Shadows (Dark in You 5)

Tanner took the chair opposite Knox. “Where’s Levi and Keenan?”

“They’re on their way. How did things go with Finn?” After Tanner gave him a rundown of the meeting, Knox added, “He might not be a father to Devon, but he cares for her in his way. If Asa is hiding anything, Finn will find out.”

Finally ending her call, Larkin gave Tanner a half-smile. “Morning.” She took a sip from her takeout coffee cup. “I heard about what happened to Devon. Knox said you took her home last night. How is she?”

“A pain in my ass, same as always.” Tanner leaned back in his seat, making the leather creak slightly. “She’s also alert, which is good, because there’s a possibility that whoever hired the incantor might make another try for her. I’ve stationed Enzo and Lex outside the studio.”

Larkin’s eyes widened a little. “I’m sure Jolene already has people watching it.”

“She does, but they’re hanging near the hotel opposite the building, out of sight.” Tanner had spotted them easily enough, though. “In other words, they’re happy to use Devon as bait. I’m not. Moving onto lair matters … Any issues last night?”

Knox shook his head. “Not one.”

Tanner blinked. “Seriously?”

“Not even a case of vandalism or drunken teens,” said Knox.

Well that was new. Despite that Knox ran a very tight ship and showed no mercy to any who crossed him, such peace among lair members was rare—they were demons, after all. It was in their nature to push, rebel, and take risks. Still, they were usually careful not to do anything that would require the sentinels to intervene, since that often meant the punishment would be severe. As such, the Force managed to resolve those small issues just fine.

“I have a feeling our lair is going to be on its best behavior for a while,” said Larkin. “News of what happened to Devon will travel very fast, and people will figure Harper is seething about it; they won’t want to do anything that would attract her attention while she’s in a violent frame of mind. With any luck, it will also discourage whoever hired the incantor to back off from Devon.”

“It would be the smart thing for them to do,” said Tanner. “Especially since she now wears my mark.”

Larkin’s brows flew up. “How the hell did you get her to agree to that?”

“It wasn’t easy. Nothing with Devon ever is.”

Knox’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t mention this last night.”

“Mention what?” asked Levi as he and Keenan strode into the office.

Knox waited until the two sentinels were seated before he explained, “It would seem that Tanner has marked Devon.”

Levi looked at Tanner, his brow creased. “I could tell that you wanted to, but I didn’t think your demon would go for that. Or that Devon would, for that matter.”

“Your hound likes her?” Keenan asked him.

Tanner made a face. “It finds her tolerable.”

Keenan snickered. “Coming from your demon, that’s undying love.”

“On a completely different topic,” began Knox, “we need to discuss the matter of Harry’s death.”

“I visited the crime scene with Larkin after you headed to Jolene’s house last night,” said Keenan, eyes dulling. “I’ve seen a lot of bad shit in my time. I’ve been responsible for a lot of bad shit. But what happened to Harry? That wasn’t just cruel, it was sick.”

Larkin nodded. “Especially with the way the killer posed him like he was a damn doll or something. The killer was most likely one of Sloan’s sentinels.”

“Most likely,” Tanner agreed, eyes dancing from Larkin to Keenan. “Do you either of you know if any of them has the ability to alter or cloak their scent?”

Keenan shook his head.

Larkin pursed her lips. “I’m not sure. I’ll ask around and see if anyone knows, but we have to bear in mind that most demons don’t make all their abilities public knowledge.”

True, but … “If we don’t check, we won’t know. So, what else is on the agenda for today?”

They spent some time discussing what needed to be done—including making important calls, investigating complaints made by business owners within the Underground, and chewing a certain demon’s ass out for starting a bar fight that resulted in a whole lot of damage. Said demon would also be expected to cover the costs of those damages.

Tanner looked at Larkin. “I can give Harper a ride home from work, as usual. But the evening is going to be a busy one for me. If she needs to go anywhere—”

“I’ll take her,” Larkin assured him.

“Do you need one of us to go with you to see Maddox?” asked Keenan.

“It’s best if you don’t. A group would look confrontational.” Tanner pushed out of his chair. “I’ll get going. Call if you need anything.”

“Before you head out,” Larkin began as he walked away, “there’s something you should know.”

Pausing, Tanner glanced at her over his shoulder and saw that she was staring out of the window. “What?”