Embers (Dark in You 4)

“You’re taking for granted that I would have let you claim me.” Her inner demon snorted at the idea.

“If you had—”

“I wouldn’t have cheated on you, no,” Harper allowed. “But, as my anchor, Knox would still have been a part of my life. And I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t have grown to care for him just as I do now. I wouldn’t have betrayed you, but I also wouldn’t have stayed in a relationship with you if I felt so strongly for another person—that wouldn’t have been fair to you, me, or him. Things would have ended up exactly as they are right now. Me with Knox and Asher.” She wholeheartedly believed that.

Lips thinning, Drew threw up his arms. “I don’t get it, Harper.”

“Don’t get what?”

“You and Thorne. You don’t make sense as a couple. You come from completely different backgrounds, you’ve lived totally different lifestyles, and you don’t seem to have a single thing in common. Beneath that hard shell, you’re giving and softhearted—don’t even deny it—while he’s … him.”

Bristling, she clipped, “Well, I don’t need you to ‘get’ it. It’s none of your damn business.”

“Don’t you want someone who cares for you?”

“Yes, I do. And that’s exactly what I have.”

Drew tossed her a disappointed look. “You can’t honestly tell me he loves you with the intensity that demons are known for. He sees you as a possession. A thing. Something he won’t share but can never love.”

“Wrong. But you believe whatever makes you feel better—I really couldn’t give a fuck.” She raised her hands, palms up. “And I’d say we’ve now officially reached the end of this conversation.” She turned to the door.

“I almost didn’t leave.”

Glancing at him over her shoulder, she frowned. “Excuse me?”

“The night after I came so close to having you, I almost didn’t go back to Cuba. I thought about staying and seeing if there was any way to get behind those walls of yours. They were always sky high and ten inches thick. But I figured you weren’t ready—even shitfaced, you’d pushed me away before it went too far. So I went back to Cuba. And, yeah, part of the reason it wasn’t so hard was that I wasn’t ready either. Not for anything serious.”

“Drew, this is old—”

“I took it for granted that when I came home you’d still be kidding yourself that you could be happy with a human, even though you knew your demon would never accept one as a mate. That was my mistake.” He let out a short, humorless laugh. “I couldn’t fucking believe it when I heard you were mated. Devon didn’t tell me about him. Said she kept it from me because Jolene didn’t want you to be with someone whose priority was chasing the next rush. But it wouldn’t have been like that, Harper. You would have been my priority.”

“It really doesn’t matter. I’m mated. I’m happy. I have a son. I’m totally committed to Knox.”

“Which makes no sense unless you’ve deliberately chosen someone who won’t demand everything from you. The kicker is … you won’t get all of him either.” Drew took another step toward her. “Your little boy is bright and warm and playful—all you. Do you want him living every day of his life with someone as cold and dangerous as Thorne? Because if he does, he’ll lose that warmth bit by bit. You’ll lose that little boy.”

So tired of this shit, Harper planted her hands on her hips. “Pray tell, Drew, what should I do instead?”

“Leave Thorne. Leave him.”

“Why exactly would I do that? I love him, and he loves me. You don’t have to believe that. I really don’t care if you do or you don’t. But it’s the truth. I know he loves me, and that’s all that matters.”

“Did you also know that he was sleeping with one of the Horsemen? Isla? They were close, Harper. They’d known each other for centuries. But he killed her. You think you’re any safer with him?”

At the reminder of Isla, Harper’s demon curled her upper lip. “He killed her because she hurt me. And yes, I do believe I’m safe with him.” She fumbled behind her for the doorknob. “Look, you need to go back to Cuba, Drew.”

“Nothing I say could change your mind on Thorne?”

“Nothing.” With that, she turned to the door again.

“I know that Asher’s not a sphinx.”

That comment had her hand freezing on the knob. Whirling to face Drew, she scoffed, “Of course he’s a sphinx. It’s perfectly easy to sense.”

“Did you forget I have the ability to identify a demon’s breed on sight?”

Yes, actually, she had forgotten. But she remembered now that he didn’t even need to be in the vicinity of the person in question. Drew could look at a photo of a demon and simply see what they were. Stomach rolling, she nonetheless stated, “Asher is a sphinx.”

Eyes soft with sympathy, Drew shook his head. “No, Harper, he’s not.”