Blaze (Dark in You 2)

“I sure do like this sculpture.”

Jolene smiled at the newcomer. “Well, hello, Lou.”

The Devil sent her a narrow-eyed look. “Hello, vile woman.”

“You buttoned up your shirt wrong,” Jolene told him.

“What?” he squeaked, peeking down at the shirt. Realizing she was kidding, he flattened his lips. “See, vile.”

Jolene rolled her eyes. “Let it go, Lou.”

Sensing there was more to this than the shirt comment, Harper asked, “Let what go? What did you do, Grams?”

Jolene tipped her chin at Lou. “He was in a bad mood, so thought I’d take him to a nice, calming atmosphere to cheer him up. Only there is no cheering him up.”

Harper wasn’t buying that innocent act for a single second. “Where did you take him?”

“To a poetry recital.”

Lou’s face hardened. “The words hardly ever rhymed! How is that poetry?” And it clearly drove his OCD streak crazy.

Harper clamped her lips tightly closed to contain her laugh, but her shoulders shook. She didn’t dare look at the girls, knowing she would burst out laughing if she saw them doing the same. “Will you never learn to ignore my grandmother’s seemingly well-meaning gestures?”

Lou folded his arms, the image of petulance. “I’m done talking about it.”

Skimming through a wallet, Martina hummed to herself as she came to Jolene’s side. A gasp flew out of Belinda, making Martina’s head snap up. The imp took in Belinda’s emerald dress – the exact one that Martina herself was wearing – and grinned. “Ooh, snap! You have great taste.”

Belinda gaped in horror, wringing her hands. “You – I – Where did you get that dress? Mine was specially made! It was supposed to be the only one!” She whirled on Harper with a scowl. “You set that up!”

Well, of course she had. And Harper had no intention of denying it. “Come on, Belinda, you didn’t really think I’d just overlook all that stuff you said to me, did you? As you often pointed out, I’m a Wallis. We don’t let crap like that go.” She cocked her head. “Out of a simple yet admittedly weird curiosity, just how much do you hate me right now?”

Red faced, Belinda stomped off.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what I thought.”

Knox couldn’t help but chuckle. “She will despise you for life.”

Harper shrugged. “I can live with that.” Most happily. She looked at a laughing Lou and said, “So you hate it when anyone plays tricks on you, but you’re totally okay with it happening to others?”

He pointed at himself and snickered. “Hello, the Devil.”

Whatever.

The next hour was spent laughing and joking and… well, it was kind of fun. The one good thing about Lou being with them was that not many approached Knox. Their kind was wary of the Devil, even if there were much worse things in hell than him. He might be a nut-job, but he was a powerful nut-job.

Later on, Knox put both their empty glasses on the tray of a passing waiter and whispered into Harper’s ear, “Come on, I want to dance with you.”

“Just a second.” She turned to their group. “I need you to all listen for a minute.” Her sober tone made them move closer. “Something happened yesterday after I left the spa. It was bad and I was hurt, but – as you can see – I’m fine now. You’ll find out all the details soon; Knox will be making an announcement.”

Jolene’s eyes flared. “You were hurt and you didn’t tell me?” The others looked just as enraged, aside from Lou. He did, however, appear annoyed.

“Grams, I love you. I do. But you’re batshit. I couldn’t trust that you wouldn’t do something wild. I couldn’t trust that any of you wouldn’t have somehow involved yourselves. I’m a Prime now, whether I want to be or not. I have to be seen to deal with things, not have my family and friends do it for me, or it will make me seem weak. I know you don’t want that for me.”

“She’s right, you know,” Lou told Jolene. “You can’t be trusted not to overreact.” His eyes narrowed at Harper. “And didn’t I tell you to be careful? Baby Lucifer needs you to be on the ball. Knox, you need to up your level of protection if this delightful child is to ever be born.”

Ignoring that, Knox looked at Harper’s friends. “Harper will explain everything to you tomorrow. Then you can express just how upset you are with her for not telling you sooner. Let her have this night to enjoy herself.”

Devon sighed. “I’m not mad at you, Harper. I long ago accepted that you aren’t the type to call your friends and share your woes. I’m mad that we didn’t leave the Underground with you.”

Raini nodded. “Maybe if we hadn’t gone to the mall —”

Harper raised a hand. “None of you are at fault.”

“Well, I’m mad that you didn’t tell me,” said Khloë, “but I’ll ride your ass about it tomorrow so you can enjoy your evening.”

Knox’s mouth curved. “Good of you. Now, if you’ll excuse us…” He guided Harper away by her elbow, leading her to the crowded dance floor. He drew her against him; one warm hand clasped hers while the other splayed on her back. Their movements were slow, smooth, and perfectly in sync. “I’m truly astonished that you’re smiling.”