CHAPTER FOURTEEN

" Don't read it out loud." Ella snatched the paper fast and looked down at it. Back off if you want to live.

She felt her brows draw together, because that … that wasn't such a typical note. The other two she'd received were more like turns of phrase. Easy to snicker at. This was a direct threat. And coming here, letting her know that he was aware of where she lived; making it clear that he could get this close to her—it was all part of the threat.

Like it wasn't bad enough that he'd dared come to her home.

Oh, she was gonna kill the motherfucker when she finally got her hands on him. Her demon wanted to rip out his intestines and wear them like a necklace.

" Ella "—his eyes dark as flint, Viper jabbed a finger toward the note—"what is this?"

A private matter. "Someone apparently thought it would be fun to leave a stupid note on my doorstep. Ignore it. I intend to." Just to be safe, she tore it in two to deactivate the snare. The last thing she needed was him unknowingly setting it off.

"Baby." The word was darkly amused. "You think I can't tell you're trying to blow me off?"

Well, she had hoped she could. "It's just a stupid note," she reiterated, unlocking her front door.

"And you don't seem shocked to see it, which tells me this isn't the first threat you've received." He followed her into the apartment, bypassing her magickal wards like they weren't even there.

Ella stared at him, surprised. "My wards should have kept you out." Her demon was kind of impressed that they hadn't, though not particularly pleased that someone had circumvented their personal security so easily.

"Not a lot can keep me from somewhere I want to be. Now, what is happening?" He shot her a look of warning when she would have waved away his concern. "Ella, I spent last night making you mine—and you know it. That places you under my protection. No fucking way am I going to ignore that note. Don't ask me to."

She narrowed her eyes. "If me being yours means you have the right to know my business, it works both ways, right?"

"Right." The answer was cautious.

"Then I'll explain about the notes once you answer my question. What happened with that vampire who dumped a body outside your pool hall? Did you catch him?" Ella had wondered about it a few times.

He looked as though he might dismiss the questions, but then he sighed. "It wasn't a vampire. It was a strix. A colony of them have somehow made it to this realm. They're taunting my club by snatching local humans and then dumping their bodies near our properties."

Okay, that took her off-guard. "Why taunt your club? It would surely be more sensible to not bring their presence here to your attention."

"Strix aren't known for being sensible. I have some of my brothers tracking them. They're typically good at hiding, but we always find them eventually."

"You've had run-ins with them before?"

"Part of what me and my brothers did in the upper realm was deal with rogue hell-born demons. You could say we haven't quite retired, though we now take them out because we want to, not because we're under orders." He folded his arms, his expression turning expectant. "Now it's your turn. Tell me about the notes."

She rolled her shoulders. "There's only been two others."

"And they were both delivered here?"

"No. The previous two were tucked under my windscreen wiper on separate days. They had dumb little warnings typed on them. The first said, Let sleeping dogs lie . The other said, You know what happened to the curious cat ."

Viper felt his brow furrow in surprise. Not exactly the usual threats a person would make. "Did the ink in those have power stamped in it like that one?"

She looked surprised he'd sensed it. "Yes, they did. I can't tell what compulsion was buried in the ink. You?"

Viper shook his head, forcing his back teeth to unlock. "But I doubt it's anything good." Hence why his furious entity was making all sorts of sadistic plans.

"Same. Even though this note has a different vibe, it has to have been typed by the same person. I mean, how many damn people hand-deliver death threats these days?"

People who wanted to die. And the person sending notes to Ella would in fact die soon—both Viper and his entity would ensure it. "You have no idea who left them for you?"

"It has to have been whoever psychically assaulted me a month ago—I came across them mugging someone, and they put me unconscious when I tried to help. I don't think he likes that my anchor won't stop pressing for answers as to who he is. Luka will kill him if he ever finds him."

It wasn't her assailant typing the notes—Viper knew that for certain, because that fucker was dead. But he couldn't really tell her that without admitting he'd been on the scene, which would beg two questions: why he'd been there, and why he hadn't stuck around. He wasn't ready to answer those yet.

"Nothing else has happened?" he checked.

"No, nothing."

Viper flicked a look at the torn, crumpled note in her hand. "Whoever wrote that clearly knows where you live, so he's probably been following you around." Fucker.

She glanced at her front door. "I normally wouldn't worry that someone would get passed my wards, but you did it."

"As I said, very little can keep me from somewhere I want to be. It doesn't reflect on the strength of your wards. They're powerful. I can feel it." Viper telepathically reached out to Jester and said, Round up the brothers, I need to hold a meeting.

Done , said Jester.

"If you receive any more of these, I want to hear about it."

"Viper, I have this situation covered—"

"Clearly not, because this shit is escalating." He inched closer and cupped her neck. "The bastard came to your home, baby. And this note isn't as petty as the others. He's getting bolder. He could do something worse next time. Might even harm you or someone you love. Take what help I'm offering so we can get to him faster."

She huffed. "You'll involve yourself no matter what I say."

He gave a small shrug. "Figured it'd serve me better to let you think it's on your terms."

She tried stifling a smile, but it didn't work too well.

"You'll reach out if you receive another, yeah?" he pushed.

Her shoulders dipping in surrender, she rubbed at her forehead. "Fine."

Relief filled him, and his entity relaxed ever so slightly.

"But if anything more happens with the strix, you have to tell me."

Shit. He'd rather none of that touched her, rather she didn't … He let his thoughts trail off, knowing he'd have to give in here. If he didn't, neither would she. "If and when there's anything further to share, I'll be sure to tell you."

She sniffed, seemingly mollified. "Okay, then."

"In the interests of full disclosure, you'll have guards on you from now on." Watching her bristle, Viper added, "They won't be seen. You won't even know they're there. Give me this, Ella. I have to know that you're safe. Wouldn't you rather make it harder for this fucker to get to you?"

She let out a long sigh. "Fine. But only because you're right; he's getting bolder; we need to catch him before he hurts someone."

Hiding his satisfaction, Viper gave a nod and lightly squeezed her neck. "I'll see you later." Neither he nor his entity wanted to leave her, especially when they now knew there was a threat hovering over her head. But they also wanted to get rid of said threat.

"I have work, but I'll be home around six."

"I'll come to you then. In the meantime, you need anything—absolutely anything—you call me."

She swallowed. "Okay."

He released her neck. "Take care, baby." With that, he teleported to the meeting room in his clubhouse. His brothers were seated at the long table, all looking varying degrees of curious.

Viper claimed his usual seat at the head of the table. "Many of you came across Ella at the compound last night, so you'll know she was here. The rest of you no doubt heard about it." News traveled through the club fast.

"I was hoping you were going to tell us she'd let you claim her already or something like that," said Ghost, lazily sprawled in his seat, "but you look kind of pissed."

"I am." Viper splayed his hands on the armrests. "On taking her home, I discovered she's been getting anonymous notes."

Jester's brows knitted. "What kind of notes?"

"Threats," Viper bit out.

Dice straightened in his chair. "Someone's threatening her?"

"Yes." Viper idly rapped his fingers on the table. "Two were tucked under her windscreen wiper. The third was left outside her front door, which means they teleported into her building since they wouldn't have otherwise gotten past the security measures … or they live in it."

"What exactly do the notes say?" asked Ghost, his posture having lost its lazy edge.

"The first two were oddly phrased warnings. Let sleeping dogs lie , and You know what happened to the curious cat . The third read, Back off if you want to live ," Viper added, his entity baring his teeth at the memory.

"Back off from what?" asked Omen.

"That I don't know." There was a creak of leather as Viper leaned forward in his chair. "Ella thinks they're from the demon who knocked her out with a psychic punch; that he's trying to put her off digging to uncover his identity. But we all know that isn't true, because he's dead."

Darko scratched at his jaw. "What else would she need to ‘back off' from?"

"Again, I don't know," replied Viper. "But I do know that there's power stamped in the ink."

"Power?" echoed Blackjack, frowning.

Viper dipped his chin. "A compulsion of some sort. It was impossible to tell more without triggering the trap, and Ella was quick to deactivate it. It was probably best that she did. If the target is her, it might not matter who speaks the words; only that they're spoken aloud."

Sting regarded him closely. "Do you think someone from the upper realm is sending the notes?"

"The compulsive power didn't feel either celestial or demonic in nature to me, so I can't be sure," Viper told him. "But, really, why would the Uppers pay Ella any attention? I've been very careful not to give them reason to. The only people who know that she means anything to me are the people in this room."

Jester froze. "V, none of us would ever dick with Ella this way. It would be no different from dicking with you."

Hustle edged forward on his chair. "Wait, you think it was one of us?" His gaze bounced from brother to brother.

"I think it could be." As did Viper's entity. Hence why it was currently eyeing them all suspiciously. "Maybe none of you have a personal hand in what's happening, but you could have clued in the Uppers as to who she is to me."

A stunned silence greeted that statement.

Staring at his club members, knowing that one of them could very well be responsible for taunting Ella … It hit hard. He wouldn't have thought that any would betray him. But then, he hadn't thought that the last six people he'd counted as family would ever fuck him over, and look what had happened there.

Darko shook his head. "No. We wouldn't give the Uppers the steam off our shit, let alone any valuable information. Nor would we ever threaten or scare Ella. We know what she means to you. And come on, there's no real reason why any of us would target her or give up her identity."

"Someone might do the latter in exchange for a ticket back to the upper realm," said Viper.

Prophet's jaw went hard. "If that was the case, they'd be gone from here already. They wouldn't stick around, risking you finding out what they've done."

"Maybe not," Viper allowed. "But there's no saying for sure. Just as there's no saying for certain that someone here isn't writing the notes."

Rivet slashed a hand through the air. "No. It's gotta be one of the Uppers."

"Her anchor will have plenty of enemies," considered Razor. "One of his could be responsible."

Unlikely. "They'd know it would be beyond stupid to target Luka Belinsky's psi-mate."

Razor gave a loose shrug. "There are lots of stupid people in this world."

"There are also lots of people who do shitty things for what they believe is the right reason." Viper drummed his fingers on the table again. "Fact is, I'll have to tell Ella all our secrets eventually—everyone here knows that. Knows that having her in my life comes with many risks to us. Maybe someone here fears she'll share our secrets with outsiders and so, for the good of us all, they want her out of the picture."

Many expressions turned pensive.

"Now, everyone in this room is a ruthless motherfucker," Viper went on. "We've all done way worse things than type some compulsion-embedded threats. Can any of you honestly tell me you're positive that one of us hasn't been sending Ella notes to protect our club and all we hold secret?"

Dice sighed. "Put like that, no. We've watched each other's backs for a long time. There ain't a lot we wouldn't do to keep each other safe."

"So, then, you get why I ain't prepared to take the word of everyone here when they assure me that they didn't do it," said Viper. "I'm more of the opinion that someone outside our club is responsible, but I have to be certain that nobody here is an actual danger to my woman. I have to know there's no traitor among us."

Sting's gaze sharpened. "You're gonna search our minds, aren't you?"

"I'm hoping it won't come to that. Hoping the person behind the notes holds up their hands and admits to it, if it is someone here." Viper ran his gaze along each of his brothers. "I'll understand. Protecting each other is what we do. And Ella hasn't been harmed. But if you lie to me, if you play innocent and I later learn you lied, I can't promise I won't skin you the fuck alive. So, does anyone have anything to confess?"

Gazes darted around as everyone waited to see if anyone would admit to sending the notes. Nobody did.

Viper licked over his front teeth. "Then let's get started." He gestured at his nearest brother, which was Hustle. "You first."

An explosion of Russian curses flew out of Luka's mouth as he fisted the slips of torn paper he held. "I am fucking done with this shit."

Watching him pace up and down the store's workshop like a caged tiger, Ella leaned back against the counter. She didn't fail to notice how Mia, Melodie, and Jocelyn backed up to give him space. Not that they feared him—being the close relatives of his anchor, Luka considered them under his protection. But he could be something of a scary sight when angry.

The skin of his face, neck, and hands currently rippled … as though snakes were slithering beneath his flesh. It was his inner demons. His anger called to them and fed their own fury just as theirs fed his. A vicious cycle for sure.

She'd gathered everyone here in the store to tell them about the note all at once. She hadn't told them that Viper would be conducting his own investigation into the notes, though—not even Luka.

Her anchor had nothing against the Fallen in general, but every part of him would bristle at another male thinking they had any right to look out for her. He considered it his job; he wouldn't want his toes stepped on.

He also wouldn't like that Viper had edged his way into her business, and he'd demand to know why the president would even want to. That she was sharing Viper's bed was something she'd be keeping to herself for now.

Ella wasn't sure exactly how Viper planned to go about getting answers for her, but she'd welcome any aid she could get. Having all hands on deck made sense.

"The guy must get off on riding the edge of danger," said Mikhail, his steel-gray eyes focused on Luka. "That little note in your hand is, in effect, a signed death warrant."

Nikandr gave a slow nod. "He might as well have dared you to come after him."

"I will when I find out who he is." Luka's gaze bled to black as one of his entities surfaced. "He will beg for death before we are done with him, and it will be some time before we are done," it said.

Belial , Ella sensed.

A funny thing about legions? Their inner demons tended to name themselves, possibly to ensure they each stood out as separate entities. Inside Luka were Abraxas, Belial, and Dagon.

Ella had learned to tell them apart. Though they shared many of the same traits—remorselessness, impulsiveness, fearlessness—they each had distinct personalities.

Abraxas was extremely narcissistic and possessed a superficial charm. Dagon was moody, manipulative, and a compulsive liar. Belial was a pure sadist who didn't seem to derive pleasure from anything other than hurting or humiliating others—hence why it was a particular favorite of her own inner demon, who could be somewhat coldhearted.

Melodie turned to Ella. "I can't believe you didn't tell us about the notes."

"I didn't want you to worry," she defended.

"And you weren't taking them very seriously, I'll bet," Jocelyn accused, pursing her lips.

"I'll admit, I thought the first note could be a random kid completing a dare or something," said Ella. "But due to the snare, I wasn't feeling at all blasé about it."

Melodie shot her a look of reprimand. "You can't keep things like this from us. You always do it." She glanced from her to Mia. " Both of you do. Whenever anything happens, you keep me and your aunt in the dark."

"For the good of the world," said Mia.

Jocelyn's brows met. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means there's a reason our Prime asked us to relocate rather than just kick us all out of the lair," Mia elaborated. "The pair of you turn into magickal terrorists when any wrongs befall you or yours."

Melodie lifted her chin a notch. "Glitter bomb potions don't count as terrorism."

Mia looked at Ella. "Remember that time my ex lost his hearing for six months?"

"That had nothing to do with us," their mother swiftly denied.

Yeah, right. "And the time my old sleazy, touchy-feely neighbor kept snorting like a pig when he tried to speak?" That had gone on for a whole five months.

"Again, not connected to us," Melodie insisted.

"Or the time the unapologetic drunk-driver who crashed into my car realized he'd been declared dead in every country and was never able to get tipsy again no matter how much he drank?" asked Mia.

Jocelyn nudged Melodie with her elbow. "I suppose we should take it as a compliment that they consider us so powerful."

Melodie sniffed and then turned to Luka, whose eyes were back to normal now that Belial had retreated. "You're no closer to finding out who it was?"

Luka gave a resentful shake of the head. "I have left not one fucking stone unturned. Not one . The people I'd originally suspected of assaulting her all have solid alibis. Everyone I've questioned swore that they have no idea who he is."

Melodie let out a sound of distress. "What do we do?"

"We lay some magickal traps," said Ella. "He'll probably expect that, so I doubt he'll touch my car again or go near my apartment. But if he does, I'll know."

Luka fixed her with a hard stare. "You're going to have bodyguards from now on," he declared, his tone empty of negotiation. "Don't argue. This last note says he means business. I'm not taking any chances with your life."

Ella had figured he'd say that. "Okay."

His eyes narrowed at her easy acquiescence. "Okay?"

"I'm not going to turn down an offer of protection if it means he'll be caught." It was why she hadn't fought Viper's insistence on putting guards on her.

"I'm not offering it, I'm telling you it's happening," Luka stated. "I will not allow any further harm to come to you."

Mia sighed at him, almost longingly. "Luka, will you be my anchor, too?"

His brows dipped. "No. You're Joe's problem."

"Problem?" Mia echoed.

"Yes."

Mia folded her arms. "And you see my sister as a problem?"

"'Course not. She's mine." Luka resettled his attention on Ella. "And she should have told me about the recent note immediately , not waited until now."

Ella heaved a sigh. "I'm just tired of letting this, him , take up my time."

Luka crossed to her and rested a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Come to Infernal tonight. We'll eat. Talk. Get your mind off things."

Ella couldn't, since she had plans to see Viper. "Sorry, I have some stuff I need to do. I'll come to Infernal another night, though."

His lips flattened. "I don't like seeing you so weary. It makes me want to kill someone—I don't even particularly care who it is."

"Seriously, Luka, be my anchor ," Mia pled.

Melodie turned to her with a frown. "What's wrong with Joe all of a sudden?"

Luka's eyes narrowed on Mia. "Did he harm you?"

"No, nothing like that," Mia assured him. "He's just being an idiot. It'll pass."

Luka grunted and looked back at Ella. "I'm leaving now." He squeezed her shoulder. "We will catch him, Ella. It's just a matter of time."

As she'd earlier temporarily closed the store so they'd have privacy while they talked, Ella led the way to the front door and unlocked it for Luka and his guards. He gave her a quick hug, warned her to be vigilant, and then swanned out of the store with the twins.

Flipping the Open/Closed sign, Ella looked out of the shop window to see two of the Black Saints loitering outside the dive bar. Her new guards, maybe? She wasn't sure.

They made eye contact and offered the most subtle of nods before looking away, saving her from having to either rudely not return the gesture or politely nod back … and have her watchful sister pounce on it.

"Much as I know you'd love to get your hands on the mugger," began Mia, "I hope it's Luka who finds him. He'll make him pay pay. You'll be more merciful."

Given the way her note writer was behaving … "You shouldn't be so sure of that," muttered Ella, crossing to the counter with her sister at her side.

"I am beyond pissed that the bold little prick went to your front door. He might have only left a compulsion-ridden note, but it was still a scare tactic—a kind of ‘I know where you live and can get close to you' message."

Ella slowly nodded. Her demon, showing no signs of calming, was still as infuriated by it as it had been when first discovering the note early this morning. "I worry he'll target you, Mom, or Jocelyn. Please be super careful."

"I will. But you're the one in his sights. He's focused on you."

Hearing the bell above the door chime, Ella glanced over. Her body went still. Because Maxine and Dionne were filing inside the store. Wonderful.