CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“Got the info you asked for. Wasn’t easy.”

Harper leaned back in her office chair, sighing at Khloë. “I’m not going to like this at all, am I?”

“Not one little bit.”

Jolene had taught Harper to ‘always know your enemy.’ So weeks ago, Harper had contacted her sources and done some research on Isla. But all the different stories she’d heard had contradicted each other, and she’d quickly suspected that Isla had fabricated those stories to keep people from knowing the truth. So Harper had gone to the one person who could find out anything: Khloë.

Her cousin settled in the chair opposite Harper. “It took so long to dig up info because her inner circle is utterly devoted to her in a way that’s just creepy…like she’s some kind of goddess.”

“What did you find out?”

“In short, Isla’s an ambitious, greedy, power-hungry bitch who rose to her position by blackmailing, intimidating, framing, and jumping in bed with people.”

Harper blinked. “It’s hard to imagine her jumping into bed with someone. She’s never struck me as a sexual person – she’s too robotic and apathetic.”

“Yes, but sex can often be a way to control people, can’t it? She probably uses it as a weapon.”

That sounded more like Isla.

“She has no limits and believes herself to be untouchable. She also flies into rages that could put fear into even Lucifer.”

“Rages?” It was hard to imagine that happening. Isla just seemed so composed all the time. Even when she’d been pissed at the conference in Manhattan, she hadn’t lost control.

“Oh yeah. Behind that collected exterior is a paranoid, deranged, corrupt woman. She also has a little secret that she mistakenly thinks is well-guarded. She thinks that only her inner circle of demons – who believe she can’t do wrong, and who’ll do whatever she asks of them, because they worship her – are the only ones that know.”

Harper leaned forward in her seat. “What is this little secret?”

“It seems that Isla has a little thing for sexual sadism.”

Okay, that was a shock. “Seriously?”

“Personally, I don’t view what she’s doing as sexual sadism. I just call it plain twisted. She ties up unwilling women and does everything short of killing them. When she gets bored of a woman, she has one of her inner circle kill her. It’s odd that she doesn’t do that herself, considering she has absolutely no problem doing other sick shit.”

“The women she’s been hurting…are they from her lair?”

“Yes. The other lair members know she’s punishing the women, they just don’t know how she’s punishing them. Apparently a lot of those punishments are for imaginary crimes.” Khloë’s upper lip curled. “In my opinion, she’s not punishing them, she’s doing it because it’s how she gets off.”

“Before, you said sexual sadism.”

“She sexually assaults them.”

Harper cursed, scrubbing a hand down her face. “I feel sick.”

“According to my source, she seems to hate her own gender.”

“Any idea why? Was her mother abusive or something?”

“No, but her father was; her mother committed suicide. That’s as much as my contact knows about her past.”

Harper shrugged. “Then maybe it’s something else. Maybe she hates herself and she’s projecting that onto other women – especially if those women are confident, happy, and have things that Isla want.”

“Could be.”

“There isn’t a way we can help them. Lairs don’t interfere in each other’s business.” Harper exhaled heavily. “Sadly, she’s not the only Prime who hurts her lair. It goes on all over the world.”

“Yep. And Malden’s promise of a voice will appeal to all those victims,” Khloë pointed out.

“He won’t live up to his promises.”

“We know that. But I have a feeling that most of the public don’t. And that’s not good.”

Harper sighed. “No, it’s not.” The polling would take place in two days’ time in the same Underground hotel that the speeches were held. “The whisper campaigns have done some damage, though not the damage the Primes had intended.” Instead of making the public choose one Prime over the others, it had made them too confused to trust any of the candidates. As such, a lot of demons weren’t so keen on making any changes.

“I gotta tell ya, Harper, I’m no longer so sure that it’s dark practitioners behind the attacks on you. At first, I thought you were right. But now that I know what Isla’s capable of, how good she is at hiding her true self from anyone, I’m thinking maybe Knox is right and Isla’s the culprit.”

“She’d certainly get off on it. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s her.”

“Speaking of another possible culprit…Has Knox or his sentinels figured out who the Kendra impersonator really is?”

Harper shook her head. “They can’t find her either. Not even with a bounty on her head.”

“She’s probably stole another person’s identity, hiding in plain sight.”

“That’s what I’m thinking.”

Khloë braced her elbows on the desk and began playing with Harper’s stapler. “Enough of all the depressing shit. What are you doing for your birthday tomorrow?”

Harper happily went along with changing the subject. “Knox is being very mysterious about it. All I know is that he’s taking me somewhere.” Demons didn’t do the whole card and gift thing like humans, but they did celebrate their birthdays. Some liked to indulge in a good ole adrenalin rush, others might prefer a night in the Underground, and – in the case of imps – some might be more attracted to the idea of breaking into a bank vault for fun.

“What about Lucian?”

“He called me yesterday. It’ll be a few days before he can make it here. He said he can’t find anyone to take care of his emu while he’s gone.”

Khloë gaped. “An emu? That guy is just warped.”

Harper chuckled. “I’m actually glad he won’t be here for another few days. I’m not at all eager for him to meet Knox.”

Putting down the stapler, Khloë smiled. “Knox is gonna verbally kick his ass. You know that, right?”

“I know.” Harper sighed. “I’ve tried to explain that Lucian’s not as bad as he thinks, but I’m not getting through to Knox.”

“He’s your mate, he’s protective of you. That’s a good thing. So…has he told you what he is yet?” Her tone warned that there would be repercussions if he hadn’t.

“Don’t interfere. He’ll tell me when he’s ready.”

“But—”

“Khloë.”

“Fine, fine, whatever. I suppose we can’t really be upset with him for holding back from you, since you’re keeping a whopper of a secret from him.”

“I am?” This was the first Harper had heard of it.

“Yes…unless you’ve finally told him that you love him.”

Harper spluttered. “I didn’t say that I love him.”

“Be honest, you do.” When Harper didn’t speak, Khloë groaned, her expression a plea. “Come on, you can tell me, Harper. I know I’m an irritating bitch, and I know I’m full of advice that you don’t want to hear, but we’ve always shared shit.”

She made her confession quickly. “Yes, I love him. No, I haven’t told him.”

“You don’t want him to know you love him until you’re sure he loves you right back,” Khloë guessed.

“I’m honestly not sure if ‘love’ is on Knox’s emotional scale.” It wasn’t something she begrudged him for. He was the way he was, and she had to accept that.

“At least you’re not denying that you love him.”

“Now that you have your answers, can we move on to another – and much more casual – subject?”

Khloë gave her an apologetic smile. “I just want you to be happy.”

“I am, doofus.”

Harper? Knox’s velvety voice slid over her skin.

Yeah?

I need you to go with Tanner. He’ll bring you to me. A vibe of frustration accompanied the words.

What’s wrong?

Carla’s secret…it’s out.

Well, shit.

A short while later, she and Tanner were entering Knox’s Underground office above the combat circle. He stood near the window while Keenan and Levi lounged on the sofa.

“What’s happened exactly? Who blabbed?” She wondered if it was Kellen, but—

“We actually don’t know.” Knox came to her, every muscle in his body tense, as if he was coiled to spring. As usual, he looked totally calm, despite the anger pulsing in the air. “Like with the whisper campaigns, the news seemed to come out of nowhere. It has spread around the Underground like wildfire.”

Harper cursed. She’d known it was highly likely that the truth would one day come out. She just hadn’t expected it to be so soon. As Tanner had led her to the office, people had stared and whispered. The fact that everyone knew…she hated that.

Tanner leaned against the wall. “There’s a great deal of anger brewing down there.”

“A lot of people aren’t happy,” said Levi.

Harper frowned. “Why? I mean, I know she did wrong, but my family already knows about it. Who else would care?”

“Our entire lair cares,” replied Levi. “You’re Knox’s anchor and his mate, which automatically makes them protective of you. People see you at his side, supporting him at meetings and gatherings. To support him is to support all of us. Larkin had to pull Carla out of a mob of pissed-off demons ready to kick her ass.”

He had to be kidding. “Mob?”

Knox, twining her hair around his finger like he was apt to do when pissed or in deep thought, said, “Mona was leading it.”

Harper snorted a laugh, which appeared to further anger him. “Come on, you don’t find it funny that a she-demon who once dueled with me down there is now my biggest supporter?”

Keenan pursed his lips. “There is an amusing quality to the situation.”

“Nothing about this situation is humorous,” countered Knox. Moving closer to her, he placed his hands on her forearms. “I can’t cut this rumor off. It’s already spread too far, too fast. That means we have to ride it out.”

“Has Carla denied the truth to everyone?” Harper asked him.

“Oddly enough, no.”

She’d have thought the woman would have maintained her innocence, given that she’d have to know full well that Harper would just as happily deny the rumor was true. “Does her mate know yet?”

“Yes. He called me earlier, asking where Carla was.”

Levi cocked his head. “He didn’t ask you if there was any truth in the whispers?”

“No.”

“Maybe he wants to hear it from her,” suggested Harper. Hearing her cell ring, she dug it out of her pocket. “It’s Jolene.”

As Harper moved to the other side of his office to take the call, Knox turned to his sentinels. “Whoever released this information did it practically anonymously. That tells me they’re adept at this sort of thing…maybe as adept as those who have been part of the whisper campaigns.”

“Like Isla, you mean,” concluded Keenan.

For Knox, it was becoming more and more likely that Isla was the culprit.

“Someone went through the trouble of digging deep into Harper’s life,” said Keenan. “Why? What’s the point?”

“It’ll distract people from the election,” Levi pointed out. “But I don’t think that was the motivation. Releasing the secret has hurt Harper, hasn’t it?”

Knox glanced at her. She was trying to talk Jolene down from turning Carla’s home to rubble. Harper didn’t look at all like she was hurting, but he knew she was, and he hated it. Although he didn’t like that his mate was, in her words, ‘Carla’s dirty little secret’ and he didn’t believe it was fair that she was kept as one, he also knew that Harper was a private person who wouldn’t want her personal business up for public consumption. It infuriated him that he couldn’t protect her from this.

“Whoever’s been trying to hurt her hasn’t been successful,” continued Levi. “Maybe they’ve accepted that and they’re settling for making her suffer in other ways.”

Keenan shrugged. “What do we do?”

“The only thing we can do: damage control.” At the knock on the door, Knox called out, “Come in.”

Larkin walked inside, dragging a reluctant Carla with her. His inner demon snarled. Knox prided himself on being good at reading people, but he’d never been able to discern Carla’s true feelings about Harper. He’d known one thing, though: Carla’s part in every conversation about or with Harper had always been an act. As he stared at Carla now, he could see that her façade was gone. Maybe it was the shock of the situation, but the mask had finally fallen. There was none of her usual graciousness or timidity. She looked terrified and devastated. And it was real.

Larkin guided a pale, trembling Carla to the chair opposite his desk. “She doesn’t know who started the rumor,” the female sentinel told him. “I can’t find out either.”

As Carla spotted Harper, grief and longing briefly glimmered in the woman’s eyes. But then it was gone. It wasn’t even that she was trying to hide it. Instead, it was as though there was a part of Carla that possessed those feelings, but it was too small a part to make any difference.

“What exactly is the rumor?” Knox asked Larkin.

“Just that Carla gave Harper up to Jolene when she was a baby.”

Well, Jolene’s fictional version of events was a lot better than the full truth. “Nothing more?”

Larkin’s brows drew together. “Is there more?”

Knox looked down at Carla. “Much more. Isn’t there, Carla?” The woman gulped.

“Jolene’s pissed,” announced Harper as she sidled up to Knox, briefly glancing at Carla – the woman wouldn’t meet her gaze. “She’s trying to find out who started all the whispers. So far, she’s having no luck with it.”

“The mob has separated, but people are still unhappy,” said Larkin.

Knox glared down at Carla. “It galls me to have to protect you. In my opinion, you deserve to be fucking verbally crucified out there. You deserve worse. But I won’t have warring going on within my lair. That means taking steps to calm the situation.”

“I could make a statement that I’m not upset,” suggested Harper.

Larkin shook her head. “That won’t be enough; they’re upset on your behalf.”

“So maybe I could be seen to escort her out of here.”

Knox turned to Harper. “You’re not protecting her. She didn’t protect you. Did you, Carla?”

“No.” It was spoken so quietly, it was a true wonder that anyone heard it.

“In fact, the only thing that kept Harper alive during the pregnancy was a damn spell, wasn’t it?”

“Knox,” Harper cautioned. It was bad enough that people knew as much as they did. She didn’t want him blurting out the rest.

“You can’t have any idea how much I’d like to end you,” Know rumbled at Carla. “The only reason you’re breathing is that Harper doesn’t want vengeance. Oh, I thought about ignoring her wish to let you be. I thought about making you suffer the way you wanted her to suffer.”

“I didn’t want her to suffer,” Carla objected quietly.

“You wanted Lucian to suffer. Do you think that excuses what you did?”

“No.” Again, her voice was low.

A frantic knock was followed by Bray’s voice asking to be let inside. Knox wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but Carla’s face paled even more. Knox summoned him in, but Carla didn’t turn to face her mate. His hair was ruffled, as if he’d dragged his hand through it several times. His eyes were wild and desperate – most likely, he was desperate for her to deny what he’d heard; for her to decry that it was all lies.

Bray looked briefly at Harper before moving to stand in front of Carla. “Is it true?” His voice was like gravel.

Carla didn’t meet his gaze. “Yes.”

Bray’s jaw hardened. “How could you not tell me? How?” he demanded with a growl.

“I was ashamed, Bray!” she burst out, finally looking at him. Her words all came out in a rush. “I hate myself for what I did! She was an innocent little baby who hadn’t done anything to anyone. But I was hurting and angry when Lucian left me, so wrapped up in my own misery and pain that I wasn’t thinking straight. He was my anchor and the person I’d wanted as a mate, but he left me.My head was a mess, my demon was demanding the bastard while all I wanted was for him to hurt the way I hurt. A need for vengeance was the only thing keeping me going!”

There was a whole lot of truth in that, Knox sensed. If Carla had felt for Lucian even half of what Knox felt for Harper, he could understand how that would have twisted her so much inside; how it would have left her so overtaken by rage and despair that nothing and no one else seemed to matter. But to Knox, it would never fucking excuse what she’d done to Harper. Never.

“She should have kept you going,” insisted Bray, pointing at Harper. “She should have mattered more than vengeance.”

“Yes,” whispered Carla. “By the time I realized that she did, it was too late.” She turned to Harper. “I tried to take you back once.”

Harper would have snorted, except there was some genuine emotion there. “Only because you saw with me Lucian and realized that I was a potential weapon to use to hurt him.”

She shook her head. “I was jealous. He had you, and I didn’t. I tried not to think about you after I gave you to Jolene as a baby. But that day, I had to face that you were real. That I’d done something so very, very cruel. You used your ability on me. All the while, your eyes were changing colors. You get that trait from my baby sister, you know. She died. That was my fault. I pushed the swing too hard and she fell…” Carla inhaled deeply. “In the store, I saw you both staring at me, condemning me as I felt a pain I had every reason to feel.”

“So you just went back to pretending she didn’t exist after that?” asked Bray, disgusted.

Carla continued speaking to Harper. “I went to see you sometimes, whenever you came with Lucian to visit Jolene. Not up close. Just…from afar. I just wanted to see you.” She didn’t even seem to know why.

“Yet, you dismissed her when you saw her in the street,” Knox reminded her. “That part I just don’t get.”

“I bumped into one of your aunts once,” she told Harper. “She gave me one hell of a lecture about leaving you on Jolene’s doorstep when you were a baby, and I realized that Jolene hadn’t told people the whole version. I was worried that if you came to me, Jolene would be mad enough to tell you everything so that you stayed away from me. I didn’t want you to know just how cruel to you I really was. So I made sure I seemed unreceptive.”

Bray ran both hands through his hair. “You should have told me, Carla.”

Carla flicked a glance at him. “I was worried you would leave me.”

Bray looked at Harper, perplexed. “You don’t seem upset.”

Harper shrugged. “I had a good life. Maybe not a normal life, but it was good. I was happy. If your mate was really such a mess at the time I was born, I doubt she could have given me that. We were both better off without the other.”

“But she’s your mother.”

“I traveled a lot over the years. I’ve seen a lot of places. Some weren’t good. I saw suffering that would make all this seem like a damn fairytale. One friend I had…her mother did the opposite of what Carla did. She kept her daughter, but she hated her. Hated her and was cruel to her while doting on the other kids. I would rather not have lived that life.”

Bray was silent for a few moments. “You’re very mature and wise for your age.” His face hardened as his attention returned to Carla. “We’re going home, and you’re going to tell me everything. Everything.”

“I will.” Carla got to her feet.

“Larkin and Keenan will escort you out,” Knox told them.

On reaching the door, Carla glanced at Harper over her shoulder. “I really am sorry I couldn’t be the mother you needed.” With that, she left.

Knox turned to Harper, concerned by her blank expression. “You okay?”

“I want to go home.” She knew she probably sounded a little lost, but she felt off-kilter.

“Then we go home.”

Sitting across the dining table from Harper, Knox watched as she absently shoved the food around the plate with her fork. When he brought her home earlier, she’d claimed she just wanted to lounge around for a while. Although she’d settled comfortably on the sofa, she hadn’t really been watching the T.V. Her expression had been vacant, her eyes faraway. She’d been quiet for hours now. Pensive. It wasn’t like Harper to overthink things. “Eat, baby.”

Her brow wrinkled. “I’m not really that hungry.”

“Eat or Meg will be offended.” When she shoved a piece of pasta in her mouth, he arched a brow. “You’ll do it for Meg, but not for me?”

“She might stop making me muffins.”

He would have smiled if she hadn’t dropped her fork with a clang and sighed. Knox moved to sit beside her. Forking some pasta, he held it up to her mouth. Casting him a sour look, she ate it. “Good girl. Tell me what’s bothering you so much that you can’t eat.”

Swallowing down her pasta, Harper sipped at her wine. “It’s stupid.”

“If it matters to you, it matters. That means it isn’t stupid. Tell me.”

“In my head, I’ve always had Carla in a box safely marked ‘selfish and unfeeling.’ She was the baddie, and so I didn’t have to care what she did. The things she said earlier…they still make her selfish, but not exactly unfeeling. I don’t know how to see her differently. I don’t want to see her differently.” Because if she wasn’t bad, Harper might have to care. To care meant to be hurt by what had happened.

Knox gripped Harper’s chin. “She should have put you first, no matter what shit was going on in her life, but she didn’t. She doesn’t deserve your forgiveness, so don’t expect it of yourself. Carla fucked up royally, and she never once tried to fix it.” He forced Harper to eat more pasta before he continued. “You can concede that just maybe things weren’t as clear-cut as you thought, but that doesn’t mean you have to be understanding.” He certainly fucking wasn’t. “Nothing can excuse what she did.”

“I guess I just don’t know what box to put her in now.”

“No one can be firmly marked anything, baby. No one’s all good, and no one’s all bad. Everyone has different dimensions to their personality, and everyone has different things that drive them. People can change, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. A person’s nature is a fluid thing.”

He was right, she realized. “I love you.” And now he was gaping at her, which wasn’t surprising. “I know it’s a really weird time to say it. I get that. But it occurred to me before that I grew up never really knowing for sure if the people in my life loved me. I don’t want you to wonder.”

Knox snapped out of his stunned state as she rose from her seat. He grabbed her wrist. “Baby, you don’t get to say something like that and then walk away.”

“I so do.” She slipped out of his hold and headed to the bedroom, close to laughing at the fact that she’d managed to shock the unshockable Knox Thorne. She hadn’t waited for him to return the sentiment, because she’d known he wouldn’t. She wasn’t fanciful, she was practical. As she’d told Khloë, she didn’t think ‘love’ was on his emotional scale. Even if it was, he’d been solitary for too long for him to suddenly be alive with feelings other people took for granted. It was enough that he cared for her.

Sitting on the bed, she removed her shoes. He appeared in the doorway, brooding and unnerving. “You’re looking at me funny. Yeah, I know blurting that out and then walking away was kind of weird. But we both know I’m weird, so give me some space to do strange stuff without judging me.” She huffed. “You’re still looking at me funny.”

He glided into the room in that predatory way that he had. “You told me something that was difficult for you to say. I know it was hard, because I know you don’t like to be vulnerable to people. And the best way to guard yourself is to not let them see you, and to not let them see how much you care.”

“Just for the record, I don’t like that you’re so perceptive,” she griped.

“It would be selfish and spineless to not give you some honesty in return. Selfish? I’m that. But I’m not spineless.”

She stilled as a buzz vibrated in the air…much like that time in the alley with the practitioners. As though something was charging up, gathering in power. And she knew then that he was going to tell her what he was. No, he was going to show her. Her inner demon went on high alert, both curious and wary.

Just as it had in the alley, the power purred against Harper’s skin and made her eyes burn, her teeth rattle, her ears ring, and her chest tighten. His predatory stare was wholly focused on her, danger in every line and curve of his face. He didn’t look like Knox then, he seemed like a total stranger. Her heart slammed against her ribs. And suddenly, she wasn’t so sure she wanted to know what he was.

With a roar, flames erupted from the ground. Gold, red, and black, they swirled around Knox, engulfing him until she couldn’t see him. What the fuck? No, not even he could survive them. She moved towards him desperately, but the heat was just so blistering and she—

And then she saw it: a figure of raging flames stood inside the fire. She couldn’t help but gawk as her heart pounded so frantically it hurt. Her inner demon was shock-still. There was only one thing that could withstand the flames of hell…because it was the only thing that was born from the flames of hell. Her breath caught in her throat. “Archdemon.”

Just as archangels were born in heaven and served God, archdemons were born in hell. But they weren’t there to serve Lucifer as many religions believed. They were there to serve hell itself. Born from the flames, their purpose was to command, control, and destroy.

That was when it occurred to her…She’d thought he was charging up before. No, the power hadn’t been building – it was straining to get free. And he was repressing it. She couldn’t understand how anyone could repress that level of power. But then, he was an archdemon.

A fucking archdemon.

The flames calmed, slowly easing and lowering until all that was left was a figure of pure fire. Then the fire…it was like it peeled away from Knox’s flesh. His clothes were surprisingly still intact.

He cricked his neck, his dark eyes glittering with danger. “I don’t just call on the flames of hell, Harper. I am the flames of hell.”