Soul Resurrected (Sons of Wrath, #2) (59 page)

To tell Calla before he knew might put undue stress on her, and if there was a chance the baby might be able to live through all of the shit, he sure didn’t want to risk harming it as well.

It.

He still couldn’t bring himself to think of the life inside of her as a baby.
His
baby.

Calla’s humming sifted through the door. The soothing tone of her voice went straight to his spine and stirred a shiver.

He finished reassembling his gun and replaced it back in the holster, tucking it into the drawer of the armoire.

Can’t stay here.

The room had become suffocating over the past week—every night, the same endless worry; every morning, another day of nightmares. His only reprieve came when he wasn’t with Calla. When he didn’t have to look into those beautiful eyes and watch all the hope and happiness blossoming.

Every day brought Logan closer to wondering when the Council would get word and summon him.

Every knock at the door escalated him one step closer to insanity—the unknown, always sitting in the pit of his stomach.

He couldn’t bring himself to leave Calla alone, either. What if they came for her instead? What would she think of him, for not having told her?

He’d been a wreck before, but over the last few days, he’d just looked sickly—couldn’t even stand the sight of himself in the mirror.

Surely, Calla felt the same. Still, every night she made her advances, using her natural powers of seduction on him. Each time, he’d managed to come up with an excuse.

As Logan exited the room and quietly closed the door, the sound of voices rose up from below. He peeked over the railing and froze.

In the foyer, stood Ben, Gavin, and Cefirina, his Divine Matron.

Every prince of the underworld had Matrons to look after their offspring. Wrath had many. Cefirina happened to have some reservations about the way demons were perceived, and had brought together any of Wrath’s sons who were willing to turn their lives around and do something good with their natural talents.

Only she didn’t come for Logan on her own.

Somehow, he’d always rubbed her the wrong way, a speculation he could only assume came from his upbringing—as a hood-rat, as opposed to the more aristocratic backgrounds of many of his brothers.

All three sets of eyes trailed up toward him from below, and Gavin stepped forward and signaled him to come down. Something in his brother’s grave, tight-lipped expression told Logan that Cefirina’s visit wasn’t simply a social call.

Logan descended the stairs.

Cefirina had already taken one of the chairs opposite Gavin when Logan entered Gavin’s study, her presence, as ever, casting a very powerful aura. Commanding. Her white dress, flowing and sheer, suggested purity and innocence, but her eyes were often business—with Logan, anyway.

Maybe his brothers saw her differently.

He took a seat next to her, placing his sweating palms on the arms of the chair. Silence hung on the air like a plume of toxic death ready to choke the life right out of him.

Cefirina’s eyes damn near burned holes in the side of his head, but he kept his gaze on his brother, who looked like he wanted to zip right out of his skin and take off.

Tension thickened as if it might catch fire and explode.

Cefirina finally said, “I have a feeling you know why I’m here, Logan.”

In the brief silence that followed, Logan’s jaw flexed as he tucked back the smartass remark.

“How long did you think you would get away with this?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t have much of a plan in mind.”

Gavin cleared his throat and shot him a glare from across the desk.

“Perhaps the laws of the underworld mean nothing to
you,
but they’ve governed demons for centuries and have allowed us to live in harmony with the humans,” she snapped back.

“My apologies.” Logan shifted in his chair.

“How far along is she?”

“Couple months, now.” He swallowed a gulp. “She wants to keep it.”

“Of course she does. You haven’t told her anything about this, have you? She has no idea that, in two, three years from now, as her son is off playing in the gardens in your blissful little existence, he could be swallowed up into the big black hole of the underworld and she’d never find him again.” She tipped her head. “I’m sure she’d think otherwise if she had been made aware of her fate.”

Logan gritted his teeth. Who the hell was she to come in after he’d been sweating nuclear bombs all week, trying to figure this shit out? Like he’d done nothing but walk around with a swinging dick through it all. “The laws are unjust. How we’ve managed to live in harmony with humans, while stealing their children away from them, doesn’t exactly strike me as benevolent.”

“Logan!” Gavin growled.

“You dare question rules? Your entire existence was based on rules being broken, dear boy. I suggest you—” She halted her words at the purr of a cat.

Logan twisted in his chair. Sure as shit, that black cat stood in the doorway.

The feline prowled across the office and leaped into Logan’s lap but stared up toward Cefirina.

Gavin stared like the world had tipped on its side and Logan’d suggested they all have cotton candy to celebrate.

“What’s this?” Cefirina asked.

“My little friend. No idea where the hell it came from.”

She leaned in closer, but when the cat hissed and swiped a claw at her, the Matron drew back and placed a hand on her chest. “Have you hired a Zshula recently?”

“Oh, yeah. Didn’t Gavin tell you? I died a few months ago.” Logan frowned up at her. “They all have black cats, or something? Think he belongs to her?”

“No. I think it looks pretty content with you.” Cefirina turned back toward Gavin, giving another quick glance toward the cat. “Getting back to the matter at hand. I am required to report back to the Council about what’s happened here.”

Logan bolted forward in his seat. “Cefirina, we’re coming up with a plan. We’ve got a lawyer on this—”

“He can do nothing, Logan.” Gavin’s voice was completely toneless.

“Bullshit!” Logan pounded his fist against the desk. “Two days ago you told me he could help!” The cat pounced from his lap and dashed out of the office.

“I told you I couldn’t promise anything. You’re talking about going up against the most powerful demons in Orcosia.”

“Help what?”

All heads turned toward the door.

Stood in T-shirt and jeans, Calla’s wet hair hung limp around her face. Her beauty never failed to steal Logan’s breath.

Calla turned toward Cefirina. “Hi. Sorry, I just …”

Cefirina stood from her chair, and Logan sprung from his, muscles tight as the older woman glided across the room toward Calla, moving as if carried by clouds. “My name is Cefirina.” She towered over Calla, her dress flowing by some mysterious force that surrounded her, as she held out a hand, palm down. “I am Logan’s mother, of sorts.”

Calla awkwardly shook her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Cefirina gave a glance back at Logan.

“Please …” Logan stepped toward them. “Don’t do this.”

“You know I have to. I’ll give you two days to decide what you’ll do. I won’t speak a word in that time.”

Two days to decide meant two days to choose between Calla and the baby. Dread sank deep into the pit of Logan’s stomach. His heart felt as if it’d stopped beating altogether.

“What’s going on?” The confusion on Calla’s face deepened. “What is she talking about, Logan?”

“Two days,” Cefirina repeated, and turned back toward the door. “It was nice to have met you.”

As soon as Cefirina left the study, Logan exhaled a sharp breath and leveled his gaze on Calla. “We have to talk.”

* * *

The weariness in Logan’s eyes, the graveness of his entire expression, made Calla’s stomach lurch as she sat across from him at the table in the library. How many times was the man going to rub his hands across his face? He’d already made it red raw.

“What is it?” she asked

The tightness of his drawn brows looked painful. “It’s fucked up. That’s what it is.” His eyes finally met hers. “Our laws dictate that a woman cannot become impregnated by a demon unless the two are mated.”

Her tension lightened a little. “So, that’s it? You’ve got cold feet, or something?” She chuckled.

“I wish that was it. Christ, Calla, I’d bond with you in a heartbeat.” The shadowed and hollow downcast of his eyes had her shifting in her seat—he’d never looked so unsettled. “I want to be mated to you and only you.”

The knots returned. “What, then? I’m confused. And you’re really freaking me out, right now.”

“Demons are not permitted to have a baby
until
they are mated. We were supposed to have been mated first.” He rubbed his hands back and forth over his skull. “Our laws dictate that I must choose.” He set one hand on the table, as if bracing himself. “Between your life or the baby’s.”

Snip.

Calla suddenly felt light, as if she’d drift away. Overheating tingles moved through her body. “Mine? The baby’s?” Words jumbled around in her head.

“Calla—” He reached across for her, but she snatched her arm back.

The chair fell sideways as she stood up. “This … this is why you’ve been so distant? Isn’t it?”

He bowed his head, not saying a word.

“You
knew
the night I told you about the pregnancy. For weeks you knew and never said a word to me.”

“I’m doing what I can to keep this from happening. But Cefirina”—his fist slammed against the table—“fucking hates me. I don’t know what I ever did to that woman. She’s going to the Council in two days.”

“The Council?” Calla frowned. “These are your laws. Not mine. I’m human. I live by the laws of my country. Not the underworld.”

“They’ve secretly governed human beings for centuries. Most of the laws you have in place were crafted by
experts
in the underworld.” He sat back in his chair. “They’re like a supernatural mafia, or some shit, with tenfold the power and corruption.”

Leave. Flash away.

She quietly took a step back and Logan’s gaze anchored on her. Closing her eyes, she willed herself to her old bedroom.

“
No
!”

A band crushed around her waist, almost stealing the breath right out of her, and when she opened her eyes, both she and Logan stood in the middle of her lavender room.

“Let me go!” She kicked back at him. Squirming from his grip was about as simple as squirming from unbreakable steel. “Let go of me, Logan!”

“Calla,” he whispered. “Listen to me. I won’t give up on you and the baby. I will fight for you. Both of you. With everything I have inside of me. I will fight for you.” He bowed his head to her shoulder. “Du amec.”

The words brought a frown to her face. “Du amec?” She slipped from his grip and turned to face him. “Your demon words mean nothing to me.
Nothing
.”

“Please don’t look at me like that Calla. It crushes my heart to see you look at me like that.” He lurched forward. “I will make this right, tazschla.”

“Quit. Talking to me in demon!” She threw her hands to her temples. “I hate everything about your world!” With arms stretched, she gestured to her surrounding room. “This is what I want to go back to again! I don’t even know if it was better or worse than what it is now. All I know is it
seems
normal.” Her hands fisted at her side. “They won’t take this baby, Logan. I will run. I will flash for the rest of my life, if I have to, to keep them from taking my baby. Away from them. Away from you!”

He snatched her wrist and knelt down to the floor in front of her. His other hand unbuttoned his shirt and exposed the skull tattooed across his heart embedded in the symbol of Wrath.

The act, so out of place at that moment, made Calla pause, her muscles twitching as she scowled.

He unsheathed a dagger at his hip and held it to his heart. With a yank of her hand, he pulled her to him and forced her hands around the hilt.

“I vow with my life that I will keep both of you safe. My heart is yours. And if you’ll not have it, I’ll cut it out right here, right now.” He gripped tighter and forced the dagger into his flesh until blood trickled down his chest. “Pain and punishment have long been friends of mine. I’m not afraid to surrender myself to them. Without you, I’m like a spinning fucking compass, with no direction. I need you.”

She forced a breath. “Stop.”

His grip loosened and she released the hilt.

“Just stop.” A shield of tears distorted her view of his face.

“I’m fucked up, Calla, and I know I’ll never be right for you.” He bowed his head. “If you leave me, I may as well go right back to Obsidius, because nothing in this world will matter to me anymore. But if you stay … by the
gods
, I will live each day for you, to make you happier than the last. I promise you this.” He shook his head. “Fuck, I’m a mess without you.”