Burn

by Suzanne Wright

  She licked her lips, anxious. If the demon public chose to have a Monarch, it would impact everyone, whether each demon accepted that Monarch or not. It didn’t matter that Harper would never answer to them. Others would have to answer to them. The change would affect so many, alter so much.

  Sixty percent.

  Harper glanced at the candidates. All three were admirably composed. Isla’s gaze shone with an unsettling amount of self-satisfaction. Did she know something they didn’t?

  Forty percent.

  Taking a sip of her champagne, Harper looked at Knox. In spite of her current tension, she couldn’t help but note that he was the epitome of self-assurance and untamed sexuality. He was also staring at her.

  Twenty percent.

  Leave with Tanner if necessary, he reminded her. Take your family with you.

  She didn’t assure him she would leave, unwilling to lie. If things went tits up, she’d be at his side. And he should know better than to think that Jolene would ever walk away from a riot. Hell, the woman was more likely to be in the middle of it.

  ‘Done!’ popped up on the screen, along with a box marked ‘See Result.’

  That was when Harper finally understood the term ‘bated breath.’ For a single moment, she didn’t breathe at all. Then her breathing turned shallow and rapid as she couldn’t seem to get the air she needed. So much could fuck up if the wrong decision was made.

  “Levi,” was all Knox said. After one click on the box from the sentinel, an image of scales appeared. One was labelled ‘Yes’, and the other was labelled ‘No.’ Mere seconds later, percentages popped up beneath each scale.

  Only forty-three percent of the votes said ‘Yes’ to a Monarch.

  Relief rushed through Harper like a tidal wave. Glancing around, she saw that her relief was shared by almost everyone. Almost everyone. Disappointment shadowed Malden’s features, but there was no anger; she got the feeling he could take the public’s rejection providing no Monarch was elected at all. Dario bit out a few harsh expletives, every line of his body tense. Still, he took the rejection with a little dignity. Isla, however…

  Her spine snapped straight, her hands balled into fists, and her beautiful face became a mask of anger. “No!” she shouted. “I refuse to accept this!”

  Knox shrugged at her, dismissive of her outburst. “It is what it is.”

  “I demand a recount!” Isla fairly barked, not so composed now.

  A deathly quiet descended as Knox’s eyes bled to black for a moment. “And who are you to demand anything of me?” he asked silkily, malevolence dripping from every syllable.

  To her credit – or utter stupidity, whichever – Isla stood her ground. “I have many supporters, Knox. It makes no sense to me that this is the result of the poll.”

  “Maybe they weren’t as loyal to you as you thought.”

  “They wouldn’t have betrayed me!” she insisted. “The results were fixed! They have to be fixed!” Here was the paranoid streak Khloë had mentioned.

  Knox arched a reproachful brow. “That’s an offensive claim you’re making, Isla. Be careful.” The latter words were like blades.

  Levi spoke then, overriding what Isla would have said next. “Don’t you have enough power, Isla? Why push so hard for more? What is this really about?” No answer. “Is it power you want? Or is it power over Knox?”

  Isla’s mouth tightened around the edges.

  “You had to know that Knox would never answer to anyone,” continued Levi. “Being Monarch wouldn’t enable you to control him. But it could have put you in a position to take him out. I think you thought that if you ruled over the other Primes, you could force them all to unite against him. Was that your plan? You must be pissed that it didn’t work out.”

  “It should have worked out!” she yelled, obviously out of control now that she’d lost everything she’d worked for. “I had loyal supporters! The results have to be fixed!”

  “Why is that?” asked Knox.

  Harper laughed as realization dawned. “Been up to your old tricks again, Isla? Tell me, just how many people did you blackmail, threaten, or manipulate to try to get what you want? Are some of those people in this room?” That would certainly explain the amount of scowls she’d been receiving all night. “I’ll bet you were the one to start the whisper campaigns, too.”

  “I don’t believe I was speaking to you,” Isla sneered at Harper.

  “I don’t believe I care,” said Harper with a shrug.

  “So brave because you have Knox to protect you.”

  Harper didn’t rise to the taunt; she simply stated, “I don’t need the protection of him or anyone else.” Harper hid behind no one. If Isla wanted to believe she was weak, that was her mistake.

  A glint of calculation entered Isla’s eyes. “Really? Very confident.” A pleasant smile lit her face. “Maybe you and I should take a turn in the combat circle, and we’ll see just how strong you are.”

  Raul almost choked on his champagne. “You want a duel with Harper? Truly? You’re that crazy?”

  Knox crossed to Isla, muscles rippling with danger. “I wasn’t aware that you wanted to die, Isla. I warned you that I’d destroy you if you harmed her.”

  Isla shrugged one shoulder delicately. “It would just be a little fun, Knox.”

  As Tanner moved to stand in front of Harper, his stance protective, Harper assured him, “It’s okay, Tanner, I really don’t think she can kill me with her scowl.” Harper peered around him and raised her hand. “I have a question. Do you want to duel with me because you still believe you’re Knox’s anchor? Or is it that you need a whipping boy because you’re so pissed off that you didn’t get your precious votes? I’m interested.”

  “I am his anchor,” she snapped.

  Harper shook her head sadly. “Oh, Isla. How you do enjoy your delusions.” She sighed. “And here was me thinking it was the second answer. After all, you do like to take your rage out on women.”

  Isla’s eyelids flickered.

  “Yes, you find inflicting pain and sexually assaulting the she-demons of your lair to be lots of fun, don’t you? You’re addicted to the high you get from it.”

  Isla hissed, ignoring the whispers of disgust that traveled around the room. “Lies.”

  Harper snorted. “It’s not me that prefers the world of fiction, Miss ‘Knox-is-my-anchor-despite-all-evidence-to-the-contrary.’”

  “Isla, leave,” snarled Knox. “Or I will kill you. That’s your last warning.”

  “Don’t you think you’re all overreacting a little?” Isla rolled her eyes. “I suggested a duel. Not a battle to the death.”

  Harper got to her feet. “I think it would be kind of enjoyable.”

  “Not a fucking chance, baby,” Knox ground out. “Tanner, get her out of here.”

  “Nu-uh. I don’t walk away from a challenge.” Knox, I know you’re worried for me. I know you don’t want to see me hurt. I get it, and I love you for it. But I’ve told you before, I can’t hide behind you. It’s not who I am. And people need to see that I’m no easy target. I’m sick to fucking death of people assuming I am one.

  “I know you’re strong,” Knox told Harper aloud, wanting everyone to hear just how much faith he had in her. “I know you don’t need my protection. But you’re my anchor and my mate, which means I won’t allow anyone to hurt you irrespective of your strength.”

  Knox stilled as Jolene’s voice came then. Knox, you understand why Harper has to do this. She has to make it known that she’s strong in her own right. People see her as your weakness. They have to understand that she can also be a strength for you. That she herself isn’t weak.

  In a sense, Knox did understand. But he couldn’t, he wouldn’t, sanction her putting herself in harm’s way. Isla wasn’t just a banshee, she was half vampire. “Tanner.”

  Understanding, Tanner went to lead Harper away.

  “No! She’s mine!” cried Isla.

  There was a blur of movement foll
owed by excruciating, stabbing pains in Harper’s neck. Harper stared in shock at the she-demon in front of her, who now had Knox’s hand wrapped around her throat. “You bit me,” said Harper.

  “I didn’t just bite you, I weakened you.” Isla laughed. “That’s my vampiric gift, you see. I can steal some of a person’s power through their blood. It’ll be hours before you get it back.”

  That was when Harper snapped out of her shocked daze. With her inner demon’s rage fueling her, she launched herself at Isla, punching her square in the jaw. Isla howled in soul-deep agony, but Harper didn’t get a chance to enjoy it before Tanner picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.

  Harper drummed her fists on his back as she screeched, “Let me at the bitch!”

  “Many from Isla’s lair were watching the voting in the Underground, Harper,” said Tanner as they walked out of the emergency exit and into a side alley. “They’re going to see Knox make Isla die painfully. Her inner circle worship her. They’ll want vengeance. You’re weakening fast, so we need to get you out before any of them try to come for you.”

  He was right. Her entire body felt sluggish, like she’d expended a massive amount of psychic energy, only ten times worse. Already her vision was beginning to darken around the edges. “I really don’t know how much longer I can stay awake,” she slurred.

  “It’s fine, we’ll—”

  At his abrupt halt, Harper looked around her curiously. That was when she noticed that people were coming at them from all sides. “Too late.” Then the darkness took her.

  Knox glowered at the whimpering she-demon in his grip. It had been damn fucking hard to ignore the urge to simply snap the bitch’s neck, especially when his demon was riding him to do exactly that. But that would have been a loss of control; Knox couldn’t allow the public to think Harper could take that from him, or his enemies would come at her again and again. In addition, he wanted this to be painful for Isla; wanted it known by the demon public exactly what he would do to anyone who went after Harper. Even his inner demon couldn’t deny the importance of that.

  Isla struggled in his hold, sobbing from soul-deep pain, courtesy of Harper. His mate no longer had to worry about anyone viewing her as weak.

  “You can’t kill me, Knox. We’re too close. We’re anchors!”

  “You’re nothing to me,” he ground out, his eyes flashing demon as the entity backed him up. “Nothing. Even if you were, no one hurts my mate and lives.”

  Her bottom lip trembled. “My lair will avenge me.”

  “Ask me if I give a fuck.” Conjuring a lethal orb of hellfire, Knox tipped her head back and forced it into her mouth, and down her throat. It lit her body as it moved down her windpipe and into her stomach, growing and growing as it burned her from the inside out. She screamed, clawing at her peeling flesh as the hellfire ate away at it. But Knox felt no remorse, no pity.

  She heaved in one final breath before slumping in his grip, dead. Knox released her blistered, melting, steaming corpse with a sneer. His inner demon thought the act was too merciful, and it was rather disappointed by the speed with which she died. But Knox had wanted the world to see just how quick and easy it would be for someone to die at his hands.

  “No!” cried one of Isla’s companions; a young male demon who had obviously been enchanted by her. Both males dropped to the ground beside her.

  “I’ll escort them out once the body vaporizes,” Keenan told him.

  Knox, need a little help out here, called Tanner.

  “Did Tanner take Harper out of the side exit?” Knox asked Keenan.

  “Yes.”

  Knox rushed outside and came to an immediate halt at the sight of Tanner standing amidst four dead demons. “What happened? Where’s Harper?” Dread hit him fast and hard.

  A muscle in Tanner’s jaw ticked. “She was taken,” he growled.

  Several emotions crashed into Knox. Fury. Panic. Helplessness. A need to hurt. A need to make someone pay. His demon roared inside his head, smashing its way to the surface. “By who?” it demanded in a rumble.

  Tanner’s gaze was wary, but he replied, “A demon and some dark practitioners – I could smell the magick on them. The demon teleported her and the practitioners out of here while those fuckers attacked me.”

  Drawing on every bit of control he possessed, Knox shoved his demon back down. Clear thinking was needed if they had any hope of getting her back. The demon wouldn’t think, wouldn’t plan. It would just destroy. Harper? Harper? No response.

  Knox rubbed his fist over his heart, wondering at the ache there. He hadn’t experienced helplessness since he was a boy, hadn’t felt this level of anxiety since his parents tried to take him away from Riordan and instead ended up dead. It had mostly been a show of power on Riordan’s part; a message that he was in control. Then Knox had given him – given all of them – a real show of power. Afterwards, he’d put the reins back on his demon and his abilities. He’d become the epitome of self-control, vowing that nothing and no one would ever take that control from him again. But this situation threatened to snatch it from beneath him.

  “Did they say where they were taking her?”

  Tanner shook his head, his expression one of self-condemnation. “I put her on the ground behind me while I fought…”

  “It’s not your fault.” The words might have sounded genuine if they hadn’t been guttural. He didn’t blame Tanner, knew the sentinel would have protected her if he could. Harper? Harper, fucking answer me! “She’s not responding, but I know she’s alive. I can still feel her mind.”

  “She passed out as they surrounded us.”

  The door swung open and Levi strode out. One scan of his surroundings was enough for him to conclude, “Someone took Harper.”

  Tanner scrubbed a hand down his face. “Can you track her through your anchor bond?”

  “No.” Knox paced, striving to stay calm. “That’s not how it works.” Flames flickered from his fingertips. The sentinels eyed him warily. He thought of Harper’s reaction to the sight…‘Pretty. Any more tricks?’ She accepted him in a way no one else ever had or ever would. He couldn’t fucking lose her; he just couldn’t.

  “We’ll get her back,” Levi assured him.

  “You love her,” Tanner mused.

  No, he didn’t. The times Knox sensed that emotion in others, it had been soft and deep. What he felt for Harper was a dark, dangerous, clawing emotion that surpassed that.

  “I know she won’t like it,” began the hellhound, “but you could shove your way into her mind and force her back to consciousness.”

  “Her shields are extraordinary. I can’t get through them without shredding my own psyche.” If he did that, he’d be useless to her. Harper! Harper! Answer me right. Fucking. Now. Still nothing. His demon was pumping his anger into Knox, trying to goad him into handing over the reins; to surrendering control as Knox had done as a child. But he wasn’t that child anymore. He inhaled deeply, digging deep for the strength to fight his rage and anxiety; to think clearly. “Anchored to me, she’s stronger. That means she’ll rejuvenate from Isla’s bite reasonably fast. All I can do in the meantime is repeatedly try to wake her. Then she can tell me where she is.” If she knew where she was.

  The door once again opened. Jolene, Beck, and Martina strolled out. Jolene froze, face hardening as she took in the dead bodies and the grim expressions of Knox, Tanner, and Levi. “Where’s my granddaughter?”

  It was Tanner who answered. “In the hands of dark practitioners. A demon – probably a stray who had been hired by them – teleported the practitioners here, so they could snatch Harper.”

  “We have no idea where she is,” said Levi, “which means we have no idea how to get her out of wherever they’re keeping her.”

  Jolene snorted, to everyone’s surprise. “Do you really think my granddaughter can be held anywhere she doesn’t want to be? She may not be an imp, but she’s a Wallis through and through. So tuck your crazy back in, Knox. We need
you calm. By the time you get to wherever she is, she’ll already be out of there. Concentrate on planning what you’ll do the bastards that dared to take her.”

  “That plan is simple,” rumbled Knox. “They’ll die.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Harper! Harper! Answer me.

  If Knox would just shut the fuck up and let Harper sleep, that would be great. Her head felt heavy and her limbs were like noodles.

  Harper! Wake up, baby. His voice had softened slightly, sounded almost…desperate. That made no sense. I need you to wake up.

  Trying to sleep here, she grumbled.

  A vibe of relief stroked the edges of her mind. Tell me where you are, baby. I can’t find you until I know where you are.

  His anxiety made her frown. Knox was never anything but composed. Why are you so—?

  Memories suddenly flashed before her…Isla biting her. Tanner carrying her outside. Being surrounded in an alley. Darkness closing in.

  Harper snapped to alertness, forcing her eyes open as she tried to bolt upright. Well, shit.

  What?

  I’m tied, spread-eagle, to some kind of table. There was even a rope around her waist to stop her from squirming. Well, at least she wasn’t naked. That didn’t placate her inner demon – it was totally pissed. Scanning her surroundings, she felt her stomach drop. Well, double shit.

  Harper, tell me where the fuck you are.

  I don’t know. It’s like some kind of man-made temple. There are candles everywhere, ritual symbols on the walls, and a huge circular ritual marking on the floor…and I can smell dark magick. And it seemed like she was secured to a sacrificial table. How delightful. Looks like it was the practitioners after me all this time. Is Tanner okay?

  He’s fine. Do you recognize anything around you?

  No. There’s a set of stairs at the end of the room, so I think I might be in a basement of some kind. That’s all I know. I have absolutely no idea where I am.

  He bit out a string of curses.

  I can get out of here, don’t worry.

  Don’t worry? You’re tied down!