Ashes (Dark in You 3)

Jolene sighed. “Knox, I’ve had problems with many Primes. It’s the curse of having a small lair. What’s this about? You really think Jonas is responsible?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. But I’m not willing to rule out any possibilities. I need to know what problem you two had.”

“Jonas saw me and members of my lair talking with Lou at the anniversary shindig you threw at the Underground.”

Knox ground his teeth. “It wasn’t a shindig.”

“In any case, he later came to me with a rather surprising request.”

As Jolene repeated her conversation with the Prime, Knox’s jaw hardened until it ached. “How long ago did he approach you with this?”

“A few weeks before the hunters went after Harper.”

“And you didn’t think the two things could be linked?”

“No. I assumed it was the Horsemen, given that they’d already targeted both of you twice before.”

Knox couldn’t even fault her for that, considering he’d done the same damn thing. “It was a reasonable assumption for you to make,” he allowed. “Jonas was no doubt counting on people to blame the Horsemen.”

“Can we be sure he’s our boy? We have to be completely certain before we take action, Knox.”

Halting, Knox inhaled deeply. “At the moment, no, we can’t be sure. I’ll be calling for all the Primes to meet with me tomorrow. I need to look him and Thatcher in the eye. I need to see how they react to me and what I have to say.” While the practical side of him believed that Thatcher wasn’t at fault, Knox’s emotional side wouldn’t allow him to take chances.

“I’ll be there. Now, why don’t you tell me what this has to do with Thatcher and why you sound as though you’d like to see someone drowning in a pool of their own blood?”

And here was where Jolene would lose her mind.

CHAPTER TWELVE

A steady, rhythmic beat woke her. A heartbeat, Harper quickly realized. She didn’t need to open her throbbing eyes to know that the arms wrapped around her, keeping her cradled against a warm solid body, belonged to Knox. She’d know the feel and scent of him anywhere.

Swallowing, Harper winced. It felt like someone had rubbed at the back of her throat with sandpaper. Her mouth was dry as a bone. Forcing her eyes open, she realized they were in their room and Knox was sitting upright against the headboard. “Why do I feel hungover?” she mumbled.

Knox kissed her hair and tightened his arms around her, so fucking glad she was awake. He’d known that she was fine, but he’d needed to hear her voice and look into her eyes before he could relax. At the moment, the eyes squinting up at him were a pretty amethyst shade. “Hungover has got to be better than fevered.”

Memories of the previous evening flickered through Harper’s mind. She tensed, sure she’d dreamed half of it, because it was simply too surreal. “Did someone really try to hurt me using magick?”

“Yes, you were hexed,” Knox confirmed, curling her hair around her ear. His mouth twitched as she let out a string of inventive curses that would have made even a sailor blink in shock. “We don’t know what type of hex it was. There’s no way of knowing because you fought it off before it could work.”

Sitting upright, Harper studied him closely. “But you think it was a death hex, don’t you?”

Knox shifted her to straddle him. “I don’t know. The hunter said that the person who hired him was very adamant that you weren’t to be killed. It could be that they simply wanted to weaken you, but the hex was so intense and you were in so much pain… I’m more inclined to think that they’re no longer so concerned about whether you’re alive or dead. Maybe because they’re pissed that their previous plans were foiled – I can only speculate.” His jaw hardened. “You should know that it’s possible that you were in close contact with whoever cast the hex – or, at least, with someone who worked for them.”

“Seriously?”

“They needed to possess something of yours and to have fed you a little of their blood – it could have been in your drink; you wouldn’t have known.”

Harper grimaced. “Their blood? Really?”

“Really.”

Both she and her demon shuddered. The entity was more uptight than usual, which was pretty understandable in Harper’s opinion. She put a hand to her stomach as she voiced the question she’d dreaded asking for fear of the answer. “The baby’s fine, right?”

Hearing the slight tremor in her voice, Knox cupped her face. “The baby is fine, I promise you.” He’d spent much of the night with his hand on her stomach, feeling the baby move and kick, letting it calm his demon. “Other than a little hungover, how do you feel?”

“Not bad, considering. I don’t feel weak or anything.”

“Good, because I want to take you somewhere.”

She arched a brow. “Oh yeah? Where?”

One corner of his mouth lifted at the dubious note in her tone. “It’s a surprise.”

A snort popped out of her. “It’s you wanting to whisk me away from here – that’s what it is,” she corrected.

“You can’t tell me you’re not feeling a little anxious. You’ve been attacked, hexed, and you’re pregnant. A little downtime will do you good. And, yes, I want to whisk you to someplace safe. Somewhere where you can relax.”

“For how long?”

“For as long as it takes for you to get better and emotionally recover.” And for his demon to calm the hell down. “Be honest – your fever might be broken and the pain might have gone, but it’s left you weak and weary. It’s also spooked you a little and left you shaken.”

Unable to deny any of that, Harper puffed out a breath and said, “Okay, you can whisk me away somewhere, but I’d like to see Jolene before I go. She’ll be worried.”

Knox nodded. “About Jolene… you should know that she destroyed a number of derelict buildings last night.”

Harper winced. “You told her I’d been hexed? Damn, Knox, I thought you were smarter than that.”

“She would have found out from someone. It was better that she heard it from me.”

“Hmm.”

“Did you know that she’d had trouble with Jonas?”

“Jonas?” Harper echoed, surprised. She listened intently as he relayed the things he’d heard from Larkin and Jolene. “If we were talking about anyone other than Jonas, I’d understand why you might link him with what’s happened to me and Heidi. But Jonas likes you,” she pointed out, absentmindedly tracing the brand her demon left on his nape. “He wouldn’t go after your mate.”

Knox’s mouth kicked up into a smile. “Nobody likes me, baby. They fear me and so they’re civil toward me out of respect and a sense of self-preservation – that’s it.”

“You’re wrong. Your sentinels like you. My family likes you.” She smiled. “I like you.”

His cock twitched at the sensual note in her voice. “Later, when we’re alone, I’ll have you.”

“Why later? What’s happening now?”

“Now I go talk with the Primes. I called an emergency meeting. You can’t come, Harper,” he quickly added. “One of them can sense pregnancies, and we’re not ready for people to know yet.”

She snorted. “You’d expect me to stay behind anyway.”

“I would,” he admitted, unrepentant.

She blew out a long breath. “I guess I’ll pack while you’re gone.”

“Good girl.” He kissed her forehead. “We’ll be gone a couple of weeks, so don’t pack light.”

“Okay. Try not to kill Thatcher or Jonas. I want to make sure the right guy dies.”

“I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try. For you.” Sliding his fingers into her hair, he kissed her – a soft and slow exploration that still left her panting. “Shower.”

Sensing he needed to take care of her, Harper didn’t protest as he washed, dried, and dressed her. She even let him comb her hair, knowing it calmed him. Still, when he set down the brush and she turned to face him, anxiety lingered in his dark eyes. “I’m okay.”