Chapter Nineteen

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“A naked day?”

Lying beside his mate on the bed the next morning, Tanner smoothed his hand down her bare arm, marveling at how silky-soft her skin was. His ego got a real kick out of seeing her all loose and lazy and sated. “Yeah. We’ve both got the day off work, you don’t want to go anywhere, we’ve got no visitors coming, so why not just spend the day naked?”

“And what could we possibly do to keep ourselves occupied while naked?” she asked, eyes sparkling.

Mouth curling into a lopsided smile, he lowered his face to hers and whispered, “Wicked, wicked things.”

“Wicked? I like wicked.”

Chuckling, he kissed her, licking into her mouth and savoring her. She tasted like sin and the coffee he’d made earlier in the hope that the smell would lure her out of sleep. He’d wanted to wake her by lashing her clit with his tongue, but he’d learned early that his hellcat needed caffeine before she’d be amiable to … well, anything.

After making her come with his mouth, he’d fucked her slow and hard until she came with a choked cry that he felt in his balls. They’d then lay there for a while—kissing, stroking, whispering, and teasing.

It didn’t seem possible that one person could wrap around his soul, but she had. And, if he was honest, she’d done it a long time ago—he’d just taken some time to accept it. Now that he had, now that he’d dropped the walls that she’d been hammering at for years just by being her, she’d filled him up in a way he couldn’t explain. Brought peace to his demon, which was plain miraculous.

Currently, the hound was still and quiet, content to just be with her. And, of course, it relished being the center of her attention—something it didn’t like to share.

Tanner stroked her arm again. “So smooth.” Tracing her navel tattoo with his finger, he asked, “Are you going to put some ink on me?”

She blinked. “You want a tattoo?”

“I want a tattoo from you.” Wanted her to mark him.

Surprise lit her eyes, and she smiled. “Hmm, that’s doable. What do you have in mind?”

He hummed. “I want your hellcat on the back of my shoulder. I want it prowling out of high grass or flames or something like that.”

Face softening, she asked, “Why on the back of your shoulder?”

“Because my hellcat watches my back,” he said softly. “And I trust it to do so.” He dropped his mouth to hers and gave her a quick kiss. “I did think of having a tattoo of it clawing its way out of my skin, because you and your demon are firmly under there. You always have been. Like a splinter.”

She snorted, eyes gleaming. “Oh, thanks.” Doodling circles on the back of his shoulder, she said, “I’ll draw up a few designs for you to look at.” Hearing her phone beep, she grabbed it from the nightstand and swiped her thumb over the screen. “It’s a message from Jolene. She says Pamela’s condition is improving.”

“We can go see her again today, if you want.”

Devon returned the phone to the nightstand. “Can’t. Jolene’s put the ward on lockdown until she’s caught whoever poisoned Pamela—no one’s getting in or out. I’m glad. I want to see Pamela, but this puts my mind at ease.”

Just then, Levi’s mind touched his, humming with anticipation. The facial recognition software got a lock on Muriel. Get this: she’s at fucking Crimson Grove. She checked in an hour ago.

Tanner stilled. Fuck, we should have guessed she might go back to the beginning.

I don’t see the point in her doing it. Knox tore Ramsbrook House down; there’s nothing left of the original building. The hotel is something wholly new.

I’m not sure that matters to Muriel. The hotel was built on Ramsbrook grounds—that will probably be enough for her, even if it all now belongs to Knox and looks totally different.

Knox had security personnel detain her. I don’t know what she meant to do there—possibly commit suicide or something. Antonio is going to teleport me, Knox, and you to the hotel. Larkin is going to hold the fort here, and Keenan will stay with Harper and Asher. We could ask Antonio to teleport Devon to Harper if you like, but I think she’ll be safe in your building.

The thought of leaving Devon made his stomach knot. It played on his mind constantly that the threat to her hadn’t yet been eliminated. But Levi was right, she’d be safe at his building. I’ll ask her what she wants to do and get back to you.

Looking down at her, he saw a grim realization on her face.

“We’re not gonna have our naked day, are we?” she asked, but it wasn’t really a question.

“No. Knox found Muriel.”

Her lips parted on a soft gasp. “Really? That’s good.”

He quickly brought her up to speed. “I’d rather stay here with you, but this needs to be dealt with.”

“Well, of course you have to go.” There was no aggravation or resentment in her words, just pure understanding. “You’re looking at me like you expect me to curse you for leaving. I knew coming into this that your position of sentinel is super important to you; I knew you’d be on call, even on your days off. I’m not mad that you need to go, I get it.”

He let out a long breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. “Hopefully, I won’t be too long.”

“I’ll be fine here.”

“Are you sure?” He palmed her cheek. “You could spend some time with Harper and Asher while I’m gone.”

Her nose wrinkled. “That would require getting dressed and slapping on some makeup. I don’t have the energy for that. I’d rather just stay home, and maybe binge watch a TV series.”

That made the corner of his mouth hitch up. “I like that you call this ‘home’ already.”

“It is home.”

“Yeah.” He sipped from her mouth, silently cursing the fact that he had to leave. “I had plans for this body this morning. So many, many plans.”

“You can carry them out later,” she whispered.

“Later.” He kissed her again and then edged out of bed. In the bathroom, he went through his morning ritual, telepathed Levi to say that Devon would be staying here, and then returned to the bedroom. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed, the sheets pulled up to cover her breasts, reading something on her phone.

Pulling on his clothes, he asked, “You’re sure you’ll be okay here?”

She looked up at him—didn’t give him a brief glance or answer without moving her gaze from her cell. No, she gave him her full attention. He fucking loved that.

“I’m sure,” she said.

He liked that she’d be in the building, where she’d be safe, but … “I don’t like that you’ll be alone.”

“If you’re worried that I’ll get lonely or bored and decide to go out, don’t. I’m not stupid. Venturing out alone while I have danger lurking isn’t on my list of things to do. I’m not going to make it easy for the fucker to get to me.”

Finally dressed, he crossed to the bed and planted a fist on the mattress either side of her. “If for some reason you do need to go somewhere, call Ciaran and ask him to teleport you wherever you need to go. Also tell him to give me a telepathic shout-out so I know exactly where you are. Okay?”

She turned her face upward and rolled her eyes. “If it’ll make you feel better, okay.”

He dropped a kiss on her mouth. “Thank you.”

Knuckles rapped on the front door and then a familiar mind slid against his. It’s me, said Antonio. You ready?

Yeah,replied Tanner. “That’s Antonio,” he told her, straightening. “I have to leave now.” His hound rumbled a dark growl, not wanting to go, even as it knew its Prime needed it. “I might be a few hours,” Tanner warned her.

She crossed her eyes. “Yeah, pooch, I get that. I’ll be fine.” She flapped her hand toward the door. “Now go. Shoo. Good dog.”

Lips twitching, he narrowed his eyes. “You’ll pay for that later, kitten.”

She smirked. “Sure I will.”

Shooting her a mock glare, Tanner spun on his heel and left the apartment.

*

A short time later, he and Levi flanked Knox as they stalked through the lavish hotel lobby that was all gleaming marble tile, domed stained glass ceilings, and designer rugs. Some people were in a line near the front desk, hauling luggage. Others were relaxing on the designer couches in the sprawling seating area beyond the bank of elevators.

The uniformed staff had a habit of rushing to Knox with queries the moment he stepped into the building, but not today. Probably because he was exuding a “You really don’t want to fuck with me right now” vibe.

Knox made a beeline for the head of the security team, who was unobtrusively leaning against a marble column near the water fountain, taking in everything.

The male straightened as they approached. “Mr. Thorne.”

“Derek,” Knox greeted. “Is Muriel still contained?”

“Yes, sir.” Derek fell into step beside the Prime as Knox immediately headed in the direction of the security office, since it was the only room that provided access to the detention room—a space specially designed to hold demons. Like both Knox’s home and their lair’s prison, it was safeguarded by a myriad of spells that kept the prisoner contained and stopped anyone from teleporting inside. In addition, each of those spells were covered with protective wards to prevent them from unraveling.

“Did she give you much trouble?” Knox asked Derek as they all turned down a long, carpeted hallway.

“A little, but nothing we couldn’t handle,” replied Derek.

“Is anyone with her now?”

“No, but we’ve been monitoring her from the office through the camera.” Derek grimaced. “We noticed something.”

“What?”

“Well, she was sobbing for a while, rocking forward and backward while sitting in the corner with her legs tucked up to her body. Then, at one point, she stopped. Went completely still. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, said she was ‘done.’ And then her demon surfaced. It has been driving the wheel ever since, so to speak.”

Entering the security office, they crossed straight to the monitor that was linked to the camera in the detention room. Muriel was standing near the rear wall, her back straight, her chin high … and her eyes pure black.

“Thank you for your assistance, Derek. We’ll take it from here.” There was no bloodthirst in Knox’s voice, and Tanner knew the Prime hated that he’d have to kill this person who’d been through more than anyone should ever have to endure.

Levi opened the door, and all three of them filed inside. Knox stood directly opposite Muriel while Tanner and Levi flanked him. And it was right then, as Tanner stared the demon in the eye and saw the malicious gleam there, that his instincts went on high alert and his hound let out a snarl.

Tanner froze. So did the others, which meant they’d obviously sensed what he and his hound had: Muriel hadn’t just retreated to allow her demon to surface temporarily. No, Muriel had given her demon full-control. She’d turned rogue.

Fuck.

This wasn’t good. Not at all. The entities were all essentially cold, unfeeling psychopaths. But sharing their soul with an actual person gave them a sense of balance. Without that balance, without an element of goodness touching their souls, they were as close to pure evil as anything could get.

Rogue demons weren’t insane in the literal sense, but they didn’t behave rationally … purely because they didn’t want to. They would kill without thought or discrimination. Would just as easily slaughter or torture an infant as they would an adult, and they wouldn’t even need a motive to do so.

It wasn’t that they became rampant serial killers who craved the sight of blood … But they were always looking for the next high—something they got from drugs, alcohol, destruction, inflicting pain, causing misery, and stealing the lives of others.

Many people died whenever a rogue was on the loose. They cared for nothing, couldn’t be reasoned with or controlled. Didn’t care if their actions attracted the attention of humans.

There was only one way to deal with a rogue: you had to kill it.

“Thorne,” the demon greeted, its tone flat and cold.

“I’d like to talk to Muriel,” said Knox.

The demon lifted its chin slightly. “Muriel is gone—you can sense that much for yourself.”

Recalling what Derek told them about how Muriel claimed she was “done,” Tanner said, “She willingly handed over control to you, didn’t she?”

“She was done with this world,” it replied. “Too weak to handle it. She knew I was stronger.”

“She gave over control to you because she didn’t want to deal with us herself,” Knox corrected. “She was escaping the consequences of her actions. It was cowardly, really.”

The demon shrugged one shoulder, clearly not giving a hot shit what they thought.

“What happened to Royal Foreman?” asked Knox.

A glimmer of humor briefly glittered in its obsidian eyes. “You will find him eventually. I doubt you will like the state you find him in.”

“Did you help her kill him and the others?”

“No. She wanted to punish the boys herself.”

“For voting for her?”

“Yes. They all did it at least once, aside from Foreman.”

But Muriel had still killed him. Tanner wondered if that meant she’d developed a taste for killing. After all, demons craved power. There was no greater power than that over whether someone lived or died.

“Dale didn’t try to protect her from the tutors?” asked Levi.

“No,” said the demon, its voice seeming even flatter than before. “He never offered to go in her place. Never told her not go to the dorm. Never tried to help her. He even voted for her more than once. He would tell her afterward that the other boys made him do it, but that was a lie.”

Knox slanted his head. “How many times was she taken down to the basement?”

Black eyes sliced back to him. “Six, in total. Six times too many.”

Yeah, Tanner could agree with that.

“What happened the last time?” asked Knox. “Why did Harry want her forgiveness?”

“Ah, you found the letter,” the demon realized. “Muriel could not decide whether to be furious by his request for forgiveness or comforted by the sheer knowledge that he was haunted by his decision. She wanted him to suffer.”

Is it just me wondering why it’s being so talkative?Tanner asked Knox. Rogues usually have a more “fuck you, I don’t explain myself to people” attitude.

I’m guessing it’s either under the illusion that it will get free and is simply biding its time before it strikes or it’s been wanting to get this shit off its chest for a very long time, said Knox. “What exactly was Harry haunted by?”

“The night before Milton intervened,” began the demon, “Muriel and Dale received the same number of votes. The tutors decided to take them both to the basement.” Its eyes hardened to stone as it added, “They hurt the children. Forced the children to do vile things to each other. Then they brought Harry down and gave him the choice to take Muriel’s place. I could smell his fear; knew he would not agree, but she had hoped he would. He didn’t.”

Tanner liked to think he’d have offered to trade places with Muriel to spare the little girl further pain, but he couldn’t blame Harry for not wanting to do so. He’d only been a child himself. You couldn’t really know what you’d do in such a situation unless you were in it.

“The tutors were not surprised by his refusal,” the demon went on. “They laughed. I think they had noticed how the guilt of voting for others again and again was eating at Harry; they had worried he might tell someone, and so they had added to his shame by making him the offer to save Muriel, knowing he would refuse. But it did not have quite the effect they had hoped for. It made him more determined to make the abuse stop for good.”

Knox’s nostrils flared. “Why didn’t you push her to tell me? You must have sensed I’d have done what I could to stop it.”

“I urged her to speak with you. She would not listen, and she was far too ashamed to speak of it.”

Scrubbing his hand down his face, Levi softly cursed.

“You would not pity Muriel so much if you knew she was not so innocent,” said the demon. “She once convinced another female child to go the boys’ dorm, hoping she would be taken instead. The child received the most votes, and she was taken to the basement. She did not come out of it alive. The tutors made it seem to the other staff like she was yet another runaway. But Muriel liked to block that memory—she could not deal with the guilt. Not feeling so sorry for her now, are you?”

“She was still a victim,” said Knox.

“Yes. But she had no problem making someone else into a victim. No problem voting for those boys. She even voted for Dale a time or two. Not that I blamed her.”

Staring at the demon, seeing how little sympathy it now had for Muriel, Tanner couldn’t help but think that this was what would have become of Devon’s mother if she’d given control to her own demon. Pamela could have surrendered to the inner entity to escape her pain and guilt, but she hadn’t, even though the pull of it had to be strong. Pamela might have done some messed up shit, but it said a lot about her that she hadn’t tried to escape it.

The demon gave Knox a bored look. “I suppose you are going to kill me.”

“You can’t be allowed to live,” said Knox, conjuring a lethal ball of hellfire.

The entity spared the blazing orb a brief, disinterested glance. “Are you not going to ask why Muriel came here?”

“We know why.”

“Do you?”

“She intended to kill herself here; to die where she’d no doubt wished she’d died as a child rather than suffer what she’d suffered.”

“You are partly right. She wanted to die here. But she also wanted to purge the ground as she did so. There is no clock in here, so I am not sure how much time you have left before the bomb detonates, but I doubt it will be long.”

Motherfucker.

*

Devon frowned as the intercom buzzed. Honestly, she was in too lazy a mood to get up and see who her visitor was. But she was also far too curious to not check. Draining her mug, she set it on the coffee table and pushed to her feet.

The intercom buzzed again just as she reached the small screen that showed who was on the doorstep of the building, hoping to be admitted. Finn. And he did not look happy.

She pushed the speak button. “Hello?”

“Let me up, we need to talk,” said Finn, curt. He had one of his sentinels with him, but no Leticia, Spencer, Reena, or Kaye. Hoping he had some damn good news that might clue her in as to who was fucking up her shit, she pressed the button that would unlock the front door for him.

Devon glanced down at herself, frowning at her sweatpants and old tee. She looked far from presentable. Oh, well.

Minutes later, she was opening the door to find Finn standing there, his shoulders tense, his brows drawn together.

“Wait here,” he told Eric, who inclined his head at Devon and then adopted an on-guard position.

Finn surged past her, waiting for her to close the door before he spoke. “I heard about what happened at the sports bar.”

Ah, so this was about Reena. “And what is it exactly that you heard?”

“You accused her of being the one who broke into your old apartment,” he hissed.

“It wasn’t just broken into; it was vandalized.”

His mouth set into a white slash. “You can’t truly believe she did it.”

“Why not?”

“She’s your blood.”

“Not in her mind. She wants me out of her life, out of your life—she told me that herself. Not that I hadn’t already received that message long ago.” Devon headed into the living area, aware he was following her.

“Reena’s not a person who would find any satisfaction in vandalism.”

“She’s also not a person who’d hang out at a sports bar drinking beer and playing pool,” said Devon, sinking into the sofa. “Or, at least, I wouldn’t have thought so, but she looked really relaxed there.”

He dismissed that with a flick of his hand. “She probably goes there with the other sentinels as a sort of team bonding exercise.”

“Hmm.”

“Your old apartment was in a bad area where crime is pretty much rife. You can’t live in a place like that and expect not to be robbed.”

Devon felt her expression go hard. “It wasn’t a robbery. It also wasn’t a simple case of vandalism. It was a fucking tantrum. Jolene sent you copies of the photos that Ciaran took. Did you notice that the vase you bought me was shattered?”

“Reena wouldn’t care about a vase.”

“No, but she’d care that you buy me things. She always has, and you know it.” She tilted her head. “You don’t find it the tiniest bit freaking suspicious that she was at my building on the same day that the break-in happened? Something she kept from you, I might add.”

“She just wanted to talk to you.”

“She wanted to check if Sheridan had mentioned her name or if he said anything that could implicate her,” Devon corrected. “Did she tell you that she knew him?” His eyes flickered, and she tensed. “You already knew, didn’t you? You knew, and you said nothing.”

He rubbed at his brow. “I didn’t see it as relevant. There’s no way Reena would have any reason to want Asa released.”

“I don’t think anyone wants Asa released. I don’t think they ever did.” Devon draped her arms over the back of the sofa, deciding it was time to test her theory out on him. “I think the reason he hasn’t given you any more names is that he’s been telling you the truth all along—he has none left to give you.”

“What are you saying?”

“Probably something you’ve already considered. You’re not stupid. Surely you’ve wondered if this is even about Asa at all. Surely you’ve asked yourself if maybe someone used him to muddy the waters and hide the real motivation behind what they’re doing.”

Finn’s gaze slid briefly to the side. “It occurred to me, yes. My sentinels and I all discussed it. We agreed it’s possible that someone was trying to hurt me through one of my children.”

“I think it’s more than that. So do Tanner and Jolene.” She twisted her mouth. “Lockwood said something that got us thinking.”

“I knew you were all holding back something,” he said, a muscle in his cheek jumping. “Go on, what did he say?”

“He said the person who hired him told him they knew where I was hiding my mother, and that—and I quote—‘that bitch Pamela needs to pay.’ If this was only about hurting Pamela, there would have been no reason for anyone to bring you into it; they could have asked Jolene to make some sort of trade for me. If this was only about hurting you, someone would have been more likely to kidnap Reena, Spencer, or Kaye. But it was me who was taken. It was you who would have been asked to ‘save’ me. And it was Pamela who was poisoned just yesterday.”

His confrontational manner slipped away in an instant. He blinked slowly. “Poisoned?”

“Her heart even stopped at one point, but the doctors managed to stabilize her.” Feeling her nails pricking her palms, she forced her hands to unclench. “This whole tangle of shit has been woven around the three of us. As I see it, there are only four people in our lives who would truly wish us all such harm.”

Her jerked back, mouth slack with shock. And then he vigorously shook his head. “No.”

“Push through that denial, Finn. It isn’t going to help us. Don’t you want this to be over?”

He slanted his body away from her. “No. My children wouldn’t do this. Leticia wouldn’t do this.”

“You hurt them, Finn. You betrayed them. Broke their trust. Fathered a child to another woman. Probably even lost a little of their respect. They had a cushy life, and the discovery of my existence swept the rug right out from under them. Everything changed—”

“Leticia forgave me! They all did!”

“Did they really? How certain are you of that?” Personally, Devon wouldn’t have found any of it so easy to forgive. In fact, she wasn’t sure she could truly forgive Tanner if he betrayed her that way. Wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to take him back.

“None of them have the ability to speak through people,” he pointed out.

Knuckles rapped hard on the door. “Mr. Moseley?” Eric called out.

Finn sighed. “Give me a moment, Devon.”

It was pure nosiness that made her walk to the far end of the living area so she could hear what Eric said. Finn opened the door, and a familiar figure barged past him right into the apartment. It wasn’t Eric.

*

“Where is the bomb?” Knox hissed at the demon.

“You know I will not tell you that,” it said.

He hurled an orb of hellfire at the demon, knocking it to the ground. “Where is it?”

The demon sat upright, chest sizzling where the hellfire ate at its flesh. “You are wasting time asking me what I will not tell you.”

The Prime conjured another blazing orb. “You will tell me.”

Tanner didn’t believe so. “It’s not afraid of pain or of dying; it’s not going to tell you anything. We need to kill it and then search Muriel’s room.”

“He’s right, Knox,” said Levi. “It wants this place to blow, it’s happy to die knowing it took a whole building full of people with it. Let’s just get this part over with fast and find that fucking bomb.”

The orb in Knox’s hand brightened, grew, and buzzed louder. And then, jaw set, he tossed it at the demon. The orb smashed into its head, caving in three-quarters of its skull, killing it instantly. The demon flopped to the floor like a ragdoll, and the hellfire ate at its flesh. Tanner knew the corpse would be ashes in moments.

“We need to get everybody out,” said Knox.

After sealing the detention room, Knox ordered his staff to evacuate the building. He, Tanner, and Levi then searched every inch of Muriel’s room. They rummaged through her suitcase, upturned furniture, rifled through the wardrobes and dresser, checked every nook and cranny.

“Nothing,” said Levi, breathing hard. “Where else would she have placed the bomb? Or is there some chance the demon was just fucking with us? Because, honestly, I don’t even know why Muriel would bother planting one here. It’s not the original building.”

“I didn’t get the feeling that the demon was playing a game with us,” said Knox. “But yes, it’s possible that it was lying. Still, we need to be certain. We have to keep looking.”

Tanner squared his shoulders. “I can find the bomb. I just need to follow her scent trail to see where else in the building she’s been. If there’s a bomb here, I’ll locate it.”

Knox gave a sharp nod. “Do it.”

Planting his feet, Tanner rolled his shoulders and closed his eyes. Latching onto Muriel’s scent, he stripped it of the hairspray, perfume, and other smells that tainted it; needing it in its purest form. Frosted cherries and cream.

His eyes flipped open. “Got it.” The call of the hunt trickled through his veins, pounded in his blood, wrapped around his bones, and filled every part of him all the way to his fingertips and toes.

With his demon close to the surface, Tanner followed Muriel’s scent out of the room and down the hallway, aware that Knox and Levi were following him. Adrenaline pumped through him, sharpening his senses, readying him for action.

Tanner cursed as they reached the bank of elevators. “We’re going to have to pause at every floor so I can step out and test the air for her scent.” And since there were eighteen floors, that was going to be a motherfucking bitch.

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” said Knox, jabbing the down button. “There are two floors above this, but that’s where the luxury rooms are located. Guests who are staying up there need to insert their keycard in the elevator panel before pushing the buttons for those floors or the elevator simply won’t take them up. That means Muriel could only have gone down, so we only need to check the fifteen floors below us.”

Well that was something.

The silver, metal doors opened with a chime, and the three of them stepped inside the empty elevator. With the call of the hunt still nagging him to move, move, move, Tanner jabbed the button for floor fifteen. He blocked out the soft music and hum of machinery, keeping a tight hold on Muriel’s scent. When the doors slid open, Tanner stepped out and breathed in deeply. “Nothing. She didn’t stop here.”

They stopped at floor fourteen. Still nothing. Then thirteen. Still nothing. And on and on it went. As the building had been evacuated, there were no guests trying to join them in the elevator, so Tanner was free to concentrate solely on his task.

Finally, they reached the ground floor. Tanner stepped out and inhaled deeply. Frosted cherries and cream. “Here. She stopped here.”

“Either that or this leads outside—you could be simply following the trail she left on entering the building,” Levi pointed out.

“Only one way to know for sure.” Tanner latched onto the scent again and followed it, prowling through the lobby. He halted, because there were two threads of Muriel’s scent. One led to the reception area, but it was faint. The other thread was fresher, and it seemed to head in a whole other direction.

Honing his senses on the fresher thread, Tanner stalked out of the lobby, passing the sitting area, bar, gift shop … and walked right into a small café.

Dozens of distracting scents assaulted him. Fresh-brewed coffee. Ground beans. Baked goods. Orange juice. Chocolate. Vanilla. Cinnamon. Herbal tea. Tomato soup. Sweet desserts—it went on and on.

A sharp pain struck him right between his eyebrows that felt much like brain-freeze. A pain he wouldn’t have felt if he hadn’t been extending his sense of smell so much. It was like when you strained to hear something, and then a loud noise came at you from nowhere and hurt your ears.

Tanner shook his head. “I think she came in here hoping I’d lose her scent.”

“Have you?” asked Knox.

“Yes. But I’ll find it again.” He was a fucking alpha hellhound, for Christ’s sake.

Closing his eyes, Tanner dragged the surrounding scents into his lungs, filtering through the café-scents in addition to the perfume, cologne, hairspray, lemon cleaner, air conditioning, fresh flowers—

Frosted cherries and cream.Tanner opened his eyes. “I’ve got her.”

He clung to the scent with metaphorical hands and followed it out of the café, passing the restaurant and conference room, before turning down a carpeted hallway where the scent became stronger.

Blood buzzing with the thrill that always came with being close to his prey—whether it be a person or object—Tanner quickened his pace, following the trail to the end of the hallway. He shoved open the fire exit door and found himself in a stairwell.

The scent took him down two flights of steps toward … “Fuck, the basement. We should have fucking guessed she’d plant it in the one place that destroyed her fucking life.” Even if it wasn’t the exact same basement where she’d suffered the abuse.

Knox cursed. “Step aside. I’d sure like to know how she got in here without knowing the code. Then again, it wouldn’t be impossible. I can do it easily enough.” He didn’t punch a code into the keypad near the basement door. Just sent out a brief wave of power that pushed it right open. Inside, he flicked on a switch.

Tanner glanced around. It was nothing whatsoever like Richie’s basement. It had been converted into a clean, bright storage space for hotel supplies—including food, bedsheets, towels, complimentary toiletries, and gift shop stock.

Locking onto Muriel’s scent once more, Tanner advanced further into the basement. The scent took him deeper and deeper into the large space. “I hear a faint beeping.” And the scent was leading him right to it. He hastened his pace, his heart beating fast, his blood still buzzing with—

There was an audible click in the air. A glass wall slammed up in front of them. And on their left. And on their right. And behind them. And above them. It happened in under a millisecond.

And now they were fucking contained by a glass fucking cube.

No, it wasn’t glass. The transparent wall seemed fluid, like water. He touched it. Hissed. The fucker was ice-cold. And it buzzed with power.

Levi hurled balls of hellfire at it, but the water instantly doused them, making them sizzle as they faded to nothing. “The fuck?”

Then a bulky figure stepped out of the shadows. It took a moment for Tanner to place that familiar face. “Foreman.” And if his expression was anything to go by, he wasn’t there to help them. He was there to stop them. No, trap them … like any good ensnarer. Well, fuck.

Muriel spared him,he said to Knox.

Her demon said he never voted for her, the Prime reminded him. She must have convinced him to work with her. As an ensnarer, he could have kept the victims still for her while she hurt them. Shit, I can’t pyroport out of this. Royal has definitely gained in power over the years if he can form traps that block forms of teleportation. That’s not to say we can’t get out of here, just that it’s going to take time.

Which meant they were dead if they didn’t find some way to get out before the bomb detonated. Fuck, fuck, fuck.