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    Byleth picked her way through the forest, meticulously searching every branch and bramble. Enos watched her from the shadows, his amusement growing alongside her frustration.
    Did she honestly think she’d find something Makatiel’s trackers had missed? Silly fledgling. She had no idea how badly she needed his help, or all it would cost her.
    Enos materialized in front of Byleth , laughing as she scrambled back, smothering a scream behind her hand.
    “Was that necessary?” she snapped before she recalled her proper place and sank to her knees on the leaf-strewn ground. “You frightened me, sir. Was there something you needed?”
    She worked so hard to suppress her spirit for Makatiel . Enos would revel in her defiance. He’d allow her to resist, encourage her to struggle, making her surrender all the sweeter in the end.
    Enos had the information Makatiel needed, but he hadn’t decided how best to use it.
    “If you return to your master with nothing—again—he’s liable to do more than punish you,” he said cheerfully. “You realize that, don’t you?”
    Glancing up through her eyelashes, she pressed her full lips into a determined line.
    “You may speak candidly with me.” He offered her an encouraging smile. “My expectations are different than Makatiel’s .”
    “He sends me on assignments he knows are impossible. If the demonic horde was unable to find any sign of our target, how does he expect me to return with the human’s location?”
    “Why do you think he does it?”
    Her gaze met his and held, her lips trembling. “He enjoys punishing me.”
    “And you enjoy being punished.”
    “It’s not the same when…”
    He moved closer, drawing her scent into his lungs, assessing her arousal. “When what? Finish the sentence.”
    “When you are there, he uses pain to heighten my pleasure.” She licked her lips and glanced away. “When we are alone, there is only pain.”
    “Pain brings your master pleasure. Is that not enough?”
    “Aye, sir.” A spark of defiance ignited within her eyes before she veiled them with her lashes. “I have much to learn from Makatiel . I must please him any way I can.”
    Enos threw back his head and laughed. Her gaze shot back to his, flashing with anger. “Is that all you’ve learned from your training?”
    “You said I could speak candidly.”
    “So speak. Or get undressed.”
    “ Makatiel is lazy and unimaginative. He has allowed others to do his bidding for so long he’s lost touch with life beyond the Netherworld. It’s hard to serve a master you don’t respect.”
    He circled her silently. Her evaluation of Makatiel was not far wrong. She had underestimated his ruthlessness, however, and his popularity with the other master demons. “What are your options?”
    “Form an alliance with another master demon and convince him to challenge Makatiel for the right to train me.”
    It was an archaic custom. He was surprised she knew about it. “And do you have a master demon in mind?” Pausing behind her, he slipped one hand inside the neckline of her tunic and fondled her breast. She had fabulous breasts, so full and responsive. He savored the warm, weighty feel of her flesh against his fingers as her nipple tightened against his palm. “Do you imagine your luscious body is enough to incite any of the others to challenge Makatiel ?”
    She looked up and back, awkwardly meeting his gaze. Confusion filled her wide blue-black eyes. “Are you not a master demon?”
    He pulled her to her feet, drawing her tunic off over her head. “I’m an outcast. I despise the Netherworld and the master demons resent me because of it.” He cupped both breasts and dragged her back against his chest, rubbing against her rounded bottom. “I’m older and more powerful than most master demons, but I have no desire to play their games.”
    She arched into his touch, wiggled her ass in blatant invitation. “You can train me just as well as Makatiel . I will do