Page 13 of Soul Redeemed

“The one next to Zeke?” Mack had probably already spotted him on one of the many camera screens in the security office.

“That’s the one.” Calix rose up from the desk and strode across his office. “I’ll meet you on the security floor. Tell Britus to play it cool. He’s looking for someone, so tell him we might have some information.”

“You got it, Boss. Sending Britus to get him now.”

Exiting his office, Calix shoved his phone back into the holster and made his way to the elevators, his whole body edgy and jittery, like livewires bounced through his nerve endings. If the bastard had any information on Ava, he sure as hell wouldn’t be leaving—perhaps not ever, if Calix sensed he’d hurt her in any way.

When the elevator arrived, Calix pressed the fourth floor button, and the reopening doors spat him out into a stark white hallway, where security offices and detainment rooms lined the corridor at each side. He waved at Mack as he passed the room with all the cameras and security shit, and made his way to one of the empty rooms, taking a seat.

Waiting.

Perhaps only ten minutes passed before Britus entered with the demon, but it felt like a goddamn eternity, as Calix waited for the beastly looking thing to take a seat across from him. How badly he wanted to reach across the table and strangle the ever-loving shit out of the asshole. In his human form, he reminded Calix of something out of a Sons of Anarchy episode—a gnarly bastard spoiling for a fight.

Zeke stood at the doorway, arms crossed, and the glance the demon shot him told Calix he might be feeling a bit edgy himself. No telling how he might react. With a sharp nod, Calix sent Zeke off, and the line of tension in the demon’s face seemed to sag again.

“I understand you’re looking for a female,” Calix started.

“Yes.” The Impetusi’s deep voice carried a rasp, as if he wasn’t accustomed to talking. “She’s in trouble.”

“How so?”

“She stole something. Something that belongs to us.”

“Us?”

He pointed to the patch on his leather vest.

“So, she stole from your motorcycle club, and now you’re after her.”

His nod had Calix’s hands balling into tight fists, itching to knock the fucker back onto his ass.

“What exactly does she look like?”

Stroking the stubble of his chin brought his fat fingers to Calix’s attention—far larger than the average human’s. “Black hair. Bright blue eyes. Star tattoo right here.” He pointed to his temple—the exact place Ava’s tattoo was inked, further exacerbating Calix’s fury.

“Where’s your club? Perhaps we can start where you last saw her?”

“Why’n’t you tell me where you live, eh?”

Calix clenched his jaw in his best effort not to give away the impatience brewing inside of him. “Fair enough. Do you know what I am?”

His eye twitched, and Calix caught the flicker of metal peek below the eye patch, beneath which the plate he’d seen on camera remained mostly concealed. “The owner of this club?”

Calix chuckled and shook his head. “Thank goodness.” He feigned relief and entwined his fingers, resting them on the table between them. “For a moment, I thought you were an Impetusi.”

Eyes narrowed, he rolled his shoulders, keeping his gaze locked on Calix. “What’s ‘at?”

“Assholes are the dumbest fucking species in the underworld.” It didn’t take someone all too perceptive to catch the flare of his nostril that told Calix he’d gotten under his skin with the comment. “They come into this club like they own the fucking place and can’t leave with a woman to save their lives. Well, with their enormous hands and gorilla faces, who could blame a chick, right?”

The rise and fall of the demons chest confessed he’d gotten pissed. One more button would set the bastard off.

“The female you’re talking about is my girlfriend. And yes, I know exactly where she is,” Calix bluffed. “If you think I’d tell you, you’re as dumb as I already surmised.”

The table flew up from the floor, crashing into the wall beside them. Calix didn’t so much as flinch, as he watched the biker morph into the beastly thing he’d seen onscreen. His scarred deformed body burst through the leather vest, twisting Calix’s lip. The human face it wore split in half, revealing the metal-plated eye and one fucked up grill. The roar it gave, as it jumped to its feet, bounced around the walls inside the small room.

Still, not even that moved Calix from his chair.

“Tell me where she is!” It growled, sending a heat wave of rancid breath in his direction.