Ashes (Dark in You 3)

Neck stiff and corded, Jonas lifted his chin. “I would never cause any harm to Harper or a child. I wanted to meet with Lucifer, yes, but that is my business. I don’t have to explain myself to any of you. And if you’re done making accusations, Knox —”

“I don’t recall accusing you of anything,” said Knox. “Do I consider you a possible suspect? Yes.” He glared at Jonas, but kept his voice pitched low and calm. “I don’t need to tell you what will happen if I discover that you’re behind all this.”

“I’m done here.” Jonas shot to his feet. “Let’s go, Alethea.” Looking a little lost, she followed him as he stiffly strode out of the room with their sentinels.

One by one, the Primes began to leave the room. Each said polite goodbyes to Knox, and all appeared to be in deep thought. He suspected that hearing Jonas wanted an alliance with Lou unnerved them a little.

Jolene was one of the last to leave. My gut says it wasn’t Thatcher. Everything points to him, yes, but that’s what bothers me.

Knox sighed. Last night, I was ready to kill him. But the more I thought about it, the more unlikely it seemed to me that someone so intelligent would continually leave evidence that led me right to him. I can’t afford to dismiss him as a suspect, though.

Of course not – this is Harper’s life we’re talking about. And I won’t dismiss him as a suspect either, but I don’t believe it was him. Jonas is known for parading his girlfriends around – he treats them like accessories. But I’ve not seen him with an incantor, yet he didn’t deny that he’s dating one. A pause. Did you notice how startled Alethea was to discover that her brother wanted to meet with Lou?

I did. I also noticed that it seemed to worry her.

Jolene shook his hand. “The meeting was certainly… enlightening. Take care of my granddaughter, Knox.”

“I will.” He nodded at both Jolene and Beck, and the two imps then left.

Finally, the last of the Primes came to the door. “Well, that was eventful,” said Dario. His brows lowered as he added, “I’m sorry to hear about what happened to Harper. You will kill who’s responsible.” The Prime, unlike many others, liked and respected Harper.

“Don’t doubt it. I don’t suppose Nora knows anything worth mentioning.”

Dario scratched his head. “Actually, she asked me to pass on a message to you: When it’s time to kill the child, don’t hesitate – no matter what.”

A cold finger trailed down his spine, and Knox and his demon stiffened. “The child?”

Dario shrugged. “She said you would know what I meant.” With that, the Prime left with his sentinel in tow.

Knox closed the door and turned to Levi, who was now perched on the edge of the long table. “Well?”

“Either Thatcher is an incredible actor or he has nothing to do with neither the attacks on Harper or with Heidi’s kidnapping. He was defensive and tried diverting your attention to others, sure, but he had a lot of people staring at him with suspicion. It’s only natural that he’d want to point out that others have motives to harm Harper.”

Knox nodded. “Jolene thinks it’s unlikely that the blame belongs to Thatcher.” He quickly told the reaper what Jolene telepathically said.

“She’s right that it’s odd for someone who treats girlfriends like they’re accessories to keep any relationship quiet. I don’t see what motivation Jonas would have for doing so. Even if it were she who wanted things to stay low-key, it makes no sense that Jonas would agree. He’d be more likely to simply move on to someone else.”

Knox rubbed at his jaw. “If we can find out the name of this incantor he’s dating, we may be able to figure this out.”

“Keenan and Larkin can look into it while you and Harper are on vacation. Do you think it’s possible that Jonas is our boy?”

“What I think is that someone would have to be desperate to be prepared to make a deal with Lou, and that makes me wonder just what Jonas must be desperate to possess.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

As the engine fired up and the aircraft began to move, Harper sank deeper into the leather reclining seat. Damn, she really did love the private jet. Black and sleek, it made her think of Knox with his dark designer suits and smooth polished shoes. The white and gray interior was business-like without being bland or insipid. Again, it made her think of Knox; it didn’t matter that he never wore much color, he could never be accused of looking plain.

The beverage cart creaked as the attentive stewardess appeared, smelling of hairspray and hand sanitizer. After giving Harper a bottle of water and preparing Knox a gin and tonic, she disappeared behind the curtain. Harper kind of liked her, especially since she never flirted with Knox – apparently, she was happily mated to the captain.

Levi and Tanner were in the cabin near the front of the craft, which meant Harper and Knox were alone when she opened her bottle and asked, “So, why don’t you tell me what happened at the meeting?”

Sitting opposite her with his thighs bracketing hers, Knox did exactly that. He would have preferred to simply pyroport them to his privately owned Caribbean island, but he needed to be seen by others to leave Vegas and arrive on the island. Otherwise, people would definitely talk. The less they knew about his abilities, the less they could predict what he could or would do.

Harper sighed. “I wish I’d been there. I don’t like that I didn’t see their reactions for myself.” As his shoulders tensed, she added, “I’m not saying I should have been there – it was for the best that I didn’t go.”

Like that, his muscles lost their stiffness. Knox drummed his fingers on the armrest. “As I reminded you earlier, one of the Primes can sense pregnancies, just like Wren. I want to be in control of when the demon population discovers you’re pregnant.”

She snickered. “Of course you do. You’re all about control.” She rummaged through her bag until she found the plastic box that Meg handed her as they were leaving. Curious about what was inside, she peeled off the lid and found a gorgeously prepared fruit salad. It was sweet of the woman, but… “I miss chocolate.”

Knox’s mouth quirked. “I thought you might.” He pulled a Hershey’s bar out of his pocket, almost chuckling at the way her eyes lit up. His demon’s sour mood lifted at the sight.

“Have I mentioned how much I love you?”

“You said it this morning, actually, but it never hurts to hear it again.”

“Then I love you, Knox Thorne. Now gimme that chocolate.”

He handed it over. “I have an ulterior motive.”

She paused in tearing it open. “Oh yeah?”

“You know I love to watch you eat. It’s even better when you’re eating chocolate – you make those little moans that wrap around my cock like a fist.”

Her demon liked that comment a lot. Harper grinned. “I kind of like watching you eat… certain things.”

The sexual implication had all kinds of images flashing through his head and made his cock harden almost painfully. Another time, he might have ordered her to come to him and do something about the hard-on she’d caused. He could see in her eyes that it was what she expected him, wanted him, to do, but… “I have plans for you. They don’t include you riding me on the jet – not today. So be a good girl and eat your chocolate and fruit.”

With a humph, she bit into the bar. “So where are we going anyway? Don’t say it’s a surprise. You know I don’t like them.”

A smile tugged at his mouth. “I know.”

“You told me to pack plenty of bikinis, so I’m guessing it’s somewhere warm.”

“Good guess.”

Impatience flared in her eyes. “Come on, give me something.”

“All right. We’ll be staying in a beach hut.”

She blinked. “Beach hut? You mean, like, at a resort?”

“No. I own the island.”

“Well, of course you own an island,” she muttered dryly. “Meg gave me a list of the foods that I can’t eat to give to whoever’s cooking for us. She cried while I was packing. She said she wants me to stay close to her so that she can keep an eye on me and make sure I eat properly. Personally, I think she was just trying to guilt me into taking her along.” She broke off a chunk of her chocolate bar and offered it to him, but he shook his head. “She fusses even more than you do, and that’s saying something. But, of course, that no doubt suits you just fine.”