Blaze (Dark in You 2)

The redhead licked her lower lip. “It is the truth. I didn’t expect you to be sensitive about the subject. It’s not as if it’s a secret that Knox is highly sexual.”

Glaring at Lora, Raini put her hands on her hips. “You’re like summer. You have no class.”

At Lora’s gasp, Harper said, “Raini’s right, you know. Sharing graphic details with me of your time with my mate was both petty and distasteful. I’ll bet most of it was also pure bullshit, just like your little claim to have slept in my bed.”

Lora sneered. “You want to believe it’s a lie, but I know the truth.”

“There you go again with your bullshit,” said Harper. “God, your mouth must be full of it. Maybe you should do what you do best and swallow.”

Lora’s face flushed with rage. “I think you should leave.”

“Why are you following me?” a familiar voice whined from behind them. They whirled to see Khloë pouting at the guard. “Are you some kind of weirdo?”

He gestured to his uniform. “I work here.”

“You think I’m going to steal something, is that it?” Khloë sounded genuinely hurt. “Why? What did I ever do to you?”

The guard spluttered. “I’m not —”

“And why are you looming over me? Is it to intimidate me? Do you do that to all women?”

“I’m not – you’re not – she asked me to follow you.” He jabbed a finger in the direction of the manager.

At this point, they had the attention of everyone in the store.

The redhead lifted her chin and shrugged at Khloë. “You’re an imp.” As if that was all the explanation she needed.

“At least I’m not prejudiced against other demons,” Khloë said, eyes wet. “I’ll be outside, Harper.” Lower lip trembling, the imp sharply turned to leave and crashed into a display rack, knocking all the purses over and even sending some sliding out of the store. The alarm started blaring and, cheeks flushed with embarrassment, Khloë marched out.

Harper turned to the redhead. “I’ll have to go track down my cousin. First, I should probably let you know that it’s very, very possible that the overheads for this unit might suddenly become much higher.”

The managed gasped. “You can’t do that!”

Her demon shoved its way to the surface. “And don’t ever think you can dictate what we can or can’t do.”

As the demon withdrew, Harper spun on her heel and left the store with Raini and Keenan; stepping over the assistants who were desperately trying to fix the display.

Glancing around, Harper spotted Khloë sitting next to Devon on a bench, head down, near the restrooms. The hellcat was rubbing her back soothingly.

As they reached them, Keenan crouched at Khloë’s side, the image of concern. “You okay?”

The imp looked up and smiled. “Sure.” She then fished a blue scarf out of her pocket and handed it to Raini. “Here.”

The succubus took it with a delighted smile. “Ooh, it’s so soft.”

Keenan stared at Khloë for a good ten seconds. “You’re good.”

“First rule of stealing: make the alarm go off before you leave,” said Khloë. “Then no one bats an eyelid when you walk out. Sometimes I make it go off a few times so it seems faulty.” She stood, happy. Then she frowned at Harper. “Hey, what happened to your contact lenses?”

“My demon briefly surfaced to talk to the redhead,” replied Harper. Whenever that happened, her contacts disintegrated. “Let’s eat.”

After having a Chinese meal at the food court, they finally stepped out of the mall. Harper was honestly surprised that Keenan didn’t fall to the ground and kiss it in relief. She smiled at the sight of Larkin, Knox’s fourth sentinel, waiting there. The stunning, slender harpy moved like a warrior; her gray-blue eyes missed nothing.

“Hey,” greeted Larkin. “Keenan said you were done.” Obviously they’d had a telepathic chat.

“Tell me you’re here to say they’ve found Crow,” Harper said.

Larkin’s smile dimmed. “I wish. No, I’m here because Knox wants you to have two bodyguards while the place is so hectic.”

Great. “That’s not necessary,” Harper told her as they began to walk. “I have Keenan, and none of my girls here are weak.”

“No, but Primes need to keep themselves well-guarded,” Larkin said. “You’re a Prime now.”

“I’m so looking forward to the celebration!” said Raini. “You could look a little excited, Harper. It’s partly to celebrate you being Knox’s co-Prime.”

“You know me well enough to know that it’s not something I’d ever want to celebrate,” said Harper. She was getting a headache just thinking about it.

Larkin’s mouth quirked. “I don’t think I’ve met another demon who has no interest in power.”

“Well, you’d better get used to it, Harper,” began Keenan, “because you wield a shitload of it now. Being mated to Knox Thorne was never going to be a simple thing.”

“Where is Knox?” Devon glanced around. “I thought he was meeting you here.”

Harper shrugged. “He said he would.”

“He’s in the Underground,” said Larkin, “but he’s at his office. Jonas appeared as he was leaving and asked to speak with him.” Jonas was another Prime. “He brought Alethea with him,” Larkin told Keenan, whose brows flew up. The two sentinels exchanged some sort of meaningful look.