Page 80 of Soul Redeemed

“I can’t. I can’t go back there!” The female lay against the bed, her limbs held down by each of the males in the room.

Calix lifted the blade to her throat. “You will take us there, or we will gut you open right here, right now.” He’d not done such a thing to a female in over a century, but his patience had thinned to madness.

“If I do, you’ll spare my life?” Her chasing outcry told Calix that Logan was running on little patience himself. The demon wasn’t known for hurting females, but where his daughter was concerned, he’d undoubtedly make an exception.

A cold hard smack echoed in the bedroom, and Calla leaned into her, hovering above her face. “You stole my baby!” She’d come to soon after they’d stumbled upon Thais hiding in the shadows.

“I didn’t! I swear I didn’t! It was a demon. A … gorilla-faced demon that took them back to him!”

The one that’d come to the bar looking for Ava, Calix suspected. “Take us there.”

With a sob, the female nodded. “Okay. I’ll do it.”

“I’m coming with you.” Calla set her hand on the woman’s arm alongside Logan’s.

“No,” Logan protested.

“My baby is out there, Logan. I’m not staying here like some mousy female, hoping you return!”

Logan’s brows furrowed, the hurt clear on his face.

“Calla, they may return.” Calix set his hand on her shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. “Ava can flash, remember? She’ll come back here.”

Tears filled Calla’s eyes as they burned with conflict. “Are you sure?”

The implication was clear, and Calix couldn’t blame her lack of confidence. A part of him prayed that Ava hadn’t known anything about their plan, that she hadn’t been a willing participant in the baby’s abduction. He nodded, clenching his jaw. “Absolutely.”

She slid her hand away and took a step back.

Turning back to the female on the bed, Calix held tight to her hand, and a coldness swept over him, casting a chill down to his bones while setting a nauseous gurgle in his stomach, before they materialized into a dark empty hallway with a lone light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

The female stood surrounded by Logan, Calix and Xander, the three of them glancing around the long, dimly lit corridor.

“This is where they keep them.” Thais pushed through the barricade of bodies, toward the longer stretch of passage that disappeared into darkness, and all three males followed behind her. “Nearly a week, that twisted bastard kept me here. Chained to a bed. Injecting me with shit. Letting that fucking demon touch me.”

“Why? What’d he want from you?” Calix asked, keeping on her heels as they ventured deeper into the dark hallway.

“He wanted your girl. Said she was an important part of his research. With the Sang.” She glanced back at Calix with a remorseful expression. “I was supposed to retrieve her, or the human said he’d throw me in the room with the Sang. But she picked up the baby. I waited, praying she’d set her back down, but then the demon rushed in. Probably mistook her for me.”

“Thought they wanted Ava?” Logan asked from behind, his voice still carrying a pissed-off tone. “Why would he be after you?”

“Because. The son of a bitch injected me with the demon’s hormones. He views me as his mate, so I won’t escape them.”

“He sounds sadistic.” Xander sneered, bringing up the rear of the group.

Thais glanced back at them from the front of the line. “As a fallen angel, I’m certainly no stranger to torture, but if your girl was subjected to this for months, it’s a wonder she’s still sane.”

Her comment punched Calix in the gut, left him feeling every bit the sorry bastard for not having found her sooner. Ava had seen some bad shit, too, in her lifetime, and Calix wished he could erase all of it for her. Take her memories and wipe them out, from the moment she was born, up until her cunt of a brother was finally sent to Stygius. He’d even be willing to risk that she forget him, not remember Calix, at all, if it meant she’d never have to suffer the flashbacks of her torment. Only the most powerful incubi could do that, though, and Calix certainly hadn’t acquired that clout.

They reached a door; it creaked upon opening and led to a stairwell. Once again, Thais took the lead, descending deeper into the bowels of the building, her feet hardly making sound beneath the hard thumps of the demons’ boots—particularly Logan’s.

Calix glanced back at his brother, whose bunched shoulders made him look like a lion ready to pounce on the first thing that crossed his path. “Pick your damn feet up, man. You sound like a fucking Clydesdale.”

“Fuck off.”

Another door stood before them, and Thais set her ear against the panel. Movement from behind gave little warning, before the door flew off the hinges, knocking the female back onto her ass, and Logan tromped through the open passage.

“Well, then. Let’s move on.” She pushed to her feet, clearing her throat as she followed behind Logan.