Just the idea of it made Harper almost retch. The protective power that lived within her was tingling her fingertips so intensely, they were close to numb—she craved to deliver some soul-deep pain upon these bastards.

“They will not only see our power,” added Alethea, “they will see how we lured one of your old lair to partake in this.”

Harper’s mouth flattened. “He’s just a baby.”

“But he won’t always be a baby,” said Jonas. “He will grow, and I can’t risk him coming after us for revenge.”

Another whine whistled out of the shuck as it danced from foot to foot, seeming uneasy. The siblings gave it an odd glance, but it was staring at Asher.

Just then, Asher looked to Harper. His little face scrunched up at the sight of the cage. He reached toward her and flexed his hands, making a fussy ‘Ma’ sound.

She gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, baby boy. I’m fine.” She expected him to cry or attempt to crawl toward her, but he didn’t. He calmed, and she suspected she had his demon to thank for that.

“No, it’s not okay. It’s really, really not.” Alethea licked her front teeth. “I’m going to enjoy watching you die, sphinx. And I’m going to enjoy that Knox will watch you die. What I’ll enjoy even more is that you both get to watch your son die first.”

So much bitterness, thought Harper. This whole thing was about far more than Knox being an obstacle to their goal. This was personal. “What’s your beef with Knox? Tell me it’s not because the black diamond isn’t on your finger. Because if so, that’s just sad.”

Alethea sniffed. “Rejecting me was a massive mistake on his part, but no. That’s not what this is about.” Her expression made it clear that she had no intention of explaining.

“You really think you can take him on?” Harper shook her head. “The incorporeal has to have told you that Knox can call on the flames of hell. You can’t cage him with dark magick, if that’s your big plan. It’s been tried before. It’s never worked.”

“Ah, but that’s because those other practitioners didn’t know what he is.” Jonas smirked. “We do, thanks to Drew, which means Charles knows exactly what kind of containment spell he needs to use. It also means we know how to kill Knox.”

Harper inwardly frowned, wondering how Drew had discovered that Knox was an archdemon.

Jonas shot his sister a brief look of annoyance. “Of course, we’d have known that a lot sooner if someone hadn’t failed at their job of getting close to Knox.”

Hands balling into fists, Alethea glared at him. “I didn’t fail at getting close to him. He simply wouldn’t tell me what he is.”

“We knew in advance that he wouldn’t,” said Jonas, “which is exactly why I told you that you’d need to seduce him into taking you as his mate. How hard can that really be for a sex demon?”

Alethea’s cheeks flushed. “It is hardly my fault that he’s so closed off. If she wasn’t his anchor, she would never have gotten close enough to Knox for him to lower his guard and let her in.”

Hearing not only scorn but jealousy in Alethea’s tone, Harper knew that … “You might have reason to want him dead, but you also grew to care for him.”

The encantada tittered. “Wrong, sphinx.”

Ho, ho, ho, what a lie. “Unless dear Charles can create a cage that’s impervious to the flames of hell, you won’t succeed in containing Knox. How can you not see that?”

“It won’t hold him permanently, that’s true,” said Jonas. “The flames will certainly eat at the cage. But it will contain him long enough for us to kill him, which is all we want.”

Whimpering, the shuck walked in a tight circle, as if chasing its tail.

Brow furrowing, Alethea asked, “What is wrong with him?”

Jonas lifted one shoulder. “You know he gets restless when he’s forced to wait before he plays with his food.” That made Alethea chuckle.

It made Harper clench her fists. Asher wasn’t going to be anyone’s food. Please tell me you’re close, she said to Knox.

His mind slid against hers. I see you. There was a wealth of rage in that rumbled response. Just hold on for me.

Relief breezed through her. Pyroport to Asher and get him the fuck out of here.

The shuck is standing very close to him, Harper. It’s probably been ordered to attack Asher at the slightest sign of anyone trying to save him. Do you really want to risk it?

She squeezed her eyes shut. No, I don’t but, dammit, Knox, he needs to be safe.

My demon is urging Asher’s to raise the shield, but it seems to be paying it no attention. I have a plan. Keep those fuckers distracted.

Resisting the urge to glance around for some sign of Knox’s presence, she spoke to Jonas. “So, all this is just about you wanting Knox dead? The big Horsemen-goal was never really to have a power structure put in place or even to elect a Monarch—you knew yourself that it would only result in war … ” Harper trailed off as she caught an odd glint in Jonas’s eyes, and she knew … “You want war. You want chaos. Why?”

His face darkened, and he touched his sister’s arm in what seemed to be a gesture of support. “Our world became one of chaos when we were very young. The Primes are as much to blame for that as the person who caused that chaos.”

“The Primes think of themselves as superior,” Alethea scoffed. “They claim that the current power structure keeps us all safe. Well, it doesn’t. Not even close. A Monarch could have put an end to the suffering we endured, but there was no Monarch. The other Primes knew what was happening, but the majority did nothing. Now, they will all fall. And they will fall hard.”

“By ‘world of chaos’ are you talking of when your old Prime turned rogue?” Harper asked.

Jonas’s face scrunched up in scorn and revulsion. “Cordell never should have been Prime. It was no surprise that he turned rogue—the sadistic bastard was insane.”

“I can agree with that,” said Knox, stepping out of the trees. Eyes wide, the siblings and practitioner spun to face him. And, considering she’d informed him of exactly what their plans were for him, Harper had to wonder if her mate was fucking high.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Asher looked at him with a delighted smile and clapped. “Da!”

Knox brushed his mind over Asher’s—it was a greeting and a reassurance. He didn’t dare go to him, though. Black shucks could kill with a single bite. Not that Asher seemed at all worried by its close proximity. On the contrary, he seemed pretty content. As for Harper … she didn’t appear so happy to see Knox. In fact, she was glaring at him hard.

This is your big plan? she clipped. Walk right into the line of fucking fire? Seriously, are you out of your everloving mind?

“Charles,” clipped Jonas.

A mere moment later, a band of dark magick surrounded Knox. Then, suddenly, he was inside a glass cube. No, not a cube. It was a large display box, much like the one that the incorporeal had spent God-knew-how-long trapped inside. Knox didn’t react other than to casually stuff his hands in his pockets.

His demon did nothing more than bare its teeth. Its anger was no longer hot and out of control. It was now vibrating with a cold fury that allowed the entity to think. It knew Knox’s plan and had confidence in it. Moreover, it had confidence in Asher’s demon; believed it would protect him.

Knox didn’t say a word as the siblings exchanged smug smirks, practically bouncing in delight. He’d purposely approached them from behind so that they’d have to turn their backs on Harper and Asher to look at him. Knox wanted their attention divided. Wanted to make it hard for them to keep tabs on him, Harper, and Asher at the same time.