Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 119942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
“Why?”
“It’s personal.” She jolted when he conjured an orb of hellfire. “They know the location of a demon I’m trying to find,” she said in a rush.
“By any chance, would Lucian Wallis be the person you’re trying to locate?”
Her face went slack. “You know…?”
“That he’s your biological father? Yes. That you hate him for having no part in your life? Yes. That you hate Harper for having what you didn’t? Yes.” Casually, Knox repeatedly bounced the orb of hellfire in his hand. “Do you hate her so much that you want her dead? That you would use dark practitioners to help achieve that little dream?”
She gasped in sheer horror. “What? No! I won’t lie and say I have any pleasant feelings for Harper Wallis. I don’t. Never will. And since I value my life, I wouldn’t risk it for someone who means nothing to me – attempting to kill your anchor would indeed put my life at risk. And I find the idea that you believe I would ever associate with dark practitioners very offensive.” The woman was haughty through and through.
“You do? I find the fact that someone tried to kill Harper very offensive.”
“You should have thought of that before you declared she was your anchor. In doing that, you put a target on her back. It’s true that it keeps her safe from the majority of the demon population. But you have many enemies. They see her as a way to get to you. Most of them will never act on that out of their fear of you. But some will be too stupid or simply too hungry for vengeance to care.”
He knew that. It was why he’d assigned Harper a bodyguard. In a world so brutal, she was still far safer being known as his anchor than as a she-demon of a small lair.
“If she’s in danger, it’s because of you.”
“Or maybe it’s because of you, Kendra.” Knox crushed the orb of hellfire in his hand. “Maybe it’s because you despise her for having everything you wanted.”
Kendra laughed. “You think I’m jealous that she had Lucian Wallis for a father?”
“You speak of him with such contempt,” observed Keenan. “Yet, you’re trying to find him. Why?”
“I want to confront him. I want to tell him what a bastard he is for leaving my mother so broken that she turned to alcohol for a comfort that it was never going to give her.”
“One way to strike out at him would be through the daughter he acknowledges – the only person he has any real regard for,” Keenan pointed out.
“I don’t want him to hurt because she’s hurt. I want him to hurt because the truth hurts. He needs to hear the truth of what he did to my mother.”
“Maybe that’s true,” said Knox. “But not for one second do I believe that you don’t hate my Harper with a passion.”
“Your Harper?” Her upper lip curled as bitterness wafted from her. “So you are fucking her. I wonder how long it will be before your demon tires of this one. I suppose it won’t be long, since she’s an imp and a W—”
With a snarl, his demon shot to the surface. “I thought you value your life,” it said.
She shrank in her seat, eyes wide. “I – I do.”
The demon had no pity. “Never insult what belongs to me.”
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered.
Knox resurfaced, but she didn’t calm – most likely due to the fury thickening the air and making the floor tremble. “Hear me when I say that if I discover you had anything to do with the attacks on Harper, I will destroy you, Kendra. Not fast. But slowly. Very, very slowly. The pain will be far worse than you can ever imagine. So agonizing that you’ll beg for death. But I wouldn’t give it to you. No, because that would be merciful. And we both know I’m a cruel, ruthless bastard. You might be a nightmare by breed, Kendra, but I’m everybody’s fucking nightmare.”
She licked her lips. “It wasn’t me, I swear it wasn’t me.”
“Then you’ll get to live the life you claim to value. If not, you die.”
Who would ever need so many clothes?
Wrapped in the softest towel ever, Harper puffed out a long breath as she browsed through the things in the huge closet, forcing herself not to check the price tags. The clothes ranged from casual stuff to evening dresses. The lingerie in the drawers were all pretty raunchy, as were the sheer, scraps of lace she was assuming were nightgowns.
Hearing footsteps, she turned to see Knox striding into the room. “Well?”
He fingered her wet locks. “Kendra claims it wasn’t her. Unsurprisingly. She says she met with someone who could give her Lucian’s current location. Apparently, she wishes to confront him.”
That didn’t sound good. “Do you think she means to hurt him?”