CHAPTER EIGHT
It was no surprise to Knox that Harper didn’t share his relief that the incorporeal had targeted him. Naturally, she’d be glad that she and Asher weren’t victims of yet another attack, but he could sense that she was nonetheless silently seething—not just with the incorporeal for making a move on Knox, but with Knox himself because she saw his relief.
At that moment, she was sitting on the sofa, arms folded, one leg crossed over the other. She was also crazily twirling one ankle and tapping her nails like they were claws. Every now and then she would shoot him a scowl that only deepened the lines of stress that seemed carved into her beautiful face. Knox couldn’t—wouldn’t—apologize for not putting as much value on his own life as he did on hers and Asher’s.
Thankfully, Asher was currently taking a nap upstairs. Knox suspected that the amount of psychic strength he’d used to create the cuffs—both of which had now faded—had left him feeling drained and sleepy.
“We thought the incorporeal had been ordered to possess Asher,” said Keenan, eyes narrowed in thought. “But maybe not, Knox. Maybe it had simply been ordered to destroy you, which gives it a lot of leeway about just how it will go about living up to its end of the bargain.”
Knox’s brow furrowed. “It couldn’t have killed me using Asher.”
“But if it had possessed him and tried attacking you through Asher, you wouldn’t have fought back, and you certainly wouldn’t have seen it coming,” Keenan pointed out, to which Larkin nodded. “In that sense, Asher would make as much of a good shield as he would a weapon.”
It was a valid point, but … “As I said before, the incorporeal would have been limited with a baby’s psychic strength—it still makes no sense to use him in an attack.” Knox rolled back his shoulders. His muscles were so tight with tension they ached, just as his jaw hurt from how hard he’d ground his teeth.
Beside Harper, Tanner leaned forward to brace his elbows on his thighs as he spoke. “Can an incorporeal kill from the inside out? Can it kill its host?”
“It could force the host to kill itself,” said Knox. “You think it meant to make Asher harm himself?” His demon rumbled a menacing sound. The entity’s anger was still fresh. It wanted blood, which it would never get from an incorporeal, since they didn’t bleed. His demon would settle for the blood of whoever sicced the incorporeal on them.
“Possibly,” said Tanner. “His death would have gutted you. The incorporeal might think that grief and shock will weaken you and leave you vulnerable to an attack. Of course, if it knew what you were, it would know better than to make such a move, since Asher’s death would also send you on a killing spree that would leave the Earth a wasteland.”
Yes, a killing spree would certainly follow. And since his grief would have weakened his control over his demon, the entity would then take control and set out to do the very thing it was born to do—destroy. Knox looked at Harper. “I’m not sure if even you could calm me and my demon if something were to happen to Asher.” And that was a frightening thought.
Her face darkened. “I wouldn’t try to calm you or your demon. I’d fucking egg the pair of you on. I’d be too deep in grief to care that the Earth would be purged. And don’t think I’m just saying that because I’m mad. I wouldn’t be rational enough to care about anything or anyone else.”
Perched on the arm of the sofa, Larkin put a supportive hand on Harper’s shoulder. “It won’t come to that, because we’ll catch this thing and then Knox will annihilate it.”
“As for whoever has it on a leash,” began Levi, lounging on the opposite sofa with Keenan, “not one goddamn thing will keep him safe from us. Not one. He’s a walking dead man.”
Harper gave a slow nod and drew in a steadying breath. “Thank God you were able to avoid colliding into the stroller. That baby would be dead by now if you both hadn’t acted so fast.”
“The incorporeal certainly doesn’t care about collateral damage.” Levi turned to Knox. “I think Tanner’s theory is right—I think the incorporeal wasn’t ordered to go after Asher, Harper, or you. I think it was simply ordered to end you, one way or another. If that’s the case, there’s no knowing what it will do next—only that it will act if it wants to be free. After having spent God knows how long in a fucking display case, it’ll be determined to be free.”
“It left the woman’s body just as you reached her,” Harper said to Knox. “It must suspect you can kill it. Probably heard the rumors that you can conjure the flames of hell. Still, it went after you. That’s ballsy, just as striking while we were at Jolene’s house was ballsy.”
Knox nodded. “It didn’t learn from its last cocky mistake. Arrogance is very clearly a weakness it possesses.” He turned to Larkin. “Have you had any joy in tracking Alethea’s movements after she disappeared?”
Larkin puffed out a breath. “That girl sure knew how to vanish. I broke into her old house, went through her computer, checked her bank account activity, internet history, cell phone records, and social media networks—that sort of stuff. It wasn’t even hard, since her passwords weren’t very inventive.”
Knox folded his arms. “What did you find out?”
“Not much. Alethea hadn’t used any of the accounts, her phone, or the computer itself for a long time. None of her status updates running up to her disappearance detailed anything about where she’d been or what she’d been doing. She’d just posted funny GIFs and selfies of herself all dolled up.
“You know she preferred to hang around humans, since they were easy for her to manipulate. I spoke to the people she was regularly photographed with on social media. None of them had seen or heard from her in over seven months. Of course, they’re not concerned by that, since Jonas told them she moved to Australia and they don’t appear to have seen the footage of Alethea’s death.”
“It was taken down fast,” Levi pointed out.
“There’s only one person I can’t find from the photos,” Larkin added. “A woman. She’s not tagged in any of the pictures. In fact, she doesn’t even seem to have a social media account. Give me a little time—I’ll find her.”
Trusting that she would, Knox nodded. The sentinels left, each heading to their respective cars. That was when Knox crouched in front of Harper and rubbed her thigh. She shot him yet another glower. As much as it was no fun to have her anger directed at him, he still couldn’t help thinking of her as a cranky kitten. “I wish I could apologize for what’s pissing you off, but it would be a lie.”
Shoulders sagging, she sighed, and her scowl eased just a little. “I know, I get it. If our situations were reversed, I’d be glad the incorporeal went after me rather than you and Asher.”
Knox’s brows snapped together. “Never fucking ever be glad of something like that.” She raised one imperious brow at him, and Knox honestly just wanted to bend her over something and fuck the haughtiness right out of her. Instead, he rose to his feet, plucked her off the sofa, and then sat with her straddling him. “Better.”
Thrusting both hands into her hair, he soothingly massaged her head. Her eyes fell closed on a soft moan. He didn’t want to talk anymore about the incorporeal or the Horseman. The bastards had stolen enough time from his day; he wouldn’t give them even a second more of it.
“You’re trying to distract me,” Harper accused.
“I simply don’t want either of us to spare another thought for those who would do us harm, let alone talk about them.”
Neither did Harper. She was emotionally worn out by the whole thing, and she knew she’d have a difficult time sleeping tonight—if she even managed it at all. When Knox had strolled through the door earlier, she wouldn’t have guessed anything bad had occurred if Levi hadn’t been behind him with his eyes glittering and wearing an expression so grim that her stomach had knotted.