Soul Enslaved (Sons of Wrath Book 3) (49 page)

Thomas and Janie toyed with the billiard balls on the table. “Y-y-yep,” her nephew answered.

“So, what’s the scoop on him? Can you give auntie Denya some deets? What’s goin’ down? What’s the goods? What’s the gravy on this dude?”

Thomas scowled, though his cheeks dimpled. “Y-y-you are so weird.”

“He’s pretty hot, though,” she said under her breath.
Dat ass in those pants
. Made her want to bite the hell out of something. “Don’t tell your mom I said that. Think he was just yanking our chain about the tricks?”

“Not even.” The deep voice tickled Denya’s spine, as the male stepped into the room.

The black T-shirt he wore hugged every one of those bulging muscles, and his dark jeans gave the impression his lower half held just as much power as the upper. Tattoos covered his arms. His ears, eyebrows and lip glistened with piercings.

Dayum.
Denya couldn’t help but wonder how many other piercings he sported. And where.

Had it been one of the bars on campus, the guy would’ve been swarmed with chicks adjusting their shirts to show more cleavage.

Unfortunately for Denya, Sabelle managed to hog the tits of the family. Though, to make up for that, Denya did happen to possess Detroit’s Sexiest Legs. Really—the fake gold trophy sat on her bedroom shelf, courtesy of the frat contest she’d won beginning of freshman year.

She rose up from the couch and smoothed her hands over her thighs. A subtle gesture, but his gaze falling from hers told her he noticed, and she smiled inwardly. “So let’s see your mad skills.”

“I was thinking. That was rude of me earlier. Perhaps I’ll show you a trick, after all.”

“It
was
rude. I’ve been sobbing since you left.” She faked a sigh. “The only way to redeem yourself is to spill. But first, let’s see if it’s even worth my time.”

He cocked a brow and smiled, stepping past her toward the table. Five balls were lined in a sort of curve down the center of the table, and two balls were set adjacent to one another about a foot away. He snapped his cue against the white ball in the center, and the two balls on each side of the white went into the side pockets, while the two in front went into each corner pocket.

“Whoa!” Thomas laughed, clapping and jumping, while Janie followed suit.

“Hmph. Anyone could do that.”

He held out the cue stick.

“Another!” Janie cried out.

Denya tipped her head. “You’re stealing my fandom.” She waved at the offered cue stick. “Why stop now, showoff?”

Smiling, he lined up multicolored balls in a row and placed the eight ball near the corner pocket. From the far side, he popped the white ball over the line and knocked the eight into its pocket.

“Ha!” Thomas jumped again. “D-d-did you see that, Aunt Denya?”

“That was pretty cool, wasn’t it, TJ?” Arms crossed, she swung her attention back to where Zayne lined up another shot. “So what are you, a hustler in your spare time?”

“Yeah.”

“I was joking.”

“I wasn’t.”

Goddamn, that voice. Didn’t matter what the hell he said. Every word that spilled from his mouth was served like caramel over ice cream with a side of
fuck me
. “You do the vengeance thing too, then? Like Gavin?”

“Yep.” He continued to show off his moves, wowing TJ and Janie each time.

“That must be one hell of a conversational piece with the ladies.” She pretended to bite her lip and act flirtatious by twirling her hair. “So, what do you do, handsome?” Her face went serious and she dropped her voice an octave. “Kill people for revenge?”

He sneered. “Yeah, I guess.”

She threw her hands in the air. “Ah, who am I kidding? Vengeance dealing super killers have always been my thing.”

“I doubt that. You seem to enjoy life.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Your shirt.”

“You speak French?”

“Only coined commercial phrases I have to
Google
on my phone.”

Don’t do it, Denya
. How could she not? It’d been the number one question on her mind since he first walked into the room. “So, is a Mrs. Zayne going to be mad you’re showing off your skills in the pool room?”

He froze in place. Brow furrowed into a frown, he straightened from the shot he’d been about to take. His eyes seemed lost in thought, as if it
was
the case and he’d just realized what he’d been doing the last half hour. He set the cue stick down on the table. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”

No, no, no
.

“I … I didn’t mean … I’m sorry.”

He quickly strode from the room, leaving behind the faint scent of cologne.

“Nice, Denya. Real smooth.”

“W-w-why’d he leave?”

Denya blew a disappointed breath and fell back onto the couch. “Because Auntie Denya can be a real asshole, sometimes.”

***

Sabelle followed Denya toward the front entrance of the mansion, where Ben waited to see her out the door. She dreaded what the next five minutes would bring, but, ultimately, Sabelle intended to win the argument either way.

Denya would need a place to lay low for a while—at least until Cash’s book could be found. Ordinarily, she’d just stay with Griffin, but the angel still hadn’t returned—a worry Sabelle cast aside, for the time being.

“Denya, you’re welcome to stay here.” Like an answered prayer, Gavin approached in gym shorts and a black sleeveless shirt, a white towel slung around his neck. He’d disappeared to the Wreck Room earlier to shoot hoops with Logan.

Nearly impossible to tear her gaze away from him, but bigger matters were at hand. Like battling the argument her sister would undoubtedly be forming inside her head.

“Thank you, really.” Denya smiled, gaze locked on Sabelle. “But I gotta get back to Sophie. And Zeus? Sophie’s not big on following a dog’s eating and shitting schedule, if it interferes with hers in any way.”

“Denya …” Not that Sabelle didn’t admire her sister’s dedication to the woman, but with the Black Book missing, she didn’t intend to take no for an answer. The fact that Jeven knew where she lived bothered Sabelle. If Cash spilled the news of Sabelle’s mission, Jeven would do everything in his power to piss her off. Maybe even stalking her sister as a form of payback. Having her stay at the mansion wasn’t something she’d have suggested herself, so she could kiss Gavin for offering. “Her son can take her tonight.”

“Gordie’s in Florida this week. He won’t be back until tomorrow night.”

“Look, one night away isn’t going to hurt Soph. And we’ll go check on her tomorrow morning.”

“She has horrible night terrors and hallucinations. And they’ve been bad in the last week. I’m not leaving her alone.” Denya threw her palms up. “Not that I don’t appreciate your concern, but …” She cupped her mouth and whispered loudly, “You have a tendency to overreact sometimes. Just sayin’.”

“Overreact? We were attacked last night.”

“Yeah, by the dude you tried to kill.”

“What about Jeven showing up at your apartment?” Sabelle had no intentions of telling her sister that a book happened to be floating around the underground scene, and Sabelle might very well be the next target, having played a role in the alpha lycan getting killed.

“I warned you of that a long time ago. But if he
has
been showing up, he hasn’t made any attempt to chat with me. Perhaps he’s got the intuition to know I’d stab him in the balls, if we met face to face. So, while I’m glad the kids are staying here just in case, I’m not letting your half-wit pimp keep me in a state of fear.”

“You’re impossible. If you’d seen Griffin’s beaten up, mutilated face, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“Griffin is a great guy. But let’s
face
it, he’s a badass with attitude.”

He’s more badass than you think.

Denya shrugged. “It doesn’t surprise me that someone wanted a piece of him.”

“C’mon, Denya, don’t be so stubborn!” Two more seconds. Two more seconds, and Sabelle would be blindfolding and dragging her sister down to the catacombs. She’d even take her chances with Xander being in the same vicinity.

Gavin set his hand on Sabelle’s shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. “How about if Sophie stays here? We can set up two bedrooms, easy enough.”

“That’s great, but Sophie will never go for that.” The shake of Denya’s head made Sabelle want to shake the hell out of
her
. “She’s very particular about where she sleeps.”

Gavin’s brows winged up. “I can assure you, we have some very persuasive means of getting someone to comply.” He cleared his throat. “Bullshit Buzz.”

“Ha!” Denya laughed. “Holy shit, that’d be one hell of a night for her—getting buzzed by one of
you
guys. Like reliving her crazy heyday as a stripper.”

“Sophie stripped?” Sabelle couldn’t imagine the
eighty-something
woman having once whipped off clothes to an eager crowd.

“Sophie did a lot of things that probably wouldn’t be Sabelle-approved.”

“So, you’ll stay? Even if you find it unnecessary on your sister’s part, it’s better to be safe.” Gavin’s arms slid behind his back, a gesture Sabelle noticed every time he tried to intimidate.

“Fine.” Denya scratched a thumb across her brow—a gesture Sabelle noticed every time her sister told a lie. “I’ll be back in an hour, or so. She has certain things she’ll need help packing, or I’ll be looking at a long night of hell.” Her gaze veered toward a spot beyond Sabelle before quickly dropping toward the floor, and Sabelle turned around in search of the interest.

Zayne strolled down the staircase, heading directly for them at Gavin’s, “Zayne!”

Keeping that motherly arch of her eyebrow in check, Sabelle turned back to her sister, whose cheeks caved, as if trying to subdue a smile. It wasn’t hard to see what she saw in the male. Zayne happened to be as big and handsome as every other Wrath brother Sabelle had met, and sported piercings, along with a variety of tattoos—very much Denya’s type. He also happened to possess smoldering pale blue eyes and the kind of brooding persona that made you want to give him a hug—the perfect accompaniment to a female who would’ve thrived in the era of free love.

“What’s up?” he asked, dropping down the last step. Sabelle didn’t miss the quick glance he shot to Denya as he spoke.

“If you’re not busy, I’d like you to accompany Denyalis home,” Gavin said. “She’s going to pick up a few things from her apartment, including her roommate.”

Zayne’s chin gave the slightest lift, like Gavin’s request had taken him by surprise. “I can do that.”

“Keep an eye out, and call me if you come across anything suspicious,” Gavin added.

“Got it.” Zayne’s voice, slightly deeper than Gavin’s, gave off an air of virility that gave Sabelle piece of mind when related to guarding Denya’s safety. An almost palpable chemistry bounced between them, though, and that made Sabelle nervous.

Sabelle placed an arm on Zayne’s shoulder. “Thank you for doing this.”

“My pleasure.” His gaze fell on Denya once more, though Denya didn’t meet his stare.

Odd. Sabelle had never seen Denya play shy around a male before.

Gavin nodded. “Denya, thank you for humoring me.”

“S’okay.” Denya wrapped her arms around Sabelle’s neck and planted a kiss on her cheek. “I can’t expect you to flip the sister switch. You’ve always been protective of me. Don’t think that’s going to change any time soon.” With a step back, she pointed a finger and said, “See ya in a bit,” before following Zayne out the door.

Sabelle breathed a sigh of relief. “Am I overprotective?”

“Hell, if I know.” Still gripping the towel around his neck, Gavin shrugged. “I think we both share this affliction.”

***

The scent of cologne drifted on the air, as Denya followed Zayne to the vehicle parked in the circular drive. She’d caught Gavin’s scent before, kind of a light, fresh bergamot. Zayne carried more spice, much darker, with notes of cedar and tobacco. It penetrated her senses and hit the back of her throat.
Delicious
.

Broad shoulders peeked from a black shirt, showing off long cords of tattooed muscles. His shoulders followed a V down to his small waist and tight ass, complimented by the black leathers he wore, that had Denya’s full attention.

She swallowed a gulp, thinking of those rounded cheeks beating an erotic wave into her—

“I’m sorry about earlier.” His words penetrated her thoughts in that deep, inviting tone he carried. He opened her door, holding the handle as he allowed her to settle inside.

Denya cleared her throat, breaking from visuals that would make for some pretty sweet dreams later. Hell, she wasn’t even sorry he’d caught her staring. An ass like that begged to be ogled, smacked, bitten—whatever the situation called for. “Oh. It’s okay. I shouldn’t have asked. That was … completely rude on my part.”

With a slam of the passenger door, he rounded the vehicle. Once inside, he started up what Denya had surmised was an old Mustang, though she had no idea what year. Griffin would’ve been disappointed to know all those hours of watching him fix cars had absolutely no effect on her ability to rattle off anything impressive.

“Nice car.” Funny thing about old cars, the way the engines were so much louder but sounded so much stronger than the newer models.

Zayne revved it up, and the beast sounded like it was ready to take on
Godzilla
, or something. “Thanks. Gav and I fixed it up a while back.”

“It’s cool that you guys aren’t all about new and fancy. There’s something special about bringing broken down stuff back to life, you know?” Strapped by the seatbelt, she shifted to the side to face him.

“Not everything broken can be brought back,” Zayne muttered, letting the car idle slowly down the drive. Once they reached the opened gates, he slammed on the gas, cheeks caving with a smile as the wheels squealed against the pavement.

Denya had already scared him off once by prying, she didn’t intend to do it again. “So, what’s the deal with this paranoia my sister has going on? I get the feeling she’s not telling me everything.”