Ashes

  “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.”

  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… certa
in 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.”

  Knox partially lowered the window shade to protect her eyes from the glare of the sun. “I like knowing there’s always someone watching over you.”

  She slanted her head. “I wonder if you’ll ease up on me a little when the baby’s born. Maybe all that hyper-protective energy will then be concentrated on them.”

  Knox leaned forward and curled his hand around her chin as he spoke, voice grave. “I will be very protective of the baby – make no mistake about that. But nothing will ever make me less protective of you. Not a thing.” He kissed her hard and deep, tasting Coke and chocolate and Harper… which was a bad move, really, because it only made his cock even harder. “This is going to feel like a really long flight,” he grumbled.

  “I bet I can improve your mood,” she said with a smile. “Lucian’s postponed his trip. Apparently, he met some Thai woman and she’s keeping him rather occupied right now.”

  That did improve his mood. “Hopefully she keeps him occupied for a long, long time.” Knox took another swig from his glass. “Like a century, for example.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I can’t say I’m disappointed by his news. I don’t think he’ll react well to my being pregnant, so the delay is most welcome. Not that I want or feel that I need his approval. But you’ve seen how he gets when something upsets his little world. It’s excruciatingly annoying. And I know that if he has a tantrum and says something offensive, my demon’s going to want to shove my stiletto blade right up his rectum.”

  Knox licked his teeth. “My demon will want to do worse.” The entity already despised Lucian for his neglect of Harper.

  “Which means the whole thing has the makings of a clusterfuck.” Harper fell quiet as she finished off her Hershey’s bar and drank more of her Coke. “Oh, I meant to ask before: was Dario at the meeting?”

  “Yes, he seemed angry that you were hurt and he wants to be sure that whoever’s behind the attacks will soon be dead.”

  “Aw, that’s sweet.”

  “I asked him if Nora had any warnings to deliver. She said that when it’s time to kill the child, we shouldn’t hesitate. For a moment, I thought she meant our child. But I think she meant McCauley.”

  Frowning, Harper swallowed. “The kid creeps me out, but I don’t want to have to kill him.” Just the thought made her stomach churn. Even her demon wasn’t keen on the idea.

  Knox rubbed her thigh. “Neither do I, baby. Neither do I.”

  “You said it was a beach hut.”

  “It is.”

  Hut, my ass. “Knox, aside from having a thatched roof, it is nothing like a hut.” The white, two-story building was more of a luxury villa. Situated on a beautiful tropical beach, it was surrounded by tall palm trees and white sand. The sun glittered off the rippling turquoise-blue sea, and she just wanted to dive right in it – it was seriously freaking hot.

  It had only been a short walk from the jet to the “hut”, but already her skin was sticky and sweat was trickling down her back. As they’d walked along the man-made path through the jungle, she’d seen lots of colorful birds, a few snakes, and heard what she suspected were monkeys in the distance. Not a big fan of monkeys, she hoped they remained in the distance.

  She almost sighed in relief as the cool breeze swept over her and ruffled her shirt. “Did you ever rent out the island?”

  “No. It’s mine.”

  He said it with such finality that she smiled. “And you don’t share what’s yours.”

  Knox drew her close and spoke against her mouth. “No, I definitely don’t share what’s mine.” Neither did his demon. He licked at her lower lip and then gave it a sharp, possessive nip. “Come on, let’s go inside so I can show you the place.”

  Knox first introduced her to the housekeeper and maintenance guy – both of whom were natives of a neighboring island but also belonged to their lair. It was clear to Harper by the way they chatted to Tanner and Levi that the sentinels had accompanied Knox here plenty of times.

  The interior of the spacious, stylishly furnished villa was beautiful. Bright walls, gleaming floors, and high windows that took advantage of the idyllic ocean view. The bedroom was her favorite part of the villa. It had a hot tub, a canopy bed with white drapes that kept out the mosquitos, and a gorgeous balcony that overlooked the sea.

  Each of the sentinels had their own room at the other side of the villa, which gave Harper and Knox plenty of privacy. She was glad of that, because she could be kind of noisy in bed and the sentinels would no doubt immaturely tease her about it.

  Dressed in a neon-pink bikini, she’d just finished applying sun lotion when Knox walked into the bedroom. His eyes darkened as they roamed over her, and her demon stretched languidly. Harper let her own gaze explore his powerful build, lingering a little on the growing bulge in his shorts. “I’m happy to skip the swim and take care of that, just so you know.”

  Knox stalked over to her and trailed his finger over the swell of her breasts, inhaling the fruity scent of her sunscreen. “Very magnanimous of you,” he quipped.

  “I’m all heart.”

  He dropped to his knees and kissed her stomach. “I don’t know why it turns me on knowing that I put a baby in you. I really don’t.”

  She swallowed. “I’m not complaining, in case you were wondering.”

  He stood, mouth curved. “Come on.” He linked his fingers with hers and led her downstairs and out onto the deck, facing the beach. Tanner and Levi were already sprawled on sun loungers, soaking up the sun.

  Harper almost winced at the smothering heat. “That sand’s gonna be hot.”

  “Want me to carry you to the water?”

  Pride made her spine snap straight. “I can manage.”

  Knox’s demon chuckled. “If we run, it’ll hurt less.”

  “Then we run. Ready?”

  He nodded. “Go.”

  Harper took off and, God, it was like stepping on hot coals. She rushed to the shoreline and pretty much sloshed into the sea rather ungracefully. She’d braced herself for the shock of cold water, but the water was surprisingly warm as it lapped at her body.

  She watched as Knox dunked himself and then stood straight. Water poured off his head and slid down his body in a way that made her mouth dry up. “You should do that again. And again.” Chuckling, he guided her deeper into the water and pulled her against him. He kissed her gently, softly… then dunked them both, the bastard. She coughed as their heads broke the surface. “You could ha
ve warned me!”

  Knox and his demon smiled. She always made him think of a hissing, spitting kitten when she snapped at him. He smoothed his hands up her back. “Sorry, baby.”

  “No, you’re not.” She saw a dark shadow under the water and almost leapt out of his arms. “Jellyfish!”

  Tightening his arms around her, Knox looked around. “There are no jellyfish.”

  “I saw jellyfish.”

  “There are no jellyfish. Relax,” he soothed. “Breathe. Take in the view.”