Hammer Down: Children of the Undying: Book 2 by Moira Rogers

girl—Cache—was taken by demons once. She escaped but got the network boot, and some black-market hack mangled her chip installation. She’s probably not gonna love those of us with demon blood.”
    “No kidding.”
    Hailey’s sigh was long-suffering and just melodramatic enough to make Zel smile in spite of himself, even if her next words weren’t so amusing. “We get a dozen blacklisted refugees a year. If you knew she was one of them, you should have told Lorenzo. He’s only a tactless idiot when you don’t give him enough information.”
    “Thanks a ton.”
    She continued as if Lorenzo hadn’t spoken. “And if the two of you don’t start communicating about things other than weapons and violence, we’re going to be in a world of hurt when this baby comes and I don’t have as much time to smooth things over.”
    Lorenzo grinned and nudged her foot with his. “We’re not kids anymore. We’ll get it done.”
    “Uh-huh. Apologize to the girl. And the crew leader, because you don’t hold together a crew like theirs without being protective and unforgiving. You upset one of her people, you upset her.”
    Zel was okay with having Devi pissed off at Lorenzo, which was stupid. Lust had started to cloud his thinking, and badly enough that it might be worth it to brave the pain of the network to find a little companionship. He had the false credentials necessary to get in damn near anywhere, and some of the darker corners of the Global had just what he needed—clubs filled with men and women looking for dirty, anonymous sex, hard and fast against a wall or over a table.
    All too easy to conjure the image of a willing woman in clothing designed to be shoved aside or torn apart. Less acceptable that the fantasy drifted until the hair clenched in his fist was curly and wild and big blue eyes stared up at him, full of mischief and challenge, as Devi tore open the front of his pants and wrapped her hand around his—
    Everything on his desk rattled as Hailey drove her booted heel into it. Her cheeks held the slightest flush, but her expression was more worried than embarrassed. “There are things I’d rather not share with you. Really.”
    Zel cringed in embarrassment. Hailey had an unusual heritage—few powerful summoners existed anymore, and fewer still were eager to pair themselves with halfbloods whose demon magic could strip them of their free will. The offspring of such matings had unpredictable powers at the best of time, like his niece and her ability to heal…and Hailey’s strong psychic gifts.
    Lorenzo coughed. “You need a good fight. What does Trip have set up for this weekend?”
    “The usual.” Trip had recreated their virtual fighting ring from snippets of old code from before the Fall, when fighting had become an underground, uplinked sport with battles ending in virtual death. Humans held themselves aloft in their pretty cities now, but violence and cruelty had existed in their world long before demons had taken their place among them.
    His friend’s expression was sedate, almost bland. “Maybe you can sweet-talk Devi into taking you for a spin in the ring.”
    “Oh, that’s a brilliant fucking—” Zel bit off the end of his retort, but it was too late. Lorenzo knew just how to prod to get a reaction, and he’d given him one. A fight in the ring should be no big deal. No permanent harm came from it, and it was a good way to release some tension.
    Unless that tension was sexual. Halfbloods born of the violent caste of demons short-circuited when fighting and fucking weren’t clearly delineated. Last weekend, a simmering feud between two halfbloods had resulted in most of the adult population of Rochester getting a show when the pair finally lost their grip on self-control. Trip had booted them from the network before Shana had gotten her hands on her new playmate’s dick, but rumor had it the two had gone at it in the soldiers’ barracks while everyone else was still linked up.
    Sex