Embers

  She blew out a breath. “Two minutes, Grams. I’ll give him two minutes, but that’s all.”

  With a pleased smile, Jolene patted her upper arm. “Good girl. I’ll wait downstairs. And don’t be too hard on him. He made a mistake, he knows that. Let him put it right.”

  Harper twisted the doorknob and pushed it open. Drew was standing at the window, watching the traffic go by. He turned to face her as she closed the door. She only took a single step into the room.

  He gave her a weak, too-quick smile. “Hey.”

  “Hi.” God, could this be any more awkward? Nope.

  “Thanks for coming.”

  She didn’t say anything. Didn’t know what to say.

  “So … you know about the tattoo.”

  “I don’t understand why you had it done,” she said with a shrug. Marking himself for her demon was not only wrong but huge. Dramatic, even.

  He tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “My demon needed it. It chose you a long time ago. I chose you. My demon was ready, but I wasn’t. Not then. Now … Fuck.” He thrust a hand through his hair. “If I hadn’t stayed away, if I’d just come home—”

  “It wouldn’t have made any difference to Knox if I was with someone else.”

  “No, it wouldn’t have.” He took a step toward her. “But you’re loyal to the bone. You wouldn’t have given in to him if you’d already been claimed by another.”

  “You’re taking for granted that I would have let you claim me.” Her inner demon snorted at the idea.

  “If you had—”

  “I wouldn’t have cheated on you, no,” Harper allowed. “But, as my anchor, Knox would still have been a part of my life. And I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t have grown to care for him just as I do now. I wouldn’t have betrayed you, but I also wouldn’t have stayed in a relationship with you if I felt so strongly for another person—that wouldn’t have been fair to you, me, or him. Things would have ended up exactly as they are right now. Me with Knox and Asher.” She wholeheartedly believed that.

  Lips thinning, Drew threw up his arms. “I don’t get it, Harper.”

  “Don’t get what?”

  “You and Thorne. You don’t make sense as a couple. You come from completely different backgrounds, you’ve lived totally different lifestyles, and you don’t seem to have a single thing in common. Beneath that hard shell, you’re giving and softhearted—don’t even deny it—while he’s … him.”

  Bristling, she clipped, “Well, I don’t need you to ‘get’ it. It’s none of your damn business.”

  “Don’t you want someone who cares for you?”

  “Yes, I do. And that’s exactly what I have.”

  Drew tossed her a disappointed look. “You can’t honestly tell me he loves you with the intensity that demons are known for. He sees you as a possession. A thing. Something he won’t share but can never love.”

  “Wrong. But you believe whatever makes you feel better—I really couldn’t give a fuck.” She raised her hands, palms up. “And I’d say we’ve now officially reached the end of this conversation.” She turned to the door.

  “I almost didn’t leave.”

  Glancing at him over her shoulder, she frowned. “Excuse me?”

  “The night after I came so close to having you, I almost didn’t go back to Cuba. I thought about staying and seeing if there was any way to get behind those walls of yours. They were always sky high and ten inches thick. But I figured you weren’t ready—even shitfaced, you’d pushed me away before it went too far. So I went back to Cuba. And, yeah, part of the reason it wasn’t so hard was that I wasn’t ready either. Not for anything serious.”

  “Drew, this is old—”

  “I took it for granted that when I came home you’d still be kidding yourself that you could be happy with a human, even though you knew your demon would never accept one as a mate. That was my mistake.” He let out a short, humorless laugh. “I couldn’t fucking believe it when I heard you were mated. Devon didn’t tell me about him. Said she kept it from me because Jolene didn’t want you to be with someone whose priority was chasing the next rush. But it wouldn’t have been like that, Harper. You would have been my priority.”

  “It really doesn’t matter. I’m mated. I’m happy. I have a son. I’m totally committed to Knox.”

  “Which makes no sense unless you’ve deliberately chosen someone who won’t demand everything from you. The kicker is … you won’t get all of him either.” Drew took another step toward her. “Your little boy is bright and warm and playful—all you. Do you want him living every day of his life with someone as cold and dangerous as Thorne? Because if he does, he’ll lose that warmth bit by bit. You’ll lose that little boy.”

  So tired of this shit, Harper planted her hands on her hips. “Pray tell, Drew, what should I do instead?”

  “Leave Thorne. Leave him.”

  “Why exactly would I do that? I love him, and he loves me. You don’t have to believe that. I really don’t care if you do or you don’t. But it’s the truth. I know he loves me, and that’s all that matters.”

  “Did you also know that he was sleeping with one of the Horsemen? Isla? They were close, Harper. They’d known each other for centuries. But he killed her. You think you’re any safer with him?”

  At the reminder of Isla, Harper’s demon curled her upper lip. “He killed her because she hurt me. And yes, I do believe I’m safe with him.” She fumbled behind her for the doorknob. “Look, you need to go back to Cuba, Drew.”

  “Nothing I say could change your mind on Thorne?”

  “Nothing.” With that, she turned to the door again.

  “I know that Asher’s not a sphinx.”

  That comment had her hand freezing on the knob. Whirling to face Drew, she scoffed, “Of course he’s a sphinx. It’s perfectly easy to sense.”

  “Did you forget I have the ability to identify a demon’s breed on sight?”

  Yes, actually, she had forgotten. But she remembered now that he didn’t even need to be in the vicinity of the person in question. Drew could look at a photo of a demon and simply see what they were. Stomach rolling, she nonetheless stated, “Asher is a sphinx.”

  Eyes soft with sympathy, Drew shook his head. “No, Harper, he’s not.”

  Fisting her hands, she advanced on the asshole and then jabbed a finger at him. “Don’t you dare fuck with me just because you’re bitter about my—”

  “This is not me fucking with you. I would never lie about something like this. I’m telling you, Harper, your son is not a sphinx.”

  “Then do educate me, Drew … what is he?” she spat sardonically, humoring him.

  “Each breed of demon has a sort of aura. Not a spiritual glow like what humans talk about. The auras I see are faint ribbons of light that twine around a person. Thorne’s light is black, which sounds like a contradiction in terms, doesn’t it? But the color black is really just the complete absorption of visible light; it’s the absence of color. I have no idea what he is, but it’s dark and old and I’ve never come across one like it before.”

  “And Asher’s light?” she asked, voice cracking.

  “He doesn’t have one, Harper. He has a shadow instead. It’s like a dark smudge. Do you know what that means? It means he doesn’t belong to a breed. He’s a demon, yes, but he’s nothing … natural. Whatever he is doesn’t have a marker because it shouldn’t exist.”

  Her spine snapped straight. “My son has every right to exist!”

  “I’m not saying he should be fucking killed, Harper, I’m saying he isn’t a natural breed of demon. I haven’t told anyone, before you ask. And I won’t. But you need to be careful, Harper, because that dark smudge … it pulses. Like an irregular heartbeat. I don’t know what the fuck that means, but it can’t be anything good. You wouldn’t have fully committed yourself to someone who kept secrets from you, so I’m sure you think you know what Thorne is. But I doubt he’s told you the truth because whatever t
hat guy is, he couldn’t even conceive a normal demon. What does that say about him?”

  Overwhelmed, she swallowed. “I have to go. You have to go.”

  “You really think I could go back to fucking Cuba when I know there’s an incorporeal demon out there who came at you and is highly likely to do it again? I’d spend my days going insane with worry. No, I’m staying until the threat has gone and I know you’re safe.”

  “Knox won’t stand for that.”

  “He’s already taken my future from me. What more can he do?”

  “Your future?” she echoed, blood boiling at the sheer nerve of him. “If you’d really thought of me that way, you’d have done something about it a long time ago. And you’re goddamn arrogant to assume that I was that much of a sure thing.” Her demon surfaced with a hiss. “You had no right to mark yourself for me,” it said.

  Drew shrugged. “It’s done.”

  “You have to get rid of it.”

  “You think I’ll let Thorne or anyone else tell me what I can do to my own damn body?”

  Retaking control, Harper glared at him. “And how would you like it if you knew there was someone out there wearing your female on his skin?”

  “Someone out there is.” He gave her a pointed look.

  Harper snarled. “I’m not yours. Never have been. Never will be. You need to accept it or—”

  Behind her, the bedroom door flew open.

  “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” growled Tanner. He rounded Harper and stalked into Drew’s personal space. “Do you want to die? Is that what this is?”

  Sidling up to Harper, Jolene put a hand on her back. “I tried to keep him downstairs, but he got suspicious.”

  “Call Thorne here,” Drew dared. “Even better, ask Ciaran to go get him. Harper has a right to know why her son—”

  She jerked as fire roared to life in front of her. Hissed. Popped. Crackled. And there was Knox. No, there was Knox’s demon. Oh, shit.

  Everyone froze, eyeing it warily. Its attention was on Drew. Although it looked the image of utter composure, fury gleamed in those obsidian eyes. The air turned bitterly cold and so oppressive that it hurt to breathe it in.

  Chest tingling, Harper coughed. “Knox?” Knox, please get your demon to dial it down. If anything, the air thickened even further. Then they were all coughing. Rubbing her chest, she tried again. “Knox?”

  Black eyes slid to her, and the fury there receded just a little. Either the demon chose to subside or Knox wasn’t taking any of its shit, because then he surfaced and the air cleared. Want to tell me why you’re in a bedroom with the fucker who wants to steal you from me?

  She winced. Yeah, it did look bad, didn’t it? I didn’t know Drew was here. Grams just said she had something she needed to show me.

  He arched a brow. And you didn’t think to walk out when you realized why she really brought you here?

  Grams said he just wanted to say goodbye. I figured I could just let him get it over with and then leave.

  Knox’s gaze cut to her grandmother. “You fucked with my trust, Jolene.”

  Smoothing a hand down her blouse, Jolene said, “Drew just wanted to say his goodbyes.” It wasn’t a defense; it was a statement. Jolene didn’t justify herself to anyone.

  “No, he didn’t want that,” said Knox. “Not at all.”

  Harper frowned, wondering if he’d taken a dip in Drew’s mind and seen a wholly different intention.

  Knox turned to Drew. “Did you have it removed?”

  Drew lifted his chin. “If you mean the tat, no.” And his expression said that he had absolutely no intention of doing so. Jolene groaned in exasperation. Tanner shook his head, mouth tightening. Knox? He just looked at the hellcat blankly.

  “That’s fine. I can remove it for you.” Knox gripped Drew, and then fire erupted around them.

  “Knox, no!” Harper shouted, but it was too late. They were gone. Sighing, she shoved a hand through her hair. “Well, Grams, I can’t say you didn’t fuck this one up.”

  Jolene fingered her pearl necklace. “Will he kill him?”

  “I don’t know.” Harper rubbed her temple. The day had started off so well …

  “If Knox can pyroport,” began Jolene, “why has he been using Ciaran like a cab all this time?”

  “He likes to keep people guessing about what he can do.”

  Jolene gave a slow nod of understanding. “His secret is safe with me.”

  “I’d like to say your hellcat is safe with Knox, Jolene,” Tanner told her, jaw hard. “But he’s not. Not one little fucking bit.”

  *

  As the flames eased off, Knox grabbed the hellcat with psychic hands and rammed him into the cracked stone wall. The breath slammed out of Clarke’s lungs. He coughed, body shaking, eyes burning with rage. He would no doubt have stupidly lunged at Knox if the psychic hands weren’t pinning him to the wall like a butterfly.

  Knox’s demon bared its teeth in a feral grin, pleased to see the hellcat helpless and—better still—in what was effectively its playroom. Unlike Knox, it didn’t mind the scents of sweat, metal, mildew, and iron that were swirling around them.

  Drew glanced around the dull, shadowy space, taking in the tiny cramped cells, the iron maiden, the Judas chair, the rack, the cages hanging from the ceiling, and the sets of manacles attached to the walls. If it wasn’t for the dim recessed lighting, the large space would have been as dark as it was grim.

  “Where are we?” Drew asked, voice warbled. Fear seemed to light his eyes from within.

  “My sentinels call it the Chamber.” Knox’s footsteps echoed on the hard, stone floor. “Not very original, I suppose. It’s located beneath my prison, and it’s where members of my lair are brought for punishment. Some are then incarcerated. Others are released after paying their penance.” Knox had had a lot of fun punishing Roan in this very room. “It really all depends on the severity of the crime. I also bring here those who have … wronged me or mine. Can’t you hear them?”

  The sounds of weeping, screaming, begging, raving, and the sound of whip hitting flesh filled the air.

  “Don’t you see them?”

  Suddenly they were surrounded by people straining against manacles, being stretched over a rack, forced into the Judas chair, and laid on a bed of spikes.

  Squeezing his eyes shut, Drew shook his head fast. “It’s not real!”

  “It was real.” Knox let the echoes of the events fade away.

  Tanner’s mind brushed against his. Knox, I know you want Clarke dead—you’re not alone in that. But if you haven’t already killed him, think about whether it’s what you really want. His death at your hand could cause a massive rift between Harper and Devon, and that would affect Harper’s life in a substantial way. He’d affect her life. And it could slowly eat at what you and Harper have. Do you want to give him that power? Because I honestly think he’d be happy to die if it meant it gave him that.

  Knox didn’t respond. His demon paid the sentinel no mind—it wasn’t interested in reason or rationality right then. Its rage was like a fire in Knox’s veins. The bastard had dared to corner Harper, get her alone, and try to turn her against Knox. There was no way he wouldn’t pay for that. “You should have stayed away from Harper.”

  Drew’s eyes snapped open. “She needed to know the truth.”

  Knox lazily raised a brow. “About what?”

  “That whatever you are, you couldn’t even conceive a normal demon. Jolene didn’t tell you I see auras?” Drew snickered. “I’ve never seen one like yours before, but at least you have an aura. Your kid? No. He has a black smudge where an aura should be. A smudge that pulsates. Whatever you impregnated Harper with isn’t natural.”

  “Whatever I impregnated her with?” Knox echoed, enunciating every word carefully. “Asher is a person, just like you and me. He’s not a thing. He’s not unnatural.”

  “Well, he’s not a natural breed of demon. He’s something else. Something that does
n’t have a marker. Something I’ve never—” Whatever he saw on Knox’s face made Clarke’s eyes narrow. “You knew. You knew he wasn’t a sphinx. You know what that black smudge is, too, don’t you?”

  “Forget all of that.”

  “You think I’ll honestly forget—?”

  “I’ll make you forget.” Knox thrust his mind into Drew’s, allowed him to feel his presence there. “I can erase memories. All I have to do is find them and—” Finding a particular thread of memory, Knox smiled. “There.” He snipped the thread. Like that, Drew could no longer remember Harper’s taste.

  His eyes widened. “What did you just do? You can’t take my fucking memories!”

  “If you had simply removed the tattoo and returned to Cuba, we wouldn’t be in this position. You put yourself here.” Seeing that Drew was trying to visualize a brick wall in his mind, as if it would bolster his shields, Knox’s demon rolled its eyes. “You can’t keep me out of your mind. You’re simply not strong enough for that.”

  As he surfed through the hellcat’s thoughts, it surprised Knox to find that … “You see me as someone who sauntered in and stole Harper right from under your nose. But that’s not really accurate, is it? Someone can’t steal something from you if it never belonged to you. And Harper was never yours. She never would have been yours. She was meant to be mine.”

  Drew said nothing. Just kept on visualizing a brick wall, cheeks flushing red.

  Ignoring the hellcat’s futile attempts to keep him out, Knox went deeper into his mind. “My, my, my, you do like to lie to yourself, don’t you, Clarke? You’ve managed to convince yourself that you’re on a good and noble path; that your efforts to separate her from me is ‘right’ for Harper. But there’s a little part of you that keeps shaking its head sadly—a part of you that finds it somewhat distasteful to try to tear apart a family.”

  Drew’s eyes flickered.

  “You don’t even hope to gain anything from it at this point. You’re not under the illusion that you have a chance with her. You know she doesn’t love you. You know she’ll never belong to you. But you’d hoped that you could scare her into fleeing with Asher. You don’t even care if she flees with you or not. All that matters to you is that she’s away from me. You don’t even care if it means that she’ll be miserable without me. Tell me, Clarke, where’s the nobility in that?”