Ashes (Dark in You 3)

Although the Primes wouldn’t be so disinclined to believe Dario now, Knox thought it likely that they would be angry at Dario to hear that he’d warned Knox but not them. He had no interest in causing friction between the Primes or shifting their attention from the real issue – Harper’s safety was at risk. As such, Knox said, “Roan talked of the Horsemen to Harper. He was cruel, but not delusional.”

“Are you willing to trust the word of a dying, treacherous demon?” asked Malden, though there was no judgement there – merely curiosity.

“My mate believes he was being truthful,” said Knox. “I trust her judgement.”

Malden inclined his head. “In any case, I personally have no information about the Horsemen.”

Knox twisted his mouth. “Shame. But I did not call you all here to discuss the Horsemen. I’m sure most, if not all, of you heard that my mate was recently attacked by hunters.”

“I heard,” said Dario. “Is she all right?” There was genuine concern in his voice.

“Fine. She fought them hard. They wanted her wings. In fact, they were hired to acquire them. Since my mate’s wings have never come to her, it was a waste of their time and earned them nothing but an early and excruciating death.”

“The Horsemen hired them?” asked Raul.

“That was my first thought,” said Knox, tapping his fingers on the smooth glass table. “Then her cousin was almost kidnapped. The demon who attempted to take the little girl had also been hired by someone.”

Jonas’ brow knitted. “That doesn’t mean the two events are necessarily related.”

Jolene spoke then. “Both the hunters and the kidnapper were hired by someone who sent an anonymous, encrypted email that self-deleted shortly after being opened. That’s not a technique that’s widely used, but I know of some people who do use it.”

Thatcher sat up straighter, looking resigned. “You might as well know that I am one of those people.”

“Oh, I already knew that,” Knox told him. “Just as I already knew that the main collector of sphinx wings is your cousin, Francisco Alaniz.”

Thatcher’s mouth pinched. “Francisco does not collect them for collecting’s sake.”

Knox held up a hand before the demon could explain further. “The wings on his wall belonged to his relatives and are trophies – I know. Don’t worry; Francisco didn’t mention you. He did, however, mention Dion Boughton. I was surprised to learn from Dion that he once belonged to your lair.”

Raul’s eyes slid from Knox to Thatcher and back again. “Are you accusing Thatcher of something?”

Knox arched a brow. “Should I?”

“I don’t deal on the black market,” Thatcher stated. “And I don’t hire minions.”

A ringing made them all turn toward the sound. Flushing, Malden pulled out his cell and quickly tapped the screen, quieting the device. “I apologize. I’m curious, Knox – does Harper blame Thatcher? Is that why she’s not here?”

“She’s not here because I insisted that she rest. Being hexed takes a toll on even the strongest of demons.”

Raul paused with his glass halfway to his mouth, gaping. “Your mate was hexed?”

“Just yesterday,” Knox confirmed. “She survived it, of course.”

Mila raised her brows, looking impressed. “She’s strong.”

“It astonishes me that people fail to see just how strong she is.” Knox steepled his fingers. “She wasn’t too weak to attend the meeting, but I want her at top strength for our trip. We’re not willing to miss our vacation for someone who stupidly assumed she wouldn’t fight off a hex.” He didn’t want anyone thinking that the hex had sent him and Harper running, so he felt it would be simpler to imply that the trip was organized prior to the magickal strike.

Thatcher sighed, face hard. “I suppose this makes me an even likelier suspect. I’m an incantor, after all.”

“Yes, Thatcher, it does,” said Knox.

“Why would I harm your mate?” Thatcher’s hand clenched, and Knox half-expected him to thump the table. “Considering you’re quite adamant that the Horsemen are real, I would have thought you would be blaming them. Or are you also accusing me of being one of them?”

“I’m not so blinded by the Horsemen situation that I believe they’re responsible for everything that happens. If I were one of them, I’d lie low.”

“As would I,” said Jolene.

“If you’re looking for someone who would mean your mate harm, you should be looking at the other side of the table.” Thatcher’s gaze drilled into Alethea, who gawked at him.

“You bastard,” she hissed. “Don’t you point fingers at me.”

Thatcher raised his hands in a helpless gesture. “I only speak the truth. Everyone here knows that you would see Harper dead, given the chance.”

Jonas held up a calming hand. “Alethea and Harper do not get along, that is true, but —”

Thatcher snorted. “That is a complete understatement.”

Jonas’ jaw hardened. “My sister has nothing to do with this.”

“You’re sure of that, are you? You would bet your position of Prime on it?” Thatcher snickered when Jonas fell silent. “Didn’t think so.”

Nostrils flaring, Jonas said, “Just because a person dislikes someone doesn’t mean that they wish to cause them physical harm.”

Thatcher’s gaze returned to Alethea. “But you would if you thought you could get away with it, wouldn’t you? You know, I heard that Jonas’ new girlfriend is an incantor.”

Shock flashed across Jonas’ face, but he buried the emotion quickly.

“Maybe, Alethea, you got her to hex Harper for you,” Thatcher suggested.

Alethea bared her teeth. “You’re just looking to divert everyone’s attention from yourself.”

I didn’t know Jonas was dating an incantor, Levi said to Knox. Interesting.

It is, agreed Knox. Particularly since he seemed so shocked that outsiders would know about it. For some reason, he was hoping to keep it private.

Thatcher pointed at Jonas. “Or maybe it was you who asked your girlfriend to hex Harper. As I understand it, you’re not too happy with Jolene right now. Maybe you wanted to punish her using her granddaughters.”

All eyes moved to Jolene, but she was staring hard at Jonas when she spoke. “Thatcher seems to enjoy playing devil’s advocate, but he makes a good point. Promising me that I would regret not giving you what you wanted… well, that certainly implicates you.”

Dario narrowed his eyes. “What did he want from you, Jolene?”

She continued staring at Jonas. “Why don’t you tell them, Jonas?”

After a moment, Jonas cleared his throat. “I wanted to meet with Lucifer. I asked Jolene to arrange a meeting. She refused.”

“You want an alliance with him,” corrected Jolene calmly. “I told you that I couldn’t guarantee you an alliance with Lucifer or that he would even meet with you. The devil doesn’t ally himself with anyone. I told him that you wanted to meet him, but he has no interest in speaking with you. That’s hardly my fault. Yet, you blame me.”

“It’s brave of you to be prepared to, literally, make a deal with the devil, Jonas,” Knox told him.

Dario squinted at Jonas. “Why would you want to meet with Lucifer? What do you want from him?” At this point, everyone was eying Jonas suspiciously, including his sister, who seemed sincerely surprised by the news.

“That was my question,” said Jolene. “After all, Lou likes loopholes. Any deal he makes always has a catch – and it’s always one that makes the demon sorry they made the deal in the first place. That’s common knowledge. A demon would have to want something very, very badly to be prepared to make any kind of pact with Lou. I said as much to Jonas. I asked him just what it was that he was so desperate to have.”

“What did he say?” asked Thatcher.

“Just that I’d be sorry I hadn’t cooperated, which makes me think that it was very important to him or he wouldn’t be so resentful about it.” She looked at Jonas. “At the time, I thought you were full of hot air. Now I’m thinking that you might have had Harper hurt as a warning to me to do as you’d asked. You could have then later thought you could use Heidi to make me cooperate.”