Soul Avenged (Sons of Wrath, #1) (17 page)

“No … Please.”
He panted between words. “Don’t … call her.” The torture had been,
after all, what she’d wished on him. She’d get far too much
enjoyment out of it. At that moment, he’d have happily torn her
into shreds for such amusement.

“Please, sir,
at least allow me to release you.”

Another round
of pain had rendered him speechless.

Kane fell into
blackness.

***

The stench of
the bathroom forced Ayden to cover her nose. Graffiti sprayed all
over the walls proved the place housed drug lords of the city
before it’d become truly abandoned.

Calix hung
over the sink, his shirt removed, revealing a perfect arc of lean
muscle—the kind of sight women would have paid to see. He glanced
over at her briefly, as she stood leaning against the door frame
with her arms crossed, then casually went back to rinsing his shirt
in the sink using the water bottle beside him. “Don’t say it. I
already know I fucked up.”

“Who is he,
Calix?”

“No one.”

Ayden didn’t
want to be frustrated with him but they’d never been ambushed
before. Though, she took part of the blame for not having scouted
for lycans earlier in the day, thanks to the halfling and Saevious
demon keeping her occupied. “
No one
just managed to wipe out
about a dozen innocent adolescents and take all of us by surprise.
What if they’d gotten hold of one of us, Calix? One of your
brothers? Have you seen the body count out there?”

Wrath Demons
got one shot on earth. Although they were a hardy bunch and
difficult
to kill, they weren’t
impossible
to kill.
Numbers could easily tip the scale. Fortunately, the demon
population had a tendency to look after each other—like a
brotherhood. Which meant most of the time, they had the upper
hand.

Calix put the
lid back on his water bottle, his eyes focused on his hands. “His
name is Ryke. Nephilim.”

“Fallen
spawn?”

“Liars.
Thieves.” He huffed. “Whatever the fuck you want to call them.”

Ayden tipped
her head to the side. “What is he to you?”

“Ava’s
brother.”

“A female you
like.”

With his head
still hung over the sink, he nodded. “Yes.”

It made sense.
Calix hadn’t accompanied his brothers to the casino in weeks. He
always seemed off in his own world during fights—and he’d suddenly
set aside the brooding incubus persona.

“What’s the
story with her?” Ayden asked.

Calix cracked
a grin. “I like her. End of story.”

Reaching
behind with one hand, she scratched the back of her head. “You
realize we’re going to have to kick her brother’s ass for this,
right? Someone has to answer for this.” She crossed her arms again.
“He obviously has some link to the lycans.”

“Ayden, I’m
half Wrath Demon. Vengeance is one of the reasons I exist.” His
shoulders slumped and he rubbed his head against his open palms,
still leaning against the sink. “I just wish it didn’t have to be
him.”

Ayden pushed
off the wall, as he straightened, his expression somber, and
grabbed his shirt beside him. She patted him on the shoulder. “Zeke
wants to stop for a drink. What do you say we hit Sanctuary?”

He sighed.
“Sounds like a plan.”

“I get the
feeling the ride home is going to be fun.” She rolled her eyes.
“Surely, Zeke doesn’t plan to leave without at least a couple of
women.”

“Shotgun.”
Calix smiled.

~

A chuckle laced
with satisfaction rumbled in Wade’s chest as he peered through the
binoculars. Three demons exited the building, one carrying Calla
draped across his arms. “She looks comfy.” He glanced over at
Draven in the passenger seat and sighed. “Don’t see my girl,
though.”

Draven didn’t
bother to look up. With a scowl on his face, he kept his focus on
the dashboard of the SUV they sat in, staking out the warehouse.
Only the sound of his heavy breaths, a feeble attempt to calm his
anger, rasped in his ears.

“Oh, come on
now, Draven.” Wade patted Draven’s thigh. “The girl was hardly your
type. A bit out of your league, son.”

Draven bit the
inside of his lip, gnawing at the flesh. The salty flavor of blood
coated his tongue. He glanced up in time to see the blond demon
grab a handful of Calla’s hair and put it to his nose, reveling in
her like some sort of prize for all of them to share, and quickly
averted his eyes.

“Seems they’re
quite fond of her. Should make for an interesting evening.” Wade
chuckled again. “Now where the hell did Ayden and that other
dark-haired one go?”

Draven
squeezed his eyes shut, silently mutilating every one of those
demons in his mind.

And he
would.

If given the
chance he’d set them all aflame and watch them burn in agony—the
same burning agony that twisted in his gut.

Kill.

“Time to
roll.” Wade set the binoculars on the dash and started the vehicle,
creeping slow to the intersecting streets.

As the demons
and Calla piled into two waiting vehicles, Wade shook his head.
“Looks cramped in the one. She’ll have to sit on his lap the whole
ride home.”

Hands balled
into fists at his side, Draven forced his lungs to breathe slow and
calm. The General’s words taunted like a hot poker, frying at his
insides. He tamped it down best he could, desperate not to incite
Wade.

He knows what
he’s doing.

Wade was a
master strategist and the reason any of the Alexi soldiers were
alive to begin with. He’d saved them all. His obsession with
finding Ayden, though, had become so overpowering that they’d
lessened
their missions in the last year, in spite of lycan
numbers rising. Instead, Wade’d begun to track Ayden and her kills.
Like chasing after a storm that had already passed.

“Sir, we could
have taken them.” Draven’s voice just barely carried over the hum
of the SUV.

“Two Alexi
against four Wrath Demons?” Wade glanced over at him. “Boy, have
you lost your mind?” He advanced slowly behind the vehicles in
front of him as they pulled away.

“We could have
gathered a group. Formed a mission. Ambushed them.”

“Stop thinking
with your dick. How many soldiers you think I’m willing to lose?”
Wade kept his focus forward. “That antibody ain’t pourin’ from a
bone marrow fountain somewhere.” He glanced over. “Like finding a
needle in a goddamn haystack. And how many of your brothers and
sisters would you have wanted to see dead?”

Draven caught
a glimpse of Wade’s hardened eyes beside him, drilling and intense.
“None, sir.”

“Now you just
settle yourself down.” Wade’s attention returned to the road.
“They’re just gonna have a little fun with Calla and that’s all.
She’ll be so hopped up on bullshit, she won’t feel a thing. Gave
her two pills. That should be enough to last through the
night.”

Draven’s head
snapped back to side. “You gave her Shine?”

“Shit, that
girl is pure as the white snow,” Wade said, a wicked smile dancing
across his face. “She’d have pissed herself the second one of those
demons pulled his prick out. The Shine’ll just make her relax a
bit.”

Eyes glowing
golden, Draven choked back the vomit making a slow climb up his
throat. Long shaky breaths did little to calm the storm battling
inside him. Blood trickled down his wrist, where his nails had dug
into his palm.

Every one of
those fucking demons will die.

“Shit!” Wade’s
voice cracked.

Tires squealed
as the vehicle swerved off to the curb.

A flash of
black flew past Wade’s window.

Stones pinged
against the undercarriage as the SUV hopped at an angle and scraped
against the pavement.

Never had
Draven spun so quickly in his seat. His heart hammered as he peered
through the back window. They’d just missed a bum, dressed in rags
and walking smack in the middle of the road.

Wade didn’t
stop. He kept going, the black SUV jostling about as they veered
back onto the road.

Draven sucked
in a long breath and closed his eyes on the exhale.

“Goddamn
lambs, always getting in the way.” Wade fumbled with the unruly
steering wheel.

Draven’s eyes
locked on the silver McLaren ahead of them that carried his
girl.

They hadn’t
lost them.

“Thought I was
going to shit myself for a second there.” Wade chuckled.

“Why didn’t
you stop to check on me?” The strange, crackled voice came from the
other side of Wade—the other side of his window.

Both Wade and
Draven turned, and the face of the bum stared back at them through
the glass, like the dude was clinging to the outside of the car.
His mottled, brown skin looked as if he’d recently crawled out of
his grave. Clothes, so threadbare, hardly clung to a gaping ribcage
of bone and decayed flesh.

“What the
hell?” Wade swerved to knock it away from the car.

The bum held
firm, laughing wickedly as he flew about the driver’s side door.
“Phew! What a riot!” His face pressed to the glass, eyes nothing
more than orbs of black. “Let me try.” He reached a
masticated-looking hand through the window, as if an invisible
curtain blocked its route, grabbed hold of the steering wheel, and
jerked left.

The SUV
skidded and squealed into a snowy ditch, tumbling and rolling until
it finally came to a standstill. On its roof.

Wade and
Draven hung from their seats, strapped in by the belts. Blood
trickled down Draven’s forehead, and he wiped it away. Beside him,
Wade shook his head, bracing his hands on the steering wheel.

The bum
crouched outside of the vehicle, head tipped as he peered inside.
“The Sons of Wrath wish to say hello.”

Wade winced
and turned his head in the ghoul’s direction. “And who are you?”
His voice was strangled as if the pressure of blood to his brain
had become too much.

A grin spread
wide across the ghoul’s face. “Head of security.”

~

The buildings
burned on either side of Kane as his heavy paws hit the snow and
crunched beneath his weight.

Only one
target lay before him.

Her.

Hunger mixed
with hate roiled inside of him.

Long brown
hair flew behind her, taken up by the wind as she raced through the
streets. She hadn’t bothered to glance back at him. She could
outrun him but she wouldn’t for long.

The female
pivoted to the right and sprinted down the alley, metal at her hip
ringing like a dinner bell.

Mouthwatering.

Soon, he’d
taste what he longed for.

The alley came
to an end. One lone floodlight shone down like a beacon upon her.
She stood with her back to him, facing the wall that blocked her
freedom and guaranteed her death.

Mine.

Kane slowed
his pace, giving her time to evaluate the danger of her current
situation.

Like a rat
caught in a cage, she began to pace.

What will she
do?

Quick and
light, she grabbed hold of the bricks and climbed.

He closed in
on her—unwilling to lose his prey.

She’d already
scaled half the height of the building; he had to jump to reach
her. His claw wrapped around her leg and yanked her to the
ground.

She fell back
hard upon the snow. Those long brown locks fanned out against the
pure white. She stared back at him, her obvious fear mingling with
something else. His loins swelled, saliva pooling in his mouth as
he longed to taste her.

Silently, her
gray eyes pleaded.

Ayden.

***

The instant
Kane opened his eyes, sunlight blinded him with intensity. Still
dazed, he flopped his hand down to shield against it, surprised
when no restriction blocked the action.

Free of the
binds?

As he examined
his wrist. his mind registered the pressure against his chest—and
his gaze focused on a thatch of long brown hair draped across him,
as he became aware of his other arm wrapped around the woman lying
at his side.

Ayden.

What the
hell?

He dared not
move. Took shallow breaths to keep from waking her.

What happened
last night?

In scouring
his brain, all that he could summon was the pain—that tortuous,
deathly pain. Four more nights and she’d end it.

How the hell
did she wind up in bed with me?

The scent of
her shampoo drifted from her hair, filling his nose with the subtle
spice of warm vanilla, while her skin, cool against him, kept him
comfortable beneath the blankets. Long drags of breath had her
chest rising and falling slow, making her seeming content.

Damn …
something about this is … nice.

He took in the
feel of her skin against his, the weight of her on his chest. It’d
been a long time since he had a woman in bed with him. Aside from
too many one-nighters, he never bothered much with women.

We didn’t
...

Kane gently
picked up the sheet that covered both their bodies. Ayden was fully
clothed in her usual leather pants and a white t-shirt; her arm lay
stretched across his bare stomach. A glance to the side showed her
leather jacket hanging from a chair in the corner. He lowered the
sheet but kept his head cocked so he could see her face.

So
peaceful.

The scowl that
he’d gotten used to seeing the last couple of days had completely
dissipated, leaving soft, flawless skin. Sunlight hit her face
through the opened window. Somehow, the sight of her filled him
with warmth, her cold and distant attitude miles away.

***

The sensation
of someone watching Ayden blew up like an alarm in her system. Her
lids flew open, and for a moment, she could only blink as she
glanced about.