Embers (Dark in You 4)

Exhaling a heavy breath, Knox nodded. “You have one chance to deal with this, Jolene. One. If he doesn’t make the right decision and move the fuck on, I’ll make him—even if that means doing something that causes problems between Harper and Devon.” He would not allow another male to wear a symbol of his mate as if she’d branded him.

“I understand.” Jolene rubbed her forehead. “You know, this only goes to prove what I’ve been saying. Despite caring deeply for her, Drew isn’t able to put her needs before his own.”

“Like Lucian,” said Knox.

“Like Lucian,” Jolene agreed. “She would never be as important to Drew as she is to you.”

That went without saying, as far as Knox was concerned. She would never be as vital to another as she was to him. “I don’t think he’ll return to Cuba without trying to stir the sort of shit that will get him killed. Talk to him, Jolene. Make sure he gets rid of the tattoo, backs off, and moves on.”

“I highly doubt he’ll bother trying to cause trouble when he knows nothing could come of it.”

Keenan’s mind touched his. Knox, I thought you might want to know that Devon’s brother is at the studio, talking with Harper. I could be wrong, but it looks like he’s trying to stir the pot.

Knox’s jaw hardened. He sighed at Jolene. “It seems you were wrong.”

Watching Asher roll on the breakroom table like a dog performing a trick, Harper shook her head. The kid did the weirdest stuff.

“You were pretty shaken last week,” said Drew, beside her. “How are you feeling?”

No less shaken, but … “Fine.” She’d feel a whole lot better if Drew would sit elsewhere, since Keenan kept glaring at them like they were having sex or something.

Drew folded his arms. “Do you miss working here?”

“A little. But I’d miss Asher more.”

“I suppose you don’t have to work, now that you’re shacked up with a billionaire.”

Harper blinked, shocked. She was used to cutting remarks like that, but she’d never expected to hear one from someone who knew her better than that; someone she considered a friend. Still, she only said, “True.”

Drew swore under his breath and then held up his hands. “That was uncalled for, Harper, I’m sorry.” When she only inclined her head slightly, he put his hand on her arm. “Harper, really, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, forget it.” She shifted position so that his hand fell away from her arm.

“Smile for Khloë!” the imp sang at Asher, holding up her cell phone to snap a photo of him. Asher just kept on rolling from side to side. So Khloë snapped a photo of Keenan instead who, for some unknown reason, hated having his photo taken. The sentinel practically leaped on her, trying to snatch the phone so he could no doubt delete the photo. Khloë just laughed.

“Do you worry Asher won’t have wings?” Drew asked Harper.

She did worry a little, since it had once been a limitation of hers. Although she had the tattoo-like markings of wings on her back, they hadn’t surfaced at her call. Very few people knew that her wings finally came to her after Knox’s power poured into her mind and body. Asher didn’t yet have the markings on his back, but that wasn’t uncommon since he was so young.

She also worried he’d share her inability to conjure orbs of hellfire. It was something the majority of demons could do, but although Harper could infuse it into objects, she wasn’t able to shape it into orbs. “I don’t want there to be anything that people could use against him. Weaknesses matter in the world of demons. Many people look down on me for not being able to call on my wings. Except for Knox. It never mattered to him.”

“It doesn’t matter to me or anyone else here either,” Drew insisted.

Yeah, but they’d known Harper all their lives. She’d expected it to totally matter to someone as powerful and high-status as Knox, but he’d genuinely never batted an eyelid about it. She loved that.

“Devon tells me he’s also your anchor,” said Drew.

“Yep.” Eager to move off the subject of Knox, she asked, “You met your anchor yet?”

“No, not yet.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “Considering that your parents were anchors and that everything went to shit for them, I wouldn’t have thought you’d ever get involved with your own anchor.”

“I’m not Carla, and he’s not Lucian.”

“He’s like Lucian in some ways.”

That got her back up. “And you think you know Knox so well because, what?”

His mouth tightened. “It doesn’t bother you that Thorne has a whole line of exes?”