CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Harper was surprised when Tanner pulled up at the mansion, since she’d expected them to go straight back to the Underground. As usual, Dan gave Harper a big smile as he opened the front door. “Good to see you again, Miss Wallis.”

“Thanks.” She still wasn’t all that great at dealing with the courteousness. “One question,” she said to Knox as he guided her through the mansion. “Why did we come here instead of going back to the hotel?” Dario would be giving his speech later.

Knox led her into his bathroom, and she gasped. “I asked Meg to get a bath ready for you.” Meg had clearly taken it upon herself to add jasmine-scented candles and a glass of red wine.

“Not that I’m not eager to hop into that thing but…Why?”

Pulling her flush against him, he pressed a lingering kiss to her mouth. “You’re upset.” She didn’t show it, but he knew well that she was hurting at the idea that her own mother might want her dead. “As I mentioned before, you relax here.” And he wanted to take care of her. But she was so damn self-sufficient, so used to having only herself to depend on, that she always turned a little awkward when he tried to take care of her. She didn’t quite know how to handle it. He watched an array of emotions cross her face as she held back the awkwardness, rolling back her shoulders to push away her tension.

“Thank you,” she finally said.

He smiled in amusement. “Hard, wasn’t it?”

She gave him a mock scowl that turned into a grimace. “Shit, I didn’t bring any clothes with me.”

“You have clothes here.”

“You mean all the expensive designer stuff you bought that I told you to take back?”

“They’re just clothes, Harper.” Before she could rant, he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth. “Hear me now, because this is important. I know you feel uncomfortable about this and I understand why, but I am going to buy you things. I am going to spoil you. I am going to take care of you when you need me to. Because I want to. Because you deserve it. Because that’s what mates do. Rejecting the things I do or give you is much like pushing me away.”

“You know that’s not what I’m trying to do.”

“I do know that, which is why I’m not mad. You wouldn’t like it if anything I did made you feel that I was holding you at a distance.”

“You do hold me at a distance. You’re very tight-lipped about your past and what you are. I get it,” she quickly assured him. “I really do. It’s nothing personal to me, it’s just that you’re so used to keeping secrets it’s uncomfortable for you to share, and it’s not like your secrets are small. But you can’t call someone your mate and keep important things from them. I’m not saying you have to spill your guts here and now. I wouldn’t ask that of you. But if we’re really going to build something, you’re gonna have to do a little sharing.”

It sounded so simple, yet Knox knew it would be far from it. His past was as dark as the truth of what he was. She was strong enough to handle both, but he didn’t want her to have to – and he didn’t want to run the risk that she’d leave. Still, she was right; there had to be honesty between them. “I’ll try sharing if you try accepting things from me.”

“Compromise,” she drawled. “All right, I’ll try.”

“Good girl.”

Knox, began Keenan, we’re here.

I’ll meet you in the boathouse.

“Levi again?” she asked, sensing a telepathic exchange. “Has the incantor arrived to undo the spell?”

“No, it was Keenan.” With one last kiss, Knox released her. “Enjoy your bath, I’ll be back soon.”

“Remember that little conversation we just had about secrets and compromises?”

His demon chuckled, oddly delighted by her astuteness as opposed to irritated by the fact that they’d never get anything past her. Knox sighed. “I asked him to bring Kendra here. They’re in the boathouse.”

“You’re going to question her.”

“Of course.”

“But you don’t want me to be there.”

“Once Jolene pointed out that Kendra was probably your half-sister, did you feel bad that you’d caused her soul-deep pain?” He already knew the answer. Harper had a tough exterior, but she was soft on the inside.

“A little,” she admitted. “We’re not emotionally sisters, we don’t have a bond. But…”

“I might have to hurt her, Harper. I don’t want you to see that.”

Harper ran a hand through her hair. “I really don’t think she’s behind all this.”

“You might be right.” But he wasn’t willing to risk it.

“Okay, I’ll stay.” She was too damn tired emotionally to deal with Kendra in the same day she’d dealt with Carla and yet more dark magick bullshit.

Knox kissed her. “I won’t be long.”

Strolling into the boathouse, he found Keenan leaning against the wall as he stared at the she-demon squirming in a chair. She haughtily lifted her chin as Knox moved to stand in front of her. Despite her efforts to appear cool and collected, her nervousness was easy to sense. But…was she nervous because she was the culprit they were looking for? Or was she nervous because being brought in front of her Prime was never a good thing?

“What’s this about?” she finally asked.

“I’d start with the question, ‘Where were you tonight?’ But I already know the answer to that. And I find it confusing.”

The squirming stopped, but she didn’t speak.

“You knew people were watching you, didn’t you, Kendra? You slipped away so they wouldn’t know where you were going. Why would you do that? More to the point, what reason could you have for being in North Las Vegas?”

“There’s no law against going there.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.” He took a single step forward, letting his rage show in his expression. She blanched. “My patience has been tested too many times tonight, Kendra.” The words came out a dark rumble. “You don’t want to push me. Or did you enjoy your last punishment so much that you want a repeat?”

Fear glimmered in her eyes; she was no doubt recalling being forced to swallow a ball of hellfire for confronting Harper in the restrooms – it had burned her mouth, throat, windpipe, lungs, stomach, and intestines before fizzling away. Merciless, sure, but he’d been through worse at five years old.

“I was meeting someone at a bar there,” she admitted.

“Why?”

“It’s personal.” She jolted when he conjured an orb of hellfire. “They know the location of a demon I’m trying to find,” she said in a rush.

“By any chance, would Lucian Wallis be the person you’re trying to locate?”

Her face went slack. “You know…?”

“That he’s your biological father? Yes. That you hate him for having no part in your life? Yes. That you hate Harper for having what you didn’t? Yes.” Casually, Knox repeatedly bounced the orb of hellfire in his hand. “Do you hate her so much that you want her dead? That you would use dark practitioners to help achieve that little dream?”

She gasped in sheer horror. “What? No! I won’t lie and say I have any pleasant feelings for Harper Wallis. I don’t. Never will. And since I value my life, I wouldn’t risk it for someone who means nothing to me – attempting to kill your anchor would indeed put my life at risk. And I find the idea that you believe I would ever associate with dark practitioners very offensive.” The woman was haughty through and through.

“You do? I find the fact that someone tried to kill Harper very offensive.”

“You should have thought of that before you declared she was your anchor. In doing that, you put a target on her back. It’s true that it keeps her safe from the majority of the demon population. But you have many enemies. They see her as a way to get to you. Most of them will never act on that out of their fear of you. But some will be too stupid or simply too hungry for vengeance to care.”

He knew that. It was why he’d assigned Harper a bodyguard. In a world so brutal, she was still far safer being known as his anchor than as a she-demon of a small lair.

“If she’s in danger, it’s because of you.”

“Or maybe it’s because of you, Kendra.” Knox crushed the orb of hellfire in his hand. “Maybe it’s because you despise her for having everything you wanted.”

Kendra laughed. “You think I’m jealous that she had Lucian Wallis for a father?”

“You speak of him with such contempt,” observed Keenan. “Yet, you’re trying to find him. Why?”

“I want to confront him. I want to tell him what a bastard he is for leaving my mother so broken that she turned to alcohol for a comfort that it was never going to give her.”

“One way to strike out at him would be through the daughter he acknowledges – the only person he has any real regard for,” Keenan pointed out.

“I don’t want him to hurt because she’s hurt. I want him to hurt because the truth hurts. He needs to hear the truth of what he did to my mother.”

“Maybe that’s true,” said Knox. “But not for one second do I believe that you don’t hate my Harper with a passion.”

“Your Harper?” Her upper lip curled as bitterness wafted from her. “So you are fucking her. I wonder how long it will be before your demon tires of this one. I suppose it won’t be long, since she’s an imp and a W—”

With a snarl, his demon shot to the surface. “I thought you value your life,” it said.

She shrank in her seat, eyes wide. “I – I do.”

The demon had no pity. “Never insult what belongs to me.”

“I’m sorry,” she whimpered.

Knox resurfaced, but she didn’t calm – most likely due to the fury thickening the air and making the floor tremble. “Hear me when I say that if I discover you had anything to do with the attacks on Harper, I will destroy you, Kendra. Not fast. But slowly. Very, very slowly. The pain will be far worse than you can ever imagine. So agonizing that you’ll beg for death. But I wouldn’t give it to you. No, because that would be merciful. And we both know I’m a cruel, ruthless bastard. You might be a nightmare by breed, Kendra, but I’m everybody’s fucking nightmare.”

She licked her lips. “It wasn’t me, I swear it wasn’t me.”

“Then you’ll get to live the life you claim to value. If not, you die.”

Who would ever need so many clothes?

Wrapped in the softest towel ever, Harper puffed out a long breath as she browsed through the things in the huge closet, forcing herself not to check the price tags. The clothes ranged from casual stuff to evening dresses. The lingerie in the drawers were all pretty raunchy, as were the sheer, scraps of lace she was assuming were nightgowns.

Hearing footsteps, she turned to see Knox striding into the room. “Well?”

He fingered her wet locks. “Kendra claims it wasn’t her. Unsurprisingly. She says she met with someone who could give her Lucian’s current location. Apparently, she wishes to confront him.”

That didn’t sound good. “Do you think she means to hurt him?”

“Physically? I don’t believe so.”

“She’ll get a shock if she does. He’s got abilities that freak even me out. And I have eyes that frequently change color – there aren’t much stuff weirder than that.”

Knox looked into eyes that were presently mercury. “Do you get that from Lucian?”

“Nope. I don’t know if it’s a trait that’s in the genes somewhere or just a real freaky defect.”

Knox nipped at her bottom lip. “They’re not freaky or a defect. They’re unique, just like you.” He smiled at her mumbled ‘Whatever.’ “Feeling better?”

“Yes, actually.” Her eyes sharpened. “In fact, you look tenser than I was. I guess it’s always a shitty thing to have to interrogate a member of your own lair. What?” He had the oddest look on his face.

“You referred to the lair as mine.”

She gave him a pitying smile. “It is yours, sweetie. Did you hit your head?”

He ignored the tease. “But you’re my mate, which means you’re part of it now.”

Shit, she really hadn’t considered that. And it presented her with a problem, since…“Knox, I don’t want to leave my lair.”

“I know that you don’t. And I know that trying to demand it of you would gain me nothing but frustration. So we’ll compromise and say you’re part of both lairs.”

“Wow.” She’d expected an argument. “You’re good at this whole compromising thing.”

He brushed his mouth against hers. “I’m someone who chooses his battles wisely.”

“You sound like a parent who’s letting their child win the little battles so the poor thing has the illusion of control and independence.” But she couldn’t be annoyed, because he flashed her that lopsided smile that made her stomach clench.

Knox glanced at the closet. “Have you picked anything to wear yet?”

“Do you realize there are three times more clothing in here than there are in my wardrobe? Of course, there’s a chance that most of the stuff in my wardrobe has been destroyed by the snakes,” she added glumly. Sure, they were only clothes. But a lot of them were from various places around the world, they carried good memories.

“We can go to your apartment to check the damage after Dario’s speech, if you want.”

“Yeah, I’d like to see what survived the spell.” Casting another frown at the full closet, she asked, “Can’t you just pyroport us straight to the hotel suite where my dress is?”

“No. I was seen leaving, so I need to be seen returning.”

“Ah, you like to keep people guessing about what abilities you have.”

He shrugged. “They don’t need to know.”

“Fine.” She grabbed underwear, socks, a pair of blue jeans, and a white shirt. “Notice that I am snapping off the tags without checking the prices. I will just pretend they aren’t designer clothing and you got them from thrift shops.”

He smiled. “If that makes you feel better…”

Knox? called Levi. We need to talk.

Now?

Yes. It’s important, he added with an urgency in his voice that made Knox tense.

I’ll be at my office in the hotel in ten minutes, said Knox. Meet me there.

Don’t bring Harper. I’ll explain when we meet.

“Now you’re even tenser than you were before,” commented Harper as she pulled on the jeans.

She was too observant for her own good. “Levi has something he wishes to speak to me about. In private.” She regarded him with a blank expression, and Knox expected her to bristle. Instead, she shrugged.

“Fair enough.”

Knox arched a brow. “Fair enough?”

“I’m not a sentinel, so I get that there are things I won’t always hear about unless you okay it first. I don’t expect to be told everything – unless it’s related to me, in which case it’s totally my business.”

That truly was fair enough, but he had to meet her halfway here. “I won’t keep secrets from you unless they’re not mine to tell.”

Buttoning her shirt, she gave an approving nod. “I can work with that.”

On arriving at the Underground hotel, Knox sent Harper and Tanner upstairs to their suite while he headed for his office. Levi was already waiting near the door, jaw clenched and eyes hard. It wasn’t until they were both inside the office, door closed, that Knox spoke. “Tell me.”

“The incantor came to Harper’s apartment and unraveled the spell. Ella said it was quite an advanced one. The practitioners that we’re looking for would have been expensive to hire.”

That information helped, but…“You didn’t need to speak with me privately about that, so I’m guessing there’s more.”

Levi toed the chair in front of the desk around and straddled it. “Carla was leaving when Ella arrived. Ella recognized her, said she’d never forget the face of ‘that heartless bitch.’ She knew Carla from a long time ago – a time when Carla had once been pregnant.”

Knox stiffened, instinctively knowing he really wasn’t going to like this. “Go on.”

“Apparently, Carla wasn’t just angry back then that Lucian left her while she was pregnant. She was angry that he got her pregnant. She tried to abort Harper.”

Knox cursed as anger rose sharply within him. His demon snarled, just as enraged.

“But it didn’t work, obviously. So Carla went to an incantor and asked for a spell that would kill the baby.”

“You’re fucking kidding me,” he growled, the anger of both him and his demon spiking.

Levi shook his head. “I shit you not. She told the incantor, Dawn, that she didn’t want any part of Lucian inside her – that she was looking forward to telling him and his family that his child was dead. Dawn didn’t want any part in killing a baby, and she doesn’t believe that magick should be used for such a thing. Making it worse, Carla had even asked if there was any way of trapping the baby’s soul in a container, so that she could taunt Lucian that his child would never have peace.”

This time, his demon roared its anger. It took every single ounce of Knox’s control to keep the entity from reaching for dominance and exacting that anger on its surroundings. He knew his eyes had briefly flashed demon when Levi stilled. “I’m fine,” Knox told him. “Tell me the rest. I need to know.”

“As I said, Dawn didn’t want any part in it, but she knew others would do it for a price. So she placed a protective spell on the baby instead. Then she went to Jolene and told her everything.”

Shock froze Knox’s thoughts for a moment. “Jolene knows about this?”

“Jolene paid Carla to carry the baby to term and then hand it over. And that’s exactly what Carla did.” Levi’s gaze turned speculative. “So I’m guessing you’d really like to rip Carla Hayden apart, limb from limb.”

Knox’s demon thought it was a fucking fantastic idea, but in Knox’s opinion…“That would be too lenient.” His voice had come out guttural. If Carla’s plans had been successful, his mate would never have lived.

“I agree. I don’t judge people who seek abortions, although I don’t like the idea of them. But I do fucking judge someone who wants to trap a child’s soul.” Levi crossed his arms over the top of the chair. “Are you going to publically announce that Harper’s your mate?”

Knox sensed that Levi was trying to calm him by changing the subject, so he went with it. “I won’t make an official announcement, I’ll simply let the news spread.” He’d only need to mention it to one person for it to reach everyone. “I want the demon population to know she’s taken. And there’s a chance that just maybe it will shift the anger of who’s targeting her to me.”

“You think so?”

“Whoever’s after Harper is carrying a lot of rage, but they didn’t act on it until I made it public that she was my anchor. There could be two reasons for that. One, they don’t want good things happening in her life, maybe even resent it; if that’s the case, hearing she has a mate will infuriate them. Or two, the fact that I’m her anchor set them off; if so, they really will be pissed to hear I’m now also her mate. In both cases, it’s the fact that I’ve entered her life which has changed things. That might redirect their anger onto me.”

“You do realize Harper will know what you’re doing, don’t you? She won’t like you setting yourself up as a target.”

“Tough,” Knox snapped, “she’ll just have to fucking deal with it. Why are you smiling?”

“I like that you’re not so divorced from your feelings when it comes to her. She makes you happy. Nothing’s ever made you happy. Things have pleased and pleasured you, but that’s all.” Levi cocked his head. “What’s it like? Having a weakness, I mean.”

“She’s not a weakness.”

“Of course she is. It’s not a bad thing. Before, you kept yourself alive purely because of self-preservation. Now you live for her. There’s no better reason to live than for your mate. But we both know that you and your demon would lose all control if you ever lose her – it’s the one thing that could truly hurt you. That makes her a weakness as well as a strength.”

Knox knew that Levi was right. He could remember the rage he’d felt when he found her in the alley with the dark practitioners; could remember almost losing the control that kept him and his demon in check. Would Knox care about the damage his rage caused everything around him if he lost Harper? No.

“But hey, maybe we don’t need to worry so much. Let’s face it, if you lose her and lose your control, you could destroy the fucking world. Only someone who wants to die, start a war, is a rogue, has a tiny IQ, or who is simply completely insane would harm her when they learn she’s your mate.”

Since insanity wasn’t exactly rare among their kind and there were plenty of rogue demons out there, Harper still had threats to her safety.

“Have you told her what you are yet?”

“Not yet.” His hesitation was clear in his tone.

“Harper doesn’t scare easily.”

“No, she doesn’t. But my kind aren’t supposed to walk the Earth. You know what they say – what’s born in hell should stay in hell.” Contrary to what humans believed, there were much worse things in hell than Lucifer.

“You’ll have to tell her soon. You’ll also have to tell her the truth about Carla. I wish she didn’t have to hear this shit, I really do. But it’s better if she’s on her guard around Carla, if she doesn’t buy the ‘please let me talk with you’ routine.”

“I can’t talk to Harper about it until I’ve spoken to Jolene and I have all the facts. But I will tell her.” He could never keep a secret like that from her, especially after his assurance that he wouldn’t withhold anything from her that concerned her.

“How do you think Harper will take it?”

“That I don’t know. She always manages to surprise me.”

Figuring that it was likely that Jolene was in her suite, getting ready for the dinner that would start in an hour’s time, Knox and Levi headed straight there.

Jolene, already dressed in a lilac suit, looked surprised to see him. “I was expecting Beck and Martina. Come in.” She peered around him. “No Harper?”

“No,” replied Knox as he closed the door, leaving Levi outside to guard the suite. “I thought it was best that she wasn’t present for this conversation.”

One of Jolene’s brows slid up, making him think of Harper. “Oh? She won’t like you deciding what’s ‘best’ for her.”

“She won’t like learning you’ve lied to her all her life either.”

Jolene narrowed her eyes. Realization appeared to dawn on her quickly, so she obviously knew this could only be about one thing. “I really don’t believe this is any of your business.”

“Harper’s my—”

“Anchor, but that doesn’t entitle you to know everything.”

“It does when I’m her mate.”

Jolene sighed. “I suppose I should have expected that.” Taking a seat on the sofa, Jolene crossed one leg over the other. “She’s one of a kind, isn’t she? Special.”

Yes, she was.

“It’s hard to imagine that this might have been a world without her in it. Suck some of that rage back in before your demon takes control.”

“Why the lies, Jolene?”

“How did you find out?”

“A friend of Dawn recognized Carla and mentioned it to Levi,” replied Knox. “Why didn’t you tell Harper the truth? Or, if you were so set on lying, couldn’t you have told her a kinder one?”

“You think I should have told Harper that her mother sought magick that would end her life and trap her soul just to have vengeance on her father?” Jolene sniffed. “That would be hard for anyone to handle, and it could have made her reject both parents. Yes, I could have told her a kinder lie. But that would have risked Harper one day making the decision to seek out Carla. And at least this way if Harper ever discovered the truth, it wouldn’t be too much of a shock. She already knows Carla’s selfish and cruel.”

“You know another thing I don’t understand? Why you gave Harper to Lucian. You could have raised her yourself. She deserved better than what she got.”

“Do you think I wanted to give her to him? I cried for days. But it wasn’t easy for her being the only Wallis who wasn’t an imp – it made it worse that her parents weren’t around. I needed her to realize that the problem wasn’t her, it was them. If that meant she lived with Lucian to find that out for herself, so be it. And it worked. You can’t deny that.”

No, he couldn’t. It didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Are you going to tell her the truth about Carla?”

“We’re both going to tell her.” Knox opened the door and swept out a hand. Jolene didn’t move. “If it doesn’t come from both of us, the truth will hurt her even more. I won’t have that.” After a long silence, Jolene grabbed her purse and followed him out of the suite.

Once in the elevator, Knox told her, “Tonight, someone put a death spell on Harper’s apartment.”

Jolene’s face hardened and the elevator began to slightly rattle. Quick enough, the rattling stopped. “She’s fine.” It was a ‘she’d better be fine’ statement.

“Of course,” he said. “Shit would be burning down if she wasn’t. That’s twice now that dark practitioners have targeted Harper. So it would seem that the culprit likes to use magick to get what they want, especially when what they want is vengeance. A little like Carla.”

“You think she could have sent the practitioners?”

“You don’t?”

Jolene’s expression turned pensive. “She tried to kill Harper once before. I guess it wouldn’t be a shocker if she tried it again.”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Jolene. You’re an astute, shrewd woman. I don’t believe for one second that you haven’t already considered it might be Carla.”

“I have her watched, much like you. But she’ll be expecting that, so she’s not going to do anything incriminating. She’ll be very careful about who she’s seen to associate with. But you don’t have to see someone in person to associate with them, do you?”

“You’re monitoring her calls and emails, aren’t you?”

“Of course. But she’ll be expecting that too. She’s telepathic, so it’s possible that she’s communicating with unsavory people that way.” Jolene pointed a finger. “Don’t let this blind you to the fact that it’s equally possible that Kendra or Isla is the mastermind.”

Reaching the top floor, they exited the elevator and headed for Knox’s suite. “Kendra went to North Las Vegas last night.”

“Yes, she’s looking for information on Lucian’s whereabouts.”

He smiled. “Her informant works for you, doesn’t he?”

“Imps are liars and cheaters by nature. But we don’t betray our own. He’ll send her on a wild goose chase, which will hopefully get her away from Harper.”

Tanner, who was guarding the door, frowned at Knox. “Everything okay? You have some serious anger radiating from you.”

Of course he did. “Levi will fill you in on the details. I need to talk to Harper.” With that, he left his sentinels outside and led Jolene into the suite. They found Harper in the living area, talking on her cell phone. Knox picked up Raini’s voice, but he didn’t hear the words. He was a little distracted by how stunning Harper looked in a pastel blue dress.

Looking up, she smiled. “Hey, Grams. Raini, I’ll call you later.” Glancing from Jolene to Knox, she said, “All right, what’s going on?”

Jolene sat on the sofa opposite Harper. “I won’t begin this by saying ‘there’s somethingyou should know,’ because honestly, sweetheart, I don’t think you need to know this. It will only hurt you. But Knox insists that you should have the truth. So if that’s what you want, you can have it.”

Harper again looked from Jolene to Knox, who was now sitting beside her. “The truth about what?”

When Jolene didn’t respond, Knox spoke. “Carla.”

Harper twisted her mouth. “Let’s hear it.”

Jolene flicked her hair away from her face. “She didn’t dump you on my doorstep. I’ve had you in my care since the day you were born. I was actually at the birth.” She paused. “I paid her to carry you to term and hand you over.”

“You paid her?” Harper easily read between the lines. “She wanted to abort me.” Her grandmother nodded. While that didn’t exactly make her feel warm inside…“I could have handled that, Grams. Why not just tell me?” But there was only one reason Jolene would have kept it to herself. “It gets worse, doesn’t it?”

“Carla sought out an incantor’s help when the abortion didn’t work. She didn’t just want you dead, she wanted to trap your soul.”

Nice. Her inner demon curled her upper lip, ready to hunt down the bitch.

“It wasn’t to hurt you,” Jolene quickly added. “I don’t think she even saw you as a person. She’s so self-centered that she couldn’t see past her own desperate need for vengeance.”

“I was a pawn she was hoping to use to hurt Lucian.”

“It wasn’t a story I wanted you to hear as a child. But I had to give you a story that was close to the truth – close enough that you would never wish Carla was in your life, that you knew you were better off without her.”

“You could have told me everything when I grew up.”

“You’d been hurt enough. I didn’t think telling you the rest would serve any purpose other than to hurt you more.”

While a part of Harper was pissed that Jolene had withheld the truth, she understood. She also understood something else. “I was wrong.”

“About what?” Knox asked, waiting for Harper to start ranting. She seemed too calm.

“I always thought Carla hated me. But I wasn’t a person to her.”

Jolene sighed. “When you were eighteen months old, we came across Carla in a store. It was one of the times Lucian came to visit. He was holding you, laughing at something you’d done, when Carla rounded the aisle.” Jolene looked at Knox. “Whatever you might think about Lucian, he loves Harper. He truly does. And right then in that store, Carla saw that. She hated it.” Jolene moved her attention back to Harper. “She started yelling that children should be with their mothers, she tried to grab you. You slapped her hand. And then she was sobbing on the floor.”

“I used my ability?” Her inner demon was seriously smug about that.

“At eighteen months old, you reduced the bitch to tears. That day, she was forced to see you as a person – a powerful child that couldn’t be manipulated and used against Lucian. A child even more powerful than she is. She wanted to hurt your soul, and instead you were able to hurt hers. Ironic, really.” Jolene paused. “You understand why I didn’t tell you?”

“I’m not mad at you. I get it. I would rather have known the truth, but I get why you didn’t tell me.” She gave Knox a half-smile. “Thank you for ensuring I knew the truth.”

Knox frowned, once more surprised by his mate. She wasn’t crying, she wasn’t yelling, she wasn’t condemning Jolene, and she wasn’t vowing to see Carla dead and buried. She just wasn’t normal. “I expected tears. A little ranting.”

“Why? It’s not like I didn’t already know that Carla’s twisted. Am I upset? A little. I mean, no one wants to hear that their mother tried to abort them, do they? But honestly, I always thought it was kind of odd that she didn’t abort me, considering that would have hurt Lucian more than dumping me on Jolene’s doorstep. It made no sense to me that she went through the birth. So I’m not really that surprised by all this.”

“You’re not upset about the soul-trapping part?” Knox fucking was.

“Well, yeah, but how can I take it personally when she didn’t see me as a person? The fact is that a demon that’s lost its mate is a very dangerous thing. She considered Lucian her mate, and he rejected her. He didn’t even want her as his anchor. Everything she did as a result of that wasn’t about me, it was about her. And look, it’s all backfired on her, hasn’t it?” So much so that her inner demon was smirking.

Gazing at his mate, Knox shook his head, musing, “So unpredictable.”

Harper shrugged. “I just think that if someone has a problem with me, well it’s their problem to deal with. Why should I feel bad about it? I’m not responsible for what other people do or don’t feel. Carla didn’t want a child – that’s not my fault. She craved vengeance – also not my fault. So why torment myself with it?” As her cell phone started ringing, she grabbed it from the table in front of her. “It’s Devon.” No doubt Raini had told Devon and Khloë that Harper had taken Knox as her mate. Harper hadn’t wanted them to find out from the grapevine. “I’ll be back in a second.”

When Harper shut herself in the bedroom, Knox turned to Jolene. “She has a very unique way of looking at things. I like that.”

“Lucian’s partly responsible for her outlook on life, you know,” Jolene told him. “He’s aloof to anything that doesn’t directly affect him, he isn’t personally threatened by the opinions or actions of others, and he doesn’t take life too seriously.”

Knox growled, “He’s an asshole.”

Sighing tiredly, she shook her head. “You insist on seeing him as this evil person. Harper didn’t have a terrible upbringing, it was just different. He passed on a lot of good traits to her – the independence, the confidence, and even the directness.”

“He’s selfish and ignorant.”

“He is.”

“He put his own needs before hers.”

“In some ways, yes. You’ve heard all about Lucian the partying playboy. His playboy-ways stopped the moment he took Harper to live with him. He also stopped doing drugs and partying too hard. Yes, he dragged her around the world with him. But Lucian loves traveling – it’s the only thing in life other than Harper that brings him any joy. Sharing that with her was really the only thing he could give her.

“He honestly believed that exposing her to different lifestyles and cultures would be good for her. If at any point I’d thought she was unhappy, I’d have insisted he return her to me. But she liked to travel, even though it had its ups and downs. She has little knickknacks from all over the world. They’re all important to her, because they all have good memories attached to them.”

“She deserved better,” he insisted.

“But she might not be the person she is today if it wasn’t for the upbringing she had. There are so many people out there who’ve had horrific childhoods filled with abuse and neglect and cruelty.”

Knox knew that too well.

“Harper never suffered any of that. Lucian is self-centered and has the emotional age of a kid. But he never hurt her. Never will.”

Knox leaned forward. “Jolene, if I thought for even a second that he had, he’d be dead by now.”

Jolene actually cackled. “I really do hope I’m present when you two meet.”

“When who meets?” asked Harper as she reentered the room.

“Lucian and Knox.”

Harper’s nose wrinkled. “Yeah, I can’t say I share your anticipation.”

“I do,” said Knox.

“He’ll be here for her birthday in two weeks’ time,” Jolene told him. “You’ll see Lucian then.”

When were you going to tell me your birthday is approaching? he asked Harper.

Oh…never. I don’t like fuss.

Get used to it fast. He’d already warned her that he intended to spoil her; he meant it. She’d just have to learn to love it.