It wasn’t all stars and rainbows, though. Anchors could be possessive, overprotective, and highly meddlesome. It was also psychically uncomfortable for the pairs to be apart for long periods of time. Moreover, the death of an anchor was painful and draining for a demon. So, yeah, there were good points and bad points.
In addition to being Harper’s mate, Knox was her anchor, so he’d been annoyingly protective and intrusive from the beginning. It had surprised her that he wanted the anchor bond. He was powerful enough all on his own and maintained dominance over his inner demon just fine. Of course, he still relinquished control to it when necessary, but never for long. But it didn’t need “long” to cause utter destruction, and she knew it would be tempted to cause exactly that when she told him—
Her head snapped up as Ciaran reappeared with the sentinels.
“What the fuck just happened?” demanded Keenan, eyes manic, as he slung Asher’s bag on the floor near the sofa.
“Who was attacked—you or Asher?” Tanner asked, muscles rigid.
“Me, but it was Asher they wanted,” said Harper, grim. “I was just about to call Knox. Thanks for bringing them here, Ciaran.”
Her cousin nodded. “No problem. Good luck dealing with your mate.”
Yeah, she was pretty sure she’d need it.
“The only reason I didn’t call out to Knox was because I figured you already had,” said Keenan when Ciaran was gone.
“Same here,” Tanner told her. “I couldn’t see anything through the frost. I thought he was already in there with you.”
Harper shoved a hand through her hair. “I was too busy panicking about Asher to think of anything or anyone other than him.” But now it was time to reach out to Knox.
She took a deep breath. Knox? She tried to sound casual and failed by a long, long mile. Her telepathic voice fairly shook with the fear that still clogged her lungs so that it hurt to breathe.
His mind touched hers, vibrating with concern. Harper, what’s wrong?
I’m at home. Could you please—
Fire erupted out of the ground in front of her, snapping and crackling. The flames died away, revealing a tall, solid, imposing figure in a tailored Armani suit. Shimmering pools of black roamed over her, taking in everything.
“What is it, Harper?” Brows drawn, Knox stalked toward her with an animal grace that usually made her stomach flip. Right then, her stomach was rock hard. “Baby, you’re shaking. What is it?”
She licked her lips. “Someone tried to take him. Someone tried to take Asher.”
For a moment, Knox simply stared at her. Then his face tightened into a mask of savage fury and flames flickered from his fingertips. His rage crashed into her as it swept through the room like a tidal wave. The furniture shook, the ceiling spotlights buzzed, and tremors rattled the walls. Then it stopped, but she wasn’t mistaking that for the danger passing.
“Where is he?” clipped Knox, body unnaturally still.
“Upstairs with Meg. He’s fine, Knox,” she assured him, even though she suspected he’d already touched Asher’s mind to see that much for himself. “Really, he’s okay.”
Knox’s eyes bled to black as his demon rose to the fore, and the room temperature dropped so low she shivered. “He wasn’t harmed?” asked the demon in a flat, chilling, disembodied voice.
She swallowed. “No. They didn’t even touch him. They couldn’t; he’d raised his shield.”
“I want to know everything.” The demon prowled toward her, every inch the lethal predator. “I want—” It cut off, nostrils flaring, and its obsidian eyes glittered with renewed fury. “I smell your blood.”
Shit. The air suddenly turned muggy and oppressive, like just before a storm. The demon’s rage was so live and electric, it was almost tangible. Meeting its unblinking stare, Harper forced herself not to tense. It didn’t matter that she knew the demon wouldn’t harm her. Only a total idiot wouldn’t find something that old, dangerous, and pitiless to be unnerving.
Neither she nor Knox had expected his demon to form such a powerful attachment to her that it wanted to claim her as its own. Knox would have been forced to give her up if things had turned out differently, because a person couldn’t take someone as their mate unless their inner demon accepted them too.
Even though joining their psyches had made Harper more powerful, Knox and his demon were still just as overprotective as ever. It didn’t even matter that, thanks to his power flooding her mind, she could also call on the flames of hell—Knox still wished he could tuck her away somewhere safe.
Now that she had Asher, Harper finally understood why. She worried for Knox just as he worried about her, sure, but she had the comfort of knowing that he was a supreme badass. Knox, however, didn’t have that same comfort, because she was nowhere near as powerful as he was. To Knox, she was vulnerable in ways he would never be. Likewise, Asher—though powerful—was vulnerable to harm in ways that neither she nor Knox were. It made her want to hide him away, where no one could ever touch him. And maybe that was exactly what she should have done.
Feeling like an utter failure, Harper licked her lips. “Please don’t go postal. I need Knox. I can’t do this by myself.”
*
It was the shake in her voice that reached the demon through the red hazing its vision. Its mate was strong. Brave. Resilient. Incredibly self-reliant. To admit to needing anyone, to being unable to bear the situation alone, meant she was in genuine distress. The demon’s fury receded slightly. “I don’t like the taint of fear in your scent, little sphinx.” When Knox fiercely reached for the surface, wanting to reassure their mate, the demon retreated.
In control once more, Knox cricked his neck. His chest expanded with a full breath that he slowly blew out. Anger simmered low in his core—an anger that had moments ago inflated inside his chest until there was no way to breathe without tasting red-hot rage. It had flooded his body, poured into his extremities, and made his blood boil and smolder like lava. His demon had gone into a volcanic rage, roaring so loudly it had made Knox’s head throb.
Only one thing had stopped both him and the entity from losing control—on touching Asher’s mind, they’d sensed no anguish or fear in him. Only calm and contentment.
Focusing on his mate, Knox saw just how terribly shaken she was. He knew Harper. Knew she’d be blaming herself. Knew that she’d be hurting right down to the deepest part of her soul. He also sensed that she was keeping a chokehold on her anger so that she didn’t exacerbate his own. He could do no less for her. She needed comfort. Support. Reassurance. Not the rage sitting in his gut like lead.
Locking down the dark emotions threatening to send him into a frenzy, Knox crossed to her. “Come here, baby.” He curved his hand around her nape and pulled her close. At first, she remained stiff and unresponsive, as if she thought she deserved no comfort. He smoothed his hand up and down her back until the stiffness leached out of her. “Tell me everything.”
Pulling back, Harper licked her lower lip. “We were at Jolene’s tea party. The kids were all sitting in the dining room with Ciaran, watching the clown that Jolene hired.” She gestured at the sentinels, adding, “The three of us were stood in the hallway just outside the room—we could see Asher clearly. We heard the bouncy castle burst outside, so we ran out into the yard. Thinking back, it seems likely that someone burst it to distract us. Asher’s mind touched mine. I knew he wanted me for something, so I went to him. And there was this woman.”
“A woman?”
“She looked like me. Exactly like me. Either it was a shape-shifting demon or my fucking doppelgänger. She was cooing to him and saying it was time to go home, probably hoping he’d think it was me and then lower the shield he’d wrapped round himself.”
Knox’s demon snorted. Their son would never be so gullible, infant or not.
“When she saw me, she let out this weird surge of ice cold energy that froze everything and everyone in the room. Asher’s shield must have protected hi
m from it. It didn’t work on me either, so she conjured a wind that flung me into the hall. I managed to get inside the room before a sheet of frost built across the doorway. But the frost blocked the others from getting inside to help.”
“I bashed it with every bit of strength in my body while others hurled orbs of hellfire at it,” Tanner cut in. “It didn’t even weaken.”
Harper plucked at her clothes. She felt so hot and edgy that the cotton chafed her skin and made her feel smothered. “I flew at her, dealt her some soul-deep pain, stabbed her with my blade and … I don’t know if I killed her. She just faded right in front of me and then disappeared.”
A familiar mind slid against Knox’s. Is everything all right? asked Levi, his sentinel and personal bodyguard. Knox had left him outside the conference room at the hotel where he’d held his business meeting.
No, it’s not. Knox quickly explained what had happened, pausing only when Levi bit out several curses. Relay the situation to Larkin, Knox continued, referring to his fourth sentinel. I’ll meet you in my office within the hotel soon. Knox couldn’t ask Levi to leave without him. It was important that Knox was seen to be both coming and going from places or it would raise questions.
Breaking his connection with Levi, Knox smoothed his hand over Harper’s shoulder and down her arm. “Where are you hurt?”
“I whacked my head on the wall and scraped my side on the frost.” She shrugged, as if it were nothing.
“Let me see.” He peeled up her T-shirt, finding an ugly slash on her side, and ground his teeth. “Looks more like someone slashed at you with a razor blade.” The she-demon would die for that alone—but not until he was done “punishing” her, if he ever would be done.
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that someone tried to snatch Asher.”
“Firstly, you very much do matter—never say that again.” Probing her head gently, Knox found a lump, but she barely winced. “Secondly, you should have called me.”
“I wasn’t thinking of anything other than getting to Asher. I fucked up, I know—”
“You didn’t fuck up. It was only natural that your thoughts were only of Asher.” He squeezed her nape. “You did good.”
Her shoulders slumped a little. “No, I didn’t, and we both know it.”
He could see that she was awaiting judgment. “You think I should blame you?”
“I left him.”
“I left him,” said Keenan glumly.
“We all left him,” clipped Tanner. “The bitch who tried to take him fucked with the bouncy castle to distract us. We fell for it.”
Knox dug into Asher’s bag and pulled out a wet wipe. He gently cleaned the blood from her temple and then carefully dabbed the cut on her side. Later, they’d shower together, and he would properly clean the wounds and baby her until it drove her so crazy that her needless guilt was drowned out by irritation. First … “I need to see Jolene’s dining room. I might pick something up.”
Harper lifted her chin. “I’m coming with you.” She didn’t want to leave Asher, but she needed to see for herself that the other children were okay.
“Me, too,” said Tanner. “If I can detect the bitch’s scent, I may be able to track her. And I need to get the car anyway.”
“We’ll all go,” declared Knox. What he wanted most was to see Asher. To touch him. Hold him. Assure himself that he was okay. But Knox didn’t want to go to his son while in this state. Anger was riding him hard, taunting him with the cutting impulse to hurt and mangle and avenge. Making it worse, his demon continued to seethe, demanding vengeance, pushing at Knox to hunt the bitch who’d tried to take Asher and had made Harper bleed.
The only thing currently keeping it from surging to the surface and taking control was, quite simply, Harper’s nearness. She was an anchor to both Knox and his demon in every way that counted. In that sense, she had more control over the demon than Knox did. It was calmer and much better behaved when Harper was close by. It detested parting from her, and it quickly became bored and restless without her.
Knox couldn’t claim to need her any less than the entity did. Control was important to him. Essential. Not just due to the scars his childhood left on him, but because he had to keep a tight hold on his abilities and his inner demon. If Harper was taken from him, that control would eviscerate, and all hell would quite literally break loose.
He wouldn’t simply hunt and destroy those responsible for her death. That wouldn’t satisfy him. Vengeance wouldn’t be enough for him or his demon. The entity would want the freedom to do exactly what it was born to do—wreak havoc and chaos. Knox would give it that freedom, and an immense amount of destruction and death would follow.
In that sense, Knox’s emotional stability rested on her. He hated that she had to bear the weight of it, but there was no changing it. She’d been his one vulnerability until Asher came along. Now Knox had two, and both had been threatened today.
Brushing a kiss over Harper’s now clean temple, Knox squeezed her wrist gently. “Call Ciaran, baby. He can teleport us all there.” Knox didn’t pyroport in front of many people, liking to keep their kind guessing about what he could and couldn’t do.
Moments later, Ciaran appeared, looking somewhat frazzled.
“Any luck unfreezing the kids?” she asked him.
“No,” her cousin replied. “I can’t melt the frost barring the doorway either. Hell, I can’t even teleport anyone into the room. It’s hard enough to teleport myself in there.”
“Why is it such a struggle?” Knox asked.
Ciaran shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s like the frost on the door and walls of the room acts as an energy barrier or something. I can’t explain it. Please tell me you can do something.”
“Take me to Jolene’s house,” said Knox. “Let’s find out what we’re dealing with.”
Ciaran teleported Knox, Harper, and the sentinels to Jolene’s hallway. It was crowded with people who were obviously anxious to get to the children. They parted at the sight of Harper and Knox, letting them through.
Jolene turned to them, looking harried. “How’s Asher?”
“He’s okay, Grams,” Harper assured her. “No one hurt him. I just needed to get him out of here fast.” To a place Harper knew beyond any doubt that he was safe. She lightly touched his mind and felt only contentment.
“Ciaran told us everything,” said Jolene. “He also said you were bleeding.”
“I’m fine. Really.” The wounds stung like a bitch, now that the adrenalin had faded, but Harper had had way worse. She didn’t say that aloud though as it would have riled Knox. Right then, he looked unnaturally calm in a way she found plain terrifying. Harper figured that if it weren’t for the way his rage thickened the air, people could think him completely unmoved by what had happened.
Devon gave her a quick hug. “Did she really look exactly like you?”
At Harper’s nod, Raini spoke, “Must be a demon with the power to shapeshift.”
“It’s not an unusual gift,” began Khloë, “so that won’t help us work out who it was.”
Jolene’s face hardened. “They’ll pay for this. Nobody tries to harm me or mine—especially in my own home.”
“Yes, they will pay,” agreed Knox, voice low, steady.
Drew reached around his sister and lightly touched Harper’s shoulder. “You all right?”
Knox’s eyes slammed on the unfamiliar male that touched his mate. A hellcat, Knox sensed. The demon’s psychic shields were weak, so Knox caught some of his thoughts. The male thought Knox to be cold and uncaring and without mercy. Believed he was as emotionally stunted as Harper’s father. Didn’t understand why Harper had committed herself to such a creature or believe that she belonged with someone who could never truly care for her.
Envy spiced the internal rant, which would have made Knox smile if there wasn’t also a possessive edge to the hellcat’s thoughts. Knox didn’t fucking like that at all. In fact, he felt the grip on his anger lo
osen just a little, which was very, very dangerous. His inner demon snarled, deciding the hellcat needed a ball of hellfire lodged up his rectum.
As Knox possessively shackled Harper’s wrist, the male boldly met his gaze and said, “We haven’t met before. I’m Drew Clarke.”
“Devon’s brother,” Keenan added, shifting in front of the male so that he effectively cut Drew out of the main circle of people. Apparently, thought Knox, the sentinel didn’t like him either.
“Do you think you can help?” Martina asked Knox, gesturing at the frosted doorway. “We’ve been hitting it with orbs of hellfire for what feels like hours. It’s not melting.”
Knox examined it closely. “This isn’t real ice. It won’t melt.”
“But it can be destroyed, right?” asked Harper. She watched as he lifted his hand and released a wave of raw, undiluted power that buzzed in the air like a swarm of bees. The frost didn’t crack. It dissipated, becoming pure mist. Going by the boom of silence, people were too awed by his show of strength to be relieved that the barrier was gone.
She kept pace with Knox as he prowled into the room—each step was slow, deliberate, casual. Again, a wave of raw power swept out of his hand, making the air buzz and shimmer. The frost on the walls dissolved, and the kids and creepy clown immediately resumed what they were doing, as if nothing had occurred. While some imps rushed inside to fuss over the kids, others followed Harper and Knox to the rear of the room.
Studying the wall, Knox felt the waves of violence and the residue of his mate’s rage. She’d been blinded by it. So blinded that she hadn’t even thought to call for help, and he wondered if her attacker had counted on that. “You fought her here.”
Even though it wasn’t a question, she nodded. “I kind of slammed her against the wall a few times before I stabbed her with my knife after I infused it with hellfire. She faded until she was like vapor, and then she was just … gone.” Feeling the prick of her nails in her palms, Harper realized she’d clenched her fists so tight that her knuckles turned white. “I should have bitten her fucking face off.”
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