Burn (Dark in You 1)

Jolene studied him for a long moment, then nodded.

Tell me why she’s so reluctant to bond.

That’s for Harper to tell you. Amusement was in every word. I should warn you that Lucian won’t like this anchor business. He’s not the most attentive father, but she’s still his baby girl and he’ll see you as too dangerous for her. Carla probably won’t like it much either.

She told me that she tried to see Harper several times in the past.

A snort. She always was a good story spinner. Jolene touched Harper’s arm. “We need to leave now, sweetheart, before people start to realize that Martina has stolen their wallets or that she set her ex’s car on fire.” Jolene hugged Harper once more. “You take care now.” She shot Knox a warning look before leaving with Beck and Martina in tow.

Tanner smiled at Harper. “You’ve gotta love Wallis imps.” She just snorted.

It wasn’t until they were back on the jet, high up in the air, that Harper’s demon finally settled down. Isla had really pushed its hot buttons, and that was largely because the bitch had tried to lay claim to Knox – someone the demon believed belonged to it.

“I wondered when that demon of yours would show itself,” said Knox. “It’s very protective of you. And very feisty.”

“My demon seems to think that Isla isn’t just a banshee. In fact, it picked up a vampire vibe from her. But I don’t see how that can be possible.”

“She is a banshee…to an extent,” said Knox. “A vampire tried to change her. She was strong enough to survive a transition that has killed many other demons, and so she is a blend of the two species. It’s not known if it was done against her will or not, but I believe it’s something she did in the hope of gaining more power.”

No wonder Knox worried so much that Isla would try to hurt her. She was basically a Super She-Demon-Slash-Vamp. Possibly even invincible to most demons…except for the person opposite her. “But you could kill her.”

“I could.” He hoped it wouldn’t come to that. But if he had to choose between Harper and Isla, he’d choose Harper. “That’s why I wanted to be present when you two met. I had hoped she’d realized I wasn’t her anchor, but apparently not. And that presents us with a big problem. To her, you’re an imposter. A creature she believes she could easily crush, since she believes you’re an imp and knows that you belong to a small lair.”

Harper narrowed eyes that were currently amethyst. “I’m not going to move to your lair. Why do you look so surprised that I’d guess you would ask it of me? You’re set on ‘improving’ my life. It wasn’t such a stretch to conclude that your next step would be getting me to switch lairs.”

“You would be safer that way.”

She smiled knowingly. “And if you were my Prime, I’d have to answer to you. You’d have a level of authority over me. You’d just love that, wouldn’t you?”

Knox cocked his head. “I’m beginning to find that I don’t want to control you. You’re much more interesting as you are.”

Okay, that comment totally threw her. “You do it on purpose, don’t you? Try to catch me off-guard.”

“It’s only fair. You surprise me all the time. My own personal little mystery. I asked Jolene why you’re hesitant to bond. She wouldn’t tell me.”

“Ah, maybe this is why you haven’t walked away from me yet. You not only see me as a challenge, but you find the mystery refreshing.”

“Let’s find out. Tell me why you’re really so hesitant to accept me as your anchor.”

She balked at that…but maybe she should tell him. Maybe the sooner he solved the mystery and she was no longer so interesting to him, the sooner he’d walk away. “Although anchor bonds only exist on a psychic level, it doesn’t stop some anchor pairs from wanting something more. I’ve seen firsthand what happens when a demon falls for their anchor and those feelings aren’t reciprocated.”

Knox stilled as realization dawned on him. “Carla and Lucian are anchors.”

She nodded. “He never wanted the bond because anchors need to stay in contact; Lucian doesn’t like attachments. But he had no problem sleeping with Carla and setting her aside. The problem was that Carla and her demon also wanted Lucian as a mate, but neither he nor his demon wanted them.”

“He rejected her on two levels.”

“Yes. And I can understand that must have hurt, despite that she had to have known in advance that Lucian didn’t do commitment. And I can understand that her inner demon must have been enraged that the attachment it had formed to Lucian was only one-sided. It’s really no surprise that Carla turned bitter and hateful towards him. But those feelings twisted her up so much inside that she abandoned her child simply because it reminded her of him and she wanted to hurt him.”

When Knox’s expression darkened, she added, “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel sorry for myself. I have a family who loves me and I’ve had a good life, even if it wasn’t a typical upbringing. But it wasn’t easy being a single sphinx among a family of imps.”

Knox got it then: she’d become so much like an imp because it enabled her to blend.

“Kids can be mean about shit like that. When neither of your parents are around, it’s easy to believe that those kids are right and your parents don’t think you’re good enough for them. Jolene never stood for that shit, though. She made sure I knew that I wasn’t at all to blame for the mistakes of either Carla or Lucian.”