Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 110802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
“She thinks Crow can be helped,” said Bray sharply.
“It’s natural that she doesn’t want to give up on him,” said Harper. “No one can judge her for that.”
“I damn well can,” snapped Bray. “She’s supposed to be Carla’s friend.”
“I’m sure Delia is, but she’s also Crow’s partner,” Harper pointed out. “I wouldn’t want to give up on Knox, and I’d imagine you wouldn’t want to give up on Carla, so how can we be mad at her for standing by him?”
Bray’s eyes narrowed. “You weren’t so understanding when it came to Roan.”
Knox stiffened. “Be very cautious about what you say next, Bray.”
Harper almost shivered at the silken menace in his voice. Her demon hissed at Bray, backing up its mate.
Carla spoke. “Roan didn’t mean the things he said. He was angry and scared for me. He’s always been an emotional boy. If he does or says anything else, please bear that in mind.”
“If he steps wrong again,” began Knox, “he’ll be punished again. Nothing will get him a free pass, Carla.” His eyes cut to Bray. “And you should seriously rethink ever using that sharp tone with my mate again.”
Bray’s Adam’s apple bobbed and he lowered his eyes submissively.
“There’s plenty of food, feel free to grab some,” said Devon. It was a subtle attempt to make them move along. It worked. They nodded and headed for the grill with their guards.
“As much as I feel bad for her after what she went through, I could happily slap her right now,” said Raini. “I can’t believe she said she doesn’t blame you for what Crow did like that made her a good and kindhearted person. I mean she genuinely seemed to be expecting gratitude from you for it.”
Devon nodded. “Not holding you responsible for Crow’s actions should be natural, not a kindness. That woman is not, and has never been, kind. She’s just…”
“She’s just Carla,” Harper finished, having long ago realized that her birth mother simply wasn’t normal. “And she’s not important right now. This day is about the studio, nothing and no one can spoil it.”
Raini gave a curt nod. “Right. It really has been a productive day. I took a lot of bookings. Some were from people who wanted us to fix badly-done tattoos they got from the other places round here. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Our local competition tried to recruit me.”
Harper gaped. “You’re kidding!”
Devon hissed. “Motherfucker. Who exactly was it?”
“A tall guy with dreadlocks and lots of piercings,” replied Raini, smiling. “He said he owns the Sleepy Hollow Parlor and he wanted me to come work for him. Can you believe that?”
“What did you say?” asked Levi.
“I told him to go fuck himself with a blow torch, obviously,” replied Raini.
“Obviously,” said Levi.
“I could kill the cheeky fucker.” Harper glanced around, looking for him. “He needs to —” She frowned as a red-faced Keenan stumbled past with Khloë on his back, doing his best to buck her off. But the imp held tight, pulling lots of weird expressions as she took selfie after selfie of the two of them.
Devon sighed at the spectacle. “You know… I sometimes look at how well-organized, precise, and fearless Khloë can be and think, ‘Wow, she’d make an excellent army general.’ But then I remember it would only be a matter of time before she’d be shot by her own troops.”
It was sad because it was true.
“What’s his deal with cameras?” Raini asked Levi.
The reaper shrugged. “He just hates having his picture taken.”
Devon sighed again. “I guess we better dislodge her from him.”
Harper went to follow both Devon and Raini, but then she froze as anger seemed to suddenly blast from the archdemon at her side. His eyes briefly bled to black. She grabbed his arm. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Knox’s nostrils flared. I’ve just spoken with Larkin.
And?
Crow is gone.
Gone? What the fuck?
Harper watched as Knox paced up and down in front of the fireplace, muscles rippling beneath his suit, looking much like a caged tiger. To say he was pissed would be a massive understatement. Hell, they were all pissed. No one could work out how Crow could possibly have escaped his cell.
The prison was well-guarded and had several, complicated security measures in place. In addition, the building was safeguarded by a myriad of spells that also prevented anyone from teleporting inside. Each individual spell was actually covered with a protective spell to stop them from being unraveled.
They’d initially suspected that dark practitioners had somehow miraculously managed to find a way to undo the spells, but an incantor had visited the prison and assured them that no one had even attempted to tamper with the spells.
Yet, Crow was gone.
None of the cameras showed him leaving the building. He’d simply disappeared from his cell somehow. As Harper sat on the sofa with her feet tucked under her, she couldn’t think of any possible explanation for that. She had, however, thought of something else – a theory that Knox wasn’t going to like at all.