“You let her go.” Xander paced inside the cage, where Ava sat on the floor across from Calix, her knees tucked up into her body, fingers lodged within her hair. “I had one fucking rule. Just one. Do not go down to the last cell. She could be anywhere by now. And she knows where the mansion is. Fuck!”

Beside her, Zayne towered above her, quiet as ever, thank goodness, because she’d already met her asshole quota for letting the female go.

“Chill the fuck out, man.” Calix perched on the edge of the bed, rubbing the heel of his hand against his temple. “I gave you one directive, too, as I recall. You followed that one real well. I’m sure you handed over the goddamn keys on a platter.”

“More like a really good toss than a platter,” Xander countered with a hint of amusement. “Now I gotta go hunt her ass down. Again.” As he shook his head, all eyes shifted toward the opening of the cell, where Ferno stood rubbing his hands together.

Out of all the brothers, he scared Ava the most. She’d heard the story of Shey, how he’d burned her alive with hellsfire. An accident, so Calix had said, but Ava still kept her distance from him.

“I’m going with you.” The gravelly rasp of Ferno’s voice perfectly matched his scarred face.

“The fuck you are. Consider that punishment for letting her go.” Xander pointed a finger at the guy, as if he could keep him from going. The sheer size of Ferno would make that impossible. “How the hell does a chick just waltz by you and straight out the door?”

Ignoring him, Ferno stroked his palm, eyes momentarily lost to a trance. “Who was she?”

“Trouble. A whole lot of fucking trouble.” Xander continued to pace, stroking his hands back and forth over his skull and down his face.

“She touched me.”

Ferno’s comment brought Xander to a halt, and the angel set his hands on his hips. “That a first for you, or something?”

“She held the flame.”

Zayne pushed off from where he stood leaning against the wall, the only one of the bunch who didn’t seem all too troubled that she’d disappeared. “She can control it. It’s why she’s being hunted. Demons want her, but so do the angels. She’s dangerous.”

“I’m going with you,” Ferno repeated.

Resuming his pacing, Xander shook his head. “No. I’m done doing you all a favor. You want a piece of ass? Get it from somewhere else. I’m not taking a chance again while you have your one-hour motel rendezvous with this chick. She’s my quarry, who’s about to get the ass-spanking of a lifetime.”

As soon as he’d spoken the words, Ferno strode into the room, his hand gripping the angel’s throat as he slammed him into cement wall, pinning his neck.

Xander’s jaw shifted, a flash of silver warning the demon that he held the power to rain hell, and still Ferno didn’t relent.

“Fine,” Xander rasped. “I won’t touch her. But neither will you.”

“I’m going. With you.”

“I don’t think you need to be near this female.” Zayne set his hand on Ferno’s arm, a move that flinched the giant’s muscles, and he dropped Xander to a slump on the floor, taking a step back.

As Ava understood it, the two brothers still hadn’t set things straight between them, and the deep grooves etched by Ferno’s scowl suggested neither Zayne’s touch, nor his comment, were welcome.

“I didn’t mean it that way.” As Zayne took a step forward, Ferno took one back.

The demon’s lip twisted into a snarl, and he punched a fist into the concrete, knocking out blocks of cement, before he spun and exited the cell.

“Ferno, I was only saying it’s dangerous. She’s dangerous.”

Without so much as a glance back, Ferno continued on toward the staircase.

Rolling his shoulders, Zayne puffed his cheeks and exhaled an exasperated breath. “It’s never fucking normal with him. He’s gotta make every interaction awkward.”

“This shit between the two of you,” Calix said, rubbing his hand across his nape. “Hurts to watch. Wish there was a way to make things right again.”

“All I meant was that she could manipulate him. It’s obvious, whatever she did had some kind of effect on him. As for the shit between us? It’s as much him as it is me. He won’t let it go. So I can’t let it go.” Zayne tromped out of the cell, kicking one of the cement blocks that his brother had left behind, as he, too, made his way toward the staircase, leaving Xander, Ava and Calix alone.

“Well, guess I’ll grab a bottle of lotion and kiss my divine piece of ass goodbye. The odds of finding this female twice are slim to none now that she knows I’m after her.” Xander set his hands on his hips, his gaze sweeping over Ava’s still-bare legs, as she curled them into her body. “Anybody up for a threesome before I get shipped off to Stygius?”

“Thought you and this Sentinel had something going on?” Calix stood from the bed, stumbling back a step before he caught himself.

“Yeah, well. That was before I blew her chance of getting in good with the top dogs.” Sighing, he crossed his arms over his massive chest. “I’d be better off trying to fuck a tree stump now.”

“I’m sorry.” Ava shook her head. “For the millionth time. I was just trying to calm him. Whatever she did, worked.” Ava pushed up from the floor, willing her heart to detach itself from the shame and embarrassment washing through her at the thought of another female bringing Calix relief. “Calix, maybe you should go with Xander to find her. She’d be better off with you.” Jaw stiff, Ava made quick strides out of the cell, knowing all too well that the steps trailing after her belonged to Calix.

“Ava! Wait.”

She continued on, contemplating a dead run, when a firm grip of her arm brought her to a screeching halt. “Let me go.”

“No. You need to listen to me. That female, I sought her out in your absence. Unwillingly. I asked her to provide a fantasy. Of you.”

“Well, while you were looking to get your dick stroked, I was lying chained to a wall in a goddamn underground hospital!” As soon as the words escaped her mouth, Calix’s brows lifted with surprise, and her chest burned with regret.

“Underground hospital? Where?”

She dropped her gaze in an effort to hide the remorse chipping away at her. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter. Whoever kept you is still on my shit-list.”

“Don’t bother. You don’t owe me anything, and I shouldn’t have come back here.” She tugged at her wrist, but Calix held tight, dragging her into his body.

“I’m sorry I sought her out. I’m sorry I’m half fucked up. I hate this part of me. I hate that in a few hours, I’ll be hungry again, looking to feed. And I hate that it can’t be you. I’d give my fucking soul to be with you again.” His grip of her arm tightened, and he tipped her head, guiding her eyes to his. “I do not want any other female, Ava. But my hunger is getting worse. The cravings are tearing me apart inside. And I would sooner starve to fucking death than hurt you. I won’t allow myself to have you. Or anyone. I don’t know what else to do.”

Ava’s heart ached at the thought of such a thing. That he would suffer in pain for her, for gods knew how long. Some incubi suffered for years before succumbing to absolute death. They had one of the highest rates of sudeszx amongst all of the supes in the underworld, and if he thought for a moment he could take her and drain her, Ava knew all too well that Calix would rather take his own soul by committing the ultimate crime. “You need to feed, Calix. Tonight, I’m going to find you a female—”

“No.” He released her, taking a step back. “Absolutely not. I’ll either drain her, or … no.”

“You can’t drain a succubus.”

At that, his hand gripped his throat, his eyes tracking to the right of her like he’d been swiped up right there. Like something had swooped down from its perch and yanked him right out of his own mind.

He stumbled back, until he hit the wall behind him, and slumped to the floor.

“Calix?” Dashing forward, panic gripped her lungs, and she fell beside him, searching for any sign of pain, or agony. Any evidence that another bout of hunger had arrived without warning.

His hands balled to fists at either side of his temples.

And for the first time, Ava saw fear claim him.