Shadows (Dark in You 5)

“Finn might be able to tell us who was behind this,” said Devon. “If nothing else, he’ll be able to tell us who Asa is, so that will be a start.”

“Has anyone called Finn yet?” asked Tanner, his eyes briefly darting to the pretty diamond piercings that dotted Devon’s outer ear. He’d never been a fan of piercings on a woman, but she worked them—especially the diamonds on her hips and navel; he’d caught glimpses of them whenever her tees rode up.

It was Jolene who answered. “No. I want to look in his eyes when I talk to him. He’s Devon’s biological father, yes, but that doesn’t mean he’ll easily talk to her Prime about the goings-on within his own lair. I don’t trust that he wouldn’t hold back information and then try to take care of the situation himself.”

As Tanner didn’t know much about Devon’s relationship with Finn, he couldn’t speculate. It had been a while before he realized that the people she referred to as her parents were in fact her aunt and uncle. She’d always been very vague with him about her past. All she’d told him about her biological mother was that she was “gone.”

“I’ll arrange to meet with him in the morning,” said Jolene. “But I won’t tell him you’re coming along, Devon, or he’ll know something’s wrong. I’ll let him think it’s Prime business. Ciaran can teleport us to the meeting.”

Tanner was just about to firmly state that he fully intended to accompany them when Jolene spoke again.

“I’m inclined to think that it was probably Maddox Quentin. The demon is well-known for brokering deals that no one else would dare touch.” Jolene sighed. “It won’t be easy to get an audience with him. Unless it’s business, he has little time for demons outside of his own lair.”

Very true. Maddox had little contact with other Primes. He also refused to allow demons to join his lair if they weren’t the same breed of demon as him, which was highly unusual.

Maddox was a descendant of The Fallen—angels who’d been clipped of their wings and fell to the Earth eons ago. Many of The Fallen had copulated with humans, producing hybrids known as nephilim. Others, however, had copulated with demons, producing something else altogether; beings that were highly dangerous and unstable. After centuries upon centuries of mating with demons, they were more demonic than angelic and, as such, were considered a breed of demon in their own right. But they were only ever referred to as “descendants.”

Harper folded her arms across her chest. “I’m looking forward to having a long chat with both Finn and Maddox.”

Jolene gave her granddaughter a steady look. “Harper, you know that can’t happen. I understand you’re upset, and I know this has been something of a shock for you—it stunned us all. But I have to be seen to deal with this myself.”

Eyes flashing, Harper leaned forward slightly. “Someone targeted one of my girls—I’m not down with that, Grams.”

Jolene sighed. “And how many times have you told me that I’m not allowed to avenge any slights on you because, as a Prime, you need to be seen to deal with your own problems? The same applies here. I know you love Devon, but she’s one of mine.”

Knox put a supportive hand on his mate’s back as he spoke to Jolene, “I agree with you that, as Devon’s Prime, you need to deal with this yourself. But it would also be good for our lairs to be seen working together on this. Primes rarely work together, yes, since it doesn’t always go well and often leads to power struggles. But it concerns me that someone was as ballsy as to go after someone so close to Harper, risking her wrath and, by extension, mine.”

Jolene eyed Knox. “Define ‘working together.’”

“Take Tanner with you when you question Finn and Maddox; let people see my sentinel at your side while you deal with this matter.”

Son of a bitch. Devon kept her expression carefully blank, refusing to betray any emotion. Being around someone you wanted but couldn’t have was hard enough. When said guy knew all your buttons and could play your body with his voice alone, it was just best to spend as little time as possible with him.

Devon kept her tone even as she said, “His presence on the hunt—which is essentially backup—would make Jolene look weak, just as Harper’s interference would.”

Tanner snorted. “It would take a lot more than that to make Jolene Wallis look weak. Even if Finn can point us to whoever hired Maverick, the broker still needs to be dealt with. You know what Maddox is, kitten, and you know his kind are very insular. He will probably talk to Jolene, but he won’t do it in a hurry. He likes to make people wait. He won’t make me wait.”