“Everyone told me not to listen to you; that you’re so close to rogue you don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Oh, I know what I’m doing, and I know what I’m saying. More importantly, I know what needs to be done.”
“Explain it to me.”
“You’re going to pretend you believe me?” he scoffed. “We both know you don’t.” Crow picked up a small bottle of clear liquid and shook it. “This should help with the pain.”
She shook her head and tried once more to call to Knox. Another explosion of pain rattled her skull. Her pulse was now racing a mile a minute. “Don’t do this.”
“It has to be done.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“A hysterectomy won’t stop the child being born – he’ll just have it with another she-demon. But he won’t do that as long as you’re alive. This surgery will buy me some time.”
“It’s not surgery, it’s butchery!”
He settled his surgical mask back into place. “You had the chance to help me stop that child from being born. You didn’t take it. You’ve left me no choice.”
“There’s always a choice. But you haven’t been making your own choices lately. You’re being manipulated!”
He ignored that. “You should have chosen a safer mate. You can’t get in bed with the Devil and not pay the price.”
She frowned. “You think he’s Lucifer?”
“I was speaking metaphorically,” he replied, impatient. “Now be quiet while I prepare everything.”
She kept quiet, but she didn’t keep still. An imp for all intents and purposes, no one could keep her anywhere she didn’t want to be. But after a hard, lengthy struggle, she had to accept that this twisted son of a bitch was managing to do just that. All the while he rambled to himself, flushed, jerky, and agitated.
Harper was no stranger to life or death situations, but she’d never experienced this sense of utter powerlessness before. She was used to dueling. Would face a challenge head-on and, if need be, she’d fight until someone was dead. But this wasn’t a duel. She couldn’t fight. She was trapped. Powerless. Vulnerable. And she hated it. Hated it even more than the metallic taste of fear coating her tongue.
Why the fuck hadn’t she checked that Tanner was in the driver’s seat before she got in the damn car? Granted, she wouldn’t have been able to see him through the blackened windows, but she could have checked before sliding inside the —
Harper stilled as Crow came to her. “You don’t want to do this,” she told him. Again, he ignored the compulsion with ease.
“I can’t knock you out for the op – I don’t have the drugs or equipment for that,” he said, sounding a little apologetic. He held up a syringe. “But this will help with the pain. Not a lot, but a little. You might feel a bit drowsy. That’s normal.”
She cringed away from him, but it did her no good while she was all tied up.
He sighed at her. “I hope you’re not going to wriggle around while I’m operating. If you do, the incision will be jagged and you’ll have an ugly scar.”
He thought she cared about a fucking scar? The second he came close, she lifted her upper body as much as she could and rammed her head into his nose. There was a nauseating crack as blood poured from his nose and soaked the surgical mask.
He roared and dropped the syringe. Cupping his nose with both hands, he glared at her with such malice that it made her shiver. Spitting insults that she couldn’t quite understand while his nose was broken, he quickly removed the mask and used some padding to absorb the blood. He snapped his nose back into place and snarled, “You bitch!”
He slapped her hard across the face. Pain exploded beneath her cheekbone and a ringing sound filled her ears. Her demon lunged to the surface and hissed at him. “I will kill you. That is a promise.”
Crow just sneered as he picked up a scalpel from the tray and moved to her abdomen.
Harper retook control of her body, wrestling her demon into submission. A wave of pure dread washed over her as he rolled her boy shorts down a little. “Don’t fucking do this, Crow!”
But he did. The scalpel sliced through her skin like butter, and she bit her bottom lip. No way would she give him the satisfaction of hearing her cry out in pain. She needed to stop him, needed to do something, but there wasn’t a goddamn —
They both froze at the sound of footsteps outside. Hope raced through her so fast, her breath caught in her throat. Crow cursed, and Harper screamed for all she was worth. The door swung open, and there was Delia. Her eyes widened as they danced from Crow to Harper.
His hand clenched around the scalpel. “Delia…”
“Lawrence, what are you doing?” Her voice shook.
No, Harper thought with a shake of her head. Delia couldn’t possibly be involved. No way. No motherfucking way.
“I’m doing what needs to be done,” Crow told Delia.
Harper struggled against the rope. “Delia, untie me!”
But she didn’t. She took slow steps toward him. “You think Harper’s pregnant?”
“Not yet.”
Delia took in the slice on Harper’s abdomen. “You’re going to operate on her like you did Carla?” She shook her head. “Lawrence, no —”
“I have to. The child’s birth won’t happen for a while, but it will happen.”
“Listen to me for a minute.”
“No, this child cannot be born! It will unless I stop it. And that’s what I have to do.”
“Your mission is —”
“Leave, Delia.”
“No, you need to listen to me,” she insisted, but he pointed at the door.
“You can’t possibly be one of the freaking Horsemen!” Harper declared. “No way!”
“You’re right,” said another voice as footsteps approached. A voice she knew. A tall figure entered the trailer as he went on. “She isn’t. But I am.”
Harper glared at Roan. Motherfucker.
Delia looked from Crow to Roan, eyes wide.
Crow scowled at him. “How did you find me? You weren’t supposed to find me.”
“I followed Delia, though she didn’t know it.” Roan arched a brow at Crow. “You told her about our partnership?”
Crow shook his head. “I wouldn’t tell the bitch anything; she was trying to poison me. I don’t know how she found me.”
Roan turned to Delia. “Do I need to punish him or is that true?”
“It’s true,” replied Delia. “I was looking for him, and I remembered he used to come here as a kid with his dad.”
“I’m glad you remembered,” Roan told her. “I was counting on you to find him for me. You led me right to him. Thank you for that.”
She backed up as Roan moved toward her. “I’ll leave. I won’t tell anyone what I saw, I swear.”
“No, you won’t,” agreed Roan. He snatched the gun off the counter and shot her right between the eyes.
Harper jumped, despite the fact that there was a silencer on the weapon. He’d just… the bastard had… What. The. Fuck? And Crow just stood there, expression blank. “You don’t care that he just killed Delia?”
Crow frowned. “She was poisoning me with those pills. I wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t for Roan.”
“No, he told you to stop taking them because he didn’t want you to get better! He wanted to use you!”
As Delia slumped to the floor, Roan whirled on Crow and gestured at Harper. “I told you to kill her.”
“And I told you, killing her isn’t part of my mission,” snapped Crow. “My goal is to stop that child being born. Knox is loyal to Harper. He would never betray her. But if she’s dead, it frees him to be with another. That means we can’t kill her.”
Roan growled at him. “Forget your damn mission for one minute and look at the bigger picture! If she dies, it will weaken him. He will be distracted. Vulnerable. Too angry to think straight or keep control of his demon. It will rise; then you’ll know what he is and know how to end him!
Killing her will help your mission, idiot.”
But Crow shook his head. “No. I won’t do it.”
“You don’t need to.” Roan pointed the gun at her. “I’ll do it.”
Crow blocked his path. “No! You’ll ruin everything!”
“You’re not the only one with a mission.”
Crow tensed. “What does that mean?”
Roan rolled his eyes. “You really think you and me are in this alone? How do you think you got out of that cell?”
“Fate got me out.”
“Blood magick got you out.”
“You’re working with dark practitioners?” Crow asked, horrified.
The sick bastard wasn’t really in a position to be judging others, in Harper’s opinion.
“No, but a dear friend of mine knows how to use it,” replied Roan. “Now step aside. I’ve helped you with your ‘mission.’ Here’s where you back off so I can do mine.”
Crow grabbed the gun in Roan’s hand… and then it disappeared.
Rather than looking pissed, Roan seemed impressed. “You can make any weapons you conjure disappear, huh? Interesting.” He shoved Crow so hard, the guy stumbled. “Out of my fucking way.”
“If you want to know what Knox is, just ask her.”
Roan looked at Harper. “You’d never tell me. Would you? Even now, when you know death is close, there’s defiance in your eyes.”
And while he stood there, glaring down at her with malicious intent in his gaze, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pain in her chest. He was still her half-fucking-brother, dammit. That made no difference to her demon; it bore a soul-deep hatred for him and wanted nothing more than to end his life. “Why do you want Knox dead so badly?”
“He’s the only real thing that stands in our way,” replied Roan. “Even if we caused all the Primes to turn against him, it’s doubtful they would unite to kill him. Not unless they knew how to kill him.” Roan snickered. “He thinks he’s so smart and powerful. But look at the life he leads. He doesn’t take advantage of his power or success. He hasn’t sought global domination. There is an endless amount of women out there he could have, but he chose you.”
“If you hate me so much for not showing any concern for Carla, why haven’t you killed Crow for hurting her?”
Roan’s eyes hardened. “She deserved it. She’s no mother. She’s twisted. Sick.” He tapped his earlobe. “She cut mine right open once. I can’t even remember why.”
That made Carla a sick bitch, sure, but… “You’re just as fucking twisted.”
“Oh, yes. And you and I… we both have her tainted blood inside us. I don’t hate you. I don’t feel anything for you. Except for disgust, of course. You’re a Wallis, after all.” He tilted his head. “Just where did you hear about the Horsemen?”
She didn’t answer, just stared at him defiantly.
“I’ll bet you didn’t know that Isla recruited me.” Her surprise must have shown on her face, because he smiled. “There were originally only three demons working on the fall of the Primes, but then I was brought into the fold. They needed someone from Knox’s lair to report back to them – an insider who was smart and manipulative. And I think Isla liked that the person she had recruited was related to you by blood. She really did hate you, but I suppose you guessed that.” Grabbing a pair of surgical scissors, he moved closer. “Now, Harper… I doubt you’ll tell me just what Knox is. But, to be a good sport, I’ll give you one chance to tell me. If you do, I won’t make this hurt. But if you don’t, we’ll play a little before you die.”
She snorted. He was going to hurt her no matter what she did or didn’t say, and he was going to enjoy it – they both knew that.
“Just think of how much fun it will be when you die, big sister. He’ll feel it. He’ll feel that exact moment when it happens. Your anchor bond will break, and his control will break right along with it.”
“Maybe.” Harper bared her teeth. “But then you’ll die too.”
Anxiety flashed in Roan’s eyes, but it disappeared just as fast as it came. “He has no idea I’m involved and, since he has no idea where you are, he isn’t going to find out. But he is going to reveal his demon in all its glory, whether he wants to or not.”
Bastard. “If you kill me, we’ll all die.” Maybe it should have brought Harper some comfort that at least the bastards wouldn’t get away with what they’d done, but it didn’t. She didn’t want Knox to suffer. She didn’t want his demon to rage.
“I’ll give you the count of ten,” said Roan.
Well, wasn’t he a sweetheart.
“Ten.”
Fuck. Harper was going to die; there were no two ways about it. Not even in a fight where she could at least have a chance of defending herself; no, she was going to die while tied up and helpless.
“Nine.”
Her ribs felt tight around a heart that was beating so fast she was surprised it hadn’t exploded. She hated being afraid. She hated being helpless.
“Eight.”
Worse than the knowledge that she’d die tonight was the knowledge of what it would do to Knox; of how he’d blame and torment himself, especially if he learned Roan had “played” with her first.
“Seven.”
Her demon turned frantic; her rage built and built until it pumped through Harper just as fast as the adrenalin streaming through her body.
“Six.”
The warmth and smell of her blood, the sour taste of fear, the rope biting into her flesh, the burn of the slice on her stomach, the pounding pain in her skull – it all amplified her demon’s rage until the emotion inflated inside her chest like a balloon.
“Five.”
Another spike of adrenalin rushed through her, along with the inescapable truth that no one was coming to help her. And then those scissors cut into her earlobe. Her demon lunged to the surface again. It hissed. Struggled. Snarled. Writhed. Screeched in fury.
Roan laughed. “Four.”
That laugh… oh, that intensified the fury that was demanding release. Harper’s heartbeat thrashed in her ears almost as fast and loud as the soul-searing anger roaring through her. And as Harper’s anger and her demon’s fury mingled, something inside them both snapped.
“Three.”
The demon charged to the surface and let it all go – the rage, the dread, the panic, the powerlessness, the need for vengeance. Its wings snapped out, blazing with a fire that burned right through the rope. The entity bolted upright and snapped both hands around each of its opponents’ throat. At the same time, the ground shook and flames roared and crackled to life around them. Flames that were gold, red, and black.
The demon spoke through gritted teeth as it glared at Crow. “I told you I would kill you.” It tossed them both across the trailer. The back of Crow’s head hit the edge of the top kitchen cupboard and he slid to the floor with a weak groan. Roan crashed into the filing cabinet so hard the drawers flew open.
Grabbing the tie binding its legs, the demon infused hellfire into the rope, burning its way free. Roan coughed as he staggered to his feet, glancing around; taking in the flames spreading across the walls and ceiling, boxing them in.