Page 51 of Soul Redeemed

With a nod, Zayne tucked it away and held to the one on the left. He pulled a capped syringe from inside his coat and set it into the top of the vial, drawing up the fluid inside. Not bothering with a tourniquet, he slammed the needle into his veins, exhaling a sigh of relief the moment that warm, fireplace sensation spilled into his blood.

Eyes closed, he took three long breaths, allowing the drugs to work their magic, and when he opened them again, the red haze had dissipated to the stark fury in the female’s tightly-drawn brows.

“Where did you get that? Who gave that to you?”

“Gave what?”

“Red Queen. The red vial. Do you have any idea what that is? How it’s made?”

“It’s made by the succubi, isn’t it?”

Her jaw hardened, eyes narrowed on his. “Perhaps you should ask your fucking junkie supplier.”

“Funny, he told me to ask you.”

“That high is great, right? Your fantasies come to life. Want to know why? Every vial is a sacrifice. Every vial contains the soul of a young succubus.” Unless Zayne was mistaken, her eyes carried a shine in the flickering flame illuminating the room. “Those poor girls are slaughtered, so pieces of shit like you can get high.”

A jolt of shock ran down Zayne’s spine. “What?”

Eyes rolling, she shook her head. “The fuck does it matter anymore? I’m tired of running. I’m tired of being scared. Trapped. I’m tired of watching bastards like you get off, while these innocent little girls are taken from their homes.”

“What girls? What are you talking about?” Zayne eagerly followed the trail of breadcrumbs that tumbled from her mouth, exactly the information he needed.

“Virgin succubi are the cleanest. Their souls are essentially untainted, as they haven’t taken life. They also produce the purest offspring. For that reason, they’ve been used by the Lycans to create Purebloods, and most recently they’ve been bought by the Optevyl to prolong their blood lines in the event of war. Or decimation.” The Optevyl were something like the KKK of the Underworld, those, often in powerful positions, who believed in pure demon breeds. “As you know, virgin succubi are rare, but they can be made clean.”

“How?”

“By injecting them with hellsfire.”

“That’s madness. Hellsfire kills. It consumes.” A twinge of panic struck Zayne’s heart at the memory of his mate getting swallowed by the deep blue flame.

“It can be controlled.”

“How?”

“Me.” She lowered her head back against the cot, and Zayne caught the glisten of a tear falling down her temple. “I was taken hostage by a group. One that produced the very drug you showed me just now. My job was to clean the souls of these … children. I had no idea what they were doing with them at first. I was told they’d been forced to seduce their victims into sudeszx after sex, by their pimps, and that I was merely helping to cleanse their souls, to keep them from burning in Stygius for assisting suicide.” Her lip trembled as more tears slipped down her temple. “Lies. All of it. I managed to escape the room they locked me in, after one of the girls fought them and made a scene. While searching for an escape, I found the room where they … drained all of the blood from these poor girls, until all that was left was a pale lifeless child who’d been taken for no good fucking reason! Children! And I had unknowingly facilitated their murder.”

“That’s why I couldn’t read your sins. You blocked them.”

“I will never be used to kill the innocent again. I’ll die before I let that happen. But they’re still manufacturing the drug.”

“How?”

“Head Hunters. They’re hired by the Optevyl to seek out virgin succubi. They’re the best at finding them. In addition to what the Optevyl pay them, the demons who produce the drug, the ones who’re after me, somehow managed to work out a deal with them. For a cut of the drug profit, the Head Hunters look the other way when one of the girls goes missing. As long as they don’t take the oldest, most valuable succubi.”

Denya.

“Where are they?”

“You’ll never find them. They’re so deep in the hills of Orcosia, the locals couldn’t even tell you. Always moving. They never stay in one place.”

“If they’ve worked out a deal with the Optevyl, why do they want you?”

“She’s the ticket to war in the heavens.”

The voice came from behind, and Zayne turned to find Xander standing outside of the cell.

“She uses hellsfire to clean souls, giving evil the access it needs into the heavens.”