BURN (29 page)

“I don’t like Carla.” Lou grimaced. “She’s very mercurial, it’s annoying.”

Pot, kettle, black
, thought Harper. “I think dark practitioners are responsible.” She looked at Knox. “You still think there’s a good chance it’s Isla, don’t you?”

Knox shrugged. “She’s twisted enough to do all this.”

“That’s true,” agreed Lou, nodding a few times.

“I’ve heard rumors about her renting out demons from her lair to dark practitioners,” Knox told him. “Only someone losing their hold on their demon or just sick in the head would do that.”

“Maybe she smokes crack,” Lou suggested.

Ignoring that idea, Harper spoke to Knox. “I can’t understand why she’d take the risk of renting them out like that, knowing her own kind could turn on her for it. Something must be fucking with her head.”

“Could be crack,” said Lou.

Knox also ignored him. “I know it makes little sense; that’s why I’ve always doubted the rumors,” he told Harper. “But, like I said, she’s cold and power-hungry enough to do it. She wasn’t always like that. Something changed her.”

Lou swept out a hand. “Adding support to my ‘crack’ theory.”

Exasperated, Harper burst out, “
Oh my God
.”

Lou frowned at her. “Can we leave him out of this please?”

Knox blinked in surprise. “You said ‘please.’ Snappy or not, you used manners.”

“I decided to branch out from cold and pure evil.”

Harper was sure she’d never met anyone as whacked as this guy.

Lou stretched his legs out. “There are some whisper campaigns going on. The candidates for this whole boring election extravaganza are spreading rumors about each other to make themselves look better.”

“Yes, there’s a rumor that Malden long ago made a point of banishing every harpy from his lair out of racial hate.” It had pissed off Larkin.

Lou sniffed. “I have no tolerance for racism. I find it offensive.”

Harper arched her brows. Who’d have thought the Devil had morals? “Does it bother you that Isla might be doing horrible shit to her lair?”

“She hasn’t violated any of my rules.”

Knox knew she’d always been careful not to. Lou’s rules were pretty simple: don’t get caught breaking human laws, don’t reveal their existence, and don’t hurt any child of any species. Yes, he was protective of children. The Devil was no more one-dimensional than anybody else.

“Dario allegedly engages in voodoo sex rituals with his harem that’s constructed of one of every breed of demon, male or female,” said Knox.

Lou’s expression was one of distaste. “Rituals…I’m not really into that.”

Harper just had to ask. “So all those humans who play with what they believe are satanic rituals—”

“Purely irritate me. It’s like having a phone that constantly rings, and each caller is a telemarketer wanting to deliver an annoying spiel and then ask for something in return. And what do they promise me in exchange for whatever I may give them? Their souls. I already have their souls for the simple reason that they just sacrificed a virgin and drank her blood.” He shook his head incredulously, rising to his feet. “Anyway, now that I’ve satisfied my curiosity, I’m heading back. Think you could put some of those skeleton thingies on the collar of my jacket next time I stop by?” he asked Harper.

Surely he had to be kidding….but he didn’t look like he was. “I guess so.”

He grinned, happy again. “Excellent.” Then he was gone.

She stared up at Knox, knowing she had to appear as stunned as she felt. “He’s like a psychopathic child with bipolar and OCD.”

Knox sighed. “That about describes him.”

“Is it wrong that I find him a little morbidly fascinating?”

Knox loomed over her, resting his hands on the sofa either side of her head. “If you’re going to find anyone fascinating, it should be
me
.”

She smiled, running her hands up his chest. “You’re a different kind of fascinating. And hot. Seriously hot. Your ass is epic. And you have the best voice – velvety and smoky and rumbly. Did I mention you’re hot?

He nipped her chin. “Good save.”

“Aw, you two are kind of cute.”

Knox closed his eyes. “
Lou
.”

“Okay, okay, I was just bringing the jacket.” He slung it on the sofa. “One minute you’re perfectly civil, and the next minute you’re growling at me. I don’t know where I am with you.” He disappeared again.

Harper found herself chuckling. “I don’t know how to process any of what’s just happened.” It just felt too surreal.

“You know what, baby…it’s probably best for your mental health if you don’t.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“Got the info you asked for. Wasn’t easy.”

Harper leaned back in her office chair, sighing at Khloë. “I’m not going to like this at all, am I?”

“Not one little bit.”

Jolene had taught Harper to ‘always know your enemy.’ So weeks ago, Harper had contacted her sources and done some research on Isla. But all the different stories she’d heard had contradicted each other, and she’d quickly suspected that Isla had fabricated those stories to keep people from knowing the truth. So Harper had gone to the one person who could find out anything: Khloë.

Her cousin settled in the chair opposite Harper. “It took so long to dig up info because her inner circle is utterly devoted to her in a way that’s just creepy…like she’s some kind of goddess.”

“What did you find out?”

“In short, Isla’s an ambitious, greedy, power-hungry bitch who rose to her position by blackmailing, intimidating, framing, and jumping in bed with people.”

Harper blinked. “It’s hard to imagine her jumping into bed with someone. She’s never struck me as a sexual person – she’s too robotic and apathetic.”

“Yes, but sex can often be a way to control people, can’t it? She probably uses it as a weapon.”

That sounded more like Isla.

“She has no limits and believes herself to be untouchable. She also flies into rages that could put fear into even Lucifer.”

“Rages?” It was hard to imagine that happening. Isla just seemed so composed all the time. Even when she’d been pissed at the conference in Manhattan, she hadn’t lost control.

“Oh yeah. Behind that collected exterior is a paranoid, deranged, corrupt woman. She also has a little secret that she mistakenly thinks is well-guarded. She thinks that only her inner circle of demons – who believe she can’t do wrong, and who’ll do whatever she asks of them, because they worship her – are the only ones that know.”

Harper leaned forward in her seat. “What is this little secret?”

“It seems that Isla has a little thing for sexual sadism.”

Okay, that was a shock. “Seriously?”

“Personally, I don’t view what she’s doing as sexual sadism. I just call it plain twisted. She ties up unwilling women and does everything short of killing them. When she gets bored of a woman, she has one of her inner circle kill her. It’s odd that she doesn’t do that herself, considering she has absolutely no problem doing other sick shit.”

“The women she’s been hurting…are they from her lair?”

“Yes. The other lair members know she’s punishing the women, they just don’t know
how
she’s punishing them. Apparently a lot of those punishments are for imaginary crimes.” Khloë’s upper lip curled. “In my opinion, she’s not punishing them, she’s doing it because it’s how she gets off.”

“Before, you said
sexual
sadism.”

“She sexually assaults them.”

Harper cursed, scrubbing a hand down her face. “I feel sick.”

“According to my source, she seems to
hate
her own gender.”

“Any idea why? Was her mother abusive or something?”

“No, but her father was; her mother committed suicide. That’s as much as my contact knows about her past.”

Harper shrugged. “Then maybe it’s something else. Maybe she hates herself and she’s projecting that onto other women – especially if those women are confident, happy, and have things that Isla want.”

“Could be.”

“There isn’t a way we can help them. Lairs don’t interfere in each other’s business.” Harper exhaled heavily. “Sadly, she’s not the only Prime who hurts her lair. It goes on all over the world.”

“Yep. And Malden’s promise of a voice will appeal to all those victims,” Khloë pointed out.

“He won’t live up to his promises.”

“
We
know that. But I have a feeling that most of the public don’t. And that’s not good.”

Harper sighed. “No, it’s not.” The polling would take place in two days’ time in the same Underground hotel that the speeches were held. “The whisper campaigns have done some damage, though not the damage the Primes had intended.” Instead of making the public choose one Prime over the others, it had made them too confused to trust any of the candidates. As such, a lot of demons weren’t so keen on making any changes.

“I gotta tell ya, Harper, I’m no longer so sure that it’s dark practitioners behind the attacks on you. At first, I thought you were right. But now that I know what Isla’s capable of, how good she is at hiding her true self from anyone, I’m thinking maybe Knox is right and Isla’s the culprit.”

“She’d certainly get off on it. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s her.”

“Speaking of another possible culprit…Has Knox or his sentinels figured out who the Kendra impersonator really is?”

Harper shook her head. “They can’t find her either. Not even with a bounty on her head.”

“She’s probably stole another person’s identity, hiding in plain sight.”

“That’s what I’m thinking.”

Khloë braced her elbows on the desk and began playing with Harper’s stapler. “Enough of all the depressing shit. What are you doing for your birthday tomorrow?”

Harper happily went along with changing the subject. “Knox is being very mysterious about it. All I know is that he’s taking me somewhere.” Demons didn’t do the whole card and gift thing like humans, but they did celebrate their birthdays. Some liked to indulge in a good ole adrenalin rush, others might prefer a night in the Underground, and – in the case of imps – some might be more attracted to the idea of breaking into a bank vault for fun.

“What about Lucian?”

“He called me yesterday. It’ll be a few days before he can make it here. He said he can’t find anyone to take care of his emu while he’s gone.”

Khloë gaped. “An emu? That guy is just warped.”

Harper chuckled. “I’m actually glad he won’t be here for another few days. I’m not at all eager for him to meet Knox.”

Putting down the stapler, Khloë smiled. “Knox is gonna verbally kick his ass. You know that, right?”

“I know.” Harper sighed. “I’ve tried to explain that Lucian’s not as bad as he thinks, but I’m not getting through to Knox.”

“He’s your mate, he’s protective of you. That’s a good thing. So…has he told you what he is yet?” Her tone warned that there would be repercussions if he hadn’t.

“Don’t interfere. He’ll tell me when he’s ready.”

“But—”

“
Khloë
.”

“Fine, fine, whatever. I suppose we can’t really be upset with him for holding back from you, since you’re keeping a whopper of a secret from him.”

“I am?” This was the first Harper had heard of it.

“Yes…unless you’ve finally told him that you love him.”

Harper spluttered. “I didn’t say that I love him.”

“Be honest, you do.” When Harper didn’t speak, Khloë groaned, her expression a plea. “Come on, you can tell me, Harper. I know I’m an irritating bitch, and I know I’m full of advice that you don’t want to hear, but we’ve always shared shit.”

She made her confession quickly. “Yes, I love him. No, I haven’t told him.”

“You don’t want him to know you love him until you’re sure he loves you right back,” Khloë guessed.

“I’m honestly not sure if ‘love’ is on Knox’s emotional scale.” It wasn’t something she begrudged him for. He was the way he was, and she had to accept that.

“At least you’re not denying that you love him.”

“Now that you have your answers, can we move on to another – and much more casual – subject?”

Khloë gave her an apologetic smile. “I just want you to be happy.”

“I am, doofus.”

Harper?
Knox’s velvety voice slid over her skin.

Yeah?

I need you to go with Tanner. He’ll bring you to me.
A vibe of frustration accompanied the words.

What’s wrong?

Carla’s secret…it’s out.

Well, shit.

A short while later, she and Tanner were entering Knox’s Underground office above the combat circle. He stood near the window while Keenan and Levi lounged on the sofa.

“What’s happened exactly? Who blabbed?” She wondered if it was Kellen, but—

“We actually don’t know.” Knox came to her, every muscle in his body tense, as if he was coiled to spring. As usual, he looked totally calm, despite the anger pulsing in the air. “Like with the whisper campaigns, the news seemed to come out of nowhere. It has spread around the Underground like wildfire.”

Harper cursed. She’d known it was highly likely that the truth would one day come out. She just hadn’t expected it to be so soon. As Tanner had led her to the office, people had stared and whispered. The fact that everyone knew…she hated that.

Tanner leaned against the wall. “There’s a great deal of anger brewing down there.”

“A lot of people aren’t happy,” said Levi.

Harper frowned. “Why? I mean, I know she did wrong, but my family already knows about it. Who else would care?”

“Our entire lair cares,” replied Levi. “You’re Knox’s anchor
and
his mate, which automatically makes them protective of you. People see you at his side, supporting him at meetings and gatherings. To support him is to support all of us. Larkin had to pull Carla out of a mob of pissed-off demons ready to kick her ass.”

He had to be kidding. “Mob?”

Knox, twining her hair around his finger like he was apt to do when pissed or in deep thought, said, “Mona was leading it.”

Harper snorted a laugh, which appeared to further anger him. “Come on, you don’t find it funny that a she-demon who once dueled with me down there is now my biggest supporter?”

Keenan pursed his lips. “There is an amusing quality to the situation.”

“Nothing about this situation is humorous,” countered Knox. Moving closer to her, he placed his hands on her forearms. “I can’t cut this rumor off. It’s already spread too far, too fast. That means we have to ride it out.”

“Has Carla denied the truth to everyone?” Harper asked him.

“Oddly enough, no.”

She’d have thought the woman would have maintained her innocence, given that she’d have to know full well that Harper would just as happily deny the rumor was true. “Does her mate know yet?”

“Yes. He called me earlier, asking where Carla was.”

Levi cocked his head. “He didn’t ask you if there was any truth in the whispers?”

“No.”

“Maybe he wants to hear it from her,” suggested Harper. Hearing her cell ring, she dug it out of her pocket. “It’s Jolene.”

As Harper moved to the other side of his office to take the call, Knox turned to his sentinels. “Whoever released this information did it practically anonymously. That tells me they’re adept at this sort of thing…maybe as adept as those who have been part of the whisper campaigns.”

“Like Isla, you mean,” concluded Keenan.

For Knox, it was becoming more and more likely that Isla was the culprit.

“Someone went through the trouble of digging deep into Harper’s life,” said Keenan. “Why? What’s the point?”

“It’ll distract people from the election,” Levi pointed out. “But I don’t think that was the motivation. Releasing the secret has hurt Harper, hasn’t it?”

Knox glanced at her. She was trying to talk Jolene down from turning Carla’s home to rubble. Harper didn’t look at all like she was hurting, but he knew she was, and he hated it. Although he didn’t like that his mate was, in her words, ‘Carla’s dirty little secret’ and he didn’t believe it was fair that she was kept as one, he also knew that Harper was a private person who wouldn’t want her personal business up for public consumption. It infuriated him that he couldn’t protect her from this.

“Whoever’s been trying to hurt her hasn’t been successful,” continued Levi. “Maybe they’ve accepted that and they’re settling for making her suffer in other ways.”

Keenan shrugged. “What do we do?”

“The only thing we can do: damage control.” At the knock on the door, Knox called out, “Come in.”

Larkin walked inside, dragging a reluctant Carla with her. His inner demon snarled. Knox prided himself on being good at reading people, but he’d never been able to discern Carla’s true feelings about Harper. He’d known one thing, though: Carla’s part in every conversation about or with Harper had always been an act. As he stared at Carla now, he could see that her façade was gone. Maybe it was the shock of the situation, but the mask had finally fallen. There was none of her usual graciousness or timidity. She looked terrified and devastated. And it was real.

Larkin guided a pale, trembling Carla to the chair opposite his desk. “She doesn’t know who started the rumor,” the female sentinel told him. “I can’t find out either.”

As Carla spotted Harper, grief and longing briefly glimmered in the woman’s eyes. But then it was gone. It wasn’t even that she was trying to hide it. Instead, it was as though there was a part of Carla that possessed those feelings, but it was too small a part to make any difference.