Ashes(44)

Knox swept out a hand in invitation. "Not at all."



"Grab him," she told the other imps.



"Wait," Dean said to the imps. "I told him what you need to know!"



"You also tried to kidnap my daughter," snarled Richie. "At what point did you think that would go unpunished?"



Dean's gaze darted from face to face, as if searching for an ally. When he looked at Harper, she shrugged and said, "You really should have known better than to fuck with my family." And then they were gone.



Knox turned to Harper and drew her close. Her scent dulled the rage that seemed his constant companion these days. She slid her arms around him and smoothed them up and down his back, comforting him and taking comfort. Sweeping a hand down her hair, he kissed her temple. "I wanted to kill that fucker so bad."



"So did I." Harper leaned into him. "But Jolene needs to do this. It's hard for her to stand back while we deal with the person who sent those hunters after me."



Knox nodded. "Killing Bannon allows her to get vengeance for both you and Heidi. I know she needs that. I know Richie has more of a right to punish Bannon than I do." He rested his forehead on hers. "That didn't make it any easier not to slice his throat open."



She pressed a kiss to his neck. "Your restraint was appreciated."



As the two sentinels joined them, Tanner scraped a hand over his jaw and said, "You know …  I've been thinking."



"Did it hurt?" Harper quipped, hoping to lighten Knox's mood.

 

Tanner shot her a mock glare. "As I was saying …  it's possible that they're not targeting you to get to Knox. Maybe this is about you."



Knox had been considering that since the moment he heard that Heidi had almost been taken. "I'd like to disagree, but it does make sense," he told Harper. "At first, I thought the person who hired the hunters was most likely one of the Horsemen and had made yet another attempt to make me lose my control by hurting the only thing that matters to me. Now, I'm not so sure."



She tilted her head. "You don't think the Horsemen are behind the recent events?"



"I think we've assumed that they are," Tanner replied. "Maybe we shouldn't have. If I were one of the Horsemen, I would keep a low profile for a while. A lot of our kind are investigating the matter. Would it be wise of them to strike out at you during this time? I don't believe so."



"He's right," Levi told her. "Look at Heidi – what would the kidnapping have truly achieved? Sure, Knox would have paid ransom money, but it's not a matter that would have hurt him. Pissed him off, yeah, but not hurt him. If the idea was to ask you to switch places with Heidi, you would have been prepared to do it." Levi turned to Knox. "But would you have let her, or would you have found another way to get Heidi back?"



Knox said nothing. That question didn't require an answer. Everyone there knew that Knox would never have allowed Harper to trade herself for another, not even for a child, not even for a child of her own blood. He would have done whatever it took to get Heidi back, but he would not have handed his mate over to anyone. Every single demon would know that.



Tanner nodded at Levi. "The hunter said that the person who hired them doesn't want Harper dead. But taking into account the pain she went through and that they wanted her cousin kidnapped, they clearly want her to suffer. That sounds personal to me. Still, I'm not saying we should rule out that Thatcher has anything to do with all this – his name has cropped up twice now. Even if these attacks are personal to Harper, it's possible that he's involved."



"Would Thatcher have any reason to be angry at you?" Levi asked her.



"I don't think so," replied Harper. "I barely know him. I get the feeling he looks down on me, but many demons do – I'm a Wallis, after all. Do you think that whoever's behind all this is counting on us to blame it on the Horsemen?"



"Yes," replied Knox. "That's exactly what we did, isn't it?"



"My main enemy is Alethea – she would love to see me reduced to nothing but a pile of ashes. But as Tanner pointed out, this person doesn't want me dead. Could Carla or Bray want to hurt me for what my demon did to Roan? Sure. But I don't think they're smart enough to do all this and remain undetected."



"You're probably right," said Levi. "But we won't dismiss any of them as suspects."



"If the Horsemen are hoping to fly under the radar for a while, they won't be happy that they're being blamed for something they didn't do," Keenan pointed out.