Blaze (Dark in You 2)

Harper could actually understand that, since she wouldn’t want anyone taking Knox away from her whether he was hanging on some kind of edge or not. She’d want to be there for him and do whatever she could to help him.

“I would only have removed him from your home if there was a chance he was a danger to himself or others,” Knox told her. “It would have been a temporary arrangement.”

Delia looked up. “He wasn’t dangerous.”

“Clearly you’re wrong,” said Levi. “He kidnapped your neighbor.”

She averted her eyes. “I know. But he was doing better. Really.” Her brow furrowed. “Then he became a little depressed. I just thought it was a side-effect of the medication. I didn’t realize until this morning that he hasn’t been taking his pills lately.”

Delia looked at a framed picture on the wall of her and a lean, barrel-chested male with gentle blue eyes and hair the same salt-and-pepper shade as his wiry mustache. Knox had told Harper a little about him during the drive here. Crow was a surgeon who loved his job, did charity runs, donated money to human causes, and helped the other demons within the lair who had come close to turning rogue.

Knox inhaled deeply. “What happened here earlier?”

“I walked into the bedroom to find him packing a suitcase,” said Delia. “He said he had to leave. That he had a mission to complete.”

“Mission?” echoed Knox.

Delia licked her lips. “See, Lawrence says he had a vision. A vision that you and Harper would eventually have a baby… and that the baby would be whatever you are and it would destroy us all.”

Harper’s stomach rolled and cold fingers scuttled down her spine. Everyone exchanged uneasy looks, except for her mate. Knox just stared back at Delia calmly, as if the woman hadn’t just dropped a verbal bomb.

“So he’s having paranoid delusions again,” said Knox.

“Yes,” replied Delia. “He’s convinced that it’s his responsibility to save the world by killing you before the baby can be born. I tried to make him see that it was all in his head. He wouldn’t listen. He packed his things and was ready to leave, so I grabbed the car keys. He demanded I hand them over, but I refused. He yelled at me, angry that I wouldn’t believe him. Then he… he hit me, and then he started draining me.”

Harper frowned. Draining? No one else seemed confused, so she figured it was related to some kind of demonic ability Crow had.

“Carla must have heard us arguing,” Delia went on, “because she charged inside to see what was going on and then…”

“And then?” prompted Knox.

“He started ranting at Carla that she put all this in motion by giving birth to Harper.”

Bray growled and Roan spat a curse.

“He dragged her out of the house. I wanted to help her, but I was too weak to get up.”

Confused that she’d been weak, Harper asked, “What is he?”

“A psi-demon,” replied Knox.

Well, that explained a lot. Crow’s breed fed from emotion like psychic vampires, draining them of energy. It also meant bad things for Carla.

“He’ll kill her,” Roan snapped out. His eyes slammed on Harper, hard and scornful. She’d seen that look on Carla’s face in the past. Though he was tall like Bray, he looked a lot like Carla with his dark hair, brown almond-shaped eyes, high cheekbones, and golden skin “He’ll kill her, and it’ll be your fault.”

Harper blinked. Her fault?

Roan made a beeline for her, but Levi stepped in his way. “Hold on there,” he said, voice deadly. “You want to think hard before you try to harm Harper.”

“It’s her fault,” Roan spat.

“How?” rumbled Knox, tone lethal. “Harper didn’t take her. Harper didn’t cause Crow’s delusions. Harper doesn’t even know him, and she has minimal contact with your mother. So explain to me how this could possibly be her fault.”

“There’s no saying he intends to kill your mom,” Bray told Roan. “If that was what he wanted, he could have done that right here.”

“But if he’s hovering on the edge, it won’t take much to drive him to do it,” said Roan. Glaring at Harper, he stalked out of the house with Bray behind him. Kellen’s eyes met hers, conflicted. But then he looked away with a frown and followed his father and brother. Ouch.

Knox put a supportive hand on Harper’s lower back as he spoke to Delia. “If Lawrence comes into contact with you, call me. Don’t try to lure him back here. Don’t agree to meet him anywhere. Call me and tell me where he is. He’s your partner and he cares for you, but he’s also not himself right now.”

Delia nodded miserably. “If he contacts me, I’ll call you.”

CHAPTER THREE

The black, heavy-metal gates swung open, and Levi steered the Bentley along the lengthy, circular drive toward the expansive, luxurious mansion. Harper loved the place. The contemporary piece of architecture was as spectacular as the guy who owned it. It was the kind of house you saw in magazines about the rich and famous, but there was nothing pretentious about it. The mansion had charm and a warm elegance. One of her favorite features was the bulletproof, blue-tinted windows that gave it a really modern look.

Ivy trailed along the high brick walls that framed the estate. Sprinklers were spraying the extensive lawn while landscapers were trimming the hedges that framed the security gatehouse. Levi dropped Harper and Knox off at the wide steps before heading to the garage that she knew stored several expensive cars.