Page 57 of Soul Redeemed
Thais lifted her palm and blew the flame back toward him, smiling when it retreated beneath his skin once more.
The male studied her without saying a word, only the occasional twitch of his eye telling her he hadn’t gone statue on her.
Gods, he was beautiful. Broken, scarred, and tragically handsome. And hell if she didn’t flock to the ones whose very aura screamed stay the fuck away, if you know what’s good for you.
Breaking away, a downward glance revealed that she’d allowed the façade to drop.
“Excuse me,” she said, scampering her way around him toward the door, feeling the brush of his finger against her arm as she passed him.
The demon stood frozen in place, staring down at his palms as if in shock.
Probably best that he was, seeing as she happened to be making an escape.
Resuming the mask she’d worn moments before, Thais quickly exited the front door before the troll she’d met on the way in could reach her.
Ahead of her stood the iron gates off in the distance, at the end of the long, gravelly driveway, and the bark from behind told her the property was guarded by hellhounds. The place really was a fortress.
Wondering just how fast her ass could scale that gate, she upped her pace to a run.
27
“You let her go.” Xander paced inside the cage, where Ava sat on the floor across from Calix, her knees tucked up into her body, fingers lodged within her hair. “I had one fucking rule. Just one. Do not go down to the last cell. She could be anywhere by now. And she knows where the mansion is. Fuck!”
Beside her, Zayne towered above her, quiet as ever, thank goodness, because she’d already met her asshole quota for letting the female go.
“Chill the fuck out, man.” Calix perched on the edge of the bed, rubbing the heel of his hand against his temple. “I gave you one directive, too, as I recall. You followed that one real well. I’m sure you handed over the goddamn keys on a platter.”
“More like a really good toss than a platter,” Xander countered with a hint of amusement. “Now I gotta go hunt her ass down. Again.” As he shook his head, all eyes shifted toward the opening of the cell, where Ferno stood rubbing his hands together.
Out of all the brothers, he scared Ava the most. She’d heard the story of Shey, how he’d burned her alive with hellsfire. An accident, so Calix had said, but Ava still kept her distance from him.
“I’m going with you.” The gravelly rasp of Ferno’s voice perfectly matched his scarred face.
“The fuck you are. Consider that punishment for letting her go.” Xander pointed a finger at the guy, as if he could keep him from going. The sheer size of Ferno would make that impossible. “How the hell does a chick just waltz by you and straight out the door?”
Ignoring him, Ferno stroked his palm, eyes momentarily lost to a trance. “Who was she?”
“Trouble. A whole lot of fucking trouble.” Xander continued to pace, stroking his hands back and forth over his skull and down his face.
“She touched me.”
Ferno’s comment brought Xander to a halt, and the angel set his hands on his hips. “That a first for you, or something?”
“She held the flame.”
Zayne pushed off from where he stood leaning against the wall, the only one of the bunch who didn’t seem all too troubled that she’d disappeared. “She can control it. It’s why she’s being hunted. Demons want her, but so do the angels. She’s dangerous.”
“I’m going with you,” Ferno repeated.
Resuming his pacing, Xander shook his head. “No. I’m done doing you all a favor. You want a piece of ass? Get it from somewhere else. I’m not taking a chance again while you have your one-hour motel rendezvous with this chick. She’s my quarry, who’s about to get the ass-spanking of a lifetime.”
As soon as he’d spoken the words, Ferno strode into the room, his hand gripping the angel’s throat as he slammed him into cement wall, pinning his neck.
Xander’s jaw shifted, a flash of silver warning the demon that he held the power to rain hell, and still Ferno didn’t relent.
“Fine,” Xander rasped. “I won’t touch her. But neither will you.”
“I’m going. With you.”
