Page 82 of Soul Redeemed

A soft sound hit Calix’s ears—Logan’s, too, from the way he lifted his chin. Muffled. Crying. A baby’s cry.

Calix’s eyes shot toward the cocoon in the middle of the room that the Sang had tried breaking into.

“’The fuck?” Logan strode forward and dug his fingers into the sack, pulling at the threads until his muscles shook. He relaxed and tugged again, until his skin turned red, veins popping through his neck with the exertion.

Calix dug his fingers in, too, grimacing at the gooey dark strands that swallowed his hand as he yanked in the opposite direction. Muscles stretched to long cords of tension with his effort, and still the two of them couldn’t tear it away. He straightened, wiping the slime onto his jeans. “’The fuck is this?”

“Avalon!” Logan yelled into the sack, and paused at the mewling from the other side.

“Ava!” Calix followed suit and remained still for a moment.

“Calix?” Ava’s voice, weak and subdued, sagged his muscles with relief.

“Are you all right? We’re going to get you out of there.”

“It only breaks from the inside.” The hush of her words gave the impression she was miles away, yet something moved beneath the skin of the cocoon, and both brothers stepped back when a web of fingers pushed up from inside.

The breach of the sack spewed forth a clear fluid from inside that pooled at Calix’s boots, and the first cries of the baby had Logan reaching through the mess for her.

He paused to shed his jacket and lift the T-shirt over his head, tucking it under his arm.

Through a glistening layer that clung to their bodies, he lifted the infant from Ava’s arms and wrapped her inside his oversized Tee, holding her to his chest.

“Shhh, Daddy’s here.”

Within seconds, the baby’s cry quieted, and Calix lifted Ava to a stand. In the next breath, her knees gave out from beneath her, and he swooped her up into his arms before she could hit the floor.

“’Msorry. I tried to keep her safe,” she whispered, and Calix took in her frail and fragile appearance.

He’d noticed the paling of her skin earlier and had made a point not to say anything, hoping he’d figure out how to slow it down. Perhaps with pregnancy. But she seemed to be getting worse with each passing day, and particularly right then.

“You created the cocoon?”

With a tired nod, she smiled. “I had no idea I could. I wished for a safe place to hide, and out of nowhere, my body started tingling until we were covered like a blanket. Side effect of being one of them, I guess. ‘Swhy they left me alone. I’m a dirty Sang.”

Logan stopped his pacing, still clutching the baby to his chest. “Thank you for keeping her safe. I’d have lost my fucking mind, if they’d hurt her.”

“Oh, shit, that’s fucking nasty.” Xander’s voice drew everyone’s attention to where he straddled the mangled demon and held up the metal plate that’d once been attached to its face. A white golf ball looking object clung to the front of it. “Took the whole goddamn eyeball out.”

“Let’s go. Wish Ferno was here to burn this shithole to the ground.” Logan strode out of the room with the baby, and Xander pushed off the demon, following after.

They reached the hallway where the human lay hunched over, his blood drying to his wound.

“Should’ve fed him to those fuckers.” Logan kicked the male, whose grunt told them he was still alive.

A clang echoed down the hall, lifting Calix’s gaze. “Where’s Thais?” They needed her to flash back to the mansion, as Ava, loosely draped over Calix’s arms seemed too weak. “Ava’s blacking out. I need to get her back.”

Another clang and a thump.

Calix’s eyes shot toward a door that, with another thud, shivered with dust.

All three demons edged toward it.

“’The hell is in there?” Xander asked, stepping in front of Logan. He reached the door first, peered inside the small window, and took a step back. “What the unholy shit …”

“What is it?” Logan replicated his move, peering in and backing away. “Let’s get the fuck out of here. Now.”

It wasn’t until Calix saw for himself through the window what had rattled the other two.