Raini looked down into her mug. “My demon keeps pushing me to seek him out; it wants the bond. But I don’t want an anchor I can’t trust, Khloé. Maddox Quentin is not a demon who can be trusted.”
“That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be someone you could trust. Demons are often different with their anchors.”
“I don’t see that it matters much. He’s never claimed to want the bond.”
“He probably doesn’t want it. Tanner said he’s a control freak. A control freak won’t react well to something being completely outside of his control. But that doesn’t mean Maddox won’t eventually lose the fight. And if he does, he’ll come for you. You need to be ready for that.”
It wouldn’t be easy to deal with him. The guy hummed with a dark power that had both intrigued and unnerved Khloé’s demon. “We’ll all be here for you. And we’ll burn his dick with hellfire if he upsets you.”
A weak chuckle bubbled out of Raini. “That should be fun to watch.”
On hearing the bell above the door chime, Khloé looked to see Harper, Tanner, Devon, and Keenan breeze into the coffeehouse. She felt her eyebrows dip. Given that Tanner was Harper’s bodyguard and Devon’s mate, the three often rode to the Underground together. Keenan, however, didn’t usually accompany them unless Asher was present. Today, he wasn’t.
As Keenan’s blue eyes locked on her, remnants of last night’s raw need stirred in her belly. Unbidden, his words whispered into her mind …
I swear to Christ, Khloé, if you mention my cock one more time, I’m going to thrust it inside you and fuck you so hard you’ll be screaming.
Khloé shoved the memory in a mental box and wrapped it in parcel tape. She would not think about it. Or about their wager. Or about their hot little eye-fuck. Nope.
Taking in the hard set of his jaw and the dark glitter in his eyes, it was clear he had a bug up his ass about something. How delightful.
Raini waved a hand at the table. “Morning, people. Your drinks await you. Except for yours, Keenan. Didn’t realize you’d be gracing us with your big, bad presence.”
The newcomers said their hellos as they claimed seats.
His eyes boring into Khloé, Keenan took the chair beside hers, making her hormones do a little cheer. “Were you hurt last night?”
Khloé frowned. “Last night?”
“During that whole clusterfuck with Enoch,” he elaborated.
She looked at her cousin. “I take it Grams told you a little about Enoch and you blabbed to Keenan.” Jolene wouldn’t have told her everything—not now that Harper no longer belonged to their lair. Demons were secretive that way.
Cradling her mug of caramel latte between her hands, Harper replied, “She mentioned it earlier over the phone when I called her. Just hearing about it was disturbing. I can’t imagine how horrible it must have been to actually be there.”
It was a memory that would stick with Khloé, that was for sure.
“Were you hurt?” Keenan repeated, his tone clipped. She’d bet the reason he was so pissed was that he’d heard about the incident second-hand instead of directly from her. He had a habit of poking his big, fat nose into her business. Which baffled her, because it wasn’t like said habit got him anywhere.
“No,” Khloé replied.
His eyes narrowing, he tilted his head. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you?”
His lips thinned. “Are you aware that you look like shit?”
“Smooth, Keenan,” mumbled Tanner.
“Well, she does,” said Keenan.
Khloé couldn’t even deny it. Worse, she felt like shit. She was so tired and drained that she could easily nap right there. Her throat felt all scratchy and sore, and her chest still ached from last night’s near-choking incident.
As she had no wish to share that with Keenan, she turned back to Harper. “I don’t know how Enoch couldn’t have found what he did wrong,” she said, using the straw to stir her smoothie, “but he’d fully justified it in his head.”
Devon blew over rim of her steaming mug. “A part of me feels bad for the guy—no parent should have to bury their own kid. But there are lines you don’t cross.”
Tanner nodded. “Reanimating the body of his daughter was bad enough. Resurrecting the others so she’d have friends to play with … that’s just fucked up, no matter what way you look at it.”
Oh, Khloé couldn’t agree more.
Keenan’s knee knocked hers beneath the table—such a small thing, but it was enough to make her pulse jump. “You need to be careful. Jolene didn’t say exactly what you did last night, only that you helped her defeat Enoch. That means you played a part in him losing his daughter all over again—that’s how he’s likely to see it. I doubt he’ll thank you for it.”
“He’s not dumb, he’ll lay low,” said Khloé.