Such pain and indignation flashed across the woman’s face that Khloé tensed, expecting an attack. But the attack didn’t come.
Thea flexed her fingers. “He made it clear that you’re who he wants, though. If you really are his mate—and everyone I’ve spoken to seems convinced that it’s true—you’ll join his lair, and I’d have had a front seat to the Keenan-and-Khloé show. I can’t watch that. I can’t watch while he builds a life with someone else. I don’t have that in me.”
“Oh, I see. Well, that totally justifies you using your own son as a weapon.”
Thea flinched. “I had no choice.”
“Sure you did. And you made the wrong one. Now he’s suffering for it. Look at him. He’s not even conscious.”
“He’ll be fine.”
“That’s so not the point. You not only made him use his gift on someone, you made him use it on another child. Trust me, he won’t forget that. He’ll always carry the guilt of it.” Not that Khloé was all that convinced that Lane’s attempt to drain Asher of power had worked, but still. “And if you think Gavril will really stick to his end of the bargain and let you and Lane walk off into the sunset, you’re thick as pig shit.”
“He’ll stick to it,” Thea insisted.
“He isn’t going to give up the kind of power your son has. If you have any sense, you’ll grab the kid and teleport out of here while you still can.”
That would not only save Lane further harm, it would mean that Thea couldn’t “deliver” Khloé anywhere. Also, Khloé would then have one less foe to worry about. She could hunt Thea down at a later date. The Prime and Enoch were the main threats.
“I gave Gavril my word,” said Thea.
“So? You gave your word to Keenan lots of times. You never had any trouble going back on it.”
Thea winced, and an angry flush swept up her neck and face. “Bitch.” She leaned forward, her eyes blazing. “I’m going to watch while this Enoch guy kills you, and I’m going to enjoy every moment of it.”
“And then you’ll die because you’ll no longer be of use to Gavril, and your son will be taken back to your lair to be used like a tool for the rest of his days.”
“You’ll be the tool. Enoch intends to use you in all sorts of ways.”
Oh, Khloé didn’t doubt it. “I don’t plan to stick around. Not really feeling the vibe here, you know.”
“Thea,” Gavril called out. “Get over here and wake the boy.”
Thea threw Khloé one last glare and crossed to her Prime. “It’s not so simple,” she told him, looking down at her son.
“Make it simple. Slap his face or something.”
“I’m not going to slap my child.”
Gavril lifted a brow. “Surely you’re not going to get all high and mighty now—you just happily used him to strip another child of his powers.”
“I didn’t do it ‘happily.’ You gave me no choice.”
The Prime gave a soft snort. “Don’t kid yourself, Thea. You agreed to my deal because you liked the idea of Knox being vulnerable enough that I could kill him. You want him hurt. You want him to suffer. What did he do, forbid you from joining his lair all those centuries ago?”
“No. I chose to be a stray.”
“And Keenan chose to stay with Knox instead of leave with you. Is that what this is about? You blame Knox for the choice Keenan made, or do you simply hate the Prime because he means more to the incubus than you ever did; that Keenan’s loyalty is to him instead of to you?”
Thea’s face reddened. “It’s neither of those things.”
“I don’t believe you,” said Gavril.
Hell, neither did Khloé. The asshole had a good little theory going on.
“And I have to wonder if you targeted Asher because you knew it would hurt not only Knox and Keenan but Harper and the other sentinels,” Gavril went on. “They don’t consider you part of the family they’ve made—you said so yourself. So you struck at the heart of that family to punish them all, didn’t you?”
Thea’s eyes flickered. “You are way off base, Gavril,” she firmly stated, but Khloé heard the deceptive note to her voice.
The Prime must have heard it as well, because he shook his head and smirked. “I don’t think so.”
“And I don’t care.”
Khloé reached out to Ciaran again. Listen, there’s something you should know. They’re taking me to Enoch.
A vibe of anger smacked her mind. What?
Apparently, he’s offered to pay Gavril a lot of money to do so.
Her twin bit out a vicious curse. Do you still have the blade?
Yes, it’s still in my boot. No one thought to check inside my boots for weapons, thankfully.
Gavril let out an exasperated breath. “If the boy isn’t close to waking, we might as well take the imp to Enoch while we wait.”
Thea frowned. “I’m not leaving Lane.”
“He’ll be fine with my men.”
“I’m not leaving his side. I want to be there when he wakes.”
“You mean you don’t trust that I’ll return you to his side?”
Thea lifted her chin and shrugged one shoulder. “I like to err on the side of caution.”
“Then we shall all leave as one party. I want the imp off my hands so I can concentrate on what’s important.”
Khloé tensed. Um … it appears we’re leaving now.
To go where?
I don’t know, but I do know that Enoch will be there.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Don’t worry. I’ve already undone the binds, so I’m not as helpless as he’ll be hoping I’ll be. And remember, I have the blade. Have a little faith in me, would you.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“A dull sky, clouds, and trees,” echoed Keenan. “If Khloé can see those things, she’s not being kept in the Underground.”
The moment Ciaran had told him that he felt Khloé’s mind stir, a shudder had racked Keenan. The depth of his relief almost made his knees give out. His demon, equally relieved, had rolled back its shoulders. The entity had been keeping itself occupied by plotting lots of torturous ways to make Thea suffer.
Knox twisted his mouth. “I’d say Gavril has her in one of his properties. I would imagine that he has many, but I doubt if all are Victorian-style houses, so that may narrow it down. Larkin, I need you to find out if Gavril owns any such properties. You can use the computer in my office. Be as thorough but as fast as you can—Khloé’s depending on us.”
“I’m on it.” The harpy stalked out of the room and dashed up the stairs.
Her face hard, Harper planted her hands on her hips. “I’m infuriated with myself for letting Thea fool me.”
Keenan flexed his fingers. “Same here. I should have seen that she was playing the damsel in distress card in the hope that I’d keep her close so that she’d have access to Knox.”
“You couldn’t really have seen that so clearly,” said Ciaran.
Harper ground her teeth. “We should have at least considered that that might have been the case. I didn’t trust her, but I also didn’t think she’d use her son that way. She seemed genuinely afraid for him.”
“She probably was—she has to fear that Gavril won’t live up to his end of the deal,” said Levi.
“Whatever the case, she dies tonight,” declared Jolene. “Thea and her son both do.”
“Damn fucking straight,” said Keenan.
Just then, Tanner prowled inside the living room and sighed. “You have no idea how difficult it was to convince Devon and Raini to remain at my apartment and wait for an update on what was happening. Any developments since we last spoke, Knox?”
The Prime brought him up to speed, his expression hard. Tanner muttered something under his breath. “Can’t Khloé use her gifts to free herself?”
“She’s in the grip of a containment spell,” Keenan told him. “She can only telepathically connect with Ciaran.
Ciaran abruptly stiffened and then bit out a
harsh expletive. “We have a major fucking problem,” he announced to the room.
Keenan stilled. “What problem?”
Ciaran’s nostrils flared. “She’s being delivered to Enoch. He apparently paid Gavril to acquire her.”
People spat curses, forgetting to be careful of not doing so around Asher.
Rage slammed into Keenan, making his icy calm falter for a moment. “What?” He listened carefully while the imp explained. Despite that Khloé seemed confident she could escape the crate, fear still battered at his cold calm, threatened to crack it open and shatter it.
Jolene turned to Ciaran. “Do you know if she has her blade with her? The one that can kill Enoch for good?”
“She has it,” the imp confirmed.
“But she can’t use it until she’s out of the crate,” Tanner pointed out. “Enoch might not plan on releasing her from it.”
Jolene sniffed, all haughty. “As if a crate could contain an imp. It’s insulting that Gavril would think differently.”
“If he’s so sure she can’t get out of it, the containment spell is probably very potent,” said Tanner.
“It won’t make a difference,” Jolene told him. “She’ll get out. We need to be there to help defend her when she does—she’ll be facing Enoch, Thea, and Gavril.”
Harper nodded. “Thea will gladly kill her if Enoch doesn’t. And I think we can safely say that Gavril would have no desire to keep Khloé alive, though he might not necessarily want her dead. He’d kill her out of spite.”
Tanner took Asher’s hand, who gave him a dimply smile. “How are you doing, little man?”
“He’s fine,” said Harper. “Whatever Lane did doesn’t seem to have harmed him or even stolen any of his powers.” She frowned. “I don’t know what leapt from him to Lane, but I’m not so sure it was an ability. And if I were Thea, I’d be nervous as hell right now.”
Asher touched his mother’s face. “Want Koey.”
Harper kissed his palm. “Yeah, we all want Khloé, sweetheart. She’ll be here soon.” She looked at Tanner. “He saw her be taken, so he’s a little upset and—”
A hiss escaped Ciaran through gritted teeth. “They’re taking her to Enoch now.”
The bottom fell out of Keenan’s stomach. “Where exactly are they taking her?”
“She doesn’t know yet,” said Ciaran, his voice strained. “But she’ll tell us when she gets there.”
*
Khloé’s stomach rolled as Thea took them on yet another short teleporting trip—the woman’s gift didn’t take them far, so they were having to make seconds’-long pit stops along the way to wherever Enoch waited.
Khloé braced herself for another teleport, but it didn’t come. Apparently, they’d reached their destination. Still inside the crate, she found herself sitting in the middle of a dirt street. She blinked, feeling like she’d traveled back through time to the old west.
Dilapidated wooden buildings were all around her—saloons, a blacksmith, hotels, banks, and a jail and sheriff’s office but to name a few. Many windows had been shattered or boarded up. Wooden planks were rotting, and metal was badly rusted. It made her itch for a tetanus shot.
Shale, pebbles, and debris littered the rocky sand. The remains of broken barrels, wagons, and crates could be seen here and there.
The place had clearly been deserted for many years. There were no people around that she could see—not even Enoch. The only sign of life was the black birds that rested on the posts and roofs, flapping their wings and cawing.
A hot breeze fluttered over her, rustling the weeds and making the sagging doors creak. It also brought with it the scents of rust and dust that laced the stale air.
She reached out to Ciaran, wincing at the shot of psychic pain. I’m in an old western ghost town, she told him. If it’s used as a tourist attraction, it’s closed today for sure, because there’s no one around. But Enoch was probably already here.
Ciaran’s mind touched hers. There are ghost towns all over the world. Do you have any idea where you are?
Khloé tried seeing beyond the deserted town. There was only sand, cacti, and mountains, but … I think we’re still in Nevada.
Why?
Because Thea can’t teleport far, and it only took her four “hops” to get here.
But we don’t know for sure that the Victorian house was in Vegas. Larkin’s looking into what properties Gavril owns. If we can locate it, we can look for the nearest ghost towns. Can you see anything that will help us narrow down our search? Any landmarks? Any signs?
No. It just looks like your average wild, wild west ghost town.
Up ahead, a shutter saloon door swung open, and Enoch stepped out onto the wooden deck. Adrenaline spiked through Khloé, and the entity within her bared its teeth.
Gavril pasted a polite smile on his face. “Hello again, Enoch.”
“Gavril,” the Lazarus demon greeted simply. His grating voice was like nails on a chalkboard.
The Prime flicked a hand in Khloé’s direction. “I’ve brought her to you, bound and caged.”
Enoch’s gaze locked on her, and the hairs on Khloé’s nape lifted. Choosing to no longer hide that her binds were undone, she let her arms casually hang over her raised knees.
Enoch cut his gaze back to Gavril. “Bound and caged?” he challenged.
His lips thinning, the Prime amended, “Caged, then.”
Enoch turned back to the saloon and pushed open the shutter door. “Bring her inside.”
Looking none too happy by the order, Gavril nonetheless nodded at Thea, who then teleported their small party of people into the saloon. Khloé gazed around the dusty, cobweb-filled space, taking in the bar, stools, tables, chairs, piano … and the two corpses flanking Enoch—their skin pale and rotting, their vacant eyes staring into space.
“Oh, God,” muttered Thea, taking a step back.
Similarly, Gavril and his sentinels—one of whom was carrying Lane—recoiled as they stared in horror at the corpses.
A shudder of disgust swept through Khloé. Her fingers itched for the blade that was tucked into her boot. Both corpses were dressed in filthy, ratty clothes from the wild west era. The town must have its own cemetery—most places like this did.
Enoch stalked toward the crate and stared down at Khloé. “I had thought you’d be dead by now. The infection should have contaminated your organs.”
“I’m not easy to kill,” she said.
“Maybe not, but you will die here tonight. I warned you that I’d one day kill you; that I’d use your corpse to attack the people you love.”
“You’ll have to open this door to kill me,” she pointed out.
He smirked. “Oh, and you think you can strike at me when I do?”
“Would you expect anything less?”
“I suppose not.” He tilted his head. “You haven’t tried to escape,” he mused, a note of suspicion in his voice.
“Why would I, when these people here intend to take you out as soon as you’ve handed over the money you owe them?” asked Khloé.
Thea’s eyes widened. “That’s a lie!”
“Indeed,” said Gavril. “Now, pay me and we will leave you and the imp in peace, Enoch. Thea and I have things to do.”
“Like take Enoch out when his back is turned,” said Khloé.
Gavril glowered at her. “Ignore her, Enoch. She’s just trying to mess with your head—it’s what imps do.”
“They do, yes,” agreed Enoch, his eyes narrowed in suspicion as he stared at the Prime. “But they don’t wait around to be killed. They’re escape artists. She undid her binds, but she hasn’t tried to get out.”
“She can’t get out,” clipped Gavril. “A containment spell is woven into the metal of the crate.”
“The kid’s waking up,” declared one of Gavril’s sentinels.
Thea blinked at her son and tried taking him from the sentinel, but the guy held tight. Lane’s eyelids fluttered, and his little fingers f
lexed. Thea palmed his cheek. “Lane, honey, it’s Mommy. Can you wake up for me?”
His eyes opened, and he looked up at his mother, his gaze startingly blank.
She gently stroked his face. “Are you okay, sweetheart?” She frowned when he blinked at her but didn’t reply. “Lane?”
“Let us return to the manor so we can get this done,” said Gavril, his tone rife with agitation. “I want that power. I’m done waiting.”
Thea rubbed her son’s arm. “He’ll need a few moments, Gavril. He’s still disorientated.”
Khloé snickered. “Oh, puhlease.”
Gavril glared at her. “What is that supposed to mean?” Khloé rolled her eyes. “It’s so obvious that she wants you to believe Lane’s too weak to help you—in reality, she wants him to give her the power he stole. Come on, you didn’t think she’d let you use her son as a pawn unless she thought she’d get something big out of it—not to mention a guarantee that you’d never come after her—did you? Your death would certainly guarantee that, wouldn’t it? Not that I blame her for wanting you gone permanently. She has to know you’ll kill her before you’ll let her have Lane all to herself. Why else would your sentinel be holding him so tight?”
“Divide and conquer,” said Thea. “An old and effective trick, but it won’t work here.”
“Prove it and have little Lane transfer Asher’s ability to Gavril,” Khloé dared.
The woman’s face hardened. “He can’t yet, he’s still not fully awake.”
“How convenient.”
“Will you shut the fuck up!”
Khloé sighed. “Fine.”
Enoch turned to Gavril. “What ability does the child have that’s so important?”
The Prime’s spine snapped straight. “That’s not your concern.” Lane’s body jerked violently, as if it had been zapped by a high voltage of electricity.
“Lane?” said Thea, her voice heavy with anxiety.
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