"Do you need anything?" Harper asked him.
"No, thank you." Such a well-mannered phrase, yet there was no real "thanks" there. No gratitude. No anything.
"We'll see you again soon," Knox told him.
The kid's demon rose to the surface again; there was a challenge there this time. Knox's own demon surfaced and glared down at the boy, intimidating his demon into submission.
When both entities retreated, Knox warned, "Don't let it borrow trouble, McCauley." Taking Harper's hand, Knox led her to the front door. Before opening it, he turned to Wyatt. "You sure you want to keep him here?"
It was Linda who answered. "Positive."
Knox raised a questioning brow at Wyatt, who gave a simple nod. "All right," said Knox.
"Was there another child?" Harper asked, remembering the picture he'd drawn.
"The only people who lived in that house were him and the human female who'd raised him," said Wyatt. "Her husband left and remarried long ago. He has a daughter with his second wife, but he has no contact whatsoever with McCauley."
Harper thought it likely that McCauley had drawn a picture of himself immersed in that family … or maybe he'd drawn the family he'd wished he had. "Don't hesitate to call us if you have any problems with him." The couple smiled, but Wyatt's smile was weak.
Once they were back in the Bentley, Knox gave Levi a rundown of what had been said.
"I like kids, I really do," said Harper. "But that kid was creepy. And he's not low down on the power scale."
Knox took her hand. "He's fairly powerful for a cambion."
"And pretty robotic. There's nothing, well, child-like about him. No crazy energy, no humming or fidgeting." There didn't appear to be any wasted movements with him at all. "He feels … cold."
Knox toyed with her hair. "Sometimes I think that demons forfeit emotion for power. I'm an example of that."
Her brows snapped together. "You're not emotionless."
"No, but I don't feel the range of emotions that you do. I'm not capable of many of them."
"You feel love, right?"
The tiny tremor in her voice made his chest tighten. "Baby, one day you're going to be utterly secure in the knowledge that you're a loveable person. I'll make sure of it."
"I don't doubt that you love me."
Knox knew that was true. Giving her a black diamond had crushed any doubts she might have had, but he suspected that it would take a long time to ease the insecurities that had been born when both parents abandoned her as a baby. Her subconscious didn't seem ready to heal. "Good. Never doubt it, because it will never change."
"If you can feel this emotion so strongly, if you believe it isn't something that will ever fade, then we don't forfeit emotion for power."
"That might be a good point, except that I only feel it for you. So maybe it's just that you're my miracle."
She smiled. "I've been called a lot of things. Never a miracle. My family would be so disappointed that I'm not living up to my purpose to annoy all those who cross my path."
Knox's mouth curved. "Oh, you're still expertly good at irritating people. I just get a free pass. For the most part, anyway."
"Very true." She smiled against his mouth when he kissed her. "Back to what we were talking about before, what do we do about McCauley?"
"I'll have Keenan find out how many women from our lair were pregnant back then. We'll find out who she is."
"Are you sure she's from this lair?" Demon lairs didn't claim territories, and their kind sometimes lived in places far from their Prime, so Harper believed it was very possible that the mother belonged to another lair.
"No, but we should look to our own first."
"And if one of ours did leave a changeling?"
///
"They'll pay the price."
CHAPTER FOUR
As Levi pulled up outside one of Knox's upscale clubs, Harper spotted Tanner leaning against the building. As her bodyguard and chauffeur, the broad-shouldered tower of muscle often took her to work and accompanied her to the studio before going off to do … whatever sentinels did. Since the entrance to the Underground was beneath this very club, he was obviously waiting to escort her to work.
Knox curled his hand around her jaw. "My day will be pretty hectic, but I'll meet you in the Underground when your studio's closing." He kissed her softly. "Remember to -"