
She’d never felt so on display, her emotions ready to burst through her skin at any moment. “For saving the life of my taszchla and child. Du et gloriasz.” Like Gavin, he kissed the top of her hand and rose before her, taking his place beside his older brother. The long pause that followed brought the unrelenting quiver of her muscles to her attention, and undoubtedly everyone else’s, as she awaited the third brother. When Ferno stepped out of formation and strode toward them, her view of the demon blurred behind a shield of tears. She hadn’t gotten the opportunity to thank him for saving her life. Mostly because he’d refused to acknowledge her in the last few weeks, for reasons she’d probably never know. Seeing him approach left her feeling more nervous than even a moment before. He, too, knelt before her, not bothering to look up, thank goodness, because she’d have probably accidentally wobbled into the flames. “Everyone says I saved your life.” The deep, gravelly rasp of Ferno’s voice didn’t match the smooth tones of his brothers. His brow furrowed, lips thinned with whatever churned in his mind. “They tell me you’d have died that night. But truth is, you saved me. By giving me a small piece of redemption.” His gaze lifted to hers, and he reached for her hand. “Du et gloriasz.”
A quick glance toward Calix showed his pinched brows, lips downturned as if he might break. Before Ferno could rise to his feet, Ava fell to her knees, covering his hand with hers, and bowed her head. “Thank you, Ferno.” She kissed the back of his hand, and both of them rose to their feet. When he bent forward to kiss her cheek, a gasp filled the room, as everyone, particularly Ava, stood in shock. He stepped back, and Calix patted his shoulder, before Ferno took his place alongside Gavin and Logan. From the stones beside the fire, Gavin tugged a blade from his side, cut into his forearm, and allowed himself to bleed into a set-out brass bowl. He then handed the knife to Logan who did the same, followed by Ferno. The bowl caught the blood of each of the brothers, before it was handed off to Calix. Gavin stepped forward carrying a gorgeous gold band and an elaborately etched staff with a gold tip, and he wrapped the jewelry around Ava’s bicep. Twisting her arm in front of her, she studied the etchings of demon script, ones she only vaguely recalled from her childhood. A bright glow caught her attention, as Gavin lifted the blazing gold tip of the staff from the flames and held it out to Calix.
Jaw set to a hard line, Calix’s gaze fell on hers, and as Gavin set the red-hot tip of the staff to Calix’s chest, Ava’s eyes widened with horror. The crackling of burning skin slid down her spine, and the insanely protective desire to lash out at Gavin left her slamming her hands against her ears. “Gods, don’t do this!” Calix’s lips softened to a smile, and he glanced down at the black marking seared into his skin, one Ava squinted to make out behind all of the charred flesh. “The blood of your brothers seals the bond.” With a black cloth held to Calix’s chest, Gavin poured the contents of the bowl over the wound. Once he’d wiped the cloth over the wound, leaving only the clean black etching of his skin, Ava examined the symbols and script there, and found her name sat in the thick of what looked like an extension of the ink on Calix’s chest. “As the eldest son of Wrath, I vow our loyalty and protection to you, Ava.” Gavin spoke a demonic chant, an offer of wisdom and foresight, then kissed the back of her hand. Ferno stepped forward, and like Gavin, spoke the demon words of hellsfire and protection. Each of Calix’s brothers approached, offering a promise of what she determined was their brand of pain—the element each used to exact vengeance. A proclamation of their loyalty that cast ripples of
humility down her spine, but not because she wasn’t appreciative. On the contrary, Ava thought herself unworthy of such sincerity and devotion. As if she’d somehow deceived them into thinking she was something special. After each of the brothers had shown their respect, Calix ultimately knelt before her and held her hand in his. “As your servosx, I vow to love and protect you. To honor you, serve you, and pleasure you for eternity. You will never know hunger, or loneliness, pain, or sadness, as long as I live and breathe. You are my tazschla from now until absolute death.” Through a blur of tears, Ava smiled down at him and shook her head. “Even in death.” His jaw tightened, and Calix rose, his lips crashing against hers with urgency, as if the moment would somehow slip away from him. Over the clapping, an obnoxious whistling had Ava peeling her face from Calix’s. Zeke stood with his fingers tucked inside his lips, and another whistle had her laughing. The only time in the ceremony that he’d broken from his serious composure, which had struck Ava odd, seeing him so sober and concentrated—so not Zeke. Calix held her face in his palms, his face glowing with happiness. “Du amec.” “I love you,” she said, kissing him once more. After offering their congratulations, all his
brothers, along with Calla and Sabelle, exited the room, leaving only Ava and Calix standing beside the fire. “Is this when you claim me?” she asked, while a nervous and nauseating tickle struck her stomach. Like a jar of butterflies had been set free inside of her, a jittery vibration hummed beneath her skin. “Yes. And you’re nervous.” “No. Yes.” She smiled, threading the belt of her robe between her fingers in her fidgeting. “A little. Lot.” Calix chuckled and slid his hands between hers, tugging the knot of the robe until it opened, exposing her chemise beneath. “It’s a shame, you know.” “What is?” “Such a pretty garment.” He slid his fingers beneath the thin strap at her shoulders, back and forth. “I almost hate to take it off of you.” “I’ll show you what’s under my nightgown, if you show me what’s beneath that robe.” With a wily grin, Calix stepped back and untied the robe, allowing it to fall away from his body, and holy shit. He’d somehow gotten bigger, and not just his muscles. His erection stood proud between them, setting Ava’s nerves on edge at the sheer size of it. “I see you’ve been holding out on me.” A burst of laughter beat through his chest, as
Calix took hold of the beast, stroking it in front of her. “The bonding ceremony often produces much higher levels of hormone in the males. In preparation for my change.” “You. You’ll … still be Calix, right?” “I’ll still be me. No matter what you see on the outside.” “This is a Wrath thing?” “Yes. Part of our change when we bond. Our true nature.” His eyes fell to her clothing and back. “I showed you mine. Now, let’s see yours.” Ava slowly slipped the straps off her shoulders, watching his breaths hasten, while he stared down at her. Still stroking himself, his eyes remained riveted on her breasts, as she peeled the thin satin away from them, exposing herself to him. Nostrils flared, Calix’s lips parted, and Ava caught the clench of his jaw, as if he fought to hold something back. She allowed the garment to fall to the floor and kicked out of it, standing almost naked before him. Many times, she’d been naked in his presence, and never once had she felt self-conscious beneath his stare until right then. As if something else watched through Calix’s eyes, Ava felt on display for a stranger. Nabbing the thin strap of her panties, he pushed them down her thighs, his breath hot against her sex as he glided them over her ankles and tossed them
aside. Beside the fireplace, sat a large wooden box, like an old cedar chest, that Calix lifted open, tugging a luxurious blanket from inside. He spread it out on the ground beside her and pushed to his feet once more. His eyes roamed her with far more hunger and want than before, and the way he slammed his teeth together, tightening his jaw, sent the first tingle of fear down her spine. “Lie back, tazschla.” The voice didn’t sound like Calix, at all. Much more gruff and beastly, and if not for the fact that she had anticipated his change, Ava would’ve surely run for her life. Instead, she did as he commanded. She even went so far as to spread her legs for him, offering a view of her impossibly wet sex. After all, even if he didn’t sound like Calix, or behave like him, he still looked like the man she loved. At least for a few minutes more, anyway. A frightening madness claimed his expression, as he stood softly chanting in demonic, and when he fell to his knees, diving headfirst between her thighs like a starving man at a buffet, Ava kicked her head back and gasped. His lips found her folds, tongue dipping into her drenched entrance, and he chuffed a grunt. Ava squirmed beneath him, his aggression reminding her of some kind of animal, the way he fed on her, ate her like a platter of pussy au jus, and
she cried out when he sucked at her clit. She bucked her hips that he held down, keeping her from moving, and the moan that passed his lips sounded like something straight out of a zombie flick during a feast of human flesh. There was no pain, though. It was the most horrifically amazing and terrifying moment of her life. Ava stared down her body at Calix’s head bobbing between her thighs, and the stiffening of her muscles told her orgasm was close. Calix pushed against her shins, bending her knees and opening her to him, before his tongue buried so deep inside of her, she cried out a second time. Mercifully, he stopped, but when he lifted his head and he crawled over her body, Ava shot up on her elbows, instinctively backing away. His skin had changed to a deep red, his lips darkened to almost black. As he inched closer, his muscles trembled beneath the weight of him, flexing with his transformation. He snarled, baring enormous fangs, and his eyes morphed from a calm sea of blue to deep pools of angry red. “Calix?” she whimpered, as he held himself over her, looking every bit a beast in his demonic form. “Relax, tazschla.” His gruff voice did nothing to set her at ease, but Ava told herself that somewhere
beneath his frightening mask was Calix. Her Calix. Paralyzed by terror, she lay still, and while he lowered his face to the side of her, disappearing from view, Ava closed her eyes, waiting for what would come next. A stab of pain at her neck arched her back, but the agony was quickly smothered beneath a cool wash of warmth that felt like too much Elysia in her system at once. It forced an involuntary giggle that made her want to cry, as intense pleasure rushed through her veins, tickling her bones. The warmth softened her muscles, and when the first pang of desire struck her core, Ava opened her eyes on a forced exhale, as tiny zaps of electricity moved beneath her skin, innervating her nerves. Her body came alive, craving his touch like never before. The seconds that passed were pure agony as she waited for him, needing him. “Calix, please. T’ch’me.” She frowned at the drunken dizziness that claimed her voice, as if her whole body had been anesthetized by whatever he’d done to her. At a sharp tug of her neck, Ava let out a quiet moan as the wooziness intensified, every muscle in her body shaking and weak. Just like an animal that’d been stunned for the kill, she lay unable to move, until his teeth dislodged from her throat. Stirring her hips did nothing to lessen the ache in her core, the need to be filled and sated.
Like an answered prayer, Calix positioned his tip at her entrance, gliding his cock up and down her slit. “Please, Calix. Please fuck me.” He pushed into her, and Ava gripped his nape, squeezing him as she stretched around his impossibly large dick. “Gods!” Slow and gentle, he rocked in to her, keeping an even tempo, until, at last, he thrust to the hilt. “Does it hurt, tazschla?” His voice caressed her ear, brought a smile to her face as his demon spoke with such reverence. She shook her head, wrapping her legs around his back, wanting every part of her against his skin. Permission granted, he upped the pace, pistoning into her body while she clung to him, only vaguely aware of anything outside of their merged bodies. A delicious scent struck her senses—dark and heady and brimming with promise. She felt exquisitely beautiful and vulnerable at the same time. As if he’d numbed all of her inhibitions, all of her worries, and allowed her to expose her true self to him, just as he’d exposed his beast to her. A moment of honesty and verity, trust and respect. He was raw and beautiful, in search of his release. Her fingertips skimmed over cords of tight muscles, and skin so hot, he could’ve burst into
flames. Every thrust inside of her eased the ache, and his masculine sounds of approval brought a smile to her face. The tremor in her arms and legs intensified, as she struggled to keep it together, to hold out a bit longer. She moaned a staccato sound, and Calix’s growl against her ear told her he was close, too. Faster, faster. She climbed toward climax. A flash of white detonated behind her eyes, casting waves of pleasure to every nerve ending in her body. Tingles dispersed in all directions, and she arched into him, as his seed shot like bullets, filling her with his heat. “Fuck! Ava, fuck!” His muscles shuddered with his release, and she held tighter, bucking her hips into him, meeting his thrusts, until he finally stilled. Waves of passion washed over her, while he remained inside of her, riding out the last of his orgasm. “Calix, what is this feeling?” She shook her head to release the punchy swells of lust muddling her brain. “The bonding of souls.” For the first time, Calix’s voice had returned to the familiar soothing timbre she recognized. And when he pulled away, staring down at her, she wanted to dive into the deep blue of his eyes and drown there. “You’re mine now. Forever.” “I love the sound of that.” Still caught in an
intoxicated haze of satisfaction, she smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I vow never to betray you again. I’ll restore your faith in me. Whatever it takes to redeem myself in your eyes.” “Your happiness is all the redemption I ask.” He shrugged, lowering his head to her neck for a kiss. “A son or daughter would be nice, too.” A chuckle kicked her head back, and she wrapped her arms tighter. “What d’you say we get on that, then?” Calix slid his teeth along her jaw, planting a kiss at her chin. “There’s no rush, tazschlama. I have all eternity to get you knocked up. Tonight, I’m going to savor you. Slowly.” She dipped her head to kiss him, relishing the spiced flavor of his skin. “And I’m going to enjoy every minute spent with you. Eternally.”
EPILOGUE
D
enya clamped her eyes shut, the sounds of the surrounding females merging into one incessant noise inside her skull. Please, Gods. Gods, please. The cool air breezed her skin, puckering her nipples in false display. Her hands had been tied up, her clothes stripped down to the provocative lingerie the succubus had forced on her. The burn of the rope bit into her wrists, while she hung from the rafters, her tiptoes balancing on the wooden plank beneath her. On display. From what she could gather, she’d been taken to auction in some sort of rundown-looking tavern on the edge of a town that didn’t seem to be populated by anyone. Though, from the voices that reached her ears, rising over the sounds of an
auctioneer, the whole damn village seemed to have come to witness the sale of her body. A tremor vibrated beneath her skin, the horror of facing the truth enough to make her crumble and shatter into fragments that could never be pieced together again. She’d heard of girls who’d been sold off like cattle. How they never came back from the darkness. How the reality of their circumstances had crushed them into dust beneath their captor’s boot. She knew, if she opened her eyes, that terrifying certainty would pull her under, too. She wasn’t the only one. The girls she’d traveled with hung beside her, and more girls had arrived sometime in the week, like some kind of trafficking convention. Foreign hands roamed her body, and if not for the strength of her mind, and the determination to get free and find Safina, she’d have collapsed into herself, pulled under by the weight of shame. The succubus and two males who’d brought her to the town had kept a close watch on her from the time she’d emerged from the well. No doubt, they’d anticipated her escape. And even when she’d found a moment, during a piss break when they’d camped out off the side of the road, to make a run for it, they’d been on her heels like Cheetahs on a goddamn gazelle. A soft glide across her arm flinched Denya’s
muscles and yanked her from her thoughts, bringing her back to the sickening sounds of the auction. “Denyalis. Twenty-two years old. Verified virgin.” Denya recognized the voice of her handler, the female succubus. “She has papers to prove it?” The responding voice arrived like velvet, and another stroke prompted her to open her eyes. “Of course, sire,” the bitch succubus answered, arms crossed as she stood off to the side. A male dressed in the regal attire of a prince stood before Denya. Beside him was a beautiful young female, perhaps not much older than Denya, with long plaits of blonde hair resting on her shoulder, and she examined her with the same scrutiny as if she were produce sold at the market. The haughty incline of the male’s chin, and the way he stared down his perfect roman nose, told her he’d been raised in luxury and probably wouldn’t relate to a damn thing Denya felt right then, so pleading for his help would be useless. The strong square of his jaw, perfect bronze of his skin, and lithe but muscular build suggested he might have been one of the many princes of lust. He gave off an intensely sexual vibe, much stronger than the incubi he’d have borne as sons. The succubi, too, were descendants of lust, however distant. Their genetics whittled down by centuries of mating with humans, which probably
made the asshole a second cousin, once removed, or something. “How much for her?” he asked, cocking his head to the side, toward the succubus who’d dragged her there. “Not for sale, asshole!” Denya hissed, hocking a gob of spit in his face. Wiping the glisten from his cheek, he stretched his lips into a wicked grin, his fiery gaze tearing across the small space that separated them. “No price is too high for this one. I’ll arrange to have whatever amount you determine transferred at once.” “Sire?” The edge of excitement in the succubus’s voice snarled Denya’s lip, and her fingers curled into fists as she wished she could punch the shit out of the female. “Wonderful news, I’ll draft an offer for you within the hour.” “Perfect.” He stepped forward, shrinking Denya beneath his massive form. “As for you, my succulent flower, enjoy your impunity while it lasts. Such acts of defiance only fuel my cruel nature. I assure you, I will not let the next infraction slide.” Denya’s eyes widened with fear. And for the first time since she’d been captured, the glimmer of hope faded from her horizon.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There are a number of people I need to thank for helping me get through this book. First—as always—my husband and children, who are not only patient and supportive of my career, but also my biggest cheerleaders. I’d never reach the end of these books without you. I love you inifinity. ❤ Mom and dad, thank you for always encouraging me to do what makes me happy and for fostering a creative and supportive environment growing up, that made me feel like I could do anything I wanted. Special thanks to my editor and friend, J.A. Belfield, you have remained invested in this series since Soul Avenged. You put everything into these edits and make my books shine. Without you, these stories might still be sitting in a notebook collecting
dust. Thank you for believing in me and pushing me to keep going. Many many thanks to Lana from Dirty Girl Romance and Terri Rochenski, both of whom, have sacrificed themselves for the good of the whole by reading the horrific early drafts of my books and providing critical feedback that has turned them into leaner, more polished stories. You make my books better and I’m so lucky to have both of you as beta readers. To the amazing Clarise Tan from CT Cover Creations, my very talented and patient cover designer who did a fantastic job with this series. Endless thanks to the Vigilante Vixens reading group for the encouragement and support you’ve given me over the last couple of years. You make this an exciting journey and keep me looking forward to each new release. Thank you for loving my books and asking for more. I don’t know what I’d do without all of you. Love and hugs ❤ For all of the bloggers who share my stories and continue to promote my work, I couldn’t have stayed in this game without you. You are the heart of this community. Your love for authors and your enthusiasm for sharing that love is what give us the visibility we need to remain successful in an everchanging industry. Thank you for everything you do. If bloggers are the heart, then readers are the
soul. Your loyalty, support, and love for my stories means everything to me. Thank you for making my dreams a reality every day, by taking a chance on my books.
OTHER BOOKS BY KERI LAKE
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE RICOCHET BACKFIRE
EROTIC ROMANCE SERIAL RIPPLE EFFECT
PARANORMAL ROMANCE SOUL AVENGED SOUL RESURRECTED SOUL ENSLAVED THE FALLEN (A SONS OF WRATH SPINOFF)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Keri Lake is a dark romance writer who specializes in demon wrangling, vengeance dealing and wicked twists. Her stories are gritty, with antiheroes that walk the line of good and bad, and feisty heroines who bring them to their knees. When not penning books, she enjoys spending time with her husband, daughters, and their rebellious Labrador (who doesn’t retrieve a damn thing). She runs on strong coffee and alternative music, loves a good red wine, and has a slight addiction to dark chocolate. Keep up with Keri Lake’s new releases, exclusive extras and more by signing up to her VIP Email List: VIP EMAIL SIGN UP Become a Vigilante Vixen by joining her reading group: VIGILANTE VIXENS She loves hearing from readers … www.KeriLake.com
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