Calix sat at his desk, flipping a pencil between his fingers while he watched the security cameras. Sanctuary had the best security team of any nightclub, so it certainly wasn’t necessary to watch, but one particular supe had caught his attention.

To the human patrons in the club, he looked like a big, muscled, tattooed guy with a shaved head—the kind one might see in a biker gang, or something. The cameras revealed his true nature, though, and Calix instantly recognized him as an Impetusi demon with his deep set eye, long forehead and top heavy build that gave him the appearance of a gorilla. Zooming in, Calix could see that, over one of his eyes, a metal plate had been seared into his flesh. The Impetusi demons tended to be strong but somewhat docile creatures, mostly called on for grunt work, but like many demon species, they could be violent and destructive when provoked.

He’d taken a seat at the bar, where Pat had served him a mug of beer. Many supes opted for demon liquor, so it struck Calix odd that he’d order a human drink. That, coupled to the fact that he didn’t seem to take an interest in any of the surrounding females, seized Calix’s attention, since Impetusi demons worshipped the female form. Some could get off just by observing a female for a time.

Lucky bastards.

On screen, Calix watched Zeke move in beside the demon, no doubt drawn by the crowd of scantily clad females standing nearby. Calix rolled his eyes and shook his head. Although his brother was big enough to take care of himself, he was weak. An Impetusi feeling threatened could certainly do some damage to Zeke, if he wasn’t careful.

Zeke leaning into the demon set Calix’s nerves on edge, but when both kicked their heads back, laughing and pointing at their eye patches, the tension eased a bit. Perhaps Zeke might be able to determine what the hell the demon happened to be doing in their club, looking around like he was looking for something. Surely Zeke noticed his beer and could see past the façade the demon wore.

Ten minutes of watching the two chitchat, and Zeke stood up from the bar, disappearing from the cameras view.

Calix’s phone rattled against the desk beside him, and he leaned forward to see Zeke’s number popped up on the screen, before he answered it on the second ring.

“What’s up?”

“Demon at the bar. You see him?” Zeke spoke low into the phone.

“Yeah. ‘The fuck does he want?”

“Asked about a girl. The way he described her, it sounds like yours.”

Calix’s lungs crystalized in his chest, quickly doused by the flames of fury rising up from his gut. “Ava?”

“Sounds like. He didn’t say a name, but sounds pretty spot on for Ava.”

“I’m going to have security detain him. Keep him distracted.” Calix pinched the bridge of his nose. “Zeke, don’t piss him off, okay?”

“I’m easy going, Brother. I’ll tell him some jokes.”

“Nothing insulting. He’s the first tip I’ve had in months.”

Calix didn’t wait for Zeke’s response before he ended the call, and in the next breath, he dialed security. “Mack, I need the team to detain the big guy at the bar.”

“The one next to Zeke?” Mack had probably already spotted him on one of the many camera screens in the security office.

“That’s the one.” Calix rose up from the desk and strode across his office. “I’ll meet you on the security floor. Tell Britus to play it cool. He’s looking for someone, so tell him we might have some information.”

“You got it, Boss. Sending Britus to get him now.”

Exiting his office, Calix shoved his phone back into the holster and made his way to the elevators, his whole body edgy and jittery, like livewires bounced through his nerve endings. If the bastard had any information on Ava, he sure as hell wouldn’t be leaving—perhaps not ever, if Calix sensed he’d hurt her in any way.

When the elevator arrived, Calix pressed the fourth floor button, and the reopening doors spat him out into a stark white hallway, where security offices and detainment rooms lined the corridor at each side. He waved at Mack as he passed the room with all the cameras and security shit, and made his way to one of the empty rooms, taking a seat.

Waiting.

Perhaps only ten minutes passed before Britus entered with the demon, but it felt like a goddamn eternity, as Calix waited for the beastly looking thing to take a seat across from him. How badly he wanted to reach across the table and strangle the ever-loving shit out of the asshole. In his human form, he reminded Calix of something out of a Sons of Anarchy episode—a gnarly bastard spoiling for a fight.

Zeke stood at the doorway, arms crossed, and the glance the demon shot him told Calix he might be feeling a bit edgy himself. No telling how he might react. With a sharp nod, Calix sent Zeke off, and the line of tension in the demon’s face seemed to sag again.

“I understand you’re looking for a female,” Calix started.

“Yes.” The Impetusi’s deep voice carried a rasp, as if he wasn’t accustomed to talking. “She’s in trouble.”

“How so?”

“She stole something. Something that belongs to us.”

“Us?”

He pointed to the patch on his leather vest.

“So, she stole from your motorcycle club, and now you’re after her.”

His nod had Calix’s hands balling into tight fists, itching to knock the fucker back onto his ass.

“What exactly does she look like?”

Stroking the stubble of his chin brought his fat fingers to Calix’s attention—far larger than the average human’s. “Black hair. Bright blue eyes. Star tattoo right here.” He pointed to his temple—the exact place Ava’s tattoo was inked, further exacerbating Calix’s fury.

“Where’s your club? Perhaps we can start where you last saw her?”

“Why’n’t you tell me where you live, eh?”

Calix clenched his jaw in his best effort not to give away the impatience brewing inside of him. “Fair enough. Do you know what I am?”

His eye twitched, and Calix caught the flicker of metal peek below the eye patch, beneath which the plate he’d seen on camera remained mostly concealed. “The owner of this club?”

Calix chuckled and shook his head. “Thank goodness.” He feigned relief and entwined his fingers, resting them on the table between them. “For a moment, I thought you were an Impetusi.”

Eyes narrowed, he rolled his shoulders, keeping his gaze locked on Calix. “What’s ‘at?”

“Assholes are the dumbest fucking species in the underworld.” It didn’t take someone all too perceptive to catch the flare of his nostril that told Calix he’d gotten under his skin with the comment. “They come into this club like they own the fucking place and can’t leave with a woman to save their lives. Well, with their enormous hands and gorilla faces, who could blame a chick, right?”

The rise and fall of the demons chest confessed he’d gotten pissed. One more button would set the bastard off.

“The female you’re talking about is my girlfriend. And yes, I know exactly where she is,” Calix bluffed. “If you think I’d tell you, you’re as dumb as I already surmised.”

The table flew up from the floor, crashing into the wall beside them. Calix didn’t so much as flinch, as he watched the biker morph into the beastly thing he’d seen onscreen. His scarred deformed body burst through the leather vest, twisting Calix’s lip. The human face it wore split in half, revealing the metal-plated eye and one fucked up grill. The roar it gave, as it jumped to its feet, bounced around the walls inside the small room.

Still, not even that moved Calix from his chair.

“Tell me where she is!” It growled, sending a heat wave of rancid breath in his direction.

“Tell you what.” Calix kept his cool composure, tucking his nose inside his button-down shirt, muffling his voice. “You promise to brush your teeth before you go to bed tonight, and I might let you walk out of here alive.”

The beast lurched forward, it’s enormous hand throttling Calix’s windpipe as it knocked him backward off the chair. Cold marble crashed into Calix’s spine, while the beast straddled his body, its mouth contorted into what he guessed was a look of fury, though it was hard to tell with its messed up face.

Zeke knocked at the window, performing some kind of hand gesture that Calix interpreted as do you need help, which he ended on a thumbs up.

Lodging his fingers into the beast’s throat, Calix shook his head, prompting Zeke to give a double thumbs up before disappearing out of sight again.

Calix plowed his fist into the beast’s temple, knocking him off his body, and seized the upper hand—literally—squeezing both hands against the bastard’s thick gullet. Damn near impossible when it didn’t have much of a neck to begin. “Who do you work for?” He spoke past gritted teeth and slammed the beast’s head into the floor. “Tell me before I send your ass packing to Stygius.”

“The female … we’ll find her.”

“You go near her, and I’ll take a blow torch of hellsfire to your body, burning every inch of your fucking skin. Then I’ll feed your charred remains to my hellhounds.” Calix hammered another punch to its teeth, knocking one down into the black depths of its mouth.

Eyes wide, the demon gagged and choked, coughing up a disgusting green phlegm that hit Calix’s face, oozing down his cheek.

“Motherfucker!” Releasing one hand, Calix wiped the shit on his sleeve.

The beast disappeared beneath him, and he fell forward, just catching himself before face-planting the floor.

“Where’d he go?” Zeke asked from the doorway. “I didn’t know Impetusi demons could do that shit!”

With a huff of frustration, Calix sat back on his heels. “Neither did I.”

“That’s a Sang thang, ain’t it?”

He glanced over at Zeke and back. “It’s fucked up, is what it is. So close. So goddamn close!” Slamming his fist into the tiled floor left a fissure in the marble, and Calix pushed himself to a stand. “I need you to cover me here,” he said, passing Zeke at the doorway.

“Where you going?”

“To look for Ava. If she’s out there, I’m going to find her.” Without breaking stride, Calix headed for the elevators.

“Calix! Wait!” Zeke called from behind. “Just … wait a second.”

Sagging his shoulders, Calix swung around. “Don’t fucking talk me out of this. She’s out there. I’m going to look for her.”

“Bro,” Zeke said, walking up on him. “You got some green shit on your collar. Just thought you might want to clean that off before heading out. I know how particular you are about your clothes.”

Calix glanced down at the phlegm still clinging to his shirt and back to Zeke. “If that bastard comes back, you let me know.”

“Will do.”

“And, Zeke, don’t let Gavin know I left you in charge.”

“What the fuck?” he called after Calix’s retreating back. “Seriously?”