Knox dug into Asher’s bag and pulled out a wet wipe. He gently cleaned the blood from her temple and then carefully dabbed the cut on her side. Later, they’d shower together, and he would properly clean the wounds and baby her until it drove her so crazy that her needless guilt was drowned out by irritation. First … “I need to see Jolene’s dining room. I might pick something up.”

Harper lifted her chin. “I’m coming with you.” She didn’t want to leave Asher, but she needed to see for herself that the other children were okay.

“Me, too,” said Tanner. “If I can detect the bitch’s scent, I may be able to track her. And I need to get the car anyway.”

“We’ll all go,” declared Knox. What he wanted most was to see Asher. To touch him. Hold him. Assure himself that he was okay. But Knox didn’t want to go to his son while in this state. Anger was riding him hard, taunting him with the cutting impulse to hurt and mangle and avenge. Making it worse, his demon continued to seethe, demanding vengeance, pushing at Knox to hunt the bitch who’d tried to take Asher and had made Harper bleed.

The only thing currently keeping it from surging to the surface and taking control was, quite simply, Harper’s nearness. She was an anchor to both Knox and his demon in every way that counted. In that sense, she had more control over the demon than Knox did. It was calmer and much better behaved when Harper was close by. It detested parting from her, and it quickly became bored and restless without her.

Knox couldn’t claim to need her any less than the entity did. Control was important to him. Essential. Not just due to the scars his childhood left on him, but because he had to keep a tight hold on his abilities and his inner demon. If Harper was taken from him, that control would eviscerate, and all hell would quite literally break loose.

He wouldn’t simply hunt and destroy those responsible for her death. That wouldn’t satisfy him. Vengeance wouldn’t be enough for him or his demon. The entity would want the freedom to do exactly what it was born to do—wreak havoc and chaos. Knox would give it that freedom, and an immense amount of destruction and death would follow.

In that sense, Knox’s emotional stability rested on her. He hated that she had to bear the weight of it, but there was no changing it. She’d been his one vulnerability until Asher came along. Now Knox had two, and both had been threatened today.

Brushing a kiss over Harper’s now clean temple, Knox squeezed her wrist gently. “Call Ciaran, baby. He can teleport us all there.” Knox didn’t pyroport in front of many people, liking to keep their kind guessing about what he could and couldn’t do.

Moments later, Ciaran appeared, looking somewhat frazzled.

“Any luck unfreezing the kids?” she asked him.

“No,” her cousin replied. “I can’t melt the frost barring the doorway either. Hell, I can’t even teleport anyone into the room. It’s hard enough to teleport myself in there.”

“Why is it such a struggle?” Knox asked.

Ciaran shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s like the frost on the door and walls of the room acts as an energy barrier or something. I can’t explain it. Please tell me you can do something.”

“Take me to Jolene’s house,” said Knox. “Let’s find out what we’re dealing with.”

Ciaran teleported Knox, Harper, and the sentinels to Jolene’s hallway. It was crowded with people who were obviously anxious to get to the children. They parted at the sight of Harper and Knox, letting them through.

Jolene turned to them, looking harried. “How’s Asher?”

“He’s okay, Grams,” Harper assured her. “No one hurt him. I just needed to get him out of here fast.” To a place Harper knew beyond any doubt that he was safe. She lightly touched his mind and felt only contentment.

“Ciaran told us everything,” said Jolene. “He also said you were bleeding.”

“I’m fine. Really.” The wounds stung like a bitch, now that the adrenalin had faded, but Harper had had way worse. She didn’t say that aloud though as it would have riled Knox. Right then, he looked unnaturally calm in a way she found plain terrifying. Harper figured that if it weren’t for the way his rage thickened the air, people could think him completely unmoved by what had happened.

Devon gave her a quick hug. “Did she really look exactly like you?”

At Harper’s nod, Raini spoke, “Must be a demon with the power to shapeshift.”

“It’s not an unusual gift,” began Khloë, “so that won’t help us work out who it was.”

Jolene’s face hardened. “They’ll pay for this. Nobody tries to harm me or mine—especially in my own home.”

“Yes, they will pay,” agreed Knox, voice low, steady.

Drew reached around his sister and lightly touched Harper’s shoulder. “You all right?”

Knox’s eyes slammed on the unfamiliar male that touched his mate. A hellcat, Knox sensed. The demon’s psychic shields were weak, so Knox caught some of his thoughts. The male thought Knox to be cold and uncaring and without mercy. Believed he was as emotionally stunted as Harper’s father. Didn’t understand why Harper had committed herself to such a creature or believe that she belonged with someone who could never truly care for her.

Envy spiced the internal rant, which would have made Knox smile if there wasn’t also a possessive edge to the hellcat’s thoughts. Knox didn’t fucking like that at all. In fact, he felt the grip on his anger loosen just a little, which was very, very dangerous. His inner demon snarled, deciding the hellcat needed a ball of hellfire lodged up his rectum.

As Knox possessively shackled Harper’s wrist, the male boldly met his gaze and said, “We haven’t met before. I’m Drew Clarke.”

“Devon’s brother,” Keenan added, shifting in front of the male so that he effectively cut Drew out of the main circle of people. Apparently, thought Knox, the sentinel didn’t like him either.

“Do you think you can help?” Martina asked Knox, gesturing at the frosted doorway. “We’ve been hitting it with orbs of hellfire for what feels like hours. It’s not melting.”

Knox examined it closely. “This isn’t real ice. It won’t melt.”

“But it can be destroyed, right?” asked Harper. She watched as he lifted his hand and released a wave of raw, undiluted power that buzzed in the air like a swarm of bees. The frost didn’t crack. It dissipated, becoming pure mist. Going by the boom of silence, people were too awed by his show of strength to be relieved that the barrier was gone.

She kept pace with Knox as he prowled into the room—each step was slow, deliberate, casual. Again, a wave of raw power swept out of his hand, making the air buzz and shimmer. The frost on the walls dissolved, and the kids and creepy clown immediately resumed what they were doing, as if nothing had occurred. While some imps rushed inside to fuss over the kids, others followed Harper and Knox to the rear of the room.

Studying the wall, Knox felt the waves of violence and the residue of his mate’s rage. She’d been blinded by it. So blinded that she hadn’t even thought to call for help, and he wondered if her attacker had counted on that. “You fought her here.”

Even though it wasn’t a question, she nodded. “I kind of slammed her against the wall a few times before I stabbed her with my knife after I infused it with hellfire. She faded until she was like vapor, and then she was just … gone.” Feeling the prick of her nails in her palms, Harper realized she’d clenched her fists so tight that her knuckles turned white. “I should have bitten her fucking face off.”

Knox gave her nape a gentle squeeze. “I’d say she walked out of that fight in more pain than you did. Tanner, do you have her scent?”

The hellhound turned to them, jaw hard. “No. There’s not even a hint of one that doesn’t fit the people already in the room.”

Harper’s lips parted. “How can she not have a scent?”