“It’s the essentia,” a voice said from beside her.

She pivoted and looked up, up, up at Xerxes. White hair shagged around a face she’d come to think of as hauntingly beautiful. His eyes glowed such a bright red she had trouble holding his stare. But, oh, the poor thing. He had more scars today. His cheek and neck were covered in short, straight, raised lines.

How had he gotten them?

Maybe it was the bond between them, but she now had a soft spot for the guy. Or, maybe it was the fact that he’d watched out for her, even when Thane hadn’t wanted him to. A memory that no longer cut at her, she realized. She truly had forgiven Thane.

“The e-what-a?”

“Essentia is the Sent One equivalent of a beware-of-dog sign.”

She looked down at herself, at the matronly uniform Thane now made the girls wear, with not an inch of skin exposed below their necks. “I don’t see anything.”

“Because you cannot see into the spirit realm. You are aglow with cerulean, Thane’s color. And as pretty as it is, it’s also dangerous—to others. Like an electric fence. A single touch can kill.”

She had blue skin? Really? “I could literally fry people with a touch?” she demanded, sickened by the thought. Just this morning she’d given Bellorie a hug!

“No. You misunderstand. You won’t. But Thane will. He considers you his. More so than this bar, even. If you are insulted, he will be angry. If you are harmed, he will be uncontrollable with fury.”

Wait just a second. Thane 100 percent, no questions asked considered Elin his woman? Like, she wasn’t just a fun bedtime buddy?

But...if that was true, why hadn’t he told her how he felt? Or, hey, why hadn’t he asked her if it was okay to use her skin as a coloring pad?

Maybe I should have stayed and talked to him like a big girl.

She just hadn’t wanted to have to deal with the sting of rejection so soon after the most amazing climax(es) of her life—or before fury had time to bubble up.

Fury? Yes, she realized. If Thane wasn’t so sexy and seductive, she could have resisted him and avoided all this drama. But noooo. He was, and she’d succumbed, and she. Did. Not. Like. It.

But what scalded most? Like a junkie, she just wanted more of him.

Gah! It was all Thane’s fault.

Ridiculous logic, but she didn’t care. She had been battling a million different emotions—upset, hope, anger, regret, sadness, happiness, yearning. Everything was trapped inside her, waiting for an outlet. Thane and his essentia now had a bull’s-eye pinned to their backs.

“Where is Thane?” she demanded.

“Why?” Xerxes asked.

“He and I need to schedule a shouting match.” She threw her apron on top of her tray. “Plus, I’m not staying down here while I’m glowing like toxic waste. Everyone’s treating me like a china-doll-slash-grim-reaper.”

“Other women would consider that a blessing.”

Maybe she would, too. One day.

That day was not today.

“Thane,” she prompted.

“He’s not here, but he left orders for you. Follow me.” A demand Xerxes clearly expected to be obeyed.

Suck it, she projected. “What kind of orders?”

He was grinning as he turned and stalked away. Sighing, Elin raced after him. She trailed him through the mass of customers jumping out of his way...who stared at her with that comical mix of awe and fear.

“You never answered my first question,” she said to the wide expanse of Xerxes’s back. “Where is Thane?”

“Demon slaying. Hunting a prince. Take your pick.”

“Great, but that doesn’t answer my question, either. I didn’t ask what he was doing,” she said, now worried for him. Ugh. Stop that. The warrior could take care of himself. Those demons were as good as dead.

“I could ask him for you.”

“No. Don’t bother.” No need to distract him. Especially when she could ask him herself. “How long will the essentia last?”

“A few days.”

“Oh. Okay. That’s not so bad.”

“But I’m sure you’ll receive a new dose later today.”

A shiver of anticipation caused goose bumps to break out over her entire body. Traitor! She wanted to deny that she’d let Thane back into her good graces—and her bed—but who was she kidding?

“Yeah, well.” She cleared her throat. “Can humans see it? The glow, I mean.”

“Not to my knowledge. Why?”

“Just curious.”

They left the building, the sun setting, the air cool, and walked to a structure she’d never noticed before. It was to the right of the gym where she and the girls practiced, and heavily guarded, surrounded by huge, thick clouds.

“What is this place?” she asked, a bit uneasy. And exactly how many females had been escorted here? “Wait. Am I in trouble?”

“In trouble? You?” Xerxes rolled his eyes. “I have a feeling you could burn the place down, and the worst that would happen would be a spanking both you and Thane would enjoy. As for the place, you will find out.” He nodded, and the guards posted at the only entrance moved aside.

He entered, and she stayed close to his heels, her booted feet thumping against a clear, glittery stone she’d only ever seen in Thane’s bang-and-bail room. “Amazing.”

“It’s pure gold, which is usually only found in the upper level of the heavens. But this was a gift to Thane from the Most High,” he explained.

“A gift for what?”

“Exemplary service. At one time, Thane fought a demon high lord and forty of his minions. The battle lasted thirty-two days. He refused to back down until he’d removed every horned head, saving a human family from destruction.”

Wow. He was more stubborn than she’d realized. Fiercer, too. “Has there ever been a battle he hasn’t won?”

“Yes. One.”

He said no more.

She took the hint. Discussion over.

A maze of multiple hallways loomed ahead, not a single detail different no matter which way she glanced. There seemed to be a thousand doorways, with a thousand guards, all with the same face. A beautiful face, at that. Pale hair, black eyes. Blade-sharp cheekbones, and a prizefighter’s chin. How Xerxes knew where to go, she wasn’t sure, but not once did he hesitate to make a turn.