Ashes

  Her brows snapped together. “You’re not emotionless.”

  “No, but I don’t feel the range of emotions that you do. I’m not capable of many of them.”

  “You feel love, right?”

  The tiny tremor in her voice made his chest tighten. “Baby, one day you’re going to be utterly secure in the knowledge that you’re a loveable person. I’ll make sure of it.”

  “I don’t doubt that you love me.”

  Knox knew that was true. Giving her a black diamond had crushed any doubts she might have had, but he suspected that it would take a long time to ease the insecurities that had been born when both parents abandoned her as a baby. Her subconscious didn’t seem ready to heal. “Good. Never doubt it, because it will never change.”

  “If you can feel this emotion so strongly, if you believe it isn’t something that will ever fade, then we don’t forfeit emotion for power.”

  “That might be a good point, except that I only feel it for you. So maybe it’s just that you’re my miracle.”

  She smiled. “I’ve been called a lot of things. Never a miracle. My family would be so disappointed that I’m not living up to my purpose to annoy all those who cross my path.”

  Knox’s mouth curved. “Oh, you’re still expertly good at irritating people. I just get a free pass. For the most part, anyway.”

  “Very true.” She smiled against his mouth when he kissed her. “Back to what we were talking about before, what do we do about McCauley?”

  “I’ll have Keenan find out how many women from our lair were pregnant back then. We’ll find out who she is.”

  “Are you sure she’s from this lair?” Demon lairs didn’t claim territories, and their kind sometimes lived in places far from their Prime, so Harper believed it was very possible that the mother belonged to another lair.

  “No, but we should look to our own first.”

  “And if one of ours did leave a changeling?”

  “They’ll pay the price.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  As Levi pulled up outside one of Knox’s upscale clubs, Harper spotted Tanner leaning against the building. As her bodyguard and chauffeur, the broad-shouldered tower of muscle often took her to work and accompanied her to the studio before going off to do… whatever sentinels did. Since the entrance to the Underground was beneath this very club, he was obviously waiting to escort her to work.

  Knox curled his hand around her jaw. “My day will be pretty hectic, but I’ll meet you in the Underground when your studio’s closing.” He kissed her softly. “Remember to —”

  “Stay alert, I got it. You be safe too.”

  He kissed her once more, ending it with a nip to her lower lip. “Always am.”

  “See you later,” she told him. As Levi opened the rear door, she hopped out of the Bentley. “Watch over him for me, Levi.” The reaper inclined his head.

  Pushing away from the wall, Tanner offered her a wan smile as she approached him. “How’re you feeling?”

  “Better now that both hunters are dead. Still blaming yourself like a total idiot?”

  He ran a hand over his short, dark hair. “I’m your bodyguard —”

  “And it was your well-deserved night off.” Hearing a car horn beep, she gave Levi and Knox a quick wave as they drove away. Turning back to Tanner, she added, “Now accept that it wasn’t your fault instead of being a dumbass. I don’t time have for dumbasses. And I already have Knox trying to blame himself – I’m done with this shit.”

  Tanner snorted a laugh, his wolf-gold eyes lighting up. “Let’s get you to work.” He accompanied her inside the club and down the flight of stairs to the basement. At the back of the large space, two demons guarded a door. Recognizing her and Tanner, they parted with a respectful greeting and opened the door. She and Tanner then walked through and, after a short elevator ride, arrived at the Underground.

  The place was as busy and noisy as always. Pretty much everything could be found there. Bars, restaurants, casinos, clubs, hotels, a shopping mall – the list was endless. There were also other and much wilder things there such as the rodeo, the combat circle where demons fought for money, and the dog racing stadium for hellhounds.

  Stepping out of the elevator, she and Tanner walked down the strip, passing plenty of venues and stores – some were open, some were closed until the evening arrived, at which point the entire Underground came alive.

  Her studio, Urban Ink, was in an ideal spot. It was close to not only Knox’s office but the best restaurants and even the shopping mall. It was also opposite a hotel wherein she and Knox had a penthouse suite – that meant she could go there to change clothes whenever she and the girls wanted to hit the bars after work.

  Ordinarily, Harper met her co-workers in the coffeehouse beside the studio before they opened up, but she was running late so she headed straight to the studio. As she pushed open the glass door, the bell above it chimed. The scents of paint, ink, coffee, and disinfectant hit her, along with the heavenly smell of fresh Danishes that was coming from the coffeehouse.

  Rather than leaving, Tanner followed her inside and said, “I’m going to take a quick look around.”

  Her cousin and receptionist, Khloë, came from behind the desk. “Grams is stressing about something, and you look like shit warmed up. What happened?”

  With a sigh, Raini bumped the small, olive-skinned imp aside and handed Harper a caramel latte. “Jeez, Khloë, did you have to jump down her throat?” Raini was a senior tattooist as well as the co-owner of Urban Ink.

  Having hung her jacket on the coat rack, Harper gratefully took the latte. “Thanks.”

  Even wearing a plain white vest with plain pants that hid her wicked curves, Raini was a breathing advertisement for sex – it was a succubae thing, and Raini didn’t like it. She could hide her figure, but not her flawless skin or inherent sensuality. And if she’d thought that putting pink highlights in her blonde hair might dull its appeal somehow, it did the opposite.

  “Something happened,” insisted Khloë, daring Harper to deny it.

  “Yes, something did happen, but I don’t want to have to tell the story more than once so let’s wait for Devon,” said Harper, referring to their apprentice who also specialized in piercings. Harper had already told the story to Jolene on the way to work. Her grandmother had predictably lost her mind, even though she’d already known some of what happened from Knox.

  Raini pointed behind her. “Oh, Devon’s in the —”

  A loud hissing sound was followed by a grinning Tanner strolling out of the breakroom with a furious Devon marching behind him, her long ultraviolet ringlets bouncing. Hellhounds and hellcats had an instinctive aversion to each other, and the two demons in question were engaged in a weird war that mostly involved pissing each other off for their own entertainment.

  Cat-green eyes blazing with anger, Devon slung a pink ball of yarn at Tanner’s head. “You keep buying me this shit, pooch, and I’ll snap your neck!”

  “But the color matches the pretty cat collar I bought you and – why do you have to hiss at me?” In the reception area, he sank into the sofa with a happy sigh, switched on the wall-mounted T.V., and put his legs up on the coffee table, almost kicking off the tattoo portfolios.

  Devon frowned at him. “What are you doing?”

  “Getting comfortable.”

  Harper groaned. “Please tell me that Knox didn’t tell you to stand guard all day.”

  “He wants me to stick by you and make sure you’re safe.”

  You asked Tanner to stay with me? Knox, we talked about this. The hellhound was a sentinel – he had better and much more interesting things he could be doing than babysitting her.

  I told him to repeatedly check in to make sure you’re fine.

  Why would he say you told him to stick by me? But as she watched Devon go a disturbing shade of red, she understood. Knox must have understood too, because Harper felt his amusement as his mind brushed against hers. Harper sighed.
One day, she’s going to kill him, you know.

  I’ve had the same thought multiple times. His mind touched hers once more, and then he was gone.

  “Tanner, quit riling Devon and go do sentinel stuff,” said Harper.

  He rose to his feet. “I get it, I get it – she needs space because it’s hard for her to deal with her feelings for me.”

  Devon gaped. “The only thing I feel for you is a boundless, blinding, glorious hatred.”

  He smiled. “You know you make me hard when you get all mean, kitten.”

  Harper pointed at the door. “Out.”

  Chuckling to himself, Tanner left.

  Khloë patted Devon’s arm, the image of sympathy. “Just so you know… your nipples are hard. Hey! Keep them claws to yourself!”

  Harper threw an exasperated look at her shit-stirring cousin. Like all imps, Khloë found an immense delight in fucking with people. “Does anyone want to know what happened yesterday?” Everyone’s attention immediately snapped to her.

  Eyes glinting with the typical hellcat curiosity, Devon sidled up to Harper – Tanner forgotten. “Do tell.”

  Harper crossed to her tattoo station and settled in her black leather chair. “Quick warning: you’re not gonna like it.”

  Once Harper had finished recounting what happened, Raini slumped against the glass checkered partition between their stations, amber eyes dull. “I’m sorry.”

  Harper frowned. “For what?”

  “I should have waited with you. We could have locked up together.”

  “Why would you have waited for me? You never do it any other time. You hold no blame whatsoever for what happened.”

  “From now on, we all leave at the same time,” declared Devon. The others nodded.

  “There’s no need,” Harper assured them, but the words fell on deaf ears.

  Khloë folded her arms. “Who do you think sent the hunters after you?”

  Harper let her head fall back and took a moment to admire the tattoo flash on the ceiling. “No idea. Apparently, the hunters didn’t know their identity either.”

  Disgusted, Devon shook her head. “I can’t believe there are people out there who actually want to hang people’s wings on their wall. It’s twisted.”

  “You’re fully healed now?” asked Raini.

  “Yes, so you don’t need to worry or fuss.” But Harper suspected they still would.

  The doorbell chimed, and Harper’s first client for the day entered. Just like that, the girls switched into “work” mode and ushered the client over to Harper’s station.

  Since they kept the name “Urban Ink” when they relocated the business, they also kept its rock/art/Harley Davidson vibe. In addition, they hung their old metal art on the bright white walls – each of which was an enlarged copy of a tattoo, like the tribal swirls, flock of ravens, and the Chinese dragons. Pretty much everything else, including the lighted tracing tables and vending machine, were new.

  She figured she didn’t fit a person’s idea of what someone who co-owned a tattoo studio would look like. She wasn’t covered in tattoos and didn’t have dozens of piercings. One of her nipples were pierced, though, and she did have three tattoos, but all three were in white ink and hidden beneath her clothes. Why? Well, Harper didn’t have tattoos done for the hell of it. She only did it if the tattoo meant something to her and, as a private person, she didn’t want people asking what hers meant.

  Later, as Harper was cleaning her equipment after doing a floral tattoo, the door once again opened. Tanner strolled in, bringing with him the scents of freshly baked bread, smoky meat, hot peppers, and mayonnaise.

  “I come bearing gifts,” he said, holding up a deli takeout bag. He gave Harper a pointed look. “Knox wants to make sure you eat.”

  Raini took the bag from Tanner. “Aw, that’s sweet of him.”

  Harper snorted. “He just doesn’t want me leaving the studio to buy food.” Still, she telepathically thanked Knox and received a soft brush of his mind in response.

  “Who can blame him?” asked Devon, sweeping the hardwood floor.

  Rather than poking at the hellcat, Tanner turned to Harper, his expression somber. “I just saw Carla walking past here. I think she was about to come inside, but then she saw me.”

  Great. “Maybe she was coming to say her goodbyes.”

  “She’s leaving your lair?” The hope in Khloë’s voice made Tanner smile.

  Harper nodded. “It’s probably best for all concerned.” She tipped her chin toward the breakroom. “Let’s go eat, I’m starving.”

  After Tanner said his goodbyes and left, Khloë locked the door and flipped the sign to “Closed for Lunch”. With that, they then settled at the table in the breakroom.

  Raini handed Harper one of the deli sandwiches. “I take it Kellen’s leaving with Carla and Bray.”

  Unwrapping her sandwich, Harper nodded, “Yep.”

  Devon put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I know you hoped to have a real relationship with him.”

  “It would have been nice.” But Harper was done letting it get to her.

  As she grabbed some bottles of water from the fridge and handed them out, Khloë said, “Kellen might be young and grieving, but it doesn’t give him the right to mess you around.” As if to punctuate that, Khloë bit hard into her sandwich. “You didn’t go looking for him. He came looking for you.”

  “I got the distinct feeling that he didn’t like Roan much anyway,” said Devon. “It could be that he’s feeling guilty about it now that Roan’s dead. Still, it’s not an excuse to be a dick.”

  Harper was about to say something else, but then the door swung open and several members of her family waltzed in: Jolene, Martina, Beck, and Ciaran. Harper guessed that Ciaran, who was Khloë’s twin, had teleported them all into the studio.

  As Harper stood, Jolene forced a smile as she studied her from head to toe. “You’re really okay?”

  “I told you I was fine.”

  “Yes, but you’re a very good liar – I know, because I taught you well.” She gently pulled Harper into a one-armed hug. Wearing her usual smart getup of blouse, skirt and high heels, Jolene possessed an effortless veneer of elegance that many would envy. Strong, powerful, and fearless, she was the kind of demon who fit the role of Prime perfectly.

  She was also the kind of woman you’d find at the center of a riot – a riot that she’d also quite possibly instigated.

  Beck, Jolene’s anchor, cast Harper a gentle smile. “Good to see that you’re okay. I knew you would be.”

  Pulling back, Jolene stroked Harper’s hair. “It’s really a shame those bastards are dead. Snapping their necks would have made me feel a whole lot better.”

  Martina, her aunt, cupped Harper’s cheek. “Tell me Knox made them hurt,” she growled.

  “Oh, they hurt,” Harper assured her.

  Martina nodded, satisfied. The outgoing, softhearted, entrancingly beautiful imp was a total sweetheart. She also had a bad habit of setting shit on fire.

  Ciaran frowned at Harper. “You sure you’re okay? You look like cra —”

  Harper held up a hand. “Heard it several times, don’t need to hear it again.”

  “Fine, fine.” Ciaran ruffled Khloë’s hair and said, “Hey, bitch.”

  “Eat shit, asshole,” Khloë shot back. No one outside their lair would ever suspect the twins were very close, since they persisted in antagonizing each other.

  Jolene placed her hands on Harper’s upper arms. “Tell me everything that happened.”

  “I called you this morning and told you the story, even though you already knew most of it from Knox.”

  “Yes, and both of you were very vague.”

  “Of course we were, Grams.” Jolene was like a lioness when it came to her family. She was fierce in her protectiveness and would avenge any slight – no matter how small, no matter what it took. Being that she was batshit crazy, she was also the ultimate wild card and couldn’t be
trusted not to overreact. Stripping someone’s home of every valuable they possessed, demolishing entire buildings, and threatening to destroy the Golden Gate bridge were all completely okay in Jolene’s book. She never let anything go.

  Jolene began to pace. “You’re my granddaughter – you can’t expect me to ignore that this happened to you.”

  “No, I can’t. If you want to look into it, fine. I’d appreciate it. But like I told you on the phone, you can’t be the one to dole out the punishment, Grams. It would make me and Knox look weak as Primes if we didn’t shovel our own shit.”