Ashes(73)

Thatcher snorted. "That is a complete understatement."



Jonas' jaw hardened. "My sister has nothing to do with this."



"You're sure of that, are you? You would bet your position of Prime on it?" Thatcher snickered when Jonas fell silent. "Didn't think so."



Nostrils flaring, Jonas said, "Just because a person dislikes someone doesn't mean that they wish to cause them physical harm."



Thatcher's gaze returned to Alethea. "But you would if you thought you could get away with it, wouldn't you? You know, I heard that Jonas' new girlfriend is an incantor."



Shock flashed across Jonas' face, but he buried the emotion quickly.



"Maybe, Alethea, you got her to hex Harper for you," Thatcher suggested.



Alethea bared her teeth. "You're just looking to divert everyone's attention from yourself."



I didn't know Jonas was dating an incantor, Levi said to Knox. Interesting.



It is, agreed Knox. Particularly since he seemed so shocked that outsiders would know about it. For some reason, he was hoping to keep it private.



Thatcher pointed at Jonas. "Or maybe it was you who asked your girlfriend to hex Harper. As I understand it, you're not too happy with Jolene right now. Maybe you wanted to punish her using her granddaughters." 



All eyes moved to Jolene, but she was staring hard at Jonas when she spoke. "Thatcher seems to enjoy playing devil's advocate, but he makes a good point. Promising me that I would regret not giving you what you wanted …  well, that certainly implicates you."



Dario narrowed his eyes. "What did he want from you, Jolene?"



She continued staring at Jonas. "Why don't you tell them, Jonas?"



After a moment, Jonas cleared his throat. "I wanted to meet with Lucifer. I asked Jolene to arrange a meeting. She refused."



"You want an alliance with him," corrected Jolene calmly. "I told you that I couldn't guarantee you an alliance with Lucifer or that he would even meet with you. The devil doesn't ally himself with anyone. I told him that you wanted to meet him, but he has no interest in speaking with you. That's hardly my fault. Yet, you blame me."



"It's brave of you to be prepared to, literally, make a deal with the devil, Jonas," Knox told him.



Dario squinted at Jonas. "Why would you want to meet with Lucifer? What do you want from him?" At this point, everyone was eying Jonas suspiciously, including his sister, who seemed sincerely surprised by the news.



"That was my question," said Jolene. "After all, Lou likes loopholes. Any deal he makes always has a catch – and it's always one that makes the demon sorry they made the deal in the first place. That's common knowledge. A demon would have to want something very, very badly to be prepared to make any kind of pact with Lou. I said as much to Jonas. I asked him just what it was that he was so desperate to have."



"What did he say?" asked Thatcher.



"Just that I'd be sorry I hadn't cooperated, which makes me think that it was very important to him or he wouldn't be so resentful about it." She looked at Jonas. "At the time, I thought you were full of hot air. Now I'm thinking that you might have had Harper hurt as a warning to me to do as you'd asked. You could have then later thought you could use Heidi to make me cooperate."



Neck stiff and corded, Jonas lifted his chin. "I would never cause any harm to Harper or a child. I wanted to meet with Lucifer, yes, but that is my business. I don't have to explain myself to any of you. And if you're done making accusations, Knox -"



"I don't recall accusing you of anything," said Knox. "Do I consider you a possible suspect? Yes." He glared at Jonas, but kept his voice pitched low and calm. "I don't need to tell you what will happen if I discover that you're behind all this."



"I'm done here." Jonas shot to his feet. "Let's go, Alethea." Looking a little lost, she followed him as he stiffly strode out of the room with their sentinels.



One by one, the Primes began to leave the room. Each said polite goodbyes to Knox, and all appeared to be in deep thought. He suspected that hearing Jonas wanted an alliance with Lou unnerved them a little.



Jolene was one of the last to leave. My gut says it wasn't Thatcher. Everything points to him, yes, but that's what bothers me.



Knox sighed. Last night, I was ready to kill him. But the more I thought about it, the more unlikely it seemed to me that someone so intelligent would continually leave evidence that led me right to him. I can't afford to dismiss him as a suspect, though.



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