Soul Enslaved (Sons of Wrath Book 3) (50 page)

Zayne’s glance ended with him ogling her thighs, bringing a smile to Denya’s face. “And you think I will?”

“No, but trying to get you to talk is better than sitting here in silence the whole ride.”

His lip twitched. “You don’t hold back much.”

“Life is short. Either say what’s on your mind or die never having said a word.”

“You remind me … of someone.”

“Well, at least that someone was memorable.” She looked out the window. “Look, this car isn’t easily escapable … especially when it’s moving. If you need to change the subject, I won’t ask any questions. I’m not too keen on getting thrown out onto the road.”

“I wouldn’t throw you.” His lips curved up. “I’m thinking a good push would do the trick.”

“Smartass.” She shook her head. “No wonder we hit it off so well.”

“You’re a bit of a wild card, yeah?”

She scratched the back of her neck at the question. Denya’d never been known for being normal, for sure. “Yeah, I suppose I haven’t mastered the magic of limitations.”

“Why confine yourself?”

“That’s what I say. Just wish I could convince my sister otherwise.”

“Sabelle seems cool.”

“Oh, she’s totally cool, if not …
psychotically
overprotective, but, hey, that’s normal.”

“I can see why.” The heat of his stare damn near radiated beside her. “Fuck if I’d want the job of keeping every swinging dick away from you.”

“I think you just complimented me in a weird, not-really-complimentary way.” She pointed. “Turn right into the next drive, by the way. Gavin seems like a good guy, too. Kinda feel sorry for him.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, he seems to like my sister. And Sabelle’s probably the only succubus I know who doesn’t dream of settling down with a man. Kind of a rogue, I guess.” She sighed, staring out the window. “I just wish she’d give someone a chance, someday. I wish she’d learn how to trust her feelings. And understand that love does exist. It’s real. Not just something you watch in Disney movies.”

“Have you ever been in love?” His voice carried some hesitation.

“No. I mean, I’ve had boyfriends. Nothing serious, thanks to my sister. I don’t think you have to experience something to know it’s what you want in life. It’s like having kids, right?” She threw her palms up as she spoke. “I’ve never felt the pain of popping one out, but I know I want kids someday.”

Zayne shook his head. “You’re an odd chick, Denya.”

“Considering you’re sporting more metal than my silverware drawer, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Zayne parked the Mustang curbside and got out of the driver’s seat faster than she could blink. Before she could get her belt undone, he was standing at her door, opening it.

“Is this opening-the-door-for-a-female thing a Wrath Brother perk, or something all guys do?”

“The assholes probably don’t.”

“Watch it now, you might make me swoon. Then you’d have to catch me.” Placing her hand in his, she noticed the warmth leeching into her skin and the strength of his long fingers—how they gripped tight until he released her.

“Or watch you fall on your ass?” He grinned, and holy mother of sexy rock gods, the guy could’ve started a drum-line of heart palpitations.

“You wouldn’t dare.” She held out a hand to shake his. “Thanks for dropping me off.”

“Say what?”

“I’m not packing up a dog
and
an eighty year old woman and dragging her ass across town to a place full of half-naked muscled men who would probably give her a heart attack. Not that
I
wouldn’t want to go that way, but still …” She offered a fake smile. “Just tell my sister I clocked you in the jaw and made a run for it.”

Zayne cocked a brow. “I was told to escort you home and bring you back in one piece. Whether you like it, or not, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“You Wraths are persistent, aren’t you?”

“Don’t make me prove that point.”

“Noted.” She threw her hands in the air and stepped off the curb into the street. “C’mon. Let’s get this over with, then.”

Zayne followed behind her, his presence enormous and intimidating, like a skyscraper trailing behind—if a skyscraper happened to be hot as hell. A quick glance caught his eyes on her legs again, and Denya sucked her lip between her teeth. His stare wasn’t necessarily ravenous. More … appreciative, in the way his head sort of tipped to the side. Even if the guy clearly had no intentions of making a move on her, she couldn’t deny the fun in distracting him. As she climbed the stairs, she added a bit more sway to her hips, and smiled when he cleared his throat, until she came to a stop at the door.

“So, all of you have the gift of Bullshit, huh?” Tapping the code to her apartment took mindless effort.

“I’m sorry?”

“The Bullshit Buzz. You’ll probably have to use it on Sophie.” One heave at the buzzer, and the door clicked open.

“Right. Yeah, we’re all capable.”

“Do you use it often?”

“No.”

Every response that came out of his mouth seemed to lack the key ingredients of conversation. Denya took the hint and kept her mouth shut as they climbed the stairs to her apartment. Oddly enough, the complex appeared to be quieter than usual. She glanced down at her watch. Ten o’clock wasn’t grounds for such silence.

“What’s up?” he asked from behind.

“I don’t know … I’m just used to getting bombarded by noise with every step.”

His brow furrowed, right as a scream tore from one of the apartments up one level.

Sophie?
Denya lurched to race up the stairs but got halted by the firm pressure against her chest, as Zayne took the lead, hand on his dagger.

They reached the hallway, and Denya pointed him on toward the door, three down and to the right. Another scream, clearly from one of the apartments on the floor, bounced off the walls, and Denya’s muscles tensed. It sounded exactly like Sophie having a night terror, except that the woman kept a
Rain Man
schedule that put her to bed at midnight. Every night.

Zayne spun around, cell phone in hand. “Stay here. Call Gavin.”

“I’m going with you!”

“No. Whatever’s on the other side of that door is likely here for you.” His blue eyes stared back, unyielding.

“What the hell am I supposed to say to Gavin, then?”

“Let him know we’re here and there’s foul play.”

Denya stepped forward, halted by Zayne’s grip on her shoulder. “Sophie’ll freak out at the sight of you!”

“She sounds pretty fuckin’ freaked out right now.”

Touché.

He pointed at her—“Stay back and lay low.”—before he spun around and stalked along the wall. The man moved with a certain stealth and lethal grace. Like watching a dark knight cut through the shadows.

A blood-curdling scream ripped through the door, and Zayne lifted his boot, kicked the door open, then slipped inside. A strange flash of light bled through the cracks, and the screams ceased.

Creepy
. She’d been awakened by Sophie’s night terrors before. The sounds that had quieted reminded her of something out of a horror flick.

Denya pressed the contact button for Gavin’s cell.

“Zayne?” Gavin’s casual voice, as he answered, didn’t sync with the tremors wracking her body at that moment.

“No, it’s Denya,” she said in low voice. “There were screams inside the apartment. Think Sophie might’ve been hurt. Zayne went inside to investigate.”

“You’re at the apartment now?”

“Yes.”

“I’m on my way.”

“Okay,” she said and clicked the phone off, slinking deeper into the shadows beneath the staircase.
Please hurry
.

A rustling from behind caught her attention and Denya twisted on her heel.

Oh, gods.

***

The instant Zayne stepped inside the dark apartment he knew something wasn’t right.

A bright flash of light hit his eyeballs. He shielded with his hands , before letting his eyes adjust and taking in the surroundings.

A cold rush of air. Stone walls. A narrow walkway. Torches set in wall sconces. All of them told Zayne he stood somewhere in a cellar.

Fuck! Tricked
.

He’d been thrown into an alterrealm, meaning whatever was in the apartment was demon. Only those from the underworld could summon an opening, anywhere, anytime. Taking more time to enter might’ve prepared him to catch the signs—the very slight undulating movement of space that signaled a portal—but instead he’d burst through the damn door all fucking gung-ho. Didn’t mean he had to stay there.

He spun toward the way out.

“Zayne?”

The whisper from behind iced his bones, freezing him in place.

“Where are you going?”

He shot back around in the opposite direction.

Nothing but the flicker of candles.

“Shey?”

No
. Sometimes, alterrealms could fuck with your mind. If someone had even the
slightest
ambition, it wouldn’t take much to construct an alterrealm that mirrored his darkest nightmares.

He stopped himself and turned back toward the entrance.

“Zayne. Please, don’t leave me again. I’m so cold here. Please, help me.”

Pinching his eyes shut, Zayne coaxed himself out of venturing deeper into the cellar.

Don’t do it. It’s not real. It’s not her
.

A loud thump preceded a scream, and rattled his nerves. “Zayne! Help me! No! You’re hurting me! Stop! Please, don’t do this!”

Like an arrow through the skull, her words pierced his memories, and he was thrown into the past …

Zayne raced down the hallway.

“Zayne! Oh, my God, he’s going to kill me! Please, Ferno! Don’t do this!”

His adrenaline strangled every breath, as he kicked the door open to find Ferno clutching Shey’s lifeless body. Blood covered most of his face. Zayne’s eyes trailed down to hers.

Most of her skin, that beautiful flawless skin, had been burned away. Melted. Charred by the hottest flames that ever existed. Hellsfire.

Zayne couldn’t breathe. Piercing pain shot through his skull. Despite the tears he’d never seen spill down Ferno’s cheeks, an urge rose up from the pit of his stomach.

Kill him.

Zayne fell against the cold stones, clutching his ears.

It’s over. She’s gone. This isn’t real.

A whisper of fingertips trailed down his spine, and Zayne stiffened at the familiarity in her touch. “Stay with me, Zayne. You don’t have to go back.”

Zayne pounded his skull. “You’re not real! You’re not real!”

“How do you know?”

He flattened his palms against the wall, the cold of the stones bleeding into his skin, as he rested his forehead there. “Because Shey would never ask me to stay.”

She laughed, the same trilly laugh he remembered. “Then, pretend. What else do you need? What is there to go back to?”

“My brothers.”

“You mean, my murderer?” The warmth of her breath hit his ear. “You could have whatever you want here. Happiness. Solitude. Riches …. Me.”

“You’re not the Shey I know.” He shook his head. “This is all an illusion.”

“I could be. You could mold me into her.” Her wet tongue slid across the shell of his ear. “Make me a better lover than she ever was. Turn around, baby. Look at me.”

“No.”

“Please. Look at me. Tell me you don’t want me.”

He kept his eyes clamped shut and body facing the wall, as he patted the stones back toward the entrance.

Fingers curled over his shoulder, their frigid temperature stealing his breath. “Thing is, Zayne, whether you want to stay, or not, I don’t intend to let you leave me twice.”

CHAPTER 23

At the small armory in his office, Gavin checked the bullets in his Glock and stuffed it into his holster before he gathering more weapons. “Just to be sure, I’m bringing Ferno along.”

Xander sniffed, sitting in the chair across from Gavin. “You sure, Bossman? I’m always happy to knock some skulls. This place is boring as fuck.”

“I know this about you, my friend. But I feel the manor is more secure, having you here. Whatever it was that took down that Guardian, Griffin, was a formidable opponent, that’s for sure. But I’d much prefer to diversify our security across all locations.”

“I’m going with you.” The words drifted across from the doorway, and Gavin lifted his gaze to Sabelle.

As her gaze locked on his, dark with determination, Gavin pressed his palms against the desktop and prepared for the impossible—making her do as he asked. “It’s safer if you stay here.”

With his head angled toward her, Xander licked his lips, and for a brief moment, possession beat through Gavin’s bones.

She crossed her arms. “My sister is in danger. Like it or not, I’m coming with you.”

At the last words, Xander twisted back around with a crooked grin. “Just admiring the view, is all.”

“You and I go back a long time, Xander.” Gavin lifted a hooked dagger in the air before stuffing it into a side holster. “It’d be a shame to have to kill you.”

The angel let out a laugh and stood from the chair. “I’ll go fuck with Ben. He’s always good for some entertainment.” He slid past Sabelle, comparatively small next to him.

Once he was out of the room, Sabelle marched straight for the desk. “If you think I’m going to sit here and twiddle my thumbs, you’re wrong. If she’s in trouble, I’m in.”

Gavin shook his head. “What about the twins? What if something happens to you?”

She set her hands atop his desk and leaned in. “What if something happens to
Denya
? Do you think I could live with that?”

“I don’t have time to argue about this, Sabelle.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

Gavin groaned as he rounded his desk, stuffing another dagger into his side holster. “You’re stubborn as hell, woman.” He brushed a finger against her cheek and his eyebrows lowered. “Sabelle, in all seriousness, if something goes wrong …” He set his hands on her shoulders. “If something happens to you, I’ll never forgive myself.”

“Then, make sure you stay out of my way.” Her jaw hardened, and she pushed his hands away. “Because if something happens to my sister, shit’s
going
to go wrong.”