Soul Avenged (Sons of Wrath, #1) (16 page)

“Hey,” said a
voice from behind.

Ayden glanced
down at the hand wrapped around her wrist and up to the face of a
young man who looked half-baked.

“Wanna come
with?” He focused on her chest as he spoke and licked his lips. “I
got something shiny to show you.”

“Piss off,”
she said, pushing him away from her.

He stumbled
over himself, nearly falling back into the crowd. “Fuck you,
bitch!”

Ayden turned
away and continued through the crowd.

Watch for
him.

She craned her
neck to see him approach another female. There was a vague
familiarity about the girl. She seemed out of place, in spite of
her black skirt and stockings. Must have been her long blonde hair,
her blue eyes.

Too normal for
this place.

Most of the
partygoers had died their hair some unusual color or black. The
blonde girl had a natural beauty, discernible even in the red
light.

Ayden remained
focused as the girl accepted a silver capsule from the guy. After
staring at it for a moment, the blonde popped it in her mouth and
followed him through the crowd.

Ayden snaked
through after her as the guy led her up the stairs toward another
level in the building.

The effects of
the drug seemed to be kicking in as the female began to stumble a
bit. Her hand covered her mouth as if embarrassed.

Ayden followed
the couple down a dark hallway of rundown offices until they
arrived at an empty room at the end and slipped inside.

As she padded
quietly toward the door, the sounds of moaning drifted from the
room. With one hand on her dagger, she peeked around the corner.
Already the girl’s legs were spread wide open, the young man
mauling her neck as he rubbed his fingers against her panties.

Ayden rolled
her eyes.

Prepare to be
cock-blocked, asshole.

She took a
half-step to the left, hesitating when two sets of silver eyes
glowed in the back corner of the empty room.

Lycans.

Ayden crouched
low. They’d see her if she tried to enter the room, their eyes just
as keen as hers in darkness. She reached for her Beretta, hardly
chancing a breath.

The glowing
orbs edged from the darkness, and the moans became more intense.
While Romeo and Juliet slipped deeper into la-la land, the wolves
lurked. Not yet moving in.

What are you
waiting for?

It wasn’t as
if their victims had any realization of being hunted.

The silver
eyes lifted higher, indicating the wolves had rose on their
haunches.

Ayden’s
instincts tugged at her, like waves through her body,
pulsating.

Kill.

She unsheathed
the dagger with one hand and curled her finger around the trigger
of the Beretta with the other.

Screams echoed
down the hallway.

Ayden stopped
in her jerk forward.

Not one when
she glanced back, but many screams. As if something had suddenly
attacked the entire party.

No.

She turned
back toward the room. The eyes had disappeared from the back
corner.

Dammit!

One wolf had
already dragged the male across the room and had begun feeding on
him. The male it seemed, so lost in his Shine fantasies, didn’t
even realize he was being eaten alive. The other wolf dragged the
female away toward the corner. No doubt, it’d probably try to rape
her.

Too late for
her, anyway—she’d already been bitten.

Ayden put
three bullets in the wolf that hovered over the male, startling the
other. Lying stupefied with his stomach torn wide open, the male
choked on fluids gurgling in his throat. A merciful bullet to his
head silenced him. She moved quickly across the room with stealth.
Two more bullets knocked the second wolf back into the wall.

The wolf she’d
shot first lurched forward, unsteady on its haunches, thanks to the
silver bullets. The effects would only buy her another few
seconds.

She kicked its
feet from beneath its body and sliced through the back of its neck
with a dagger.

Not deep
enough to sever the head.

The wolf
lifted itself up on its arms and the sliced head tipped to the
side, hanging on by tarry fibers of flesh.

The other wolf
leapt, knocking Ayden to the floor.

She held the
gaping maw away from her face as it snapped at her. Growls rumbled
against her hand. Hiking her boot up between the wolf and herself,
she gave a forceful kick to its chest. The beast shot backward,
hitting the floor a few feet away, but rose again just as fast.

The other wolf
also charged with its half severed head barely holding on.

Ayden rolled
to the side and shot a bullet through the ribcage of the intact
wolf. She twisted to a standing position and lunged at the ruined
wolf. Her stiff backhand came down hard on its head, knocking it
from its body.

As it flopped
across the floor, the headless body slumped in a heap.

Swinging back
to the second lycan, she sunk the dagger into the side of its skull
and twisted. It yelped falling to its knees as she sliced all the
way down the back of its head and across its neck to the front.

Ayden dropped
to her knees alongside the falling body, and the head slammed down
beside them with a thunk.

She climbed
off the beast and walked over to the young man. His gaping mouth
and vacant eyes gave a pretty good indication the dude was dead.
That and the bullet hole in his head.

Stupid
lamb.

She glanced
over toward where the girl lay perfectly still, as if sleeping
peacefully. Surely, the process would have begun. She should have
been writhing from the pain as the venom rushed through her veins.
Ayden moved across the room and crouched beside her.

Why’s she so
familiar?

With the tips
of her fingers, Ayden opened the girl’s eyelids to check her
pupils.

Golden.

Ayden fell
backward.

An Alexi?

Her heart
lurched. They were here. Her gaze swung back toward the door. It
suddenly occurred to her that the screams had died down to silence.
Everyone must have scattered.

Gavin appeared
in the doorway.

He glanced
over at the half eaten shiner on the floor then to Ayden. “We’ve
been looking for you. Gods, I thought they got you.”

Ayden twisted
to face him. “What happened?”

“Lycans.
Ambushed the party from the inside.” He shook his head. “I’ve never
seen so many attack at once.”

“Did Logan or
Zeke catch sight of them?”

“No.” He
rested his hands on his hips. “They were already in the building.
We killed off quite a few. But there were casualties.”

“I had a bad
feeling about this.” Still crouched, she rested her forehead
against the heel of her hand. “We never go by someone’s word.” She
froze. “What about the survivors?”

“The lights
went out. Some took off. I don’t think they saw the wolves.” His
hands fell from his waist and he stepped forward. “But no doubt
this place will be swarming with cops, so let’s get the hell out of
here.”

Ayden closed
her eyes. “Gavin, we have a problem.”

“What’s
wrong?”

She opened her
eyes and twisted back toward the girl. “She’s an Alexi.”

“Ah, shit,”
Gavin murmured from behind her. “Are you certain?”

Ayden
tightened her lips and nodded.

“Then, they
were staking out the place, as well. She wouldn’t have been alone,
right?”

“Right. Unless
she went AWOL.” Ayden tipped her head to get a better look at the
girl. Was she capable of such a thing? No one left the Alexi and
survived. “She was dumb enough to take Shine. I don’t think she’s
working alone.”

“I suppose it
was bound to happen eventually. Us bumping into them.”

Ayden turned
her head to the side. “I don’t think this was coincidence. They’re
not here for the wolves, Gavin. They’re here for me. Wade found
me.” She looked up at him. “And since he hasn’t stormed the place
with troops, I’m guessing he’s found out I’m with you.”

Gavin
scratched his forehead with his thumb. “Is she injured?” He stuffed
his hands in his pocket.

“She was
bitten.” Ayden’s head turned back to the girl. “But she’ll be fine.
I think she’s just hopped up on Shine. Let’s get out of here.”

Gavin strode
over to the two of them and picked the girl up into his arms. Her
long blond hair fell over his chest.

She opened her
eyes and smiled up at him, snaking her hand inside his shirt and
rubbing at his chest. “So strong and sexy,” she whispered and
kissed his bare skin. “Mmmmm.”

“Stop,” he
said firmly.

The golden
glow still shimmered in her eyes. “Awww. Come on,” she purred.
“Don’t you want to play with me?” A chirrup of laughter turned to
silence again as she snuggled in to Gavin’s chest.

“Great. Just
what I need. A fucking kitten with a ball of catnip.”

Ayden grinned.
“She can drive home with you guys.”

Back down in
the basement, they found Logan and Zeke standing at the doorway,
tarry lycan blood mingled with splotches of red human blood
covering their bodies.

Logan accosted
Ayden as she approached. “Shit, I thought they’d gotten you.”

“You don’t
give me enough credit.” Ayden quieted as she glanced around at all
the ravaged bodies on the floor. “So many this time,” she
whispered. The wolves hadn’t left any of the victims alive. Every
one of them lay torn apart and bloodied as if they’d come for the
sole purpose of killing and leaving. Headless wolves lay amongst
the human remains, the clandestine demons being the only fighting
chance the humans had. “How the hell did this happen?”

“This was one
hell of a sucker punch. That’s how.” Logan glanced over at Gavin.
“What’s up with your visions, bro? You didn’t see this?”

Gavin sighed.
“I’ve told you before. They’re subjective. Don’t forget, I’m only
half seer, and my mother wasn’t the most talented at it to begin
with.”

Aside from
Zayne and Zeke who were fraternal twins, each of the demons was
born of a different mother. Gavin’s just happened to be
clairvoyant.

“What’s this
shit?” The tone in Zeke’s voice cued that he’d just noticed the
blonde, who’d passed out in Gavin’s arms again. “Gavin gets to walk
away from the fight with a hottie but we don’t?”

“I didn’t seek
her out. She was with Ayden.”

“Too bad
Ayden’s under contract. Could’ve had two for the price of one.” He
playfully knocked Gavin in the arm. “Oh, wait, that is, if you
weren’t cursed by the succubus this afternoon.” Zeke sniggered and
stroked his hand down the blonde’s long curls. “Hey, we’re making a
stop on the way home. I’m riding with Logan this time.”

“No, I’m
riding with Logan. You can take Ayden and Calix. The two of them
can leave out the back way.” Gavin jerked his head toward the rear.
“Stay out of sight. We’ll pick them up on the next block.”

“Whatever,
we’re hittin’ up Sanctuary.” Zeke rubbed his hands together. “I
need a stiff drink and a pretty piece—”

“How the hell
can you be thinking of that right now, Zeke?” Ayden snapped before
he could finish. “Did you happen to notice you’re covered in
blood?”

“Hey, can I
help it if I know how to mix business and pleasure?” After a quick
glance at himself, Zeke stood with his arms splayed to the side.
“Killing wolves turns me on. You of all people should appreciate
that.”

Ayden gave a
dismissive shake of her head “Think we can get out of here without
being followed?”

“What’s going
on?” Logan asked.

“The Alexi.”
Gavin shifted the girl in his arms. “They know we’re here.”

“I got it
covered.” Zeke grinned.

“I don’t want
to know, Zeke,” Ayden said, running her hands through her hair.
“Where’s Calix?”

Zeke nodded
toward the staircase behind him. “Bathroom upstairs, cleaning some
blood off his shirt.”

Ayden pushed
through Zeke and Logan, toward the staircase. “We need to talk
about this asshole friend of his.”

***

Pain moved
along Kane’s spine like the searing cut of a blade, slow and
merciless.

He arched his
back.

Beads of sweat
trickled down his temples as his mouth hung wide in a silent scream
his throat couldn’t form. His hands clenched into fists, so red
they’d turned blue. Snaps and pops crackled in his ears as his legs
seemed to lengthen. Every cell in his body felt as if it’d burst
into flames.

His voice
finally returned, and as his howl of agony erupted, Annabelle shot
through the bedroom door.

“Oh, my! What
is this?” Her voice remained distant even though Kane sensed she
stood near the bed.

Words refused
to form as he arched again while the pain bulleted through his
flesh and bones in ruthless waves of torment. All sensation in his
legs had gone, struck by blinding spasms, overshadowed by the agony
he suffered in his nerves. His stomach churned, sick with distress.
He choked back the vomit begging to spew from his mouth.

When a lull
finally arrived, his ragged breaths heaved his lungs against his
ribcage.

Annabelle sat
beside him, a cool cloth in her hand as she dabbed his forehead and
temple.

Past lids
heavy with fatigue, he peered up at her. “Please,” he whispered,
“kill me.”

Her eyes
widened. “Oh, no, sir. I absolutely will not do that.”

Another bellow
of pain ripped through his chest.

He gripped the
cuff chains.

Every muscle
flared, as if someone had ripped him open and exposed all his nerve
endings. Death couldn’t be worse than the torment he
suffered—surely.

“I’ll reach
Miss Ayden.” Annabelle rose from the bed. “She’ll know what to
do.”