Embers

by Suzanne Wright

  “I’m looking for clues that might help identify who this person was and just where Alethea was killed,” said Knox.

  Harper turned to him. “Any ideas?”

  “At this point, I’m quite sure that the Horseman is, in fact, a man. Caucasian. Confident. He knew Alethea well, and she’d trusted him to some extent. You can see the hint of betrayal in her eyes if you look beneath the terror.”

  Harper leaned closer to the screen. “You’re right. What’s she trying to say?”

  “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” He rewound the clip slightly. “Here, it seems like she’s saying, ‘Please.’ Then she pauses, licks her lips, and mouths, ‘Don’t do this.’ The Horseman chats about how the US Primes must fall, and then—just before he sets her alight—she tries to say something else, but I can’t quite work out what.”

  “Play it for me.” Harper leaned toward the screen again and concentrated on the movement of Alethea’s mouth. “You’re. Dead. She’s saying, ‘You’re dead.’”

  Knox nodded, able to see it clearly now. “She says the next part so fast I can’t understand it, but it seems like she’s trying to tell him, ‘He’ll get through.’ Get through what? And who’s ‘he’?”

  Harper watched that part of the clip and then shook her head. “No, not ‘get’. She’s not mouthing a ‘g’ sound, she’s mouthing a ‘k’ sound. He’ll … kill … you. She practically spits the words, that’s why it’s hard to make it out, but I’m leaning towards, ‘He’ll kill you.’ By ‘he’ I think she meant you.”

  It would make sense, since the Horseman had just been chatting about getting rid of Knox. “I think you may be right.”

  “Why couldn’t she have mouthed something helpful like his name or something?”

  Knox was thinking the very same thing. “I was hoping she might have tried to communicate something that would give us a clue.”

  “Have you tried calling Jonas yet?”

  “Yes. He’s not answering, which doesn’t surprise me. If he’s grieving, it’s unlikely that he’ll be interested in speaking with anyone.”

  Harper narrowed her eyes. “You said ‘if’ he’s grieving. Why wouldn’t he be? You think he could be the one who killed her?”

  “You don’t?”

  She thought on it for a moment. “He seemed pretty close to Alethea, so it’s hard to imagine him ever hurting her. I was actually thinking that the Horseman could have killed Alethea because he knew that Jonas would never stop looking for her. That made her a problem, didn’t it? Because if Jonas had found Alethea, he’d have also found the Horseman.”

  Inclining his head, Knox said, “Yes, she was a liability.”

  “You know, I didn’t figure Alethea for the kind of person who’d beg anyone for anything—not even for her life. She must have been truly terrified.”

  Knox hadn’t thought of that. He nodded. “Alethea would never let anyone see her cry, let alone the entire world via a YouTube video. As you say, she must have been terrified.” But of who?

  As Jonas didn’t answer any of his calls, Knox went to the Prime’s home the following day. But when Levi spoke their names into the built-in intercom of the keypad near the front gates, the butler claimed that Jonas wasn’t fit to receive visitors. In other words, he was drowning his sorrows.

  “His control over his gifts isn’t at its best,” the butler told Levi. It was no surprise, since grief had a way of shaking a demon’s control. “Perhaps Mr. Thorne could return in a week or so.”

  Knox lowered his window and spoke into the intercom. “It’s essential that I speak with your Prime. If I could afford to give him time, I’d do so. But this is much too important.”

  There was a short silence, and then the butler sighed. “If you insist, Mr. Thorne.” There was a loud beep, and then the iron gates opened.

  As Levi drove toward the large mansion and Knox took in the expansive lawn, statues, fountain, and thick white columns, he recalled how Harper had once branded the place so showy that it was soulless. Knox could agree with her. He’d like to think his own estate possessed some character and personality. Jonas seemed too intent on being flashy to give this place a homey feel.

  Levi accompanied Knox up the slate steps to the front door, where the butler waited, looking anxious. Their shoes clicked on the stone flooring as the butler led them through the open entryway, down a long hall, and into a large parlor that smelled of polish, wood smoke, and brandy.

  The thick velvet drapes were closed, and the lights were off, but Knox spotted Jonas in the plush armchair near the fireplace. The flicker of the flames illuminated his vacant expression and red-rimmed eyes. He looked both dazed and devastated.

  “I was clear that I wanted to be left alone, Rodger,” Jonas slurred. He looked to the doorway and froze at the sight of Knox and Levi, who slowly crossed to him. The door closed quietly behind them as Rodger quickly scampered away.

  Jonas snickered at Knox. “Why are you here? Come to gloat? No doubt you’re glad my sister’s dead. She can’t cause your mate any more upset now, can she?”

  Knox wasn’t going to even credit that snipe with a response. He’d expected Jonas to lash out in such a way, which was why he was tremendously glad that Harper hadn’t insisted on coming.

  He wouldn’t lie to Jonas and claim to be grieving Alethea’s death. They both knew that, since she’d made a point of insulting his mate every chance she got, he’d felt nothing but distaste for Alethea near the end. His demon, who had never liked her, didn’t feel even so much as an ounce of pity for her.

  With a shaky hand, Jonas grabbed a crystal tumbler from the table and slurped the brandy. “I’ll bet Harper’s throwing a celebratory party. She probably plans to play the clip of Alethea’s death in HD in your fucking home theater. Oh yes, she’ll be loving this.”

  With an inner sigh, Knox arched a brow. “Are you done?”

  Jonas glared at him. “God, you’re cold. You took Alethea to bed countless times, yet you feel no grief at all, do you?”

  “You’re going to spew shit at me for not caring for her as you did? I would have thought you’d be more interested in seeing your sister’s killer pay.”

  Jonas stilled, eyes sharpening. “You know who he is? Give me his name.”

  “I don’t have his name. Yet. But I intend to ID him. I need your help to do that.”

  Sagging into the chair, Jonas glanced at the fireplace. “If I knew who he was, he’d be in my dungeon right now.”

  He has a dungeon? asked Levi.

  Apparently so, said Knox.

  Huh. Didn’t expect that.

  “What about the humans she spent time with?” Knox asked. “Have you interviewed them?”

  “I already spoke to them after she first disappeared. None knew where she was. Since I couldn’t have them reporting her disappearance to the human authorities, I had to tell them all that she moved away. None of them have contacted me recently, so I’m assuming they didn’t see the video clip before I had my contact at YouTube take it down.”

  “I’m assuming you asked your contact if he had any information on the person who uploaded the clip,” Knox prompted.

  “All they had on the person was an email address. I had a technology expert from my lair try to track it. They said they couldn’t. A proxy was used.” Jonas stared hard at Knox, face twisting in resentment. “But maybe you already know that.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Maybe it was you on that clip. Maybe you’re the fourth Horseman. Maybe you talked of being the next victim to draw suspicion from yourself.”

  “Maybe you’re the fourth Horseman,” Knox countered. “I saw her face at the meeting when she heard you wanted to make a pact with Lucifer—she was shocked. Anxious. Maybe she discovered what you wanted from Lucifer. Maybe she didn’t like it. Maybe you then killed her to preserve your secret.”

  Eyes wide, Jonas snarled. “I would never have harmed my sister.”

  “And I would never have hidde
n behind a camera.”

  Sneering, Jonas slugged back more brandy. “I suppose you wouldn’t have. You’re so sure none of us can defeat you that—”

  “You want to know who her killer is. I want to know who he is. Playing this game doesn’t help.”

  “Just go.” Jonas flicked a dismissive hand his way, but the move lacked strength. “I can’t tell you anything that would lead you to the fourth Horseman because I don’t know anything.”

  “He was no stranger to her, Jonas. They knew each other. Who was she spending her time with?”

  He closed his eyes, replying, “I don’t know. She disappeared, remember.”

  “Before that, who was she with?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Trying a different tack, Knox said, “She was well-aware of what you wanted from Lucifer, wasn’t she?”

  “No, but she suspected why I wanted his aid.”

  “Aid with what?”

  Jonas didn’t respond. Just stared into the fire.

  Patience thin, Knox bared his teeth. “Jonas, do not fuck with me right now. It’s not the time to test just how much tolerance I possess. Someone recently posed as Harper to get to my son. We suspect they wanted to take him, and we’re betting they were sent by the Horseman.”

  Jonas’s face went slack. “Posed as Harper?”

  “Took on her physical form. They left no scent or blood behind, and I don’t have to point out that such a thing isn’t at all common.” Jonas went so deathly pale that Knox’s muscles bunched with tension. “What do you know?”

  Closing his eyes, Jonas shook his head. “Oh, Alethea, what did you do?” he muttered.

  Knox took an aggressive step toward him. “Tell me what you know.”

  Jonas pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a hard sigh. “Alethea. She … ”

  “She, what?”

  “She had an incorporeal demon in her possession.”

  Everything in Knox stilled. Even his demon stiffened. Fisting his hands, Knox echoed, “An incorporeal demon? She had an incorporeal demon?” A demon without a body. A demon that could possess others. A demon that, if extremely powerful, could also temporarily maintain the physical form of anyone it chose. A demon that was as near to indestructible as anything in their world could get. Mostly intangible, it had no bones for you to break, no blood for you to spill, no heart for you to stop, no brain for you to damage. Very little could kill it … making it the perfect weapon, and one of the worst opponents imaginable.

  “I don’t know how long she had it. She was behaving strangely. Acting secretive. She also kept putting off our dinner plans, which was out of character for her. Concerned and annoyed, I went to her house to see her. She was angry that I hadn’t called first, and I could tell she wanted me gone. I noticed a glass display case on the mantelpiece in her living room. It caught my eye because it was empty. But when I moved closer, I saw that there was something inside it. A sort of hazy vapor. So faint you could easily miss it.”

  Jaw hard, Knox exchanged a knowing look with Levi.

  “I didn’t need to ask what it was. I’d never seen an incorporeal before, but I’d heard enough about them to know what I was looking at. Still, I’d hoped she’d tell me I was wrong.” Jonas tossed back the last of his brandy. “But she didn’t. Of course, I demanded to know where the hell she’d gotten it.”

  “And?” prodded Knox.

  “She said she stole it from a private collector. And that she meant to free it.”

  Levi swore under his breath.

  “I insisted that she return the display case to wherever it came from,” Jonas went on, “but she said that it was for protection. Said that she suspected you or Harper could be the fourth Horseman and that she thought one of you would come for her.”

  “But you didn’t believe her,” Knox sensed.

  “No.” Jonas rubbed his temple, as if a headache was building. “I knew that, whatever the case, I needed to somehow get rid of it. I also knew she would protest, so I pretended that I understood her motives, and I promised that I wouldn’t say a word about it. But at the meeting, when you revealed that I wanted to make a deal with Lucifer, she became suspicious that I’d sought his help to destroy the incorporeal. That was why she disappeared—she ran from me, because she didn’t trust me.”

  “And, knowing the type of destruction an incorporeal can cause, you didn’t think to say something to someone?” clipped Knox, wanting to shake the other demon. So much could have been avoided if Jonas had just spoken up about it.

  Jonas’s eyes flared. “She was my sister. I knew people would come for the incorporeal, and I knew she’d never give it up easily—even if it meant risking her life. I thought if I could just get rid of it before anyone got hurt, no one would ever know. Besides, I didn’t think she would truly be able to free it. She just wasn’t strong enough for something like that. I spoke with an incantor about it—the same incantor people mistakenly believed I was dating—and she said it would take several things to free an incorporeal, including the sacrifice of a demonic child.”

  Levi looked at Knox. “Harper’s younger cousin, Heidi, could have been Alethea’s chosen target.”

  Jonas’s gaze snapped to the sentinel. “No. Alethea would never have done something like that. She may have thought about it, yes, but she wouldn’t have gone through with it. She was vindictive, but she wasn’t evil. Someone was using her. She was seeing someone else, but she wouldn’t tell me who. Wouldn’t even tell me if I knew them. The two must have worked together to free the incorporeal.”

  And now it was targeting Knox’s son. His demon growled. “You should have told someone that she had one in her possession.”

  “I’d planned to destroy it,” Jonas defended. “The incantor I spoke to said that nothing of the Earth could kill an incorporeal. Everyone knows that nothing is impervious to the flames of hell. Archdemons are the flames of hell. I wanted Lucifer to either banish the incorporeal back to hell or give me the brief use of an archdemon, but he wouldn’t even speak with me. I was determined to undo what she’d done before it got her killed.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “But I failed. I should have looked harder for her. I tried to find her, I really did, but it was like she didn’t want to be found.”

  “Or she didn’t want the incorporeal to be found,” said Knox. “If she freed it, she would have given it an order; made a bargain with it. There would have been no other point in freeing one, especially since it could have turned on her. What do you think she asked it to do?”

  A weary exhale shuddered out of Jonas. “I don’t know.”

  “If you had to guess … ?”

  “I don’t know. Truly. I suspect that whatever order the incorporeal was given came from the Horseman, not from her. And I believe deep down to my bones that she didn’t know they were the fourth Horseman—the bastard wants to see the fall of the US Primes. I am a Prime. Alethea wouldn’t have been party to anything that would harm me.”

  Knox could agree with the latter. “But she would have been party to something that brought harm to me, my mate, or my son, wouldn’t she?”

  Jonas looked about to deny the accusation, but then he sighed. “The temptation would have been there, but I don’t believe she would truly have gone through with it. No, I think the Horseman lied to her about what his intentions were for the incorporeal. They told her whatever would gain them her cooperation.”

  “Yes, because Alethea was so naïve and easily manipulated,” Knox said, sarcasm heavy in his tone. “Be real, Jonas. Your sister was cunning and devious; she would have recognized if someone was trying to play her.”

  “Then they were damn convincing or someone she trusted, because there is no way I will believe she would have knowingly worked with the Horseman. She obviously discovered who they were and wanted out, so they killed her to protect their identity. And now they’re coming for you. Or, as it would appear, they’re coming for your son. And if they really have an incorporeal in their arsenal, I�
�m sorry to say that he’s doomed.” Jonas turned back to the fireplace. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to be alone. There’s truly nothing more I can tell you anyway.”

  Believing the latter, Knox decided to back off. But it was hard when anger still ravaged his insides. If Jonas hadn’t kept the incorporeal a secret, the entity wouldn’t now be targeting his son. If Harper had been here, she probably would have flown at the other Prime and gripped him by the throat. Knox was highly tempted to do that very thing, but it was possible that Jonas would later think of something else that could help. And considering Jonas wanted the Horseman as badly as Knox did, killing the Prime would mean there was one less person searching for the bastard. Knox would deal with Jonas at a later date.

  “I’m holding a meeting with the other Primes,” said Knox.

  “Well, I do hope you enjoy it. I have no interest in going.”

  Knox had thought as much. “That’s up to you. But a discussion about the Horseman needs to be had.”

  Jonas’s gaze went inward. “I wasn’t entirely convinced they were real.”

  “Many weren’t.”

  “I should have looked harder for her.”

  “She didn’t want to be found; you said so yourself.” Too angry to have any interest in comforting the other Prime, Knox turned and left the mansion.

  As he and Levi slid back into the Bentley, Levi said, “Well, that answered a lot of our questions. For instance, we now know that it was highly likely that Alethea was the one who went after Heidi—she needed a demonic child to sacrifice, and it would have given her a kick to kill a relative of Harper. It must have pissed Alethea off big time when her plan failed.”

  And while that was a relief, it also sadly meant that … “Some other child must have died in Heidi’s place, otherwise the incorporeal wouldn’t be free.”

  Levi nodded, expression grim. “We also now know that Jonas did in fact want an archdemon, just as Malden said. But it wasn’t because Jonas had a nefarious plan, it was because he was trying to foil his sister’s nefarious plan. An incorporeal demon … Damn, Harper’s going to freak.”