Chapter Fourteen

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Pausing in pulling on a fresh sweater after Asher had spilled milk all over her other one, Harper looked at Knox. “What do you mean, you’re not going to work?”

Leaning his hip against the doorjamb of the closet, Knox said, “I mean, I’m taking the day off. We’re going out. You, me, and Asher.”

“We are? Where?”

“I was thinking we could pyroport to the spot on the Grand Canyon where I taught you to fly. He loved it last time—especially since we both took turns flying him around.”

Harper pursed her lips. They didn’t get enough days out, in her opinion. And it would be good for Asher to leave the estate for a little while. “Sounds good.”

“It does.” Crossing to her, Knox drew her to him and slid his arms around her waist. “How do you feel about getting away from Vegas for a week or so? The three of us need some uninterrupted time together. I was thinking we could take a trip out on the yacht.”

She sighed. “You apologized last night. I accepted your apology.”

“I know you did.”

“Then you also know you don’t need to make it up to me by doing nice stuff or—”

“I want to do things for you. I want to spoil you. I like spoiling you. I don’t get to do it as often as I’d like, because I’m conscious of how awkward it makes you feel.” He was introducing her to the concept, little by little, but Knox suspected that awkwardness would always be there. Since he found it sort of cute, that didn’t bother him in the least. “But this isn’t just about that. The three of us could really use some time and space away from all the shit that’s going on around us.”

Unable to deny that, Harper relented, “Okay. A little break would be nice. But I think Asher would prefer another trip to the island over some time on the yacht.”

Knox traced the brand on her throat was his fingertip. “You’re right, he’ll enjoy the beach. And he likes the nursery we had built for him in the hut.” At Harper’s specifications.

She sighed. “It’s not a hut. It’s a giant beach villa with a thatched roof.”

Knox’s mouth quirked. “Call it whatever you like. Can you be packed and ready to leave tomorrow morning?”

“So soon?”

“Like I said, we need the time and space away.”

“Tomorrow morning’s good with me. But since you’ll be taking some time off work for a vacation, you really don’t need to stay home today.”

“I know. I want to stay home.” Not only because they needed quality time together, but because he needed her to be in easy reach for a little while so that he could touch her whenever he liked. After what happened, Knox didn’t want her out of his sight. He wasn’t leaving her side until the fear that had struck him last night had completely faded. If that made him irrational, so be it.

They’d spent much of the night talking and fucking, enjoying some alone time. When Asher woke at six in the morning, they brought him into their room and let him play on their bed while they watched TV. It had been peaceful. Normal. They didn’t get much “normal” these days. Which was why Knox then said … “Later, you and I are going out for dinner.”

She lifted a brow. “Is that a fact?”

Mouth twitching at her haughty tone, Knox kissed her. “I’ll rephrase. I’d like to take you out to dinner later. Does that work for you?”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“I’ll hound you until you agree.”

Harper snorted. She didn’t doubt that he would. “Where do you want to go?”

“You choose.”

Harper leaned back a little to study him, narrowing her eyes. “You, a total control freak, want me to choose? I think the last time you did that was when I was pregnant. You’d messed up then too. Knox, I told you, you don’t need to do nice things for me—your apology has been accepted.”

“And I told you that I want to do things for you, so suck it up.” Before she could chew a chunk out of his ass for that remark, he kissed her. Took her mouth, pouring that consuming and overpowering emotion he felt for her right down her throat. Moaning, she melted against him, and something in him settled. Just as he pulled back, Larkin’s mind touched his.

Knox, we need to talk, the harpy told him. I’m in the living room when you’re ready.

We’ll be right down.Cupping Harper’s hips, Knox said, “Larkin’s here. She no doubt wants to check on you. I assured her that you were fine earlier this morning by telepathy, but she’ll naturally want to see that for herself.”

Knox hadn’t been surprised when Tanner and Levi turned up a few hours ago, wanting to check on Harper first thing. Keenan had actually stayed the night, worried for her. Knox was quite sure his little sphinx would be surprised by just how protective his sentinels were of her. It wasn’t about her being their Prime; it wasn’t about duty. They cared for and respected her. She had a way of winning people’s loyalty without even trying.

“I’m ready,” said Harper, straightening her sweater. “We can—” Hearing her cell chime, she walked out of the closet and over to the nightstand, where she grabbed the phone. The name flashing on the screen made her blink in surprise and caused her stomach to knot.

“Who is it?” asked Knox, who’d followed her into the bedroom. “Clarke?” He’d kill the fucker if it was.

“Not the one you’re thinking of. It’s Devon.” The other girls had called last night to check on Harper after Jolene—who’d lost her everloving mind when she heard about the café incident—passed on the news of what happened. It had hurt Harper that Devon hadn’t bothered to even send her a text. Noticing that Knox was lingering, arms folded, Harper said, “Can I have a little privacy while I take the call?”

“I’m staying until I’m sure she’s not calling to give you grief.” He held her gaze with his own, telling her without words that he wouldn’t budge.

Sighing, Harper swiped her thumb across the screen. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Devon greeted shyly. “I meant to call you last night but … well, I wasn’t sure if you’d want to hear from me, considering I’ve been such a bitch lately. Now I’ve decided I don’t care if you don’t want to talk to me, I need to know you’re okay. Khloë promised you were fine, but … ”

Shoulders losing their stiffness, Harper said, “I’m okay. And I’m glad you called.” She gave Knox an “it’s fine” look, but he still didn’t move. She rolled her eyes.

“Khloë said that you would have died if Knox hadn’t been there at the café.” Devon’s voice shook a little. “He’s handy to have around.”

Harper gave a soft snort of amusement. “Very true.”

“It wasn’t fair of me to be mad at him. Drew was warned, and he ignored every one of those warnings. I just felt torn. And guilty, because I was pissed at him even while he was so hurt. He’s my brother. I felt like I should have sided with him, but I couldn’t. It ate me up.”

“I get it. I’m not upset.”

“Not sure if Jolene’s already told you, but Drew left for Cuba. We escorted him to the airport and watched the plane take off. He’s gone so … Look, I know Knox probably won’t care, but tell him I’m sorry for not being fair to him. I’m guessing he’s right there, since there’s no way he wouldn’t monitor a call you received from someone he suspected might upset you.”

Harper met his eyes. “He’s here.”

“And that’s why I like that you have him. I want someone who’ll always look out for you, even if that means my brother suffered his wrath.” There was a short pause. “So, are we okay? You and me, I mean?”

“Of course we’re okay. We’ll always be ‘okay’, Devon.”

There was a distinct sigh of relief. “Maybe we could have dinner later or something. I’ve missed you.”

Harper bit her lower lip. “I have plans for tonight. I can’t do lunch either—me, Knox, and Asher are going out for the day.”

“That’s no problem—a family day out is much more important. We can get together another time.”

Harper smiled. “We’ll definitely meet up soon.”

“I’ll hold you to that. Have a great time. And give Asher a kiss for me.”

“Will do. Take care.” With that, Harper ended the call and tossed her phone on the bed.

Knox crossed to her and rubbed her back. “Feel better now?”

“Yes.” Being at odds with Devon had made things feel … off-balance. Out of whack. Now that the knot in the pit of Harper’s stomach unraveled, she took a deep, cleansing breath. “She wants you to know that she’s sorry for being mad at you. She knows it was unfair.”

“She felt torn, I understand that. I’m not at all grieved by it.” Other people’s opinions of him mattered little to Knox. “But she upset you, and that’s not whatsoever acceptable to me.” He didn’t believe the female hellcat deserved to get off with it so lightly.

“You upset me, too,” Harper reminded him gently. “You asked me to forgive you, and I have. She’s asked me to accept her apology, and I have. It would be hypocritical of you to begrudge her the forgiveness I gave her when you wanted it from me, too.” Before he could grumble about that, she kissed him. “How about we go see Larkin now?”

Allowing her to distract him from a conversation that he had no real desire to continue, Knox took his mate’s hand and led her down the stairs and into the living area. All four of his sentinels were scattered around the room.

Raking her gaze over Harper, Larkin smiled, “Hey. You look good for a girl who almost died.”

Knox let out a low growl. “Don’t remind me of what a close call it was.”

Larkin lifted her hands in a placatory gesture, but she seemed to be stifling a smile.

“Thanks for cleaning up the mess at the café, Larkin,” said Harper. “Knox told me what you and Tanner did.” Harper had already thanked the hellhound earlier.

Larkin just shrugged. “That’s what we do.”

Glancing around, Harper frowned. “Where’s Asher?”

“In the playarea with Meg,” replied Keenan, juggling toy bricks. “When Larkin said she had some news, I thought it would be better if the little guy wasn’t in the room.”

“Thanks, Keenan.” Taking a seat on the sofa beside Tanner, Harper lifted a brow at Larkin. “So, coming to check on me isn’t the only reason you’re here.”

“No.” The harpy looked at Knox. “You wanted me to track Alethea’s movements before she disappeared. I told you that I’d spoken with the humans she was regularly photographed with, right?”

Knox gave a short nod and settled on the sofa next to Harper, pulling her close. “You said there was only one you couldn’t find. A woman.”

“Yes.” Larkin scooted forward on her seat. “I figured that speaking to her wouldn’t really help, since it was likely that Jonas had given her the Australia story, just as he had the others.”

“But he hadn’t?” prodded Levi.

“That I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to her.” Larkin’s eyes flitted between Harper and Knox. “I think she’s much more likely to give you answers than she is me.”

Knox arched a brow. “Why is that?”

“Because she’s not human,” said Larkin. “She’s a demon, so she’ll know exactly what a mistake it would be to play dumb with you.”

Tanner blinked. “A demon? One of ours?”

Larkin shook her head. “She’s one of Thatcher’s demons. I ran her picture through facial recognition software. Her name is Sherryl Malloy.”

Brow furrowing, Harper tilted her head. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

Larkin hesitated. “Because she’s dating your cousin, Ciaran.”

Knox had performed several interrogations in the boathouse on the grounds of their estate, but he was wary of having any strangers near his home and son right now—even if those strangers wouldn’t live long. As such, he would have asked Levi to grab Sherryl Malloy and take her straight to the Chamber … if Harper weren’t insisting on being part of the interrogation. Nothing he’d said had made her change her mind, and that meant he’d have to conduct it at the boathouse, because there was no way he was taking her to the Chamber.

He didn’t want her to ever step foot inside there. Didn’t want her to see the torturous implements and devices, or to be stained by the grim and hopeless air of the place. Of course, she knew Knox had a specific place where he punished those who deserved it. She was also well-aware that none of those punishments were even remotely merciful. But she never asked for details. Never even asked where the punishments took place. And that suited Knox just fine.

It would suit him just as much if she’d leave the interrogation up to him, but she’d point-blank refused. So, at that moment, his mate was walking between him and Larkin as they made their way to the boathouse. Tanner and Keenan had agreed to remain with Asher, but Knox suspected they would join them at some point out of sheer nosiness, if nothing else. They didn’t like to miss anything.

Knox briefly glanced at his mate. Harper looked composed, but her fiery anger brushed the edges of his mind. His demon wanted to nuzzle and calm her, even as it also fairly vibrated with its own fury.

Technically, since Malloy was one of Thatcher’s demons, Knox should contact the Prime about the situation before performing any interrogation. It was Thatcher’s right to deal with it himself and to take care of any punishments that needed to be dealt out. But since Knox hadn’t been able to cross Thatcher off his suspect list, he had no intention whatsoever of involving him in this.

Harper gave Knox a sideways look and said, “Let me lead this time. This bitch may well have been using Ciaran to get an in with my family and spy on them somehow for Alethea. She might have even recommended that Heidi be the perfect kid to use for the ritual to free the incorporeal. You can have your turn when I’m done.”

“You’re all heart,” Knox said dryly. She just snorted.

“I don’t think Malloy had anything to do with what happened to Heidi,” said Larkin, frowning. “From what I could gather, she’s only been dating Ciaran for a few months, off and on.”

“Yes, but I called Khloë a few minutes ago,” Harper told her. “She said that Ciaran and Sherryl have been working together at a retail store for a few years now. They were friends well before they started sharing a bed. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sherryl pushed for more so that she could get closer to him and get more info.”

“How much did you tell Khloë when you asked about Malloy?” Larkin asked.

“Not much. I assured her that I’d answer her questions later, once I had the answers I needed.” And Harper would do whatever it took to get them from this bitch who’d endangered her family. Anticipation filled her inner demon, who was anxious to vent some of the rage it had been forced to contain for far too long.

“Does Ciaran care about Malloy?” asked Larkin.

Harper considered it for a moment. “I doubt it, or he’d have brought her to family gatherings. He’s never once mentioned her to me. It was Khloë who talked about her, saying she didn’t like Ciaran’s new girlfriend.”

Harper also knew from Khloë that Sherryl was a familiar—a breed of demon that could change into small animals such as cats, dogs, birds, and ferrets. As such, Harper had been able to warn Levi that the bitch might try to escape him by shifting into an animal. She had indeed tried it, but Levi had bound her quickly with the preternatural rope he’d been given by his incantor friend—a demonic witch. It not only trapped a person, it blocked them from being able to use their gifts. Only a very powerful demon could escape it.

Generally, familiars were rarely powerful. However, they were often annoyingly immune to the compelling tone that all sphinxes were gifted with, which meant that Harper probably wouldn’t be able to force the she-demon to confess all. But that was okay. There were other much more fun ways of extracting information from people.

As they neared the boathouse, Harper shot Knox a look. Remember, let me lead. He only inclined his head, which would have to be good enough. Blanking her expression, she pushed open the door. Three gleaming chrome and fiberglass boats were separated by narrow walkways. At the end of the central walkway was a curvy redhead, tied to a chair, her eyes wide, her freckled face pale.

Keeping her gaze locked with Sherryl’s, Harper slowly stalked toward her, wooden floorboards groaning beneath her feet. The rough nylon ropes creaked as the boats swayed gently. Beneath the scent of the briny salt water that lapped at the hulls were the smells of wax and motor oil … and the little bitch’s fear. Excellent. That fear was like catnip to Harper’s demon.

Coming to a halt, Harper bared her teeth in a feral smile. She was conscious of Knox sidling up to her while Larkin joined Levi in standing near the wall, but her focus was on the familiar in front of her. The familiar who had quite possibly passed on info that led to the attempted attack on her son. As far as Harper was concerned, an effort to possess Asher counted as an attack. An attack that, if successful, could have led to any number of bad things for her little boy.

Harper tilted her head. “Sherryl, isn’t it? I have some questions for you. I’d advise you not to choose silence over honesty, but I truly can’t say I’m hoping you’ll choose honesty. I’m in a real bitchy mood, so torturing answers out of you would bring me nothing but supreme joy.”

Sherryl studied her. “You’re not a killer,” she said, voice shaky but sure. “I see into a person. You’ll kill in self-defense or during combat. But you won’t kill someone who isn’t fighting back.”

Not usually, thought Harper. “But my demon will. And since I’m quite sure you’ve been working with the remaining Horseman—”

Sherryl’s eyes bulged. “What? No! I’m not working with him!”

“Alethea was. And you were doing her bidding.” Harper pursed her lips. “How did you meet her?”

The familiar snapped her mouth shut and raised her cleft chin slightly. Ooh, she apparently felt some loyalty toward the encantada. How silly and pointless.

“You really don’t want to test my mate’s patience,” Knox told Sherryl, tone silky smooth yet coated in menace. “She doesn’t have a lot of it at the best of times. Right now, she’s dangerously low on it.” But Sherryl, obviously dumb as a crumb, still said nothing.

Face hardening, Harper carefully removed the jeweled metal sticks from her hair. Then, holding Sherryl’s eyes, Harper infused hellfire into the sticks.

Sherryl jerked back a little in her seat, breaths coming hard and fast now.

“I’m going to count to four,” Harper said, calm and pleasant. “If I get to two and you haven’t yet spoken, I’m going to stab your thighs with these. Believe me, it’ll hurt like a motherfucker. If I get to three and you still aren’t talking, I will set your fucking nipples on fire and watch the hellfire eat at them—with utter joy and a mental happy dance. And if I reach four and you’re still not singing like a canary, I will proceed to torture you with a slow, sadistic meticulousness that will blow your mind. And Sherryl, you really don’t want that.”

Eyes wide, Sherryl licked her trembling lips.

“One.” No response. “Two.” Still no response. Quick as lightning, Harper rammed the flaming metal sticks into Sherryl’s thighs. The familiar screamed, face reddening, spine snapping straight. Harper didn’t pull out the sticks; she held them tight, glaring right into the bitch’s pain-filled eyes. “Told you it would hurt like a motherfucker. Now, where was I? Oh, yeah. Thr—”

“Alethea came to me when she was dating Thatcher!” Sherryl burst out, eyes tearing.

Harper’s demon sighed, disappointed. It had been looking forward to setting her nipples alight. Disturbingly, it was slightly comforted by the sound of their prey’s blistering flesh sizzling. “Go on.”

“They didn’t seem serious, but she said she hoped they could have something good,” Sherryl went on, pain dripping from every syllable. “She was … she was nice to me.”

“Nice to you?” Alethea wasn’t nice.

“She said I reminded her of her when she was younger,” said Sherryl, words coming sharp and fast. “She took me shopping, clubbing, and introduced me to her friends. She was surprised when she realized I was friends with Ciaran.”

Harper gave her a look of mock pity. “She wasn’t surprised. That was why she befriended you. She wanted to use you. But I don’t feel in the least bit bad for you, since you used Ciaran. You started dating him so that you could try milking him for info on our family.”

Roughly, Harper yanked out the metal sticks and took a step back, mostly because being so close to the scent of burning flesh was not fun. Sherryl sagged slightly in her chair, fists clenched, tears dripping down her face, flesh still sizzling. “Why would you help Alethea?” Harper asked, but Sherryl was busy gaping at the blood seeping out of her charred jeans. “Why did you help her?”

Sherryl swallowed. “All she wanted was some info on what the Wallis imps did with their time. Said she was worried they intended to attack her at some point so she wanted to monitor their movements and habits. It seemed harmless to tell her stuff.”

Harmless? Harper’s demon hissed, tempted to lunge to the surface. For now, it was content to let Harper lead. “And just what did you get out of it? Don’t tell me you were just being nice like Alethea.”

Sherryl hesitated, gaze darting to the side. Would she never learn?

Harper thrust one of the sticks into the familiar’s shoulder, and the air was filled with the sound of yet more skin sizzling. She waited for Sherryl’s horrific scream to die down before she spoke. “I believe my mate warned you that I was very short on patience. Now, answer my damn question.”

Taking a shuddering breath, Sherryl squeezed her eyes shut. “She paid me for the info, and she said she’d arrange for me to transfer to her lair.”

Knox arched a brow. “You don’t like having Thatcher for a Prime?”

“It’s not that,” replied Sherryl, opening her eyes. “My ex is part of Thatcher’s Force. He’s making things difficult for me. I just want out.”

“Hmm.” Knox twisted his mouth. “Where did she go when she left her home?”

“I don’t know. She wouldn’t tell me. She just said it was someplace safe.”

“But you stayed in communication with her?” asked Knox.

“Only through telepathy.”

Tipping his head to the side, Knox said, “You must have known that Alethea was working with someone.”

“She never mentioned anyone else.” Sherryl’s brow puckered as something seemed to occur to her. “Though she did once say that she had it ‘on good authority’ that the Wallis imps would target her.”

Harper narrowed her eyes. “What else did she ask you to do?” When the familiar hesitated, Harper twisted the stick that was still stuck in her shoulder. Sherryl cried out through her teeth. “What else did she ask you to do?” Harper demanded.

Sherryl’s pained gaze cut to Knox. “She wanted to know what you are. She thought the imps might know; that you might have told them.”

“So you asked Ciaran,” prompted Harper.

Sherryl nodded. “He said that my guess was as good as his. I knew he was telling the truth. I can smell lies. They have a distinct scent. Like smoke.” She swallowed. “I got the feeling he wouldn’t have told me, even if he did know.”

She was right to have that “feeling”. Harper knew her cousin wouldn’t have told an outsider jack shit. “What else did Alethea ask of you?”

“She wanted to know about your kid. Said if I heard anything at all about him, I should tell her. But no one ever spoke of him in front of me. I asked Ciaran about him, said I’d love to meet him, but Ciaran blew me off without even being rude. He’s good at that.”

Evasiveness was a trait that every imp possessed, so Harper didn’t see why the familiar would be so surprised. “Just what info did you pass to Alethea?”

“I didn’t know anything to pass on.”

“But she kept in touch with you. She wouldn’t have done that unless you were being useful. So, what did you tell her?”

“I kept her updated on the imps’ movements. And, okay, I lied to her a few times.”

“And just what lies did you tell her?” asked Knox, voice a lethal purr.

Sweat beading on her forehead, Sherryl flexed her bony fingers. “I told her I’d met your kid and that he didn’t seem powerful. I said he didn’t use any abilities in front of me.”

“And?” Knox pushed.

“And I told her I overheard imps say you were a hybrid, but that I didn’t know what breeds your parents were.”

Knox arched a disbelieving brow. “She bought that I was a hybrid?”

“No, she thought you’d lied to the imps about what you were. That pissed her off. When I asked why she cared so much about what breed you were, she said that she suspected you were the fourth Horseman and that you would come for her; she wanted to be prepared. I said I didn’t think you were the Horseman; that if you wanted to overtake the Primes, you could do it easily and you wouldn’t need any help. She seemed to think about that for a minute, but then she said she’d heard from a ‘reliable source’ that you could be him.”

Knox exchanged a brief look with Harper. Either Alethea had been feeding Sherryl excuses or the Horseman had worked to convince Alethea that she’d soon be a target. It could even have been a bit of both. “I’m guessing you asked who that source was.” He would have done, in her position. “What did she tell you?”

“Only that it was someone whose word she trusted.”

Trusted? Knox’s brows knitted. Alethea had never been the trusting type. “When was the last time you heard from her?”

“I contacted her telepathically a few days before the imps’ tea party to tell her about it,” said Sherryl. “She thanked me for the info, asked how I was doing, and how things were going with Ciaran. You know, girl stuff.”

Keeping up the best friend act while also checking that Sherryl and Ciaran were still an item, Knox thought. “Did she ever talk to you about her own boyfriend?”

“She said she didn’t have one. But one time, when I went to her home, she acted weird and wouldn’t let me inside—told me she was tired. I saw a man’s long, navy blue cashmere coat hanging on her hallway coatrack. Cirque du Soleil tickets were sticking out of the pocket—they only caught my attention because my friend is going to the show and she’d showed me her own tickets. And I smelled tobacco coming from inside.”

Knox licked over his front teeth, trying to remember if he’d ever seen Jonas, Thatcher, or Dario either smoking or wearing a cashmere coat. “When exactly was this?”

“I don’t know. A month before she moved out, maybe.”

“Does Thatcher know you were passing on info to Alethea?”

“If he does, I didn’t tell him.” Sherryl’s eyes filled with yet more tears. “When I saw the clip on YouTube, I was hoping to God that it wasn’t real. But when I tried to contact her telepathically, there was nothing. And I knew she was really dead.”

“I wouldn’t grieve too hard,” said Harper, yanking the stick out of the familiar’s shoulder. “She used you. But, if it’s any consolation, you’ll be joining her soon enough.”

“What?” Sherryl sounded genuinely baffled.

Harper leaned forward. “Your self-centered actions made my family vulnerable. They led to an attack on my son and the attempting kidnapping of my cousin. Don’t play dumb. Heidi is Ciaran’s little sister. You would have heard that someone attempted to snatch her and—since it’s highly likely that you passed on info about how Heidi often went to the playground after school—it must have clicked in your head that Alethea had something to do with it.”

Sherryl shook her head madly. “I went to her home and asked her! She promised it was just a coincidence!”

“And you can smell lies, so you would have known if she was telling the truth. She wasn’t, was she?”

Sherryl looked away.

“Yeah, you knew she was involved. But you hadn’t cared. It didn’t matter to you that a little girl was almost kidnapped. Didn’t matter that what lay in store for her wouldn’t have been good. Hell, you even risked it happening again when you did nothing. You could have told Ciaran. Jolene. Me. Any number of people. Instead, you kept on feeding her info, didn’t you?”

“I fed her lies, sure. That’s all.”

Harper shook her head. “I don’t believe that. You told her about the tea party.”

“It didn’t seem like a big deal. No one would attempt an attack in a house full of people—especially when those people are Wallis imps.”

“Someone did. And that someone was sent by Alethea’s reliable source. But they wouldn’t have known to go there if it hadn’t been for you,” Harper spat, pointing the blazing stick at her. “In fact, if you’d just come to us months ago with what you knew, this all could have been avoided. But you didn’t. I doubt you ever even considered it. My son was attacked, Sherryl, and you profited from it.” Her demon shot to the surface and hissed. “Anyone who was even the slightest bit involved in what happened to the child will pay in blood, including you,” it told her.

Hate gathered behind Sherryl’s eyes until they practically shone with it. “And I should be afraid of a sphinx that doesn’t even have fucking wings? I should care about the fate of a kid that’s probably just as much of a freak as its mother? You should have been the one who died in that video. Or better still, your brat should have been the one crying and screaming while his flesh blistered and melted. At least I have the comfort of knowing all three of you will be dead soon. The Horseman, whoever the fuck he is, will come for you.”

The demon’s smile was rather serene. “I know,” it said. “And he’ll die too.” With that, the demon jammed the flaming stick into the bitch’s eye.