Fresh rage pounded through him, and he gloried in the carnage the hounds were wreaking behind them. “We’ll fix it.”
“I know.” Her thin hand patted his cheek. “You’re here now, and everything will be fixed.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ashe threw Calix into the room, and his bloody form hit the floor in a wet squelch before Ashe lowered himself to the ground and pressed his forehead to the floor.
Shade’s hounds and Sophia hadn’t spared any of the demons who had pursued Eddie out of the bunker, and Ashe had fought hard to spare as much of Calix as he had.
Indolex’s power washed over him in a hot wave of fury. His voice like metal over stone grated on Ashe’s ears. “What happened?”
“She had the key, milord.” Ashe kept his head lowered. “And as far as I can ascertain, this piece of shit gave it to her.”
He felt Indolex move closer. No longer a demon, but something other and infinitely more powerful, the wash of his energy coated the back of Ashe’s throat in a metallic taste and cradled his mind like a giant hand. The sweep of his robes penetrated the edges of Ashe’s vision. “You are sure of this?”
“No, lord.” Ashe kept his forehead pressed to the hard concrete floor. “The cameras were not working during the incident, but only he and I had access to the key to her cell.”
“I see.” Indolex nudged the top of Ashe’s head with his foot. “Look at me when I speak to you.”
It was always a crap shoot with this fucking being, and whether you were looking at him or not, you were always guaranteed to be doing the wrong thing. Raising his torso, Ashe met the limitless black of Indolex’s gaze. Once a high order demon like himself, Indolex had gorged himself on the power of the Nephilim until he was what he was now—deadly and undefeatable and terrifying. His power rivaled that of a hell prince now, and in a showdown, Ashe would put his money on Indolex. The bastard was driven by a soul-deep viciousness Ashe had never encountered in another being. For the first time in his long life, Ashe was truly afraid of a being. Lucifer at his angriest had retained some shade of reason. Indolex was pure evil purpose.
Indolex gazed at him, his unbroken black eyes drawing Ashe into the void of his soul. It was like looking into the face of chaos. “Then I have only your word that it was Calix and not you that gave her the key.”
“This is true.” Ashe held that fathomless stare. “But you know what is at stake for me.”
“Yes.” Indolex’s raspy chuckle was like a cheese grater to his nerve endings. “We both know what keeps you chained to my service.”
Ashe forced down his own rage and shrugged. “I would not risk them.”
Indolex cocked his massive head, overhead lighting gleaming off the silver tips of his deadly horns. “You are a clever one, Ashe. I would not put it past you to play a deeper game.”
He chose not to answer that.
In the next two minutes, Indolex would let him know the decision Ashe was certain the giant being had already made. Nothing he said would make any difference.
Indolex loomed over a moaning Calix.
Calix’s lids fluttered open. His eyes widened in panic when he saw who was standing over him.
Ashe held his breath.
Bending, Indolex grabbed Calix by his throat and held him dangling five feet off the ground. “You have betrayed me, Calix.”
Calix shot a panicked look at Ashe. “No, milord. It is—”
Closing his fist, Indolex crushed Calix’s skull. His face expressionless, he then ripped the heart out of Calix’s chest and ate it.
Calix’s body dissolved into thick, gray ash and drifted to the floor.
On a low, disturbingly sexual moan, Indolex absorbed Calix’s power. His body beneath the robes shuddered like he was climaxing.
The door behind Ashe opened, and demons poured through.
“You may not have betrayed me, Ashe.” Indolex wiped the dust that had been Calix on his robes. “But you failed to stop the betrayal.”
Ashe lowered his head and nodded. “Yes, milord.”
“And for that you will pay.”
This was going to fucking hurt. “Yes, milord.”
Unencumbered by carrying another being, Sophia flew ahead to the theatre. It still took the remainder of the day to reach Clayton. The hounds tracked Shade from the ground and remained close in case he needed them. Sophia had kept her senses wide as she tracked Shade’s route in her wake. Sophia hadn’t seen much of Eddie in those few seconds before she had ripped into demons, but she had gotten a fleeting impression of a thin, pale Eddie, barely able to hold herself upright.
Beside her, Dee couldn’t contain her restless energy and paced the small parking lot outside the stage door. Trying to prepare Dee for what she might see, Sophia stopped the other woman with a hand on her arm. Mellow orange streetlights cast macabre shadows over the empty space as they waited. “Dee. Shade is carrying Eddie, and we must be prepared for her to be injured.”
Dee paled. “What do you mean injured?”
“She’s been held for a while now.” Sophia counted her words carefully. “She may be in compromised health.”
Tears filled Dee’s blue eyes. “Oh, God.”
“But we will heal her.” Or drain themselves trying. “And Wrath should be on his way back. He is the best person to heal her. Ramiel will help him.” Or Sophia would snap his fucking wings.
“Did you call the gathering?” Daniel stood beside her and watched Dee with a frown.
