Ashes (Dark in You 3)

“Okay,” she mumbled, struggling into an upright position. He kissed her. Softly. Gently. Carefully. Harper shot him a scowl. “I’m not a spun-glass princess.”

He smiled. “No, you’re definitely not that.” He placed a tray of food over her lap. “Eat.”

Just to annoy him, she sipped at her coffee first. Her demon grinned when his eyes narrowed. It didn’t like being treated like it was fragile either. “So, what did the hunter say?”

Knox waited until she bit into her bagel before he spoke. “They were sent an anonymous, encrypted email with a substantial offer if they could get their hands on your wings.”

“So we can’t trace the email?”

“No. It self-deleted a short time after it was opened.”

“Clever.” And terribly inconvenient, she thought with a frown. “How were they supposed to contact this person once they had my wings?”

“They weren’t. Their instructions were to leave your wings at a certain destination – a warehouse not far from here – where their cash would be waiting. Once they were gone, someone would come forward to grab the wings. If they didn’t appear on time, no cash.”

“What time exactly were they supposed to turn up at the drop-off point?”

“Eight pm – I hadn’t even begun interrogating him at that time.” Knox twirled a strand of her hair around his finger. “Keenan and Larkin went to the warehouse anyway and looked around, but they found no sign of anyone.”

“Shit.” She bit hard into her bagel. She figured it wasn’t fair to take her anger out on the pastry, but what was done was done.

“They were also given strict instructions not to kill you.”

Harper blinked. “Really?”

“This person wanted your wings, but they didn’t want you dead. They were allegedly very adamant about that in their email.”

“Any thoughts on why this would be important to them?”

Knox shrugged. “It could be simply that they believe I truly can call on the flames of hell and they didn’t want me to unleash those flames out of grief. After all, what use are your wings to them if the world itself no longer exists?”

Harper would like to say that, no, he wouldn’t go as far as to destroy the world if she died. But a demon who lost its mate was a dangerous creature, and if that particular demon was powerful enough to very effortlessly annihilate the world, why wouldn’t it?

A rogue archdemon had almost done it once before, which was why Lucifer – or Lou, as he liked to be called – agreed to keep the breed in hell. But since he hadn’t agreed to round up any archdemons who might still be roaming the planet, he’d left Knox exactly where he was – no doubt pleased about the loophole. The guy was whacked.

Lou was also rather insistent that Knox get Harper pregnant fast. Ever since a rogue demon had claimed to have had a vision that they’d produce a child that would destroy demonkind, Lou had badgered Knox to impregnate her. He also wanted them to call the baby Lucifer. So not gonna happen.

“Keenan will be obtaining the names of the main wing collectors, since they’re the likeliest suspects at this point,” said Knox. “I’ll pay each of them a visit if I have to, but I will find out who sent the hunters after you.”

“I’m guessing you don’t want me to come along.”

No, Knox didn’t. He wanted her far away from any who might covet her wings. He chose his words carefully, knowing she didn’t like to feel coddled. “Demons like things that are pretty and shiny. These demons might be innocent of coveting your wings, but if I put you in their sights, their interest could then turn to you.”

Harper really couldn’t deny that, which kind of annoyed her.

“On another note, Larkin and Keenan have removed the corpse from your office and cleaned up the blood.”

“Tell them I said thank you.” She hadn’t been looking forward to facing the mess.

“They felt helpless seeing you hurt, so they were actually happy that there was something they could do for you. They’re enraged by what happened. You should know that Tanner is shouldering some of the responsibility.”

She groaned. “He has no reason to. Yes, he’s my bodyguard, but we gave him the night off, since I was getting a ride with you and Levi. He can’t possibly blame himself for not being there when there was absolutely no reason why he should have been.”

“Well, he is. And nothing I’ve said has made him feel differently.”

“I’ll talk with him about it later.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Now, why don’t you tell me what it was that made you cut our telepathic conversation short yesterday.”

“Or maybe we could watch T.V. for a while.” Grabbing the remote, he switched it on.

“Knox.”

He sighed. “For the first time in months, you’re eating properly. I don’t want that to stop.”

“I’ll keep eating, I swear.” To prove it, she took another bite of her bagel. “Come on, tell me.”

He took in a long breath. “Carla, Bray, and Kellen are leaving the lair.”

“I see,” said Harper, her tone even. Given Carla was her mother, that should have hit her where it hurt, right? It didn’t. They’d never had a relationship. When Harper’s father, Lucian, rejected Carla as both his mate and his anchor, something inside the woman had just broken. Her attempt to abort Harper had failed, as had her request for an incantor – a demon capable of using magick – to trap Harper’s soul in a bottle. Jolene had paid Carla to give birth to Harper, at which point the imps had taken her in.

Such cruelty was a perfect example of just how unstable a demon could become if they lost their mate. Still, Carla’s pain was no excuse. If the things Roan told Harper right before he tried to kill her were true, Carla was still somewhat twisted. One thing that Harper knew for sure was that Carla – being self-centered, petty, and hurtful – would never play a positive part in her life, so what was the point of her being in it?

“I can’t say it’s unexpected.” In fact, Harper was surprised they’d remained there this long. “I mean, who’d want to answer to the person who killed their son?”

“You’re also a person who was almost killed by their son,” replied Knox. “Roan conspired against all the US Primes, not just you.”

“But Carla and Bray don’t want to believe that.”

“No, they don’t. They’re leaving Vegas altogether.” Knox was glad of that, but he kept his satisfaction out of his voice. “They’ve bought a house in Washington.”

“I guess it makes sense that they’d want to be far away from me.”

“I take it that Kellen still hasn’t returned any of your calls,” he said, referring to her other half-brother.

“Not a one.” The teen had initially reached out to Harper, hoping to have a relationship with her, but he had a habit of shutting her out whenever things became strained between her and his immediate family. “I’ve kind of… um… given up.”

“Because you’re not a sucker for punishment.” Knox didn’t add that there wasn’t a chance he’d let Kellen try to squeeze his way back into Harper’s life. He’d warned the kid once before that him pulling away from Harper again wouldn’t be tolerated; he wasn’t fucking kidding. He wouldn’t allow anyone to play with her feelings that way.

Knox curled a hand around her chin and turned her face to his. “Don’t let them hurt you, baby.” He rubbed his thumb over her lower lip. “You can’t change that they resent you for Roan’s death, but you can change that you’re letting them make you feel bad about it.”

“It’s not that I feel bad about it,” said Harper. She’d never liked Roan, and she’d never once thought there was a chance that they could have any kind of sibling relationship, but she also hadn’t thought she’d ever have to kill him. Technically, it was her demon who’d done the deed, but the demon was part of her soul, and that meant Harper shared the responsibility.