She’d created a monster. A delicious-looking monster with a chiseled ass and abs she could sharpen daggers on.

Two days later, she was pinned over the desk, much like they’d started, only this time her feet were firmly braced on the floor, spread enough to open her to Quution’s exquisitely punishing thrusts. The cool desktop was the only thing keeping her from combusting.

Each time he drove inside, a gasp, moan, groan, or grunt escaped her. And the shameless demon had learned to use his energy ability while fucking.

There was nothing like a gentle shock to the clit while a cock was buried inside to get a girl off.

He was doing it now. A constant buzz at her core, until her muscles constricted and her orgasm slammed into her.

“Quution!” she hollered, used to her voice echoing off the walls. She’d lost count of the number of times she’d come. Her voice ought to be hoarse, but she always managed to heal just in time for the next screaming climax.

Somehow, she registered his rigid body behind her and his release spilling hot, sparking inside of her. He was a live wire and it strung out her own orgasm until she worried her heart would stop.

Finishing, he slumped over her, peppering her shoulders with kisses. She pried her hands off the far edge of the desk and twisted enough to meet his lips.

They tasted of her and the candy bugs they feasted on between rounds of sex, when he snuggled her into his jacket and curled around her.

And like each time before, no matter where they’d copulated, he lifted her into his arms and crossed to the corner that she now considered theirs.

She was swaddled in his clothing, his strong arms around her, her eyelids drooping, when he said, “Stryke should be here soon.”

“Mm.” She could nap until then. She doubted he’d found anything.

The energy demon hadn’t had any more luck than Xan had in locating Xera. Spaeth had been lying unusually low, but the Circle wasn’t very active at the moment. All seats were filled and no one wanted to incite an event that could get them killed. Or they were like Quution, off planning an event that could get them killed.

“How old is Xoda again?”

She squirmed to get more comfortable. He’d asked every day they’d been in here. Had she always fallen asleep before she answered? “Seven or so. I wasn’t there when she was born.”

The day Xera had surprised her with a wiggly purple baby had been one of Xan’s best. A member of the family, free from corruption. A girl they could raise to be the best of them. It was like her dream had come true.

“Yesterday, you said she was ten or so.”

“Yep. Around there.” Did it matter? They lived so long the years blended into each other.

“But Xera is seventy-eight.”

“Yep. Two-hundred and twenty years younger than me.”

“Mm.”

Her lips twitched. He’d picked up her habit. Sleep claimed her until she awoke to male voices.

“I can’t find a thing,” Stryke said, his tone low. He’d used her own energy pattern like a signal and he was the receiver, and he’d gone hunting for an energy signature with similar patterns to hers. “I get on a trail and then I get this constant, gnawing anxiety until I have to leave to go find Zoey. She’s irritated because I keep tracking her down in the middle of a mission, or waking her up, but I have to put my hands on her before the feeling dulls even a little.”

“And that’s Xera’s trail?” Quution asked.

“No. Spaeth’s. I can’t even get a bead on Xera without ending up in a corner, shaking. I’ve imagined Zoey killed a hundred different ways,” Stryke hissed. “I can’t search for Xera anymore.”

“And the niece?”

Xan opened her eyes in time for Stryke to answer. “No trail. They’re exceptional at covering their tracks.”

“Maybe he doesn’t have her,” Quution replied from behind the desk they’d had sex on too many times to count.

She lied, it was six times.

Stryke paced across from his brother. His normally handsome face was haggard. Dark circles hung under his eyes and his gaze was tired.

“Spaeth’s making Xera protect him.” She should’ve come to the conclusion earlier. “I’m sure he’s coercing her with my safety like he’s doing to me with her.”

“And Xoda,” Quution added, but he watched her closely, his gaze oddly intent.

“Where Xera is, she’ll have Xoda.” Her singular pride was raising her sister to care for a young. Xan rose fluidly to her feet. “I need to be the one looking for her.”

Stryke pinched the bridge of his nose. “Normally, I’d argue, but I’m not getting anywhere.”

Quution ducked his head. “We’ll search. You go, get some rest. Xan’s deadline is up in a day and we’ll need to be fully rested to face Spaeth.”

The brothers were on her side. She’d made the right decision in telling them. If Spaeth was using her sister’s powers, then it was no wonder Xan hadn’t found her.

Stryke shuffled out, muttering that he’d be there when they needed him.

Quution slid his gaze away from the empty doorway to her. Their time in the library turned sex den was over.

“I need to stop at my chamber.” He gestured to the pile of claws and fangs. “I need my glue.”

He still insisted on his deception, thinking it helped. She wouldn’t argue. If he was helping her, they didn’t need the extra attention anyway.

Quution pressed the final claw on and held it until the glue set. “Where will you meet Spaeth?”

“He’ll summon me.” Xan reclined on his stone slab bed, and it was hard not to ditch his task and take her on every surface of his place. But they needed to pick up where Stryke had left off. “I’m a little surprised he waited the whole week. He was getting antsy.”

And Quution had been getting close to cementing the final ward he’d need to allow him to pass through. Ironically, Xan had completely derailed him, which would delight Spaeth before her deception enraged him.

Quution wouldn’t let that happen. Spaeth wasn’t going to damage one patch of purple skin on Xan’s body.

The glue dry, he palpated his fangs. The sweet relief of having had them off for days was gone. His platform shoes were back on, his trench coat in place. At least this time it smelled of Xan’s fresh fragrance.

Could he find a way to bring her scent with him when it was time to go? He couldn’t ask her to abandon her family, and he couldn’t bring them with. He had a responsibility that transcended his lust.

“I am ready.” He rolled his neck to work the kinks out before he lurched around the underworld in his uneven boots.

Her gaze swept over him. A moment of insecurity flitted through him. Usually, it was the other way around. His real form was the vulnerable one down here. Dressed like this, with the rumors of his power to back him up, he was feared. Without it, he’d walk around like Stryke, getting eyed for future enslavement.

Stryke had his protection, not that he needed it. But if his brother had to spend his days in the underworld, enslavement would be a constant danger. With his powers and his half-breed status, Stryke would always be a target.

Xan’s bland expression was the equivalent of “Mm.” She strode out the door. He followed her, securing the wood plank behind him.

“Stryke couldn’t sense her energy,” he said. “How have you looked for Xera?”

And Xoda, but there was something odd about the niece that he couldn’t place. Xan was different when she gushed about the girl, but not in the way he’d expect. She was so specific when she talked about Xera, but with Xoda, there was a vagueness that didn’t sit well with him. Yet, what would he know? It wasn’t like there were happy families roaming all over the realm.

Xan turned into a whole different demon when speaking about Xoda. Shouldn’t she know her niece’s exact age?

Xan was getting ahead of him, discussing her method of searching the underworld. He shuffled to keep up, keeping his gaze north of her swaying ass.

“Spaeth keeps his lair hidden better than most,” she said. “But I suspect he always meets me close to where he hides. He’s not a popular guy, and it isn’t just his radioactive personality.”

“I’ve long suspected him of burning demons who go up against him.” They turned a few corners, and Quution waited to continue until he sensed the passageways before them were empty. “But all I have are random piles of ashes and his lingering energy. No proof.” And as long as he hadn’t crossed paths with the demon, Quution hadn’t cared.

But Spaeth had put Xan in his way. How many others like Xan had Spaeth destroyed? The full-blooded demon was a good example of why the wards were necessary.

“I’m sure it was him. He’s probably eating babies with the rest of them.”

Quution stopped like he’d hit a wall. “How do you know about that?”

Xan glanced over her shoulder and did a double take when she noticed he was several feet behind. “Is it, like, a big secret?” She snapped her fingers. “Right. You still have it all sealed.”

“How’d you get in?” She knew about the sacrifices of the young to harvest power. She knew how to get into the chamber. Those weren’t his wards. The high he’d been on since being in Xan’s arms plummeted.

“I can always get through. And I didn’t bring it up because I found your childhood cell and sensed it was better to use that against you.”

“What would you have done with the info?”

She gave him a hello? look. “Used it to get my way.” She narrowed her eyes. “I still don’t sense that it’s a huge fear to you that the existence of a baby sacrificing room gets out.” She peered harder. “Only that I kept my knowledge of it from you. What the hell do you think I would do with a pile of bones?”

Her defensive tone was enough to get him to back off. “Not you. They don’t know that I know and I’d planned to use it against them.”

“Understandable. But in the meantime, do you let them sacrifice away?”

He liked the disapproving note in her voice. She would’ve done as she said and used the info to her advantage. But she wasn’t involved.

“I’ve set my energy lines around the wards. I’ll know if someone enters.” Except for her. His energy happily let her through anywhere. “After the loss of Hypna and the upheaval of the Circle, I think those involved backed off.”

“And do you know those involved?”

He shook his head. “I assume all full-bloods are guilty.” Power-hungry bastards. Breeding and killing to harvest powers. “And those halflings associated with them, whether voluntarily or not. They need to be stopped.”

“When the guilty parties learn what you plan, they’ll double down.”

“Ah.” Quution couldn’t believe he was revealing his plan, but he didn’t want her to think he’d intentionally make life worse down here—beyond what was needed for the realm wards. “But once I carry out my plan, the wards around the altar room will drop, and I have it arranged for the Circle to learn about the sacrifices.”

“And the half-breeds will wreak havoc and go on a rampage, thereby taking the focus off you and your wards while you escape.” She shook her head. “You’re a devious bastard and it’s turning me on.”

He’d do something about that against the wall, but they were on a mission, one that didn’t promise to be easy if Stryke had failed.

“What are my weaknesses?” he asked.

“Excuse me?”

Had no one ever asked her that? “Stryke couldn’t find Xera because she got to him through his mate. He knew it was happening and still couldn’t fight it. But if I can alert you to sudden fears or overwhelming anxiety, maybe we can team up against her powers.” He had no doubt he could find Xera from her energy, but getting close to her was proving to be the issue.

Xan nodded but stayed silent. Instead, as she looked at him, he had the sense of being flayed open, dissected, and it had nothing to do with her power. Her perusal was open and blatant. Her targets probably felt antsy when she eyed them, like he did now, but otherwise had no clue that their personalities and past experiences were being studied and inspected in a unique way that would be their undoing.

“You fear discovery,” she finally said.

The word “stop” was on the tip of his tongue. Were these details he really wanted to know? When he’d first asked, he’d wondered who wouldn’t want to know. Knowledge was power and learning one’s own weak points was the ultimate advantage in building one’s defenses. But the dread running through him was akin to being told when and how he would die.

She continued. “You hide your origins, you hide your true nature, and you hide your studies. The reasons are plentiful, which only gives them more power.”

“And they are?” he croaked. She hadn’t gotten to his true weakness. Was that because she was trying to hide the extent of how well she could peer into him? Or because she could sense his escalating discomfort?

She drew in a breath before she spoke. “Insecurity. Your greatest fear is that you’re not good enough.” Her pause sent his heart thumping. “It’s why you like the human realm. You’re more than up there, all while having a valid excuse to hide who you are.”

Her gaze slid away. Faint disappointment resonated from her. “No happiness. Overwhelming love for your brother and concern for your friends. So Xera will likely inspire panic that a horde is after you, or that you’re being laughed at. Maybe something like the story about humans with Frankenstein. Or she’ll target those you care about.”

Oh. Well, that didn’t seem so bad. “And you turned all that into a placid cabin by the lake?” She amazed him more every day. “I’m prepared, and I’ll find her.”

He’d meant to be reassuring, but she watched him with near indifference. Had he let her down by allowing her to view the real him?