Burn (Dark in You 1)

“I haven’t decided yet. You think I should.”

“I think you want her to trust you. She won’t if you keep things from her – even if your reason is to protect her or her feelings.” Levi grinned. “It bugs you that you can’t control this.”

Of course it did. Knox took control of whatever situation he found himself in. “And that amuses you far too much.”

An unrepentant shrug. “I always figured you’d be indifferent to your anchor, since you don’t need one.”

“It’s not that simple, which you’ll learn for yourself when you find yours. Then I’ll be the one who’s laughing.”

Knox?

He instantly tensed at the wariness in Harper’s voice. What’s wrong?

Who the hell is Silas Monroe? Because he just walked into my office.

Shit. I’m on my way.

Harper eyed her visitor with a mixture of distrust, irritation, and confusion. She’d been going through the accountancy books when there had been a rhythmic knock at the door followed by the immediate entrance of a dark, gangly guy who apparently didn’t have the manners to wait until he’d been summoned to enter someone’s office.

She could sense he was a demon, so he should know better than to invade the personal space of another demon uninvited. That had annoyed her, and because she was in a shitty mood after arguing with Royce again, she’d simply asked, “Who the fuck are you?”

He’d presented her with a huge grin, ignoring the disapproval radiating from her colleagues in the doorway. The grin was pleasant enough, yet…there was something sly in the curve of it. A cunningness that seemed to match the callous glint in his eyes. “Silas,” he’d replied in a British accent. “Silas Monroe.”

“What do you want?” She highly doubted it was a tattoo, since he could have discussed that with Raini or Devon – it was Khloë’s afternoon off. No, this wasn’t about a tattoo. Something was very weird here. She’d instantly called out to Knox, wondering if he knew the guy. She hadn’t expected Knox to declare he was coming, but maybe she should have.

You don’t have to come. No answer. So she focused solely on Silas, who was glancing around the office, as if admiring the décor.

“He said he wanted to speak to you,” Raini told Harper, though she was glaring at his back. “I explained that you were busy right now, but he said he could smell you and then just barged right past me.”

Did he now? Harper slowly got to her feet as she repeated, “What do you want?”

He shrugged. “To have a little chat.”

“I don’t chat.”

“Really? That’s sad.”

“No, it’s not.”

Harper, don’t let Silas touch you, said Knox, his voice hard. I don’t think he’ll be stupid enough to try to harm you, but he’s obviously stupid enough to bother you.

If the fucker tried to touch her, he’d find her pen – which she’d infused with hellfire – lodged up his rectum. He cast the object a wary look as he said, “Come on, luv, there’s no call for rudeness. Let’s start again. Hello Miss Wallis, I’m Silas.”

“Yeah? Well, I’m bored. You can go now.”

He didn’t look in the slightest bit offended. “Now that wasn’t nice.”

“If you want ‘nice’, you came to the wrong fucking person. I’m a fully qualified bitch who’ll happily rip you another ass hole if you don’t get the fuck out of my office.” She arched a brow when he didn’t move. “Why are you still here?”

“More to the question,” began Tanner as he strolled past the girls and into the office, his gaze hard and intent as it locked on Silas, “why are you here at all?” No doubt Knox had sent him inside to protect her if necessary.

“Tanner,” Silas greeted pleasantly. “It’s a surprise to see you.” Yeah? He didn’t actually look all that surprised.

“I asked you a question. I never ask twice. So tell me, why are you here?” Tanner sounded more dangerous than she’d ever heard him.

Silas shrugged casually, though he no longer looked so relaxed. “I’m simply having a friendly chat with the little she-demon here.”

Tanner glanced at her briefly. “She doesn’t look like she considers you a friend.”

“I think I offended her by walking into the room without waiting for a ‘come in.’ I suppose it was kind of stupid.”

At that moment, another demon breezed inside. “Stupid is coming here in the first place.” Just like that, the atmosphere snapped taut with tension. How Knox got there so fast, she didn’t know. Some kind of teleportation, maybe…She didn’t care to figure it out right then.

As his dark eyes locked on hers, her body immediately responded – heating, burning, longing. Her inner demon perked right up, excited to see him, despite the circumstances. He scrutinized her from head to toe, as if checking that she was fine. Then his eyes slammed on Silas, instantly hardening.

“Knox,” mumbled Silas nervously.

When Knox arched a questioning brow at Tanner, the hellhound said, “Silas here claims to be having a friendly chat with Harper.”

Knox narrowed his eyes at Silas. “Just why would you concern yourself with my anchor?” He was so composed, it was chilling. Harper actually felt the room temperature lower.