On the subject of her grandmother … “I should probably give Grams a call and check she’s okay,” said Harper. “She was pretty mad when I first told her about the incorporeal. I’m worried she’ll do something dumb.”

“She seemed fine when I visited her just now.”

Harper glanced at him. “Are you going to tell me just why you went to see her?”

“We’ll talk about it later. We don’t have enough time to cover it right now.”

“Ma!” Asher pointed toward the rodeo, where a guy was struggling to hold tight to a wild bucking bull.

Harper smiled. “I see it.”

Recalling the time Harper had engaged in such a sport and nearly took a hundred years off his life, Knox warned, “You’d better not try putting Asher on the back of a bull.” Having been raised by imps, his mate had engaged in lots of dangerous and often highly illegal activities since a very young age—including breaking into bank vaults and indulging in high-speed car racing. He didn’t want Asher doing the same.

Her mouth kicked up into a smile. “Not even once?”

“No.”

“But it’s fun.”

Knox looked at her, incredulous. “It’s the most dangerous eight seconds of sport.” A sport that imps especially loved to do when drunk.

“What’s your point?”

Knox shook his head. “Never mind.”

His mate just chuckled.

“Ooh.” Fire erupted out of Asher’s hand, and then he was holding a little truck. Smiling, he showed it to Harper. “Ma!”

“I see it, but that’s not yours.” Gently prying the truck from him, Harper shook her head in reprimand. “We don’t take people’s things.” She glanced around in search of the owner. A little boy in a stroller was hanging over the side, his teary gaze sweeping the floor like he was looking for something. Harper walked over and gave the little boy the truck, and he instantly calmed.

The kid’s mother, who’d been gossiping with another woman, completely oblivious, turned.

“I was just handing him back his toy,” said Harper, knowing the woman would assume he’d simply dropped it.

“Th-thank you,” she stuttered, recognizing Harper and seeming a little intimidated.

“No problem.” Harper returned to her son, whose eyes bled to black as his demon surfaced. It touched her mind, communicating its displeasure. “Don’t be a brat,” she told it. She cut her gaze to Knox. “It’s not funny.”

“I’m not laughing.”

“You are in your head.”

Yes, he was. Outside, Knox buckled Asher into the car seat of the Audi and then gave her a lingering kiss. “Unfortunately, I can’t go home with you. I won’t be long.”

“Don’t work too hard.” She smoothed a hand down his tie. “See you soon.”

He gave her nape a little squeeze. “Stay safe.”

“Right back at you, Thorne.” With that, she slid into the car.

Tanner and Keenan both gave him reassuring looks that said they’d keep her and Asher safe, and then the sentinels hopped into the Audi.

Only when the car was no more than a dot in his vision did Knox then head back inside the club, where Ciaran then teleported them all back to Jolene’s kitchen. She was waiting there, body tight, fists clenched.

“Is he still alive?” she asked.

“I told you I’d give you an opportunity to deal with it yourself, and I will,” Knox told her. “Make the most of that opportunity, Jolene, because I won’t give you another. No one gets to covet what belongs to me.” He and Levi then exited the house and headed to the Bentley.

Inside the car, Levi clicked on his seat belt and said, “Didn’t you mention the tattoo to Drew?” He tapped his temple to indicate he meant telepathically.

“No,” said Knox. “I’ll leave Jolene to deal with that problem. Clarke was careful to keep his mind blank, but it didn’t take telepathy to sense his jealousy or bitterness.”

Pulling onto the road to merge into the traffic, Levi smirked. “No, it didn’t. I couldn’t help but enjoy it. Did you notice that Asher doesn’t like him?”

Knox smiled. “As I told Harper, kids sense evil.”

“Are you going to tell her about Drew’s tattoo?”

“Yes.” Knox didn’t particularly want her to know. Not that he worried she would be so moved by the news that she would try leaving Knox to be with the hellcat or something equally unrealistic. But he got the feeling that the situation was awkward enough for her as it was. Knowing about the tattoo would only make it worse for her. Still … “If she found out about it some other way and then realized I already knew, she’d be pissed that I didn’t tell her.”

“And you want to see her reaction.”

Knox felt his brow crease. “I don’t worry that she cares for him.”

“No, but you still want to see her reaction. I think she’ll be shocked.”

Probably. Despite knowing her inside out, Knox could never predict her responses. Never. She continued to surprise and astound him. His demon loved that about her.

“What Clarke did was no little thing,” Levi went on. “She knows him better than we do, but I don’t think she even sees just how much jealousy is eating him up inside right now.”

In agreement with that, Knox nodded. “Harper is very astute, but the insecurities that she carries make it easy for her to miss when someone is attracted to her.” Being discarded by both parents had left her with what she called “textbook abandonment issues”. Though Lucian, at Jolene’s insistence, had later taken Harper to live with him, he’d never given her stability or been a true father to her. She had been the parent.

Harper persistently reassured Knox that, in spite of all that, she’d had a good childhood. It was clear to Knox that Lucian did care for her. He also seemed to adore Asher, but he could go for up to six months at a time before even making contact to ask about their welfare. Moreover, Lucian didn’t find anything whatsoever wrong with that. Knox would never like or trust him.

“Personally,” began Levi, “I don’t think she’ll be flattered to know that Clarke sort of had her on reserve.”

“No, that won’t flatter her,” Knox agreed. “If anything, she’ll be furious to hear that he thought she’d be waiting in the wings.” For humans, it might seem odd that someone would spend years away from someone they cared for. But to creatures with extensive lifetimes, years were more like months. “And her demon will be outraged to hear that he marked himself on its behalf.”

“Still, I don’t think Harper will want him dead, considering he’s her friend’s brother, which is understandable.”

“If he wants to live, he’ll get rid of the tattoo. I’d be happy to do it for him. A little hellfire would burn it right off.” The idea made his demon bare his teeth in a feral grin.

Levi’s lips twitched. “Envisioning that shouldn’t make me smile, but I’m a bloodthirsty son of a bitch.” He paused as he turned a sharp corner. “Do you think Clarke will put up a fight? It would be a singularly stupid thing to do, but he’ll probably feel that he chose her first; that he has rights to her.”

Frowning thoughtfully, Knox licked his front teeth. “Maybe. Time will tell, I suppose.” Hearing his cell beep, Knox fished it out of his pocket and answered the long-winded email from his business associate. Which led to yet another email. And another. And a—

“We have a tail,” announced Levi as they stopped at a red light. “The pick-up truck two cars behind us. I turned off the freeway and drove into a rough neighborhood to see if they followed. They did.”

Pocketing his cell, Knox peered out of the tinted rear window. It wasn’t the first time they’d been followed. Sometimes it was paparazzi, sometimes it was someone hoping to pitch a business idea to him, sometimes it was a PI hired by a business rival or even a nosy Prime. Other times—though they weren’t so common—it was a threat.

Squinting, Knox studied what he could see of the driver, which wasn’t much. Scruffy dark hair. Scraggly overgrown beard. Red T-shirt. “I don’t recognize the driver. It could be the incorporeal.” The thought made his demon unfurl and rise close to the surface, ready to lunge and attack if needs be. It wanted a fight, craved revenge on the entity that could potentially be just behind them.