Harper whipped out her phone and did just that. The girls must have been more eager to take a look at the place than she’d thought, because they arrived in record time. She waited in the reception area with Knox as the three of them took a turn about the building.
As predicted, Khloë loved the reception area – mostly because it would easily fit the desk she’d originally wanted. Oddly enough, Devon called dibs on the room that Harper had thought would be perfect her. Great minds thought alike. Raini, however… she didn’t say a single word as she looked around. Nothing in her expression gave Harper a clue as to what the succubus was thinking.
“I think this place is awesome,” said Khloë.
“Me, too,” said Devon. “It’s bigger, it has better security, the location is perfect, and it means the pooch won’t have to sit outside like a stalker.”
Tanner grinned. “Aw, kitten, we both know you adore me.”
Devon’s upper lip curled. “Don’t you have a bone to go chew on?”
“You know that tone makes me want to bite you.”
Harper raised a hand to shush them. “Raini, I can’t take your silence anymore. What do you think?”
She slowly pivoted on her heel to face them and blew out a breath. And then her face broke into a bright smile that should have knocked them all on their asses. “When can we move in?”
“Whenever you want – it’s yours,” said Knox.
“We have to redecorate first,” Khloë pointed out, fishing out her phone. “List. We need a list of what needs doing.” Raini and Devon dashed over to her.
As the three girls chatted, Harper turned to Knox. “You’re feeling really smug right now, aren’t you?”
“Relieved,” he said.
“Smug,” she insisted.
Knox shrugged as he admitted unrepentantly, “I like to get my way.” He dropped the keys for the building into her hand. “Now I have to go. Meet me at my office when you’re done here.” He kissed her. “Be good.” With that, he and Levi left.
“You made the right decision, Harper,” said Tanner.
She smiled, slipping her hands into her pockets. “Yeah, I think so too.”
“Will you close the other place straight away?” he asked.
“Not until we’ve officially opened this one. A lot of people have booked in advance or need to come back for more sessions to finish their tattoos. I can delay demon clients, since they can simply come here later on, but not human clients.” She didn’t like to let people down.
Raini nodded. “We’ll need to tell humans we’re shutting down the business altogether or they’ll ask where we’re moving.”
Tanner folded his arms. “How fast do you think you can get this place ready, bearing in mind that you can’t spend a lot of time here while you’re still working at the other studio?”
“Around three weeks, if we call on our lair,” said Khloë, tapping her fingers on her iPhone.
Devon pointed to the carpet. “We need to get rid of that. In fact, it might be best to strip the place bare.”
“In terms of furnishings and equipment, I think we should get all new stuff,” announced Khloë.
“Yeah,” agreed Raini. “We can afford to, since we won’t have the costs here that we have in the other place.”
Khloë looked up from her phone. “Okay, so, we list every single item.”
“Let me guess,” began Tanner, “you’ll then hand over that list to your relatives. And they’ll probably steal half of it so you’re not waiting on delivery companies.”
Khloë looked appropriately affronted. “Of course they won’t. I can’t believe you’d say that.”
Tanner just snorted.
“The last grand opening we did was fun,” said Devon. “We should make this fun, too.”
Raini nodded, smiling. “We could do a street party. Maybe get a band from one of the bars to play outside. People love free food.”
“And we could do a ribbon cutting,” added Devon.
Harper pursed her lips. “Yeah, that would be fun. We could even get a celebrity to cut it.” Everyone stared at her, and she frowned. “What?”
Tanner spoke. “Harper, you are a celeb.”
She frowned. “No, I’m not.”
“To our kind? Yeah you are,” insisted Devon.
Harper just waved a dismissive hand.
“Can we please get a vending machine?” asked Khloë. “We didn’t have room for one in the last place.”
Harper blinked at the surprising request. “I guess.”
Khloë brightened. “Score!”
“We’re going to make this place look good,” declared Devon. “Even better than our first studio.”
Once they’d finished their list, they called in her family. The imps set about rolling up the carpet and getting rid of anything Harper didn’t wish to keep – all of which her family would no doubt sell. Her uncle, Richie, claimed to have a van she could use to help transport the things they wished to bring from the old studio when she was ready, which was probably the same van he used to transport all the illegal shit her family got their hands on.
It was around 6.30 pm that everyone agreed to call it a day. As Harper and Tanner made their way to Knox’s office, the sentinel walked just a little in front of her to protect her from being bumped or jarred by pedestrians. Most of the bars, restaurants, and clubs came alive in the evening, so it was fairly busy. Security shutters were being lifted and street vendors were setting up all over the place.
“Excuse me, have you seen this woman?”
Oh, God, she knew that voice. Up ahead, Roan was walking around with a photo of Carla, showing it to people. There was genuine worry in his expression, and she couldn’t help feeling a little bad for him. Jolene was the closest thing she’d ever had to a mother, and Harper knew she’d be a wreck if something happened to —
He spotted Harper. Froze. Then he was shouldering his way through the pedestrians, heading right for her; eyes narrowed, nostrils flaring. Shit. Tanner obviously saw him too, because his shoulders stiffened and a low growl built in his throat. Harper grabbed his arm. “Let me deal with this, Tanner.”
The hellhound slowed to match her pace and frowned at her. “You don’t need to deal with him. That’s what I’m here for. I’m your bodyguard.”
“And I’m his Prime.” She wanted to deal with this herself. Harper didn’t hide behind anyone. What’s more, she couldn’t be seen to hide behind anyone. She was now a Prime, and there were plenty of demons around who would witness the little encounter.
As Roan came to a stop, she did the same. Tanner stayed at her side, vibrating with menace. Roan didn’t even spare the hellhound a glance, too focused on her. His face twisted into a hostile scowl that both annoyed and saddened her. This was her half-brother, after all. Things could have been different if he didn’t seem so determined to hate her.
Her demon wasn’t sad about it. No. In its opinion, they’d dealt with enough hate over the years from the maternal side of their family. And, unlike Harper, the demon had happily accepted the position of co-Prime and picked up the torch. It demanded respect.
“You don’t even care, do you?” Roan said through his teeth.
“About what exactly?” asked Harper, tone even.
“You don’t care that he took her. You don’t care that she could be dead.” He was making sure his voice carried, obviously wanting people’s attention. He easily got it. People stopped. Stared. A hush fell around them.
She spoke. “It wouldn’t matter what answer I gave you to that question – you’d still snort at it.”
“It was a rhetorical question,” he spat. “You know what a rogue is capable of, but you haven’t tried to find her. No. You’re not interested, even though it’s your fault she’s gone.”
“You think I’m to blame for Crow’s actions?”
“He wouldn’t have taken my mother if she wasn’t related to you.”
“Or maybe he would have, since she interven
ed when he was in the process of draining Delia. Did you ever think of that? Did you ever consider that he might have taken anyone who stepped in that day?”
Roan snorted. “Why would he take just anyone?”
“Why do demons bordering on rogue ever do any of the things they do?”
Hands fisted so tight his knuckles were white, he leaned forward a little as he snarled. “I’m sure the one thing she’s wishing right now is that she never had you.”
Harper almost laughed. “Roan, I’m sure she’s been wishing that for many, many years.” And Harper had accepted it, so if he thought that little comment would hurt her, he was wrong.
“And who could blame her after what your father did to her?”
Okay, that annoyed Harper. Lucian had shit on Carla, true, but the woman was responsible for her own actions. That was how life worked. “You need to move along now. You’ve had your moment in the spotlight. I’m sure everyone’s impressed with the disrespect you show to your Prime.”
“Prime?” he scoffed. “You’re not and never will be Prime material. You’re a Wallis, a sad excuse for a sphinx. Jesus, you don’t even have wings.”
Enough was enough. She lunged forward and fisted a hand in his T-shirt, making his eyes almost bug out of his head. “Now you listen to me, you snotty little fucker. We both know this isn’t about Carla. You have a problem with me being your Prime and you’re using your mother’s disappearance as an excuse to vent, which pretty much makes you a prick.”
Harper expected him to struggle. He didn’t; he just looked at her warily through eyes flickering nervously. That anxiety pleased her demon. “Do you think dishing out bullshit to your Prime makes you seem big and bad to others? I got news for you, Roan. It just makes you look like a disrespectful asshole. Not strong. Not scary. Hell, compared to the people I’ve dealt with in the past you’re a sweet little puppy that keeps stupidly rolling in its own shit. I don’t have the time or patience for the stream of stupidity that flows through your head.” She shoved him away from her, disappointing her demon, who wanted to snap his neck. “Go.”
“But don’t go far,” Tanner growled. “Knox is going to want to see you.”
Roan swallowed hard. To his credit, he tried to look dignified as he marched past them.
“You should have let me beat the shit out of him,” rumbled Tanner as they carried on walking en route to Knox’s office.
Harper shook her head. “I’m co-Prime, right? That means I’ve got to act like one.”
Tanner blew out a breath. “Knox will be pissed. Roan was warned to leave you alone. He ignored that warning.”
“Why would he dare?” Harper truly didn’t get it. “He was punished for saying crap about me once before. Wasn’t that enough?”
“Evidently not,” replied Tanner. “Making sure you hurt is apparently more important to him than his own pain. News of this will get round fast. You need to tell Knox before someone else does.”
Eventually they reached the large combat circle, beneath which Knox’s office was located. She followed Tanner up the flight of stairs behind the dome and over to a door marked “Office”; as always, it seemed to pulse with Knox’s power.
Stood there like a sentry, Levi inclined his head. “He’s waiting for you, Harper.”
“Thanks.” She twisted the metal knob and pushed the door open. Inside the office, Knox was standing behind his desk, having what seemed to be a somewhat unpleasant conversation with someone on the phone. His dark eyes met hers, and the strain around his features fell away.
Closing the door behind her, she crossed to his desk.
“Just get it done,” Knox ordered before ending the call. “Sorry, baby. There was a problem at one of the hotels. Apparently a fellow demon thought it was acceptable to fairly destroy a deluxe suite simply because he’s a celebrity.” He walked to her, drew her close, and kissed her soft and long. “You taste like coffee and caramel.”
“That’s because I had a caramel latte before I came here.”
He cocked his head. “Something’s wrong. What is it?”
She placed her hands on his upper arms. “Don’t freak out or anything. I’m fine; I’m not upset, just annoyed.”
Every muscle in his body tightened. “What happened?”
“Roan confronted me.” Anger reverberated against her mind, but nothing in his expression gave away that anger.
“What exactly did he say to you?” Knox asked as her body softened against his; he knew she was trying to soothe him. “Shouldn’t I be the one doing the comforting?”
She smiled, curling her arms around his waist. “I don’t need comfort. I’m really not upset.”
“Not upset,” he agreed. “But this saddens you.”
“It would be nice if things could be different,” she admitted. “But it is what it is.”
Knox tucked her hair behind her ear. “Tell me what he said to you.” With a sigh, she did. And anger roared through him. His demon shot to the surface and stroked her hair, vowing, “It will be dealt with.”
The lethal edge to its disembodied tone made Harper shiver. She nodded.
Knox reached for the surface, suppressing his demon, and cupped her neck. Brushing his thumb up and down the column of her throat, he said, “I’m sorry Roan said those things to you. You didn’t deserve it. And he knows better than that.” Keenan, find Roan. Apprehend him. He and I need to have another talk. You know where to take him.
Sure thing, Keenan replied. Can I ask why?
He confronted Harper and said some very unacceptable things.
A growl. I’ll get the little bastard.
Harper smoothed her hands up his back. “Who you talking to?” As their psyches were bonded, she could feel echoes of any telepathic conversations he had; she just couldn’t make out the words.
“Keenan,” he replied.
It was easy enough to guess. “You sent him after Roan.”
“He should have heeded my warning. I thought he had. Apparently not.” And Knox would ensure the little bastard paid for it.
“His head is a mess right now.”
“Not my problem. And it’s certainly not yours. He shouldn’t have tried to make it yours.” But of course Harper would take pity on him.
“He didn’t hurt me. Not physically or even emotionally.”
“Because you don’t care enough about him for anything he does to hurt you.” In fact, Knox would be surprised if she cared for Roan at all. But she did care that things had to be this way. “He didn’t know that, though. He set out to hurt you.”
“I don’t think he wanted to hurt me. I think he just wanted to vent.”
“That’s not the point. I warned him. My demon warned him. Apparently my last punishment didn’t get through to him, so we’ll have to try something else.”
She resisted asking just what that punishment would be. “Can we go home now?”
He kissed her. “Whatever you want, baby.”
CHAPTER TEN