“What Clarke did was no little thing,” Levi went on. “She knows him better than we do, but I don’t think she even sees just how much jealousy is eating him up inside right now.”
In agreement with that, Knox nodded. “Harper is very astute, but the insecurities that she carries make it easy for her to miss when someone is attracted to her.” Being discarded by both parents had left her with what she called “textbook abandonment issues”. Though Lucian, at Jolene’s insistence, had later taken Harper to live with him, he’d never given her stability or been a true father to her. She had been the parent.
Harper persistently reassured Knox that, in spite of all that, she’d had a good childhood. It was clear to Knox that Lucian did care for her. He also seemed to adore Asher, but he could go for up to six months at a time before even making contact to ask about their welfare. Moreover, Lucian didn’t find anything whatsoever wrong with that. Knox would never like or trust him.
“Personally,” began Levi, “I don’t think she’ll be flattered to know that Clarke sort of had her on reserve.”
“No, that won’t flatter her,” Knox agreed. “If anything, she’ll be furious to hear that he thought she’d be waiting in the wings.” For humans, it might seem odd that someone would spend years away from someone they cared for. But to creatures with extensive lifetimes, years were more like months. “And her demon will be outraged to hear that he marked himself on its behalf.”
“Still, I don’t think Harper will want him dead, considering he’s her friend’s brother, which is understandable.”
“If he wants to live, he’ll get rid of the tattoo. I’d be happy to do it for him. A little hellfire would burn it right off.” The idea made his demon bare his teeth in a feral grin.
Levi’s lips twitched. “Envisioning that shouldn’t make me smile, but I’m a bloodthirsty son of a bitch.” He paused as he turned a sharp corner. “Do you think Clarke will put up a fight? It would be a singularly stupid thing to do, but he’ll probably feel that he chose her first; that he has rights to her.”
Frowning thoughtfully, Knox licked his front teeth. “Maybe. Time will tell, I suppose.” Hearing his cell beep, Knox fished it out of his pocket and answered the long-winded email from his business associate. Which led to yet another email. And another. And a—
“We have a tail,” announced Levi as they stopped at a red light. “The pick-up truck two cars behind us. I turned off the freeway and drove into a rough neighborhood to see if they followed. They did.”
Pocketing his cell, Knox peered out of the tinted rear window. It wasn’t the first time they’d been followed. Sometimes it was paparazzi, sometimes it was someone hoping to pitch a business idea to him, sometimes it was a PI hired by a business rival or even a nosy Prime. Other times—though they weren’t so common—it was a threat.
Squinting, Knox studied what he could see of the driver, which wasn’t much. Scruffy dark hair. Scraggly overgrown beard. Red T-shirt. “I don’t recognize the driver. It could be the incorporeal.” The thought made his demon unfurl and rise close to the surface, ready to lunge and attack if needs be. It wanted a fight, craved revenge on the entity that could potentially be just behind them.
As Levi stopped the car at a red light, Knox glanced around, taking note of where they were and how many humans were walking along the drab street. Not many. There was an elderly woman struggling with an umbrella, a vagrant pushing a cart, a woman with a stroller, and a trio of teens that had just strode out of an alley. Still, he’d prefer to battle somewhere more secluded. If there were humans around, it would limit how Knox could retaliate against an attack.
“We need to lead the incorporeal into a more derelict area,” said Knox.
“I got a place in mind.” Tapping his fingers impatiently on the wheel, Levi sighed and tipped his chin toward the pedestrian crossing the street. “There’s always a slow old lady when you’re in a rush. Seriously, she’s moving, like, an inch at a time.”
If he wasn’t so focused on the matter of the incorporeal, Knox might have smiled. Instead, he was running through battle plans in his head. His heart was pounding, and adrenalin was pumping through him. Preparing him. Invigorating him.
Like his demon, he relished the thought of fighting the demon that had dared to not only attempt to possess his son, but who had made his mate bleed. The delicious anticipation of it had his demon practically licking its lips.
Glancing at the traffic light, Knox rolled back his shoulders. It would go green any moment now, surely. Every second that ticked by seemed like minutes, winding him that much tighter with tension.
Amber.
Green.
“Fucking finally,” Levi burst out, shifting the gear and exerting pressure on the pedal.
“Don’t drive fast or try to lose it,” said Knox. “We don’t want it to know we’ve made it.”
Further up the street, the woman with the stroller halted at the curb. As they neared, she looked their way. Smirked cruelly. And then shoved the stroller right into the road.
Levi slammed his foot on the pedal and sharply swerved the steering wheel, making the car skid until it was sideways. Tires screeched and the reaper swore a blue streak. His quick reflexes might not have been enough if Knox hadn’t reached out with his psychic hands to yank the stroller to a standstill.
That was when a powerful gust of gale-force wind swept up the Bentley and tossed it in the air like it was no more than a leaf.
Even as the car flipped over and glacial air thrust into the open windows to freeze him, Knox grabbed Levi and pyroported them directly behind the woman, witnesses be fucking damned.
Just as the crackling flames eased away from him and Knox snapped a psychic hand around her throat, she went limp. He saw it leave her—saw the vaporous swirl that dissipated so fast, he could almost think it had never been there at all.
Shaking with rage and frustration, Knox sent hellfire blasting out of his hand like it was a flamethrower; aiming for what he could no longer see, even as he knew it would do no real damage anyway.
His heartbeat was pounding so loud in his ears that it took a moment to realize the woman in his psychic grip was screaming and struggling to get free, wanting to get to her baby. Knox released her so fast she stumbled, but he was too consumed by fury to feel bad for her. Just the same, he couldn’t find it in him to feel any sympathy for the truck driver, who’d hopped out of the vehicle, looking equally baffled.
Spinning to face Knox, Levi hissed out a breath. “That mother-fucking motherfucker.”
Silently cursing himself, Knox flexed his fingers so hard his joints cracked. “I was so busy concentrating on what was happening behind me that I didn’t think to focus on what was going on right in front of us.”
“The incorporeal must have realized we’d made it, abandoned the driver, and then possessed the woman in the hope of catching us off-guard with a frontal attack.”
“It was a good plan,” Knox ground out. “And now it could be anywhere.” In a person, a bird, a rat—anyone. He scanned his surroundings slowly, but nothing set off his alarms.
“We have to get out of here before more people appear,” said Levi, casting a meaningful look at the trio of teens that had gathered around the woman and her baby—one of the teens was snapping pictures. “You’re going to have to plant a false memory in the minds of those witnesses over there. I’ll take care of deleting the photos.”
Muscles quivering, Knox forced himself to think past the anger clouding his thoughts. Levi was right; they needed to do damage control. Knox drew in a breath. “Let’s get that done so we can send the humans on their way.”
Although it was easy enough for Knox to thrust his mind into that of another, manipulating memories was a little more challenging. But he’d done it often enough over the years to cover their asses that it didn’t take long to have the humans all believing that the woman had accidentally lost control of the stroller and that Knox and Levi had got out of the car to he
lp.
As the truck driver’s last memory was of driving along the freeway—at which point the incorporeal had either instantly possessed him or had taken control of his body after lingering inside him for a while—Knox planted false memories of the driver taking a series of wrong turns.
Once they were alone, Knox and Levi then headed to the Bentley. It lay on its side on the opposite side of the street, where it had knocked down a lamppost. All things considered, it should have been a wreck. But there were no dents, no smashed windows, and no smoke hissing out of the hood, thanks to its preternatural protection.
After Levi telekinetically righted the Bentley, they both hopped inside and quickly returned their personal objects to their rightful places.
Switching on the ignition, Levi said, “It came after you. It could have done a similar attack on Tanner’s car to get to Harper and Asher. It didn’t. It went directly after you. I didn’t expect that.”
As the impact of Levi’s words hit him, they stole Knox’s breath. If the same had happened to the Audi, Harper wouldn’t have been able to pyroport her and Asher out of the flipping car as he’d done for Levi. No, his mate and son would have been tossed from side to side, thumped by loose objects flying around the car, and potentially been badly injured.
The Bentley rattled with the anger seeping out of him.
“I guess that wasn’t the smartest thing for me to say.” Levi gave him a sheepish smile. “I’m making the point that the incorporeal may well have abandoned the idea of trying to possess Asher. Either that or it’s happy to keep us guessing about what it intends to do next. If it’s the latter, it’s working.”
Knox nodded. “I didn’t expect such a direct, public attack on me.”
“But even though you’re pissed, you’re also relieved it targeted you,” Levi sensed.
Of course he was. Knox shrugged. “Better it’s me than my mate and son.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
It was no surprise to Knox that Harper didn’t share his relief that the incorporeal had targeted him. Naturally, she’d be glad that she and Asher weren’t victims of yet another attack, but he could sense that she was nonetheless silently seething—not just with the incorporeal for making a move on Knox, but with Knox himself because she saw his relief.
At that moment, she was sitting on the sofa, arms folded, one leg crossed over the other. She was also crazily twirling one ankle and tapping her nails like they were claws. Every now and then she would shoot him a scowl that only deepened the lines of stress that seemed carved into her beautiful face. Knox couldn’t—wouldn’t—apologize for not putting as much value on his own life as he did on hers and Asher’s.
Thankfully, Asher was currently taking a nap upstairs. Knox suspected that the amount of psychic strength he’d used to create the cuffs—both of which had now faded—had left him feeling drained and sleepy.
“We thought the incorporeal had been ordered to possess Asher,” said Keenan, eyes narrowed in thought. “But maybe not, Knox. Maybe it had simply been ordered to destroy you, which gives it a lot of leeway about just how it will go about living up to its end of the bargain.”
Knox’s brow furrowed. “It couldn’t have killed me using Asher.”
“But if it had possessed him and tried attacking you through Asher, you wouldn’t have fought back, and you certainly wouldn’t have seen it coming,” Keenan pointed out, to which Larkin nodded. “In that sense, Asher would make as much of a good shield as he would a weapon.”
It was a valid point, but … “As I said before, the incorporeal would have been limited with a baby’s psychic strength—it still makes no sense to use him in an attack.” Knox rolled back his shoulders. His muscles were so tight with tension they ached, just as his jaw hurt from how hard he’d ground his teeth.
Beside Harper, Tanner leaned forward to brace his elbows on his thighs as he spoke. “Can an incorporeal kill from the inside out? Can it kill its host?”
“It could force the host to kill itself,” said Knox. “You think it meant to make Asher harm himself?” His demon rumbled a menacing sound. The entity’s anger was still fresh. It wanted blood, which it would never get from an incorporeal, since they didn’t bleed. His demon would settle for the blood of whoever sicced the incorporeal on them.
“Possibly,” said Tanner. “His death would have gutted you. The incorporeal might think that grief and shock will weaken you and leave you vulnerable to an attack. Of course, if it knew what you were, it would know better than to make such a move, since Asher’s death would also send you on a killing spree that would leave the Earth a wasteland.”
Yes, a killing spree would certainly follow. And since his grief would have weakened his control over his demon, the entity would then take control and set out to do the very thing it was born to do—destroy. Knox looked at Harper. “I’m not sure if even you could calm me and my demon if something were to happen to Asher.” And that was a frightening thought.
Her face darkened. “I wouldn’t try to calm you or your demon. I’d fucking egg the pair of you on. I’d be too deep in grief to care that the Earth would be purged. And don’t think I’m just saying that because I’m mad. I wouldn’t be rational enough to care about anything or anyone else.”
Perched on the arm of the sofa, Larkin put a supportive hand on Harper’s shoulder. “It won’t come to that, because we’ll catch this thing and then Knox will annihilate it.”
“As for whoever has it on a leash,” began Levi, lounging on the opposite sofa with Keenan, “not one goddamn thing will keep him safe from us. Not one. He’s a walking dead man.”
Harper gave a slow nod and drew in a steadying breath. “Thank God you were able to avoid colliding into the stroller. That baby would be dead by now if you both hadn’t acted so fast.”
“The incorporeal certainly doesn’t care about collateral damage.” Levi turned to Knox. “I think Tanner’s theory is right—I think the incorporeal wasn’t ordered to go after Asher, Harper, or you. I think it was simply ordered to end you, one way or another. If that’s the case, there’s no knowing what it will do next—only that it will act if it wants to be free. After having spent God knows how long in a fucking display case, it’ll be determined to be free.”
“It left the woman’s body just as you reached her,” Harper said to Knox. “It must suspect you can kill it. Probably heard the rumors that you can conjure the flames of hell. Still, it went after you. That’s ballsy, just as striking while we were at Jolene’s house was ballsy.”
Knox nodded. “It didn’t learn from its last cocky mistake. Arrogance is very clearly a weakness it possesses.” He turned to Larkin. “Have you had any joy in tracking Alethea’s movements after she disappeared?”
Larkin puffed out a breath. “That girl sure knew how to vanish. I broke into her old house, went through her computer, checked her bank account activity, internet history, cell phone records, and social media networks—that sort of stuff. It wasn’t even hard, since her passwords weren’t very inventive.”
Knox folded his arms. “What did you find out?”
“Not much. Alethea hadn’t used any of the accounts, her phone, or the computer itself for a long time. None of her status updates running up to her disappearance detailed anything about where she’d been or what she’d been doing. She’d just posted funny GIFs and selfies of herself all dolled up.
“You know she preferred to hang around humans, since they were easy for her to manipulate. I spoke to the people she was regularly photographed with on social media. None of them had seen or heard from her in over seven months. Of course, they’re not concerned by that, since Jonas told them she moved to Australia and they don’t appear to have seen the footage of Alethea’s death.”
“It was taken down fast,” Levi pointed out.
“There’s only one person I can’t find from the photos,” Larkin added. “A woman. She’s not tagged in any of the pictures. In fact, she doesn’t even seem to have a social media accoun
t. Give me a little time—I’ll find her.”
Trusting that she would, Knox nodded. The sentinels left, each heading to their respective cars. That was when Knox crouched in front of Harper and rubbed her thigh. She shot him yet another glower. As much as it was no fun to have her anger directed at him, he still couldn’t help thinking of her as a cranky kitten. “I wish I could apologize for what’s pissing you off, but it would be a lie.”
Shoulders sagging, she sighed, and her scowl eased just a little. “I know, I get it. If our situations were reversed, I’d be glad the incorporeal went after me rather than you and Asher.”
Knox’s brows snapped together. “Never fucking ever be glad of something like that.” She raised one imperious brow at him, and Knox honestly just wanted to bend her over something and fuck the haughtiness right out of her. Instead, he rose to his feet, plucked her off the sofa, and then sat with her straddling him. “Better.”
Thrusting both hands into her hair, he soothingly massaged her head. Her eyes fell closed on a soft moan. He didn’t want to talk anymore about the incorporeal or the Horseman. The bastards had stolen enough time from his day; he wouldn’t give them even a second more of it.
“You’re trying to distract me,” Harper accused.
“I simply don’t want either of us to spare another thought for those who would do us harm, let alone talk about them.”
Neither did Harper. She was emotionally worn out by the whole thing, and she knew she’d have a difficult time sleeping tonight—if she even managed it at all. When Knox had strolled through the door earlier, she wouldn’t have guessed anything bad had occurred if Levi hadn’t been behind him with his eyes glittering and wearing an expression so grim that her stomach had knotted.
She hadn’t just been angry because Knox had been relieved that he was the focus of an attack this time. She was angry with herself, because she’d assumed Knox wouldn’t be directly targeted. She should never have made any such assumption. But as she figured such a revelation would annoy him, she instead said, “We could talk about what took you to Jolene’s house.” His fingers paused their massage as a new tension stiffened his muscles. Harper’s heart leaped. “What? Is it bad? It’s bad, isn’t it?”