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“What happened?” he asked without preamble, his attention on Silas. Christa could see his eyes widen at the sight.

“Who did Kisha fucking tell about the blissful bond?” Dakata demanded, in such a way Christa’s demon side got antsy.

What’s with you?

Silence.

Was there something Christa was missing? Kisha, a demon who liked to gossipmonger, would never be one to cause trouble on purpose. He was harmless, as far as Christa could fathom.

“How would I know?” Merihem’s expression grew dark. “Has he done something?”

“Who’s this pretty?” Luka questioned, talking over Merihem, his gaze directly on Silas.

Christa almost laughed aloud at her brother's utter lack of tact and his apparent wish to get his face rearranged. He’d clearly not read the room.

“My blissful one, that’s not why I summoned you,” Dakata snapped, so hard his teeth clacked in the ensuing silence.

“Well, that’s sad, he seems like he’d be fun to get to know,” replied Benra, adding a purr to his voice.

Dakata seldom came to the demon realm, which meant that whatever the situation was, it was serious.

Realizing her brothers were trying to get a rise out of Dakata, Christa slapped Benra around the back of his enormous head, rolling her eyes at him. “Give over. A blissful one, if I got my demon school teaching right, is a sacred gift and I won’t intervene if Daks decides to rip out your intestines and tie them in a bow for being a dick.”

“You’re all making a great fucking impression,” Dakata snapped. “Shall we get to the damn reason I need your help? We don’t have the time to sit around and fucking chat about Silas. Silas’s sister, Wanda, was taken by two demons. Dougal said—”

“Dougal? Who’s Dougal?” Luka asked, frowning at everyone.

“It doesn’t matter who Dougal is,” Dakata growled. “We need to find who took Wanda and fast because she’ll not survive away from her tree.”

Christa’s demon side became antsy again.

What is with you?

Can’t you sense it?

Sense what?Christa opened herself while listening to Silas.

“From the forest,” Silas added quietly, as if that explained everything. Christa figured Silas was referring to being a dryad.

We must help.

What do you think we’re doing here?Christa asked her demon side, not paying attention to the ongoing conversation.

Seeing Dakata raise his free hand and make a rude gesture behind Silas’s back at Luka, Christa moved and gave him a slap the same as Benra got. Her demon strength was the same as her brothers, and she wasn’t scared to wield it.

“I’m just worried about Wanda. Please?” Silas murmured softly, bringing everyone’s attention to him.

“I’ll do all the proper formal introductions later, for now. Christa, my sister,” Dakata pointed at Luka, “Loud mouth Luka, and big gob Benra next to him.”

“Hello,” Silas murmured, looking at the last man in the room.

“And that’s Merihem, my childhood friend,” Dakata finished.

“Yo.” Merihem jerked his chin. “So, shall we get back to the matter at hand if it’s so urgent?”

“It is,” Silas said, lifting the bow he held, as if to make his point. “We have to find her. She’ll be so stressed it will use her energy up quickly.”

We need to find her.