Ava tilted her head, trying to catch Calix’s attention. Laying strapped to the bed, he’d been staring off for the last couple of hours. Although she’d managed to get him to his room, with a bit of help from Xander, he’d not said a word since she’d offered to find him a succubus.

Had that set him off, somehow?

Xander had suggested that she tie him up in preparation for his next ravenous frenzy, otherwise she hated the idea of chaining him like some kind of wild animal.

“Calix,” she whispered, stroking a finger down his cheek, but the gesture didn’t so much as summon a blink.

She needed a break. Maybe giving him a few minutes alone would allow him to gather himself. It’d only be a matter of time before his hunger would strike again, and as Ava hadn’t fed for most of the day, the craving for blood kept hitting the back of her throat with an intense dryness, and she figured she’d need to gather her strength for whatever was yet to come.

Without a word, she padded out of the room, closing the door as she backed herself into the hallway.

“How is he?” At the sound of Gavin’s voice, Ava spun around to find the eldest brother standing behind her, arms crossed and concern etched deep into his expression.

“He won’t talk. Just stares off at nothing.”

“He continues to starve himself?”

Casting her gaze away in shame, Ava nodded. “I’ve offered to find him a female, but he refuses.”

“Ava, it’s not my place to tell you any of this, but as he gets worse, so might his triggers.”

“Triggers?”

He jerked his head for her to follow, and she trailed behind as he led her down the stairs. Reaching his office, he ushered her toward one of the seats across from his desk.

As he plopped in his chair, Ava was suddenly taken aback by the intimidating presence he held when behind a desk. Regal and dominant, all at once.

Entwining his fingers, he leaned back in his leather chair. “How much do you know of Calix’s past?”

She puffed her cheeks and blew out a breath, shaking her head. “I know that he and his sister left home very young, and that he had a pretty hard life on the streets for a while. I know he was enslaved at one time.”

Gavin pressed his lips together and sat forward, nabbing the decanter of amber liquor beside him, and poured two glasses, pushing one of them toward her.

“I’m good.” Ava nudged the drink back toward Gavin, but he slid it back in front of her.

“You’re probably going to need it.”

With a frown, Ava reached for the glass and held it in her lap.

“Calix was fourteen when he and his sister were removed from their home.”

“Removed for what?”

“His mother. A rather young succubus who’d sold the two of them to a much older female. The wife an Orcosian lord. Foolishly, she thought she’d take better care of the two.” Gavin tipped back a sip and sniffed, setting the glass back atop the desk. “As it turned out, she kept the two of them in some kind of dungeon. No daylight. Very little nourishment. During the many social gatherings held at their mansion, she’d allow her guests to use the siblings in whatever manner they desired. Most times, believe it, or not, it was Calix chosen to entertain. This wicked and deplorable excuse for a female collared him, and for decades, she kept him in a cold dark room, forcing him to pleasure all variety of males and females. Some more cruel than others. Only one time did he try to escape, but he was captured, and upon his return to the mansion, he was forced to watch the murder of his sister, as it was she who’d facilitated his freedom by attacking the mistress.”

As Gavin’s words sank in, they knotted her heart into a tight ball of sadness, making it ache for Calix. “Oh, gods.”

Gavin gave a grim nod. “Years after, our Divine Matron, Cefirina, went in search of Wrath’s heirs and found where he’d been sent to live. He’d been starved to the point of madness, burned with Demortis, had suffered the wrath of a scorned succubus, and was left to rot in that cell, while the charred remains of his sister had been preserved in glass jars that he was forced to see every fucking day.” Gavin’s lip peeled back with disgust, his jaw tight in what she interpreted as rage over the thought of such a thing.

Tears spilled down Ava’s cheek at the visuals. She knew firsthand how it felt to suffer at the hands of a sadist, but nothing she’d ever experienced came close to what Calix must have been through. “I … offered him a succubus. I had no idea.”

“Calix has been around the succubi often, and he’s well aware there are good ones and bad ones. When Cefirina first brought him here, he was unreachable. Withdrawn. He suffered a number of triggers. Any other day, I suspect he’d have brushed your comment off, but as he continues to spiral into starvation, his mind is not as adept to protect him as it has all these years. In fact, it’s more likely to cause torment and push him over the edge. In the upcoming days, he’ll become more manipulative, more aggressive. More likely to do something regrettable.”

“I want to help him, I do. But he refuses. He says he’d rather starve.” Ava couldn’t bear to see the curiosity in Gavin’s eyes—the one question that must’ve itched to break free from his mind.

Why can’t you sate him?

“The female that Xander kept in the dungeon eased his pain, but she escaped,” she continued, ignoring the inward flinch as she contemplated the very reason she couldn’t help him herself.

“Xander had a female in the dungeon?”

“He … well, yes. They had her chained in a cell. Fallen female. I set her free to help Calix, and she stole my face and escaped.”

“Stole your face?”

“She did that façade crap that the Fallen like to pull sometimes.”

“Never a dull moment.” Gavin pinched the bridge of his nose. “Did Xander happen to say why he had her down there?”

Ava shook her head. “He was pretty upset with me for letting her go, though.”

“I’ll inquire with him. As for you and Calix, I don’t know the circumstances that have kept you at a distance.” Gavin held up his hand as she opened her mouth to protest. “And I don’t need to. But at some point, the two of you will face a very difficult decision. My only advice is, choose what’s best for both of you.”

The hint of concern in his tone rang clear in Ava’s mind. She’d betrayed Calix once, and Gavin would ensure that didn’t happen again.

Easing his pain would prove detrimental to the male, though. Oliver’d made certain that no one but the Sang could breach her womb. And yet, Calla had been infected, as well, and proved otherwise. She’d delivered a perfectly healthy baby.

“Gavin, the Sang virus. Why didn’t Logan become infected?”

“Our blood is too strong. The virus is weak.”

Weak? “It has no effect on you? At all?”

“Not so far. Why do you ask?”

The first bloom of hope unfurled the knots in her stomach, and while Ava itched to smile, she held tight to her serious expression. “I’ve no intentions of hurting Calix. I … care very deeply for him.” She didn’t dare say the words she knew were true in her heart—that she loved Calix more than anything in the world and would do whatever it took to ease his pain. “I’ll help him through this, Gavin. I swear it.”

“As futile as it may seem to you, it so happens you’re the only who can. He won’t listen to anyone else.”

He wouldn’t listen to her, either. Luckily, it wasn’t up to Calix anymore.

To save him, it was up to her.