Soul Avenged (Sons of Wrath, #1) (11 page)

“Good. Pay him
a visit and keep this under wraps. We’re about to go underground on
this one.”

***

The walk to
Calla’s room seemed to take forever.

Soldiers
weren’t encouraged to get together, but neither were they
discouraged. Wade turned his cheek most times, in favor of loyalty
and commitment to the Alexi.

Calla was
Draven’s girl, the most beautiful he’d ever seen. Different cards
in life, and she might’ve been on the cover of magazines for her
appearance alone. If Draven had to be honest with himself, he’d
never been worthy of her.

She had joined
the Alexi at the age of 17, after having watched her mother and
father attacked and consumed by lycans. Mindslating actually helped
to cure her nightmares and attempts at suicide. Her brother, Jacob,
another force that kept her sane, survived the attack as well,
though his Lywa titers were significantly less than Calla’s. He
would’ve died from his bite wounds had he not been treated.

Wade almost
denied him entry into the Alexi, but Calla had insisted and refused
to take the Lywa concoction if her brother couldn’t come with her—a
very dangerous bargain. Luckily, Wade admired her feisty
personality and had ultimately welcomed both her and her
brother.

Draven knocked
on the door to Calla’s room she shared with three other girls.

Elise, Calla’s
roommate, opened the door with a smile and waved him inside.

The rooms were
small, each with a connecting bathroom to the adjacent suite. Gas
valves, plugs and, in the case of the rooms that used to be the
former L&D unit, overhead lamps, still hung from the walls.
Calla lay sprawled out on her bed, reading with a set of headphones
over her ears.

So
beautiful.

Her face lit
up at the sight of him, which only made his heart sink. She tugged
her earphones off her head and set her book down. “Hey, you, what’s
going on?”

“Calla …” he
reached for her hand but stopped, tucking it in his pocket
instead.

She smiled.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Come with
me,” he said tonelessly through clenched teeth.

Without
question, Calla rose from the bed. Her long blonde hair trickled
over the pillow, cascading down her shoulders. Something in her
blue eyes told him he better not make too much fuss. His reasons
for fetching her would certainly have her feeling betrayed.

My sweet
Calla.

He could
hardly look at her without thinking about what those demons would
do to her. The stories he’d heard in town were enough to turn his
guts inside out. How they would sex her for hours and violate her
body in so many vile ways. She’d never be the same afterward.

He ground his
teeth until a spasm of pain shot into his skull. Her fingertips
tickled his palm in an attempt to reach for his hand as he turned
toward the door.

He swiped his
hand away from her.

“Drav, what’s
going on?”

Sucking in a
breath, he squinted his eyes then spun around, standing right in
her face, nose to hers. “Is that how you talk to your superior,
soldier?” His harsh voice bounced off the walls, adrenaline surging
through his blood.

Calla broke
eye contact with him, glancing over at her roommates.

Heaving
breaths left him oxygen-starved and unsteady on his feet. He wanted
to take her up into his arms, to kiss her and reassure her that
everything would be all right. His arms wouldn’t move, his hands
remaining balled into tight fists at his side.

Her blue eyes,
so innocent, made his heart burn with remorse. “I’m … sorry … sir.”
She spoke softly, eyes diverted toward the floor.

Draven exhaled
a shaky breath and turned back toward the door, and Calla followed
him. A quick glance revealed her head bowed.

He choked back
the apology trapped behind his silence.

~

Ayden reached
the top of the stairs and slowly pushed open the door to the
lycan’s room. Her heart leaped into her throat at the sight of the
empty bed. “What the hell?”

Hand on
dagger, she padded across the room, and searched over and under the
furniture. Her cheeks burned with the rising distress mounting in
her gut.

If he escaped
…

The mere
thought of the lycan pulling one over on her pissed her off.

Gavin is going
to have my head on a skewer.

She kicked
open the door to the bathroom. The slam of her boot to the panel
nearly broke it into pieces.

“Ah, shit!”
Kane wrapped the towel around his lower half and gripped the sink
as he stumbled backward.

Too late.

Ayden had
already gotten a good glimpse of
all
of him.

“Do female
assassins typically break down doors instead of knock?” The tone of
his voice carried the irritation of having been startled.

Had it been
anyone else, Ayden probably would’ve laughed. What started out as
embarrassment, though, quickly turned to an angry storm, a full-on
blast of that pent-up tension while thinking he’d gotten away. “Who
the hell told you that you could bathe?” Her gaze roved his body,
briefly distracted by the awe-worthy vision.

Wet strands
hung limp over his face, those emerald green eyes friggin’
twinkling
all the while. His muscles had begun to fill out,
leaving him a lean and chiseled piece of work. Wolf or not, he
looked …
pretty damn good.

Ayden shook
her head.
What the hell am I doing?

Kane’s gaze
disengaged from hers, dropping to the floor. “Sorry. I didn’t
realize the bath,”—he glanced up—“you know, the one
in my
room
, was totally off limits. It won’t happen again.”

“It better
not, lycan.” She pointed at him. “You don’t eat or breathe or
piss
without asking me first.” She set both hands on her
hips, her mind finally taking note of the scene. “What’s in the
trash?”

Kane bent down
and lifted a tattered remnant of what appeared to be his boxers
from the small trashcan. “I have an aversion to wearing clothes for
days. So I tore them up. I’d rather go commando.” The manner in
which he dropped them back in the trash screamed defiance.

A blank stare
was all that Ayden could do to keep from scratching out her
eyeballs. She would’ve forced him to wear them anyway, had they not
been ripped to shreds. A harsh swallow forced back the brewing
vexation. “How the hell are you walking around already?”

With a huff,
he leaned into the counter, demonstrating how he’d scooted himself
around the room. At the edge of the sink closest to her, he
stopped. “So, do you mind if I put my pants back on, or do you
prefer to have me naked?”

“W … What?”
She frowned. “I don’t prefer to
have
you at all.”

“No, that’s
not what I meant.” A grin stretched across his face, as if her
discomfort had amused him. “I was just asking permission to get
dressed. I assumed since breathing was off limits that dressing
might be, too.”

She leaned
forward, hands still on her hips. “Get your ass in some clothes and
then get it back in the bed. I’m going to look for a set of
handcuffs.”

“Excuse
me?”

Ignoring the
question, she pointed to the black tiger with yellow eyes on his
pectoral. “What’s that about?” She crossed her arms.

He glanced
down at it. “A tattoo.”

“No shit.”

“It was a
mistake. I had this impression in college that a tattoo would make
me more of a badass.” He looked up with a crooked smile. “Girls dug
it, though.”

She rolled her
eyes. “Yeah, I’ll bet.” With a push off the doorframe, she turned
and left the room.

***

Kane finished
drying off then hobbled along the wall back to his clothes that
he’d worn earlier. As he bent to pick up his slacks, something
black landed on his head, covering his face. “What the hell?” He
snatched the object down. A pair of men’s black briefs dangled
between his thumb and index finger.

Arms crossed,
Ayden leaned against the frame, a smile tugging at her lips. “You
look about Calix’s size.”

“I beg to
differ.”

“Look, lycan.
You’ve got six days to live. Now’s not the time to get picky over
underwear.”

He dropped his
arm, the briefs barely clinging between his fingertips, and his
stare settled upon her. “You do realize this is breaking a cardinal
rule of manhood, right? You never borrow underwear from another
man.” He shook his head. “Never.”

“I couldn’t
give a shit about your cardinal rules. Put them on and get your
man-sharing ass to bed.”

“Thanks, but
no thanks.” He threw them at her.

She hurled the
briefs back. “You’ll put them on, now! I’m not interested in having
your package peek out from under the sheets. Neither is
Annabelle.”

“For one, I’ll
be wearing pants. And I’m pretty sure Annabelle wouldn’t mind.”

Ayden gritted
her teeth together. “Put. Them. On.”

“You are
something else.” He shook his head. “Can’t even spare a little
dignity for a dying man.” He paused, still gripping the towel
around his waist. “Some privacy, if you don’t mind.”

***

Ayden stepped
to the side, just outside of the bathroom and slammed the door
shut. Ooh, that lycan crawled right up under her skin.

Everything is
a goddamn joke to him! We’ll see who’s laughing…

When Kane
emerged from the bathroom, Ayden still stood in the same position
by the door but quickly shuffled to the other side of the room. He
inched along the wall, the chair and the nightstand, back to the
bed. The gray slacks he wore looked a little silly and a bit
uncomfortable, but what did she care?

She stood over
him as he settled in. “Arms above your head.”

Brow raised,
he fell back against the pillow, raising his arms above his head as
ordered.

Ayden pulled
out a pair of black fur-lined handcuffs. The slow upward arch of
his eyebrows made her want to slap him. “Shut up. They’re Calix’s.
Not mine. And this is just to keep you from roaming about.” She
moved cautiously, trying her best not to touch his arm, a task that
required more concentration than she had to spare under the
circumstances.

“Have you ever
used handcuffs before?”

“Of course
not,” she sneered. “I’d never allow someone to restrain me.” She
locked each cuff to the bedpost. “That would make me vulnerable and
weak, like you.”

Kane shrugged.
“I don’t mind it, actually. Truth is, it’s kinda nice for once not
to be calling the shots.”

“You make me
sick, lycan. You’re so …”

“Weak. I get
it.” He glanced up at his chained arm and gave a tug before his
gaze returned to her. “So, how do you think you’ll go about killing
me?”

Stupid
question.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“What?”

“What kind of
question is that?”

“I don’t know.
Just curious to know how you kill a lycan.”

“It’s
incredibly violent.” She clicked the last cuff around his
wrist.

Kane flinched
then gazed up at her again. “How so?”

Damn if his
green eyes didn’t show the slightest hint of fear.
What the hell
is this, some kind of trick?
“I’ll sever your head from your
spine. How does that sound?”

“Sounds …
quick and painless.” He sighed. “After the hell I’ve been through
already, anyway.”

She smiled,
one full of fakeness. “Well, I’ll be sure to take your suggestions
into account when it comes time to kill you.”

“Suggestions?”

“To remove
each of your limbs first. And have you watch as my demon friends
chew on them.”

A blurt of
laughter escaped him. “Annabelle was so wrong about you.”

“Annabelle?”
Her eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

“She told me
you weren’t scary once people got to know you. That you were
actually
sweet
of all things. Yeah …” He slid down further
into the bed, head back against the pillow. “… personally, I think
you’re serial-killer-in-a-clown-suit kind of creepy.”

“Awww, lycan,
that’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me all day.”

“Why did you
bring me here? Why not kill me last night?”

She crossed
her arms. “Because only
your
kind take advantage of the weak
and helpless. I, at least, give my victims the opportunity to fight
back.”

“Is that so?”
His tone turned serious, his eyes focused, challenging. “I don’t
intend to fight you.”

“And why is
that?”

“Because I
have no intentions of becoming one of those things. I’d rather you
rip my limbs off one by one, feed them to your demon friends after
you’ve severed my head from my spine while pissing on my burning
carcass.” His head lifted off of the pillow as he spoke. “I’m not,
nor have I ever been a baby killer.”

“Good. Then
we’ve come to an understanding.”

“Yes, I think
we have.” He lowered his head again. “Amazing.”

“I have
business. Should you need to piss,”—she bent her index finger to
patronize him—“your fingers can reach the button on the wall. I’ll
leave the keys with Bennett.”

“So thoughtful
of you. Have a good day, sweetheart.”

Ayden cast a
glare as she walked over to the oversized armoire in the corner of
the room. From it, she pulled out a pair of leather pants and a
tiny white t-shirt, along with some panties. Gavin had purchased
extra clothing for her a while back—helping her get comfortable in
his home, no doubt. Thank goodness, otherwise she’d be breaking
into laundry mats in the middle of the night just to wash her
clothes. Leather was good for wiping blood off, because she just
couldn’t stand having the shit on her.