Embers, Page 2

  Her aunt, Martina, left the outdoor bar and approached with a tray of Jell-O shots. “Drink, anyone? We also have iced tea, lemonade, mojitos, margaritas, and beer.”

  Keenan’s brow furrowed. “This is a kids’ tea party, right?”

  “Uh-huh.” Martina downed a shot like a pro. “No Knox?”

  “He’s meeting me here later,” Harper told her. Hearing the snap of flip-flops, she looked to see Raini approaching. “Hey, how are you?”

  “Good, thanks,” replied the succubus, flicking her white-blonde, pink-streaked hair over her shoulder. “Ooh, I’ll have one of those.” Raini grabbed a neon-blue shot and chugged it down. Even in her casual clothing, she exuded sex with her wicked curves, flawless skin, and sharp amber eyes. “Where’s my honorary nephew?”

  “With Grams.” Harper frowned when she saw Jolene coming toward them, empty handed. “Or, at least, I thought he was. Where’s Asher, Grams?”

  “On the bouncy castle. Khloë has him,” Jolene replied.

  Keenan’s frown deepened. “Khloë’s in there?” He sighed, adding dryly, “Well of course she is. Where else would she be?”

  Yeah, Harper’s cousin wasn’t exactly the most mature person in the world, so it often surprised people that she was incredibly well-organized. It was that very quality that made Harper and Raini hire her as the receptionist at their tattoo studio in the Underground—a subterranean demonic paradise owned by Knox.

  Chuckling, Harper watched as Khloë gently bounced Asher, who tried stomping his little feet on the inflatable castle.

  Tanner’s own chuckle cut off as he looked over Harper’s shoulder and grinned, golden eyes lighting up. “Here kitty, kitty.”

  Devon, an apprentice at their studio, glared at the hellhound. “Eat shit, pooch.”

  Tanner put a hand to his chest. “Is that any way to speak to someone who bought you a present?”

  Devon snarled. “If it’s more cat litter, I’m going to punch you right in the muzzle.” The hellcat turned to Harper. “Where’s my gorgeous little dude?”

  Harper snickered. “Well, hello to you, too. I’m great, thanks.”

  Devon rolled her eyes. “Look who I brought with me.”

  Harper felt her brows rise at the sight of the lean, tattooed male heading their way. “Drew. I had no idea you were in Vegas.” It shouldn’t have been awkward. She’d known him since they were kids, he was Devon’s older brother, and Harper hadn’t seen him in three years. Maybe if their last meeting hadn’t ended in a drunken make-out session, she wouldn’t have found herself fighting a blush.

  Like his sister, he had cat-green eyes and dark ultraviolet hair. Whereas Devon’s hair fell in ringlets down her back, his was short and tousled. He was indeed incredibly hot and had a powerful magnetic energy about him. Like most females of Jolene’s lair, Harper once had a mad crush on Drew—he’d broken many hearts when he moved to Cuba six years ago, only paying their lair the occasional visit.

  If there was one person she might have broken her no-dating-demons rule for back before Knox came into her life, it was Drew. But he’d shown no interest in her. As an adrenalin junkie who lived for finding the next high, he focused all his energy into his own life. Their make-out session had been nothing more than a farewell kiss that went too far. He’d returned to Cuba the next day, and she hadn’t heard from him since.

  “Only got here last night.” Grinning, he pulled her into a hug. “It’s good to see you.”

  As a menacing growl rumbled out of Tanner, Harper stepped back to see that both sentinels were glaring at Drew. She forced a smile. “Guys, this is Devon’s brother, Drew.” But the glaring continued. Not that it seemed to bother Drew. But then, he lived for the thrill of danger and wasn’t easily intimidated.

  Having gratefully accepted a beer from Jolene, Drew gestured at Harper with his bottle. “I heard you’re mated,” he said, tone strangely flat. “That was … a surprise. And then I heard you’re a mom, too. That was even more surprising.”

  “That’s my little guy right there with Khloë.”

  Drew’s mouth curled. “He’s cute. Like his mom.” Ignoring Tanner’s growl, Drew asked, “What’s it like to be a Prime? You always said you didn’t want to be one.”

  That was true. It had never been her dream to rule a lair, but she’d become a co-Prime on mating with Knox. Running a lair that spanned most of Nevada and much of California was no easy thing, but … “It’s not as bad as I’d expected it would be, since I have Knox to share the burden.”

  “I’ll bet the Primes are mortified that he claimed a Wallis.”

  “They’ve gone from ‘mortified’ to ‘disapproving’. They’ve accepted I’m a permanent fixture, though. It’s surprising what a difference it made that I’ve taken Knox’s surname.”

  Drew’s brows lifted and he swallowed. “You’ve taken his surname?”

  “And she’s wearing his rings,” Keenan interrupted, still glaring at Drew. “One of which is a black diamond,” he added meaningfully. As it was a sign of the ultimate commitment, demons only gave a black diamond to the person they intended to take permanently as their mate.

  Drew gave her a wan smile. “Congratulations. But I gotta wonder what happened to your ‘no-dating-demons’ rule.”

  Harper shrugged. “I guess I broke it.” A hard weight slammed into her leg. She looked down to see her younger cousin. “Hey, Heidi-ho.” Harper stroked a hand over the little girl’s bright blonde hair. “What you up to?”

  “Helping Ciaran set up the dining room for the clown,” she said.

  “There’s a clown?” Harper turned to see Ciaran, Khloë’s twin, heading their way … with the freakiest-looking clown she’d ever seen in her life.

  Raini gasped. “Oh, my God. He’ll terrify the kids.”

  He skipped past them and planted himself in front of the bouncy castle. “Hey little people, ready for your magic show?”

  “Yeah!” they shouted in delight. They then followed the creepy clown into the house like he was the damn Pied Piper.

  Ciaran was at the back of the line with Asher in his arms, who was chewing his thumb. “I’ll take him inside, so he can watch the show.”

  Tanner’s brows drew together. “You don’t find that clown even the slightest bit creepy?”

  Ciaran blinked. “In what sense?”

  Tanner shook his head. “Never mind.”

  Mouth twitching, Harper followed Ciaran into the house, who then headed into the dining room and sat on the floor with Asher between his legs. Standing just outside the doorway, Harper spoke quietly to Jolene. “About Heidi … Any news on who hired the demon to snatch her?” It had happened when Harper was pregnant, but they’d had no luck tracking the culprit.

  Jolene’s lips tightened. “No. If anyone knows anything, they’re not talking.”

  “Devon told me what happened,” began Drew, face sober. “Do you think the person behind it will send someone else after Heidi?”

  “I’d like to think that if that was their intention, they would have tried it by now,” said Jolene.

  “Nora could have been lying when she said that it wasn’t her,” said Harper.

  Keenan nodded. “I agree. Nora hired the hunters who went after you, Harper. She contacted them anonymously using an encrypted, self-deleting email. Heidi’s kidnapper was contacted in the exact same way. It seems too much of a coincidence that two different people would use the same technique to hire demons in such a short space of time.”

  “Unless this person is somehow linked to Nora,” said Raini. “I doubt I’m alone in thinking it was the fourth Horseman.”

  “But Nora said that they weren’t working together at the time because he/she wanted to keep a low profile for a while,” Harper pointed out. “Sending someone after Heidi isn’t maintaining a low profile.”

  “So maybe it wasn’t that they cared about keeping a low profile; maybe it was that they simply didn’t want to work with Nora anymore,” Drew suggested.

>   There was a distinct pop followed by the hiss of air. Harper popped her head into the dining room and glanced out of the window that overlooked the backyard. “Oh, shit, the bouncy castle’s deflating.” And Khloë and Martina were struggling to get off it.

  They all hurried outside. Keenan grabbed Khloë’s wrist and literally hauled her out of the collapsing castle while Tanner did the same to Martina.

  Jolene sighed. “Khloë, what did you do?”

  “It wasn’t me!” the small, olive-skinned imp insisted. “We were just lying there, relaxing.”

  Martina nodded. “It was weird, the thing just … popped. Then it was caving in, and we were scrambling like idiots to get—”

  The air compressor spluttered loudly, and then there was an ominous rattle. The guys all moved to switch it off, but they didn’t appear to be having much luck with it at all.

  “Everything all right out here?”

  Hearing Ciaran’s voice, Harper twisted to see him peeking out of the back door. “Not really,” she replied. “It burst, and now the air compressor’s having a nervous breakdown.”

  Jolene threw up her arms. “I can’t understand what’s wrong with it.”

  Feeling Asher’s mind touch hers to get her attention, Harper said, “I’ll just be a sec.” As she headed back into the house, Ciaran went out into the yard to help.

  She walked into the dining room. And skidded to a halt, heart jumping into her throat. The kids were still watching the clown, rapt, aside from Asher. He was surrounded by his shield of embers, sparks, and ashes … staring curiously up at the woman a few feet away from him, who was cooing and telling him it was time to go home—a woman who was a carbon copy of Harper.

  “What the fuck?” Harper burst out.

  Her replica stilled. A surge of glacial energy abruptly whipped across the space, freezing everything and everyone that it touched. Except for Harper. The biting chill only slid over her skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake.

  Snarling, she charged at the bitch, but a bitterly cold wind swept up Harper and flung her out of the room like she was no more than a ragdoll. The breath gusted out of her lungs in a heavy rush as she hit the hallway wall, slamming her head hard.

  Coughing and grimacing at the ringing sound in her ears, Harper righted herself. With a grating, crackly sound, the sheet of frost that was spreading along the living room walls began to form a barrier across the doorway. Her heart leaped with horror. Fuck, no.

  She quickly squeezed through the slight gap before it could close, scraping her skin along the sharp ice as it tore through her shirt and side. She ignored the pain. Ignored the taste of her fear. Ignored the arctic chill in the room. She only cared about getting to the bitch who was currently probing Asher’s shield, trying to get to him.

  Harper was on her in a flash. Fury ripping through her bloodstream, she gripped the other demon by the throat and slammed her into the wall. The protective power that lived inside Harper sprang to her hands and sent soul-deep agony blasting through the bitch—burning every nerve ending, severing every organ, axing every bone, and flaying her soul. The she-demon’s back arched and her mouth opened in a silent scream.

  It wasn’t enough for Harper. Not even close. Tightening her hold on the bitch’s throat, Harper slammed her head into the wall over and over and over, relishing the crack of her skull, the look of sheer agony on her face, and the way she struggled for breath as Harper squeezed her throat hard.

  There was no mercy in Harper. No reason. No rationality. Only a blinding rage. It had engulfed Harper just the same as soul-deep pain had engulfed the motherfucking bitch in front of her.

  Harper’s vision was a haze of red. Her heartbeat thrashed in her ears. Her inner demon roared and hissed, livid and murderous. The agony in the bitch’s expression didn’t appease the entity any more than watching awareness dim from her eyes. No, Harper’s demon wanted to watch the life leave her eyes.

  Needing no urging from the entity, Harper whipped her stiletto blade out of her boot, infused hellfire into it, and rammed it into the she-demon’s heart. The bitch sucked in a sharp breath, eyes wide and swirling with pain. But then the throat in Harper’s grip suddenly started to slim. Fade. Grew faint until it became totally insubstantial.

  With her vaporous face set into a mask of rage, the she-demon exploded into particles and then disappeared in a whirl of icy smoke.

  Panting, Harper stood there, staring at the empty space in front of her. “Fuck.”

  Hearing a distinct pounding, she turned to see that Tanner was charging at the frosted sheet blocking the doorway while others hurled balls of hellfire at it. But Harper didn’t spare a thought for the people struggling to enter the room, or even for the kids around her who were heart-wrenchingly still frozen in place. Her only thought was for her son.

  Unable to still the tremors of rage running through her, Harper crossed to Asher, who instantly lowered his shield. “Hey, my gorgeous boy,” she said, voice shaky, fighting to sound gentle when it was the last thing she felt. Picking him up, she pressed a long kiss to his temple. Remarkably, he wasn’t crying. Didn’t even seem the slightest bit distressed. “I’m sorry, baby, I shouldn’t have left you.”

  Ciaran abruptly appeared in front of her, teleporting into the room. “Finally it worked. I didn’t think I’d ever get through, it’s like the ice is some kind of energy shield—” He cut off as his gaze skimmed over the frozen children. “Fuck me. Is Asher okay?”

  Harper nodded. “Ciaran, you need to get us out of here now.” They needed to be home, where Asher was safe and no one could reach him. Home, where it was safe for Knox to lose his everloving mind … because that was exactly what he was going to do.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Arriving in the living area of the mansion with Asher still in her arms, Harper turned to Ciaran. “Did she enter the room while you were still in there, fooling you into thinking she was me? No, of course she didn’t, or you’d have been shocked to see me in the yard,” Harper reasoned. It was hard to think clearly when her world was in utter chaos.

  Ciaran frowned. “Was who in there? We couldn’t see shit through the frost blocking the doorway. We just heard slamming and pounding and knew something bad was going down.”

  Nerves raw, she gave him a quick rundown of what had occurred, finding it utterly surreal. It had all happened so damn fast. One moment, she’d been enjoying the party. The next moment, she’d been terrified for her son’s safety. Would the demon have hurt him? Or had she only meant to take him? Neither bore thinking about.

  Harper tightened her hold on Asher, trying not to squeeze him too hard. He didn’t writhe or fuss. He just babbled to Hound, tugging at its ear.

  Paling, Ciaran rubbed a hand down his face. “Shit, Harper, I should have stayed with him.”

  “No, I should have stayed with him.” She was his mother; she was supposed to protect him.

  “You hurt? You have blood dripping down your temple.”

  Becoming suddenly aware of the wet trickle, Harper wiped it with the back of her hand. “Hit my head on the wall.” Until right then, the throbbing ache of the wound hadn’t registered. “I’m fine. But the other kids are, and they need help. Maybe if you teleport them out of the room they’ll unfreeze or something—I don’t know. I need you to go back, do what you can, and make sure that everyone knows that me and Asher are okay. We can’t afford for Jolene or the sentinels to go off the deep end.”

  Ciaran nodded and then gently shook Asher’s hand. “Take care, kid.” With that, he teleported away.

  She pressed a kiss to Asher’s head, inhaling his sweet scent. Tears stung her eyes, but she held them back. “You okay, baby boy?” she asked softly, doing her best to mask her fear. He was here, safe and warm and unhurt. “I think it’s time to call your father. But not while you’re in the room, just in case his demon blows a gasket.” Meg, I need you.

  Meg entered the room moments later, brow furrowing. “Harper, what’s wrong?”

 
; “I need you to take Asher up to his room and just watch him for a little while. Can you do that, please?”

  “Of course.” Meg carefully took him. “But you haven’t yet told me what’s wrong.”

  Harper flexed her fingers. It had hurt to let him go when all she wanted was to cling tightly to him. “I will; I just need to speak with Knox first.”

  “All right. Call me when you’re done here.”

  Once they left the room, Harper closed her eyes and took a long, steadying breath. She wanted to cry. Lash out. Scream until her throat hurt. Instead, she desperately sought calm. If she didn’t, she’d only feed Knox’s anger. But it was hard while the panic and terror were still so fresh and the adrenalin crash had left her edgy and restless.

  She found herself pacing, footsteps stiff and jerky. She simply couldn’t settle. Couldn’t shake off the anger or fear. Especially while her inner demon was raging, demanding vengeance. Demanding that someone pay and pay dearly. Knox’s demon would no doubt demand the same thing.

  The first time she’d met Knox, he’d rattled her typically dauntless inner demon. He didn’t just exude blatant danger, he embodied it. He was as brutal, merciless, and ruthless as the demonic population believed him to be. Still, Knox never spewed venom or yelled. Never exploded or foamed at the mouth. But he didn’t always contain the rage either. And when he let it out, well, people tended to die. Especially if his demon—an entity that was cold, malevolent, and hard as stone—took the reins.

  Knox had a better hold on his inner demon than most did. There was no way for anyone to fully control the entities. Work with them? Yes. But that meant ceding control to them at times while still maintaining the position of dominant figure. The constant power struggle led some to turn rogue, go insane, or commit suicide. As such, most demons were eager to find their psi-mates.

  Demons came in pairs, which meant each had a predestined psi-mate, or “anchor”, that would make them stronger and enable them to maintain the dominant position over their inner demon. The bond was purely psychic, not sexual or emotional. Still, anchors were often very close. Even the pairs who didn’t get along very well would still be supportive, loyal, and defend each other against any threat. Who wouldn’t want such absolute loyalty? Someone they could always count on, no matter what?