“What does it matter? She’s a kid.”
“I can’t sense her energy patterns.”
“Can you sense Spaeth’s?”
Quution tipped his head. “And I could find him if I needed to.”
“Well, you’ve never met Xoda.”
“I’d never met Xera but I found her.” He twisted to sit facing her. “Xan, demons hide their young well to keep them safe, but there’s no hiding from my ability. Xoda’s energy should stand out. I don’t feel an energy pattern consistent with a child of your kind. I’d expect her energy to be similar to yours and your sister’s, but I only sense…you and your sister.”
She leaned forward. They were still a few feet apart but close enough to see the earnestness in his features. “Then she’s probably farther away. Spaeth might’ve actually thought outside the box.”
“Xan!” Xera cried out.
Xan clambered to Xera’s side.
“Lie with me,” her sister mumbled.
No doubt Quution would point out how Xera’s timing was impeccable if given the chance, but it was probably the discussion with Quution that had woken her. And Quution’s male voice that had scared her.
“Of course.” Xan stretched out beside her to form a barrier against the male behind her. He was trying to get between them, trying to turn her against her only living family member.
She’d have to make sure Quution didn’t succeed.
Chapter 18
Xan’s eyelids drifted open. A pair of lilac eyes gazed back at her from across the chamber. She’d gone to sleep with her back toward him, like her own personal barrier. A bit of irony since he was obsessed with his wards. But sometime during the night of fretful dreams with a small child’s voice crying, “Help me, Auntie Xan,” she’d rolled to face Quution.
“I think your sister has finally been sleeping the last couple of hours,” he said.
“She’s been sleeping all night.” Except for the time Xera had woken up and called for her.
He gave his head a slow shake. “No. She was up most of the night and you slept fitfully. You didn’t settle down until she drifted off.”
Xan sat up, careful not to disturb her sister. “She was asleep the whole night.” But her voice didn’t ring with the confidence she’d meant it to.
Quution sighed, his face lined with fatigue. “I’m an energy demon, Xan. I can tell when someone is asleep or awake.”
“Doesn’t mean you’ll be truthful about it.”
He drew back like she’d physically pushed him. “I don’t lie to you.”
“Mm.” Lying and full disclosure were two different things. She rose to her feet and stretched. His gaze tracked up her body. “I need to grab a bite. Can you stomach a candy beetle?”
She shouldn’t offer him food. He didn’t like her sister, but somehow she wanted to care for him more than she was leery of him.
“Stryke is bringing food when he comes later.”
“Stryke? I don’t need another male around my sister. She’s been through enough.”
His look said has she? Xan’s lip curled past a fang.
“It’s Stryke,” he said, not carrying the argument further. “He risked his sanity trying to find her.”
She recalled Stryke’s time searching the underworld. He hadn’t trusted her, but he’d still spent days trying to locate Xera. “Fine, but I’m not leaving her side.”
“What about when Spaeth summons you?”
“I’ll leave to kill him.” She wasn’t playing anymore. Xoda could still be found with Spaeth dead.
“I will be by your side.”
Her anger at Quution was swept away by other feelings. Desire. Compassion. And a deeper emotion she didn’t care to look at too closely right now. The last several hours, she’d been nothing but bitchy and suspicious.
It was the turmoil of the time. Xoda was missing. Xera was recovering. Quution was saying outlandish things. Had to be the aftereffects of Xera’s influence on him. Xera had been going full power, frantic to stay hidden to protect Xoda.
Xoda and her tinkling laugh. Xan cocked her head. She couldn’t hear Xoda’s laughter right now. Yet only hours ago, she couldn’t get it out of her mind.
How old was Xoda anyway?
No, it didn’t matter. She wasn’t going to agonize over details that wouldn’t save the girl’s life.
She abandoned talking to Quution, using the excuse that she needed to lure food when really, looking at him hurt. He was back in his grungy threads and prosthetics and she still drooled when she looked at him. His keen eyes, those full lips, and that hair she loved sinking her hands in when he—
Guess looking at him wasn’t the problem. She had to think about something else. Concentrating on the walls, she fooled the beetles into thinking Spaeth was chasing them. She snatched the first candy beetle to emerge and popped it into her mouth. Sweetness exploded over her tongue. She’d offer one to Quution, but the shade of green he’d turned when she and Xera had eaten the previous day hadn’t gone unnoticed.
There was nothing wrong with eating like she was raised to do. It’s not like they could have a cattle ranch in the underworld. Or grow carrots. Mill their own grains. Erect a chocolate factory. They were the prey or the predators and in most cases they were both.
She couldn’t summon enough righteousness to stay irritated with him. His formative years hadn’t been kind, but most of their kind was raised that way. Yet Quution wasn’t like the rest of them. He’d gotten smart instead of vicious, and it showed in how he cared deeply for those close to him.
Just wait. Once he got to know Xera, once she healed, his opinion of her would change.
Xan glanced at the sleeping form of her sister. She was looking better already. Yesterday, Xan had been ready to mainline candy beetles straight into her to build some meat back on her bones. This morning, the urgency was gone. Xera’s hips were rounded, her face filled out, and her muscles defined.
Where Xan was darker shades of purple with lighter lines, Xera was like an exotic orchid, the underworld’s very own flower with shades of violet and indigo interspersed with more pink-hued purples, like fuchsia. Xoda’s colorings were similar. She could practically be her mother’s twin from that age.
She polished off a third candy beetle before turning back to Quution. He was brooding quietly on his rock. She’d ask what he was thinking about, but unless it was about finding Xoda, Xan didn’t care. He was so set on imprisoning them down here, she’d have to reconcile her life to the underworld to protect Xera and Xoda.
Footsteps crunched. Xan spun to the entrance. More than one being was out there. Who had found them?
Quution wasn’t concerned. He raised his gaze to hers, then to the door. Stryke entered first. As he shrewdly took in the scene, tracking the tension between her and Quution and a sleeping Xera, a female entered behind him.
Stryke was wearing black pants, a black long-sleeved shirt, and boots—also black, not that Xan cared if he was naked or encased in overalls. But the female wasn’t a demon. Xan sniffed. A definite lack of brimstone, but not the distinct sense of fragility humans threw off.
Vampire. Was this his mate, Zoey? Her brown hair was wrapped in a severe bun and she wore clothing similar to Stryke’s. Xan’s lips twitched. Yes. Stryke’s mate. He’d used his energy to keep her dressed between realms.
Quution rose, looking ready to shuffle away despite sitting on that damn rock for hours. Did nothing come hard to him?
Zoey spoke, keeping her volume down as her eyes bounced off her and Xera. “I tagged along so Stryke wouldn’t have to leave every ten minutes to check on me.”
Xan’s defenses rose. “Xera will no longer be trying to keep Stryke from finding her. She is safe with us.”
Stryke’s gaze darted to Quution’s and an unspoken exchange passed between them. Xan clenched her teeth against the wave of jealousy that coursed through her. She and Xera had never had that type of connection. With the way Xera had been raised, Xan was more
like the disciplinarian mama that Xera should’ve had in the first place.
Zoey pinned her with a hard but curious gaze. “You are Xan?”
“The one and only,” Xan answered, not yet sure she liked Zoey.
For a vampire, the female was all sorts of no-nonsense. In Xan’s limited experience with vampires, they were usually vain and coy, but Zoey had a confident and practical air about her. She wasn’t flustered at being in the same room as two purple demons, and there was no air of superiority.
“No summons yet?” Stryke asked. He handed over a fast food bag that emanated savory smells.
Quution shook his head as he dug into the bag. He retrieved something cylindrical and foil wrapped. A breakfast burrito?
Xan’s preference for sweets carried into the human realm too. She was a pancakes-and-syrup girl. Marcus probably added two extra workouts each week after she splurged on breakfast when she was in charge of him.
Quution carefully peeled away a wrapper to keep his claws from catching. “We should come up with a plan.”
His gaze strayed to Xera. Stryke’s did the same. Then they exchanged another look. Stryke’s nod was nearly imperceptible.
The brothers were up to something, and they weren’t telling her about it. Reality crashed into Xan. She was going to have to choose between Xera and Quution.
And the decision was harder than she’d ever thought it would be.
Quution ripped off a hunk of burrito and popped it into his mouth. It was the only way he could eat without smearing his food all over his chin to drip down his fake fangs.
Watching Xan eat her candy beetles had almost gotten him to change his mind about waiting for food. She savored her sweets, even if they were in the form of disgusting underworld beetles. Her eyes would close and bliss would cross her face and he wanted to hunt every candy beetle in the realm and hand-feed them to her.
From the rigid set of her shoulders and the hooded glares she sent him and Stryke, she’d probably toss the beetles back in his face.
He did not trust Xera. But until he knew more, he’d keep his hunches to himself. And between him and Stryke, who had probably passed their convictions along to Zoey, which was why she was here.
Xera was good. Whatever she was up to, she had Xan fooled, though she was probably the only being alive who could get to Xan. Did she have her own plan? Xera likely knew that Xan had been sent to spy on him. So was she planning on using that info to her own advantage? Or had she teamed up with Spaeth?
Stryke crossed to stand next to him. It would be hard to hide their conversation in the chamber, but that wasn’t the goal. Xera was awake and she was listening.
“Are you going with Xan when she meets with Spaeth?” Stryke asked.
“Yes.”
“Think you can take him?”
“Absolutely.” Quution attuned himself to Xera and the energy she expended breathing and the noticeable increase of her heart rate. She was awake and if she was awake, she had to be listening. So was Xan. The females wouldn’t let the opportunity pass. Didn’t mean Xera wasn’t plotting. She hadn’t let anyone know she’d awakened for a reason.
What was she up to?
As for whether Quution could fight Spaeth, he wasn’t as certain as he’d made it sound. Spaeth was his own form of energy demon. He couldn’t manipulate others’ energies, but he was an expert in wielding his own. Quution could sense him, but he was just as susceptible to Spaeth’s powers as any other demon. Healing while fighting Spaeth would drain him as much as the battle.
Plus, he had Xan to worry about. The thought of that full-breed searing a millimeter of her skin made his energy sizzle. Quution was certain she could defend herself in hand-to-hand combat—but that was where Spaeth had one up on them. It was hard to grapple with a demon long enough to pin him when one’s skin was blistering off.
Then there was Xera. Would the meeting with Spaeth be a trap? If she was working with him, then when Quution left with Xan, his brother and Zoey would be at risk. Each of them might think they were safe from Xera’s powers since they were together, but Xan also thought she saw a female that was starving and beaten, not sullen and manipulative.
Quution had to get a rise out of her. He couldn’t walk into a confrontation with Xan and have Xera be an unknown.
“Too bad Spaeth doesn’t summon Xan now,” he said to Stryke. “Then we could leave before Xera wakes.”
Stryke glanced at Xera and then at Zoey. “She wouldn’t have to worry about the kid.”
Zoey’s lips pursed. Good. Stryke had filled her in on their concerns regarding “the kid.”
Xan started pacing. He waited for her glare but it never came. She avoided eye contact, her concentration centered on the floor. A glimpse of white from her fang peeked out as she chewed at her lower lip with the tip.
Those fangs that had nipped his skin only yesterday. And now she wouldn’t even look at him.
Something was wrong.
“Xan.” He started for her, but froze.
In front of him, a nightmare played across his vision. Spaeth appeared in front of Xan, red glowing from his eyes and under his skin. Her body went taut and she threw her head back to cry out. The burning. The stench. Xan was being fried alive.
“No!” Quution ran to save Xan, only to smack face-first into the wall, his head banging off. He stumbled, but his only thought was that he’d failed. Xan had perished.
Chapter 19
What the ever-loving hell had gotten into Quution? A brush of wind caressed her skin as he rushed past her and body slammed the wall.
Dirt shuffled as Xera jumped up and grabbed her hand. “Come on,” she yelled and pulled Xan behind her.
Quution was ignoring the danger to Xoda and planned to save only himself. Quution was going to pit her against her sister and Xoda would suffer, and—
Wait, what was going on?
Xan stared around her, her feet stumbling one after the other as Xera dragged her. It was like slow motion. Quution staggering back, trying to stay on his feet. The cry of anguish ripping from his chest calling to her on a primal level. He was hurting.
Stryke sprinted to Quution’s side. Zoey spun to charge after her. Xan’s power lashed out without finesse. The couple had thought being together would make it easier to stand against a demon like her sister. But a mated couple was the easiest target of all: the other was always their greatest weakness.
Xan cast the impression that Quution was attacking Stryke in his mindless despair. She sent Zoey an image of those garish, long claws sinking into Stryke’s chest. Zoey’s face paled and she spun toward the males.
It would have to be enough.
“I can keep up the hallucination on the ugly one,” Xera said. “Can you take care of that disgusting couple?”
Stryke and Zoey could be July in a hot-couples-of-the-underworld calendar. But Xera scorned anyone she thought was lesser than her and that was usually everyone. Not to mention, she didn’t know Quution’s true appearance.
“I’ve got them,” Xan said with conviction. She switched back and forth so quickly, the hallucination wouldn’t have time to fade. As she and her sister put more distance between them and the other three, it would get harder. She and Xera would have to cast a net much like Xera had done when they’d been looking for her.
Guilt gnawed at her, the sense of wrongness disturbing. But she had to get away, to find Xoda before Spaeth could turn her niece against them. Quution was going to remove her from the Circle and put Stryke on it. Then, underworld domination. Or something like that.
Xan blinked. Quution wasn’t the domination type. How had she not seen that coming?
He was still a demon.
What had made him so frantic back there? She’d spent days with him, months lurking around him, and she hadn’t sensed a fear that would make him run headlong into a wall.
They were sprinting through the corridors. After one turn, they happened upon three half-breeds lingering in the halls like school k
ids who didn’t want to report to class. Their jaundiced gazes landed on Xan and Xera and there were three smiles full of sharp teeth. Xan couldn’t determine if they were male or female; they were barely humanoid.
She couldn’t release her illusions to fight these beasts. They’d have to do it the old-fashioned way. Neither she nor Xera slowed. They rammed into the demons, elbows, feet, and claws flying.
The half-breeds didn’t have a chance against them. Xera was as ruthless a fighter as Xan. A wet splatter and a shriek of agony bounced off the walls. Xera’s malicious laugh drowned out the cries as she beat one demon with its own arm.
Okay, so Xera was more ruthless a fighter.
The three demons down and twitching, they continued their sprint.
“Overkill?” Xan huffed. Xera favored the easy route and that usually equated to violence in her mind.
The effort of maintaining a strong hallucination over a longer distance while running and fighting was draining her. She eased up. Both Zoey and Stryke would know the other was okay, but they’d be dogged by horrible premonitions and have to keep checking their mate’s status. And who knew what Xera was doing to Quution.
Xan’s jaw tightened. She couldn’t count how many times during their flight she’d wanted to tell Xera to stop. Knock it off and leave Quution alone. He’d been sporting a broken nose and a concussion before they’d even left the chamber.
Xan was about to fly around a corner when Xera yanked her arm the other direction.
“This way.”
A twinge pinged in Xan’s ankle as she pivoted to follow Xera.
Her sister’s pace slowed to a speed walk. Her shoulders hung and her sides heaved. Xan wasn’t as worn out and used the opportunity to scan her surroundings.
She wasn’t familiar with this part of the underworld, which meant little, given the vastness of the realm. But Xera seemed to know where she was going.
“Do you have a hiding place in mind?” Xan asked.
Xera shot her a hard look. “Hide? Don’t we have to save the kid? You need to tell Spaeth everything.”
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