Yes, I’d say it’s time. Knox’s demon wanted it over and done with. Despite that the others in the room held plenty of power, it had little respect for them. Mostly because of how they’d treated Harper. In their eyes, she was somewhat beneath them in that she wasn’t from a powerful lair, didn’t have a high-ranking or well-paid job, was an imp for all intents and purposes, and was part of a family that was notoriously criminal.
Knox agreed with Levi that people didn’t truly look down on imps. Instead, they were wary of them. Daring, sly, wild, and uncontrollable, imps were wild cards, especially Wallis imps. They always retaliated, and they were never subtle about it. In any case, other breeds of demon tended to look upon imps as inferior. Not that it bothered them—imps took delight in irritating people.
For a while, the other Primes hadn’t taken Knox and Harper’s mating seriously, finding it much too difficult to comprehend that Knox would bind himself to a Wallis. Also, it was rare for Primes to mate, particularly since demons didn’t like to share power, so they’d been shocked by the mating.
Knox had come to believe that the Primes also hadn’t wanted to take the mating seriously, since a ruling pair—particularly a pair as strong as Harper and Knox—was far more powerful than a single Prime. He was enough of a threat as it was.
Keep a careful watch on Thatcher and Dario, Knox told his sentinels. Breaking the connection with them, he loudly cleared his throat. All eyes moved to Knox, and the low voices fell silent. The only noise in the room was the steady hum of the air conditioning. The tension was palpable, and he knew it wouldn’t take much for an argument to ensue. He’d picked up enough thoughts filtering through weak shields to know that many suspected either Thatcher or Dario was the remaining Horseman.
“Unless you’ve been living under a rock,” began Knox, “I’m sure you’ve guessed what prompted me to call for this meeting. Jonas is too mired in grief to attend, which is probably for the best since his gifts won’t be very stable while he’s grieving. Would I be right in presuming that you all saw the YouTube clip?”
“The whole world saw it,” said Mila. “Including humans.”
“Luckily, most of the human population sneers at the possibility of anything preternatural,” said Jolene. “Plenty of comments were left about the clip, most of which went along the lines of ‘terrible special effects’ and ‘bad acting’.”
“But some names were mentioned—particularly those of the other Horsemen,” Mila pointed out. “Alethea’s killer also mentioned you, Knox.”
“Only by surname,” he said. “As such, I doubt it will be linked to me. Even if it was, the human authorities will hardly believe there’s a death to investigate—people don’t set others on fire and melt their corpse, do they? Not in the human world.”
Pausing, Knox ran his gaze over each of the Primes. “If anyone here wishes to do as the Horseman asked and step down from their position, say so now.” When no one spoke, Knox gave a satisfied nod.
Malden sighed. “Although I’d investigated the matter of the Horsemen, I’d held out hope that they didn’t exist. Just the idea that demons might band together with plans to overthrow the Primes is bad enough. That such demons would also think to take you on means they’re either powerful, delusional, or utterly stupid.”
“Alethea’s killer was powerful,” said Mila.
Thatcher sighed. “I suppose I’m a suspect, just as I was a suspect during our last meeting.”
Knox’s eyes slammed on him. “At this point, Thatcher, everyone’s a suspect.”
“I watched that YouTube video several times before it was taken down,” said Dario. “It seems obvious to me that Alethea knew her killer.”
Knox nodded, watching the other Prime carefully. “He broadcasted her murder to create fear and panic and anger. But it was a mistake on his part, because he also gave us clues about his identity. For instance, we now know he’s able to steal or replicate a person’s voice. We know he’s male. Caucasian. Well-built. We know he somehow knew Alethea—he said she was in his way.”
Eyes narrowed in thought, Raul rubbed at his chin. “She may well have figured out that he was the last of the Horsemen. That seems the likeliest scenario.”
“Alethea disappeared months before her death,” said another Prime. “Do you think he held her captive all that time? If so, why? And why not kill her right away?”
“I don’t believe she was his prisoner,” said Jolene. “She looked rumpled, but not dirty or malnourished or beaten. Her make-up was close to perfect. Wherever she was all that time, it wasn’t a prison of any sort.” There were murmurs of agreement.
“I spoke at length with Jonas,” said Knox. “Alethea was acting quite secretive before she went missing. Wouldn’t even tell him who she was associating with at the time.”
“I thought she was with Thatcher,” a voice piped up from the opposite end of the table.
“Only for a short time,” Thatcher told him. “It was nothing serious. Just a bit of fun.”
“Maybe you didn’t want that fun to end and so you punished her,” that same Prime accused.
Thatcher sniffed at him. “If you’re going to insist on playing Devil’s advocate, at least offer more i
nteresting theories. If you must know, it was I who ended the relationship. It was obvious that she was seeing someone else. I don’t demand commitment from my sexual partners, but I do demand exclusivity.” His eyes scanned the room. “Perhaps you’ve all forgotten that I aided Knox in reaching his mate before Nora could kill her. If I were one of the Horsemen, surely I wouldn’t have helped him. I notice none of you are pointing fingers at Dario, even though he’s a likely suspect.”
Dario’s brow slowly rose. “You do enjoy throwing accusations at others to divert attention from yourself, don’t you?”
He’s right on that one, Harper said to Knox.
Knox gave her an almost imperceptible nod. It’s a technique Thatcher often uses.
“Nora was your grandmother,” Thatcher said to Dario. “You were close, from what I heard. I find it difficult to believe that you hadn’t sensed that she had such grand plans. And you were of absolutely no help when Knox asked where she might have taken Harper.”