Embers (Dark in You 4)
“All they had on the person was an email address. I had a technology expert from my lair try to track it. They said they couldn’t. A proxy was used.” Jonas stared hard at Knox, face twisting in resentment. “But maybe you already know that.”
“Excuse me?”
“Maybe it was you on that clip. Maybe you’re the fourth Horseman. Maybe you talked of being the next victim to draw suspicion from yourself.”
“Maybe you’re the fourth Horseman,” Knox countered. “I saw her face at the meeting when she heard you wanted to make a pact with Lucifer—she was shocked. Anxious. Maybe she discovered what you wanted from Lucifer. Maybe she didn’t like it. Maybe you then killed her to preserve your secret.”
Eyes wide, Jonas snarled. “I would never have harmed my sister.”
“And I would never have hidde
n behind a camera.”
Sneering, Jonas slugged back more brandy. “I suppose you wouldn’t have. You’re so sure none of us can defeat you that—”
“You want to know who her killer is. I want to know who he is. Playing this game doesn’t help.”
“Just go.” Jonas flicked a dismissive hand his way, but the move lacked strength. “I can’t tell you anything that would lead you to the fourth Horseman because I don’t know anything.”
“He was no stranger to her, Jonas. They knew each other. Who was she spending her time with?”
He closed his eyes, replying, “I don’t know. She disappeared, remember.”
“Before that, who was she with?”
“I don’t know.”
Trying a different tack, Knox said, “She was well-aware of what you wanted from Lucifer, wasn’t she?”
“No, but she suspected why I wanted his aid.”
“Aid with what?”
Jonas didn’t respond. Just stared into the fire.
Patience thin, Knox bared his teeth. “Jonas, do not fuck with me right now. It’s not the time to test just how much tolerance I possess. Someone recently posed as Harper to get to my son. We suspect they wanted to take him, and we’re betting they were sent by the Horseman.”
Jonas’s face went slack. “Posed as Harper?”
“Took on her physical form. They left no scent or blood behind, and I don’t have to point out that such a thing isn’t at all common.” Jonas went so deathly pale that Knox’s muscles bunched with tension. “What do you know?”
Closing his eyes, Jonas shook his head. “Oh, Alethea, what did you do?” he muttered.
Knox took an aggressive step toward him. “Tell me what you know.”
Jonas pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a hard sigh. “Alethea. She … ”
“She, what?”
“She had an incorporeal demon in her possession.”
Everything in Knox stilled. Even his demon stiffened. Fisting his hands, Knox echoed, “An incorporeal demon? She had an incorporeal demon?” A demon without a body. A demon that could possess others. A demon that, if extremely powerful, could also temporarily maintain the physical form of anyone it chose. A demon that was as near to indestructible as anything in their world could get. Mostly intangible, it had no bones for you to break, no blood for you to spill, no heart for you to stop, no brain for you to damage. Very little could kill it … making it the perfect weapon, and one of the worst opponents imaginable.
“I don’t know how long she had it. She was behaving strangely. Acting secretive. She also kept putting off our dinner plans, which was out of character for her. Concerned and annoyed, I went to her house to see her. She was angry that I hadn’t called first, and I could tell she wanted me gone. I noticed a glass display case on the mantelpiece in her living room. It caught my eye because it was empty. But when I moved closer, I saw that there was something inside it. A sort of hazy vapor. So faint you could easily miss it.”
Jaw hard, Knox exchanged a knowing look with Levi.
“I didn’t need to ask what it was. I’d never seen an incorporeal before, but I’d heard enough about them to know what I was looking at. Still, I’d hoped she’d tell me I was wrong.” Jonas tossed back the last of his brandy. “But she didn’t. Of course, I demanded to know where the hell she’d gotten it.”