Page 94 of Soul Redeemed

“Yes.” He chuckled, pulling back the hood of his robe to reveal his exquisitely handsome face. Truly, Calix was something to behold when he was groomed and his incubi nature had been sated. “But my claiming of you is quite private,” he whispered in her ear. “No one gets the pleasure of your O face, but me, from here on out.”

Ava bit the inside of her lip to stifle a laugh and cleared her throat. “So, this is something like a wedding.”

“If human weddings were a proclamation of the male’s eternal servitude, then yes. Probably more like your coronation.”

“What, like a queen?”

“Yes. My queen.”

The words cast a chill up her spine, and Ava could hardly force herself to look at the others in the room. She’d never been looked upon as anything important—only a lowly Nephilim that preyed on innocence, like some kind of vulture of the underworld.

Gavin approached them, cloaked in the same robe as Calix, and the two of them exchanged a glance and a nod, before Calix’s gaze swung back to her.

“A demon must have the blessings of at least one brother in order to consummate a bonding,” Gavin explained. “Calix is fortunate to have three.”

Watching Gavin kneel before her and take her hand was about the most unnerving thing she’d ever witnessed, since the regal male carried himself like a king.

“For saving Calix, soothing him, and caring for him in his time of need. Du et gloriasz.” I honor you.

Ava’s cheeks flushed, body trembling, as he kissed the top of her hand, and she nodded when he rose to his feet before her, then stepped aside.

Logan strode forward, wearing his usual stern expression, but when he fell to his knees before her, dropping his hood back, Ava fought the tickle of embarrassment sweeping through her.

She’d never felt so on display, her emotions ready to burst through her skin at any moment.

“For saving the life of my taszchla and child. Du et gloriasz.” Like Gavin, he kissed the top of her hand and rose before her, taking his place beside his older brother.

The long pause that followed brought the unrelenting quiver of her muscles to her attention, and undoubtedly everyone else’s, as she awaited the third brother.

When Ferno stepped out of formation and strode toward them, her view of the demon blurred behind a shield of tears. She hadn’t gotten the opportunity to thank him for saving her life. Mostly because he’d refused to acknowledge her in the last few weeks, for reasons she’d probably never know. Seeing him approach left her feeling more nervous than even a moment before.

He, too, knelt before her, not bothering to look up, thank goodness, because she’d have probably accidentally wobbled into the flames.

“Everyone says I saved your life.” The deep, gravelly rasp of Ferno’s voice didn’t match the smooth tones of his brothers. His brow furrowed, lips thinned with whatever churned in his mind. “They tell me you’d have died that night. But truth is, you saved me. By giving me a small piece of redemption.” His gaze lifted to hers, and he reached for her hand. “Du et gloriasz.”

A quick glance toward Calix showed his pinched brows, lips downturned as if he might break.

Before Ferno could rise to his feet, Ava fell to her knees, covering his hand with hers, and bowed her head. “Thank you, Ferno.” She kissed the back of his hand, and both of them rose to their feet. When he bent forward to kiss her cheek, a gasp filled the room, as everyone, particularly Ava, stood in shock.

He stepped back, and Calix patted his shoulder, before Ferno took his place alongside Gavin and Logan.

From the stones beside the fire, Gavin tugged a blade from his side, cut into his forearm, and allowed himself to bleed into a set-out brass bowl. He then handed the knife to Logan who did the same, followed by Ferno. The bowl caught the blood of each of the brothers, before it was handed off to Calix.

Gavin stepped forward carrying a gorgeous gold band and an elaborately etched staff with a gold tip, and he wrapped the jewelry around Ava’s bicep.

Twisting her arm in front of her, she studied the etchings of demon script, ones she only vaguely recalled from her childhood.

A bright glow caught her attention, as Gavin lifted the blazing gold tip of the staff from the flames and held it out to Calix.

Jaw set to a hard line, Calix’s gaze fell on hers, and as Gavin set the red-hot tip of the staff to Calix’s chest, Ava’s eyes widened with horror.

The crackling of burning skin slid down her spine, and the insanely protective desire to lash out at Gavin left her slamming her hands against her ears. “Gods, don’t do this!”

Calix’s lips softened to a smile, and he glanced down at the black marking seared into his skin, one Ava squinted to make out behind all of the charred flesh.

“The blood of your brothers seals the bond.” With a black cloth held to Calix’s chest, Gavin poured the contents of the bowl over the wound.

Once he’d wiped the cloth over the wound, leaving only the clean black etching of his skin, Ava examined the symbols and script there, and found her name sat in the thick of what looked like an extension of the ink on Calix’s chest.