Quution took twists and turns deep into the underworld, far away from where she’d ever searched.
An impending sense of doom dogged her, and Xoda was central in her thoughts. Each time Xan tried to imagine Xoda’s dark eyes, she saw her sister’s. Each time she tried to recall Xoda’s laugh, it was Xera’s husky voice that floated through her mind.
But she pushed through. Quution’s words had made sense.
As soon as the heavy weight of dread lifted from her shoulders, Quution stumbled. He looked around.
Xera was targeting him now.
Dismay snaked through her. Her sister had used her own kid against Xan. That seemed so…low.
But it was to keep them safe. We don’t know how Spaeth is using them. Again, Quution was right.
Xera had gained power. She’d always been exceptional, and thanks to Xan’s redirection, she wasn’t another mindless demon stricken with a cruel streak.
Quution’s steps stuttered again. He snapped his head one way, then another.
“What do you think you hear?” There was no noise in this area. The bugs in the walls were quiet and this area of the underworld had probably been abandoned before Xera was imprisoned here.
“My mother.”
“She’s dead, Quution.” Xan had to be blunt. Truth was key to thwarting these thoughts and feelings. Manipulation made the fears bloom.
“I know. The only thing I can thank my sire for.”
“How did she die?” If she could get him talking, the emotions inside of him would be forced aside by the truth of his words.
“Slowly and painfully. She survived my sire’s attack enough to birth me. There was little energy around to help her heal. She was weak for years. Feeble, but mean. Eventually, she expired, and…”
His throat worked like he was trying not to throw up.
“And?” she pressed.
He swallowed and shook himself. “I, um, had to live off the bugs that cleaned her bones.” A cough escaped, but he’d masked the sound of a gag.
She sucked in a breath. Her first thought was that Quution had been fortunate the bugs had waited until his mother had passed. The creatures in this realm were cannibals, opportunists, scavengers, whatever worked for survival. To eat the same critters that had… Ick.
“That explains the human food.”
He bobbed his head as if he was afraid to open his mouth or he’d upchuck the sandwiches Stryke had been bringing them.
“Do you hear her anymore?”
He let out a gusty breath. “No.”
She wound her arm through his. His muscles were strung tight, but he shuffled along. Occasionally, his gaze would dart around, but he didn’t stop again.
“We’re getting close,” he said gruffly.
She’d been misled. He was struggling more than she’d thought, but he hid it well.
He was growing tenser by the second until she didn’t know how he was able to move his legs. Veins standing out in his neck, his jaw set, he plowed forward.
“Talk to me—” She snapped her head around.
Xera was nearby. Her sister’s scent was all over this corridor, unusually strong. It was as thick as Xan’s was in the library, but only because she’d been sexing Quution for days.
Her heart climbed into her throat. Had Spaeth—
No. Xan didn’t sense fear or terror of the physical sort.
She put her other hand on Quution’s chest and gave him a look that said let me.
He was so rigid he was vibrating, but he tipped his head toward a dark hole in the wall. It wasn’t even the typical chamber door, just a busted-out opening in the wall.
Xan crept closer. “Xera,” she called in a low voice.
There was no reply.
Her sister was here. She crept closer. “Xera. It’s me, Xan.”
Like anyone else would be coming for her, but she had to try. Xera might be too terrified to move.
“X-Xan?” Xera’s trembling voice drifted out of the dank space.
“Xera!” Xan rushed inside. Spaeth’s stench was absent here.
Xera was huddled in the far corner of the chamber. Her eyes weren’t wide open and afraid, but shrewd and calculating. Her gaze went past Xan to where Quution hovered outside the door.
Xan raced to Xera’s side but scanned the chamber as she did so. It wasn’t as small as she’d initially thought. The room was spacious, clean, and opulent by underworld standards. A briny waterfall trickled down the corner opposite where Xera sat.
But there was one thing missing. “Where’s Xoda?”
Xan spun in a circle. She didn’t sense her niece, and at the moment, she couldn’t even recall Xoda’s scent.
Xera jumped up. Quution stepped inside like he was going to jump in front of Xan if need be, but it was unnecessary. Xan sent him a small glare. She was grateful for all he’d done, but this was her sister. Xera wouldn’t hurt her.
“He has her, Xan.” Xera’s tinny voice hurt Xan’s ears, or perhaps it was the words.
“Where?” Xoda could be anywhere.
“I don’t know. If I knew, I’d have gone after her.” Her gaze strayed to Quution, but she spoke to Xan. “Did you get what Spaeth wanted?”
The affirmation stuck on Xan’s tongue. Xera had been found. They could bring her to safety, but Xoda was in the clutches of the merciless Spaeth.
Though Xera looked hearty.
But demons healed quickly and her kind was adept at mending flesh back together.
Xan glanced at the waterfall again. The chamber wasn’t exactly a place of nightmares.
But if Spaeth had brought Xoda to another place to coerce Xera, then he might not spend as much time here. He could just give his orders and leave Xera in fear for her daughter.
Xera’s dark gaze met hers. Intense trepidation swelled. Xoda, the precious little girl, was in danger. She was the candy beetle of Xan’s eye, the symbol of all that Xan had worked for.
“Yes, I have what Spaeth’s after,” she said.
“Xan,” Quution barked. He inched closer to Xan’s side. Xera shrank from him. Xan turned her body to protect Xera from a strange male.
“He’s helping us, Xera.”
Xera cut a sharp look her way. “Helping? Why?”
Shouldn’t she be frantic about Xoda, demanding they leave now and search? Finding Xera hadn’t been easy, and it’d taken teamwork. But now there was no reason to think they couldn’t track down Xoda’s location too.
“To put a stop to Spaeth,” Xan answered. “Do you know where he’s taken her?”
Xera slid her gaze from Quution back to her. “All we have to do is report to Spaeth and he’ll free her.” She whispered, “Tell me and I’ll go free her.”
Staggering anxiety almost dropped Xan. She’d do anything to free her niece. She opened her mouth to spill the story, but Quution broke in. “Regardless, we can’t talk here. We need to get Xera somewhere safe and cover her trail.”
Xera pushed away, shoving Xan back in the process. “He’ll be back and I won’t be here and then he’ll hurt her.”
A tremble ran down Xan’s spine, but Quution was next to her. His presence calmed her.
“He hasn’t summoned Xan yet,” he said. “Her time’s not up. There’s no reason to think he’ll be back before he gets his answer from her. We’ll find a place for you and when he calls for Xan, we’ll be ready for him.”
Xera’s gaze was hard. Xan didn’t expect her to fall into Quution’s arms and sigh my hero, but the animosity was startling. Then again, this was Xera.
Xan held her hand out. “Come on, Xera. He’s right. We can defeat Spaeth and save Xoda. Trust me.”
Xera watched her for a heartbeat before accepting her hand. When Xera’s cold fingers wrapped around hers, a chill invaded her body, a foreboding. She brushed it off. Xera had been trapped here, alone and terrified.
Xera was safe. Quution and Stryke were on their side. There was no reason to be worried.
As they reversed
their steps away from Xera’s prison, Quution was worried, and it wasn’t like before. When Xera had attacked him, the anxiety had been blinding, but not impossible to withstand as long as Xan was on his arm as pictures of her horribly mutilated body flashed through his mind.
Her scent had surrounded him and warded off the worst of the attack. The images flashing through his mind had become more haphazard the closer they’d gotten, as if Xera had been randomly amplifying any fear she could dig up in hopes it’d work.
He didn’t like her.
The few minutes they’d been in here, a fretting Xan had soothed Xera while nursing her own terror for the elusive seven- or ten-year-old Xoda. But Xera’s attitude had been that of inconvenienced diva rather than out-of-her-mind mother.
Speaking of diva, this was a nice chamber. Personal showers didn’t happen in many underworld hovels. Finding a water source that wasn’t rank, that wouldn’t leave his skin smelling like rotten eggs, was difficult. Either Spaeth was high-maintenance, extremely lucky, or he’d looked long and hard for this spot. And then given it up for Xera.
Would a demon do that for his prisoner?
And Xoda. He couldn’t grasp her energy pattern. He knew Xan’s individual signature, and now Xera’s, but he couldn’t sense a third. She’d never been in here, but he’d expect to find some of Xoda’s innate energy waves tied to Xera. Nothing.
He walked behind Xan. She had her arm wrapped around her sister. Occasionally, Xera glared over her shoulder at him. Small tendrils of apprehension wound through him, but they were nameless and faceless niggles at his mind that left him antsy and wired.
Xan’s shoulders were relaxed. He listened carefully, but she wasn’t confessing his plans to Xera. He couldn’t afford to leave her alone. He did not trust Xera, and it wasn’t because she was a mom shrugging off any attempt to save her kid. It was her eyes. They were cold. Calculating.
His boots scraped the ground, and Xera’s annoyed mutters reached him. “Why’s he insist on wearing that atrocious clothing? It’s noisy and smells.”
Okay, one, he didn’t smell. He had his own underworld pool to bathe and wash clothing in. Stryke might not say anything about an odor, but Melody wouldn’t hesitate, and she usually sighed with relief when he came knocking. Oh good. You don’t smell like a warm, wet carcass.
And two, how would Xan answer?
“He has his reasons,” Xan said. “Don’t worry. Quution’s not bad.”
“You’re fucking him.” Xera’s snide tone raised the hairs on the back of his neck. “I thought you had better taste. He was a target. Mama said never to fuck a target.”
“Mama said ‘never fuck a target if there’s not something in it for you. Don’t give your bargaining power away.’” Xan patted Xera’s shoulder, and Quution couldn’t help but think Xera didn’t deserve that comfort. “We’ll save Xoda.”
Quution strained to hear Xera’s next words. “I’d feel better if you told me what you discovered.”
“I know, but trust me. It’s better this way. Spaeth can’t torture you for it.”
Xera let out a frustrated growl. “I hate it when you do that. Xoda’s going to be the one to pay, not me.”
Xan looked over her should at him. Fear churned in her eyes. He gave his head one shake. She scowled, but didn’t speak.
He’d have to make sure Xan was never alone with Xera long enough to tell her anything. Because if he let up, she might tell her sister everything. And Xera’s best interests were not those of her sister.
Chapter 17
Stay strong. Quution straightened as much as he dared around Xera. Xan faced him, hands on her hips, eyes flashing. She was gorgeous, and vexed with him.
“How do you think you’re going to keep me from staying with my own sister?” she demanded.
“Hear me out,” he pleaded.
“I’ve heard enough.”
“Either I stay here with you, or you stay with me next door.” Though he was afraid Xera would leave, claiming to look for Xoda.
“Then sit your ass down. I’m not leaving my sister.” She turned her back to go to her sister.
Xera sat on a boulder in the middle of the room. They hadn’t gone back to his place, or to the library, but found an empty chamber that smelled only of brimstone and dirt. Other beings had left this area alone. He often speculated on the boundaries of the realm. None of his kind had cared to map it, not that they lived long enough to do so. It seemed endless, yet if demons overpopulated it, he had no doubt they would run into each other until fighting and murders culled the herd.
Xan squatted by Xera, who sat more like the Queen of the Nile than a battered abductee. He adjusted his shoulders, that ever-present fidgetiness growing worse. It was Xera. Had to be.
“Are you hungry?” Xan asked her. “When was the last time you ate?”
If she could scare underworld bugs straight to her, she couldn’t be that famished. But Xan acted as if she was skin and bones instead of hale and glowing.
Xera looked away in a move that should’ve come off as fragile, but to Quution it was all artifice. “Spaeth scared off all the food, or by the time they got to me, they were mutated from his radiation.”
Xan’s energy pulsed over him. Since they’d slept together, he’d become more attuned to her. He could even tell when she was using her ability.
Xera, though… She was outwardly steady, but her energy was not. Was it from suppressed emotion, or was she using her power?
He chose a rock lining the wall and settled on it. Over the next few hours, Xera sent him a glowering look every once in a while, usually when Xan wasn’t looking.
Night was approaching, but he could do one full night without sleep. The lack of shut-eye wouldn’t diminish his strength too terribly.
His decision was made. He’d watch over Xan and Xera, and depending on what tomorrow brought, he’d have to call in Stryke for help. And for food. He could go longer without food than sleep, and he’d gladly suffer from lack of shut-eye than eat a stinky bug.
Scratches began behind the walls. The females’ dinner. He did his own version of meditating while the sisters conversed over their shared meal. Xera eyed him furtively but didn’t ask Xan for more dirt on him.
Flaring his energy out, he passed the time like he’d learned to alone in his cell after his mother had died, when he’d read all the books and run out of surface area for his own chicken scratch.
He’d practiced tuning in to the human realm, sifting through energy patterns of vulnerable humans. When he’d come across a source so solid it was uncompromising, he’d studied it. A marvel, a puzzle he’d never been able to work out, but he’d set to weaving his own patterns like theirs. His own armor.
Xan would probably walk right through. Why was that? Demons mated, but they didn’t have fated mates. The matings only lasted as long as they were both alive. If one died, the other could mate again. Their rules were much more flexible than those of the vampires, and yet still longer term than human couplings.
He couldn’t deny that Xan was no longer the pest of a demon he’d first thought her to be. She’d taken root in the middle of his thoughts. Her upset over warding the underworld made his resolve waver, but it’d keep her safe too—whether she ever forgave him for it or not.
Xera finally drifted off to sleep in the coziest corner of the chamber. Xan could curl up next to her but Xera had never been the touchy-feely type of female. Xoda loved to cuddle.
Memories of her niece had returned in full force. The girl’s laughter rang through her head almost every minute, only diminishing when Xera succumbed to sleep.
Poor Xera. Her ribs poked through her skin, her face gaunt. She’d been starved and abused, and she’d lived in constant terror. At least Xan had been able to give her a solid meal.
Xan slipped away, but when she turned around, the only place that would make a decent bed was next to Quution.
She eyed him warily. His presence made it hard for Xera to trust her. She was
the only demon Xera could rely on and he was coming between them.
Choosing the rock in the middle of the room that Xera had first sat on, Xan lifted her brow at Quution.
“What do you think?” he asked softly, but his voice still boomed through the room.
She pursed her lips and abandoned her seat. Xera needed safe, uninterrupted rest. Crossing toward Quution, she sank on the floor next to him, but a few feet away.
“I think she’s traumatized.”
He stared at her, his face unreadable. “Indeed.”
The slight patronizing lilt to the word irked her. “Do you think Spaeth was nice? I mean, look at her.”
Quution did, then brought his gaze back. “What do you see?”
Xan thrust her hand out and pulled back her shout at the last minute. “Skin and bones. Xera used to be so healthy she glowed.”
“She does not have the light purple lines you do.”
Xan scowled at him. “We have different sires. I’m so scared for Xoda.”
“Mm.”
That sound! “You stole that from me.”
“It’s rather functional. Xan—” He closed his mouth like he’d changed his mind, but then determination filled his eyes. “Do you think it’s possible Xera is lying?”
Xan jumped up. “What?”
Xera shifted but remained asleep. Xan pressed her lips together and sat back down.
“I don’t see skin and bones.” Quution spoke only loud enough for her to hear. “I see a healthy, pampered female.”
“We heal quickly.”
“Yes, but it’s more than her appearance. She doesn’t hunch her shoulders. There’s no cowering. She can’t stand me and she’s rude to you. I don’t feel that we saved her, but interrupted her.”
Xan was shaking her head before she could even process what Quution was saying.
No, no, no. Her sister was not a liar.
“And Xoda—”
Xan went still, her narrowed gaze on Quution. What line of bullshit would come out of his mouth next?
“—how old is she again?”
Demon Q Page 14