Quution stared out the fake window where the pretend lake glittered in the distance. “They’ve attacked the wards again.”

“When did demons get such long memories? They should’ve moved on and formed new resentments by now,” Xan muttered. “I can’t believe they’re still after you when there’s an all-out war between full-bloods and half-breeds.”

Between the both of them, they’d seeded the information about the infant sacrifices far and wide until the half-breeds had realized they’d never be able to coexist with full-breeds. Instead, they’d declared their right to rule the realm. And they were winning. Another reason he was glad he’d stayed. Demons were a bad bunch, but perhaps with more opportunity to be good…

Unfortunately, both parties hated him for sealing them down here. Full-bloods because he’d cut them off from their power base—controlling access to human hosts—and of course, for ruining their plans for worlds domination. And half-breeds…well, for essentially the same reasons. It didn’t matter if halflings agreed that possession was wrong; it just was, and humans had to deal with it.

So as they fought themselves, they also hunted him and Xan.

She was distant. She’d been aloof for the last couple of days. He tried not to let it bother him, but life had been far less than idyllic during the month they’d spent in their new home.

He never thought he’d spend his final years in the same place he’d clawed his way out of and sworn never to return to. But no one had found him when he was growing up and it had seemed like the best place to set up their fortress.

The difference was, when he was a kid, no one had been looking for him. After word spread about what Quution had done—with Xan’s assistance—they’d both become the underworld’s most wanted. Apparently sacrificing babies was less atrocious than shutting off access to the human realm.

He had no idea how long they could stay here. Xan’s shared hallucination was waning. Already, the illusion of the countryside looked more like a watercolor painting. She needed her power to lead the demon hunters astray and he was happier to be with her than to have a cabin by the lake. It was no longer his weakness to want to live in the human realm, and not just because it was impossible. Spending day and night with nothing to do but Xan was a perfect day, wherever they spent it, marred only by the fear for their safety.

Giving up at the window, he went to the rock situated next to hers, where they dined on candy beetles together. The bugs were growing on him, though he’d probably grow tired of them after an eternity. If they made it that long.

“We need to plan for our future,” he said. “I think we may have to move periodically and secure our fortress each time.”

She didn’t respond, her gaze stuck on the far wall, and it wasn’t even the wall with the fake window.

“Xan?”

Her eyes narrowed and she cocked her head, but he didn’t think she was listening to him. She was deep in concentration.

The illusion of a tiny cabin disappeared. Dirt walls surrounded him once again.

“Have they launched an attack?” He sensed her funneling all of her energy into her powers.

Her lips spread in a huge grin and her eyes danced. “Eureka!”

“Did you send them running?” He could go for a blissful night of sleep. They had sex together, but they didn’t sleep together. One of them always had to be on watch.

“Nope.” Her smile was in place and she grabbed his hand. “Is there anything you want to keep in this place?”

He glanced around. All his possessions looked pathetic and useless. It wasn’t like they could move them to their next home. Any relocation would be furtive and done in darkness. He and Xan hadn’t gathered anything so much as a pebble. It helped aid in the illusion that hordes weren’t trying to kill them. “All I need is you.”

“Good. Now think of Brooklyn and let’s go.”

“What—”

As soon as Brooklyn’s face popped into his mind, he sensed her energy and he was gone.

His eyes popped open. He was staring at a grinning Marcus. The male’s eyes were pure black.

He sat up. Blankets fell from his chest. He glanced down. “Sweet brimstone!” Yanking the covers up, he covered his bare breasts—Brooklyn’s bare breasts.

Taking in his surroundings, he frowned. Marcus’s bedroom. He was in Marcus’s bed. Brooklyn was in Marcus’s bed.

Xan put her heavily muscled arms behind her head. “I knew I could do it,” she said arrogantly.

“What, exactly, did you do?”

“Got through the weakness in the wards.”

He stiffened. “The wards have weak points?” He’d studied those spells for years, overlapped them, twisting them into each other.

“Yeah.” She thumped her chest with a finger. “Me.”

All the times she’d broken into his place ran through his mind. And how she’d gotten into the library and the cell where he’d been raised. She always found her way through his powers. It was like they recognized what she meant to him and allowed her through.

“But I couldn’t even get through.”

“Because you can’t sense the vulnerable points.” She crossed her feet, smug smile still in place.

He glanced around. They were out of the underworld. Back in their hosts.

But this didn’t feet right. He should be jubilant, but he couldn’t be. How could he steal one couple’s life to live his own? He wouldn’t be any better than the demons he’d imprisoned.

One question pushed past his doubts. “What are Marcus and Brooklyn doing together?”

“He was always attracted to her. And a lonely fucker. I bet they’re good together.”

Quution searched for the answers in Brooklyn’s psyche. “She’s working for him and he’s been able to expand. She’s head over heels in love.”

“He’s healthier and happier and totally in love. We did that.” Xan chuckled, sounding all kinds of proud of herself.

Quution couldn’t join in her elation. “Xan, we can’t do this.”

She lifted a dark brow. “You know what we can do? Use your mad energy skills to bind yourself to this realm, then bind me to you. I just needed to borrow these guys for a while to see if I could get us back here.”

He sputtered, then coughed, then stared at her. All words vacated him and he had only one thought. “You’re a damn genius.”

“Mm.”