Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 111986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Linda helped the boy slip on his coat and then handed a rucksack to Knox. “Here’s his bag. I packed some clothes and things.”
“Thank you,” said Knox. “I’m sorry it has to be this way, but it’s necessary.”
Linda rubbed her arm. “I know, I just wish it wasn’t.”
Knox gestured for Levi to leave the house first. McCauley easily followed the sentinel outside without even a backward look at Linda or Wyatt. Linking his fingers with Harper’s, Knox led her down the path with Tanner close behind them.
Larkin was stood near an SUV where a few members of the force were waiting, having responded to Knox’s summons. Is everything all right? she asked.
Yes. I need you to take McCauley to Elena and Andre’s house. They’re expecting him. Knox then turned to McCauley. “This is Larkin, one of my sentinels. She will take you to a house not far from here. It’s a place where many children stay who have no family to care for them. You’ll have your own room, and you’ll be safe there. Harper and I will keep an eye on you, make sure things are going well for you. Does that sound good?”
“Yes, sir,” replied McCauley with no emotion whatsoever.
“You’ll only be brought back here if you decide that it’s what you want.” Knox wanted McCauley and his demon to understand that Linda and Wyatt wouldn’t push for him to return, just in case the demon viewed them as a threat.
McCauley nodded and then hopped into the SUV with Larkin.
Harper waved to McCauley as the SUV drove away, and he gave her the slightest wave. She turned to Knox. “You arranged this with Elena and Andre in advance?”
Knox nodded. “When you pointed out that the demon could be eliminating threats to its role, I knew I had to get him out of there.”
“You think he’ll be okay with them?”
“Neither Elena or Andre will try to ‘parent’ him, so the demon shouldn’t see them as competition. They’re used to difficult children, and they’re both powerful enough to ensure that McCauley causes no harm to himself or anyone there.” Knox waited until they were inside the Bentley before he added, “He touched your mind?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t a shy touch, either. It was bold, deliberately rude.”
“As if he was provoking you?”
“I got the feeling it was more like he was testing me.” But Harper had no idea what the test was supposed to be.
“His demon thinks you won’t harm him.”
Harper snorted. “It’s wrong. If the kid was any threat to me or mine, I’d disable him, no matter what it took. Considering I have an unborn child to protect, no one would blame me for it.” Not even Lou, despite his law that no child of any species should be hurt.
Knox laid a hand on her stomach. “Our child isn’t bad.”
“I know that, but McCauley’s demon seems determined to make him believe that everyone around him is a threat.”
“Except you,” Knox pointed out. “It told him that you wouldn’t hurt him. Why?”
“I don’t know.”
As Levi began to drive, Knox’s phone chimed. His conversation was short and sweet – one he felt like he’d had a dozen times over the past few days. “That was Mila,” he told Harper as he ended the call and tucked his phone back in his pocket. “Many of the Primes have called to pass on their congratulations. In most cases, they’re just courtesy calls really. But some sounded genuinely pleased for us.”
That surprised her. “Like who?”
“Dario, Raul, Malden, even Thatcher. But, like all the others, they also sounded a little rattled by the news.”
That didn’t surprise her. “We knew they wouldn’t like the idea that there might soon be another being that’s as powerful as you. There’s nothing to say that our baby will be, but I doubt they’ll take comfort in that.” She rolled back her shoulders. “I’m nervous now that I know how widespread the news is. Have you heard from Jonas?”
“Yes. He also congratulated us, but his message was stiff and formal.”
“I doubt Alethea will be pleased.” Ha.
“She may not care. She’s had a long time to adjust to the idea of you and I together. She may be impulsive and petty, but she’s not stupid. She knows that I see you as mine and that I have no intention of letting you go – the fact that I gave you a black diamond spells it out loud and clear for her. Personally, I think the only reason she still flirts with me is just to upset you.”
“I’d agree with that,” said Levi.
Harper frowned at the reaper. “Eavesdropping, are we?”
Levi ignored that. “One thing Alethea was never good at was letting go of an insult. I don’t mean the sarcastic insults you like to shower her with. I’m talking slights to her character or ego.” He paused to take a sharp turn. “You already know that Knox’s demon quickly got bored with females in the past. He warned them it would happen, but most still caused a fuss over it. Alethea didn’t get upset that he didn’t commit to her. She accepted it. But that was because Knox didn’t commit to others either.