Soul Avenged (Sons of Wrath, #1) (45 page)

Wade planned
to kill off a group of Alexi?
Bastard.

She shook her
head. She only had one purpose—and she didn’t have much time.

As she turned
around, the stagnant odor of sex filled her nose. Through the
darkness, Wade’s perfectly kempt bed carried no evidence of foul
play. Her eyes continued to scan the tenebrous room. Double doors
took up most of the wall to the right of her, their etched wood as
intricate as those leading into his office.

She placed one
hand on the knob.
What could possibly be inside?

A cautious
turn to open it, and her eyes widened. Inside a shallow closet, an
arsenal of tools hung from the walls. Not weapons, though.

Her stomach
lurched.
Sick son of a bitch.

On the floor,
she found the small refrigerator. She crouched in front of the
padlock, unsheathed an ice pick from a tiny holster, and worked
it—a skill she’d learned from Wade.

Had he known
she’d be using it against him, the asshole probably wouldn’t have
shown her at all.

Once unlocked,
she flipped the metal bar away and opened it.

Inside, sat
trays filled with vials. Lots of them. A more resourceful thief
would have stolen them and made a killing. Some of the biggest
crime bosses in the city would’ve sold their souls for the stuff.
The wolves had begun affecting business. Their best dealers were
often found dead, mutilated, or went missing altogether.

She slipped
the vial into her pants pocket and replaced the lock, pausing as
she went to step away.

Should I take
all of it?

Wade would
have nothing. It would’ve taken years to harvest the antibody.

Destroy
it?

It could be
useful to humans, save lives. In the right hands, of course.

“Now’s not the
time,” she muttered to herself. “Have to get back to Kane.”

Ayden took
slow and quiet steps through the hallways. She fought her mind that
demanded she help the Alexi about to be tortured and murdered.

The man she
loved faced the same fate. Logan could be easily set off—and his
kills were never pretty.

She finally
reached the staircase.
On the homestretch.
Ayden flew down
the stairs to the first floor. At the front door, she gave a
furtive glance back at the fire alarm.

A quick pull
of the lever, and she raced out the door.

Snow crunched
beneath her boots as she ran in the darkness, rounding the
building.

Hang in there,
Kane. I’m coming.

A growl
brought her to a halt.

In her path,
stood a large black wolf, bigger than the others she’d encountered
before it.

How the—?

Kill.

It sniffed the
air and its growl grew louder.

Don’t have
time for this.

If anything
happened to the vial in her pocket, her efforts would all be for
nothing, and Kane would be destroyed. She couldn’t risk that. The
wolf would be an easy kill, but it wasn’t worth possibly crushing
the delicate vial in her pocket.

Instead of
feeding her instinct to slay it, she rounded back the way she’d
come.
Let the Alexi find you.

She could
sense it following her, instantly on her heels. On the other side
of the building, a skinny alley between two sections of the brick
wall butted up to the fence. If she could scale the wall, she’d be
home free and have some leverage to avoid the barbs at the top.

She took a
sharp right.

The wolf
followed her.

She trapped
herself in the alley. Without hesitation, Ayden leapt into the air,
grabbing the stones of the wall to climb.

The thud of
paws and a low, guttural snarl taunted her along.

Hustle.

A yank of her
boot sent her hurling to the ground. Wind blew from her chest,
rendering her breathless.

The beast
pounced on top of her, pinning her arms against the snow.

Her stomach
lurched, as she stared up at the wolf, and a flashback took her to
his arms circling hers in the shower, his lips kissing her neck and
down her spine in the darkness.

Memories.

“Kane,” she
whispered. Sadness shattered what little hope there’d been left
inside her, the jagged edges of despair searing her heart.

I’m too
late.

White mists of
breath puffed from her mouth as she lay still beneath him, a steady
hammer of her pulse the only sensation that registered in her
mind.

His eyes,
silver as the gossamer beams of light that shone from the moon
above them, stared back at her. Black clouds of anger swirled in
them—an anger not his own, something that infected his soul by the
venom coursing in his blood.

More memories
danced through her head. Theirs. Standing in the yard of the manor
with him, watching the sun reflect crystals on the snow. His arms
holding her as they lay in bed. His lips, her first kiss. Making
love.

She couldn’t
look at him, not that way—the gentle Kane she’d come to know buried
so deep inside a beast. Her body grieved for what he’d become.

She turned her
head to the side.

A steady
rumble in his chest let her know the fury hadn’t subsided when her
challenging eyes weren’t on him any longer.

Tears pooled
in her eyes, escaping from the corners.

Even in his
human form, Kane would never be the same again.

Not
anymore.

“Do it,” she
whispered. “Kill me, Kane.”

Snarls. He
lowered his muzzle. A warning.

She’d fought
the lycans for so many years, unafraid. Killing with such
purpose.

Suddenly, her
heart beat frantically in her chest, a steady tremor pulsing
through her muscles.

“I don’t want
to wake up tomorrow. Not like this. I won’t fight you.” Even to
her, the sound of her voice seemed more resolved. Eyelids squeezed
shut, as she ordered herself not to look at him. “Kill me.”

The growl died
down to pulses. His panting breaths fell hot against her neck.
Saliva dripped onto her chest and trailed over her throat.

She swallowed
a gulp and turned back to him, her arms still pinned beneath his
heavy clawed paws. Warm steam hit her chin. She could’ve easily
thrown him across the span of a football field. Yet, she allowed
him to hold her captive.

Violent and
untamed eyes, set deep within a face coated in black fur, twitched,
as though stalking her every move. His body remained poised to
attack.

Spasms jarred
her muscles as the instinct to fight him protested her submission
inside of her.

His gaping maw
set so close to her face, the smooth surface of his incisor grazed
her jaw, though tears obscured his features.

Her voice
threatened to falter, but even in his beastly form, she had to tell
him. “I love you.”

The wild in
his eyes expanded—until the moon’s reflection breached his dilated
pupils.

A dagger
whizzed past Ayden’s head and pierced Kane’s shoulder. As he jerked
backward, another followed.

Followed by
another.

Alexi.

More flashes
of silver cut through the dark in rapid succession until Kane lay
unmoving.

No!

Hoping leading
them away would keep Kane safe, Ayden twisted to her stomach,
scrambled to the edge of the alley, and ran.

As she rounded
the corner, the brunt force of a body came out of nowhere and
knocked her into the air.

She landed on
her chest with a thump that jarred her entire body and forced the
breath from her lungs.

A heavy boot
crushed her back.

The pressure
eased and she was lifted by her jacket. “Evenin’ darlin’,” Wade
drawled. “Good to see you back.”

Despite his
pleasantries, Ayden knew nothing about the rest of the evening
would be pleasant at all.

He set her
upright, dusting the snow off of her pant legs. “My, my, how I’ve
missed you. We’ve got a whole evening planned for your reunion.
Hell, I even got ambitious and gathered up some
guests
to
help celebrate.”

Ayden’s head
jerked back.

A glimpse of
Kane revealed three men beside him, one of them stabbing a syringe
into his flesh.

The antibody.
It would neutralize him. Force his muscles flaccid since he’d
already changed.

She lunged
back toward the alley, but Wade caught her elbow, wrapping his arms
around her body. “No! Don’t hurt him!” she shouted.

Regret burned
in her throat as soon as the words had tumbled from her mouth, and
she stilled, her gaze cutting away to the snowy ground, keeping
Wade in her periphery.

Holding her
tight, Wade tipped his head, a curious expression on his face that
quickly morphed into a wicked smirk. “Why, darlin’, what have you
gone and done? Fallen in love with the enemy?”

Her gaze
trailed slowly back to Kane.

Blood speckled
the white beneath him as he tore and scratched at his captors with
razor sharp claws. Fighting them was futile. He’d be under the
effects of the antibody, his strength weakened by it, before he
could escape.

Three of
Wade’s men grabbed hold of Ayden alongside him and nudged her
through the snow toward the entrance.

Yelps echoed
from behind, the sound part-grating her insides with pain,
part-filling her with smug satisfaction as her instincts became
sated by the sounds of his suffering.

Knots
tightened in her stomach as bile rose into her throat.

Sensations of
fear and satisfaction tormented her mind.

A roar
crackled through the darkness.

Both Ayden and
Wade spun toward Kane.

Still in wolf
form, he scrambled off in the opposite direction across the
field.

He got
away.

Depending on
how quickly the antibody worked against him, though, he wouldn’t
likely get far.

“You let that
goddamn wolf escape, and every one of you shits will be sleeping
with the Beserkers, tonight!” Wade called out to his men, as they
took off after Kane.

Winter air
tangled Ayden’s hair as she trekked back toward the hospital
entrance, nudged by Wade. She couldn’t see Gavin anywhere along the
perimeter of the fence, where she’d left him.

Though, why
would he stay?

Her boots slid
with every step across the glossy floor once inside the hospital.
Fluorescent lights flickered down the mostly dark hallway.

Wade glanced
back at her as he led her through the halls, his grin stretched ear
to ear. Stopping, he pulled a chain from his pocket, and wound it
around both of Ayden’s wrists. The links would be locked together,
no doubt the same steel Wade used the night she’d changed, its
strength far beyond hers.

He continued
them on, until they arrived in front of a heavy silver door. After
keying in a code, Wade stepped back, allowing the door to slowly
swing open.

Frigid air
seeped all around Ayden, like ice ghosts circling her body.

The instant
she caught a view of what lay inside, horror rose from the pit of
her stomach, and she took a stumbling back.

***

Oh, God, what
have I done?

Kane sunk into
the snow as the men hovered over him, violating his flesh with the
piercing of a needle. Whatever the fuckers had injected into him
burned, the sensation becoming stronger with each passing second as
his body slowly transformed into its familiar human form.

The beast
inside of him wanted Ayden—not in the same way Kane did, but to
hurt her, punish her. As she’d lain beneath him, its anger
intensified with every soft-spoken word that passed her lips—those
luscious lips that’d tasted like the sugar scent of her body. It
wanted vengeance for what she’d done. Holding him captive. Denying
him of his brothers.

What would I
have done to her?

Worse: she
would’ve allowed it.

Only a beast
would have taken advantage of such surrender. Thank God, she’d
gotten away. Perhaps Logan had breached the hex, after all.

As long as
she’s far from me, she’s safe.
The thought allowed him to
breathe a little easier.

A heave from
behind forced him face down into the snow. Weak, his body suddenly
useless, he had little other choice but to comply.

At a crack
against his flesh, he flinched.

Silver.

He snarled and
jerked toward the man holding a bullwhip.

Another crack
and fire trailed behind it, sharp prongs that sliced away at
him.

Kane dragged
along the snow, as the whip snapped again and again, in the
direction of the men standing out of his reach, fighting against
the paralysis settling throughout his limbs.

Their laughter
echoed in the darkness.

Little human
pricks.

Rolling onto
his back brought momentary relief as the snow pressed against his
raw gashes and numbed them.

A flash of
lightning hit the dark sky above him.

A breath
later, a hook lodged into his abdomen.

He glanced
down to find a wide laceration across his middle.

Another
dragged across his chest.

As the whip
hurled at him again, he grabbed it and yanked the bearer forward.
The prongs tore into his palms, but he pulled anyway. Kane clutched
the man’s boot the second he could. His companions tugged him in
the opposite direction, but were no match for Kane’s strength, even
weakened.

Human, not
Alexi,
Kane guessed.

The man’s
aiders laughed as he cried out, begging them for help.

Kane lost his
grip, and the man tumbled over the other two, both of them still
laughting as though enjoying the show.

A cellphone
chimed and cut through the ruckus, and the tall dark-haired human
cleared his throat and answered the call.

After a brief
pause, he said, “Yes. Right away.”