Xan’s hand went limp in his grip. She was asleep. His arms itched to sweep her up and cradle her until she came to.

Stryke grabbed the shoebox from him and started withdrawing supplies. “Quution. You need to do this.”

While Quution could do nothing more than sweep his gaze over the slumbering form of the demon who meant so much to him, Stryke lifted Xan’s hand from him. He scraped under the nails, collecting debris like he was a forensic tech.

“We need to get her somewhere safe. Once I leave the realm…” Quution’s throat thickened, and he couldn’t finish his sentence.

He wasn’t ready.

Stryke’s mouth tightened. His gaze went from the shoebox to Xan. “You do your thing. I’ll secure this room. She’ll be safe until she wakes up. You said she can get through our security.”

But Spaeth might be waiting for her. Or the rest of the underworld, heavy with a grudge and demanding her death.

“Quution.” Stryke sprinted to the door. He peeked out and jerked back, tossing a rippling curtain of energy over the door. “It’s not Spaeth, but his servants are coming.”

Right. Spaeth would have more than the two servants they’d downed in the corridors.

He gave Xan one last lingering look. Stryke’s defenses would hold, but for how long?

“Quution!” Stryke barked. But his eyes were soft with sympathy. “Either you ward this realm, or we fight our way out of here.”

Shouts echoed from down the passageways. A horde was coming for them.

He risked both Stryke and Xan with his delay. Quickly laying out all thirteen pieces from the Circle members in a 13-sided star pattern, with his own strand of hair at the top, he started the incantation. Weaving his fingers over the items, he layered spell over spell, binding the realm’s energy to itself and using his own for the glue.

Stryke needed to leave, but Quution couldn’t bring himself to tell his brother to go. Because Quution would be next and then Xan would be alone. For now, she had both of them defending her.

Chanting, he worked through the spells. So many spells. Stryke blocked the entrance, randomly firing energy balls to keep the demons from seeing what Quution was up to.

The walls of the chamber shook as demons sought to get to them any other way possible.

Quution quieted. Each item disappeared, functioning as approval, as if each member of the Circle were here helping to seal the wards in place. Just one tiny opening remained, and it would be sealed as he and Stryke left, tying the wards shut like a giant, ethereal drawstring bag. Quution only had to bind his energy to the planes of the human realm. All the words were there, he just had to say them. Crouching by Xan, he grasped her hand.

“I can’t leave her, Stryke.” She’d be vulnerable. She could be killed before she even awoke. But worse, she would be trapped away from him forever.

Stryke spun from the door and pushed a hand through his hair and over his horns. “I’m sorry, but there’s no one else who can monitor the wards for eternity. You’re the only one strong enough.”

“You.”

Stryke shook his head. “No. You’re more closely tied to this realm, you understand its energy better.” He stared at him. “You’re stronger.”

“Perhaps not. Perhaps…” Quution skimmed a finger down Xan’s face. “Perhaps I just wanted an excuse to get myself permanently out of this realm. You have the power. You’re from here and you’re older than me. You can do it.”

Stryke swallowed. “And you?”

“I’ll be here. With her.”

Stryke’s jaw clenched hard. “She’s the one.”

“Yes.” Quution rose slowly. This was goodbye. He wasn’t prepared, hadn’t expected to have anyone to say goodbye to. But between his brother in the human realm and Xan down here, the choice was clear. Stryke had his mate. Quution had Xan.

Quution swallowed hard and stuck out his hand. “It’s been an honor to know you. Be well, Brother.”

Stryke grabbed his hand and pulled him in for a hug. Brother to brother.

“Take care of yourself,” Stryke said gruffly.

“I shall miss you.”

Releasing him, Stryke stepped away. Orbs of energy were balanced in each hand. “I’m leaving this realm in a blaze. Seal the wards and get the fuck out of this chamber.”

His brother crossed the curtain of energy and sent blooms of searing energy down each side of the corridor. Shouts of rage and pain filled the hall just before Stryke disappeared.

Quution concentrated on Stryke’s energy signature. When it had left the realm, he uttered the final words.

Demons flooded the entrance, but Stryke’s force field held.

Quution gathered a warm and sleepy Xan in his arms. She murmured unintelligible words and curled into him.

His body vibrated with the loose energy he’d reserved for binding himself to the human realm. His determined gaze landed on the exit and he faced it squarely, his precious bundle secured in his arms.

He had no chambers to go to and hers were no longer safe. He’d scour the underworld for a place for them. As long as they were together, it didn’t matter where.