Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 117510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Jolene fingered her pearl necklace. “Will he kill him?”
“I don’t know.” Harper rubbed her temple. The day had started off so well …
“If Knox can pyroport,” began Jolene, “why has he been using Ciaran like a cab all this time?”
“He likes to keep people guessing about what he can do.”
Jolene gave a slow nod of understanding. “His secret is safe with me.”
“I’d like to say your hellcat is safe with Knox, Jolene,” Tanner told her, jaw hard. “But he’s not. Not one little fucking bit.”
*
As the flames eased off, Knox grabbed the hellcat with psychic hands and rammed him into the cracked stone wall. The breath slammed out of Clarke’s lungs. He coughed, body shaking, eyes burning with rage. He would no doubt have stupidly lunged at Knox if the psychic hands weren’t pinning him to the wall like a butterfly.
Knox’s demon bared its teeth in a feral grin, pleased to see the hellcat helpless and—better still—in what was effectively its playroom. Unlike Knox, it didn’t mind the scents of sweat, metal, mildew, and iron that were swirling around them.
Drew glanced around the dull, shadowy space, taking in the tiny cramped cells, the iron maiden, the Judas chair, the rack, the cages hanging from the ceiling, and the sets of manacles attached to the walls. If it wasn’t for the dim recessed lighting, the large space would have been as dark as it was grim.
“Where are we?” Drew asked, voice warbled. Fear seemed to light his eyes from within.
“My sentinels call it the Chamber.” Knox’s footsteps echoed on the hard, stone floor. “Not very original, I suppose. It’s located beneath my prison, and it’s where members of my lair are brought for punishment. Some are then incarcerated. Others are released after paying their penance.” Knox had had a lot of fun punishing Roan in this very room. “It really all depends on the severity of the crime. I also bring here those who have … wronged me or mine. Can’t you hear them?”
The sounds of weeping, screaming, begging, raving, and the sound of whip hitting flesh filled the air.
“Don’t you see them?”
Suddenly they were surrounded by people straining against manacles, being stretched over a rack, forced into the Judas chair, and laid on a bed of spikes.
Squeezing his eyes shut, Drew shook his head fast. “It’s not real!”
“It was real.” Knox let the echoes of the events fade away.
Tanner’s mind brushed against his. Knox, I know you want Clarke dead—you’re not alone in that. But if you haven’t already killed him, think about whether it’s what you really want. His death at your hand could cause a massive rift between Harper and Devon, and that would affect Harper’s life in a substantial way. He’d affect her life. And it could slowly eat at what you and Harper have. Do you want to give him that power? Because I honestly think he’d be happy to die if it meant it gave him that.
Knox didn’t respond. His demon paid the sentinel no mind—it wasn’t interested in reason or rationality right then. Its rage was like a fire in Knox’s veins. The bastard had dared to corner Harper, get her alone, and try to turn her against Knox. There was no way he wouldn’t pay for that. “You should have stayed away from Harper.”
Drew’s eyes snapped open. “She needed to know the truth.”
Knox lazily raised a brow. “About what?”
“That whatever you are, you couldn’t even conceive a normal demon. Jolene didn’t tell you I see auras?” Drew snickered. “I’ve never seen one like yours before, but at least you have an aura. Your kid? No. He has a black smudge where an aura should be. A smudge that pulsates. Whatever you impregnated Harper with isn’t natural.”
“Whatever I impregnated her with?” Knox echoed, enunciating every word carefully. “Asher is a person, just like you and me. He’s not a thing. He’s not unnatural.”
“Well, he’s not a natural breed of demon. He’s something else. Something that doesn’t have a marker. Something I’ve never—” Whatever he saw on Knox’s face made Clarke’s eyes narrow. “You knew. You knew he wasn’t a sphinx. You know what that black smudge is, too, don’t you?”
“Forget all of that.”
“You think I’ll honestly forget—?”
“I’ll make you forget.” Knox thrust his mind into Drew’s, allowed him to feel his presence there. “I can erase memories. All I have to do is find them and—” Finding a particular thread of memory, Knox smiled. “There.” He snipped the thread. Like that, Drew could no longer remember Harper’s taste.
His eyes widened. “What did you just do? You can’t take my fucking memories!”
“If you had simply removed the tattoo and returned to Cuba, we wouldn’t be in this position. You put yourself here.” Seeing that Drew was trying to visualize a brick wall in his mind, as if it would bolster his shields, Knox’s demon rolled its eyes. “You can’t keep me out of your mind. You’re simply not strong enough for that.”