Embers (Dark in You 4)

Harper gave Knox a sideways look and said, “Let me lead this time. This bitch may well have been using Ciaran to get an in with my family and spy on them somehow for Alethea. She might have even recommended that Heidi be the perfect kid to use for the ritual to free the incorporeal. You can have your turn when I’m done.”

“You’re all heart,” Knox said dryly. She just snorted.

“I don’t think Malloy had anything to do with what happened to Heidi,” said Larkin, frowning. “From what I could gather, she’s only been dating Ciaran for a few months, off and on.”

“Yes, but I called Khloë a few minutes ago,” Harper told her. “She said that Ciaran and Sherryl have been working together at a retail store for a few years now. They were friends well before they started sharing a bed. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sherryl pushed for more so that she could get closer to him and get more info.”

“How much did you tell Khloë when you asked about Malloy?” Larkin asked.

“Not much. I assured her that I’d answer her questions later, once I had the answers I needed.” And Harper would do whatever it took to get them from this bitch who’d endangered her family. Anticipation filled her inner demon, who was anxious to vent some of the rage it had been forced to contain for far too long.

“Does Ciaran care about Malloy?” asked Larkin.

Harper considered it for a moment. “I doubt it, or he’d have brought her to family gatherings. He’s never once mentioned her to me. It was Khloë who talked about her, saying she didn’t like Ciaran’s new girlfriend.”

Harper also knew from Khloë that Sherryl was a familiar—a breed of demon that could change into small animals such as cats, dogs, birds, and ferrets. As such, Harper had been able to warn Levi that the bitch might try to escape him by shifting into an animal. She had indeed tried it, but Levi had bound her quickly with the preternatural rope he’d been given by his inc

antor friend—a demonic witch. It not only trapped a person, it blocked them from being able to use their gifts. Only a very powerful demon could escape it.

Generally, familiars were rarely powerful. However, they were often annoyingly immune to the compelling tone that all sphinxes were gifted with, which meant that Harper probably wouldn’t be able to force the she-demon to confess all. But that was okay. There were other much more fun ways of extracting information from people.

As they neared the boathouse, Harper shot Knox a look. Remember, let me lead. He only inclined his head, which would have to be good enough. Blanking her expression, she pushed open the door. Three gleaming chrome and fiberglass boats were separated by narrow walkways. At the end of the central walkway was a curvy redhead, tied to a chair, her eyes wide, her freckled face pale.

Keeping her gaze locked with Sherryl’s, Harper slowly stalked toward her, wooden floorboards groaning beneath her feet. The rough nylon ropes creaked as the boats swayed gently. Beneath the scent of the briny salt water that lapped at the hulls were the smells of wax and motor oil … and the little bitch’s fear. Excellent. That fear was like catnip to Harper’s demon.

Coming to a halt, Harper bared her teeth in a feral smile. She was conscious of Knox sidling up to her while Larkin joined Levi in standing near the wall, but her focus was on the familiar in front of her. The familiar who had quite possibly passed on info that led to the attempted attack on her son. As far as Harper was concerned, an effort to possess Asher counted as an attack. An attack that, if successful, could have led to any number of bad things for her little boy.

Harper tilted her head. “Sherryl, isn’t it? I have some questions for you. I’d advise you not to choose silence over honesty, but I truly can’t say I’m hoping you’ll choose honesty. I’m in a real bitchy mood, so torturing answers out of you would bring me nothing but supreme joy.”

Sherryl studied her. “You’re not a killer,” she said, voice shaky but sure. “I see into a person. You’ll kill in self-defense or during combat. But you won’t kill someone who isn’t fighting back.”

Not usually, thought Harper. “But my demon will. And since I’m quite sure you’ve been working with the remaining Horseman—”

Sherryl’s eyes bulged. “What? No! I’m not working with him!”

“Alethea was. And you were doing her bidding.” Harper pursed her lips. “How did you meet her?”

The familiar snapped her mouth shut and raised her cleft chin slightly. Ooh, she apparently felt some loyalty toward the encantada. How silly and pointless.

“You really don’t want to test my mate’s patience,” Knox told Sherryl, tone silky smooth yet coated in menace. “She doesn’t have a lot of it at the best of times. Right now, she’s dangerously low on it.” But Sherryl, obviously dumb as a crumb, still said nothing.

Face hardening, Harper carefully removed the jeweled metal sticks from her hair. Then, holding Sherryl’s eyes, Harper infused hellfire into the sticks.

Sherryl jerked back a little in her seat, breaths coming hard and fast now.

“I’m going to count to four,” Harper said, calm and pleasant. “If I get to two and you haven’t yet spoken, I’m going to stab your thighs with these. Believe me, it’ll hurt like a motherfucker. If I get to three and you still aren’t talking, I will set your fucking nipples on fire and watch the hellfire eat at them—with utter joy and a mental happy dance. And if I reach four and you’re still not singing like a canary, I will proceed to torture you with a slow, sadistic meticulousness that will blow your mind. And Sherryl, you really don’t want that.”

Eyes wide, Sherryl licked her trembling lips.

“One.” No response. “Two.” Still no response. Quick as lightning, Harper rammed the flaming metal sticks into Sherryl’s thighs. The familiar screamed, face reddening, spine snapping straight. Harper didn’t pull out the sticks; she held them tight, glaring right into the bitch’s pain-filled eyes. “Told you it would hurt like a motherfucker. Now, where was I? Oh, yeah. Thr—”

“Alethea came to me when she was dating Thatcher!” Sherryl burst out, eyes tearing.

Harper’s demon sighed, disappointed. It had been looking forward to setting her nipples alight. Disturbingly, it was slightly comforted by the sound of their prey’s blistering flesh sizzling. “Go on.”

“They didn’t seem serious, but she said she hoped they could have something good,” Sherryl went on, pain dripping from every syllable. “She was … she was nice to me.”

“Nice to you?” Alethea wasn’t nice.