Blaze (Dark in You 2)

“Because I believed you, as a mated couple, would understand the depth of pain that would come with losing someone you treasure,” said Dario. “And because Nora felt you should hear her premonition.”

“You have already killed one of the Horsemen,” said Nora.

Shocked, Knox stiffened. He didn’t want to believe it, but he had to wonder if she meant… “Isla?”

Nora gave a slow nod.

“Well, shit,” muttered Levi.

Tanner cursed under his breath. “Why would she want to see the fall of all the US Primes if she was one of them?”

“She wanted more power. It was her addiction,” said Nora. “There are three Horsemen left. As I said, I do not know their names and I did not see their faces. But I know – I feel – that the one manipulating Crow is not a Prime. There is so much greed in their cold heart. They want power. They want people to envy them as they envy others. They do not see it, but nothing will ever make them feel happy or satisfied. There is a void inside them that will never be filled.”

Well, don’t they sound like a freaking treasure? said Harper.

Nora pointed at her. “Be warned that you and your demon will face a trial. You do not like to accept help, but you will need your mate’s aid when the time comes. Accept it, because nobody else will be able to help you.”

Cold invaded Harper’s limbs. It wasn’t so much what Nora said as the way she said it; that ominous tone was spooky. Okay, this woman is kind of scary.

“There’s nothing else you can tell us about the Horsemen?” Knox asked Nora, who shook her head.

Harper turned to Dario. “Will you tell the other Primes about the premonition and the Horsemen?”

Dario lifted a single brow. “If I was to tell them that four demons were plotting to see the fall of the Primes, how do you think they would react?”

“They’d think you were deluded and paranoid, and that the rumors are true,” said Harper. All right, point taken.

“Yes. I am hoping none of you will speak of this to the other Primes,” Dario added.

For a moment, Knox said nothing. “It would be best if they knew not to take all the rumors seriously. They have a right to know where they’re originating from and that they’re being played. But you’re right. Your words would be mistaken for paranoia. We will not repeat what you’ve told us.” For now, at least.

Dario’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “I appreciate that.”

Knox inclined his head. “We’ll leave now.”

After they said their goodbyes to Nora, Dario led them out of the garden, through the courtyard, and to the bridge. “Thank you for accepting my invitation,” Dario said, graciously. “It was good to see you again. Be sure to take care.”

Nodding, Knox urged Harper forward as Levi and Tanner stayed behind them. No one spoke a single word until they were fully across the bridge.

“Of all the things I expected to hear,” said Tanner, “it wasn’t that.”

He wasn’t alone in his shock. Harper still hadn’t quite processed it all yet. “I feel really bad for the guy. Losing his partner of fifty years had to be a seriously hard hit.” She wasn’t sure she’d emotionally survive a loss like that.

Knox nodded, draping an arm around her shoulders. “He did the right thing to isolate himself while his control was weak. It protected him and his lair. And he has every right to take the time to heal in peace.” Or to heal as much as anyone in his position could be expected to heal.

“Now that we know about the Horsemen, Isla’s push for a US Monarch makes a lot more sense,” said Levi, moving to Knox’s side. “If she’d been Monarch, she’d have had the power to crush the other Primes and to give the other Horsemen whatever power they wanted. That must have been their plan ‘A’. It failed, so now they’ve moved onto plan ‘B’ – sic the Primes on each other.”

“Anyone have any suspicions as to who the other three Horsemen could be?” asked Tanner as he sidled up to Harper.

“We should probably bear in mind that Malden also pushed to be the US Monarch,” said Knox. He could have had the same motivation as Isla. “But then, so did Dario.”

“Can we be sure Dario isn’t one of them?” asked Levi.

“If he was, surely he wouldn’t have shared all that information with us,” said Tanner.

“Unless none of it is true and we’re all being set up somehow,” said Knox. It was possible that Dario was playing a very intricate, dangerous game, but Knox’s gut told him that wasn’t the case.

“Just because Isla was a Prime doesn’t mean the other Horsemen are,” said Harper. “Nora told us that the person who sent Crow on his ‘mission’ wasn’t a Prime. That might mean the others aren’t one either.”

Knox nodded. “Which means they could be anyone.” He looked at Harper. “It stands to reason that if they sent Crow after you and it hasn’t worked, they would try to target you in other ways.”

Harper twisted her mouth. “Alethea, Belinda, and Roan seem to have made it their mission to piss me off. None of them are Primes.”

“Crow said that Delia was poisoning him,” said Tanner. “Can we be sure she wasn’t somehow involved in trying to pull his strings?”

“We can’t be sure of anything,” replied Knox. “But people heard Delia and Crow arguing. If Delia is involved, I don’t see what reason she’d have for staging a fight. And if we’re operating on the theory that this person wants to cause Harper upset, telling Crow to kidnap Carla makes no sense. Everyone knows Harper doesn’t have a relationship with her.”