Soul Avenged (Sons of Wrath, #1) (50 page)

She stabbed
him in the neck. “That one’s for Kane.”

His shocked
expression was overcome by a coughing fit. Gurgles and sputters
projected from his mouth as he choked on his own blood.

“This one’s
for me and the family you killed.” She tilted her head and twisted
the dagger.

A fresh burst
of blood spewed from his throat.

With her mouth
to his ear, she whispered, “How does it feel to know that I will
never belong to you?”

Panic
flickered in his eyes, his life seconds from disappearing into a
black nothingness.

She removed
the blade.

A rumbling of
noise erupted from above.

Ayden looked
up to see the Alexi staring down at her. She rose slowly to a
stand, nonchalantly wiping Wade’s blood on her leather pant
leg.

Golden eyes
glowed like stars against the pitch-blackness.

“You’re free
to go,” she said over the clamoring moans of the dying. “You don’t
have to stay. But if you stick together, you’re more likely to
survive.”

Pairs of eyes
slowly disappeared, one by one.

***

From the glass
enclosure that looked down on the morgue, Ayden stood beside Gavin,
watching as Zeke prodded his created fire into effect below
them.

As flames shot
upward toward the pane protecting them Ayden stepped back from the
dome, raising her hand to shield her face as glass shattered and
fell in on the piled bodies.

“One of them
cleared out all the Lywa antibody,” Gavin said.

“Wade’s
notebook?”

“Gone. Must’ve
taken it during the fight.”

“God, this
isn’t over, then.” Ayden shook her head. “The one who took it is
interested in one of two things—money or power.”

“One in the
same.” Gavin sighed. “So, what will you do now?”

“I don’t
know.” She smiled. “Not for a lack of confidence, but I guess I
never thought you’d actually avenge me.”

Gavin laughed.
“Ayden, please—”

“Not now,
Gavin.”

“Let me
finish.” He cleared his throat. “You hired us to kill lycans. Not
simply avenge the one that killed you. From my estimations, there
are many more to be killed. And now, possibly a crazy-ass Alexi
who’s stolen the Lywa antibody. What do you say we keep that
contract?”

“Afraid your
weekends will become boring and fruitless?”

He chuckled.
“Perhaps.”

“What about
Kane?” She glanced over to where Kane lay returned to human form
and still unconscious on the floor. His body, marred with sickly
bone contortions and opened gashes, had her wincing and turning
away again.

“We don’t know
much about his power and abilities,” Gavin said. “I suspect he
doesn’t either. I imagine he’ll probably need you now more than
ever. To keep him grounded. And to remind him of what he truly is
inside. Both of you are welcome to stay on.”

Ayden pursed
her lips and looked back to the rising flames. “Thank you, Gavin.
For … everything.”

He nodded,
lips tightened. His cellphone rang inside his pocket, and when
Gavin drew it out, the screen displayed three missed calls from
Logan’s phone and two from Zayne. “Little shit. Better have a damn
good excuse for ditching me tonight.” Winking at Ayden, he
answered. “Zayne?” His face turned grim, and an urgency bled
through his following words: “What’s wrong?”

Ayden’s pulse
raced just watching him, her brow furrowed.

Gavin pulled
the phone away from his ear and crushed it in his palm before
throwing it against the wall.

“What is it?
What happened?” Ayden followed behind him as he stalked toward the
door.

Gavin stopped
and turned. He put one hand at his hip, the other covered his
eyes.

Deafening
silence.

He rammed his
fist right through the wall. As bits of drywall crumbled to the
floor, he fell to his knees with a curse. “Logan’s dead. Of all the
goddamn visions I’ve had over the years … I couldn’t have seen this
one? What the fuck!” His head fell into his palms and his roar of
anger rang in Ayden’s ears.

Breaths
hitching, Ayden sank to the floor beside Gavin. “No,” she
whispered.
No.
A wave of disbelief consumed her.

Zeke burst
through the door, eyes red, an indication that he’d gotten the
call, too. There was something else in the demon’s eyes, though—a
wild urgency. “Calix just tried to reach you. Brother, you have to
leave. Now.”

Gavin perked
up. “What’s going on?”

“There’s a
woman. The one you just fired. Calix says he’s heard things about
her in demon town. She can heal.”

Gavin’s red
and blotchy eyes filled with irritation. “So, what the hell does
this mean?”

“It means she
can probably bring him back. But you have to go now.”

“Why didn’t he
just send you?” Gavin scrambled to his feet. “Christ, Zeke, how
much time was wasted coming to tell me this.”

Zeke grabbed
his arm as he passed him. “Remember she’s half succubus. Careful,
brother.”

“I know what
she is.” He yanked his arm from Zeke and shook his head. “I don’t
give a damn if she’s half Dzafolite dragon, she’s going to help us
or suffer my fury.”

“I’m just
sayin’.” For the first time, Zeke’s expression was earnest. “You
know what they want in return.”

“I would do
anything for my brother. Even this. See to it that both of them get
home,” he said, nodding at Ayden and Kane.

Zeke gave a
sharp nod. “I will. Please hurry, Gav.”

Gavin left the
room without another word.

Unconnected
dots floated inside Ayden’s head. “What was that about?”

“I’ll explain
in the car.” Zeke walked past her. “We have to get back. I want to
see my brother.”

Zeke removed
his coat, wrapped it around Kane’s listless body, lifted him over
his shoulders, and carried him through the Alexi compound to the
Land Rover parked in the alley. Zeke never drove the sports cars
but only because it limited the number of females he could bring
home with him.

After settling
Kane across the backseat, he hopped in the driver’s seat, as Ayden
climbed beside him, and they took off toward the manor.

“Tell me,”
Ayden said. “What’s the deal with the succubus?”

Zeke blew a
forced breath. “In the demon realm, there is a checks and balances.
Usually the males are more powerful than females. For some breeds,
that can spell disaster. You know about succubi, right?”

“Yes, I’ve
heard you talking of the one at the casino. They’re like the
counterpart to incubi. Like Calix, right?”

“Right.” Zeke
sneered. “Well, these bitches are hardcore. You won’t find another
breed more conniving than the succubi. They live for sex. In our
history, they were enslaved by demon males, or lords, as they were
called. Beaten, tortured. You name it. Their divine matron finally
reached a point where she’d had enough. She sought the Council of
Elders.” Zeke glanced over at her in the passenger seat.
“
Orcosii
. They’re the enforcers in our realm.”

The very name,
Enforcer
, incited a shiver down Ayden’s spine, as she
recalled the beastly figure that’d taken the Saevious demon
away.

“They make the
laws and they keep the laws. Any demons, who try to solicit the
succubi for anything, must be willing to
pay
for the
service.”

“Sex?”

“It used to be
just sex. This is where the shit gets crazy. It’s evolved over the
ages to include everything. And the laws haven’t laxed on it. Any
demon who denies the succubi could face Obsidius.”

Ayden’s brow
furrowed. “So, what do they require as payment?”

“In most
cases, a slave. And depending on the favor you’re asking, the
length of the contract could vary. To save a life … that’s a big
fucking deal to them.”

“This sounds
like it would be right up your alley, Zeke. Why didn’t you take
it?”

“When you’re a
slave to the succubi, you’re not allowed to be with anyone else.
All violations are punishable. But they can. Sometimes, that’s how
they torture. They deprive their slaves and make them watch. These
bitches love the control.” He shivered beside her. “Goddamn, the
thought of that makes my stomach turn.”

“Gavin’s
signing up for this? Willingly?” It had to be horrific if Zeke
couldn’t even stand the thought of being with a succubus.

“What else can
he do? It’s not like the cure to Demortis is being stocked at the
local drugstore.”

“Do you think
it will work? Will it save Logan’s life?”

“It has to.
Demons don’t seek out the succubi often, for obvious reasons. They
have gifts that no other demon in existence could ever hope to
have. Over time, they’ve become very skilled. Some can heal. Some
have the gift of foresight. Shit, some can even make someone fall
in love with you. If they fail to carry out a promise of something,
they’re also subject to Obsidius.”

“So they must
be, like, the queens of all demons right?”

“Not
quite,”—he snickered—“you’d better have a damn good reason to seek
out a succubus.”

“Gavin fired
her, right?”

Zeke’s
shoulders slumped. “Yeah. I do not envy my brother right now. If
she even considers taking the deal, what she asks for in return
isn’t going to be pretty.”

They finally
reached the manor. The gates opened immediately, and Zeke sped to
the circular drive and parked behind Logan’s McLaren.

Hoisting Kane
over his shoulder again, still wrapped in the jacket, Zeke carried
him into the house and up to the bedroom. Once he’d laid him on the
bed, he turned to Ayden.

“Thank you,
Zeke.” She smiled up at him. “Go. I’ll be down to see him, as
well.”

Zeke nodded
and placed his hand on her shoulder. “He’ll be alright, Ayden.
Don’t you worry.”

Alone, Ayden
stood at the side of the bed, and watched as Kane’s brows knitted
together, his body healing itself beneath the sweat and blood that
still drenched it.

She’d have to
clean him up later. First, he’d need time to rest and heal.

Also, she
needed to see Logan.

Ayden kissed
Kane’s split lip.

He sucked in a
breath through his nose but never opened his eyes.

***

Ayden had never
been inside Logan’s room before but the simple dark furnishing that
filled the space didn’t surprise her. Logan had always believed
good things never lasted very long.

Cefirina, the
brothers’ Divine Matron, had found him on the streets a few years
back—drug addicted, and performing cage fights, and whatever else,
to stay alive. It’d taken him a long time to adjust to his
brothers’ lifestyle—if he ever fully had.

A small group
had gathered around Logan’s bed. While Annabelle and Bennett stood
off to the side, Zayne, Calix, and Zeke had knelt on the floor,
quietly chanting, each brother clutching the necklace that carried
the symbol of Wrath. Blood trickled down their wrists from deep
slices across their palms, mostly likely made by the crimson coated
dagger on the bedside.

Ayden had seen
the same ritual when Zayne’s mate, Shey, had died.

A voice rose
from the silence.

Ayden
approached, curious.

On the bed,
beside Logan, lay Calla. Golden glazed eyes seemed to stare off at
nothing, her arm stretched across his lifeless body. A song, like a
lullaby, so soothing, drifted in the air.

The dagger had
been removed from Logan’s chest, leaving an intimidating black hole
over his heart. His eyes were closed—the most peaceful state Ayden
had ever seen him.

Ayden knelt
beside Zayne. “What’s going on?” she whispered.

“I don’t
know.” He spoke low, his eyes even more somber than when he’d
returned the day before. “We had to fight her to move him earlier.
She wouldn’t let anyone near him.”

Ayden crept
across the floor and knelt beside the bed on the other side of
Logan. “Calla?”

Calla stopped
singing. Her wandering eyes briefly focused on Ayden in the
darkness, then trailed back to nothing.

“Calla, do you
know what happened?”

“I used to
sing to Jacob,” Calla said softly, eyes still staring off. “Unlike
us, the wolves frightened him. They gave him nightmares. He’d wake
up from them in the middle of the night, and his roommate would
come fetch me from my room. God forbid, Wade ever found out.” A
quiet giggle escaped her. “Every night I would sing to him and tell
him not to worry.” She looked down at Logan and stroked his lightly
stubbled cheek. “Calla is right here. I’m not going to let anything
hurt you ever again.” The trail from her tears glistened in
moonlight filtering into the room. “Draven told me his body was
cold the next morning. That’s how he knew he’d died in the night.”
Her lip quivered as she pet Logan’s arm. “He didn’t stay by his
side to keep him warm.” Her voice began to falter. “I would have
been right there. Telling him all night long that he was going to
be all right. And I would have sang to him.” She hummed again.

Ayden reached
for Calla’s hand and gripped it tight. “Calla, I’m so sorry about
your brother.”

The humming
stopped. “Draven said he buried him. Somewhere, in that filthy
abandoned building, is my little brother. Dead.” Calla scowled. “I
hate him. I hate Draven for what he did. To Jacob.” She lifted her
head and kissed Logan’s chest. “To Logan. I will find him, Ayden.
And I’m going to watch him burn.” The whimsy in her voice sounded
like a little girl’s—a sinister, psychotic little girl out for
blood.

“Calla, please
tell me what happened to Logan.”

Her eyes
filled with tears. “I did this to him, Ayden. It was all my
fault.”

“You … stabbed
Logan?”

She shook her
head. “Draven told me to come with him. As if I would have gone
with him after what he did to Jacob. He dragged me to the back
door, hoping to sneak out. I told him to leave. I was crying after
he’d told me about Jacob. I told him I wanted to stay. That I felt
safe here.” She spoke through sniffles. “He snapped. Went crazy and
told me that he wasn’t going to let some demon
prick
be my
first. He knocked me down and tried to force himself on me. Logan
stopped him. And that’s when Draven stabbed him.” Her eyes went
cold and dark, the gold in them lining the rims of blackness. “I
will find him. If I have to search the rest of my life.”